You're both making the same mistake man has made for centuries: Assuming that the creator "God" is Good.
The Greeks had it right; God(s) can be petty, jealous, selfish, hateful creatures too. What does it tell you, that even the Christian Bible tells us "God created Man from his image."
Face it: your God's got ulterior motives. Doubt him.
In a PvE game, a developer character cheating for themselves is bad, but doesn't affect many people. In EvE, especially dealing in Alliance politics and warfare, a single cheater can affect the politica landscape for months or years. Wars are lost that affect thousands of people, not just Joe Botgrinder and Lee Yun Goldfarmer.
In EvE, a developer involved in major alliance politics doesn't even need to give themselves uber loot to gain an advantage. All they need is detailed intelligence of enemy troop movements, deployment strategies, starbase configurations, and operations. Spies typically show up in Local chat, so even if a covert ops ship (a spy) were to enter enemy territory, at least they'd know he was watching. But who can tell when a dev is peeking into your shield fuel to know exactly when to strike?
And, to be honest, the documentation in EvE is so out of date that just by having in-depth knowledge of how the system works is a huge advantage. Most of what has been posted in the forums as "documentation" was discovered by players through trial and error. Managing a capital fleet is the most critical element to success in taking over enemy territory, and the developer who was accused of cheating last time was one of those responsible for managing the *largest capital fleet in the game*.
While I don't agree with the level of response, I can certainly understand the outrage at these accusations. This isn't just the Goonfleet being goons, this is winnowing of trust at the highest levels from all involved.
It was the headlines about the GHSC corporate raid that initially drew my attention to Eve. The open-ended sandbox universe that Eve promised was what made the game so appealing, after so many contrived PvE grinds such as EQ and FFXI. Granted, there's still an initial grind, but once you're on your way you're not chasing the pack -- you're blazing your own trails.
That the Devs have given so much control of the universe over to the players is both a blessing and a curse. However, it creates a delicate balance between Role-Playing and Gaming for fun, that any hint of developer influence would shatter instantly. That's the problem we're seeing now -- faith in the "Openness" of the universe is in doubt, and any hint if impropriety will cause a huge backlash with the community. Several corporations have publicly stated that they want no part of any CCP player-character in their midst, as it might tarnish their accomplishments. Sadly, some corps have long-standing relationships with the development team, and by virtue of their prominence have drawn most of the attention in situations like this.
If the corporation in question were to publicly and definitively state that they do not want any Developers in their corporation, and for any currently active to step down immediately, I think that would satisfy the large majority of the discontent players now. But as long as they seemingly have an inside influence on the game mechanics and management, their reputation and that of CCP will always be that of cheaters, and the game will suffer accusations such as these accordingly.
Longevity does not mean that the Wii will be the dominant console in this race. All the metrics that they discussed "Will you be playing the Wii in a year from now?" depends on new content being created worth playing. As long as Nintendo is the only decent publisher of games for the system, the Wii can be a viable system for a long time without being "the winner".
Their handheld systems have clearly shown the demand for retro games, and their Virtual Console fits that bill perfectly. However, playing the Legend of Zelda circa-1988 for the tenth time does not mean the Wii is the greatest system of it's day. It only means that there's nothing better being created *now*.
The success of the Wii will fall to games such as Manhunt 2 and Resident Evil, which will be the true metrics of how this system will be remembered. And if it never gets the Star Wars-lightsaber game that the interface was clearly designed for, it will be a monumental disappointment no matter how many other games come out.
Or Orwell's 1984, or condoms, or steak knives, or spray paint, or crowbars, or chocolate covered peanut butter cups, or Eminem, or skateboards, or Red Bull, or Ozzy Ozbourne, or the Bible, or the Matrix, or bikinis and thongs, or pork rinds, or Paris Hilton, or hockey sticks, or scissors, or gold chains, or Orwell's Animal Farm, or makeup, or chainsaws, or...
There's a lot of things that can 'harm' a child. But narrow-minded authoritarians who manipulate the system for their own gain are by far the worst.
Back when AOTS was still watchable, they had on a beatboxer/live mixer called Kid Beyond. I was quite impressed, but I've never seen him live or really do much else outside that quick set. There's some videos of him over at Youtube if you're WMV-Impared and cant's check out his website.
Microsoft is embattled in a war for the entertainment market. They've won the office, but they're getting their asses handed to them in the living room and bedrooms of the world. Companies like Sony, Nintendo and Apple are vying for a huge chunk of change that's spent on music, movies and games. A chunk Microsoft wants a piece of.
The XBox is their foot in the door. It's not going to make Microsoft the dominant force in our living rooms, but with consoles taking on a more PC-esque feel they have every indication that their being left behind in a big way. If they don't do something, anything, to get themselves into the market now then when the tide turns and the choice for a home computer isn't between Dell or HP but a PS3 or a AppleTV, Microsoft needs to have their chips in place to have any stake at all in the new landscape.
And for that, they're willing to lose the few hundred million a quarter in the short term.
"Leading video games publisher and developer NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc. announced that The King of All Cosmos, everyone's favorite pint-sized Prince, and the whole wacky and wild Katamari crew will be making their hilarious next generation debut in Beautiful Katamari for the PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system and Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft later this year."
Still no compelling reason to invest in a PS3 if you've already got the Wii60.
The reason for the advanced degree of difficulty back in the 80's has nothing to do with technical limitations or artistic decisions. As with gaming today, it was primarily a financial decision.
Remember that back then most games originated in the Arcade, where each time you started a game it cost a quarter. Some games gave you the benefit of a few extra lives, which usually extended your playtime another minute or so. But the whole idea was to get you *off* the game as fast as possible, to let the next poor schlub drop their coin down the chute. People that could play games for minutes at a time without paying were considered Gods by the ordinary arcade dweller, and were rewarded by the games by proudly displaying the names of those high scorers.
Remember when games had *Scores*? Getting the high score was something worth bragging about. Seeing your initials at the top justified the hundreds of dollars spent in practice and the pursuit of glory. Unless you were one of those punks that entered A-S-S.
I've already been snookered, having bought both 1 and 2 for the PS2. Now they want me to pay another 90$ (180$ to match the set of guitars I have now) for content I already own, plus charge me 2$ a song?
Make the Xbox360 version backwards compatible with the older hardware, and sell the program at $39.99 or some reasonable fee, and we'll talk. Otherwise, see ya in GH3.
One thing to keep in mind is that these are the comments of the content *Producer*. Jaffe and crew don't see a dime in the success of Blu-Ray so he don't have to give a damn which media format wins. What he does have to be concerned with is the target console's market penetration -- not many devices to read his content in the homes, not much content gets sold.
When the things on the top-10 lists of the new formats are barely pushing 1000 units a week, what's the incentive to produce content on them? If I were selling something I'd made, I'd want to hit the biggest market possible. Right now, the prohibitive costs that the blu-ray format incurs on the PS3 console are limiting that market, so content producers are going to be understandably pissed. Unless Sony's subsidizing development costs for exclusive titles, which I doubt they'd do if they're already taking a hit on the consoles *and* taking licensing fees on the back end.
Slashdot Mirror
You're both making the same mistake man has made for centuries: Assuming that the creator "God" is Good.
The Greeks had it right; God(s) can be petty, jealous, selfish, hateful creatures too. What does it tell you, that even the Christian Bible tells us "God created Man from his image."
Face it: your God's got ulterior motives. Doubt him.
The only problem being is that with a carefully formed seed, they can make your encrypted message "Decrypt" into anything they want.
*two men carrying jars collide*
"Excuse me, but you've gotten your Garlic in my Chocolate Sauce!"
"Pardon? It was you who got your Chocolate Sauce in my Garlic!"
*both men taste their jars*
together: "YYYYYUCK!"
(just goes to show that not everything good tastes better when combined)
In a PvE game, a developer character cheating for themselves is bad, but doesn't affect many people. In EvE, especially dealing in Alliance politics and warfare, a single cheater can affect the politica landscape for months or years. Wars are lost that affect thousands of people, not just Joe Botgrinder and Lee Yun Goldfarmer.
In EvE, a developer involved in major alliance politics doesn't even need to give themselves uber loot to gain an advantage. All they need is detailed intelligence of enemy troop movements, deployment strategies, starbase configurations, and operations. Spies typically show up in Local chat, so even if a covert ops ship (a spy) were to enter enemy territory, at least they'd know he was watching. But who can tell when a dev is peeking into your shield fuel to know exactly when to strike?
And, to be honest, the documentation in EvE is so out of date that just by having in-depth knowledge of how the system works is a huge advantage. Most of what has been posted in the forums as "documentation" was discovered by players through trial and error. Managing a capital fleet is the most critical element to success in taking over enemy territory, and the developer who was accused of cheating last time was one of those responsible for managing the *largest capital fleet in the game*.
While I don't agree with the level of response, I can certainly understand the outrage at these accusations. This isn't just the Goonfleet being goons, this is winnowing of trust at the highest levels from all involved.
It was the headlines about the GHSC corporate raid that initially drew my attention to Eve. The open-ended sandbox universe that Eve promised was what made the game so appealing, after so many contrived PvE grinds such as EQ and FFXI. Granted, there's still an initial grind, but once you're on your way you're not chasing the pack -- you're blazing your own trails.
That the Devs have given so much control of the universe over to the players is both a blessing and a curse. However, it creates a delicate balance between Role-Playing and Gaming for fun, that any hint of developer influence would shatter instantly. That's the problem we're seeing now -- faith in the "Openness" of the universe is in doubt, and any hint if impropriety will cause a huge backlash with the community. Several corporations have publicly stated that they want no part of any CCP player-character in their midst, as it might tarnish their accomplishments. Sadly, some corps have long-standing relationships with the development team, and by virtue of their prominence have drawn most of the attention in situations like this.
If the corporation in question were to publicly and definitively state that they do not want any Developers in their corporation, and for any currently active to step down immediately, I think that would satisfy the large majority of the discontent players now. But as long as they seemingly have an inside influence on the game mechanics and management, their reputation and that of CCP will always be that of cheaters, and the game will suffer accusations such as these accordingly.
Longevity does not mean that the Wii will be the dominant console in this race. All the metrics that they discussed "Will you be playing the Wii in a year from now?" depends on new content being created worth playing. As long as Nintendo is the only decent publisher of games for the system, the Wii can be a viable system for a long time without being "the winner".
Their handheld systems have clearly shown the demand for retro games, and their Virtual Console fits that bill perfectly. However, playing the Legend of Zelda circa-1988 for the tenth time does not mean the Wii is the greatest system of it's day. It only means that there's nothing better being created *now*.
The success of the Wii will fall to games such as Manhunt 2 and Resident Evil, which will be the true metrics of how this system will be remembered. And if it never gets the Star Wars-lightsaber game that the interface was clearly designed for, it will be a monumental disappointment no matter how many other games come out.
In Tron, didn't the CEO guy have the display built into his office desk, with a recessed membrane-style keyboard?
Granted it only displayed VT-100, but it was still the first example I remember of a useful PC built into the furniture.
(yes, those old coctail arcade machines were cool (especially tennis) but I don't consider them a "PC")
Or Orwell's 1984, or condoms, or steak knives, or spray paint, or crowbars, or chocolate covered peanut butter cups, or Eminem, or skateboards, or Red Bull, or Ozzy Ozbourne, or the Bible, or the Matrix, or bikinis and thongs, or pork rinds, or Paris Hilton, or hockey sticks, or scissors, or gold chains, or Orwell's Animal Farm, or makeup, or chainsaws, or...
There's a lot of things that can 'harm' a child. But narrow-minded authoritarians who manipulate the system for their own gain are by far the worst.
Get this ... there's this sport that features people who run around a field, and there's no ball at all!
How Zen is THAT shit?
If you want to just grind infinitely for free, might I suggest ProgressQuest?
Yeah, because the idea of a standardized console platform was so successful before.
Back when AOTS was still watchable, they had on a beatboxer/live mixer called Kid Beyond. I was quite impressed, but I've never seen him live or really do much else outside that quick set. There's some videos of him over at Youtube if you're WMV-Impared and cant's check out his website.
Now Slugworth will be able to produce an inferior and cheaper version of the Everlasting Gobstopper!
Microsoft is embattled in a war for the entertainment market. They've won the office, but they're getting their asses handed to them in the living room and bedrooms of the world. Companies like Sony, Nintendo and Apple are vying for a huge chunk of change that's spent on music, movies and games. A chunk Microsoft wants a piece of.
The XBox is their foot in the door. It's not going to make Microsoft the dominant force in our living rooms, but with consoles taking on a more PC-esque feel they have every indication that their being left behind in a big way. If they don't do something, anything, to get themselves into the market now then when the tide turns and the choice for a home computer isn't between Dell or HP but a PS3 or a AppleTV, Microsoft needs to have their chips in place to have any stake at all in the new landscape.
And for that, they're willing to lose the few hundred million a quarter in the short term.
Even if the ship sinks after being rolled down the pier, as long as it's *in* the water, technically it's a successful launch.
By that comparison, 3D0, the Sega CD, Atari Jaguar, and the Intellivision II all had successful launches.
From a recent NAMBCO/BANDAI press release:
"Leading video games publisher and developer NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc. announced that The King of All Cosmos, everyone's favorite pint-sized Prince, and the whole wacky and wild Katamari crew will be making their hilarious next generation debut in Beautiful Katamari for the PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system and Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft later this year."
Still no compelling reason to invest in a PS3 if you've already got the Wii60.
In New Jersey, their governors don't have any speed limit...
So they've come up with a theory to test the proposal that would give a clue as to what....umm, what were talking about again?
Have they ever fixed the attachment joining issue that's been solved in most other news readers since 2000?
Maybe they should have hired Erin Brockovich to do their research.
Why not just ban matches?
The reason for the advanced degree of difficulty back in the 80's has nothing to do with technical limitations or artistic decisions. As with gaming today, it was primarily a financial decision.
Remember that back then most games originated in the Arcade, where each time you started a game it cost a quarter. Some games gave you the benefit of a few extra lives, which usually extended your playtime another minute or so. But the whole idea was to get you *off* the game as fast as possible, to let the next poor schlub drop their coin down the chute. People that could play games for minutes at a time without paying were considered Gods by the ordinary arcade dweller, and were rewarded by the games by proudly displaying the names of those high scorers.
Remember when games had *Scores*? Getting the high score was something worth bragging about. Seeing your initials at the top justified the hundreds of dollars spent in practice and the pursuit of glory. Unless you were one of those punks that entered A-S-S.
Hack & Slash, an RPG door game for the CNet Amiga BBS system. One of my favorite online games of all time!
I've already been snookered, having bought both 1 and 2 for the PS2. Now they want me to pay another 90$ (180$ to match the set of guitars I have now) for content I already own, plus charge me 2$ a song?
Make the Xbox360 version backwards compatible with the older hardware, and sell the program at $39.99 or some reasonable fee, and we'll talk. Otherwise, see ya in GH3.
One thing to keep in mind is that these are the comments of the content *Producer*. Jaffe and crew don't see a dime in the success of Blu-Ray so he don't have to give a damn which media format wins. What he does have to be concerned with is the target console's market penetration -- not many devices to read his content in the homes, not much content gets sold.
When the things on the top-10 lists of the new formats are barely pushing 1000 units a week, what's the incentive to produce content on them? If I were selling something I'd made, I'd want to hit the biggest market possible. Right now, the prohibitive costs that the blu-ray format incurs on the PS3 console are limiting that market, so content producers are going to be understandably pissed. Unless Sony's subsidizing development costs for exclusive titles, which I doubt they'd do if they're already taking a hit on the consoles *and* taking licensing fees on the back end.