I yeah, I forgot, this is Slashdot. You guys re-install your OS every three days or so in order to keep out the zombie ninja spies from peering out of the computer into you mind.
Even so, if you have a net connection on that computer, you are fine.
Actually, once yuo download hte game over Steam, you can copy and burn all the game content as many times as you want. In fact, Steam even includes a tool to create such copies and split it up over multiple CDs for you if you don't have a DVD burner.
Actually, yuo are exactly the sort of person that Valve's system is great for. You can download the content over Steam, or buy it on CD form the store. You can copy and burn this content to CD or DVD (heck, steam even includes an option to do just that) all you want. You can then install it on the other computer. You can install it on five other computers. Or you can just download that content over Steam again (a nice 7.4GB transfer for free, no less)
And then you can play on whichever computer you want whenever, as long as the same account isn't being used at the same time.
Because Valve knows, and has said many times, that they cannot succeed by selling online only. Retail copies are a HUGE HUGE market. And to break into that market, they had to contract with VU. Those contracts, as anyone who knows who's signed one, is a proverbial deal with the devil even if the publisher hasn't contributed a single cent to development. They basically want to own the game before they deign to distribute your game, due to the very high risk involved in putting out most games.
Actually, VU by contract will get paid out cash if more steam copies are sold than expected over retail. They have plenty of failsafe payouts, and htey already get a percentage from steam purchases.
Dont' stop there. Valve has already started talking about getting data about your progress through the SP game itself: basically seeing if you have enough health, ammo, if parts are much harder than others, etc. Or if you make too many leud gestures at Alyx, then they cancel you account!
Not really. Hopefully if they DO try any of that stuff, it will be voluntary as well.
This particular situation sucks, but remember that it is only happening because the game isn't officially even out yet. Valve's way of selling products works like this: they hand out the game content freely: they even FOR FREE distribute it and other free stuff over Steam. You can copy and burn and move it around from computer to computer, whatever, to your heart's content. To play, however, you need an account which you can then use to tie the game to any particular computer, or no computer at all. That system may be more distributed and more virtual, but I don't see the master/slave thing being fair. I see it as a neat advance over the way other companies distribute and authenticate content.
With the way Steam works, Valve can not only guiltlessly allow you to burn copies of the game, they actually just added a CD/DVD-backup feature directly to Steam so that you could do it even more easily.
It isn't: AFTER the one time authentication to set up your account and tie it to that system. After that you can play in offline mode to your heart's content.
Given that activation is a ONE TIME thing per account, I'm still missing your point here. Basically, steam and valve's account system would have to fold AND they would have to be dick enough not to release a patch (something that virtually every other game that sunsets does in such a situation).
As it stands, what Valve is doing is try to separate game content from particular computers: once you buy an account with them, you get the right to download and copy and burn their content all you want, no extra charge. You can then take it anywhere, and instead of hackable, stealable keys, you simply use your account as your "key." Frankly, I like that a lot better than the previous system, where people would steal each others keys and screw up MP, hack and crack their way into servers with no trackability, and there was this veneer of "copying CDs is bad, you don't have the right to do what you want with what you bought." Valve's solution allows me to do anything I want with the game content I purchased, and my account gives me rights to play it anywhere, at anytime, even on multiple different computers. This system makes more sense than any other.
Ah. A ONE TIME internet activation that henceforth allows you to associate all you purchased content with an account form which you can download your games onto any computer (or use Valve's handy CD backup feature to instantly burn a CD or DVD of the game content anytime you want, to carry and install anywhere you want) and play using that permanent activation.
The horror! Or.... a company finally getting it right.
Plenty of other scenes established Boromir's wavering, especially the ring in the snow. It wasn't something that needed to be revealed anyway: foreshadowing would have been fine: why simply tell the audience what's going to happen when they're going to find out anyway?
Of course, a lot of other character, some far more interesting (in my opinion) that usually get cut as well: Gildor for one. The Wildmen. The two nasty orcs that Frodo and Sam eavesdrop on in Mordor. Fatty Bolger. And Bill Ferny getting clocked by an apple (though in the movie, Pippin gets clocked by one...) Bombadill is a fun diversion, but the Barrowights are far more important to the story arc and overall history, and they're always missing as well. Which means that no adaption can really make sense of Merry's deed towards the end of the book. We never find out where he gets his sword, or why its so powerful.
I was a little shocked as to how the movie decided to spoil just about every element of uncertainty with a character simply outright SAYING something that was supposed to be discovered later on. The radio shows were far more adriot at keeping things suspenseful.
Spoilers!!!!!
-Gandalf simply TELLS Frodo that Biblo has gone to live with the elves: in the books this is a wonderful surprise to Frodo. -Gandalf learns of the Palantir early, for no reason, instead of discovering it at the end of The Two Towers -Galadriel simply tells (or pretty darn strongly implies) to everyone that Boromir will try to take the Ring -As mentioned, Aragorn feels no confusion as to what to do about Frodo.
I felt that most of this simply drained excitement and mystery out of the plot for no puropse (in most cases WASTING time instead saving it, by requiring more exposition). Maybe they had some reason, but I can't see it yet. I also thought that for a movie short on time, spending whole minutes in slow-mo reaction shots was a bit silly (Frodo getting stabbed by the troll for like five minutes, Sam drowing in slow motion) as well as deadening the pace at crucial moments. Despite Peter Jackson being totally non-Hollywood, it was SOOOO Hollywood.
The radio plays, of course, had no such temptation to cliche, which is interesting: are there really as many major radio-show cliches as there are movie cliches?
Harry, unfortunately, seemed to have come down with a case of "greek freak." Gone go any helpful or constructive criticisms. Or indeed any real look into some serious issues most fans have about certain rumored and established revisions (lots of corny dialouge, Xen-Arwen, the death of Saruman before he has a chance to play his quite important part in the Scouring of the Shire- one of the most important elements of the entire story). Maybe we'll get a more nuanced look later, but I found his ejaculations a little irritating from someone who claims to be a sophisticated movie buff.
Oh, and besides the Matrix NOT being a blank slate (it's based on a previous comic series), I can hardly see how it qualifies as the greatest movie of all time. Yeah, it's a fun little flick, but people who take it too seriously really scare me.
This is a sort of sad situation- it used to be that there were a few small theaters around that showed great foriegn or independant films. Three years ago, I could have seen CTHD without trekking all the way into NY. No more. They've all died. One gorgeous old filmhouse even got flooded, and didn't have the insurance to recover. All I have in New Jersey now is an endless stretch of Clearview Cinemas, all of which tend to play the exact same movies, even if they're within ten miles of each other. It's a seriously screwed up world when I have FIVE theaters playing the supremely awful bomb D&D within 15 minutes of my house, but not ONE theater playing this incredible movie (which would certainly rake in big bucks from all the people in my area desperate for good films) within even a 45minute drive or train ride.
Re:Big business and online music.
on
Nazis on Napster
·
· Score: 2
Nonsense, this argument doesn't make the least bit of sense, because it's going in the wrong direction. The point is that companies can do and seel what they wish in the _abscence_ of a censorship law. Whether or not they own government is irrelevant to "swaying you," because the situtation in question is one in which the government is not involved. So you're sort of wildly offtopic.
Vote Nader! Help George Bush stick it to those corporate fat cats...! Oh wait...
On Napster, they first came for the Nazi musicians, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Nazi musician. Then they came for the Rappers, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Rapper. Then they came for the Hip-Hop listeners, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Hip-Hop listener. Then they came for the (whatever) and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a (whatever). Then they came for me -- and by that time there was nobody left to speak up.
They came for your whiny ass at the end though right? Sounds like all in a good days work to me.
Slashdot Mirror
Holly crap, Metroid is 18 YEARS OLD??!!! Way to make a guy feel old.
"I remember them requiring people who wanted to play on a LAN to have each steam client connect to the internet."
A restriction that they removed, as they said they would, once they got their authentication system fully up and working.
I yeah, I forgot, this is Slashdot. You guys re-install your OS every three days or so in order to keep out the zombie ninja spies from peering out of the computer into you mind.
Even so, if you have a net connection on that computer, you are fine.
Actually, once yuo download hte game over Steam, you can copy and burn all the game content as many times as you want. In fact, Steam even includes a tool to create such copies and split it up over multiple CDs for you if you don't have a DVD burner.
In order to play the MULTIPLAYER. You can still install and even patch up to the steam patch. You just can't use WON, because WON no longer exists.
Paraphrase: "WHAAAAAAA."
Authenticating online is just the same hoop as having the CD in the drive: only that one is virtual and thus less of a hassle.
Actually, yuo are exactly the sort of person that Valve's system is great for. You can download the content over Steam, or buy it on CD form the store. You can copy and burn this content to CD or DVD (heck, steam even includes an option to do just that) all you want. You can then install it on the other computer. You can install it on five other computers. Or you can just download that content over Steam again (a nice 7.4GB transfer for free, no less)
And then you can play on whichever computer you want whenever, as long as the same account isn't being used at the same time.
Because Valve knows, and has said many times, that they cannot succeed by selling online only. Retail copies are a HUGE HUGE market. And to break into that market, they had to contract with VU. Those contracts, as anyone who knows who's signed one, is a proverbial deal with the devil even if the publisher hasn't contributed a single cent to development. They basically want to own the game before they deign to distribute your game, due to the very high risk involved in putting out most games.
Actually, VU by contract will get paid out cash if more steam copies are sold than expected over retail. They have plenty of failsafe payouts, and htey already get a percentage from steam purchases.
Dont' stop there. Valve has already started talking about getting data about your progress through the SP game itself: basically seeing if you have enough health, ammo, if parts are much harder than others, etc. Or if you make too many leud gestures at Alyx, then they cancel you account!
Not really. Hopefully if they DO try any of that stuff, it will be voluntary as well.
This particular situation sucks, but remember that it is only happening because the game isn't officially even out yet. Valve's way of selling products works like this: they hand out the game content freely: they even FOR FREE distribute it and other free stuff over Steam. You can copy and burn and move it around from computer to computer, whatever, to your heart's content. To play, however, you need an account which you can then use to tie the game to any particular computer, or no computer at all. That system may be more distributed and more virtual, but I don't see the master/slave thing being fair. I see it as a neat advance over the way other companies distribute and authenticate content.
With the way Steam works, Valve can not only guiltlessly allow you to burn copies of the game, they actually just added a CD/DVD-backup feature directly to Steam so that you could do it even more easily.
It isn't: AFTER the one time authentication to set up your account and tie it to that system. After that you can play in offline mode to your heart's content.
Given that activation is a ONE TIME thing per account, I'm still missing your point here. Basically, steam and valve's account system would have to fold AND they would have to be dick enough not to release a patch (something that virtually every other game that sunsets does in such a situation).
As it stands, what Valve is doing is try to separate game content from particular computers: once you buy an account with them, you get the right to download and copy and burn their content all you want, no extra charge. You can then take it anywhere, and instead of hackable, stealable keys, you simply use your account as your "key." Frankly, I like that a lot better than the previous system, where people would steal each others keys and screw up MP, hack and crack their way into servers with no trackability, and there was this veneer of "copying CDs is bad, you don't have the right to do what you want with what you bought." Valve's solution allows me to do anything I want with the game content I purchased, and my account gives me rights to play it anywhere, at anytime, even on multiple different computers. This system makes more sense than any other.
Ah. A ONE TIME internet activation that henceforth allows you to associate all you purchased content with an account form which you can download your games onto any computer (or use Valve's handy CD backup feature to instantly burn a CD or DVD of the game content anytime you want, to carry and install anywhere you want) and play using that permanent activation.
The horror! Or.... a company finally getting it right.
Arrrrrrrr! Burn ze castle to ashes! Arrrrr!
Why don't script kiddies ever go after THESE people with DOS attacks? They'd be heroes!
Plenty of other scenes established Boromir's wavering, especially the ring in the snow. It wasn't something that needed to be revealed anyway: foreshadowing would have been fine: why simply tell the audience what's going to happen when they're going to find out anyway?
Of course, a lot of other character, some far more interesting (in my opinion) that usually get cut as well: Gildor for one. The Wildmen. The two nasty orcs that Frodo and Sam eavesdrop on in Mordor. Fatty Bolger. And Bill Ferny getting clocked by an apple (though in the movie, Pippin gets clocked by one...) Bombadill is a fun diversion, but the Barrowights are far more important to the story arc and overall history, and they're always missing as well. Which means that no adaption can really make sense of Merry's deed towards the end of the book. We never find out where he gets his sword, or why its so powerful.
I was a little shocked as to how the movie decided to spoil just about every element of uncertainty with a character simply outright SAYING something that was supposed to be discovered later on. The radio shows were far more adriot at keeping things suspenseful.
Spoilers!!!!!
-Gandalf simply TELLS Frodo that Biblo has gone to live with the elves: in the books this is a wonderful surprise to Frodo.
-Gandalf learns of the Palantir early, for no reason, instead of discovering it at the end of The Two Towers
-Galadriel simply tells (or pretty darn strongly implies) to everyone that Boromir will try to take the Ring
-As mentioned, Aragorn feels no confusion as to what to do about Frodo.
I felt that most of this simply drained excitement and mystery out of the plot for no puropse (in most cases WASTING time instead saving it, by requiring more exposition). Maybe they had some reason, but I can't see it yet. I also thought that for a movie short on time, spending whole minutes in slow-mo reaction shots was a bit silly (Frodo getting stabbed by the troll for like five minutes, Sam drowing in slow motion) as well as deadening the pace at crucial moments. Despite Peter Jackson being totally non-Hollywood, it was SOOOO Hollywood.
The radio plays, of course, had no such temptation to cliche, which is interesting: are there really as many major radio-show cliches as there are movie cliches?
Except that no serious person these days thinks they were written by Moses, or even written immediately indirectly from him.
Harry, unfortunately, seemed to have come down with a case of "greek freak." Gone go any helpful or constructive criticisms. Or indeed any real look into some serious issues most fans have about certain rumored and established revisions (lots of corny dialouge, Xen-Arwen, the death of Saruman before he has a chance to play his quite important part in the Scouring of the Shire- one of the most important elements of the entire story). Maybe we'll get a more nuanced look later, but I found his ejaculations a little irritating from someone who claims to be a sophisticated movie buff. Oh, and besides the Matrix NOT being a blank slate (it's based on a previous comic series), I can hardly see how it qualifies as the greatest movie of all time. Yeah, it's a fun little flick, but people who take it too seriously really scare me.
This is a sort of sad situation- it used to be that there were a few small theaters around that showed great foriegn or independant films. Three years ago, I could have seen CTHD without trekking all the way into NY. No more. They've all died. One gorgeous old filmhouse even got flooded, and didn't have the insurance to recover. All I have in New Jersey now is an endless stretch of Clearview Cinemas, all of which tend to play the exact same movies, even if they're within ten miles of each other. It's a seriously screwed up world when I have FIVE theaters playing the supremely awful bomb D&D within 15 minutes of my house, but not ONE theater playing this incredible movie (which would certainly rake in big bucks from all the people in my area desperate for good films) within even a 45minute drive or train ride.
Nonsense, this argument doesn't make the least bit of sense, because it's going in the wrong direction. The point is that companies can do and seel what they wish in the _abscence_ of a censorship law. Whether or not they own government is irrelevant to "swaying you," because the situtation in question is one in which the government is not involved. So you're sort of wildly offtopic. Vote Nader! Help George Bush stick it to those corporate fat cats...! Oh wait...
On Napster, they first came for the Nazi musicians, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Nazi musician. Then they came for the Rappers, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Rapper. Then they came for the Hip-Hop listeners, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Hip-Hop listener. Then they came for the (whatever) and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a (whatever). Then they came for me -- and by that time there was nobody left to speak up. They came for your whiny ass at the end though right? Sounds like all in a good days work to me.