Spend time outside. The more you do that, the more attuned you become to the weather and what it's going to do.
Yes, I said outside. It's that place on the other side of the window by your desk.
I wonder if most of the demos gamers receive are actually intended for mass consumption. It seems to me that those in the industry, (i.e. potential publishers, supporters, gaming mags, etc,) would be much more tolerant and maybe even expectant of early demos, which of course may be buggy.
As a consumer, (I hate that word,) I've found myself rather tolerant of buggy demos, as I truly do understand that they probably aren't a reflection of the end product. What does irk me is when I play a flawed demo, but overall enjoy the game, and then base my purchase decision on it, only to discover that the bugs I'd experienced are still evident in the game.
However, I feel the need to point out that this is much more prevalent with PC games than with console games. The general consensus on PC games seems to be "release them as soon as they're even remotely viable, and then patch the hell out of any problems." With console games, they have to be spot-on right out of the box, as patching isn't an option. (Well, at least until online console gaming takes off a bit more. Krom forbid...)
Return Fire, Tail of the Sun. Two of my favourite games, and they came out with barely a whisper. Return Fire was a first-gen psx game and game in one of those funky cardboard boxes. Tail of the Sun I recently picked up on amazon after a fleeting moment of nostalgia. Put it in the ps2 and crossed my fingers. It worked. The next thing I noticed, 6 hours had gone by, I'd killed 30 some monkeys, 5 deer, 3 hippos, uncounted birds, a smilodon and a couple boars. Love that game.
I read that as hydrophallic. And my WTF and subsequent peals of laughter must've been heard for blocks. Then I read the rest and realised that it didn't work, so I re-read it.
To the researcher(s) who discovered we don't read letter by letter but rather by whole words, sometimes that is obviously not a good thing.
I have specific individuals in mind, who have actually bragged about exploiting on the boards, and the devs have done nothing about it. As you're obviously a subscriber, you probably know the people I'm talking about, or at least some of them. My actual point was that Blizzard's support record, (tech, customer or otherwise), is much better than SOE/Verant.
I first discovered MU*-type games in 1996. I started then playing a mud called Alexandria, which used Smaug code. A few months into playing, Alexandria went down for a majour overhaul and was reborn as Desolation of the Dragon. I played that for a while, then DotD went down for an overhaul (late 97?). I didn't play muds again until 2001 or there abouts. I attempted to get back into DotD2.0, but it was still in the beta phase (and still is) and I didn't care for the new code they used (Smaug2.0).
I'd used a cracked version of zMud in my earlier play years, but then I had money, so I bought the license. I discovered Aargh mud and played that for about a year until it changed to Native Land, both of which used a modified Diku code-base. Native Land was great and so far has been my favourite. I made a lot of good friends there.
Them my wife and I had a baby, so I didn't have much time to play. I didn't come back to it for almost a year. When I did, I discovered it was gone. Not down for upgrades or maintenance, just gone.
After that, a friend of mine introduced me to Materia Magica. I played that for quite a while, and I enjoyed it, but it just wasn't the same. I still have a character on there, which I log into about once a month just to keep it active in case I ever get the desire to play again.
But now I play SWG, which is a MUD made purty, and someday soon, Middle Earth Online.
This gives me some hope for WoW, even though from the screens I've seen it's not a graphical style I prefer.
The reason it gives me some hope is because I'm comparing it to SOE's record regarding bans in Star Wars Galaxies. Sooooo many dupers, griefers, and assorted other cheats and exploits that people have discovered and used, in direct contradiction to the EULA, and yet SOE continues to sit on their hands.
I have a lot of respect for Blizzard's actions. It takes some cajones to tell people, "Yes, you bought the game, but you're not playing by the rules, so sod off."
"Welcome back, you fat bastard. You sit on me one more fucking time, I'm changing the channel to WE and I'm leaving it there. And clean up all this chip shrapnel and beer."
I for one welcome our new couch overloads.
Brazil's northern Amazon region... actually hosted sophisticated networks of towns and villages hundreds of years ago...
The civilisations which existed in this hemisphere before the arrival of Europeans have been consistently looked down upon as "uncivilised" by modern culture. A finding like this leads to surprise and even disbelief. Where is the surprise? They were too busy trying to survive to develop culture, etc? Bah.
And if you think they transfer fast from the floor, think about that next time you take a bite or drink after someone else. Guh. *shudder* I don't even like to eat food someone else has touched.
/bacillophobe
"Jason Matusow, Microsoft's shared-source manager, says that developing software requires leadership and an understanding of customer needs--both areas where proprietary-software companies excel."
An understanding of customer needs.
Exactly why governments are gravitating towards open-source, according to the article. They can tailour the code to suit their needs, instead of expressing thier needs to a company and then waiting for the product.
You know what bothers me? Suits like this that just pop-up out of nowhere.
Eolas: "Internet Explorer uses plug-ins?! WTF?! When did M$ start doing that? I invented those things, dammit! I'mma sue 'em"
Apple_Corps: "Wait. Apple products have speakers now? When the hell did this happen? I thought we told them years ago that they weren't allowed to make noise with a logo like ours. Bastards! Let's sue 'em"
I'd say something about SCO here, but I don't know enough about it.
Now come on people. Really. How can you all of a sudden decide to sue someone over something that has been going on for years?
$$$$$$$$$ That's how and why, and it makes laugh and cry both at once.
Any time I get an email, or "snail-mail" letter even, like this, I delete or destroy it. I figure if it's legit and it's serious enough, they will eventually call me, and then I can tell them I will call their institution on my own time and ask to speak to them or another customer service representative.
I read the article and was going to say, "I thought it was a WW-endorsed movie. But then I began to read the thread and I see everyone else already said it.
Slashdot Mirror
Spend time outside. The more you do that, the more attuned you become to the weather and what it's going to do. Yes, I said outside. It's that place on the other side of the window by your desk.
yo ho
And it wasn't a very nice thing to do to the poor shlub that runs the site.
Women live longer because they're not married to women. Usually, anyway.
"...some indistinguishable as actual channels."
I have that already. It's called cable.
I wonder if most of the demos gamers receive are actually intended for mass consumption. It seems to me that those in the industry, (i.e. potential publishers, supporters, gaming mags, etc,) would be much more tolerant and maybe even expectant of early demos, which of course may be buggy.
As a consumer, (I hate that word,) I've found myself rather tolerant of buggy demos, as I truly do understand that they probably aren't a reflection of the end product. What does irk me is when I play a flawed demo, but overall enjoy the game, and then base my purchase decision on it, only to discover that the bugs I'd experienced are still evident in the game.
However, I feel the need to point out that this is much more prevalent with PC games than with console games. The general consensus on PC games seems to be "release them as soon as they're even remotely viable, and then patch the hell out of any problems." With console games, they have to be spot-on right out of the box, as patching isn't an option. (Well, at least until online console gaming takes off a bit more. Krom forbid...)
Return Fire, Tail of the Sun. Two of my favourite games, and they came out with barely a whisper. Return Fire was a first-gen psx game and game in one of those funky cardboard boxes. Tail of the Sun I recently picked up on amazon after a fleeting moment of nostalgia. Put it in the ps2 and crossed my fingers. It worked. The next thing I noticed, 6 hours had gone by, I'd killed 30 some monkeys, 5 deer, 3 hippos, uncounted birds, a smilodon and a couple boars. Love that game.
Let's hope Microsoft doesn't get involved with this. All our clothes will be blue...
I read that as hydrophallic. And my WTF and subsequent peals of laughter must've been heard for blocks. Then I read the rest and realised that it didn't work, so I re-read it.
To the researcher(s) who discovered we don't read letter by letter but rather by whole words, sometimes that is obviously not a good thing.I have specific individuals in mind, who have actually bragged about exploiting on the boards, and the devs have done nothing about it. As you're obviously a subscriber, you probably know the people I'm talking about, or at least some of them. My actual point was that Blizzard's support record, (tech, customer or otherwise), is much better than SOE/Verant.
I first discovered MU*-type games in 1996. I started then playing a mud called Alexandria, which used Smaug code. A few months into playing, Alexandria went down for a majour overhaul and was reborn as Desolation of the Dragon. I played that for a while, then DotD went down for an overhaul (late 97?). I didn't play muds again until 2001 or there abouts. I attempted to get back into DotD2.0, but it was still in the beta phase (and still is) and I didn't care for the new code they used (Smaug2.0).
I'd used a cracked version of zMud in my earlier play years, but then I had money, so I bought the license. I discovered Aargh mud and played that for about a year until it changed to Native Land, both of which used a modified Diku code-base. Native Land was great and so far has been my favourite. I made a lot of good friends there.
Them my wife and I had a baby, so I didn't have much time to play. I didn't come back to it for almost a year. When I did, I discovered it was gone. Not down for upgrades or maintenance, just gone.
After that, a friend of mine introduced me to Materia Magica. I played that for quite a while, and I enjoyed it, but it just wasn't the same. I still have a character on there, which I log into about once a month just to keep it active in case I ever get the desire to play again.
But now I play SWG, which is a MUD made purty, and someday soon, Middle Earth Online.
Once again, Blizzard > *
This gives me some hope for WoW, even though from the screens I've seen it's not a graphical style I prefer.
The reason it gives me some hope is because I'm comparing it to SOE's record regarding bans in Star Wars Galaxies. Sooooo many dupers, griefers, and assorted other cheats and exploits that people have discovered and used, in direct contradiction to the EULA, and yet SOE continues to sit on their hands.
I have a lot of respect for Blizzard's actions. It takes some cajones to tell people, "Yes, you bought the game, but you're not playing by the rules, so sod off."
The growth will come when Middle Earth Online is released. I hope...
"Welcome back, you fat bastard. You sit on me one more fucking time, I'm changing the channel to WE and I'm leaving it there. And clean up all this chip shrapnel and beer."
I for one welcome our new couch overloads.
Damn that game...
I know I'll get modded redundant for this, but that has to be the best retort I've ever read. Kudos.
It's Lemmiwinks's great*10^32 uncle.
BRING BACK DAILYRADAR!
And if you think they transfer fast from the floor, think about that next time you take a bite or drink after someone else. Guh. *shudder* I don't even like to eat food someone else has touched.
/bacillophobe
An understanding of customer needs.
Exactly why governments are gravitating towards open-source, according to the article. They can tailour the code to suit their needs, instead of expressing thier needs to a company and then waiting for the product.
$$$$$$$$$ That's how and why, and it makes laugh and cry both at once.
/rant
Any time I get an email, or "snail-mail" letter even, like this, I delete or destroy it. I figure if it's legit and it's serious enough, they will eventually call me, and then I can tell them I will call their institution on my own time and ask to speak to them or another customer service representative.
I read the article and was going to say, "I thought it was a WW-endorsed movie. But then I began to read the thread and I see everyone else already said it.
I won't deign to dignify this with a comment. Wait... well, shit.