Imagine holding your TV remote control by its ends and pretending it's a steering wheel.
I'm sure the same was said of the original NES gamepad when it came out. Or do you think a gamepad is somehow fundamentally sexy? It's just what we're used to.
Besides, they're not trying to appeal to people who play games on the current consoles and are happy.
They're trying to appeal to people who don't play games on the current consoles because they are too intimidating, complex or alienating. Add-ons to existing consoles would exaceberate the very problem they are trying to address. (Not to mention it would be a total failure. But you know that already.)
In the Americas and Europe, the Genesis was ahead of the SNES for most of thier life -- the SNES only really pulled ahead when Sega started fucking around with the 32X and Saturn stuff.
In Japan, the SNES came out much sooner than it did over here, and as such Nintendo was the dominant console. But due to several factors -- EA Sports games, earlier access to the Street Fighter games, and an earlier release overall -- the Genesis had a foothold in Canada and the States that never really declined until Sega started paying attention to other things.
You do know that Prince renamed himself because his record label owned the name "Prince" and he decided to split with them? He had to rename himself something, so an unpronouncable name that was spoken as "The Artist Formerly Known As Prince" is a good way as any to deal with legal bullshit like that.
This is especially true when you consider that many of these items are now considered to have real-world value.
Not especially. Only Gold in WoW has much real world value (in terms of being able to liquidate it). Most items worth having are "bound" after using them, and can't be changed hands.
Can you imagine the uproar if it became evident that one guild that found a way to leap-frog ahead of everyone else?
Yes, because it happens all the time. Guilds explot in PvP to gain honour. Oh noes! Someone might make a thorough, detailed post on the forum of that particular realm calling that guild out and providing screenshots.
The response would be a link to the ORLY owl.
People's lives and sense of well being are tied to this world of make-believe. Any cracks in the framework of this false reality really would require immediate intervention. I'm not saying this is at all the case, but it is one possibility.
There's only one kind of Tool fan. The Tool fan who thinks that being a Tool fan lets them into some big secret that nobody else gets. They think that only a select few posses the secret Tool decoder ring. They'd love to believe that all the halfwits who listen to Tool actually don't get it, but really they're all listening to them for the same reason. The fact of the matter is, any moron can understand Tool, but the hidden appeal of Tool lies in the fact that they give the illusion of being a band for smart people. They do this, as any Tool fan knows, by throwing in jumbled references to high school psychology, obscure religious references, and miscellaneous meaningless nonsense. Bullshit or not, as long as there's something there to figure out or interpret, it's going to make some stoned dropout feel smart.
The guy who makes X-Plane has a space sim up that does what you're talking about. It's a simulation, and a very difficult one. There are scenarios in there where you have to, say, chase a comet.
You do realize that most Foror's are sold to raiding guilds who pool the gold to buy them for thier tank? There are groups of people who will pay that much for a book, so selling for that much is justified.
We've bought, I think, four that way to outfit four different tanks. When you split 1000 gold over 60-70 players, that comes to about 16-20 gold for each player to outfit thier tank.
One thing to keep in mind about gold sellers is that, even if you're repeatedly doing end-game content in a raiding guild.... you're usually NOT making much money.
Raiding in WoW costs money. Repair bills (especially while learning), consumables (the 2hour flasks cost quite a bit in mats, everyone needs stacks of greater fire prot and greater healing for MC, stacks upon stacks of mana pots for all the casters, etc, etc), not to mention the various miscellanious class costs (candles & other reagents, food for pets to keep them happy, etc, etc). It's not uncommon for raiding guilds starting out to be running a serious deficiet and have to spend time doing nothing but farming gold and/or mats. The alchemists those guilds are either buying the materials or have every single dreamfoil spawn everywhere in the world burned into thier skull.
So, there is farming being done for raiding. It's a fact of life. If you approach WoW as a hobby, then doesn't it make sense to outsource that farming?
Doesn't it totally destroy your sense of immersion...
What's.... that?
Is that 13 year olds talking about Chuck Norris in the barrens? Is that being randomly duelled by people in the plaguelands who don't speak english and then asked for water and food even if you're a warrior? Is that being spammed for gold buying services in the in-game mail system?
Seriously, there is no immersion in WoW. It's a game, not an alternate reality. In games, enemies respawn. As far back as the Super Mario Brothers games, enemies respawned. In FPS games, you never died either -- someone frags you while you grab the flag, you're back in the game at the hit of a button.
You're assuming that WoW is some kind of reality or economic simulator like Second Life or Eve Online fancy themselves to be. It's not -- it's a game. Just like going out to play a round of softball with your buds every weekend, you can instead get together and try and kill the brood mother of the black dragonflight every friday.
Five years ago, I was watching my clanmates in matches using the QuakeTV mod (one or two spectators join in as the camera, and they would flip between views in a CTF match).
The spectators would just join a mirroring server, with like max_clients set to 128 (or whatever it could handle).
The real problem here is one of interest. It is only interesting to watch a game if you know something about the game. I find football and soccer to be dreadfully boring, primarily because I don't know anything about them (and little desire to learn). However, sit me down infront of a hockey game, and I'm glued to the set -- because I understand hockey and I understand what's happening in the game and what it means.
That's why sports are so popular -- everyone can (at some level) understand the games, and they're (relatively) simple. The rules have evolved over a hundred years or so into what we have now, and the sports, and the concepts encoded in the sports are part of the culture where the sport is popular.
Getting that level of interest for a single video game would be a feat -- and therein lies the catch. That level of interest needs to be there for EVERY GAME. Not just "video games".
Take a few examples.
Back when Doom 3 came out, there was a Doom 3 release DM tournament at Quakecon that year that was webcast live. I put that up on my TV, and watched it as it was happening (never have I felt like such a pure geek). That worked for me, because I played one on one deathmatches for years, so I understood what was going on in the player's heads when they were trying to control the map, and I could recognize when they succeeded and failed. They were also showing a Q3CTF tournament, which I watched similarly, as I have played CTF since Q2.
Had they showed a CS tournament, I wouldn't have even been able to follow the game, as I've never played CS.
I used to watch Warcraft III demos when I had nothing better to do, and I loved them -- I understood the game, and could follow why things were working. Not as well as an FPS, but I still "got it".
Any other RTS, and I wouldn't have even bothered. I've never played another RTS before or since WCIII.
See the problem there? Sports are part of our culture(s), and everyone, even if they don't watch them, still has at least some understanding of them.
It's worth noting that the Molten Core style of raid -- where half the raid can basically/afk thier way through everything but Domo and Rag -- is the exception.
In BWL and ZG the boss fights are much more complex and involved, and require everyone to be there and engaged. None of the raid can slack through even Razorgore, no matter how easy MC was.
The same is presumably going to be true of AQ20/40 (whenever the fuck it opens on my server) and the upcoming Scourge-based dungeon.
No, that's not really what I was saying. But it's clear that you're not really interested in understanding why MMORPGs are what they are, and you're just out to act superior to MMORPG players.
Hint: They're only called RPGs because they use combat resolution mechanics that originated in RPGs. That's it.
Slashdot Mirror
Imagine holding your TV remote control by its ends and pretending it's a steering wheel.
I'm sure the same was said of the original NES gamepad when it came out. Or do you think a gamepad is somehow fundamentally sexy? It's just what we're used to.
Besides, they're not trying to appeal to people who play games on the current consoles and are happy.
They're trying to appeal to people who don't play games on the current consoles because they are too intimidating, complex or alienating. Add-ons to existing consoles would exaceberate the very problem they are trying to address. (Not to mention it would be a total failure. But you know that already.)
Only if that fraction is approaching 1.
In the Americas and Europe, the Genesis was ahead of the SNES for most of thier life -- the SNES only really pulled ahead when Sega started fucking around with the 32X and Saturn stuff.
In Japan, the SNES came out much sooner than it did over here, and as such Nintendo was the dominant console. But due to several factors -- EA Sports games, earlier access to the Street Fighter games, and an earlier release overall -- the Genesis had a foothold in Canada and the States that never really declined until Sega started paying attention to other things.
Slander and libel only apply to untrue statements.
1) It's slow
2) It sucks
3) Here's how you disable it...
.
.
.
Is there anything else you really need to know about it?
You do know that Prince renamed himself because his record label owned the name "Prince" and he decided to split with them? He had to rename himself something, so an unpronouncable name that was spoken as "The Artist Formerly Known As Prince" is a good way as any to deal with legal bullshit like that.
This is especially true when you consider that many of these items are now considered to have real-world value.
Not especially. Only Gold in WoW has much real world value (in terms of being able to liquidate it). Most items worth having are "bound" after using them, and can't be changed hands.
Can you imagine the uproar if it became evident that one guild that found a way to leap-frog ahead of everyone else?
Yes, because it happens all the time. Guilds explot in PvP to gain honour. Oh noes! Someone might make a thorough, detailed post on the forum of that particular realm calling that guild out and providing screenshots.
The response would be a link to the ORLY owl.
People's lives and sense of well being are tied to this world of make-believe. Any cracks in the framework of this false reality really would require immediate intervention. I'm not saying this is at all the case, but it is one possibility.
Umm, whatever dude.
Sure it does. Us adults have already discovered 'Real life'. We're running away from it.
The guy who makes X-Plane has a space sim up that does what you're talking about. It's a simulation, and a very difficult one. There are scenarios in there where you have to, say, chase a comet.
It's not really fun.
You might want to look at some actual history instead of sound bites by someone with an agenda.
Yes, talking about WoW econmics in a topic about MMORPG economics is terribly, terribly Offtopic, isn't it?
You do realize that most Foror's are sold to raiding guilds who pool the gold to buy them for thier tank? There are groups of people who will pay that much for a book, so selling for that much is justified.
We've bought, I think, four that way to outfit four different tanks. When you split 1000 gold over 60-70 players, that comes to about 16-20 gold for each player to outfit thier tank.
One thing to keep in mind about gold sellers is that, even if you're repeatedly doing end-game content in a raiding guild.... you're usually NOT making much money.
Raiding in WoW costs money. Repair bills (especially while learning), consumables (the 2hour flasks cost quite a bit in mats, everyone needs stacks of greater fire prot and greater healing for MC, stacks upon stacks of mana pots for all the casters, etc, etc), not to mention the various miscellanious class costs (candles & other reagents, food for pets to keep them happy, etc, etc). It's not uncommon for raiding guilds starting out to be running a serious deficiet and have to spend time doing nothing but farming gold and/or mats. The alchemists those guilds are either buying the materials or have every single dreamfoil spawn everywhere in the world burned into thier skull.
So, there is farming being done for raiding. It's a fact of life. If you approach WoW as a hobby, then doesn't it make sense to outsource that farming?
Doesn't it totally destroy your sense of immersion...
What's.... that?
Is that 13 year olds talking about Chuck Norris in the barrens? Is that being randomly duelled by people in the plaguelands who don't speak english and then asked for water and food even if you're a warrior? Is that being spammed for gold buying services in the in-game mail system?
Seriously, there is no immersion in WoW. It's a game, not an alternate reality. In games, enemies respawn. As far back as the Super Mario Brothers games, enemies respawned. In FPS games, you never died either -- someone frags you while you grab the flag, you're back in the game at the hit of a button.
You're assuming that WoW is some kind of reality or economic simulator like Second Life or Eve Online fancy themselves to be. It's not -- it's a game. Just like going out to play a round of softball with your buds every weekend, you can instead get together and try and kill the brood mother of the black dragonflight every friday.
This has been done, and done, and done before.
Five years ago, I was watching my clanmates in matches using the QuakeTV mod (one or two spectators join in as the camera, and they would flip between views in a CTF match).
The spectators would just join a mirroring server, with like max_clients set to 128 (or whatever it could handle).
The real problem here is one of interest. It is only interesting to watch a game if you know something about the game. I find football and soccer to be dreadfully boring, primarily because I don't know anything about them (and little desire to learn). However, sit me down infront of a hockey game, and I'm glued to the set -- because I understand hockey and I understand what's happening in the game and what it means.
That's why sports are so popular -- everyone can (at some level) understand the games, and they're (relatively) simple. The rules have evolved over a hundred years or so into what we have now, and the sports, and the concepts encoded in the sports are part of the culture where the sport is popular.
Getting that level of interest for a single video game would be a feat -- and therein lies the catch. That level of interest needs to be there for EVERY GAME. Not just "video games".
Take a few examples.
Back when Doom 3 came out, there was a Doom 3 release DM tournament at Quakecon that year that was webcast live. I put that up on my TV, and watched it as it was happening (never have I felt like such a pure geek). That worked for me, because I played one on one deathmatches for years, so I understood what was going on in the player's heads when they were trying to control the map, and I could recognize when they succeeded and failed. They were also showing a Q3CTF tournament, which I watched similarly, as I have played CTF since Q2.
Had they showed a CS tournament, I wouldn't have even been able to follow the game, as I've never played CS.
I used to watch Warcraft III demos when I had nothing better to do, and I loved them -- I understood the game, and could follow why things were working. Not as well as an FPS, but I still "got it".
Any other RTS, and I wouldn't have even bothered. I've never played another RTS before or since WCIII.
See the problem there? Sports are part of our culture(s), and everyone, even if they don't watch them, still has at least some understanding of them.
Video games start from a blank slate. Each time.
That's the H rating.
They've released another game since I bought WoW?
I just realized why... I think it is time to grow up and have a real job, maybe get a girlfriend...
You should check out the Harvest Moon games.
You get to grow up, get a girlfriend/wife, work as a farmer...
COCKTHIRSTY!
There aren't monsters to kill in Second Life.
It's not even really a game.
Try last.fm. It's a recommendation service based on the tunes that your music player submits to thier servers.
It's worth noting that the Molten Core style of raid -- where half the raid can basically
In BWL and ZG the boss fights are much more complex and involved, and require everyone to be there and engaged. None of the raid can slack through even Razorgore, no matter how easy MC was.
The same is presumably going to be true of AQ20/40 (whenever the fuck it opens on my server) and the upcoming Scourge-based dungeon.
"Rampant success" of the PSP?
The Nintendo DS, a dedicated game machine, is wiping the fucking floor with the PSP.
The ones who cycle thier different characters so they're never playing a character who isn't rested.
*looks innocently around*
Whoever that kind of person may be.
No, that's not really what I was saying. But it's clear that you're not really interested in understanding why MMORPGs are what they are, and you're just out to act superior to MMORPG players.
Hint: They're only called RPGs because they use combat resolution mechanics that originated in RPGs. That's it.