Sorry to hear you lost your account! One of the biggest flaws in Everquest is its customer service. There are many cases of people who have had their accounts somewhat arbitrarily canceled. It really demonstrates that the company does not respect or value their players, beyond $9.89/month....
No, you can continue to play the game without the expansion pack.
However you do need to use the new graphics engine, based off DirectX 8.1, which means you need to install DirectX 8.1. The new engine is automatically downloaded and installed for you.
One side effect of this is that Windows 95 users can no longer play EQ because DirectX 8.x does not support Windows 95.
On one hand how shocking for Everquest to force their users to upgrade their OS. On the other hand, they are trying to improve the game to keep it current and competitive.
I'm really not sure how this 'review' got undeserved space on Slashdot. I presume the subject was interesting, the words sounded appropriate, and voila. Hey, he's flaming Sony Online Entertainment, this must be news! Unfortunately, the reviewer is whiney, inaccurate, and the content of the review is sub par.
First the required version of DirectX is 8.1, not 8 as the reviewer suggets. This is perhaps not a huge point, but it shows that accuracy of this review is not high.
Second, the comments on graphics quality suggest the reviwer never managed to correctly configure his machine. Running on my fairly modest Duron 850 with a Geforce 2mx, I encountered beautifully detailed graphics, and smooth performance. I enjoyed several hours of just running around and looking at things. The new models for all the player races were facinating. The large textures improved the appearance of, well, everything. It was quite an experience to run through West Commons (a classic well known area of Everquest) and see the updated textures on the trees and grass.
The remainder of the review is primarly a bunch of first-impression complaints that are not particularly accurate, well supported, or meaningful to non Everquest players.
The only real value in this report is the comments that:
- The quality of the release is not high (many bugs that prevent people from playing a game they have purchased)
- When initially released, Sony was not able to handle the 'patch' load and as a result no one was able to play
Everything else is fluff.
If you're interested in seeing some pictures of Luclin graphics, there is a nice collection at Gamespot. The release graphics are actually higher quality than those featured here. One of the reasons I find so much value in this release is these wonderful new graphics.
http://gamespot.com/gamespot/filters/products/sc re ens/0,11105,477597-177,00.html
VNC is great software, but really the author is suggesting using it in a backwards way.
You want your gaming machine to be local, to get the best out of your graphics. Playing games over VNC is laggy, and low quality, compared to playing them locally.
However, you can do what I do, which is using a Windows box as your primary machines, have a Linux box on your network, and access your full sized Linux X-windows evironment by simply clicking on a window. For non gaming applications, the performance of VNC is great.
This may not fit in with the cynical view most Slashdot posts have, but I think Episode 2 is looking good, especially in the trailer above (the new trailer was mediocre)
It looks like Episode 2 will have a lot of conflict in it, and conflict is what makes stories interesting. Anakin's conflict with the Jedi Knights, the conflict him and the Princess must feel over whether they should follow their love, and of course lots of good old fashioned battle conflict.
Also, who can resist a good old fashioned love story? The love elements in episodes 4-6 was always weak, this looks like it's really solid.
The X-box ate my baby!
on
XBox Released
·
· Score: 0, Troll
Are there any good resources out there for geeks to help us in selecting our digital cameras?
Digital cameras have become so mainstream, it's difficult to find those gems that provide both the basic features and value you want from a digital camera today, but which also include geek friendly features that most normal people won't use, like Linux compatibilitity, unusually high amounts of memory, programability, etc.
The number of players that have logged on to the game has exceeded our expectations by far - five days after release we had 35,000 registered accounts!
Everquest currently has 400,000 active players. Forethought anyone? What kind of company plans to not be able to handle 8% of the load of their major competitior?
It doesn't matter if the elected candidate does not have the popular vote. We Canadians seen this in one form or another for years. The party that get screws always complains loudly, and a week later everyone forgets. No one tries to change the system.
Both the republicans and the democrates benefit highly from the electoral college system. If you don't have it, you run the risk of the US evolving into a three+ party system. Remember, in 1992 Ross Perot got 19% of the popular vote but little or no (I don't remember) electoral college votes. Neither the republicans or the democrats will throw away the guarantee of the two-party system for years to come over one little election.
The photos of the phantom are dark, and the hand of the user using the device is blurry (more than one hand frame, taken in motion). The result is, an entire incomprehendible visual representation for me.
If only it had been called "The Glowstick".
I've stuck with Redhat for a while because I didn't think it was worth the trouble to upgrade.
I started a new job, they were using debian there, and I just had to switch!
Debian installation and configuration was quite easy. It's not for everyone, you need to get your hands a little dirty, but it was much easier than Slakware was (the dist previous to RedHat).
And apt-get is the *bomb* Truffle
That Salon article really nailed it. However the point is not so much that the X-men were designed to appeal queers, or racial minorities, it's that they appealed to everyone who didn't fit in. Everyone who felt mainstream society didn't approve of who they are.
This is great from a marketing perspective. We can all grasp on to our own alienation (whatever the reasons) and feel close to the X-men. Then, we can imagine ourselves with super cool mutant powers =D How can you beat that?
I wonder if the movie managed to capture this sense. I haven't seen it yet, I hope it appeals to geeks and queers.
On a last note....I still wonder what happened to Cypher of X-Factor. I stopped reading shortly after he died. For those who don't remember, Cypher's mutant power was the ability to speak any language. This included the ability to communicate very well with computers. He died, but there was always a hint that he might be resurrected, through the alien man-machine Warlock. Cypher was a mutant hacker geek, anyone know if he ever came back?
I wasn't trying to be redundant, or hit you over the head with a bisexual hammer. My question to John, and my general commentary on him, were related thus the redundancy. The third reference was my sig, which I admit made my entire post read like a for loop. Ah well....
John represents to the/. readers the sensitive, left wing, vulnerable side of geekiness. Surprisingly right wing, insensitive, flame-tossers aren't too fond of him.
As a bisexual geek girl, John Katz is a good reminder to me that there are nice geek boys out there, like the nice geek boys I'm friends with in real life. This helps me feel able to relate to/. as a community.
Ok time for the requisite question:
I'm a bisexual geek girl. It seems to me that/. content is focussed primarily at heterosexual male geeks. Do you think that/. adequately serves female and queer geeks? If not, will it ever?
Slashdot Mirror
Sorry to hear you lost your account! One of the biggest flaws in Everquest is its customer service. There are many cases of people who have had their accounts somewhat arbitrarily canceled. It really demonstrates that the company does not respect or value their players, beyond $9.89/month....
It's a complicated online game, bugs happen. If you can't handle encountering occasional buggy situations, I suggest you play Tetris.
No, you can continue to play the game without the expansion pack.
However you do need to use the new graphics engine, based off DirectX 8.1, which means you need to install DirectX 8.1. The new engine is automatically downloaded and installed for you.
One side effect of this is that Windows 95 users can no longer play EQ because DirectX 8.x does not support Windows 95.
On one hand how shocking for Everquest to force their users to upgrade their OS. On the other hand, they are trying to improve the game to keep it current and competitive.
Ok slashdot butchered my link, so either remove the space in 'screens' or instead follow this newer, better, shorter link:
http://makeashorterlink.com/?X3521263
Slashdot chewed up my image link. You can either delete the space in the word "screens" or you can use this link:
http://makeashorterlink.com/?X3521263
http://gamespot.com/gamespot/filters/products/scre ens/0,11105,477597-177,00.html
I'm really not sure how this 'review' got undeserved space on Slashdot. I presume the subject was interesting, the words sounded appropriate, and voila. Hey, he's flaming Sony Online Entertainment, this must be news! Unfortunately, the reviewer is whiney, inaccurate, and the content of the review is sub par.
First the required version of DirectX is 8.1, not 8 as the reviewer suggets. This is perhaps not a huge point, but it shows that accuracy of this review is not high.
Second, the comments on graphics quality suggest the reviwer never managed to correctly configure his machine. Running on my fairly modest Duron 850 with a Geforce 2mx, I encountered beautifully detailed graphics, and smooth performance. I enjoyed several hours of just running around and looking at things. The new models for all the player races were facinating. The large textures improved the appearance of, well, everything. It was quite an experience to run through West Commons (a classic well known area of Everquest) and see the updated textures on the trees and grass.
The remainder of the review is primarly a bunch of first-impression complaints that are not particularly accurate, well supported, or meaningful to non Everquest players.
The only real value in this report is the comments that:
- The quality of the release is not high (many bugs that prevent people from playing a game they have purchased)
- When initially released, Sony was not able to handle the 'patch' load and as a result no one was able to play
Everything else is fluff.
If you're interested in seeing some pictures of Luclin graphics, there is a nice collection at Gamespot. The release graphics are actually higher quality than those featured here. One of the reasons I find so much value in this release is these wonderful new graphics.
http://gamespot.com/gamespot/filters/products/s
Here are some screenshots
http://www.carnifex.com/~kitae/luclin.html
Someone must have a dialup backup....
VNC is great software, but really the author is suggesting using it in a backwards way.
You want your gaming machine to be local, to get the best out of your graphics. Playing games over VNC is laggy, and low quality, compared to playing them locally.
However, you can do what I do, which is using a Windows box as your primary machines, have a Linux box on your network, and access your full sized Linux X-windows evironment by simply clicking on a window. For non gaming applications, the performance of VNC is great.
http://starwars.apple.com/ep2/forbidden/forbiddenl ove_md.html
This may not fit in with the cynical view most Slashdot posts have, but I think Episode 2 is looking good, especially in the trailer above (the new trailer was mediocre)
It looks like Episode 2 will have a lot of conflict in it, and conflict is what makes stories interesting. Anakin's conflict with the Jedi Knights, the conflict him and the Princess must feel over whether they should follow their love, and of course lots of good old fashioned battle conflict.
Also, who can resist a good old fashioned love story? The love elements in episodes 4-6 was always weak, this looks like it's really solid.
And my stuffed dingo too!
Are there any good resources out there for geeks to help us in selecting our digital cameras?
Digital cameras have become so mainstream, it's difficult to find those gems that provide both the basic features and value you want from a digital camera today, but which also include geek friendly features that most normal people won't use, like Linux compatibilitity, unusually high amounts of memory, programability, etc.
I don't want to register with fileplanet =P
Everquest currently has 400,000 active players. Forethought anyone? What kind of company plans to not be able to handle 8% of the load of their major competitior?
Truffle
It doesn't matter if the elected candidate does not have the popular vote. We Canadians seen this in one form or another for years. The party that get screws always complains loudly, and a week later everyone forgets. No one tries to change the system.
Both the republicans and the democrates benefit highly from the electoral college system. If you don't have it, you run the risk of the US evolving into a three+ party system. Remember, in 1992 Ross Perot got 19% of the popular vote but little or no (I don't remember) electoral college votes. Neither the republicans or the democrats will throw away the guarantee of the two-party system for years to come over one little election.
Truffle
http://www.tomshardware.com/mainboard/00q4/001030/ index.html
Tom gives an excellent overview of DDR ram and also the AMD 760. I generally prefer Tom's articles to Anand's, and this one is no exception.
Truffle
The photos of the phantom are dark, and the hand of the user using the device is blurry (more than one hand frame, taken in motion). The result is, an entire incomprehendible visual representation for me. If only it had been called "The Glowstick".
Truffle
Finally I will be fashionable!
Truffle
I've stuck with Redhat for a while because I didn't think it was worth the trouble to upgrade. I started a new job, they were using debian there, and I just had to switch! Debian installation and configuration was quite easy. It's not for everyone, you need to get your hands a little dirty, but it was much easier than Slakware was (the dist previous to RedHat). And apt-get is the *bomb*
Truffle
That Salon article really nailed it. However the point is not so much that the X-men were designed to appeal queers, or racial minorities, it's that they appealed to everyone who didn't fit in. Everyone who felt mainstream society didn't approve of who they are.
This is great from a marketing perspective. We can all grasp on to our own alienation (whatever the reasons) and feel close to the X-men. Then, we can imagine ourselves with super cool mutant powers =D How can you beat that?
I wonder if the movie managed to capture this sense. I haven't seen it yet, I hope it appeals to geeks and queers.
On a last note....I still wonder what happened to Cypher of X-Factor. I stopped reading shortly after he died. For those who don't remember, Cypher's mutant power was the ability to speak any language. This included the ability to communicate very well with computers. He died, but there was always a hint that he might be resurrected, through the alien man-machine Warlock. Cypher was a mutant hacker geek, anyone know if he ever came back?
Truffle
We don't like being compared to you either ;) But hey, it works.
Truffle
Zico,
I wasn't trying to be redundant, or hit you over the head with a bisexual hammer. My question to John, and my general commentary on him, were related thus the redundancy. The third reference was my sig, which I admit made my entire post read like a for loop. Ah well....
Truffle
John represents to the /. readers the sensitive, left wing, vulnerable side of geekiness. Surprisingly right wing, insensitive, flame-tossers aren't too fond of him.
/. as a community.
/. content is focussed primarily at heterosexual male geeks. Do you think that /. adequately serves female and queer geeks? If not, will it ever?
As a bisexual geek girl, John Katz is a good reminder to me that there are nice geek boys out there, like the nice geek boys I'm friends with in real life. This helps me feel able to relate to
Ok time for the requisite question:
I'm a bisexual geek girl. It seems to me that
Truffle