This sounds rather good. Correct me if I'm wrong, but might this be the MMO that does away with mindless grinding?
No chance. People will always complain about grinding. If there's a leveling system, they'll say they have to "grind" to the level cap. If there's better equipment then they'll "grind" for that. This isn't the days of Everquest when grinding meant killing the same enemies over and over, or other simple and repetitive tasks.
Anything in between now and "endgame" (however it's defined) has been classified as grind by modern MMO players. Doesn't matter if you have fun and fast-paced combat, awesome quests, or a tightly integrated story where it feels like you made a difference. Some people will make an obstacle out of anything.
Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to grind through some coffee.
I'd say there's significant value in professional-level editing. One of the last "books" I read was self-published directly to the web, and while it was good fun and had an interesting premise, it was in dire need of editing/revision. Community input can only do so much.
Of course, just needing editing and maybe a little promotion cuts out a huge chunk of the existing book publishing business. Not to mention retailers.
(If anyone's curious, the novel I mentioned above is The Salvation War. The writer is a military geek, which can be interesting or a bit cheesy sometimes.)
Are we sure those complaints are accurate? This person(s) could have been connected to some guy's personal wifi hotspot. Or just be tech illiterate.
I guess I'm asking for proof that people used the capitol's wifi to connect to that site before Friday.
It'd be also nice to know what whitelist package they use. Heck, for all we know it's not a whitelist at all. It could just auto-blacklist anything above X hits an hour, until said site is explicitly exempted.
With how much this story is getting passed around, you'd almost think this site was temporarily blocked as a publicity stunt.
But that's almost as crazy as the theory from the article: that this particular pro-union site, out of god knows how many, was purposefully blocked because they thought that'd make everyone go home. That it wouldn't just give the protesters another talking point.
You have to ask, why do we resort to standardized tests to "bust" bad teachers? Because the better alternatives were shut off.
It's almost impossible to fire a bad teacher nowadays. School principals should have the power to discipline and dismiss bad teachers at their own discretion. Teachers may rant and rail that this will lead to favoritism and other bad -isms, but it's better than using a dry, standardized test designed by some committee thousands of miles away.
Every other nation seems to have claimed this right at some point in history. That's basically how most of today's large, well-defined nations formed. At some level it's just humans defeating other humans, and then later saying they're sorry.
I'm just playing Devil's Advocate here, but it seems like Israel is getting flak for acting in a more humane way than historical standards. Had they just kept the land they won through war and drove everybody out, we might not even be talking about it today. It'd just be another sad footnote.
He passed the health care bill the republicans proposed under gingrinch
I keep hearing that, but I've never seen any proof. Most likely some passage or provision of the old health plan is in the new health plan, but that doesn't mean they're similar.
Main Questgiver: Go over there and do (something interesting and/or plot critical) NPCs Nearby: Hey, while you're over there, could you (kill/collect/rescue) some of those (enemies/doodads/victims).
Which is kinda nice, since it fleshes out the main questlines and exposes you to more enemies/environments.
Another main quest type is using a few simple quests as a gateway to a major quest.
Main Questgiver: I'll repair this awesome mech suit for you to use, but first I'll need X, Y, and Z.
So you're working towards a goal for yourself (piloting the mech suit), instead of just for XP and gold.
FYI, infant mortality rate comparisons are mostly meaningless. Everyone has their own standards when deciding if an infant is "stillborn" or not. Generally, if the baby is in a condition that they can't treat at all, it isn't counted. That's what the U.S.'s rate is comparatively high -- they try to save more infants.
If you really are working for the US Gov (and you're not just a simpleton soldier following orders) you have a responsibility to make the world a better place.
And here I thought it was your job to make the U.S. a better place. My bad! Does this apply to government workers in other nations too?
IMHO, there's all sorts of "the truth" that should be covered up. Like how negotiations with China about North Korea are going, or what the U.K. diplomat really thinks of the Prime Minister.
A lack of long cutscenes and spell animations is dated?? I'd say that those two things are dated. Most modern games aren't like Final Fantasy or Metal Gear Solid. Well I guess the newest Call of Duty has a lot of cutscenes, though I didn't hear about them being long.
What really dates some older games for me is the interface. Some of the best loved classics of yesteryear have horribly clunky interfaces.
First person games with no freelook.
Layers upon laters of nested menus.
No key or button remapping.
Cluttered, unintuitive information screens.
Other bad decisions that are obvious in retrospect.
Somehow in the minds of many, the economy is the fault of the Democrats, in spite of the fact that the 2008 candidates left the campaign trail to focus on the rapidly failing economy.
The Democrats took control of Congress in 2006. It's not like they were out of power until 2008.
You're just mad because it doesn't mean anything to beat a game anymore. Sure, on XBox you can get gamer points or achievements for beating it on the hardest setting but it bothers you that others can experience the same rewarding progress dopamine that you get.
This was especially funny in WoW whenever endgame content got rebalanced, and especially when 10-man raiding got introduced. All the hardcore players wailed "those noobs are getting to kill our bosses!*"
(*note: in World of Warcraft, most endgame content is located in dungeon "instances". i.e., every group gets their own copy of the dungeon, so nobody is actually losing anything.)
I'm amazed that there's still such a focus on click rates. Tell me, how many clicks do TV ads get? Or newspaper and radio ads? Ads need to look interesting and deliver their message, that's it. Clicks are just a bonus. They only happen if you can entice people to learn more AND it looks at least a little trustworthy (i.e. not adspam).
To be fair, most of WoW's launch problems stemmed from the fact that they had demand unheard of in the MMO industry. They were expecting Everquest numbers and got... well, WoW numbers.
Penny Arcade eventually reinstated the award, by the way.
On the other hand, the official WoW message boards have become a cesspool. If they have one OPTIONAL Real ID-only forum, then I guarantee that it'll quickly become the best one they host.
The same will probably happen in-game. Real ID enabled players will probably be better behaved on average, since they've (theoretically) got their actual identity on the line.
I just want some of Apple's innovations without the drawbacks. That's not hypocritical, and certainly doesn't merit a three paragraph rant about "haters".
Americans really need to give up this law and order fantasy where they think they can modify people's behavior just by creating laws(attn pro-lifers and anti-drug crusaders, this means you)
Just Americans? So this doesn't happen anywhere else, or do you just hold Americans to a higher standard? (Which would be kind of flattering.)
But nation-baiting aside, that's a pretty broad statement. I can think of a couple things I'd like to do but I don't because they're illegal. So I guess laws have modified my behavior.
Slashdot Mirror
You are defencive, for a happy guy...
I think he's defensive because people are attacking his career, and making veiled threats about him being "first against the wall".
This sounds rather good. Correct me if I'm wrong, but might this be the MMO that does away with mindless grinding?
No chance. People will always complain about grinding. If there's a leveling system, they'll say they have to "grind" to the level cap. If there's better equipment then they'll "grind" for that. This isn't the days of Everquest when grinding meant killing the same enemies over and over, or other simple and repetitive tasks.
Anything in between now and "endgame" (however it's defined) has been classified as grind by modern MMO players. Doesn't matter if you have fun and fast-paced combat, awesome quests, or a tightly integrated story where it feels like you made a difference. Some people will make an obstacle out of anything.
Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to grind through some coffee.
I'd say there's significant value in professional-level editing. One of the last "books" I read was self-published directly to the web, and while it was good fun and had an interesting premise, it was in dire need of editing/revision. Community input can only do so much.
Of course, just needing editing and maybe a little promotion cuts out a huge chunk of the existing book publishing business. Not to mention retailers.
(If anyone's curious, the novel I mentioned above is The Salvation War. The writer is a military geek, which can be interesting or a bit cheesy sometimes.)
Are we sure those complaints are accurate? This person(s) could have been connected to some guy's personal wifi hotspot. Or just be tech illiterate.
I guess I'm asking for proof that people used the capitol's wifi to connect to that site before Friday.
It'd be also nice to know what whitelist package they use. Heck, for all we know it's not a whitelist at all. It could just auto-blacklist anything above X hits an hour, until said site is explicitly exempted.
With how much this story is getting passed around, you'd almost think this site was temporarily blocked as a publicity stunt.
But that's almost as crazy as the theory from the article: that this particular pro-union site, out of god knows how many, was purposefully blocked because they thought that'd make everyone go home. That it wouldn't just give the protesters another talking point.
You have to ask, why do we resort to standardized tests to "bust" bad teachers? Because the better alternatives were shut off.
It's almost impossible to fire a bad teacher nowadays. School principals should have the power to discipline and dismiss bad teachers at their own discretion. Teachers may rant and rail that this will lead to favoritism and other bad -isms, but it's better than using a dry, standardized test designed by some committee thousands of miles away.
Those damn fear tactics like "No one has the slightest clue how to safely store of what current atomic reactors produce"
You mean like recycling nuclear waste with breeder reactors?
Fear tactics indeed.
...but not the right to expand by force.
Every other nation seems to have claimed this right at some point in history. That's basically how most of today's large, well-defined nations formed. At some level it's just humans defeating other humans, and then later saying they're sorry.
I'm just playing Devil's Advocate here, but it seems like Israel is getting flak for acting in a more humane way than historical standards. Had they just kept the land they won through war and drove everybody out, we might not even be talking about it today. It'd just be another sad footnote.
He passed the health care bill the republicans proposed under gingrinch
I keep hearing that, but I've never seen any proof.
Most likely some passage or provision of the old health plan is in the new health plan, but that doesn't mean they're similar.
Pretty sure Honeycomb being dual-core only was proven untrue.
http://erictric.com/2011/01/06/android-honeycomb-doesnt-require-a-dual-core-cpu/
It was probably a mistranslation or misunderstanding about it having added support for dual-core processors.
The current WoW quest formula seems to be:
Main Questgiver: Go over there and do (something interesting and/or plot critical)
NPCs Nearby: Hey, while you're over there, could you (kill/collect/rescue) some of those (enemies/doodads/victims).
Which is kinda nice, since it fleshes out the main questlines and exposes you to more enemies/environments.
Another main quest type is using a few simple quests as a gateway to a major quest.
Main Questgiver: I'll repair this awesome mech suit for you to use, but first I'll need X, Y, and Z.
So you're working towards a goal for yourself (piloting the mech suit), instead of just for XP and gold.
You do know who sold him that nerve gas, right? The good old US of A.
[Citation Needed]
Because I'm pretty sure that hasn't been proven. It's just a conspiracy theory that's been kicked around a lot.
FYI, infant mortality rate comparisons are mostly meaningless. Everyone has their own standards when deciding if an infant is "stillborn" or not. Generally, if the baby is in a condition that they can't treat at all, it isn't counted. That's what the U.S.'s rate is comparatively high -- they try to save more infants.
http://health.usnews.com/usnews/health/articles/060924/2healy.htm
You're not allowed to ask that! The answer is always "more money for education is needed", no matter the results.
If you really are working for the US Gov (and you're not just a simpleton soldier following orders) you have a responsibility to make the world a better place.
And here I thought it was your job to make the U.S. a better place. My bad! Does this apply to government workers in other nations too?
IMHO, there's all sorts of "the truth" that should be covered up. Like how negotiations with China about North Korea are going, or what the U.K. diplomat really thinks of the Prime Minister.
A lack of long cutscenes and spell animations is dated?? I'd say that those two things are dated. Most modern games aren't like Final Fantasy or Metal Gear Solid. Well I guess the newest Call of Duty has a lot of cutscenes, though I didn't hear about them being long.
What really dates some older games for me is the interface. Some of the best loved classics of yesteryear have horribly clunky interfaces.
Somehow in the minds of many, the economy is the fault of the Democrats, in spite of the fact that the 2008 candidates left the campaign trail to focus on the rapidly failing economy.
The Democrats took control of Congress in 2006. It's not like they were out of power until 2008.
You're just mad because it doesn't mean anything to beat a game anymore. Sure, on XBox you can get gamer points or achievements for beating it on the hardest setting but it bothers you that others can experience the same rewarding progress dopamine that you get.
This was especially funny in WoW whenever endgame content got rebalanced, and especially when 10-man raiding got introduced. All the hardcore players wailed "those noobs are getting to kill our bosses!*"
(*note: in World of Warcraft, most endgame content is located in dungeon "instances". i.e., every group gets their own copy of the dungeon, so nobody is actually losing anything.)
The click rates are low.
I'm amazed that there's still such a focus on click rates. Tell me, how many clicks do TV ads get? Or newspaper and radio ads? Ads need to look interesting and deliver their message, that's it. Clicks are just a bonus. They only happen if you can entice people to learn more AND it looks at least a little trustworthy (i.e. not adspam).
To be fair, most of WoW's launch problems stemmed from the fact that they had demand unheard of in the MMO industry. They were expecting Everquest numbers and got... well, WoW numbers.
Penny Arcade eventually reinstated the award, by the way.
On the other hand, the official WoW message boards have become a cesspool. If they have one OPTIONAL Real ID-only forum, then I guarantee that it'll quickly become the best one they host.
The same will probably happen in-game. Real ID enabled players will probably be better behaved on average, since they've (theoretically) got their actual identity on the line.
It'll be interesting to see it play out.
I just want some of Apple's innovations without the drawbacks. That's not hypocritical, and certainly doesn't merit a three paragraph rant about "haters".
Just a few days ago they raid the anti war movement
To be fair, they probably think "Well none of our supporters are in the anti-war movement anymore, so everyone left must be the real crazies!"
(Hm... I know I was just kidding around, but that almost sounds like a brilliantly evil idea.)
I absolutely wouldn't buy a house in an area with no cell reception. If others feel the same wouldn't that lower property values?
Just Americans? So this doesn't happen anywhere else, or do you just hold Americans to a higher standard? (Which would be kind of flattering.)
But nation-baiting aside, that's a pretty broad statement. I can think of a couple things I'd like to do but I don't because they're illegal. So I guess laws have modified my behavior.