I too generally like a hardcopy version of "how to"s. One reason is that I like to keep it beside me and then reference my computer screen without having to tab back and forth between windows and scroll down etc. I'm the kind of surfer where I usually have several windows open as well as several graphic apps open (I'm a graphic designer).
The reading comfort level and the portability of a book is also a bonus.
As far as print being dead... check the amount of gaming manuals printed these days: cheats, tips, tricks, several gaming mags. Where one venue seems to be closing, other print outlets are opening up due to the technological revolution.
Poor Shift though, I only discovered them by following a link from their site to my store so I'll have to agree with the other posters that they really didn't make too much of an impact on the geek scene.
While, some valid points are raised about this game, I find it interesting that a common theme seems to be this complaint of how much time it takes to put into the game to reach and achieve some kind of level of "fun".
I played EverQuest for years, I never reached the "end game" except vicariously through my friend's accounts. Yet I did not find it hard to have fun in the game. I had fun from day one up to the day I quietly retired. Low levels, mid levels, high levels: it was always the journey to me. Many people seem to forget the Roleplay aspect of this game when going for the phat lewt. I had fun exploring "new lands" or simply "fishing at the dock". I participated in quests according to whether or not I thought they would be fun to puzzle out, not necessarily on the lewt it would bring me. I also participated in PvP. All of these activities can be enjoyed at any level of the game -- and while playing less than 10 hours a week.
And, once I was tired of it all and ran up against some of the issues other have mentioned, I quietly retired, only retaining my involvement in what I found best about the game: the friends I made in it, and the communities I found.
And before you ask, yes, I found these people to be "friends", I met them offline, I've visited their homes and vice versa now adays we rarely discuss the game at all in favor of other topics.
Anyway, yes heed some of the warnings, but don't let one post scare you. You can buy the game, or any other MMORPG and try it out, you aren't locked in for a year but can stop your account if you don't like it. And, by all means, if you don't have fun right from the start, don't continue.
You will only have as much with any game as the fun you create yourself, and with the journey you make of it.
But it's fun. Try it in the privacy of your own home or in some obscure arcade during daytime hours.
It's been going on a long time though, surprised it's only hit Slashdot now. Guess folks are not quite up to speed with the youngsters eh?
NOTE: I'm not a "youngster";)
They had a few machines over at E3 this year, I think it was for one of the consoles. Two random guys (versus folks who worked for the game) were "playing" and they looked pretty good.
::raises her hand:: I was a Hack addict.
On a side note: Anyone remember a text based dungeon crawl type game that you played on an HP calculator? I can't remember the name of it for the life of me.
Google does indeed have advertisements, however they are clearly marked as such, they appear on the right hand margin of search results, and they are text only with limits to the number of characters used.
There has been an attempt in fact to use these "text ads" as the new advertising model to replace the graphical ones that seem to get ever bigger, which I hope catches on.
Slashdot Mirror
My heart sank when the graphics came up until I found how to get the ASCII back.
I mean, you got to learn to fear capital A's!
The reading comfort level and the portability of a book is also a bonus.
As far as print being dead... check the amount of gaming manuals printed these days: cheats, tips, tricks, several gaming mags. Where one venue seems to be closing, other print outlets are opening up due to the technological revolution.
Poor Shift though, I only discovered them by following a link from their site to my store so I'll have to agree with the other posters that they really didn't make too much of an impact on the geek scene.
I played EverQuest for years, I never reached the "end game" except vicariously through my friend's accounts. Yet I did not find it hard to have fun in the game. I had fun from day one up to the day I quietly retired. Low levels, mid levels, high levels: it was always the journey to me. Many people seem to forget the Roleplay aspect of this game when going for the phat lewt. I had fun exploring "new lands" or simply "fishing at the dock". I participated in quests according to whether or not I thought they would be fun to puzzle out, not necessarily on the lewt it would bring me. I also participated in PvP. All of these activities can be enjoyed at any level of the game -- and while playing less than 10 hours a week.
And, once I was tired of it all and ran up against some of the issues other have mentioned, I quietly retired, only retaining my involvement in what I found best about the game: the friends I made in it, and the communities I found.
And before you ask, yes, I found these people to be "friends", I met them offline, I've visited their homes and vice versa now adays we rarely discuss the game at all in favor of other topics.
Anyway, yes heed some of the warnings, but don't let one post scare you. You can buy the game, or any other MMORPG and try it out, you aren't locked in for a year but can stop your account if you don't like it. And, by all means, if you don't have fun right from the start, don't continue.
You will only have as much with any game as the fun you create yourself, and with the journey you make of it.
Darn, that dungeon just keep going deeper and deeper! It's addiction I tell ya!! ;)
Thank you, that is all.
But it's fun. Try it in the privacy of your own home or in some obscure arcade during daytime hours.
;)
It's been going on a long time though, surprised it's only hit Slashdot now. Guess folks are not quite up to speed with the youngsters eh?
NOTE: I'm not a "youngster"
They had a few machines over at E3 this year, I think it was for one of the consoles. Two random guys (versus folks who worked for the game) were "playing" and they looked pretty good.
::raises her hand:: I was a Hack addict. On a side note: Anyone remember a text based dungeon crawl type game that you played on an HP calculator? I can't remember the name of it for the life of me.
Google does indeed have advertisements, however they are clearly marked as such, they appear on the right hand margin of search results, and they are text only with limits to the number of characters used.
There has been an attempt in fact to use these "text ads" as the new advertising model to replace the graphical ones that seem to get ever bigger, which I hope catches on.