There is no shortage of MMOGs. The category is growing, even, at an insane rate, despite (or because of?) WoW's dominance. There are only 24 hours in a day, and peeps who play MMOGs can never "beat" their game -- they are continuously rewarded for playing, constantly and forever, and pay monthly for the privilege in many cases.
Many no longer have the time or inclination to start a new, one-off PC game. I recall an interview with supposed "Diablo-Killer" Titan's Quest creators who attributed the poor sales of their well-reviewed game to the fact that their prospective player-base could not break away from their MMOGs.
A lot of very vocal voices on the Internet hate Murdoch, and that's fine. But the reality is, his newspapers and cable channels are wildly popular -- WILDLY popular, at least in the US. They typically trounce their competition by silly-wide margins. And my gut is that there is a large percentage of Murdoch's readership who can't stomach his competition any more than you can imagine yourself watching Foxnews, and that this percentage of folks will pay. He doesn't need everyone who's reading him now to pay, just -- what's the percentage being kicked around? -- 5% or such? He gets that, he makes money, and more importantly, he trumpets that "The Paywall is a resounding success!" (Using the largest megaphone in the land, I might add.) This all but forces his competition to follow suit (let's call them the Hipster Papers...), and you know that the hipsters aren't going to pay, because, well, you're one of them, you've got your reasons. The Death Spiral of The Hipster Papers accelerates.
Murdoch may be one Nehru Jacket shy of being a Bond Villain, but he has thought this out. It is entirely possible that in the pending media apocalypse that is online news distribution, he's the last man standing.
An "Encyclopedia" article on monetary standards written by a fifteen year-old on a bet made in the back of school bus that he couldn't work mentions of both John Maynard Keynes and Jenna Jameson into the same article.
And like all IT Departments, they are passive-aggressive-sneaky. The actual manly heavy-lifting work of enforcement and arrest they leave to the guys in crewcuts and narrow ties.
I'm usually among the first in line to call Slashdot on its thinly-disguised slashvertisements, but this goes beyond product upgrade and into the realm of William Gibson novel.
I'm kind of staggered just trying to wrap my head around the uses and implications...
It's piracy. Get over it. The word has evolved beyond parrots and yarrh's to include appropriation and distribution of files for which no license to distribute was provided by the content creator.
Language grows. "Hacker" used to mean a really bad golfer. And "Geeks" bit the heads off chickens.
Are you the guy who goes around moderating any post that has a hint of sympathy for the human condition "-1 offtopic", while making sure all the "YOU CAN'T TELL A BUSINESS WHAT TO DO, COMMIES" posts are moderated through the roof?
No, that's me. But you exaggerate a little bit; I would never use "all caps."
Dude, the other day there was a link here from DailyKOS. The editors are equal-opportunity offenders. Don't give slashdot credit for having any direction whatsoever other than "free fall."
...and create something new, genius. Something that would require a little more effort, something that would have a little more risk because it lacked an installed fan base. Something without a fuckin' elf.
NetFlix is streaming online. So is Hulu. Downloads of audio and video are available from iTunes, and, increasingly, Amazon. Sure, there are some rights issues, region issues, changes won't be made over night (get over it), but they are clearly happening. The stagnation/fear that followed in Napster's wake is ebbing considerably.
For the most part, if you want to legitimately download/stream a popular bit of mass culture from/through the Internet, you pretty much can.
The problem is that too many people want to do that and not pay for it. To keep their self-righteous indignation and justification alive, they continue to bitch that "Hollywood is not delivering stuff the way I want to get it (so I'll just take it)"
From the VHS player forward, the establishment of a new medium relied upon how well it handled pornography: what it looked like on the device, what was available for it, how anonymous the purchase/distribution could be.
Adoption of E-books like the Kindle has been slow to catch fire NOT because people could not read Batman on them...
Their government does not want the kind of "openness" and free exchange of information that is Google's trade. That is their prerogative. Google should pull out.
They won't, of course. Too much money to be made there.
They will cave in, compromise, and do (more) Evil.
It'll be interesting to see how Google's PR monkeys spin it, from a front-row-seat-at-the-Fall-of-Civilization perspective...
Dude, according to your blog, you belong to a convention-attending "society of atheists" which actively and proudly recruits people. Here's a tip: This is scarier than most religions.
...at least according to the article at the end of the supplied link. Quoting a Prof. Brian Cox, "ALL particle accelerators have 6 - 12 month regular shutdowns for maintenance and upgrades. That's how complex machines are operated!"
Now, I know slashdot readers don't read the articles, and I've become accustomed to the editors not reading the articles, but this situation implies that even the submitter of the article didn't read the article.
How is that even possible?
Sounds like one of those recursive quantum anomalies the LHC is designed to unravel...
You'll never find a more self-absorbed cast (or more accurately, caste) of characters than you will in a University Faculty Lounge. Is it any wonder more and more of them can't abide the notion their students find what's happening in Farmville more riveting than what's happening in their lecture hall?
Slashdot Mirror
There is no shortage of MMOGs. The category is growing, even, at an insane rate, despite (or because of?) WoW's dominance. There are only 24 hours in a day, and peeps who play MMOGs can never "beat" their game -- they are continuously rewarded for playing, constantly and forever, and pay monthly for the privilege in many cases.
Many no longer have the time or inclination to start a new, one-off PC game. I recall an interview with supposed "Diablo-Killer" Titan's Quest creators who attributed the poor sales of their well-reviewed game to the fact that their prospective player-base could not break away from their MMOGs.
A lot of very vocal voices on the Internet hate Murdoch, and that's fine. But the reality is, his newspapers and cable channels are wildly popular -- WILDLY popular, at least in the US. They typically trounce their competition by silly-wide margins. And my gut is that there is a large percentage of Murdoch's readership who can't stomach his competition any more than you can imagine yourself watching Foxnews, and that this percentage of folks will pay. He doesn't need everyone who's reading him now to pay, just -- what's the percentage being kicked around? -- 5% or such? He gets that, he makes money, and more importantly, he trumpets that "The Paywall is a resounding success!" (Using the largest megaphone in the land, I might add.) This all but forces his competition to follow suit (let's call them the Hipster Papers...), and you know that the hipsters aren't going to pay, because, well, you're one of them, you've got your reasons. The Death Spiral of The Hipster Papers accelerates.
Murdoch may be one Nehru Jacket shy of being a Bond Villain, but he has thought this out. It is entirely possible that in the pending media apocalypse that is online news distribution, he's the last man standing.
An "Encyclopedia" article on monetary standards written by a fifteen year-old on a bet made in the back of school bus that he couldn't work mentions of both John Maynard Keynes and Jenna Jameson into the same article.
I recommend they have majors in Journalism and minors in Political Science.
And Rachel Maddow posts here as "Sleepy."
Now, did you have a point to make, or is just being ridiculous enough for you today?
Why would you ever imagine something called "Pwn2Own" might ever have credibility in the first place?
[ x ] Gun Owner.
If he's smart enough and fast enough.
And like all IT Departments, they are passive-aggressive-sneaky. The actual manly heavy-lifting work of enforcement and arrest they leave to the guys in crewcuts and narrow ties.
I'm usually among the first in line to call Slashdot on its thinly-disguised slashvertisements, but this goes beyond product upgrade and into the realm of William Gibson novel.
I'm kind of staggered just trying to wrap my head around the uses and implications...
I've no doubt that will work out just fine. It always does.
Quit calling it piracy already.
It's piracy. Get over it. The word has evolved beyond parrots and yarrh's to include appropriation and distribution of files for which no license to distribute was provided by the content creator.
Language grows. "Hacker" used to mean a really bad golfer. And "Geeks" bit the heads off chickens.
Who would you rather have controlling a large chunk of the flow of information on the internet, Google, or Viacom?
Tough Choice.
I don't trust Google.
Viacom wants to make money and protect its IP.
I'm not sure what Google wants...
Are you the guy who goes around moderating any post that has a hint of sympathy for the human condition "-1 offtopic", while making sure all the "YOU CAN'T TELL A BUSINESS WHAT TO DO, COMMIES" posts are moderated through the roof?
No, that's me. But you exaggerate a little bit; I would never use "all caps."
Dude, the other day there was a link here from DailyKOS. The editors are equal-opportunity offenders. Don't give slashdot credit for having any direction whatsoever other than "free fall."
...and create something new, genius. Something that would require a little more effort, something that would have a little more risk because it lacked an installed fan base. Something without a fuckin' elf.
NetFlix is streaming online. So is Hulu. Downloads of audio and video are available from iTunes, and, increasingly, Amazon. Sure, there are some rights issues, region issues, changes won't be made over night (get over it), but they are clearly happening. The stagnation/fear that followed in Napster's wake is ebbing considerably.
For the most part, if you want to legitimately download/stream a popular bit of mass culture from/through the Internet, you pretty much can.
The problem is that too many people want to do that and not pay for it. To keep their self-righteous indignation and justification alive, they continue to bitch that "Hollywood is not delivering stuff the way I want to get it (so I'll just take it)"
As easy as it is for an American to become a Mexican citizen.
oh, wait...
It's The Robots versus The Lawyers. Death Rays versus Briefcases. Titanium Alloy versus Brooks Brothers Suits.
Sounds like an even match across the board...
From the VHS player forward, the establishment of a new medium relied upon how well it handled pornography: what it looked like on the device, what was available for it, how anonymous the purchase/distribution could be.
Adoption of E-books like the Kindle has been slow to catch fire NOT because people could not read Batman on them...
Their government does not want the kind of "openness" and free exchange of information that is Google's trade. That is their prerogative. Google should pull out.
They won't, of course. Too much money to be made there.
They will cave in, compromise, and do (more) Evil.
It'll be interesting to see how Google's PR monkeys spin it, from a front-row-seat-at-the-Fall-of-Civilization perspective...
3 moderators agree with him; none with you.
Dude, I get massive amounts of mod points here all the time, and I'm a fuckin' idiot. What's your point?
Dude, according to your blog, you belong to a convention-attending "society of atheists" which actively and proudly recruits people. Here's a tip: This is scarier than most religions.
...at least according to the article at the end of the supplied link. Quoting a Prof. Brian Cox, "ALL particle accelerators have 6 - 12 month regular shutdowns for maintenance and upgrades. That's how complex machines are operated!"
Now, I know slashdot readers don't read the articles, and I've become accustomed to the editors not reading the articles, but this situation implies that even the submitter of the article didn't read the article.
How is that even possible?
Sounds like one of those recursive quantum anomalies the LHC is designed to unravel...
It is, of course, a product of that politically-correct shadow-war on Christmas, escalated to the next level, which is that of Incomprehensibility.
You'll never find a more self-absorbed cast (or more accurately, caste) of characters than you will in a University Faculty Lounge. Is it any wonder more and more of them can't abide the notion their students find what's happening in Farmville more riveting than what's happening in their lecture hall?