It was not the waste of money that was sad, it was the time and effort to get on to the servers to sit and watch people dance! It was the insanity of the original quest system. It was the hour or three to login.
Time may heal all wounds, but this game bit a hole deep and wide in the psyche of this gamer. Pray for SW:TOR.
BFG - named for the Big F@&#ing gun from Doom, was made by gamers for gamers and set the standard in the industry for the product warranty and return. For years it was the only brand of card I would buy. As ATI began to equal nVida chips and the BFG standard warranty became the norm, it was easy to find cheaper yet comparable cards. I swore by BFG as they swore by gamers. Somewhere this broke down perhaps for some or all of the reasons mentioned here may be why, but I want to thank BFG for setting a higher standard for the industry years ago when they entered the market.
When you can watch everything - like google street view - snow crash's Gargoyles get closer to reality. The fact that so many have searched for cool things to see in such a huge amount of data is an indicator of what people will search through it.
Yes there is - we have the Sprint PCMCIA version and I made sure we got one Sprint USB 2.0 mobile broadband device. The USB based device has come in handy for machines that need the PCMCI slot for something else and speeds seem to be about the same. (Sorry no timings/speeds.)
I was praying that Dungeons & Dragons Online would take my spouse and me away from World of Warcraft. We still vacation in Azeroth!
All year, I expected to be playing BF 2142 this fall - But BF 2 is still better.
I expected GT 4 to be good and it so rocked! (2005 relase: Yes but I only got it this year!)
I never saw Marvel: Ultimate Alliance coming and now my daughter, my spouse and I have played together over the Christmas break!
I expected to never touch Guitar, but I am now looking to buy GH2. I watched a 50 something play it for her first time and she kicked ass. It was scary! Now I must have it.
I expected to play Neverwinter Nights 2 with my spouse! But perhaps we did not stay long enough for the patch to 1.03 as mentioned, but the box is now gathering dust.
I played more Fate this year than I ever thought I would - Nethack clone. It was better than I expected. Not sure when this was actually released.
The expansions for BF 2 were better than I expected.
I played too much Apples to Apples and Hoopla because they were SO good! Board/Card Games.
Hopes for 2007 - In MY Particular Order:
Lord of the Rings Online Silent Hunter 4: Wolves of the Pacific UT 2007 HellGate Vanguard: Saga of Heroes Bioshock Spore WoW Expansion: Burning Crusade HL2 Episode 2 & 3 Enemy Territory: Quake Wars Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning Panzer Elite Action Team Fortress 2 Far Cry Expansion Pack Shadowrun Silverfall Pirates of the Burning Sea Soul of the Ultimate Nation Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness Another Game that kicks as much ass as WoW did.
Things I hope we hear more on:
Diablo 3 Apples to Apples & Hoopla Expansions A Good Camera Perspective (FP?) for NWN2 HackMaster RPG or MMORPG Travelers MMORPG or RPG
So more important to me is will we get slow glass out of this? Slow glass is glass that light can take really (years) long periods to pass through. The idea for slow glass comes from a great short story by the late Bob Shaw called Light of Other Days. See the full text at:
"We all do no end of feeling and we mistake it for thinking. And out of it we get an aggregation which we consider a boon. It's name is public opinion. It is held in reverence. It settles everything. Some think it is the voice of God." -- Mark Twain
In grad school, my wife got me a poster to remind me why I was there:
"Loyalty to petrified opinion never yet broke a chain or freed a human soul." Mark Twain
Later I understood more and saw a relationship between the first and the second.
All of the people you listed were ridiculed by someone or group. All. Many others have heald to their beliefs and fell flat.
So the question is, is Gore the new Cassandra (who was "the Trojan seeress who uttered true prophecies, but lacking the power of persuasion, was never believed.")
I am good with being a bit more conservative and trying to change the situation with a risk to the global economy regardless of the cause. But I am a white male and I live in the US and have a good job. Perhaps this would not be my perspective in Calcutta or Beijing or Lagos.
The Jetties at the end of Port Canaveral
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Watching a Space Shot?
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· Score: 2, Interesting
Back in the day, the whole school would go out to watch "public" launches. Amazingly enough, everyone new when less public launches went up too!;-)
Titusville is just West of the launch pads for the shuttles. You should be able to see the launch well from the coast looking east anywhere. Today, the launch sites are harder to see from where I grew up. It's like everything swelled!
From the Jetties you will see the rocket go up, but I am not sure you will see the shuttle on the pad from that place. But as mentioned above, a night launch is best close to the water.
But if you are going for another rocket launch or just want the beauty of being on the ocean and not the Banana River, go to the Jetties, get there a day ahead so you can drive around and see what you can see. If that is still a good spot and there is a crowd, you could walk down to the Jetties from Cape View - looks like there is more parking now. Make a day of it and just picnic. The Pier in Cocoa Beach (off Meade Avenue) is another good place to go. It juts far enough out into the Ocean for you to see down the coast.
Enjoy! I was 6-12 when I was there and it never occurred to me then how important and world altering the Apollo project was. As ignorant as I was then, I remember perfectly, standing in awe as Apollo 11 went up.
We camped out at the Jetties. The mosquito plane flew over and dumped orange stuff in my cereal that morning. When 11 finally went up, people cried. They were joyous and amazed. And then it was gone. Prior to launch it was like a party, after, it was quite and everyone was listening. All we had was the radio and TV to tell us if those three made it into space.
Days(?) later, when the Eagle touched down, I had just walked into the Laundromat with my mom and sisters. It was (is?) located at the confluence of Atlantic and Astronaut and Monroe. The black and white TV had interrupted the soap opera. The Lunar Lander was out of fuel. No one was in the place but us. The news guy was scared. Mom and I just starred at the box with our arms full of laundry. She cried again when it landed. Safely.
That night, she woke me up. She did not want me to miss the rocket's passengers, walking out onto the lunar soil, into history. The first man walked on the moon. I was a foot from the screen. I had no idea how far they had gone.
As the TV screen cut from scene to scene all over the world, people were starring at TVs. Men had landed on the Moon, and everyone paused. I was moved by this event like nothing before. Everyone, not just the folks in Cape Canaveral where it all started, were holding their breath too, stopping their lives to watch three very brave men (and for those who know of Apollo 1, the host who toiled and sacrificed to lead the way before them) do something as simple as exit a vehicle.
One guy had to stay behind. Alone, orbiting the Moon, going completely dark from humanity for a time, over and over, until his buddies finally got back into their ride home.
I guess until now, I never thought of these days. But I remember the parade, sometime later, down Astronaut Blvd. with the three in a convertible and all the people that had worked behind the scenes to put them there, waving in joy at their safe return. It never seemed that anyone took the time to thank all the folks that never got there name in the spot light; who did their jobs to put men on the moon. But that day, I think the three were thanking the many.
Wow - where the hell did all that come from??? Hope I answered your question in there somewhere.
Ok - has any body seen or touched this new tool, NetEnforcer? All this coding back and forth here on/. is taking time away from one of you brilliant "coders" creating a "work around" to fix this potential problem. Someone? Anyone? Bueller?
I envisioned Zeus coming down from Mount Olympus in Mosquito form. Hooking up with a hot little female mosquito he saw from above. Then procreating a little mosquito version of Hercules.
But not when the public is to afraid to respond with forethought! Sometimes, we need the age of our Senators to play its very real and calculated role and tell everyone the dangers of "guilty until proven innocent." Per Ben they may deserve neither security or freedom, but we still must tell the public loudly and frequently why we must check this encrouchment of our liberty for fear of where it may take us.
Perhaps X-Men 3 could play a role in this discussion?
This game was so radically different. It was the first game/quest that came to my mind. I honestly thought that this game set a standard that has not been tested since. And many of us are impatiently waiting!!!
KotOR, more recently, was awesome in having me become a Jedi. It was just overwhelming emotionally for me, as silly as that sounds. Building my own light saber and heading out to save the universe was secondary.
Finally the first GM sponsored event I participated in UO. Some small coastal town was being overrun by demons. GM characters were calling for help. People ran to the town to participate. We could not stop them from popping in and they just kept coming. This still brings me and my very old friends smiles.
Just as you would never pay to see those movies, they would never let you see those movies for free. I believe that's fair enough.
The assumption is that you can not see it for free, the argument is lost on this medium. Broadcast or not, I can lend my books, movies, music, and some but not all of my software legally. Some of these items (no software I have personally seen yet) are also available at my local public library for free, no friends needed.
This to me is a false understanding of opportunity costs. We must question the assumed limit to how the medium is shared and NOT purchased/rented in factoring lost revenue in accounting. How much should this reduce the producers assumed phantom accounting losses? And who sets this amount?
Personally, I have handed out many of my original games (after wiping them from my hard drive) to a friend or colleague to play/use. I had made the investment, why can not they share in it with me? In some cases I have allowed the new recipient to share in the original cost, but only of their own free will. This "cost sharing" concept is at the basis of law and community in our history. God Bless Benjamin Franklin!
The battle between consumer and producer has waged swinging back and forth for years. Currently, I feel in this area we are moving away from the consumer toward the producer. Don't get me wrong, there is always a loss to the producing company's potential revenue with copying. But to what limit/extreme should this be handled in accounting practices?
With reference to software/movies/audio, the issue is in the copying, was the copy of the media retained? Would this cause a loss of a funds through sale or rental?
The producer has too much leverage under current law over the consumer, IMHO. The production is a risk, but no one credits the risk of the consumer. When a consumer can take a POS game/movie back to the store and get ALL of their MONEY back, then we will see a drop in the need for copy protection because we will have an increase in consumer protection!
This quote from the Times article just killed me. "It may continue to grow in China," Mr. Pachter added, "but not in Europe or the U.S. We don't need the imaginary outlet to feel a sense of accomplishment here. It just doesn't work in the U.S. It just doesn't make any sense." Is this guy clueless or is it just me? What does a multi-billion industy have to do to get a little respect?
What do movies and TV do for people again? In games, we get the story, some escape, and we get a sense of accomplishment too. So what is Mr. Pachter trying to say?
I say stay tuned, keep playing and ignore Wedbush Morgan. They have no imagination.
How Adult Entertainment Leads Inovation
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Pornified
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· Score: 2, Interesting
The above link is an interesting discussion/review from a perspective of innovation, that suggests that sex appears to have driven some tech. Perhaps not from nothing (big bang reference not fully squelched) into existence, but certainly the direction of the tech. Some tech listed in the discussion included the Polaroid camera, the low light settings on video cameras, phone sex, interactive sex CDs/games, and teledildonics. Yes you read that correctly. Think Internet connected body suits for long distance sex sessions.
The Holodeck is far off in the ST:NG universe. But did we really think Picard only played Film Nior Mystery games in there? Would the average user?
Most of the games I play with my computer today are not that prurient. Perhaps after a quick fling in the Holodeck, like most people I bet, the reigning obsession would be the hero in Battlefield 2 or a great mage in the World of Warcraft or Diablo universe.
Sure perhaps after winning the big battle or after a hard day of magic, I might want to have a bevy of buxom beauties (or a hill of handsome hunks) surrounding me, but only until the next real challenge in the Holodeck.
Since this is not one of Cowboy Neal's questions, I DO get to complain about missing options!
I would have compared 'in game' events. Although I do not miss Ultima Online, I do miss the in game events. I miss these from the MUD RPG days too. But in Ultima, there were many in game events that just added a little something to the game. Once, many huge daemons invaded a smaller town and people raced to get to the event, mostly to simply die a bunch and tell the tale later! Others were one and two high level creatures that just needed slaying to save a city/town. In some of the early pay-to-play MUD RP Games, they actually had planned DM run events with special prizes and in-game and meta-game rewards.
Everquest also had some major events, but they did not have that same feeling of interaction that these others had. And as I played more, these became fewer. (I think the over concern for the Play Balance and fairness to casual players, lost EQ my vote down the road.) I can just imagine the boards 5 minutes after a higher, tougher daemon showed up in place of a raid camped dragon. Few would get a 'kick' out of the DMs 'adjustment' to further challenge them.
I like playing MMORP games just fine, but I live for the planned, DM run events. CoH has had events (not sure if they were DM run) and even triggers that you may not be ready for built into the code. As for rewards for events, they have put in the concept of Badges (they show as titles) to allow for special events adding something to your character. Even if it is so simple, it made the players I know feel special. (Increased morale, more months paying and playing?)
There has been a lot of discussion on Role Playing from the 'server' perspective, but what of a reward perspective. Your co-players may reward you, but with role playing, I associate DMs and planned events. The generic, scripted pulp is great, but Role Playing Games are about the interaction with the story teller. When you lose that, I am not sure what you get, but it does not have the flavor I have grown accustomed to years before Computers' played D&D. And yes, I understand that computers have limitations. 'grin'
With Morrowind (et all), it is all static and triggered. With an online RPG, you CAN have interaction. With the First Vampire the Masquerade and all of the Neverwinter Nights games, you had great potential for this! This potential exists in MMORPGs, it just doesn't seemed to be realized on the scale that is possible. I bought VtM and NWN solely to encourage them because they attempted the cutting edge even if the games were not enjoyable to my family and friends.
The challenge to make the game be a shared adventure multitudes can play and still personal to you, the player, is for me, the key to great gaming. To do it in this light, Computers alone are still not there and staff time is cost prohibitive (at least according to my spouse.)
When you can have a fighter, put on a ring of normal fire resistance, self-immolate, command the party to run, and then grapple the regenerating troll to save said party, you have a role playing game. Short of this, you have a nice man with a long white beard, but still no Santa.
Sorry for the long winded post, I guess I had something to say on this topic!;-) Thanks for taking the time to read it.
As an older gamer, it meant a lot to me to play the original UT and watch my stats. I was not looking for a way to build my stats per se but I looked for players that were better than me and I would get in games with them. I worked to beat them and get better. Not to arbitrarily raise my stats, but to actually get better in the game.
When I finally broke the top 1,000 I called all my friends. For me it was as one player described what EXP is to an RPG player, stats were for me in UT.
Grandmar was not so important to me in any of my liberal arts degrees (UG or Grad). But thank God for Grammar and Spell Checks.
I really enjoyed the Trick or Treating Halloween Weekend. When and how did the idea come about? Was this something that was planned from the start of the game or was it an after thought?
Wow - Car Wars without the Card Board! Autoduel was nice, but I wanted to play others without the cardboard and turn taking. But I still hope it is more turn baed then RTS.
This could be a lot of fun. Now they need to do the same thing with Star Fleet Battles!;-)
Peace,
PaGeN
From CRPG/MMORPGs to D&D Circa - 1977
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D&D Is 30
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· Score: 1
I guess I came to D&D a little differently, but today all but 5 of my best friends play D&D. Those 5 play Ultimate with me and one is brother of aFanatasy artisit! I have known one of my D&D buddies since 1980. I met him in 1980 at Texas A&M while on my orientation. My folks and I came in the the MSC (Student Union) and I begged my parents to let me join them. For some reason, they said yes. I guess they wanted me to make friends. I remmber after that, my Dad told me I was not sent to college to play games. Greg was my best man at my wedding. And all three of the guys in the wedding were RP Gamers.
In High School, I had acccess to a PLATO-IV terminal. I played Orthanc and the Mines of Moria (http://compmuseum.narod.ru/history/gam_hist/5-3.h tml). One day after this in Nan's Toy Store in the Galaria Mall in Houston, Texas, I saw the first boxed set of D&D. I bought it on the spot. What I would not give now to have that box and its contents today.
In HS I played some, but it was never as cool as opening that box the first day and playing the adventure. After that, I was the default D/GM because I had read the rules. But all these HS kids were posers! In college, I found the serious RP Gamers. So serious, I played only with the fringe groups (what an image - fringe gamers). I was not seroius enough to commit to and last through a campaign. In Grad School, I became a D/GM for Warhammer RPG and Earthdawn. Even after I started my career, we continued to play.
I really don't remember the games as much as I do the friendships. But the legends that came from the games, they will last forever. Some I was part of, while others I sat and listened to for hours. For me, it was like living a book and meeting the characters.
In Grad School, one of my roommates and later groomsmen, wrote a computer game and years later sold his company for millions. I remember my Dad asking me if I could use all that time I had spent playing games to make money like my friend. (Parents - now I am one.);-)
At 42 years old, I run a campaign of 3e for a 15 year old (my daughter), an 18 year old and a 13 year old (kids in my Sunday School Class), two of my 30 something year old gaming buddies, my wonderful wife of 11 years, and the father of the other two kids who has been playing longer then I have.
Now D&D is a family event. Good play is rewarded, from a parental perspective. Lessons are built into the adventure. Often times they are filled with ethical dilemas and role models.
I played 2 years of EQ and loved it, but our communal life interfered with my wife and me having play time. Now we shoot for once a month, and balance the time against school work, movies and the mall.
I plan on playing some CoH with my friends and see how far I get. But I doubt I will ever stop playing D&D. I can not imagine it. I keep looking around as my daughter gets older, to see who I will recruit next. Perhaps I can transform a poker night somewhere with my coworkers?
Slashdot Mirror
Daily as I make and eat breakfast, workout and shower:
1. NPR Hourly News Summary
2. Marketplace Tech by American Public Media (APM)
3. The Writer’s Almanac
4. NPR Story of the Day
Weekly on my 30 plus minute commute each way:
1. The Moth Podcast
2. StoryCorps
3. Two Guys On Your Head
4. RadioLab
5. This American Life
6. Risk!
7. Improv Nerd
8. On Being
When they have shows:
1. Serial
2. Codebreakers
2. NPR Technology Podcast
Good Riddance!
It was not the waste of money that was sad, it was the time and effort to get on to the servers to sit and watch people dance! It was the insanity of the original quest system. It was the hour or three to login.
Time may heal all wounds, but this game bit a hole deep and wide in the psyche of this gamer. Pray for SW:TOR.
Skynet is coming. Accept our robot overlords; until we have time travel anyway!
BFG - named for the Big F@&#ing gun from Doom, was made by gamers for gamers and set the standard in the industry for the product warranty and return. For years it was the only brand of card I would buy. As ATI began to equal nVida chips and the BFG standard warranty became the norm, it was easy to find cheaper yet comparable cards. I swore by BFG as they swore by gamers. Somewhere this broke down perhaps for some or all of the reasons mentioned here may be why, but I want to thank BFG for setting a higher standard for the industry years ago when they entered the market.
When you can watch everything - like google street view - snow crash's Gargoyles get closer to reality. The fact that so many have searched for cool things to see in such a huge amount of data is an indicator of what people will search through it.
Yes there is - we have the Sprint PCMCIA version and I made sure we got one Sprint USB 2.0 mobile broadband device. The USB based device has come in handy for machines that need the PCMCI slot for something else and speeds seem to be about the same. (Sorry no timings/speeds.)
I am imagining the WSJ or the NYT offering up their stuff after 10 years! Imagine Slashdot in the year 2100! This stuff could be worth somethin! ;-)
I was praying that Dungeons & Dragons Online would take my spouse and me away from World of Warcraft. We still vacation in Azeroth!
All year, I expected to be playing BF 2142 this fall - But BF 2 is still better.
I expected GT 4 to be good and it so rocked! (2005 relase: Yes but I only got it this year!)
I never saw Marvel: Ultimate Alliance coming and now my daughter, my spouse and I have played together over the Christmas break!
I expected to never touch Guitar, but I am now looking to buy GH2. I watched a 50 something play it for her first time and she kicked ass. It was scary! Now I must have it.
I expected to play Neverwinter Nights 2 with my spouse! But perhaps we did not stay long enough for the patch to 1.03 as mentioned, but the box is now gathering dust.
I played more Fate this year than I ever thought I would - Nethack clone. It was better than I expected. Not sure when this was actually released.
The expansions for BF 2 were better than I expected.
I played too much Apples to Apples and Hoopla because they were SO good! Board/Card Games.
Hopes for 2007 - In MY Particular Order:
Lord of the Rings Online
Silent Hunter 4: Wolves of the Pacific
UT 2007
HellGate
Vanguard: Saga of Heroes
Bioshock
Spore
WoW Expansion: Burning Crusade
HL2 Episode 2 & 3
Enemy Territory: Quake Wars
Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning
Panzer Elite Action
Team Fortress 2
Far Cry Expansion Pack
Shadowrun
Silverfall
Pirates of the Burning Sea
Soul of the Ultimate Nation
Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness
Another Game that kicks as much ass as WoW did.
Things I hope we hear more on:
Diablo 3
Apples to Apples & Hoopla Expansions
A Good Camera Perspective (FP?) for NWN2
HackMaster RPG or MMORPG
Travelers MMORPG or RPG
Peace,
PaGeN
So more important to me is will we get slow glass out of this? Slow glass is glass that light can take really (years) long periods to pass through. The idea for slow glass comes from a great short story by the late Bob Shaw called Light of Other Days. See the full text at:
_ archive/shaw/shaw1.html
http://www.scifi.com/scifiction/classics/classics
And could slow glass function as a "type" of invisibility or camouflage in this context?
Thanks,
PaGeN
"We all do no end of feeling and we mistake it for thinking. And out of it we get an aggregation which we consider a boon. It's name is public opinion. It is held in reverence. It settles everything. Some think it is the voice of God."
-- Mark Twain
In grad school, my wife got me a poster to remind me why I was there:
"Loyalty to petrified opinion never yet broke a chain or freed a human soul." Mark Twain
Later I understood more and saw a relationship between the first and the second.
All of the people you listed were ridiculed by someone or group. All. Many others have heald to their beliefs and fell flat.
So the question is, is Gore the new Cassandra (who was "the Trojan seeress who uttered true prophecies, but lacking the power of persuasion, was never believed.")
I am good with being a bit more conservative and trying to change the situation with a risk to the global economy regardless of the cause. But I am a white male and I live in the US and have a good job. Perhaps this would not be my perspective in Calcutta or Beijing or Lagos.
Where I Grew Up.
e ,+Cape+Canaveral,+FL
;-)
I grew up ('68-'74) in Cape Canaveral. I lived longest just South of Cape View Elementary, which I attended, in the 500 block of Adams Ave. http://maps.google.com/maps?oi=map&q=559+Adams+Av
Back in the day, the whole school would go out to watch "public" launches. Amazingly enough, everyone new when less public launches went up too!
Titusville is just West of the launch pads for the shuttles. You should be able to see the launch well from the coast looking east anywhere. Today, the launch sites are harder to see from where I grew up. It's like everything swelled!
From the Jetties you will see the rocket go up, but I am not sure you will see the shuttle on the pad from that place. But as mentioned above, a night launch is best close to the water.
But if you are going for another rocket launch or just want the beauty of being on the ocean and not the Banana River, go to the Jetties, get there a day ahead so you can drive around and see what you can see. If that is still a good spot and there is a crowd, you could walk down to the Jetties from Cape View - looks like there is more parking now. Make a day of it and just picnic. The Pier in Cocoa Beach (off Meade Avenue) is another good place to go. It juts far enough out into the Ocean for you to see down the coast.
Enjoy! I was 6-12 when I was there and it never occurred to me then how important and world altering the Apollo project was. As ignorant as I was then, I remember perfectly, standing in awe as Apollo 11 went up.
We camped out at the Jetties. The mosquito plane flew over and dumped orange stuff in my cereal that morning. When 11 finally went up, people cried. They were joyous and amazed. And then it was gone. Prior to launch it was like a party, after, it was quite and everyone was listening. All we had was the radio and TV to tell us if those three made it into space.
Days(?) later, when the Eagle touched down, I had just walked into the Laundromat with my mom and sisters. It was (is?) located at the confluence of Atlantic and Astronaut and Monroe. The black and white TV had interrupted the soap opera. The Lunar Lander was out of fuel. No one was in the place but us. The news guy was scared. Mom and I just starred at the box with our arms full of laundry. She cried again when it landed. Safely.
That night, she woke me up. She did not want me to miss the rocket's passengers, walking out onto the lunar soil, into history. The first man walked on the moon. I was a foot from the screen. I had no idea how far they had gone.
As the TV screen cut from scene to scene all over the world, people were starring at TVs. Men had landed on the Moon, and everyone paused. I was moved by this event like nothing before. Everyone, not just the folks in Cape Canaveral where it all started, were holding their breath too, stopping their lives to watch three very brave men (and for those who know of Apollo 1, the host who toiled and sacrificed to lead the way before them) do something as simple as exit a vehicle.
One guy had to stay behind. Alone, orbiting the Moon, going completely dark from humanity for a time, over and over, until his buddies finally got back into their ride home.
I guess until now, I never thought of these days. But I remember the parade, sometime later, down Astronaut Blvd. with the three in a convertible and all the people that had worked behind the scenes to put them there, waving in joy at their safe return. It never seemed that anyone took the time to thank all the folks that never got there name in the spot light; who did their jobs to put men on the moon. But that day, I think the three were thanking the many.
Wow - where the hell did all that come from??? Hope I answered your question in there somewhere.
Ok - has any body seen or touched this new tool, NetEnforcer? All this coding back and forth here on /. is taking time away from one of you brilliant "coders" creating a "work around" to fix this potential problem. Someone? Anyone? Bueller?
Don't look at me, I don't hack or code.
I envisioned Zeus coming down from Mount Olympus in Mosquito form. Hooking up with a hot little female mosquito he saw from above. Then procreating a little mosquito version of Hercules.
:-)
But which ever Inteligent Design you like!
But not when the public is to afraid to respond with forethought! Sometimes, we need the age of our Senators to play its very real and calculated role and tell everyone the dangers of "guilty until proven innocent." Per Ben they may deserve neither security or freedom, but we still must tell the public loudly and frequently why we must check this encrouchment of our liberty for fear of where it may take us.
Perhaps X-Men 3 could play a role in this discussion?
PaGeN
This game was so radically different. It was the first game/quest that came to my mind. I honestly thought that this game set a standard that has not been tested since. And many of us are impatiently waiting!!!
KotOR, more recently, was awesome in having me become a Jedi. It was just overwhelming emotionally for me, as silly as that sounds. Building my own light saber and heading out to save the universe was secondary.
Finally the first GM sponsored event I participated in UO. Some small coastal town was being overrun by demons. GM characters were calling for help. People ran to the town to participate. We could not stop them from popping in and they just kept coming. This still brings me and my very old friends smiles.
The assumption is that you can not see it for free, the argument is lost on this medium. Broadcast or not, I can lend my books, movies, music, and some but not all of my software legally. Some of these items (no software I have personally seen yet) are also available at my local public library for free, no friends needed.
This to me is a false understanding of opportunity costs. We must question the assumed limit to how the medium is shared and NOT purchased/rented in factoring lost revenue in accounting. How much should this reduce the producers assumed phantom accounting losses? And who sets this amount?
Personally, I have handed out many of my original games (after wiping them from my hard drive) to a friend or colleague to play/use. I had made the investment, why can not they share in it with me? In some cases I have allowed the new recipient to share in the original cost, but only of their own free will. This "cost sharing" concept is at the basis of law and community in our history. God Bless Benjamin Franklin!
The battle between consumer and producer has waged swinging back and forth for years. Currently, I feel in this area we are moving away from the consumer toward the producer. Don't get me wrong, there is always a loss to the producing company's potential revenue with copying. But to what limit/extreme should this be handled in accounting practices?
With reference to software/movies/audio, the issue is in the copying, was the copy of the media retained? Would this cause a loss of a funds through sale or rental?
The producer has too much leverage under current law over the consumer, IMHO. The production is a risk, but no one credits the risk of the consumer. When a consumer can take a POS game/movie back to the store and get ALL of their MONEY back, then we will see a drop in the need for copy protection because we will have an increase in consumer protection!
This quote from the Times article just killed me. "It may continue to grow in China," Mr. Pachter added, "but not in Europe or the U.S. We don't need the imaginary outlet to feel a sense of accomplishment here. It just doesn't work in the U.S. It just doesn't make any sense." Is this guy clueless or is it just me? What does a multi-billion industy have to do to get a little respect?
What do movies and TV do for people again? In games, we get the story, some escape, and we get a sense of accomplishment too. So what is Mr. Pachter trying to say?
I say stay tuned, keep playing and ignore Wedbush Morgan. They have no imagination.
http://www.abc.net.au/science/wings/episode5.htm
The above link is an interesting discussion/review from a perspective of innovation, that suggests that sex appears to have driven some tech. Perhaps not from nothing (big bang reference not fully squelched) into existence, but certainly the direction of the tech. Some tech listed in the discussion included the Polaroid camera, the low light settings on video cameras, phone sex, interactive sex CDs/games, and teledildonics. Yes you read that correctly. Think Internet connected body suits for long distance sex sessions.
The Holodeck is far off in the ST:NG universe. But did we really think Picard only played Film Nior Mystery games in there? Would the average user?
Most of the games I play with my computer today are not that prurient. Perhaps after a quick fling in the Holodeck, like most people I bet, the reigning obsession would be the hero in Battlefield 2 or a great mage in the World of Warcraft or Diablo universe.
Sure perhaps after winning the big battle or after a hard day of magic, I might want to have a bevy of buxom beauties (or a hill of handsome hunks) surrounding me, but only until the next real challenge in the Holodeck.
Any of this sound reasonable?
I mean is USB 2 good enough? Or do we need it?
Since this is not one of Cowboy Neal's questions, I DO get to complain about missing options!
;-) Thanks for taking the time to read it.
I would have compared 'in game' events. Although I do not miss Ultima Online, I do miss the in game events. I miss these from the MUD RPG days too. But in Ultima, there were many in game events that just added a little something to the game. Once, many huge daemons invaded a smaller town and people raced to get to the event, mostly to simply die a bunch and tell the tale later! Others were one and two high level creatures that just needed slaying to save a city/town. In some of the early pay-to-play MUD RP Games, they actually had planned DM run events with special prizes and in-game and meta-game rewards.
Everquest also had some major events, but they did not have that same feeling of interaction that these others had. And as I played more, these became fewer. (I think the over concern for the Play Balance and fairness to casual players, lost EQ my vote down the road.) I can just imagine the boards 5 minutes after a higher, tougher daemon showed up in place of a raid camped dragon. Few would get a 'kick' out of the DMs 'adjustment' to further challenge them.
I like playing MMORP games just fine, but I live for the planned, DM run events. CoH has had events (not sure if they were DM run) and even triggers that you may not be ready for built into the code. As for rewards for events, they have put in the concept of Badges (they show as titles) to allow for special events adding something to your character. Even if it is so simple, it made the players I know feel special. (Increased morale, more months paying and playing?)
There has been a lot of discussion on Role Playing from the 'server' perspective, but what of a reward perspective. Your co-players may reward you, but with role playing, I associate DMs and planned events. The generic, scripted pulp is great, but Role Playing Games are about the interaction with the story teller. When you lose that, I am not sure what you get, but it does not have the flavor I have grown accustomed to years before Computers' played D&D. And yes, I understand that computers have limitations. 'grin'
With Morrowind (et all), it is all static and triggered. With an online RPG, you CAN have interaction. With the First Vampire the Masquerade and all of the Neverwinter Nights games, you had great potential for this! This potential exists in MMORPGs, it just doesn't seemed to be realized on the scale that is possible. I bought VtM and NWN solely to encourage them because they attempted the cutting edge even if the games were not enjoyable to my family and friends.
The challenge to make the game be a shared adventure multitudes can play and still personal to you, the player, is for me, the key to great gaming. To do it in this light, Computers alone are still not there and staff time is cost prohibitive (at least according to my spouse.)
When you can have a fighter, put on a ring of normal fire resistance, self-immolate, command the party to run, and then grapple the regenerating troll to save said party, you have a role playing game. Short of this, you have a nice man with a long white beard, but still no Santa.
Sorry for the long winded post, I guess I had something to say on this topic!
PaGeN
Is there a draft of the rider/bill?
Who sponsors it?
Where will the funding come from?
This is always a good start to finding where the money leads and why they really want this database. But I only saw lobbyists in the article.
As an older gamer, it meant a lot to me to play the original UT and watch my stats. I was not looking for a way to build my stats per se but I looked for players that were better than me and I would get in games with them. I worked to beat them and get better. Not to arbitrarily raise my stats, but to actually get better in the game.
When I finally broke the top 1,000 I called all my friends. For me it was as one player described what EXP is to an RPG player, stats were for me in UT.
Grandmar was not so important to me in any of my liberal arts degrees (UG or Grad). But thank God for Grammar and Spell Checks.
Thanks,
PaGeN
I really enjoyed the Trick or Treating Halloween Weekend. When and how did the idea come about? Was this something that was planned from the start of the game or was it an after thought?
Wow - Car Wars without the Card Board! Autoduel was nice, but I wanted to play others without the cardboard and turn taking. But I still hope it is more turn baed then RTS.
;-)
This could be a lot of fun. Now they need to do the same thing with Star Fleet Battles!
Peace,
PaGeN
I guess I came to D&D a little differently, but today all but 5 of my best friends play D&D. Those 5 play Ultimate with me and one is brother of aFanatasy artisit! I have known one of my D&D buddies since 1980. I met him in 1980 at Texas A&M while on my orientation. My folks and I came in the the MSC (Student Union) and I begged my parents to let me join them. For some reason, they said yes. I guess they wanted me to make friends. I remmber after that, my Dad told me I was not sent to college to play games. Greg was my best man at my wedding. And all three of the guys in the wedding were RP Gamers.
h tml). One day after this in Nan's Toy Store in the Galaria Mall in Houston, Texas, I saw the first boxed set of D&D. I bought it on the spot. What I would not give now to have that box and its contents today.
;-)
In High School, I had acccess to a PLATO-IV terminal. I played Orthanc and the Mines of Moria (http://compmuseum.narod.ru/history/gam_hist/5-3.
In HS I played some, but it was never as cool as opening that box the first day and playing the adventure. After that, I was the default D/GM because I had read the rules. But all these HS kids were posers! In college, I found the serious RP Gamers. So serious, I played only with the fringe groups (what an image - fringe gamers). I was not seroius enough to commit to and last through a campaign. In Grad School, I became a D/GM for Warhammer RPG and Earthdawn. Even after I started my career, we continued to play.
I really don't remember the games as much as I do the friendships. But the legends that came from the games, they will last forever. Some I was part of, while others I sat and listened to for hours. For me, it was like living a book and meeting the characters.
In Grad School, one of my roommates and later groomsmen, wrote a computer game and years later sold his company for millions. I remember my Dad asking me if I could use all that time I had spent playing games to make money like my friend. (Parents - now I am one.)
At 42 years old, I run a campaign of 3e for a 15 year old (my daughter), an 18 year old and a 13 year old (kids in my Sunday School Class), two of my 30 something year old gaming buddies, my wonderful wife of 11 years, and the father of the other two kids who has been playing longer then I have.
Now D&D is a family event. Good play is rewarded, from a parental perspective. Lessons are built into the adventure. Often times they are filled with ethical dilemas and role models.
I played 2 years of EQ and loved it, but our communal life interfered with my wife and me having play time. Now we shoot for once a month, and balance the time against school work, movies and the mall.
I plan on playing some CoH with my friends and see how far I get. But I doubt I will ever stop playing D&D. I can not imagine it. I keep looking around as my daughter gets older, to see who I will recruit next. Perhaps I can transform a poker night somewhere with my coworkers?
Peace,
PaGeN of the Disarming Smile