Blizzard went down the drain when Vivendi bought them.
So producing world of warcraft = going down the drain? They produced great games before, and they've produced great games since. Regardless of whether or not you play the game, its impossible to argue against it being anything apart from a raging success beyond the scope of any other mmorpg in history. If that's a failure in your eyes, then what constitutes a success?
Was wondering if someone would bring this up but then I thought that anyone wanting to put forward the "WoW = going down the drain?" argument would actually check when in time Blizz announced WoW, and when Vivendi took over Blizzard (and ofcourse you can assume the game had been on the drawingboard prior to announcing it).
Now that you (hopefully) know that WoW was announced PRIOR to Vivendi taking over blizzard, I must ask you, what good has come from Blizzard since Vivendi took them over? I believe (this obviously is just my opinion) that WoW would have been a better game had Vivendi not bought Blizzard.
I stick to my original comment where I said that Blizzard is going down the drain since Vivendi took them over, and the types of games that we remember from Blizzard will be coming from other companies with former Blizzard employees.
You haven't played any other MMO then WoW have you?
This is how it works, infact, Blizzard are fairly slow with creating expansions compared to EA and SOE, and they all charge for the expansion. You know you always have the choice not to buy the expansion and keep playing the way you have.
The game is constantly made easier so that "catching up" is always possible, the hard part is to get the last few items you need.
Anyone who's been in a guild in WoW should know how long it took to run through BWL for example say 8 - 12 months ago compared to now. Not sure how the american servers are doing right now but on the EU servers there has been a big dropoff from the larger guilds. Blizzard _needs_ this expansion or I think they will start loosing a lot of subscribers.
Alot of it is their own fault, they are saying blue items in BC are better than epic items pre-BC, thereby removing the need to obtain the high-end raiding items at the moment. Looking at the amount of time you need to invest to get any decent raiding-items, you are simply better off getting to level 60 before BC comes, and the levelling up with your guild/friends.
Personally I cancelled my accounts, simply because I got bored.
Blizzard went down the drain when Vivendi bought them. A bunch of good developers left during the "vivendi taking over" phase, so my guess is that we will see the "blizz-like" games coming from other places and not blizzard themselves.
From Wikipedia:
A significant number of key employees have left Blizzard over the years. Many of these have gone to create gaming companies of their own. Some of these companies are:
* Flagship Studios[2], currently working on Hellgate London.[3]
* ArenaNet[4], creator of Guild Wars.[5]
* Ready At Dawn Studios[6], creator of Daxter.
* Red 5 Studios[7], currently working on a yet to be announced next-gen title.
* Castaway Entertainment[8], currently working on a yet to be announced next-gen title.
* Hyboreal Games[9], Working on a yet to be announced next-gen title.[10]
Notice the part where it says "A significant number of key employees"!
The rest of the world isn't our problem though.. IMO the problem is they need to focus more on American citizens and less on being big brother to the rest of the world.
The rest of the world agrees, you are doing too much outside your own country, and if you stopped, the rest of the world might just get that warm fuzzy feeling that you are talking about.
Can someone who understands this translate it for me to english, because I tried reading the article but didn't understand it, and since my father has type-II diabetes it would be interesting to understand what it's all about.
How much you wanna bet the MPAA and RIIA are also reading this article. Thanks guys. Not only do you independently show which sites engage in copyright enfringement but also how much each site does that (on a daily basis no less)
Seriously? If they didn't know this already they are crappier then I thought, I my thoughts of the xxAA aren't high to begin with.
It's more like: Oh, Security Software vendors are making lots of money, lets see, we block everyone except ourselves from accessing certain parts of the OS, buy a cheap AV vendor and integrate their software into the OS, charge a yearly fee for keeping it up to date, and then everyone will have to use ours because all other security vendors won't be able to run properly.
Actually, i'm with microsoft on this one.
Symantecs OS invading suite of crappy tools just sucks.
Integrating PDF generation into applications and office suites ist also a MUST.
Symantec wasnt only complaining about their own software, but _all_ security products. They are saying (true or not is a different story) that no other security software except microsoft's own will run well on vista.
Integrating PDF into apps is a must? Seriously? It took me less than 10 secs on google to find three different free solutions that would add a printer able to create PDF's... but you're with Microsoft on this one... lets lock everyone down to one format that only runs on windows, instead of using PDF which is available on lots of OS'es.
MS rarely makes the best apps but lots of people use them because they are there, with Windows. I dont like it. I dont like IE and I really really dont like MSN for example. Lets hope it doesnt happen again, I am definately _not_ with Microsoft on this one.
And copying a King Kong DVD rip is not one of them.
Really? To me it sounds like a very good reason you want to be anonymous, I mean seriously, who would want others to know you've downloaded King Kong of all movies you could choose from in this world:)
The two services above includes a modem either for free or very cheap, and these are services you get to your home. Bandwidth in Sweden isnt that expensive. I can add that for the 100/10 service there are much cheaper choice's, I've seen some "citynet's" offer it for less than $20/month.
I don't think they are making much money with the $6.50 pricetag, but I do believe they are making some (btw, all exhange rates I used are estimates and counted high
Important to note though is the fact that if you are dealing with copyright violations only, you will get a pretty huge fine for swedish standars, but you will _not_ get sent to prison. This means that if you want to use this service for downloading music/movies, unless there is a change of Swedish law there is no chance that they will be forced to give out any information.
Does Sweden have secret prisons where they can hold you indefinatly, without a trial, and without a reason?
I started laughing when I read that. In Sweden, we have prisons where they cannot hold you, after a trial, with a reason, at all. People escape them all the time and you should be happy if a murderer gets more than 5 years. Rape might get you 3 or 4... but one things for sure, do not attempt to avoid taxes, then they will get the big slapstick out.
I think the way it works is that digital distribution of music is the same as radio broadcast in russia. This means that allofmp3 pays a set fee per year, and they are then free to distribute the music best they want. So, the site isn't a piracy site, im certain they are happily paying their yearly fee.
I'm not 100% sure im right, if someone can confirm that this is how it work (or tell me im wrong) it would be great!
When they took the TPB servers they also took the servers for a bunch of other companies.
I just checked and TPB is back online, but none of the other companies, who had nothing to do with filesharing whatsoever, are back online.
Well done Swedish Police, you managed to close down TPB for about as long as the DDOS attack against your website lasted, and in the process your destroyed the website for 20+ legit companies.
Yep, just like this old fogie predicted, the piracy issues is evolving along nicely parallel to the 50's-60's "legalize marijuana" drug movement. Good luck, but we already know how it's going to turn out. I admire idealistic youth - they're young, they'll learn.
All internet pirates will move to the Netherlands?
- Jag blev intagen för förhör, och de började fråga om Pirate Bay; vad jag visste och vad jag hade för kopplingar, säger Gottfrid Svartholm.
- Jag fick ingen offentlig försvarare, och mitt ordinarie juridiska ombud hade ju också gripits, så jag sa ingenting överhuvudtaget.
- I was brought in for questions, and they started asking me about TPB; what I knew and what connections I had to TPB, said Gottfrid Svartholm.
I was not given a lawyer, and my ordinary juridical representant had also been arrrested, so I didn't say a single word.
---
Varför nekades du offentlig försvarare?
- Enligt poliserna riskerar jag inte fängelse för brottet jag är misstänkt för och då behöver de inte ge någon offentlig försvarare.
---
Why were you denied a public defender?
- According to the police, I am not risking a prison penalty for the crimes I am suspected of, and because of that they do not have to provide me with a public defender.
Seems like Swedish authorities gave in to the pressure from **AA groups. This may be good as it will put the general public on the side of TPB.
A poll in the largest evening newspaper in sweden shows what people think of the takedown of TPB.
The question in the poll is, is it right to "attack" people that are involved in filesharing. Ja = YES and Nej = NO. The results speak for themselves.
What changed? Sending letters is one thing, but something pretty heavy must be going on to warrant that kind of response.
Can any of our swedish friends fill in the gaps here? I'm sure we're missing something.
We are missing something. I've checked all Swedish newssites that I can think of but they all say the same thing; the police will not release any information about an ongoing investigation.
To be honest, there is still nothing in the Swedish law that forbidds linking to pirated material, so the only way they will have a case against the pirate bay, AFAIK, is if there was copyrighted material on one of the machines they took. However, as I said, not much info right now.
I think that a lot of Apple's success comes from the marketing of the iPod. Pre-iPod it was considered "geeky" to have an mp3 player (in all fairness, mp3 players where horrible when they first came, buttons everywhere). Today, people think its "cool" to have their white headphones on and an iPod hanging at their side.
Although it may not be considered geeky to have another mp3 player today, the iPod is almost seen as a fashion accessory, whereas any other mp3 player is just that, an mp3 player.
To beat the iPod, I believe that the mainstream has to consider it "cool", and you have to have tons of accessories so your mp3 player can be cooler than the other 10million people who also have one.
Just my thoughts on a point I think was missed in the article...
I really dont understand how so many people can still play WoW.
IMHO, WoW is the McDonalds of MMO's. A lot of people like it at first, but play it enough and you get fed up.
I was sitting at the back of a funeral in a church a few months ago, and I heard three guys a few rows infront of me talking about how to kill magmadar in Molten Core.
I went home, cancelled my account, uninstalled the game and will never ever install it again.
I was getting tired of it even before that incident, that just pushed me to finally cancelling my account after playing the game for six months.
If you like WoW and its your first MMO, go try out some other ones, there are many that are much better than WoW!
Slashdot Mirror
Why would you want to go back in time?
Going back in time would just mean you need to wait even longer for the Nintendo Wii to come out...
Now that you (hopefully) know that WoW was announced PRIOR to Vivendi taking over blizzard, I must ask you, what good has come from Blizzard since Vivendi took them over? I believe (this obviously is just my opinion) that WoW would have been a better game had Vivendi not bought Blizzard.
I stick to my original comment where I said that Blizzard is going down the drain since Vivendi took them over, and the types of games that we remember from Blizzard will be coming from other companies with former Blizzard employees.
You haven't played any other MMO then WoW have you?
This is how it works, infact, Blizzard are fairly slow with creating expansions compared to EA and SOE, and they all charge for the expansion. You know you always have the choice not to buy the expansion and keep playing the way you have.
The game is constantly made easier so that "catching up" is always possible, the hard part is to get the last few items you need.
Anyone who's been in a guild in WoW should know how long it took to run through BWL for example say 8 - 12 months ago compared to now. Not sure how the american servers are doing right now but on the EU servers there has been a big dropoff from the larger guilds. Blizzard _needs_ this expansion or I think they will start loosing a lot of subscribers.
Alot of it is their own fault, they are saying blue items in BC are better than epic items pre-BC, thereby removing the need to obtain the high-end raiding items at the moment. Looking at the amount of time you need to invest to get any decent raiding-items, you are simply better off getting to level 60 before BC comes, and the levelling up with your guild/friends.
Personally I cancelled my accounts, simply because I got bored.
Blizzard went down the drain when Vivendi bought them. A bunch of good developers left during the "vivendi taking over" phase, so my guess is that we will see the "blizz-like" games coming from other places and not blizzard themselves.
From Wikipedia:
A significant number of key employees have left Blizzard over the years. Many of these have gone to create gaming companies of their own. Some of these companies are:
* Flagship Studios[2], currently working on Hellgate London.[3]
* ArenaNet[4], creator of Guild Wars.[5]
* Ready At Dawn Studios[6], creator of Daxter.
* Red 5 Studios[7], currently working on a yet to be announced next-gen title.
* Castaway Entertainment[8], currently working on a yet to be announced next-gen title.
* Hyboreal Games[9], Working on a yet to be announced next-gen title.[10]
Notice the part where it says "A significant number of key employees"!
Can someone who understands this translate it for me to english, because I tried reading the article but didn't understand it, and since my father has type-II diabetes it would be interesting to understand what it's all about.
It's more like: Oh, Security Software vendors are making lots of money, lets see, we block everyone except ourselves from accessing certain parts of the OS, buy a cheap AV vendor and integrate their software into the OS, charge a yearly fee for keeping it up to date, and then everyone will have to use ours because all other security vendors won't be able to run properly.
Symantec wasnt only complaining about their own software, but _all_ security products. They are saying (true or not is a different story) that no other security software except microsoft's own will run well on vista.
Integrating PDF into apps is a must? Seriously? It took me less than 10 secs on google to find three different free solutions that would add a printer able to create PDF's... but you're with Microsoft on this one... lets lock everyone down to one format that only runs on windows, instead of using PDF which is available on lots of OS'es.
MS rarely makes the best apps but lots of people use them because they are there, with Windows. I dont like it. I dont like IE and I really really dont like MSN for example. Lets hope it doesnt happen again, I am definately _not_ with Microsoft on this one.
100/10 Fiber in Sweden, under $45/month: http://www.bredbandsbolaget.se/portal/PRIVAT_BREDB AND_LAN_BREDBAND%2B100
_ 24.jsp
24/1 ADSL in Sweden, under $30/month: http://www.glocalnet.se/tjanster/bredband/product
The two services above includes a modem either for free or very cheap, and these are services you get to your home. Bandwidth in Sweden isnt that expensive. I can add that for the 100/10 service there are much cheaper choice's, I've seen some "citynet's" offer it for less than $20/month.
I don't think they are making much money with the $6.50 pricetag, but I do believe they are making some (btw, all exhange rates I used are estimates and counted high
Breaking copyright laws in Sweden for non-financial gain does not result in any prison sentence.
Important to note though is the fact that if you are dealing with copyright violations only, you will get a pretty huge fine for swedish standars, but you will _not_ get sent to prison. This means that if you want to use this service for downloading music/movies, unless there is a change of Swedish law there is no chance that they will be forced to give out any information.
This is what ThePirateBay thought of such threats
I think the way it works is that digital distribution of music is the same as radio broadcast in russia. This means that allofmp3 pays a set fee per year, and they are then free to distribute the music best they want. So, the site isn't a piracy site, im certain they are happily paying their yearly fee.
I'm not 100% sure im right, if someone can confirm that this is how it work (or tell me im wrong) it would be great!
When they took the TPB servers they also took the servers for a bunch of other companies.
I just checked and TPB is back online, but none of the other companies, who had nothing to do with filesharing whatsoever, are back online.
Well done Swedish Police, you managed to close down TPB for about as long as the DDOS attack against your website lasted, and in the process your destroyed the website for 20+ legit companies.
Here's a translation of parts of the article.
- Jag blev intagen för förhör, och de började fråga om Pirate Bay; vad jag visste och vad jag hade för kopplingar, säger Gottfrid Svartholm. - Jag fick ingen offentlig försvarare, och mitt ordinarie juridiska ombud hade ju också gripits, så jag sa ingenting överhuvudtaget.
- I was brought in for questions, and they started asking me about TPB; what I knew and what connections I had to TPB, said Gottfrid Svartholm.
I was not given a lawyer, and my ordinary juridical representant had also been arrrested, so I didn't say a single word.
---
Varför nekades du offentlig försvarare? - Enligt poliserna riskerar jag inte fängelse för brottet jag är misstänkt för och då behöver de inte ge någon offentlig försvarare.
---
Why were you denied a public defender?
- According to the police, I am not risking a prison penalty for the crimes I am suspected of, and because of that they do not have to provide me with a public defender.
The MPAA's statement after the takedown of thepiratebay.
Seems like Swedish authorities gave in to the pressure from **AA groups. This may be good as it will put the general public on the side of TPB.
A poll in the largest evening newspaper in sweden shows what people think of the takedown of TPB. The question in the poll is, is it right to "attack" people that are involved in filesharing. Ja = YES and Nej = NO. The results speak for themselves.
To be honest, there is still nothing in the Swedish law that forbidds linking to pirated material, so the only way they will have a case against the pirate bay, AFAIK, is if there was copyrighted material on one of the machines they took. However, as I said, not much info right now.
I think that a lot of Apple's success comes from the marketing of the iPod. Pre-iPod it was considered "geeky" to have an mp3 player (in all fairness, mp3 players where horrible when they first came, buttons everywhere). Today, people think its "cool" to have their white headphones on and an iPod hanging at their side.
Although it may not be considered geeky to have another mp3 player today, the iPod is almost seen as a fashion accessory, whereas any other mp3 player is just that, an mp3 player.
To beat the iPod, I believe that the mainstream has to consider it "cool", and you have to have tons of accessories so your mp3 player can be cooler than the other 10million people who also have one.
Just my thoughts on a point I think was missed in the article...
I really dont understand how so many people can still play WoW.
IMHO, WoW is the McDonalds of MMO's. A lot of people like it at first, but play it enough and you get fed up.
I was sitting at the back of a funeral in a church a few months ago, and I heard three guys a few rows infront of me talking about how to kill magmadar in Molten Core.
I went home, cancelled my account, uninstalled the game and will never ever install it again.
I was getting tired of it even before that incident, that just pushed me to finally cancelling my account after playing the game for six months.
If you like WoW and its your first MMO, go try out some other ones, there are many that are much better than WoW!