I would have moved to a low population server in a heartbeat to avoid Queues. I do not pay to wait in line. If I'm queued up, I might be able to do something that doesn't involve my gaming computer, but I've essentially put any gaming time I might want to spend on hold once I enter the queue.
I was never given an opportunity to move, and I won't put up with a 5 minute queue, never mind a 30 minute one.
I cancelled my account, filed a complaint with the BBB in their operating area, and responded to their boilerplate response of "we don't guarantee 24/7 uptime" with "That's not my complaint, Blizzard is not providing a minimum standard of service as defined by every other MMO on the market, regarding availability. Queues are not an acceptable service function". (more verbose than what I have time to type right now)
Result, the BBB will keep that black mark on Blizzard's record, with a note that Blizzard's response was "Unsatisfactory", and I'm off happily playing other MMOs.
I'll avoid it simply because the game's home page requires FLASH 8. If it's not possible to tell me about the game without unnecessary animations, it can't be that good a game to begin with.
Thing is, no one is going to pay $7/month each for every single thing they read/listen to/ smell. It's just not sustainable at that price point.
The jury's still out on Stern's influence on Sirius. I'd argue that he provides a much higher volume of content than the subject of this story, if not quality (I'm not a fan, but I'm aware)
"in the middle" ? I fucking doubt it. Keep telling yourself that it was a "left wing nut" that wrote this. I'm a Libertarian/Objectivist. and I don't see this article as "left wing" in the least.
Has more than a little to do with most California drivers being too fucking stupid to put the goddamned cell phone down and pay attention to driveing like they're supposed to be doing.
Don't expect to get that problem resolved, unless you play niche games for your mindset only. People don't like to LOSE what they have earned. Succesful publishers have learned this.
There is a market for games that have rulesets like you want. Those games will NEVER be dominant or top of their field. Players like you are a minority. I don't mean that as an insult. You like what you like, and I hope you can always find a game that will provide it. Just understand that the vast majority of paying players do not share your views, and never will.
The "butterflies" etc comments were unnecessary. Just because someone doesn't share your preferences in gameplay doesn't mean they're deserving of derisive remarks.
The heavy death penalty only flew with EQ because there was no other game available at the time that offered a similar experience without the pain. a Once other games came out without the severe penalties that corpse runs imposed, SoE was forced to change their tune.
There are players that enjoy suffering, on the theory that it makes their "acheivements" feel more important.
The vast majority of the MMO market, however, prefers to ENJOY their playtime.
I will never again play a game that makes me not want to take risks after about an hour before I plan to log out, because a mistake could mean I either stay up an hour or two later and retrieve my corpse, or let it evaporate and cripple my character by destroying (possibly irreplacable) items.
I especially would never play a game where another PLAYER could put me in that position without my consent.
I would be astonished if this game attracts a following much lrger than Shadowbane. Yes there is a niche market. It's a vocal one. It's just not as big as Brad seems to think.
SoE didn't remove the worst parts of "the Vision" from EQL on a whim. They did so because once competition entered the market, to do otherwise was to watch 95% of their player base migrate to other games overnight.
Given a choice, most players will NOT chose the most painful option.
I don't see a single place selling it that doesn't try to force a bundle sale. Wal-Mart, for instance shows the base and complete systems as out of stock, but happily offers several bundles.
Apparently consumers aren't as willing to have extra crap they don't want forced down their throats, especially when it pushes the total cost north of $600.
I'll be buying all three, 360, PS3 and Revolution, but I'm not going to be in such a hurry for any of them that I buy crap I don't need or want.
Excellent point. I wonder how popular Verizon ISP access would be if Google banned their subnet, and publicized the fact that Verizon customers would not be permitted to use Google search?
I console myself, given the climate in this crazy world, with knowing that someone crazier than me will start capping Telco Higher-ups in the back of the head if net access becomes unreasonably expensive as a result of these bastard demands.
You're getting paid already, fuckers. Don't get too greedy. There's a lot of really smart people out there that you REALLY don't want to piss off. Remember the Unibomber?
Think of a guy like the Unibomber that DOESN'T hate technology. I guarantee there'se someone out there like that who will be looking for Executives of companies that try to fuck the net for their own personal gain.
Just something that worries me based on my studies of those types when I was in college.
Smart people with a beef scare the shit out of me.
Maybe it was that BIT of the game he didn't want to repeat. Or maybe it had turned out the way he wanted it (random item drop or whatever) and was unlikely to do so again.
doesn't mean the game itself was onerous to play. In a game where "progress" is made, players generally don't like to have that progress taken away.
One other thing... by making the changes that were made a couple months ago, together with the timeline shift that's apparently coming, SoE is DESTROYING the investment that current players have made in their characters. In addition, they are causing non-players (such as my self) to decide to give the game a wide berth. I'm not about to start paying to play a game where absolutely everythign that I accomplish would be wiped out by a "direction change".
That shit might have flown for Horizons (for the more gullible players). From an established MMO publisher like SoE, it's nowhere near acceptable. If your team fucked up that bad on your design, Smed, just shut the doors, call it a day, and try not to fuck up on the next one.
Well SoE generally deserves bashing, so I guess that's a valid category.
Smed references EQ. Smed neglects to mention that they got away with most of the egrigious shit they pulled in EQ because they were at the time (effectively) the only game in town. Not so now. They're not even the biggest fish anymore.
SoE needs to change its attitude or it will join the many recently defunct also-rans in the "history" barrel. (at least in the MMO market)
Customers will not tollerate being shit on and call it mana from heaven anymore. They can get their crack from any dealer now, SoE. You're not special anymore.
Slashdot Mirror
I would have moved to a low population server in a heartbeat to avoid Queues. I do not pay to wait in line. If I'm queued up, I might be able to do something that doesn't involve my gaming computer, but I've essentially put any gaming time I might want to spend on hold once I enter the queue.
I was never given an opportunity to move, and I won't put up with a 5 minute queue, never mind a 30 minute one.
I cancelled my account, filed a complaint with the BBB in their operating area, and responded to their boilerplate response of "we don't guarantee 24/7 uptime" with "That's not my complaint, Blizzard is not providing a minimum standard of service as defined by every other MMO on the market, regarding availability. Queues are not an acceptable service function". (more verbose than what I have time to type right now)
Result, the BBB will keep that black mark on Blizzard's record, with a note that Blizzard's response was "Unsatisfactory", and I'm off happily playing other MMOs.
I'll avoid it simply because the game's home page requires FLASH 8. If it's not possible to tell me about the game without unnecessary animations, it can't be that good a game to begin with.
Thing is, no one is going to pay $7/month each for every single thing they read/listen to/ smell. It's just not sustainable at that price point.
The jury's still out on Stern's influence on Sirius. I'd argue that he provides a much higher volume of content than the subject of this story, if not quality (I'm not a fan, but I'm aware)
"in the middle" ? I fucking doubt it. Keep telling yourself that it was a "left wing nut" that wrote this. I'm a Libertarian/Objectivist. and I don't see this article as "left wing" in the least.
Has more than a little to do with most California drivers being too fucking stupid to put the goddamned cell phone down and pay attention to driveing like they're supposed to be doing.
And if it was my BEST gear that evaporated, I might as well quit. Having my character crippled is not a situation I want to PAY to play through.
Don't expect to get that problem resolved, unless you play niche games for your mindset only. People don't like to LOSE what they have earned. Succesful publishers have learned this.
There is a market for games that have rulesets like you want. Those games will NEVER be dominant or top of their field. Players like you are a minority. I don't mean that as an insult. You like what you like, and I hope you can always find a game that will provide it. Just understand that the vast majority of paying players do not share your views, and never will.
The "butterflies" etc comments were unnecessary. Just because someone doesn't share your preferences in gameplay doesn't mean they're deserving of derisive remarks.
The heavy death penalty only flew with EQ because there was no other game available at the time that offered a similar experience without the pain.
a
Once other games came out without the severe penalties that corpse runs imposed, SoE was forced to change their tune.
There are players that enjoy suffering, on the theory that it makes their "acheivements" feel more important.
The vast majority of the MMO market, however, prefers to ENJOY their playtime.
I will never again play a game that makes me not want to take risks after about an hour before I plan to log out, because a mistake could mean I either stay up an hour or two later and retrieve my corpse, or let it evaporate and cripple my character by destroying (possibly irreplacable) items.
I especially would never play a game where another PLAYER could put me in that position without my consent.
I would be astonished if this game attracts a following much lrger than Shadowbane. Yes there is a niche market. It's a vocal one. It's just not as big as Brad seems to think.
SoE didn't remove the worst parts of "the Vision" from EQL on a whim. They did so because once competition entered the market, to do otherwise was to watch 95% of their player base migrate to other games overnight.
Given a choice, most players will NOT chose the most painful option.
Oblivion is definitely the game I'm waiting for before getting an Xbox. I'll wind up getting the PC version too to get the user-made stuff.
I don't see a single place selling it that doesn't try to force a bundle sale. Wal-Mart, for instance shows the base and complete systems as out of stock, but happily offers several bundles.
Apparently consumers aren't as willing to have extra crap they don't want forced down their throats, especially when it pushes the total cost north of $600.
I'll be buying all three, 360, PS3 and Revolution, but I'm not going to be in such a hurry for any of them that I buy crap I don't need or want.
Excellent point. I wonder how popular Verizon ISP access would be if Google banned their subnet, and publicized the fact that Verizon customers would not be permitted to use Google search?
I console myself, given the climate in this crazy world, with knowing that someone crazier than me will start capping Telco Higher-ups in the back of the head if net access becomes unreasonably expensive as a result of these bastard demands.
You're getting paid already, fuckers. Don't get too greedy. There's a lot of really smart people out there that you REALLY don't want to piss off. Remember the Unibomber?
Think of a guy like the Unibomber that DOESN'T hate technology. I guarantee there'se someone out there like that who will be looking for Executives of companies that try to fuck the net for their own personal gain.
Just something that worries me based on my studies of those types when I was in college.
Smart people with a beef scare the shit out of me.
Interaction != Forced Grouping
I like having other people around in a game. I don't like being forced to rely on them.
I also like a dynamic world, with updates and content. A single player game does not offer that.
And yea, I do enjoy grouping with friends when our schedules permit.
What I will NOT do is have my activities in a passtime I pay to participate in dictated by how readily I can find a group.
And yet, if the theory, call it hypertime or whatever, is correct, myth or fiction is only defined by what is not local to your current time-line.
Not saying it's true, but if it turns out to be fact, it would make for yet another thing R.A.H. got right before anyone imagined it was possible.
Maybe it was that BIT of the game he didn't want to repeat. Or maybe it had turned out the way he wanted it (random item drop or whatever) and was unlikely to do so again.
doesn't mean the game itself was onerous to play. In a game where "progress" is made, players generally don't like to have that progress taken away.
Just a thought.
I think that's as in
"John Romero is to developing an MMO(G) as George Romero is to directing Romantic Comedies"
... but I'm putting fresh "No Fat Chicks in Bikinis" bumperstickers on my car, just to be on the safe side...
At the very least, it's going to leave a mark.
Well...It's nice to see Anna Nicole Smith have something to do in her retirement, isn't it?
Just as long as I'm devoured first. That way I avoid the horror the rest of you will experience.
I, for one, welcome our new Cthulhunoid Overlords.
One other thing... by making the changes that were made a couple months ago, together with the timeline shift that's apparently coming, SoE is DESTROYING the investment that current players have made in their characters. In addition, they are causing non-players (such as my self) to decide to give the game a wide berth. I'm not about to start paying to play a game where absolutely everythign that I accomplish would be wiped out by a "direction change".
That shit might have flown for Horizons (for the more gullible players). From an established MMO publisher like SoE, it's nowhere near acceptable. If your team fucked up that bad on your design, Smed, just shut the doors, call it a day, and try not to fuck up on the next one.
Well SoE generally deserves bashing, so I guess that's a valid category.
Smed references EQ. Smed neglects to mention that they got away with most of the egrigious shit they pulled in EQ because they were at the time (effectively) the only game in town. Not so now. They're not even the biggest fish anymore.
SoE needs to change its attitude or it will join the many recently defunct also-rans in the "history" barrel. (at least in the MMO market)
Customers will not tollerate being shit on and call it mana from heaven anymore. They can get their crack from any dealer now, SoE. You're not special anymore.
Ah, so you're OK with pushing YOUR moral standards on others then?
Hypocrite.
Many people do consider such things "part of the event."