I can't wait. Same producers who brought us the ever cheesier red-alert series? Call me a cynic, but I think we'll be seeing scantily clad elves with strategically positioned cameras learning over maps.
I've wanted to do an ask slashdot thing for a while about this, especially since it's so difficult. (When I asked my advisor, a professor with a PhD from MIT, he laughed and said "If you can't find a job, how are any of the other majors going to find one?") I was rejected when I submitted the story however.
I've had interviews and such so here's the advice I'd give. 1) Start early. 2) The people connection. Most of the interviews I had were because I actually the job was available rather than having it posted on some site or the newspaper. I even sifted through pages to find a company's e-mail adress and got a call the next day for an interview because I'd heard they were looking for people. 3) Be proactive. Bug people. 4) Get an internship. Experience looks really good. My part time job IT job at the university has been a huge plus for me.
And lastly, since I'm eager to network with people, if you're interested in working in the northern Delaware area (about 30 minutes outside of phili), I know of several companies that are hiring.
Speaking of which. If anyone knows of any job opening for coders (recent college grad w/ concentration in software engineering), reply to this message and I'll send my resume. I've been looking for months for a coding job and I can't seem to find one.
There are lies, damned lies, and then there are statistics.
Article: The bad news is that in 2000, only 28 percent of software projects could be classed as complete successes (meaning they were executed on time and on budget) while 23 percent failed outright (meaning that they were abandoned).
According to my math, that means that 49% of projects took longer and cost more than they were supposed to. Note later in the article, this 49% is considered wasted:
Article: Two hundred and seventy-five billion is a lot of money to spend on software development, especially if 72 percent of that money will be either wasted completely or used to develop something that doesn't work intended.
But something's wrong. Let's come up with a product and let's call it OS X or Mandrake or Windows XP. All of the above were not completed on time. In fact, I'd say I'd rather have a polished late product than release something on time for the sake of doing so. (Name good software that was released on time someone?) So I guess all the money spent on all of them was wasted.
The poem may be Saxe's but story itself is much older than that. It originates from Indian philosophy and illustrates the doctrine of Anekanta or many sidedness of reality. The doctrine itself is essential to Jainism but many scholars are unsure whether it has Jain or Buddhist roots. For a copy of the original story (much older than the 19th century) go here
I completely disagree with the author that random encounters are necessary. While I can't think of any RPGs that lack the element completely, I can think of at least two in which the element is almost non-existant. In the Fallout series, you might have 10 random encounters all game, which is obviously laughable. The other good example is Final Fantasy Tactics. Again, unless you try, you'll get about 10 during the entire game. Both these games recognize one critical game play element: we don't need that damn fluff. What random battles are there for in both games is to get extra money and experience than you otherwise would by going through the storyline. Next plot battle too hard? Go build up by fighting random battles by walking back and forth between towns.
The only thing large ammounts of random battles represent is tedium. Eliminating or severely reducing these provides games with a higher percentage composition of both plot and challenging gameplay. If tedium was eliminated from RPGs, wouldn't this improve the genre?
Most people can't afford to develop games full time without getting paid. The software industry has become more mature in figuring out ways to make people buy games. People who do want to develop games as a hobby tend to use ready made editors. The Warcraft 3 editor is extremely powerful and can make games well beyond the RTS genre. These "new games" are open source by default but can be protected if you really want to (most people don't). Many people downright encourage manipulation of source (check out wardraft for example).
First of all, this is basically an easy-to-use version of a PC. The AOL of PCs if you will that plays already existent console games.
Secondly, what if your area doesn't have broadband? Doesn't about 50% of the US still use modems?
And finally, no memory card, no disk drive. You want your friend to borrow your game? No problem. Give him the whole console. Want to trade save games. Same thing. There's a reason we have disk drives and memory cards, this is it.
So where does that leave our audience? I guess that means anyone who has broadband, doesn't have a good PC, and doesn't like to play console games with friends.
If I could take a automobile to the moon, yes you could make such a comparison (even then, the car would probably still come out ahead, but I don't know the figures). But until I can, it's pretty useless to compare the two. Commercial aircraft (including the Concorde) make tend to make the same flights and are used for the same purpose, making the original comparison valid in the first place.
Why is crashes per hour a bad standard? Well, we're talking about super-sonic aircraft here. In my opinion, crashes per mile would be a better standard.
If two planes make the same trip, lets say 10K times, the plane is safer which has fewer crashes period, not the one who happens to make the trip take longer.
If there were a cop simulation, it might be about as much fun as running through the code of a C program.
Why?
One of the great things about GTA series is the planning you did in the missions. What car to use, how exactly to do it, etc. The vast majority of cops have something called procedure. Rather than creatively solving your problems, you "do it by the book". If you wish to deviate, you need to call headquarters and are more often given orders than a blank check to decide what to do. Who wants to make a game about following procedure?
But, if the game is as realistic as GTA, maybe they won't include that "feautre" and it'll be fun.
Seriously, breaking the law gives the player much more freedom than enforcing it.
Civilization 3 I know has a color-blind help option. It's a really great game, but definitely not in the same vein.
Also if you're color-blindness is red-green and you're looking for a tactical RPG, I'd highly recommend Final Fantasy Tactics as well (not the sequel, which is entirely too easy and plotless). All the text contrasts in the game are black against something else, which makes it easier (though damage is red so might be hard to read at some points).
I'm a night guy, and because of that this game really cracked me up. I was up playing one night and it first told me that it was the witching hour and that curses were half-price. Finally, about 3 AM a voice announced "your nocturnal prowess has earned you a special gaming tip: GO TO BED". Needless to say, I had a little laugh and took the hint.
Then, after you've run that (check for updates first), click start->run->msconfig (works in all version of windows except NT/2000). Go to the startup tab and uncheck shit.
My sister's 1.2 Ghz Athlon box was slow as hell and kept crashing under Win98 until I did both of these. Now it boots in under 30 seconds. Go try it!
One of the problems with good game music is that it forces developers to have a limited number of options when developing a game. The more choices a player can make, the more music is needed to fulfill those choices. If you look at all the great non-linear RPGs (Fallout, Balder's Gate, etc), almost none of them had music for particular situations, at most a town or "mood" theme. Linear games however, can develop tracks for specific characters, and even specific conversations or events with characters (how can the same music evoke the dozens of different characters you create yourself?)
Don't fix it if it ain't broken. Diablo 2 is perfectly stable and has been since its release. People aren't paying a subscription for it. So I would hope people would think of the 1.10 patch, which adds features rather than improves stability, whould be a bonus rather than being expected. If I pay money for game, I want it to be stable. If they want to add features, fine, but please test the bloody thing first.
I don't mean to troll, but companies aren't dumb. All of Blizzard's game have been hugely popular. When Vivendi bought Blizzard, they didn't make them change the way they made games, that might lower their profits. Whoever buys Blizzard will probably keep business as usual except if it's MS, then we may have some problems with certain platform exclusive games (i.e. Bungie).
I don't play MMORPGs because I dislike paying for a game that I may not play during a given month. That aside, this practice is insane. Go pick up any Blizzard game. $30 max for any one right now (check pricewatch.com if you don't believe me). Not only do you get the full game, but as much online time on their battle.net server included in the purchase cost. When I buy an expansion to a Blizzard game, I get the same deal.
If Blizzard can charge only once up front for a product with online play AND remain profitable, why do Sony and Microsoft not only charge for their products, but for a subscription as well?
(I realize there are centralization issues, but a monthly fee from 20 players (at $20/month) could easily buy a new machine to serve them for the rest of the year if they were logged in 24/7).
Bottom Line: MMORPGs cost too much for a little Skinner box you experience with other people.
Slashdot Mirror
I can't wait. Same producers who brought us the ever cheesier red-alert series? Call me a cynic, but I think we'll be seeing scantily clad elves with strategically positioned cameras learning over maps.
When they hide it so the only place you can find it is on a 3rd party page when you search with google. I think that's hiding;)
I've wanted to do an ask slashdot thing for a while about this, especially since it's so difficult. (When I asked my advisor, a professor with a PhD from MIT, he laughed and said "If you can't find a job, how are any of the other majors going to find one?") I was rejected when I submitted the story however.
I've had interviews and such so here's the advice I'd give.
1) Start early.
2) The people connection. Most of the interviews I had were because I actually the job was available rather than having it posted on some site or the newspaper. I even sifted through pages to find a company's e-mail adress and got a call the next day for an interview because I'd heard they were looking for people.
3) Be proactive. Bug people.
4) Get an internship. Experience looks really good. My part time job IT job at the university has been a huge plus for me.
And lastly, since I'm eager to network with people, if you're interested in working in the northern Delaware area (about 30 minutes outside of phili), I know of several companies that are hiring.
Delaware currently but I wouldn't mind relocating anywhere (especially out of lower Delaware hickville USA).
Speaking of which. If anyone knows of any job opening for coders (recent college grad w/ concentration in software engineering), reply to this message and I'll send my resume. I've been looking for months for a coding job and I can't seem to find one.
There are lies, damned lies, and then there are statistics.
Article:
The bad news is that in 2000, only 28 percent of software projects could be classed as complete successes (meaning they were executed on time and on budget) while 23 percent failed outright (meaning that they were abandoned).
According to my math, that means that 49% of projects took longer and cost more than they were supposed to. Note later in the article, this 49% is considered wasted:
Article:
Two hundred and seventy-five billion is a lot of money to spend on software development, especially if 72 percent of that money will be either wasted completely or used to develop something that doesn't work intended.
But something's wrong. Let's come up with a product and let's call it OS X or Mandrake or Windows XP. All of the above were not completed on time. In fact, I'd say I'd rather have a polished late product than release something on time for the sake of doing so. (Name good software that was released on time someone?) So I guess all the money spent on all of them was wasted.
Someone hit this guy with a clue stick.
The poem may be Saxe's but story itself is much older than that. It originates from Indian philosophy and illustrates the doctrine of Anekanta or many sidedness of reality. The doctrine itself is essential to Jainism but many scholars are unsure whether it has Jain or Buddhist roots. For a copy of the original story (much older than the 19th century) go here
I completely disagree with the author that random encounters are necessary. While I can't think of any RPGs that lack the element completely, I can think of at least two in which the element is almost non-existant. In the Fallout series, you might have 10 random encounters all game, which is obviously laughable. The other good example is Final Fantasy Tactics. Again, unless you try, you'll get about 10 during the entire game. Both these games recognize one critical game play element: we don't need that damn fluff. What random battles are there for in both games is to get extra money and experience than you otherwise would by going through the storyline. Next plot battle too hard? Go build up by fighting random battles by walking back and forth between towns.
The only thing large ammounts of random battles represent is tedium. Eliminating or severely reducing these provides games with a higher percentage composition of both plot and challenging gameplay. If tedium was eliminated from RPGs, wouldn't this improve the genre?
Most people can't afford to develop games full time without getting paid. The software industry has become more mature in figuring out ways to make people buy games. People who do want to develop games as a hobby tend to use ready made editors. The Warcraft 3 editor is extremely powerful and can make games well beyond the RTS genre. These "new games" are open source by default but can be protected if you really want to (most people don't). Many people downright encourage manipulation of source (check out wardraft for example).
Who do you dislike most?
-Microsoft
-Jack Valenti
-RIAA
-SCO
-CowboyNeal's mom
And as a result, your essay consists of the single word "the". Thank you.
--Brought to you from the Department of Homeland Security...Now Policing Ideas
First of all, this is basically an easy-to-use version of a PC. The AOL of PCs if you will that plays already existent console games.
Secondly, what if your area doesn't have broadband? Doesn't about 50% of the US still use modems?
And finally, no memory card, no disk drive. You want your friend to borrow your game? No problem. Give him the whole console. Want to trade save games. Same thing. There's a reason we have disk drives and memory cards, this is it.
So where does that leave our audience? I guess that means anyone who has broadband, doesn't have a good PC, and doesn't like to play console games with friends.
Any takers?
If I could take a automobile to the moon, yes you could make such a comparison (even then, the car would probably still come out ahead, but I don't know the figures). But until I can, it's pretty useless to compare the two. Commercial aircraft (including the Concorde) make tend to make the same flights and are used for the same purpose, making the original comparison valid in the first place.
Why is crashes per hour a bad standard? Well, we're talking about super-sonic aircraft here. In my opinion, crashes per mile would be a better standard.
If two planes make the same trip, lets say 10K times, the plane is safer which has fewer crashes period, not the one who happens to make the trip take longer.
If there were a cop simulation, it might be about as much fun as running through the code of a C program.
Why?
One of the great things about GTA series is the planning you did in the missions. What car to use, how exactly to do it, etc. The vast majority of cops have something called procedure. Rather than creatively solving your problems, you "do it by the book". If you wish to deviate, you need to call headquarters and are more often given orders than a blank check to decide what to do. Who wants to make a game about following procedure?
But, if the game is as realistic as GTA, maybe they won't include that "feautre" and it'll be fun.
Seriously, breaking the law gives the player much more freedom than enforcing it.
Civilization 3 I know has a color-blind help option. It's a really great game, but definitely not in the same vein.
Also if you're color-blindness is red-green and you're looking for a tactical RPG, I'd highly recommend Final Fantasy Tactics as well (not the sequel, which is entirely too easy and plotless). All the text contrasts in the game are black against something else, which makes it easier (though damage is red so might be hard to read at some points).
My sister had 1300=) Sorry 'bout breaking your record. A priceless quote "Isn't it always better to click 'yes' than no?"
"...the Slashdot events are some of the more memorable."
Hey guys, remember the time the site was Slashdotted with one comment? I suppose they didn't learn from their last slashdot event.
Is the site slow for anyone else?
I'm a night guy, and because of that this game really cracked me up. I was up playing one night and it first told me that it was the witching hour and that curses were half-price. Finally, about 3 AM a voice announced "your nocturnal prowess has earned you a special gaming tip: GO TO BED". Needless to say, I had a little laugh and took the hint.
Two tips.
Go download and run Ad aware
Then, after you've run that (check for updates first), click start->run->msconfig (works in all version of windows except NT/2000). Go to the startup tab and uncheck shit.
My sister's 1.2 Ghz Athlon box was slow as hell and kept crashing under Win98 until I did both of these. Now it boots in under 30 seconds. Go try it!
Sure. I recently graduated and can't find a job. Where do I sign up?
One of the problems with good game music is that it forces developers to have a limited number of options when developing a game. The more choices a player can make, the more music is needed to fulfill those choices. If you look at all the great non-linear RPGs (Fallout, Balder's Gate, etc), almost none of them had music for particular situations, at most a town or "mood" theme. Linear games however, can develop tracks for specific characters, and even specific conversations or events with characters (how can the same music evoke the dozens of different characters you create yourself?)
Don't fix it if it ain't broken. Diablo 2 is perfectly stable and has been since its release. People aren't paying a subscription for it. So I would hope people would think of the 1.10 patch, which adds features rather than improves stability, whould be a bonus rather than being expected. If I pay money for game, I want it to be stable. If they want to add features, fine, but please test the bloody thing first.
I don't mean to troll, but companies aren't dumb. All of Blizzard's game have been hugely popular. When Vivendi bought Blizzard, they didn't make them change the way they made games, that might lower their profits. Whoever buys Blizzard will probably keep business as usual except if it's MS, then we may have some problems with certain platform exclusive games (i.e. Bungie).
I don't play MMORPGs because I dislike paying for a game that I may not play during a given month. That aside, this practice is insane. Go pick up any Blizzard game. $30 max for any one right now (check pricewatch.com if you don't believe me). Not only do you get the full game, but as much online time on their battle.net server included in the purchase cost. When I buy an expansion to a Blizzard game, I get the same deal.
If Blizzard can charge only once up front for a product with online play AND remain profitable, why do Sony and Microsoft not only charge for their products, but for a subscription as well?
(I realize there are centralization issues, but a monthly fee from 20 players (at $20/month) could easily buy a new machine to serve them for the rest of the year if they were logged in 24/7).
Bottom Line: MMORPGs cost too much for a little Skinner box you experience with other people.