I agree. The recent hentai games from Illusion are also far easier than before. Previously, there was the challenge of trying to follow the target without them knowing it, so you can reach the rape scene. Now-a-days, all you have to do is choose the location and equipment! What is up with that?!
Wow, sounds similar to Nintendo's stance when Sony came out with the Playstation. Nintendo has a very tough hoop to jump through to get a game on their systems, while Sony has a pretty cheap license. Nintendo was first, and had a tight grip on the market until Sony's loose market PS came into town and dominated. The iPhone is like Nintendo in this sense; first of the new breed, and widely accepted. However, Android is quickly becoming a real threat to the market dominance that iPhone has.
I am not going to argue if college makes you a better coder or not, but I can say, from experience working in multiple states, companies and countries, that I can always tell the difference between a college educated programmer/person and not. Just as many people understand, college exposes you to everything, or at least it should. It is the wise ones that understand how to take that knowledge and apply it to their lives and jobs. Sure you can learn from reading a book, but you can learn a lot more adding in a classroom of fellow peers and a teacher to talk about and explore the topics.
Not sure where you got that information from. Their income statements show increase gross profit for the last years. Did you see something that broke down the income somehow to prove it was in franchise leasing that makes a majority of their profit? One of McDonald's key success points is they don't require trained highly-educated staff.
What's worse is Champions online. Not only is there a monthly fee (pre-order discount is $10/m, so I am guessing normal is $12-$15), BUT they will ALSO charge microtransaction money for gear and stuff like asian games. Talk about trying to hit you in both ends. I don't mind micro-transactions or subscription, but please, only one.
First 'Guitar Hero' ripped off 'Guitar Freaks', and now 'DJ Hero' is ripping off another Konami game, 'Beatmania'. I bet Konami is just kicking themselves once again for not successfully bringing those game to a console.
As one who has spent many MANY hours, mostly wasted, playing text adventures (also mostly on the TRS80), I have to say I am happy of the evolution text adventures have taken. Sierra did their thing, but there are now really huge browser based games now like UrbanLegions.net and KoL. I just wonder if any chronological documentaries will mention these or not.
How close is it to being an actual game? Just having an engine that runs simulation code (fighting, harvesting, etc) is actually just one of the many pieces. There still needs to be all the setup menus and tools for networking, map designs, and everything in between.
My problem with MW4 was that you couldn't create your own mech like you could in MW3. If the mercenaries game allowed that, I missed out. I only hope they still allow full customization, at least in online play with a ton limit. It's really fun going up against others to see who can build the best mech, just like in the p&p game.
Hate to sound rash, but when are people in the game industry going to understand they are contract workers getting paid salary? Meaning: when the project is done, your job is done. There is very little tech re-use between game projects, so there is usually no reason to keep staff. This is different than most major corporations that build upon the same product with new releases, and very rarely re-tool. But really, there isn't job security anywhere. However, for the game industry, and the nature of its projects, it should just be a given you will be let go when your game is done.
In Japan, around the 6th or 8th grade, I forgot, based on your average, you go to different classes. This is where the 'idiots' get grouped up. My point is, that separation happens pretty early over there, and those in the 'lower' class almost always end up in the lower households. I would be curious to see some actual statistics though.
When you first said you learned JCL, COBOL and C, I thought you were going to say you went to college back in the 80s. However, your first job was in.Net? Were you in college for over 10 years, or was your college really behind?
To me, reading that Team Ninja was making Metroid was the biggest news.
Don't forget that the main guy of Team Ninja left. I believe he was the reason behind the polish of the games. There were rumors a lot of the people at Team Ninja were going to leave with him, but I never heard anything else about that.
A TW sales rep called me yesterday asking if I wanted to upgrade to cable. I told her I was waiting until summer to see how this new tier thing pans out. She flat denied it and claimed she never heard of it. Despite all the facts I gave her, she didn't budge, but she did end the call pretty quickly.
I agree that point balance is important in this type of game. Urban Legions and KoL, as others have mentioned, are the two other ones, and they do a great job handling turns. While LoZ uses a turn for every action, one Urban Legions' turn consists of moving, and all the fighting and stuff that happens with it, which can be pretty lengthy if you enter a big event or dungeon. I even found the free play to last about an hour or two a day if you are not just grinding, which the game doesn't really require (except for a couple of the leaderboards).
As mentioned in other posts, the trend tends to be that more money can be made from ads than subscriptions. However, it is good to have both as many people hate ads.
I suggest they just yank that band-aid off and start up their paid service. Sure, people will scream, and leave. However, that is no reason to deter others from coming. How would you react if someone said 'Game X sucks because they make you pay, and it used to be free'. Most wouldn't care and try it out.
When my friend and I launched UrbanLegions.net, we made sure our beta/free period was short. Like your friends, the game is fully playable as free, but you don't have ads and get more features if you subscribe. However, just from past experience, like reading this article, when it comes to money, you have to embrace your revenue setup from the start, before you start getting a big following.
I really hope they are not closing their arcade in Akihabara. All my friends are amazed when I describe how thriving the arcades are in Japan. The bigger ones are usually comprised of about three or four stories, each with a different genre or games (fighting, shooters, etc). They are always busy, and it is an amazing feeling I haven't seen since the old days of Aladin's Castle. This news really saddens me.
-Phil
UrbanLegions.net - Online Super Hero Text-based RPG
I agree. I have a 7800GTX and an AMD64, and the game runs incredibly well on medium-high settings. The only frame rate problems I come into, and it isn't that bad, is when I have like 60 people on the screen at once during a RvR battle, which are fun as hell. Drivers, drivers, drivers!
So does FFO actually pull off being an MMO and having a story? So far the closest thing for me has been Warhammer, as it actually has chapters you progress through, and the quests pertain to that story. However, even though I was enjoying the story, and tried my best, I still ended up not reading most of it just so I could level and become stronger in the RvR areas, and not be left behind. In single player games there is time for story, but I find MMOs not really to be the case. That is why I am surprised they said the expansions are just about new story elements. It's just like McDonalds saying they have new types of condiments. Sure, they are needed, but they are not the reason people go there.
So with Richard gone, and this project X closing down, where does that leave Destination Games? Did it really exist? From what I read, I didn't realize that Richard was just am employee or NCSoft. I see Richard's castle everyday driving to work, and with a failed game, and nothing big done, but a lot spent, he must either have some great investments elsewhere, or made crapload of money from Ultima. Good for him, and I wish him well.
Slashdot Mirror
That's what Raven was for. They are the crew that always took the latest id engine and made a real game out of it (Hexen, etc).
I agree. The recent hentai games from Illusion are also far easier than before. Previously, there was the challenge of trying to follow the target without them knowing it, so you can reach the rape scene. Now-a-days, all you have to do is choose the location and equipment! What is up with that?!
Wow, sounds similar to Nintendo's stance when Sony came out with the Playstation. Nintendo has a very tough hoop to jump through to get a game on their systems, while Sony has a pretty cheap license. Nintendo was first, and had a tight grip on the market until Sony's loose market PS came into town and dominated. The iPhone is like Nintendo in this sense; first of the new breed, and widely accepted. However, Android is quickly becoming a real threat to the market dominance that iPhone has.
I am not going to argue if college makes you a better coder or not, but I can say, from experience working in multiple states, companies and countries, that I can always tell the difference between a college educated programmer/person and not. Just as many people understand, college exposes you to everything, or at least it should. It is the wise ones that understand how to take that knowledge and apply it to their lives and jobs. Sure you can learn from reading a book, but you can learn a lot more adding in a classroom of fellow peers and a teacher to talk about and explore the topics.
Not sure where you got that information from. Their income statements show increase gross profit for the last years. Did you see something that broke down the income somehow to prove it was in franchise leasing that makes a majority of their profit? One of McDonald's key success points is they don't require trained highly-educated staff.
What about an interactive story type game like Urban Legions or KoL?
What's worse is Champions online. Not only is there a monthly fee (pre-order discount is $10/m, so I am guessing normal is $12-$15), BUT they will ALSO charge microtransaction money for gear and stuff like asian games. Talk about trying to hit you in both ends. I don't mind micro-transactions or subscription, but please, only one.
First 'Guitar Hero' ripped off 'Guitar Freaks', and now 'DJ Hero' is ripping off another Konami game, 'Beatmania'. I bet Konami is just kicking themselves once again for not successfully bringing those game to a console.
As one who has spent many MANY hours, mostly wasted, playing text adventures (also mostly on the TRS80), I have to say I am happy of the evolution text adventures have taken. Sierra did their thing, but there are now really huge browser based games now like UrbanLegions.net and KoL. I just wonder if any chronological documentaries will mention these or not.
I always thought it sounded like 'apple'.
How close is it to being an actual game? Just having an engine that runs simulation code (fighting, harvesting, etc) is actually just one of the many pieces. There still needs to be all the setup menus and tools for networking, map designs, and everything in between.
My problem with MW4 was that you couldn't create your own mech like you could in MW3. If the mercenaries game allowed that, I missed out. I only hope they still allow full customization, at least in online play with a ton limit. It's really fun going up against others to see who can build the best mech, just like in the p&p game.
Hate to sound rash, but when are people in the game industry going to understand they are contract workers getting paid salary? Meaning: when the project is done, your job is done. There is very little tech re-use between game projects, so there is usually no reason to keep staff. This is different than most major corporations that build upon the same product with new releases, and very rarely re-tool. But really, there isn't job security anywhere. However, for the game industry, and the nature of its projects, it should just be a given you will be let go when your game is done.
In Japan, around the 6th or 8th grade, I forgot, based on your average, you go to different classes. This is where the 'idiots' get grouped up. My point is, that separation happens pretty early over there, and those in the 'lower' class almost always end up in the lower households. I would be curious to see some actual statistics though.
When you first said you learned JCL, COBOL and C, I thought you were going to say you went to college back in the 80s. However, your first job was in .Net? Were you in college for over 10 years, or was your college really behind?
To me, reading that Team Ninja was making Metroid was the biggest news. Don't forget that the main guy of Team Ninja left. I believe he was the reason behind the polish of the games. There were rumors a lot of the people at Team Ninja were going to leave with him, but I never heard anything else about that.
A TW sales rep called me yesterday asking if I wanted to upgrade to cable. I told her I was waiting until summer to see how this new tier thing pans out. She flat denied it and claimed she never heard of it. Despite all the facts I gave her, she didn't budge, but she did end the call pretty quickly.
I agree that point balance is important in this type of game. Urban Legions and KoL, as others have mentioned, are the two other ones, and they do a great job handling turns. While LoZ uses a turn for every action, one Urban Legions' turn consists of moving, and all the fighting and stuff that happens with it, which can be pretty lengthy if you enter a big event or dungeon. I even found the free play to last about an hour or two a day if you are not just grinding, which the game doesn't really require (except for a couple of the leaderboards).
As mentioned in other posts, the trend tends to be that more money can be made from ads than subscriptions. However, it is good to have both as many people hate ads.
I suggest they just yank that band-aid off and start up their paid service. Sure, people will scream, and leave. However, that is no reason to deter others from coming. How would you react if someone said 'Game X sucks because they make you pay, and it used to be free'. Most wouldn't care and try it out.
When my friend and I launched UrbanLegions.net, we made sure our beta/free period was short. Like your friends, the game is fully playable as free, but you don't have ads and get more features if you subscribe. However, just from past experience, like reading this article, when it comes to money, you have to embrace your revenue setup from the start, before you start getting a big following.
I really hope they are not closing their arcade in Akihabara. All my friends are amazed when I describe how thriving the arcades are in Japan. The bigger ones are usually comprised of about three or four stories, each with a different genre or games (fighting, shooters, etc). They are always busy, and it is an amazing feeling I haven't seen since the old days of Aladin's Castle. This news really saddens me.
-Phil
UrbanLegions.net - Online Super Hero Text-based RPG
-Phil
Urban Legions - Awesome Online Text-based Super Hero RPG!
www.UrbanLegions.net
My guess these 'sleek' levels are nothing more than the test environment levels used during proof of concept trials. Still looks interesting.
I wish someone would make a DNF mod for HL2. That would be priceless.
So does FFO actually pull off being an MMO and having a story? So far the closest thing for me has been Warhammer, as it actually has chapters you progress through, and the quests pertain to that story. However, even though I was enjoying the story, and tried my best, I still ended up not reading most of it just so I could level and become stronger in the RvR areas, and not be left behind. In single player games there is time for story, but I find MMOs not really to be the case. That is why I am surprised they said the expansions are just about new story elements. It's just like McDonalds saying they have new types of condiments. Sure, they are needed, but they are not the reason people go there.
So with Richard gone, and this project X closing down, where does that leave Destination Games? Did it really exist? From what I read, I didn't realize that Richard was just am employee or NCSoft. I see Richard's castle everyday driving to work, and with a failed game, and nothing big done, but a lot spent, he must either have some great investments elsewhere, or made crapload of money from Ultima. Good for him, and I wish him well.