Yes, if you can make a body part that can "whisper" out loud, giving various status updates and whatnot, you can be sure that it isn't limited to mommy's tummy... There are all sorts of "naughty bit" attatchments that will happily tell you their level of moisture, rigidity, or excitement at all hours of the day.
Not sure where you got those figures. I have spent ZERO dollars. Zip. Nada. It makes it a lot easier to calculate profit when there is a $0 investment.
I've coded up a few casino and lottery type games, and sold them or run them myself. I joined the game a little over a month ago, and have gone from COMPLETE newb to a profit of over $80 USD.
I'm not going to retire off of it, but I've had a lot of fun coding up objects and testing them (I'm a programmer "in real life", by the way). And to get paid for having fun is a refreshing change after playing WoW for so long.
The thought of doing any realistic simulation on Second Life cracks me up. Simulating emergencies and distributing medical supplies?! Give me a break.
I'm pretty new to the game, but 99% of what I've seen are casinos, shopping malls, people idling in chairs earning about $0.01 every 5 minutes, and furries.
Or maybe I'm just hanging out in the wrong places...?
... is that players LOVE to be enabled to create and share new content.
I read an article about the early days of the Internet. No one really predicted that if you give someone a web browser, and show them how to write HTML and create a page, that everyone would start producing stuff FOR FREE. In a world dominated by cable-companies selling TV channels, no one could have known that people were so willing to share information just for the sake of doing it. Yes, most of it were pages dedicated to their cats...
I believe (and hope), that games are moving in the right direction. Map editors (Wolf3d, DOOM, Quake, etc), mod-able games (CounterStrike), player made content (Neverwinter Nights, The Sims, Second Life, etc)... this is all a good, natural thing. Sure, a lot of it is crap, but it's FREE crap, and it's not ALL crap, and it kind of self-regulates.
So, if more game companies tap into that desire of players to be creative and create content, I think they're onto something. You grumpy folks who say "So, what, *I'm* supposed to write the game for them?" miss the point.
I mean, look at Slashdot, and how much "user created content" is on this site. Hell, 99% of the content here is commentary...
My friend and I both submitted our cards. I didn't have any problem, and doubt I'll see any fruadulent charges (or ANY charges).
My friend, however, had his credit card company call him with a "suspicious charge". Apparently LL charges $1 to the card, and then credits it back (I guess to verify that it's a real card?!) Sounds kinda weird.
I don't have a problem with it, but obviously YMMV.
As for Second Life... I started it up just as a lark. I'm a coder, and I liked the idea of creating and scripting objects for fun. And it's been a lot of fun. I answered a couple want-ads, looking for scripters, and have actually gotten paid to create some casino games.
I'm not going to retire off it, but I don't remember making money or particularly using my brain (Fireball, Scorch, Scorch, Scorch, Frost Nova, repeat) in WoW... so it's been fun.
"Sex workers cry foul, say game 'accrues points to players for the depiction of rape and murder of prostitutes.'"
Let's tell the truth, shall we?
I just played all the way through GTA:SA, and I really enjoyed it. In my mind, I compared it to an R-rated movie (like, "Casino"), and that comparison seemed adequate.
In the game, I hired a prostitute once or twice, but there's really not much reason to. I don't remember any mention of rape, or any option to rape. (Did I miss something? Was there a "rape" key somewhere?)
I also don't remember getting any "points" for murdering innocent people. I guess I picked up their money, but it also is a pain 'cause the cops would come after me. I actually tried to AVOID killing people because of this.
I'm not going to say that GTA is for everyone, or even that it's harmless. But until we can honestly discuss the game, without stretching the truth or outright lying, discussion is close to useless.
I remember asking my dad to upgrade our 256K IBM PC to 640K specifically so I could play this game Nethack. He brought home some RAM chips from work, and we physically plugged them into the QEMM daughterboard.:)
When I booted up Nethack for the first time, my dissapointment was tangible. No graphics?! I asked my dad to upgrade our computer for THIS?! Rather than admit defeat, I figured I might as well play the game and see what it was like.
I've been playing on and off for the past, oh 15 years'ish. I finally ascended for the first time one or two years ago, and in a generally good, happy, wholesome life, the feeling of beating Nethack ranks relatively near the top of the list of accomplishments I'm proud of.
Other games that I've played and LOVED, which I'm defining as "enjoyed for the longest length of time":
Wolf3D and Doom... I played those over and over again. Diablo Ultima Underworld (I think the first game I had a dream about) Early Kings/Space/Police/Hero's Quest games X-Wing
What went Right: We got a license, a good team of folks, ambition and potential up the ying-yang...
What went Wrong: Everything else. Too big an idea, using a complex engine that no one was familiar with in a way that it probably wasn't designed, low skills, not enough resources, not enough time...
I've attempted enough game-programming to know that a good idea, early ambition and motivation and basic programming skills account for about 3% of the success of a project. The HARD part is turning those huge ideas into a reality, and sticking with the same project over months and years.
Still, better to try and fail than to sit on their asses. I don't mean to sound too critical, as I'm sure they learned a huge amount, both technically and otherwise.
Um... that's a horrible thing to do to other students, _especially_ during finals. Locking people out of their own lockers? Not so harmless, ironic, or funny.
Ha. That definitely could have been it. But there could have been other reasons as well.
I work in the software department of an investment management company. Trade errors are bad, but are certainly not unheard of. Sometimes it's a bug in the software generating the orders (yes, in spite of strict QA and user acceptance testing, weird "one in a million" bugs make it through to production). Frequently it's user error. Sometimes it's bad data in the database, or some simple misunderstanding that creates bad data.
When we have a trade error, we have to follow a process not only to fix the problem in the short term, but implement a process to make sure that same error doesn't happen again. It works pretty well.
But to say they just clicked "Yes, I'm sure" is oversimplifying it a little.
My parents have a noise emitting device under their deck to keep away skunks and possums. It also keeps me away, because I can hear the very high pitched whine and they can't.
I'm 30 years old, so hardly a teenager. Maybe I just have good hearing?
As a professional programmer working in the financial area, don't be to harsh on the "sheer boredom" of working on business apps. Writing code that works is very rewarding, whether it's a first person shooter or a complicated business process.
Or, if you prefer, acknowledge that games programming is not as fun as actually playing games. At some level, work is work, and even game programming can be tedious.
I work 40 hour weeks. I make a good salary. I get to see my wife and friends every evening and weekend. And I even have time to work on programming my own games for fun.
My wife just started teaching 9th and 10th grade high school math. I gave her a little crash course on basic computer security (including watching out for keyloggers!)
It's common knowledge that the kids are smarter than the teachers, computer-wise... but hasn't it always been that way?
The point is, take a job that will be more enjoyable to you, either in terms of work hours or exciting projects. That will make more difference, I think, in the long run, than salary.
You believe that? If there's any sort of free-form textbox that you fill out ("Write us a little note and say why you'd be a good tester"), then I won't believe it's random, no matter what they said.
I was in my freshman dorm room at UC Davis at midnight, reading newgroups and pounding on FTP sites (that were all full, 250/250 users or something!)
Finally, I got on (I think it was cactus.org) and was able to download the puppy. I'm pretty sure I played the entire shareware version that night, and for many more to come.
Old video games just don't have the same appeal as they used to.
Coin-op is a dying breed. Arcades (the few that exist) are all moving towards dollar-a-pop big games that provide more of an "experience" than a "game" (like sitting in a jet-fighter cockpit or race-car that moves as you turn).
I can't see that many people would want to spend $.50 to play Space Invaders. Maybe once for the nostalgic value, but after that?
I've been playing Nethack seriously now for the past 6 months, and not serious for the past, what, 15 years?
That game is such a classic, and it's mix of randomness and expected elements make it a fun, different experience every time. And while there exists that element of randomness (what will that scroll labelled FOOBIE BLETCH do?), you can always expect to find the Oracle and this level, or the entrance to the mines on one of these levels, etc.
My family has always recommended eating a tablespoon of sugar to cure hiccups. It actually works, which is the amazing thing.
If this article is correct, and hiccuping has to do with suckling, I wonder if the influx of sugar sort of "makes sense", in that the action of hiccuping is really a desire or need for sugar. Hmmm...
Anyways, try it out next time you've got a bad case.
I've played enough online games to know how quickly the concept can be ruined by cheaters. And trust me, there IS someone out there bored/lame enough to ruin the fun for others just because they can.
And how discouraging would it be for someone legitimatly using this as sincere motivation for excercise, to see cars jamming around the track at mach 2.
I think it's a good idea, but it could so easily be ruined.
... my mother can use it. If my mother can use it, then I'll begin to believe it. I think people who say "Linux is fine for the desktop" simply don't understand the computer literacy of the general public.
Slashdot Mirror
Yes, if you can make a body part that can "whisper" out loud, giving various status updates and whatnot, you can be sure that it isn't limited to mommy's tummy... There are all sorts of "naughty bit" attatchments that will happily tell you their level of moisture, rigidity, or excitement at all hours of the day.
It's the weirdest thing ever.
Not sure where you got those figures. I have spent ZERO dollars. Zip. Nada. It makes it a lot easier to calculate profit when there is a $0 investment.
I've coded up a few casino and lottery type games, and sold them or run them myself. I joined the game a little over a month ago, and have gone from COMPLETE newb to a profit of over $80 USD.
I'm not going to retire off of it, but I've had a lot of fun coding up objects and testing them (I'm a programmer "in real life", by the way). And to get paid for having fun is a refreshing change after playing WoW for so long.
The thought of doing any realistic simulation on Second Life cracks me up. Simulating emergencies and distributing medical supplies?! Give me a break.
I'm pretty new to the game, but 99% of what I've seen are casinos, shopping malls, people idling in chairs earning about $0.01 every 5 minutes, and furries.
Or maybe I'm just hanging out in the wrong places...?
... is that players LOVE to be enabled to create and share new content.
I read an article about the early days of the Internet. No one really predicted that if you give someone a web browser, and show them how to write HTML and create a page, that everyone would start producing stuff FOR FREE. In a world dominated by cable-companies selling TV channels, no one could have known that people were so willing to share information just for the sake of doing it. Yes, most of it were pages dedicated to their cats...
I believe (and hope), that games are moving in the right direction. Map editors (Wolf3d, DOOM, Quake, etc), mod-able games (CounterStrike), player made content (Neverwinter Nights, The Sims, Second Life, etc)... this is all a good, natural thing. Sure, a lot of it is crap, but it's FREE crap, and it's not ALL crap, and it kind of self-regulates.
So, if more game companies tap into that desire of players to be creative and create content, I think they're onto something. You grumpy folks who say "So, what, *I'm* supposed to write the game for them?" miss the point.
I mean, look at Slashdot, and how much "user created content" is on this site. Hell, 99% of the content here is commentary...
Just because YOU don't want any of the junk people make (and nor do I, particlarly), there IS a market for it.
My friend and I both submitted our cards. I didn't have any problem, and doubt I'll see any fruadulent charges (or ANY charges).
:)
My friend, however, had his credit card company call him with a "suspicious charge". Apparently LL charges $1 to the card, and then credits it back (I guess to verify that it's a real card?!) Sounds kinda weird.
I don't have a problem with it, but obviously YMMV.
As for Second Life... I started it up just as a lark. I'm a coder, and I liked the idea of creating and scripting objects for fun. And it's been a lot of fun. I answered a couple want-ads, looking for scripters, and have actually gotten paid to create some casino games.
I'm not going to retire off it, but I don't remember making money or particularly using my brain (Fireball, Scorch, Scorch, Scorch, Frost Nova, repeat) in WoW... so it's been fun.
The furries, however... they scare me a little.
The tagline from the article says:
"Sex workers cry foul, say game 'accrues points to players for the depiction of rape and murder of prostitutes.'"
Let's tell the truth, shall we?
I just played all the way through GTA:SA, and I really enjoyed it. In my mind, I compared it to an R-rated movie (like, "Casino"), and that comparison seemed adequate.
In the game, I hired a prostitute once or twice, but there's really not much reason to. I don't remember any mention of rape, or any option to rape. (Did I miss something? Was there a "rape" key somewhere?)
I also don't remember getting any "points" for murdering innocent people. I guess I picked up their money, but it also is a pain 'cause the cops would come after me. I actually tried to AVOID killing people because of this.
I'm not going to say that GTA is for everyone, or even that it's harmless. But until we can honestly discuss the game, without stretching the truth or outright lying, discussion is close to useless.
Adam
I remember asking my dad to upgrade our 256K IBM PC to 640K specifically so I could play this game Nethack. He brought home some RAM chips from work, and we physically plugged them into the QEMM daughterboard. :)
:)
When I booted up Nethack for the first time, my dissapointment was tangible. No graphics?! I asked my dad to upgrade our computer for THIS?! Rather than admit defeat, I figured I might as well play the game and see what it was like.
I've been playing on and off for the past, oh 15 years'ish. I finally ascended for the first time one or two years ago, and in a generally good, happy, wholesome life, the feeling of beating Nethack ranks relatively near the top of the list of accomplishments I'm proud of.
Other games that I've played and LOVED, which I'm defining as "enjoyed for the longest length of time":
Wolf3D and Doom... I played those over and over again.
Diablo
Ultima Underworld (I think the first game I had a dream about)
Early Kings/Space/Police/Hero's Quest games
X-Wing
Happy memories...
So, to recap:
What went Right: We got a license, a good team of folks, ambition and potential up the ying-yang...
What went Wrong: Everything else. Too big an idea, using a complex engine that no one was familiar with in a way that it probably wasn't designed, low skills, not enough resources, not enough time...
I've attempted enough game-programming to know that a good idea, early ambition and motivation and basic programming skills account for about 3% of the success of a project. The HARD part is turning those huge ideas into a reality, and sticking with the same project over months and years.
Still, better to try and fail than to sit on their asses. I don't mean to sound too critical, as I'm sure they learned a huge amount, both technically and otherwise.
Adman
From TFA:
"Warcraft is like a really, really well-designed UI for real-time, ad-hoc group collaboration and management of tons of people."
What exactly is he referring to, here? The guild/party window? Guild chat? Are those "really, really well designed"?
Am I missing something?
Um... that's a horrible thing to do to other students, _especially_ during finals. Locking people out of their own lockers? Not so harmless, ironic, or funny.
Ha. That definitely could have been it. But there could have been other reasons as well.
I work in the software department of an investment management company. Trade errors are bad, but are certainly not unheard of. Sometimes it's a bug in the software generating the orders (yes, in spite of strict QA and user acceptance testing, weird "one in a million" bugs make it through to production). Frequently it's user error. Sometimes it's bad data in the database, or some simple misunderstanding that creates bad data.
When we have a trade error, we have to follow a process not only to fix the problem in the short term, but implement a process to make sure that same error doesn't happen again. It works pretty well.
But to say they just clicked "Yes, I'm sure" is oversimplifying it a little.
My parents have a noise emitting device under their deck to keep away skunks and possums. It also keeps me away, because I can hear the very high pitched whine and they can't.
I'm 30 years old, so hardly a teenager. Maybe I just have good hearing?
As a professional programmer working in the financial area, don't be to harsh on the "sheer boredom" of working on business apps. Writing code that works is very rewarding, whether it's a first person shooter or a complicated business process.
Or, if you prefer, acknowledge that games programming is not as fun as actually playing games. At some level, work is work, and even game programming can be tedious.
I work 40 hour weeks. I make a good salary. I get to see my wife and friends every evening and weekend. And I even have time to work on programming my own games for fun.
Adman
My wife just started teaching 9th and 10th grade high school math. I gave her a little crash course on basic computer security (including watching out for keyloggers!)
It's common knowledge that the kids are smarter than the teachers, computer-wise... but hasn't it always been that way?
... is *hard* work.
The point is, take a job that will be more enjoyable to you, either in terms of work hours or exciting projects. That will make more difference, I think, in the long run, than salary.
Good luck.
Adam
You believe that? If there's any sort of free-form textbox that you fill out ("Write us a little note and say why you'd be a good tester"), then I won't believe it's random, no matter what they said.
Adman
I still remember it like it was yesterday...
I was in my freshman dorm room at UC Davis at midnight, reading newgroups and pounding on FTP sites (that were all full, 250/250 users or something!)
Finally, I got on (I think it was cactus.org) and was able to download the puppy. I'm pretty sure I played the entire shareware version that night, and for many more to come.
What a game...
Old video games just don't have the same appeal as they used to.
Coin-op is a dying breed. Arcades (the few that exist) are all moving towards dollar-a-pop big games that provide more of an "experience" than a "game" (like sitting in a jet-fighter cockpit or race-car that moves as you turn).
I can't see that many people would want to spend $.50 to play Space Invaders. Maybe once for the nostalgic value, but after that?
I've been playing Nethack seriously now for the past 6 months, and not serious for the past, what, 15 years?
That game is such a classic, and it's mix of randomness and expected elements make it a fun, different experience every time. And while there exists that element of randomness (what will that scroll labelled FOOBIE BLETCH do?), you can always expect to find the Oracle and this level, or the entrance to the mines on one of these levels, etc.
In conclusion, Libya is a land of contrasts.
Thank you.
If they made GOOD movies, then wouldn't people text message each other and RECOMMEND the movie?
Lame.
Adam
... or just a cool place to post those secrets you've been dying to shout out to the world.
My family has always recommended eating a tablespoon of sugar to cure hiccups. It actually works, which is the amazing thing.
If this article is correct, and hiccuping has to do with suckling, I wonder if the influx of sugar sort of "makes sense", in that the action of hiccuping is really a desire or need for sugar. Hmmm...
Anyways, try it out next time you've got a bad case.
Adam
I've played enough online games to know how quickly the concept can be ruined by cheaters. And trust me, there IS someone out there bored/lame enough to ruin the fun for others just because they can.
And how discouraging would it be for someone legitimatly using this as sincere motivation for excercise, to see cars jamming around the track at mach 2.
I think it's a good idea, but it could so easily be ruined.
Adam
... my mother can use it. If my mother can use it, then I'll begin to believe it. I think people who say "Linux is fine for the desktop" simply don't understand the computer literacy of the general public.
Adam