I'm kind of missing your revisionist point here... Initially, it wasn't a "war for survival" for either in the US or Japan. In 1941 neither could directly threaten the survival of the other other. By the end of the war, yes, the loser was struggling for survival. Sort of like every war.
Most of those who pirate a piece of software would never have bought the program or WILL buy the program after trying out a fully functional non-time limited demo.
It's a pretty safe bet that having pirated the game, someone isn't going to buy it. It's one thing to play a demo, decide you like it, and buy the rest of the game. It's another to pirate a full copy and then get overwhelmed by honesty and pay for what you already have.
It's no different than music, where cd sales have dropped by the bottom line is actually ahead since filesharing has begun.
As one of the original articles pointed out, software IS different from music. Titles take years to produce, and pretty much stand on their own. Pirating one title does NOT contribute to the sale of another.
If I hand write code I can choose to do it in the most efficient manner possible, in alot of cases this is critical because otherwise the program will be dog slow.
And in most cases it simply won't matter. 90% of the time is spent in 10% of the code. The smart thing to do is not to lovingly hand craft every line, but to do a decent design, find the hot spots and tune them.
However even the most trivial vb application would be faster if it was written in C or C++, it would use less space on the hard drive, use less memory and use less processor
Nope. Typical compiled VB app is MUCH smaller than any linked C++ app. As far as speed, it sounds like you are thinking of old, slow interpreted basics... you are a few years (or decades) out of date.
How come I can buy StarCraft for $9? Or, for that matter, that I can hop online and fine Half-Life for $18 (I'm sure you can get it for less, that's just one particular store I looked at)?
Piracy is the reaction of someone who never graduated to adulthood when they are frustrated. "I want that shiny bauble... I have to have it... I'm going to grab it".
If some modicum of honesty is telling you not to steal, listen to it. There are lots of alternatives. Wait till the game has been out a while and is in the bargin bins. Have your kids mow an extra lawn or two. Cook them dinner instead of taking them to McDonald's for a huge dose of fat. Subscribe to a gamer mag and get demos to the latest games on CD so they can try them out, have fun, and decide which games they REALLY want.
Do you really want your kids to be learning to steal at age 10 and 13? Is it really that critical that they have the very latest game that they may play for 30 minutes and decide is crap?
I agree, but I don't think that's an argument for consoles. One of my favorite all-time games on the PC was Deus Ex. And one of the primary reasons was the control. I didn't have to think about moving, looking, shooting etc. I just did it, as naturally as I walk down the street. I was JC Denton.
A friend of mine who has a console tried it and wasn't impressed. When I mentioned how natural the controls were he said that the control on the console just didn't work as well for that game.
I saw this debate coming a long time ago, and I saw consoles winning.
As long as there is a large installed base of PCs, there will be a strong incentive to produce PC games. Suppose that in fact all the current game producers drop their PC lines and focus solely on consoles. This would produce a huge vacuum, and we all know Nature abhores a vacuum. Some company would recognize the PCs as huge gaming market and produce new games.
Meanwhile, all the big players have realised that free software is the future. Business models based on control will be obsolete in a decade or two.
Also, humans will establish a viable colony on Mars and the war on terrorism will be over.
Open source is a great idea. It works in some cases. I see zero evidence that it's going to take over the entire universe of software. In a few cases like Linux where you are able to apply the efforts of lots of bright folks to the project, it may well win. In lots of other areas that aren't of general interest, seems pretty unlikely.
Re:It's Open Mic Night at the Astrophysics Lounge!
on
Melting Europa
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· Score: 3, Insightful
The real threat of any contamination from a probe is not so much from radiation as from heavy metals leaching into the environment
The real threat of contamination is that unless the probe is absolutely, completely sterilized we'll never be sure whether life we find on Europa was "native" or came from Earth. Any other contamination of radiation, heavy metals, etc etc etc is irrelevant... it's not like one probe is going to contaminate the entire moon.
What's needed is a boatload of money. And if you think I'm wrong, fine, get private industry to finance it. I'd love to see human beings on Mars, just as much as the next guy, but NO ONE has made a realistic case as to how to have a sustainable program in a cost-effective fashion.
Hmmmm... so you are saying that maybe the newbie to the game has better skills than the griefer who is trying to kill him?? I'm having a little trouble following the logic here.
Or an even simpler way around it... instead of having a high level character kill newbies, just equip a lowbie with nice gear and use that char. Unless you put a VERY restrictive level limit on gear, there's no way to prevent this, and that easily gets around any level difference based bounties.
At which point griefers get a bounty placed on their head equal to some constant times the difference between their level and the level of the player they killed.
So the griefer keeps a high level "innocent" character around to powerlevel his "griefer" char up when he gets killed. In Everquest right now it's not a big deal to get to level 20 in a couple of hours with the right gear and the right help.
Or the griefers get together to defend each other.
I don't think you are going to find any simple solutions to the problem that PKing brings.
We had alignments and reputation. If you killed too many humans, you can't go into the human city. If your alignment was evil, you couldn't go into the bastion of light city.
Yep, Everquest has this. I suspect all the MMORPGs have this. And in fairly complex fashion... not everyone in the same city is necessarily on the same faction, so you may need to be careful even once you are in a city.
Mostly you don't care though, you get people to go to your server in groups of 30-50.
So lets say you get your 50 people. I'm thinking that's too many if you want to avoid griefers and have true roleplayers, but lets give you that. And lets suppose those 50 people are feeling really generous, so they are paying you $20 a month (way more than any current online game). You are now getting $1,000 a month, and on that you need to pay for the server, the bandwidth, a couple of people to monitor the world, new content development, etc etc etc. Doesn't seem viable.
Farscape was a great show, and I think it was actually better in some of the later seasons than the first season or two, but by the time it was cancelled it was running out of gas.
If you think Everquest doesn't require reflexes, you've never played a crowd control character class... nothing like having the puller show up with 4 mobs and the only thing keeping your group from wiping is how fast and accurately you can target and mesmerize.
Lots of mobs in EQ also require strategy to defeat. Usually simply running up to it and hacking results in group death.
It may look very simple, but the differences between a new player, an average player (such as myself), a skilled player, and an expert are pretty amazing.
Israel as NO RIGHT to march into someone else's country, and declare it as their own even if they are apparently "Gods chosen people"
Israel "marched into" the West Bank as a result of the '67 war instigated by Jordan and Egypt. I don't condone Sharon's "peace thru force" policy, but throughout Israel's existence, it's had a choice between fighting and annihilation.
The time has finally come when it should be clear to people on both sides that the current policy has reached a stalemate. If there are any moderates on the two sides, they need to negotiate. But arguing about who did what to whom isn't going to be productive... how far back do you go? To the Arab states invading Israel to "drive the Jew's into the sea" in 1948? To the British Mandate? To the Diaspora? Both sides need to accept that the other side exists and start on that basis.
A lot of the online interaction in games or chatrooms consists of "wtf!" or "sez you". I'm not sure that qualifies as "socializing".
On the other hand, when my wife and I watch an interesting tv program we're often left with something to chat about after (or during the commercials).
On the 3rd hand, I've been skipping commercials long before tivo. There's this little known tool called the vcr. Works great. I've amortized the initial investment over the last 15-20 years that I've had it.
Based on recent, personal experience, it's far easier to format and re-install Windows from a recovery disk than it is to install Debian. The idea that someone who is going to toss a computer because their Windows installation is hosed is going to have better luck installing Debian than loading up a Windows recovery disk just doesn't make sense.
Unfortunately my wife and I are Everquest addicts, and I can't imagine that that runs very well under Linux. My single-player addiction is taken care of by Deus Ex II (Invis War). I seem to recall Bioware games might be available under Linux, so that might be an option.
I finally did get around to loading Debian on a spare machine at home, maybe I'll give nethack a shot. Altho I sure don't have any spare time for another addiction.
I would agree that Invisible War isn't nearly as good as Deus Ex. It seems like they concentrated on stuff like "real world physics" and lighting effects that are cool for about 5 seconds, but they got rid of the depth of play.
One important point is that even though the original game had a lot of depth, it was not complicated to learn. Also, the game "flowed" really well. You never felt like you were "finishing a level", you felt like you were exploring the world. Invisible War feels a lot more like a plain shooter. It also seems a lot harder to sneak around in Invisible War... seems like you are required to treat it as a shooter rather than an RPG.
Re:People will keep using it, regardless...
on
Windows 98 Phased Out
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· Score: 2, Interesting
Ah great, so it runs all the games I play under Windows? No? Ok, get back to me when it does.
Class sizes are getting bigger, how are we going to teach 100 students? With a chalk board and books?
If we can't afford buy books for students, you think we can afford to buy computers? Is it better to have 100 students sharing 1 or 2 computers, or 100 students each with their own book?
Whats the solution? Use computers! DUH! Suddenly you can teach 100-500 students easily and its proven.
Ok, this has to be a troll, but I'll reply anyway. You really think that you can teach 100 2nd graders how to read with a couple of computers? Just where is it "proven" that this works?
In all of the discussion on this topic the only specific uses I've seen for computers has been topics like high school physics or calculus. I haven't seen any examples where children were struggling to learn to read, got computers and bingo, problem solved.
If instead of wasting money on computers for the early grades the money was spent on teachers, books, and resources to get more 1 on 1 time, the kids might have less fun screwing around with computer games, but they'd actually learn more skills that they are going to need later on.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm kind of missing your revisionist point here... Initially, it wasn't a "war for survival" for either in the US or Japan. In 1941 neither could directly threaten the survival of the other other. By the end of the war, yes, the loser was struggling for survival. Sort of like every war.
Nope. I like games with a little more depth.
Am I the only one who sees a bit of a contradiction here?
It's a pretty safe bet that having pirated the game, someone isn't going to buy it. It's one thing to play a demo, decide you like it, and buy the rest of the game. It's another to pirate a full copy and then get overwhelmed by honesty and pay for what you already have.
As one of the original articles pointed out, software IS different from music. Titles take years to produce, and pretty much stand on their own. Pirating one title does NOT contribute to the sale of another.
And in most cases it simply won't matter. 90% of the time is spent in 10% of the code. The smart thing to do is not to lovingly hand craft every line, but to do a decent design, find the hot spots and tune them.
Nope. Typical compiled VB app is MUCH smaller than any linked C++ app. As far as speed, it sounds like you are thinking of old, slow interpreted basics... you are a few years (or decades) out of date.
How come I can buy StarCraft for $9? Or, for that matter, that I can hop online and fine Half-Life for $18 (I'm sure you can get it for less, that's just one particular store I looked at)?
Piracy is the reaction of someone who never graduated to adulthood when they are frustrated. "I want that shiny bauble... I have to have it... I'm going to grab it".
If some modicum of honesty is telling you not to steal, listen to it. There are lots of alternatives. Wait till the game has been out a while and is in the bargin bins. Have your kids mow an extra lawn or two. Cook them dinner instead of taking them to McDonald's for a huge dose of fat. Subscribe to a gamer mag and get demos to the latest games on CD so they can try them out, have fun, and decide which games they REALLY want.
Do you really want your kids to be learning to steal at age 10 and 13? Is it really that critical that they have the very latest game that they may play for 30 minutes and decide is crap?
I agree, but I don't think that's an argument for consoles. One of my favorite all-time games on the PC was Deus Ex. And one of the primary reasons was the control. I didn't have to think about moving, looking, shooting etc. I just did it, as naturally as I walk down the street. I was JC Denton.
A friend of mine who has a console tried it and wasn't impressed. When I mentioned how natural the controls were he said that the control on the console just didn't work as well for that game.
As long as there is a large installed base of PCs, there will be a strong incentive to produce PC games. Suppose that in fact all the current game producers drop their PC lines and focus solely on consoles. This would produce a huge vacuum, and we all know Nature abhores a vacuum. Some company would recognize the PCs as huge gaming market and produce new games.
Also, humans will establish a viable colony on Mars and the war on terrorism will be over.
Open source is a great idea. It works in some cases. I see zero evidence that it's going to take over the entire universe of software. In a few cases like Linux where you are able to apply the efforts of lots of bright folks to the project, it may well win. In lots of other areas that aren't of general interest, seems pretty unlikely.
The real threat of contamination is that unless the probe is absolutely, completely sterilized we'll never be sure whether life we find on Europa was "native" or came from Earth. Any other contamination of radiation, heavy metals, etc etc etc is irrelevant... it's not like one probe is going to contaminate the entire moon.
What's needed is a boatload of money. And if you think I'm wrong, fine, get private industry to finance it. I'd love to see human beings on Mars, just as much as the next guy, but NO ONE has made a realistic case as to how to have a sustainable program in a cost-effective fashion.
Hmmmm... so you are saying that maybe the newbie to the game has better skills than the griefer who is trying to kill him?? I'm having a little trouble following the logic here.
Or an even simpler way around it... instead of having a high level character kill newbies, just equip a lowbie with nice gear and use that char. Unless you put a VERY restrictive level limit on gear, there's no way to prevent this, and that easily gets around any level difference based bounties.
So the griefer keeps a high level "innocent" character around to powerlevel his "griefer" char up when he gets killed. In Everquest right now it's not a big deal to get to level 20 in a couple of hours with the right gear and the right help.
Or the griefers get together to defend each other.
I don't think you are going to find any simple solutions to the problem that PKing brings.
Yep, Everquest has this. I suspect all the MMORPGs have this. And in fairly complex fashion... not everyone in the same city is necessarily on the same faction, so you may need to be careful even once you are in a city.
So lets say you get your 50 people. I'm thinking that's too many if you want to avoid griefers and have true roleplayers, but lets give you that. And lets suppose those 50 people are feeling really generous, so they are paying you $20 a month (way more than any current online game). You are now getting $1,000 a month, and on that you need to pay for the server, the bandwidth, a couple of people to monitor the world, new content development, etc etc etc. Doesn't seem viable.
Farscape was a great show, and I think it was actually better in some of the later seasons than the first season or two, but by the time it was cancelled it was running out of gas.
If you think Everquest doesn't require reflexes, you've never played a crowd control character class... nothing like having the puller show up with 4 mobs and the only thing keeping your group from wiping is how fast and accurately you can target and mesmerize.
Lots of mobs in EQ also require strategy to defeat. Usually simply running up to it and hacking results in group death.
It may look very simple, but the differences between a new player, an average player (such as myself), a skilled player, and an expert are pretty amazing.
Israel "marched into" the West Bank as a result of the '67 war instigated by Jordan and Egypt. I don't condone Sharon's "peace thru force" policy, but throughout Israel's existence, it's had a choice between fighting and annihilation.
The time has finally come when it should be clear to people on both sides that the current policy has reached a stalemate. If there are any moderates on the two sides, they need to negotiate. But arguing about who did what to whom isn't going to be productive... how far back do you go? To the Arab states invading Israel to "drive the Jew's into the sea" in 1948? To the British Mandate? To the Diaspora? Both sides need to accept that the other side exists and start on that basis.
A lot of the online interaction in games or chatrooms consists of "wtf!" or "sez you". I'm not sure that qualifies as "socializing".
On the other hand, when my wife and I watch an interesting tv program we're often left with something to chat about after (or during the commercials).
On the 3rd hand, I've been skipping commercials long before tivo. There's this little known tool called the vcr. Works great. I've amortized the initial investment over the last 15-20 years that I've had it.
Based on recent, personal experience, it's far easier to format and re-install Windows from a recovery disk than it is to install Debian. The idea that someone who is going to toss a computer because their Windows installation is hosed is going to have better luck installing Debian than loading up a Windows recovery disk just doesn't make sense.
Unfortunately my wife and I are Everquest addicts, and I can't imagine that that runs very well under Linux. My single-player addiction is taken care of by Deus Ex II (Invis War). I seem to recall Bioware games might be available under Linux, so that might be an option.
I finally did get around to loading Debian on a spare machine at home, maybe I'll give nethack a shot. Altho I sure don't have any spare time for another addiction.
I would agree that Invisible War isn't nearly as good as Deus Ex. It seems like they concentrated on stuff like "real world physics" and lighting effects that are cool for about 5 seconds, but they got rid of the depth of play.
One important point is that even though the original game had a lot of depth, it was not complicated to learn. Also, the game "flowed" really well. You never felt like you were "finishing a level", you felt like you were exploring the world. Invisible War feels a lot more like a plain shooter. It also seems a lot harder to sneak around in Invisible War... seems like you are required to treat it as a shooter rather than an RPG.
Ah great, so it runs all the games I play under Windows? No? Ok, get back to me when it does.
If we can't afford buy books for students, you think we can afford to buy computers? Is it better to have 100 students sharing 1 or 2 computers, or 100 students each with their own book?
Ok, this has to be a troll, but I'll reply anyway. You really think that you can teach 100 2nd graders how to read with a couple of computers? Just where is it "proven" that this works?
In all of the discussion on this topic the only specific uses I've seen for computers has been topics like high school physics or calculus. I haven't seen any examples where children were struggling to learn to read, got computers and bingo, problem solved.
If instead of wasting money on computers for the early grades the money was spent on teachers, books, and resources to get more 1 on 1 time, the kids might have less fun screwing around with computer games, but they'd actually learn more skills that they are going to need later on.