I have a problem with all Massively Multiplayer Online Only games... and I think a lot of other people have the same problem with them... monthly fees! I don't want any game where I HAVE to have an Internet connection (broadband preferably) and also HAVE to pay a monthly fee just to play a game. You may also even be required to pay for the game up front too. This just doesn't seem like something that the general consumer wants to bear. I like gaming a lot, and I like playing my games online... but I only play the ones that are free to play online (Unreal Tournament, Medal of Honor, Warcraft 3, etc.). I have played Asheron's Call, Ultima Online, and EverQuest but it turned out that I had a lot more fun playing those types of games (RPGs) by myself. Also, a huge problem with MMO games, is their longevity. Think about it, if you have your NES, Sega, TurboGrafix, NeoGeo, etc. games still and the consoles, you can still play them now. This will probably (95% sure) not be the case with all your MMO games. How many of those will still be around and playable 5-10 years from now. My guess, not many. There goes your time and money investment.
Actual Researched Percentages without Company FUD
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If you want more accurate numbers of who has what percentage of the market, then you should check out this article. Jack Campbell spent about 30 hours and about a week's worth of research to gather his numbers. Definitely worth a look. Even includes Linux, AS400, and mainframe OS and application numbers. At the end of the article he also includes the hardware numbers per manufacturer over the last 20 years for those people wanting to know those numbers. I will not tell you the results, you should read the article for yourself.
Sure, trading of copyrighted music is illegal under copyright law today, and yes there are a lot of people doing it. But does that make MP3 and Napster bad. Not at all. MP3 is just a compression method that was developed that just happens to work very well (small file size w/ high quality audio). There are a lot of things MP3 is used for, so should we make it illegal to use it just because of the few things people are doing with the final result, no. Napster likewise is just a service. Do they distribute the MP3s, no. Just because people trade copyrighted MP3s over Napster doesn't put them at fault for it. Its like trying to sue Stanley Tools because someone gets killed with a hammer used by a murderer. Napster is just a tool, like a hammer, and the manufacturer of that tool cannot be held responsible for how it was used.
I personally think what it all comes down to is people are just getting sick and tired of being ripped off by the inflating prices of everything nowadays. Who wants to pay $15 for a CD when they only like 2-3 songs on the CD anyways. Has anyone every purchased a CD where they actually liked every song on the CD? I know I haven't. Even my favorite bands put out songs I don't like. There should be a way of purchasing just the songs you like and have it put to CD. Let my money go toward things/people who really deserve it. Take this for thought... think about how many local volunteer fire companies there are in your area. There's probably a lot. Where I am located about 65+% of the fire companies are volunteer. Know why? Because they don't have the money to have paid firefighters. What's wrong with this picture? We can give the record companies BILLIONS of dollars a year but we can't afford to pay a person to save your house, property, pets, and FAMILY when a fire starts out because of bad wiring? I think we need to look at the priorities we, as a country, have set up for ourselves. There's athletes making MILLIONS of dollars a year and police officers risking their lives to protect us against gang violence, murderer, rapists, etc... who can't even pay their gas bills on time. Actors & actresses making TENS OF MILLIONS of dollars for one movie when the average person in the United States makes $26,500 a year. I think we need to totally restructure our pay system in this country and pay people for what they are worth. If a person wants to make a lot of money, then that person really needs to do something that justifies their pay.
Also I should have the right to pay for what a CD is worth, what anything is worth, physical or digital items. That CD I just purchased for $15 that had only 3 songs on it I liked was worth nowhere near $15 to me. Or the DVD I just purchased for $15 bucks, how much did that actually cost to produce? I'd gladly pay $.50, maybe even $1.00 a song for songs I like. But I won't dish out a cent for a song I don't like or want. It's like buying a car, if you want the air conditioning, automatic transmission, and moonroof, then let me add them to it and pay for it, don't force me to buy these with every car.
Everyday I hear more and more about MP3, Napster, online censorship and piracy. I read tons of news on the Internet everyday... its my primary source of keeping myself informed on the happenings today. I try to think I can make informed decisions on things that may concern me. This is one of those areas. I'd like to keep my right to personal privacy (as it is stated in the United States Constitution, remember that thing made over 200 years ago that gave us these rights in the first place and that the government of today is slowing trying to tear down and rewrite themselves), my right of free speech so that I can stand in a public forum like I am now and voice my opinions for all to hear and take into consideration and make their own decisions on like I have (not to have comments/opinions moderated, changed or deleted like those of countries ruled by dictators and communists governments who's only concerns are to stay in power, be in control of everything, and tell you what you can or cannot think), and to have my power to change things if they do not go the way of the general public/community as a whole (which was given to us by our fore-fathers so that if things did start to get ugly in this country again we, "The People", would have the power to change our government and recreate one that would operate on behalf of our country and citizens beliefs, not of that of monopolies, corporations, and thick-headed politicians who are out-of-touch with the world around them).
Now I am not saying that we should start another Revolutionary war because war of any kind is not the answer. We have other political parties in this country besides Republicans and Democrats. I believe the political parties should be dissolved and the congress lobbyists dismissed and then our politicians might be able to think for themselves. Politicians following party guidelines doesn't allow for innovation in the government, and we really need it there. Ummm... I think I started going on another tangent, let me get back to my conclusion on what I started with.
MP3s should stay legal and Napster and MP3.com should not be held responsible for the files trading on/with them. The record companies should embrace MP3 and start listening to the consumers and give them what they want, the ability to purchase MP3s online at a reduced cost. Why should music companies have such an abundance of cash while our local townships can't even make budget? Put my money to better use there. Online censorship should not be allowed except for extreme circumstances like child pornography. Piracy of software, though illegal, should be reviewed and find another way to deal with it. If software packages cost almost nothing to mass produce once they are created, then sell them at a cheaper rate so people can afford them. Do you really think Adobe needs to charge $500+ for Photoshop or Macromedia needs to charge $1000 for Director? Why can't the software cost just as much as a Playstation game ($40-$50)? They don't think they can recoup their R&D cost with that? Electronic Arts, Blizzard, Bungie, InterPlay, Sony, etc... all seem to think they can.
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I have a problem with all Massively Multiplayer Online Only games... and I think a lot of other people have the same problem with them... monthly fees! I don't want any game where I HAVE to have an Internet connection (broadband preferably) and also HAVE to pay a monthly fee just to play a game. You may also even be required to pay for the game up front too. This just doesn't seem like something that the general consumer wants to bear. I like gaming a lot, and I like playing my games online... but I only play the ones that are free to play online (Unreal Tournament, Medal of Honor, Warcraft 3, etc.). I have played Asheron's Call, Ultima Online, and EverQuest but it turned out that I had a lot more fun playing those types of games (RPGs) by myself. Also, a huge problem with MMO games, is their longevity. Think about it, if you have your NES, Sega, TurboGrafix, NeoGeo, etc. games still and the consoles, you can still play them now. This will probably (95% sure) not be the case with all your MMO games. How many of those will still be around and playable 5-10 years from now. My guess, not many. There goes your time and money investment.
If you want more accurate numbers of who has what percentage of the market, then you should check out this article. Jack Campbell spent about 30 hours and about a week's worth of research to gather his numbers. Definitely worth a look. Even includes Linux, AS400, and mainframe OS and application numbers. At the end of the article he also includes the hardware numbers per manufacturer over the last 20 years for those people wanting to know those numbers. I will not tell you the results, you should read the article for yourself.
Sure, trading of copyrighted music is illegal under copyright law today, and yes there are a lot of people doing it. But does that make MP3 and Napster bad. Not at all. MP3 is just a compression method that was developed that just happens to work very well (small file size w/ high quality audio). There are a lot of things MP3 is used for, so should we make it illegal to use it just because of the few things people are doing with the final result, no. Napster likewise is just a service. Do they distribute the MP3s, no. Just because people trade copyrighted MP3s over Napster doesn't put them at fault for it. Its like trying to sue Stanley Tools because someone gets killed with a hammer used by a murderer. Napster is just a tool, like a hammer, and the manufacturer of that tool cannot be held responsible for how it was used.
I personally think what it all comes down to is people are just getting sick and tired of being ripped off by the inflating prices of everything nowadays. Who wants to pay $15 for a CD when they only like 2-3 songs on the CD anyways. Has anyone every purchased a CD where they actually liked every song on the CD? I know I haven't. Even my favorite bands put out songs I don't like. There should be a way of purchasing just the songs you like and have it put to CD. Let my money go toward things/people who really deserve it. Take this for thought... think about how many local volunteer fire companies there are in your area. There's probably a lot. Where I am located about 65+% of the fire companies are volunteer. Know why? Because they don't have the money to have paid firefighters. What's wrong with this picture? We can give the record companies BILLIONS of dollars a year but we can't afford to pay a person to save your house, property, pets, and FAMILY when a fire starts out because of bad wiring? I think we need to look at the priorities we, as a country, have set up for ourselves. There's athletes making MILLIONS of dollars a year and police officers risking their lives to protect us against gang violence, murderer, rapists, etc... who can't even pay their gas bills on time. Actors & actresses making TENS OF MILLIONS of dollars for one movie when the average person in the United States makes $26,500 a year. I think we need to totally restructure our pay system in this country and pay people for what they are worth. If a person wants to make a lot of money, then that person really needs to do something that justifies their pay.
Also I should have the right to pay for what a CD is worth, what anything is worth, physical or digital items. That CD I just purchased for $15 that had only 3 songs on it I liked was worth nowhere near $15 to me. Or the DVD I just purchased for $15 bucks, how much did that actually cost to produce? I'd gladly pay $.50, maybe even $1.00 a song for songs I like. But I won't dish out a cent for a song I don't like or want. It's like buying a car, if you want the air conditioning, automatic transmission, and moonroof, then let me add them to it and pay for it, don't force me to buy these with every car.
Everyday I hear more and more about MP3, Napster, online censorship and piracy. I read tons of news on the Internet everyday... its my primary source of keeping myself informed on the happenings today. I try to think I can make informed decisions on things that may concern me. This is one of those areas. I'd like to keep my right to personal privacy (as it is stated in the United States Constitution, remember that thing made over 200 years ago that gave us these rights in the first place and that the government of today is slowing trying to tear down and rewrite themselves), my right of free speech so that I can stand in a public forum like I am now and voice my opinions for all to hear and take into consideration and make their own decisions on like I have (not to have comments/opinions moderated, changed or deleted like those of countries ruled by dictators and communists governments who's only concerns are to stay in power, be in control of everything, and tell you what you can or cannot think), and to have my power to change things if they do not go the way of the general public/community as a whole (which was given to us by our fore-fathers so that if things did start to get ugly in this country again we, "The People", would have the power to change our government and recreate one that would operate on behalf of our country and citizens beliefs, not of that of monopolies, corporations, and thick-headed politicians who are out-of-touch with the world around them).
Now I am not saying that we should start another Revolutionary war because war of any kind is not the answer. We have other political parties in this country besides Republicans and Democrats. I believe the political parties should be dissolved and the congress lobbyists dismissed and then our politicians might be able to think for themselves. Politicians following party guidelines doesn't allow for innovation in the government, and we really need it there. Ummm... I think I started going on another tangent, let me get back to my conclusion on what I started with.
MP3s should stay legal and Napster and MP3.com should not be held responsible for the files trading on/with them. The record companies should embrace MP3 and start listening to the consumers and give them what they want, the ability to purchase MP3s online at a reduced cost. Why should music companies have such an abundance of cash while our local townships can't even make budget? Put my money to better use there. Online censorship should not be allowed except for extreme circumstances like child pornography. Piracy of software, though illegal, should be reviewed and find another way to deal with it. If software packages cost almost nothing to mass produce once they are created, then sell them at a cheaper rate so people can afford them. Do you really think Adobe needs to charge $500+ for Photoshop or Macromedia needs to charge $1000 for Director? Why can't the software cost just as much as a Playstation game ($40-$50)? They don't think they can recoup their R&D cost with that? Electronic Arts, Blizzard, Bungie, InterPlay, Sony, etc... all seem to think they can.