I heard that was indeed the plan, to offer the Give One Get One program to the UK and a few other countries. I got my XO on December 24th and have been having fun with it so far. It doesn't multitask very well but I'm liking it a lot and keep finding new things it can do. You can find a lot of information about the state of the program at OLPCNews.com and how to and help type information in their forums. I've done a write up on my impressions after 12 days on my blog too offlinetshirts.com/blog .
Guess it's all in the timing. The whole reason we got one of these was because it was cheaper than an Atari and we had been bugging my parents for the Atari. They saw this on sale and got it instead.
But add the little shuffle sounds of Molly being dragged off after the last one;)
I think the most stressful game for me was Berserk. When the bouncing evil face guy would show up I at first would get frantic. Then I found a hack that you could actually cut some corners without getting electrocuted, hehe.
My family got one of these right before they pulled production (or maybe during a clearance sale). At any rate we not only got MineStorm that came with it but then got a number of other games that went on sale later.
I can still hum the Minestorm "theme song" and say Spike's lines. When I first played "Spike", I remember thinking, "Wow, the video game talks!" and pointing it out to my Atari owning cousins.
Hmm, maybe I should rescue it from my parents' garage. As recently as five years ago it was still working and we still had the overlays for our games.
I created a Squidoo page on How to Buy a Wii at Retail price which includes links to trackers and vendors, delivery services information as well as "strategy" tips.
I got my Wii last year *before* New Year's Eve so it worked for me:)
PS I didn't have to wait in a long line or get up crazy early.
I got my copy in the mail a few weeks ago, right before I left on a trip. When I got back I picked it up and then didn't put it down until I was done. It's a real thrill ride of a "whodunit". Ok, it's not but it IS very compelling reading.
I enjoyed it immensely. Perhaps this was partly because I grew up in the town neighboring his so those stories had extra meaning to me. However, I think any geek will enjoy it, as someone else said in the comments, he's "one of us".
It sounds like SOE will be a vehicle for distribution, and not have influence over game design or rulesets. Vanguard will not be part of the Station Exchange; Sigil has repeatedly made clear they are opposed to the buying and selling of gold/accounts.
Some quotes from Brad McQuaid on the Vanguard forums:
"SoE cannot touch the gameplay.
What we have done is become the publishers of our own game. We now have even more control and authority over Vanguard, how it is made, how it is designed, and how it is marketed than we ever had with Microsoft.
I realize there are lots of different feelings about SOE and their games. But whatever those feelings, the fact of the matter is that they know operations and distribution. They will make sure our beta runs the way it needs to, that our game is widely marketed, and that our game is available all over, in all channels.
That is SOE's role in this new partnership with them. Sigil remains Sigil, able to focus now moreso on what we do best -- design, implement, conduct betas, build community, and market."
"Sigil retains their Vision on what Vanguard will be.
SOE is helping to distribute and market the title.
These are the key points:
1. We found an incredible opportunity: the opportunity to purchase the publishing rights from Microsoft and become our own publisher.
2. We now own both the IP (the intellectual property) of Vanguard and the publishing rights.
3. This gives us more control and autonomy than we have ever had before. We are no longer just a developer.
4. Microsoft was TOTALLY cool with this. They are still very happy about Vanguard and looking forward to it bolstering their Windows platform. Vanguard will be an XP game, but also a Vista game, offering both 32 bit and 64 bit clients. We will continue to work closely with them and with Vista's focus on entertainment/games/graphics, as well as online, Vanguard is key.
5. SOE was TOTALLY cool with this. They are excited to have the people who designed and worked on the original EQ and EQ expansions provide a game for them. They need a game like Vanguard next year -- it gives them a variety of games from which players can choose from, or players can just play Vanguard.
6. We continue to have total control over the game's design, how it is marketed, the community, customer service -- everything that is important to us and I think important to all of you.
7. Things like running game servers, getting ads (that we design and/or approve) into magazines, getting boxes into stores, etc., all of which SOE is great at doing, they can do while we focus on finishing up the game and on beta.
8. This also gives us more time to launch the game when it is truly ready.
9. edit: Also, Vanguard will *NOT* be part of SOE's 'buy and sell items for real world money'. Our hard line position against this for a game like Vanguard remains as strong as ever.
If there are any other concerns or questions about this -- that's what I'm here for. I know this is a big change and it takes a moment to wrap one's head around it, but bottom line is that it's the best thing for Vanguard, for Sigil, and for you, our future players."
I've been using Blockbuster Online's service for months now but I'm just ending my 2 week trial period with Netflix after having heard good things about them for a long time.
Short story:
I'm sticking with Blockbuster.
Longer story:
Netflix: I tried out Netflix because some friends in the area said they have a fast turn around since one of the location places is just one town (15 minutes) over. I had heard about the Netflix settlement (they were sued for purposely demoting fast returners DVDs) and figured that was settled and they wouldn't do it again. Well, my Blockbuster DVDs still got here faster than my Netflix ones...and this was with me churning them over at the same rate. So that was one possible Pro for Netflix that turned out to be a wash.
One Pro that did pan out for Netflix is their website. It was easier to browse and add DVDs to my queue using Netflix and the friend recommendation system is nice. One caveat to this... while using Blockbuster's website I didn't have any complaints so it's only something I noticed using both systems.
Finally, for a Netflix Pro point I figured they would have a wider selection of movies. As a test I searched for "The Last Temptation of Christ" which I had heard was not available from Blockbuster. I was wrong, it's available from both services. Maybe time has made that movie not as controversial though?
Blockbuster: I started out subscribed to their unlimited 3 out at a time plan with the additional 2 free coupons a month. At the time I also got a coupon for a buy one get one free ice cream, and a free used DVD. The next month I got a coupon for buy one get on free popcorn and a used dvd for $5, another offer was for a discount on a game. You chose which coupons you wanted to print out. It continued like that for awhile but I haven't seen another coupon like that for 2 months now, I of course still get my 2 free rental coupons.
After I got into some TV shows (darn it, I got hooked on LOST) I realized that 3 movies at a time plus the coupons was too many DVDs. I cut back to the 2 out at a time, 2 bonus coupons plan, at a very affordable $11.99 a month. The bonus coupons are great, they allow for immediate gratification on new DVD releases and for spontaneous viewing choices. If I lived far from a Blockbuster I'd re-consider Netflix's service.
You can have the appearance of running it on your own domain... at least until the shopping cart stage and sometimes even then. A few people have been selling scripts which you host on your own but use Cafepress' cart. Others have made their own store front which does the same or even takes it one step further (except then the store owner has extra work to do at the end).
Check out cpshop as an example of one set of scripts.
Zazzle does not let you escape their interface at all.
Another notable thing about Cafepress is their attitude towards customization. Before I started using custom scripting, I did a hack job on some basic shops using html to give the appearance of a new store. It was a way to bypass using a Premium store. Cafepress saw it and rather than shutting it down and telling me to buy a premium shop, they actually used it as an example to other shopkeepers of what you could do.
A year later I ended up getting a Premium shop because it was so much easier to manage and had more products but I was impressed with Cafepress' response to folks using their stores not exactly as they intended.
I have designs up with Zazzle, with Cafepress, with silkscreen partners -- and I also have my own production capabilities in which I use the processes both Cafepress and Zazzle use to produce items.
"the Zazzle shirt is more comfortable because it doesn't have a big iron-on patch where the artwork is."
Cafepress never used iron-on patches but they have used heat transfers (not available in mass market stores) in which a carrier is used for ink. For the past several years they have been hand trimming the carrier to fit the designs. The trimming is good enough that some customers have mistaken my Cafepress produced products for silkscreen products.
However, Cafepress is also in beta testing stages for a direct to print process which is essentially printing directly to the items... ink only where ink belongs -- and it looks and feels fantastic.
Zazzle's Price Structure
"The Zazzle shirts are a bit more expensive, though: about $2 more than comparable CafePress shirts."
And sometimes as much as $7 more per shirt if you count Cafepress' offer of their Value T-shirt.
Pricing is the part that gets to me as an artist. The Zazzle shirts are more expensive to my customer and yet I get less per shirt from a Zazzle sale than from a Cafepress sale.
Additionally... Zazzle doesn't give me any bonus for selling more items while Cafepress has a bonus commission program which makes it worth it to put out the extra marketing effort.
Finally, Zazzle doesn't let me change the retail prices of my products. There are many times when I'll do a custom design for someone or make a "joke t-shirt" where I want to give my customer a deal and take a little bit off from my profit end to pass along to them. I can't do that on Zazzle. And, on the other side of the coin, I can't charge more for artwork that took me months to complete versus days. This makes a lot of difference to artists who are creating posters and framed prints.
Zazzle's Portal vs Cafepress's Portal
Perhaps you haven't been to Cafepress lately but they have changed it to become a shopping destination as well as an artist's destination. Their home page gives you two choices, either sell or shop. They have a whole Marketplace section now as well. I think this has a lot to do with the attention they (as a company) received during the political election and from various other hot topics.
In the past though, Cafepress was definitely less of a shopping destination. I didn't count on them to provide many customers. These days I can track sales that came from their directory.
Final thoughts:
Cafepress' wider selection of apparel styles, non clothing products (you can sell books and CDs for instance), and seasonal stuff was a real bonus for me to use them. However, the pricing and ability to customize my own store front were the real reasons to make Cafepress my primary supplier over Zazzle.
In the end though, producing items yourself is the best way to go. I've been moving more and more in that direction. Meanwhile, I don't mind if Zazzle gets a little stronger due to this attention, it will just give me and my customers more choices.
The Presidio was(is?) the home of a talented fencing club. I suppose they've been displaced.:(
It would be funny if one were to walk down a row of office doors and pause at one to see blades flying;)
Though maybe they'll still be around...
"They'll be eating in the same cafeteria, exercising in the same gym."
Basically, wear the shirt and you won't have an issue with folks asking you to fix things for free or cheaply;)
Seriously, try this mantra I read once online: I will work for money, I will work for trade, I will work for barter, I will work for charity... but I will not work FOR FREE.
The Sims Online had several radio stations. They were for the most part very organized and did "live" brodcasts within the game, they had trivia contest, interviews, etc.
I created some t-shirts for one of the stations --it was a legit real world station with its own call letters. One night a week the station was also played at a real life bar. I can't help but wonder what the folks at the bar thought of the DJ shouting out to the people in Calvin's Creek or of invites to use the dance cages at Angel's House, etc.
A co-worker of mine also tells me that Quake had Shoutcast.
In short, this is not a new idea, nor will it be enough to "save" a game if the game itself isn't compelling to players (we all know how well The Sims Online has fared).
I didn't mean to imply that I personally felt threatened, nor that other geek girls should feel that way.
My "sadness" was for for the state of affairs: Gaming companies feeling that to sponsor a female team the members of said team would have to be good gamers AND be of Booth Babe looks. If anyone should be "role models" it should be females like yourself.
"Awenyddion: From a woman's standpoint, being so visible in the gaming industry, you are being viewed as role models for women gamers everywhere."
This makes me sad. Why? Let's take them at their word that they are great gamers and are "so visible". Then I'll take it on the other/. posters' words that they are all good looking (I didn't see any pics).
Where does that leave us girl gamers? I'll tell you where -- in yet another area of interest where you have to not only be good at what you do but you also have to look like models as well. If these girls are supposed to be role models than what their sponsors are saying is that it's not enough to be good at games, but you have to look like "Booth Babes" as well. Only then will you be allowed on our team.
Geekland was the last hold out where a guy might actually like you for your brains as much as for your beauty. I'd like to see it stay that way.
The entire entry on the N-Gage basically complains about features on the previous model of N-Gage, in other words, it's old news. The only thing it mentions about the new N-gage (which did come out this year) is that it is more "bearable" (a positive note) and that a certain ad campaign isn't running any more. That hardly qualifies as a low for this year in my opinion.
To complicate matters, I happen to think the N-Gage QD is quite a nifty device -- aside from being a cell phone it runs symbian software, has bluetooth (and can act as a remote control to my laptop). Also, it doesn't suffer from the drawbacks mentioned in the article (it isn't side talking, you *can* hot swap games and memory cards easily, etc).
On the gaming side of things, Sega just realeased a MMOG for the N-Gage called Pocket Kingdom which is a great game and a news maker in that it is the first true MMOG for a portable handheld. The campaign for that game has been running pretty strongly so it quite compensates for the ending of the other campaign mentioned in the article. Perhaps the author just didn't notice it since they have shifted more to online advertising than offline ads? Either way, again, the end of an particular ad campaign is hardly qualification for a "Lowest" point of the year.
This story ties into some of the same hype that happens when some poor soul captures the media's attention because of a tragic incident. The witch hunt then begins and the tried and true attention getting tactic of "fear" is harped upon.
One part of the article that leaped out at me was that the Online Gamers Anonymous website purportedly gets 300 visits a week. When read within the flow of the article, this number was supposed to impress upon us that the organization had grown and was very popular. The former is true but the latter is false. They went from no hits to 300 hits. So, yes, they did grow. Yet 300 hits a week is, quite frankly, a pitiful number for a website that is supposed to appeal to players of games that have had up to 50,000 people playing simultaneously. That number is just for one out of several online games. The total number of online gamers past and present is most likely close to a million.
Additionally, hits to that site do not translate into support for the website maker's cause. I visited that site a long time ago when I first heard about it. But my interest was more academic and not because I believed I might have a gaming addiction problem.
I happen to think that devoting too much time to video games can indeed be harmful and certain people with the predisposition for addiction may very well become addicted to gaming. However, I do not agree that games should be avoided by everyone because of this potentiality. I also believe that games can be beneficial for many people.
I am biased of course. I'm a gamer with a long and varied online gaming career and have made many "real life" friends out of people I first met through video games. I am so emmeshed in the gaming culture that I am key member of a gaming website and I also run a store that carries video gaming merchandise. I constantly think about games and the gaming industry.
Yet...am I addicted? I've played for hours on end, even skipped meals or had them while playing. But I have also had breaks of months of no play. And I've played all night then gone out and went rock climbing all day the next day (not a recommended course of action for the novice climber btw;) ).
Gaming has postively impacted my life. My social circle has expanded. I have traveled more. Even my job opportunites have been expanded. If I wanted to, I could string together some statistics that would "prove" that gaming was good for everyone but that would be as misleading as some of the articles saying that online games are evil.
A much bigger selection of not only thongs, but matching camisoles can be found here:
http://www.offlinetshirts.com/cgi-bin/ol/all/all.c gi/lingerie
Go for the pr0nstar set, so you can mix up his geek *and* porn fantasies;)
The "got root?" and "w00t!" ones are good too.
I was on the other end of your predicament awhile back. Boyfriend hated to talk on the phone. He talked me into getting some strange game called EverQuest. We didn't use a headset device but just talked on the phone while playing. But now you can use a voice over IP app like Team Speak, PGP Fone, or even ICQ.
Someone mentioned that playing a mmorpg game as a long distance couple might be a detriment to communication. I strongly disagree. We played through several major mmorpgs and beta tests of other games together. During "down time" in a game we carried on "normal" conversation. During the exciting parts of the game we got caught up into solving problems together. We even developed mutual friends whom we visited in the real world.
As far as someone worrying that "girls" might not like to play games for hours at a time: I and many of my friends are evidence to the contrary.
Lastly, though I think the MMORPGs are best suited for couple gaming, don't discount the FPS games either. I enjoyed Action Quake and beta tested Planetside. I just think they aren't as good for a couple because they (I'm talking public server play, not clan gaming) tend to be all action all the time rather than a mix of action, socialization/political skill, and strategy.
However I feel the original author left out one important part of a MMORPGs "hook" to me:
Exploration
If I really am "entering a world" I want to feel like I am. I felt that way in early EQ. And to those who have posted, "How different can a graphical MUD be from one that isn't graphical?" The answer is much different, we are largely visual people (come on guys, you know that is true;) ) and adding "eye candy" is an immediate hit.
What's even better is adding eye candy that is an intriguing landscape, where you can feel like you are possibly the first person ever to have come to this exact corner, to see this exact view. That is an easy hit MMORPGs can give us.
Exploring a world without having to slay Dragon 1 2 and 3 just to enter the area, is also something a casual player can do. Perhaps I'm biased because I do things like this in real life, but I was thrilled to appear to be able to ascend the "mountains" in DAoC instead of hitting my head on the "world's ceiling" as in EQ.
Give me the mountains, the tiny little nooks in caves in which I find a quiet rest spot, and I'll go there to take a break from the leveling grind, perhaps it might even entice people to:: gasp:: roleplay more.
If you'd like to see my take on the MMORPGs I saw at this year's E3, see my article: Building a Better Mousetrap.
I'm female and over 18 so I fit in that 26% statistic. I tried the Sims and The Sims Online so can fit that stereotype, but I didn't last very long with either one. I also enjoyed Tomb Raider. However; I've played Castle Wolfenstein and Action Quake. I gave Halflife a go too but got motion sickness on that darn ladder (of all things)!
I know many other women who are playing other FPS games. There are message boards devoted to just such gamers. As well as more devoted to all female clans.
If you want to see alot of women playing games look to the MMORPGs. Tons of women there. Myself, I've been playing them for awhile and have beta tested many of them, including Planetside, which is arguably more of a "male" game. Another tidbit that might surprise some is that one of the things that kept me playing MMORPGs was the PvP aspect of it. I enjoyed the competition even when most of my victims assumed I was male.
Bottom line: don't be so surprised at the statistics nor assume that these 18+ yr old females are only playing one type of game.
Slashdot Mirror
I heard that was indeed the plan, to offer the Give One Get One program to the UK and a few other countries. I got my XO on December 24th and have been having fun with it so far. It doesn't multitask very well but I'm liking it a lot and keep finding new things it can do. You can find a lot of information about the state of the program at OLPCNews.com and how to and help type information in their forums. I've done a write up on my impressions after 12 days on my blog too offlinetshirts.com/blog .
Guess it's all in the timing. The whole reason we got one of these was because it was cheaper than an Atari and we had been bugging my parents for the Atari. They saw this on sale and got it instead.
LOL. Yep, those were the lines!
;)
But add the little shuffle sounds of Molly being dragged off after the last one
I think the most stressful game for me was Berserk. When the bouncing evil face guy would show up I at first would get frantic. Then I found a hack that you could actually cut some corners without getting electrocuted, hehe.
I'll check out parajve, thanks!
My family got one of these right before they pulled production (or maybe during a clearance sale). At any rate we not only got MineStorm that came with it but then got a number of other games that went on sale later.
I can still hum the Minestorm "theme song" and say Spike's lines. When I first played "Spike", I remember thinking, "Wow, the video game talks!" and pointing it out to my Atari owning cousins.
Hmm, maybe I should rescue it from my parents' garage. As recently as five years ago it was still working and we still had the overlays for our games.
I got my Wii last year *before* New Year's Eve so it worked for me :)
PS I didn't have to wait in a long line or get up crazy early.
I got my copy in the mail a few weeks ago, right before I left on a trip. When I got back I picked it up and then didn't put it down until I was done. It's a real thrill ride of a "whodunit". Ok, it's not but it IS very compelling reading.
I enjoyed it immensely. Perhaps this was partly because I grew up in the town neighboring his so those stories had extra meaning to me. However, I think any geek will enjoy it, as someone else said in the comments, he's "one of us".
My formal review is on my blog: http://www.offlinetshirts.com/blog/index.php/2007/11/20/book-review-happiest-days-of-our-lives/
As a disclaimer, I must admit to having met Wil in person and to getting my copy for free (which was a very cool surprise).
Some quotes from Brad McQuaid on the Vanguard forums:
"SoE cannot touch the gameplay.
What we have done is become the publishers of our own game. We now have even more control and authority over Vanguard, how it is made, how it is designed, and how it is marketed than we ever had with Microsoft.
I realize there are lots of different feelings about SOE and their games. But whatever those feelings, the fact of the matter is that they know operations and distribution. They will make sure our beta runs the way it needs to, that our game is widely marketed, and that our game is available all over, in all channels.
That is SOE's role in this new partnership with them. Sigil remains Sigil, able to focus now moreso on what we do best -- design, implement, conduct betas, build community, and market."
"Sigil retains their Vision on what Vanguard will be. SOE is helping to distribute and market the title.
These are the key points:
1. We found an incredible opportunity: the opportunity to purchase the publishing rights from Microsoft and become our own publisher.
2. We now own both the IP (the intellectual property) of Vanguard and the publishing rights.
3. This gives us more control and autonomy than we have ever had before. We are no longer just a developer.
4. Microsoft was TOTALLY cool with this. They are still very happy about Vanguard and looking forward to it bolstering their Windows platform. Vanguard will be an XP game, but also a Vista game, offering both 32 bit and 64 bit clients. We will continue to work closely with them and with Vista's focus on entertainment/games/graphics, as well as online, Vanguard is key.
5. SOE was TOTALLY cool with this. They are excited to have the people who designed and worked on the original EQ and EQ expansions provide a game for them. They need a game like Vanguard next year -- it gives them a variety of games from which players can choose from, or players can just play Vanguard.
6. We continue to have total control over the game's design, how it is marketed, the community, customer service -- everything that is important to us and I think important to all of you.
7. Things like running game servers, getting ads (that we design and/or approve) into magazines, getting boxes into stores, etc., all of which SOE is great at doing, they can do while we focus on finishing up the game and on beta.
8. This also gives us more time to launch the game when it is truly ready.
9. edit: Also, Vanguard will *NOT* be part of SOE's 'buy and sell items for real world money'. Our hard line position against this for a game like Vanguard remains as strong as ever.
If there are any other concerns or questions about this -- that's what I'm here for. I know this is a big change and it takes a moment to wrap one's head around it, but bottom line is that it's the best thing for Vanguard, for Sigil, and for you, our future players."
I've been using Blockbuster Online's service for months now but I'm just ending my 2 week trial period with Netflix after having heard good things about them for a long time.
:)
Short story:
I'm sticking with Blockbuster.
Longer story:
Netflix:
I tried out Netflix because some friends in the area said they have a fast turn around since one of the location places is just one town (15 minutes) over. I had heard about the Netflix settlement (they were sued for purposely demoting fast returners DVDs) and figured that was settled and they wouldn't do it again. Well, my Blockbuster DVDs still got here faster than my Netflix ones...and this was with me churning them over at the same rate. So that was one possible Pro for Netflix that turned out to be a wash.
One Pro that did pan out for Netflix is their website. It was easier to browse and add DVDs to my queue using Netflix and the friend recommendation system is nice. One caveat to this... while using Blockbuster's website I didn't have any complaints so it's only something I noticed using both systems.
Finally, for a Netflix Pro point I figured they would have a wider selection of movies. As a test I searched for "The Last Temptation of Christ" which I had heard was not available from Blockbuster. I was wrong, it's available from both services. Maybe time has made that movie not as controversial though?
Blockbuster:
I started out subscribed to their unlimited 3 out at a time plan with the additional 2 free coupons a month. At the time I also got a coupon for a buy one get one free ice cream, and a free used DVD. The next month I got a coupon for buy one get on free popcorn and a used dvd for $5, another offer was for a discount on a game. You chose which coupons you wanted to print out. It continued like that for awhile but I haven't seen another coupon like that for 2 months now, I of course still get my 2 free rental coupons.
After I got into some TV shows (darn it, I got hooked on LOST) I realized that 3 movies at a time plus the coupons was too many DVDs. I cut back to the 2 out at a time, 2 bonus coupons plan, at a very affordable $11.99 a month. The bonus coupons are great, they allow for immediate gratification on new DVD releases and for spontaneous viewing choices. If I lived far from a Blockbuster I'd re-consider Netflix's service.
Anyway, there's my two bytes worth
Check out cpshop as an example of one set of scripts.
Zazzle does not let you escape their interface at all.
Another notable thing about Cafepress is their attitude towards customization. Before I started using custom scripting, I did a hack job on some basic shops using html to give the appearance of a new store. It was a way to bypass using a Premium store. Cafepress saw it and rather than shutting it down and telling me to buy a premium shop, they actually used it as an example to other shopkeepers of what you could do.
A year later I ended up getting a Premium shop because it was so much easier to manage and had more products but I was impressed with Cafepress' response to folks using their stores not exactly as they intended.
"the Zazzle shirt is more comfortable because it doesn't have a big iron-on patch where the artwork is." Cafepress never used iron-on patches but they have used heat transfers (not available in mass market stores) in which a carrier is used for ink. For the past several years they have been hand trimming the carrier to fit the designs. The trimming is good enough that some customers have mistaken my Cafepress produced products for silkscreen products.
However, Cafepress is also in beta testing stages for a direct to print process which is essentially printing directly to the items... ink only where ink belongs -- and it looks and feels fantastic.
Zazzle's Price Structure "The Zazzle shirts are a bit more expensive, though: about $2 more than comparable CafePress shirts." And sometimes as much as $7 more per shirt if you count Cafepress' offer of their Value T-shirt.
Pricing is the part that gets to me as an artist. The Zazzle shirts are more expensive to my customer and yet I get less per shirt from a Zazzle sale than from a Cafepress sale.
Additionally... Zazzle doesn't give me any bonus for selling more items while Cafepress has a bonus commission program which makes it worth it to put out the extra marketing effort.
Finally, Zazzle doesn't let me change the retail prices of my products. There are many times when I'll do a custom design for someone or make a "joke t-shirt" where I want to give my customer a deal and take a little bit off from my profit end to pass along to them. I can't do that on Zazzle. And, on the other side of the coin, I can't charge more for artwork that took me months to complete versus days. This makes a lot of difference to artists who are creating posters and framed prints.
Zazzle's Portal vs Cafepress's Portal Perhaps you haven't been to Cafepress lately but they have changed it to become a shopping destination as well as an artist's destination. Their home page gives you two choices, either sell or shop. They have a whole Marketplace section now as well. I think this has a lot to do with the attention they (as a company) received during the political election and from various other hot topics. In the past though, Cafepress was definitely less of a shopping destination. I didn't count on them to provide many customers. These days I can track sales that came from their directory.
Final thoughts: Cafepress' wider selection of apparel styles, non clothing products (you can sell books and CDs for instance), and seasonal stuff was a real bonus for me to use them. However, the pricing and ability to customize my own store front were the real reasons to make Cafepress my primary supplier over Zazzle.
In the end though, producing items yourself is the best way to go. I've been moving more and more in that direction. Meanwhile, I don't mind if Zazzle gets a little stronger due to this attention, it will just give me and my customers more choices.
The Presidio was(is?) the home of a talented fencing club. I suppose they've been displaced. :(
It would be funny if one were to walk down a row of office doors and pause at one to see blades flying ;)
Though maybe they'll still be around...
"They'll be eating in the same cafeteria, exercising in the same gym."
Basically, wear the shirt and you won't have an issue with folks asking you to fix things for free or cheaply ;)
Seriously, try this mantra I read once online: I will work for money, I will work for trade, I will work for barter, I will work for charity... but I will not work FOR FREE.
The Sims Online had several radio stations. They were for the most part very organized and did "live" brodcasts within the game, they had trivia contest, interviews, etc. I created some t-shirts for one of the stations --it was a legit real world station with its own call letters. One night a week the station was also played at a real life bar. I can't help but wonder what the folks at the bar thought of the DJ shouting out to the people in Calvin's Creek or of invites to use the dance cages at Angel's House, etc. A co-worker of mine also tells me that Quake had Shoutcast. In short, this is not a new idea, nor will it be enough to "save" a game if the game itself isn't compelling to players (we all know how well The Sims Online has fared).
I mean this seriously: what do you think of the following fields of study: Archaelogy, Anthropology, and History?
In the first pic the impression I got was that he was about to go to sleep.
I didn't mean to imply that I personally felt threatened, nor that other geek girls should feel that way.
My "sadness" was for for the state of affairs: Gaming companies feeling that to sponsor a female team the members of said team would have to be good gamers AND be of Booth Babe looks. If anyone should be "role models" it should be females like yourself.
You Sir, have given me hope.
Hail to the Geeks!
"Awenyddion: From a woman's standpoint, being so visible in the gaming industry, you are being viewed as role models for women gamers everywhere."
/. posters' words that they are all good looking (I didn't see any pics).
This makes me sad. Why? Let's take them at their word that they are great gamers and are "so visible". Then I'll take it on the other
Where does that leave us girl gamers? I'll tell you where -- in yet another area of interest where you have to not only be good at what you do but you also have to look like models as well. If these girls are supposed to be role models than what their sponsors are saying is that it's not enough to be good at games, but you have to look like "Booth Babes" as well. Only then will you be allowed on our team.
Geekland was the last hold out where a guy might actually like you for your brains as much as for your beauty. I'd like to see it stay that way.
Sorry but I don't know where you got your figures from but the highest percentage ever quoted of female EQ players is around 30%, not "almost half".
And that figure includes females of all ages.
What is true though is that there are a lot of female avatars being played... and that a large number of them are being played by males.
The entire entry on the N-Gage basically complains about features on the previous model of N-Gage, in other words, it's old news. The only thing it mentions about the new N-gage (which did come out this year) is that it is more "bearable" (a positive note) and that a certain ad campaign isn't running any more. That hardly qualifies as a low for this year in my opinion.
To complicate matters, I happen to think the N-Gage QD is quite a nifty device -- aside from being a cell phone it runs symbian software, has bluetooth (and can act as a remote control to my laptop). Also, it doesn't suffer from the drawbacks mentioned in the article (it isn't side talking, you *can* hot swap games and memory cards easily, etc).
On the gaming side of things, Sega just realeased a MMOG for the N-Gage called Pocket Kingdom which is a great game and a news maker in that it is the first true MMOG for a portable handheld. The campaign for that game has been running pretty strongly so it quite compensates for the ending of the other campaign mentioned in the article. Perhaps the author just didn't notice it since they have shifted more to online advertising than offline ads? Either way, again, the end of an particular ad campaign is hardly qualification for a "Lowest" point of the year.
This story ties into some of the same hype that happens when some poor soul captures the media's attention because of a tragic incident. The witch hunt then begins and the tried and true attention getting tactic of "fear" is harped upon.
;) ).
One part of the article that leaped out at me was that the Online Gamers Anonymous website purportedly gets 300 visits a week. When read within the flow of the article, this number was supposed to impress upon us that the organization had grown and was very popular. The former is true but the latter is false. They went from no hits to 300 hits. So, yes, they did grow. Yet 300 hits a week is, quite frankly, a pitiful number for a website that is supposed to appeal to players of games that have had up to 50,000 people playing simultaneously. That number is just for one out of several online games. The total number of online gamers past and present is most likely close to a million.
Additionally, hits to that site do not translate into support for the website maker's cause. I visited that site a long time ago when I first heard about it. But my interest was more academic and not because I believed I might have a gaming addiction problem.
I happen to think that devoting too much time to video games can indeed be harmful and certain people with the predisposition for addiction may very well become addicted to gaming. However, I do not agree that games should be avoided by everyone because of this potentiality. I also believe that games can be beneficial for many people.
I am biased of course. I'm a gamer with a long and varied online gaming career and have made many "real life" friends out of people I first met through video games. I am so emmeshed in the gaming culture that I am key member of a gaming website and I also run a store that carries video gaming merchandise. I constantly think about games and the gaming industry.
Yet...am I addicted? I've played for hours on end, even skipped meals or had them while playing. But I have also had breaks of months of no play. And I've played all night then gone out and went rock climbing all day the next day (not a recommended course of action for the novice climber btw
Gaming has postively impacted my life. My social circle has expanded. I have traveled more. Even my job opportunites have been expanded. If I wanted to, I could string together some statistics that would "prove" that gaming was good for everyone but that would be as misleading as some of the articles saying that online games are evil.
A much bigger selection of not only thongs, but matching camisoles can be found here: http://www.offlinetshirts.com/cgi-bin/ol/all/all.c gi/lingerie
Go for the pr0nstar set, so you can mix up his geek *and* porn fantasies ;)
The "got root?" and "w00t!" ones are good too.
Someone mentioned that playing a mmorpg game as a long distance couple might be a detriment to communication. I strongly disagree. We played through several major mmorpgs and beta tests of other games together. During "down time" in a game we carried on "normal" conversation. During the exciting parts of the game we got caught up into solving problems together. We even developed mutual friends whom we visited in the real world.
As far as someone worrying that "girls" might not like to play games for hours at a time: I and many of my friends are evidence to the contrary.
Lastly, though I think the MMORPGs are best suited for couple gaming, don't discount the FPS games either. I enjoyed Action Quake and beta tested Planetside. I just think they aren't as good for a couple because they (I'm talking public server play, not clan gaming) tend to be all action all the time rather than a mix of action, socialization/political skill, and strategy.
However I feel the original author left out one important part of a MMORPGs "hook" to me:
Exploration
If I really am "entering a world" I want to feel like I am. I felt that way in early EQ. And to those who have posted, "How different can a graphical MUD be from one that isn't graphical?" The answer is much different, we are largely visual people (come on guys, you know that is true ;) ) and adding "eye candy" is an immediate hit.
What's even better is adding eye candy that is an intriguing landscape, where you can feel like you are possibly the first person ever to have come to this exact corner, to see this exact view. That is an easy hit MMORPGs can give us.
Exploring a world without having to slay Dragon 1 2 and 3 just to enter the area, is also something a casual player can do. Perhaps I'm biased because I do things like this in real life, but I was thrilled to appear to be able to ascend the "mountains" in DAoC instead of hitting my head on the "world's ceiling" as in EQ.
Give me the mountains, the tiny little nooks in caves in which I find a quiet rest spot, and I'll go there to take a break from the leveling grind, perhaps it might even entice people to :: gasp :: roleplay more.
If you'd like to see my take on the MMORPGs I saw at this year's E3, see my article: Building a Better Mousetrap.
I'm female and over 18 so I fit in that 26% statistic. I tried the Sims and The Sims Online so can fit that stereotype, but I didn't last very long with either one. I also enjoyed Tomb Raider. However; I've played Castle Wolfenstein and Action Quake. I gave Halflife a go too but got motion sickness on that darn ladder (of all things)!
I know many other women who are playing other FPS games. There are message boards devoted to just such gamers. As well as more devoted to all female clans.
If you want to see alot of women playing games look to the MMORPGs. Tons of women there. Myself, I've been playing them for awhile and have beta tested many of them, including Planetside, which is arguably more of a "male" game. Another tidbit that might surprise some is that one of the things that kept me playing MMORPGs was the PvP aspect of it. I enjoyed the competition even when most of my victims assumed I was male.
Bottom line: don't be so surprised at the statistics nor assume that these 18+ yr old females are only playing one type of game.