I know that that have always been tons of people complaining about down-time, more often when it's a few hours late. These people will not stop complaining; they will simply find something else to complain about. You see, when your very life exists around World of Warcraft, any break in service will cause a panic reaction-- and they people are the loudest of the bunch.
I'm not saying that every World of Warcraft player is an addict, but the people having a normal enjoyable time usually don't jump on the forums the second something is up.
Hehehe. It's funny, because that's been said by people again and again whenever something bad happens, but there is never any evidence to the statements' truth.
First reply I found worthy to answer. Basically, I have a problem with the way life is conducted these days. I have no solution: I am as dependent on it as any. However, to build up the kind of wealth that provides the freedom you are referring to you have to already give up a lot of your freedoms to society. You have to be an actor in the great play of life, but I despise the role. And as I have (like most) lost all reverence for hardship, it appears to be nigh impossible to break free of these chains.
Would that I were able to rid myself of the computer, house, job, citizenship, civilization, technology... but I can't. I feel myself being unable to accept this modern way of life and at the same time also unable to choose different circumstances that could work better for me. Thus I hate the meaningless pursuit of material possession, because-- ultimately-- existence is meaningless.
I think it's fascinating how many Americans measure happiness in wealth. The key to success is having enough money to support yourself, not making enough money to live a life of luxury and frivolous spending. We do pay a lot of tax in The Netherlands, but there are benefits that you will not find in the US. I also work a government job that allows me to have more free days rather than the big money that I would be able to get in a commercial institution-- I wouldn't trade that in for a higher salary unless I actually needed that money.
I agree completely with SpeedyDX. The benefit of extra space for more detailed FMV's is prettier cut-scenes. Obviously, real-time cutscenes don't cut it with pre-rendered of live-action cutscenes. These cutscenes cat be considered a reward for playing the game, something to look forward to and spur on progression. I don't really mind if there are a few objects misplaced or the main character is wearing different clothes in the cutscene; it's not a huge deal. Of course, I like a good combination of pretty in-engine rendered cutscenes and good pre-rendered cutscenes, so if the graphics engines get improved to the extent that they are capable of reaching pre-rendered levels of quality and effects... then, I'd be all for more in-game cutscenes.
Yes, I like cutscenes in games and I'm not ashamed to admit it!
This is actually a pretty insightful post, as it was more Blizzard that ripped off Warhammer (like D&D will have borrowed from Tolkien). Blizzard actually came with the idea of a Warhammer Online game back in the day, but they weren't interested. From their ideas, the Warcraft franchise arose (with a few differences).
Bah, as far as fantasy worlds go, the Warcraft universe has always been a travesty. Why do people suddenly complain? I didn't complain when it was an uninspired, silly world. Take it for what it is.
We apparently differ in opinion about continuity and immersion and how out-of-game cutscenes break these. In fact, I've always seen cut-scenes as some sort of reward from playing the game, so putting a break in the gameplay might even feel natural to me. Of course I understand what you mean and I am a great fan of graphics technology, so I'm always very pleased to see what is possible cinematically with in-game cut-scenes. There are some great examples out there, but I can certainly see a game where there is some sort of climax which the graphics engine just wouldn't be able to handle well (hundreds of characters on screen, huge explosions, great overview of an area, etc.) So, a mix of in-game and pre-rendered seems to work best for me and most developers choose for that. I must say that I like it when, instead of an in-game scene, I get treated with a better-looking pre-rendered one. It breaks the monotone, so to speak.
But I do agree that the increasing capabilities of in-game engines is a great development that will benefit this topic... I just wish they'd use more cinematic effects in them: good use of camera, depth-of-field, proper animation, etc. With good camera work, even an older graphics engine can deliver (Broken Sword 3).
At this point however the natural power of the next gen consoles can produce graphics that are just as good if not better then what pre-rendered can do.
Are you serious? It's true that some games' pre-rendered scenes these days look like nothing more than compressed in-game cinematics with some post-processing (with adds some value by itself), but you can't mean to say that next-generation graphics engines are up to, for instance, Blizzard's pre-rendered cinematics in real-time. Currently the norm of graphics cards just isn't up to rendering animations, particle and lighting effects, camera tricks, etc. as good as pre-rendered. I'll admit that, given the effort, some game developers go a long way to establish great in-game, real-time cut-scenes, but I rather look forward to brilliantly done compressed video scenes. Besides, not all cut-scenes are pre-rendered: some are live action (in which case the acting must be of good quality, of course).
I agree that continuity is a problem with pre-rendered scenes. Personally, though, I don't find that it breaks immersion. Especially when you consider that your other arguments are meaningless if you consider a good title that knows how to stretch compressed video so that it looks good (no middle-of-the-screen small windows). Loading up a video (at least on the PC) doesn't take moments; it is possible to immediately popping up a video. Besides, with the immense storage that Blu-ray can provide, lossy compression won't be much of a problem anymore.
I'm so sick of people complaining that cut-scenes in a game are crappy or useless. To me, if today a game doesn't have great story with great cutscenes, voice acting and all that, I'm not as interested. All this does not mean that somehow the rest of the game should be crap. Where do you make that connection? I *like* cutscene galore, Final Fantasy X-style.
Oh, let me take this opportunity to point out that game developers currently jump through hoops to compress the hell out of everything that goes on DVD, making sure that it produces as little visual artefacts as possible. They usually do a pretty good job, but a lot of effort goes into this.
Get this right, man. You mean to say that you didn't enjoy the game, but it was never poorly conceived or implemented. I personally hope companies will be making this type of game for a long, long time and people like you will not dominate demand.
Yeah, in such a short time there have been released a whole slew of mods for Oblivion. The Natural Environments mod tries to adjust lighting and settings to make everything look more natural (but personally I don't like it), there's one that makes the UI fill your screen so it's bigger, a coloured map, small mods that get rid of the "Loading Area..." message (this is a must!) and a lot of.ini tweaks that improve performance and graphics a lot. Search around and improve your game...
You'll be glad to know that there are several mods for Oblivion that enhance the distant land textures with higher-resolution ones. They make a big difference. You might want to check them out:
Landscape LOD Replacement (21MB) - This mod replaces all the distant blurry LOD landscapes with better looking higher resolution textures. This means you don't have to use the uGridsToLoad command, and hence you won't experience any major performance reductions or visual glitches. More details here.
Landscape LOD Replacement (Border Regions) (42MB) - By the same author as the mod above, this mod fixes all the blurry landscapes from the border regions as well. More details here.
Normal Map LOD Replacement (16.5MB) - This mod replaces all the normal maps for distant land - basically it improves the shadows in all distant terrain, and is a great complement to the Landscape LOD Replacement mods further above.
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This is a loser attitude. You give gamers a bad name.
I agree that warzones suck. When a game reminds you of it, it spoils your fun.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought the purpose of playing video games was having a good time.
I know that that have always been tons of people complaining about down-time, more often when it's a few hours late. These people will not stop complaining; they will simply find something else to complain about. You see, when your very life exists around World of Warcraft, any break in service will cause a panic reaction-- and they people are the loudest of the bunch.
I'm not saying that every World of Warcraft player is an addict, but the people having a normal enjoyable time usually don't jump on the forums the second something is up.
Everyone knows that the properties of true black metal are:
- it's true
- it's grim
- it's necro
- it's not Dani Filth
No, oh no, I won't be surprised. I will, however, be very surprised if they start falling significantly.
Hehehe. It's funny, because that's been said by people again and again whenever something bad happens, but there is never any evidence to the statements' truth.
Dude. I don't even plan to be alive when I hit 50. Why stretch it?
First reply I found worthy to answer. Basically, I have a problem with the way life is conducted these days. I have no solution: I am as dependent on it as any. However, to build up the kind of wealth that provides the freedom you are referring to you have to already give up a lot of your freedoms to society. You have to be an actor in the great play of life, but I despise the role. And as I have (like most) lost all reverence for hardship, it appears to be nigh impossible to break free of these chains.
Would that I were able to rid myself of the computer, house, job, citizenship, civilization, technology... but I can't. I feel myself being unable to accept this modern way of life and at the same time also unable to choose different circumstances that could work better for me. Thus I hate the meaningless pursuit of material possession, because-- ultimately-- existence is meaningless.
I think it's fascinating how many Americans measure happiness in wealth. The key to success is having enough money to support yourself, not making enough money to live a life of luxury and frivolous spending. We do pay a lot of tax in The Netherlands, but there are benefits that you will not find in the US. I also work a government job that allows me to have more free days rather than the big money that I would be able to get in a commercial institution-- I wouldn't trade that in for a higher salary unless I actually needed that money.
I agree completely with SpeedyDX. The benefit of extra space for more detailed FMV's is prettier cut-scenes. Obviously, real-time cutscenes don't cut it with pre-rendered of live-action cutscenes. These cutscenes cat be considered a reward for playing the game, something to look forward to and spur on progression. I don't really mind if there are a few objects misplaced or the main character is wearing different clothes in the cutscene; it's not a huge deal. Of course, I like a good combination of pretty in-engine rendered cutscenes and good pre-rendered cutscenes, so if the graphics engines get improved to the extent that they are capable of reaching pre-rendered levels of quality and effects... then, I'd be all for more in-game cutscenes. Yes, I like cutscenes in games and I'm not ashamed to admit it!
This is actually a pretty insightful post, as it was more Blizzard that ripped off Warhammer (like D&D will have borrowed from Tolkien). Blizzard actually came with the idea of a Warhammer Online game back in the day, but they weren't interested. From their ideas, the Warcraft franchise arose (with a few differences).
You can't be serious with this post.
Yeah, but now you can call it WiiFi!
Bah, as far as fantasy worlds go, the Warcraft universe has always been a travesty. Why do people suddenly complain? I didn't complain when it was an uninspired, silly world. Take it for what it is.
We apparently differ in opinion about continuity and immersion and how out-of-game cutscenes break these. In fact, I've always seen cut-scenes as some sort of reward from playing the game, so putting a break in the gameplay might even feel natural to me. Of course I understand what you mean and I am a great fan of graphics technology, so I'm always very pleased to see what is possible cinematically with in-game cut-scenes. There are some great examples out there, but I can certainly see a game where there is some sort of climax which the graphics engine just wouldn't be able to handle well (hundreds of characters on screen, huge explosions, great overview of an area, etc.) So, a mix of in-game and pre-rendered seems to work best for me and most developers choose for that. I must say that I like it when, instead of an in-game scene, I get treated with a better-looking pre-rendered one. It breaks the monotone, so to speak.
But I do agree that the increasing capabilities of in-game engines is a great development that will benefit this topic... I just wish they'd use more cinematic effects in them: good use of camera, depth-of-field, proper animation, etc. With good camera work, even an older graphics engine can deliver (Broken Sword 3).
Are you serious? It's true that some games' pre-rendered scenes these days look like nothing more than compressed in-game cinematics with some post-processing (with adds some value by itself), but you can't mean to say that next-generation graphics engines are up to, for instance, Blizzard's pre-rendered cinematics in real-time. Currently the norm of graphics cards just isn't up to rendering animations, particle and lighting effects, camera tricks, etc. as good as pre-rendered. I'll admit that, given the effort, some game developers go a long way to establish great in-game, real-time cut-scenes, but I rather look forward to brilliantly done compressed video scenes. Besides, not all cut-scenes are pre-rendered: some are live action (in which case the acting must be of good quality, of course).
I agree that continuity is a problem with pre-rendered scenes. Personally, though, I don't find that it breaks immersion. Especially when you consider that your other arguments are meaningless if you consider a good title that knows how to stretch compressed video so that it looks good (no middle-of-the-screen small windows). Loading up a video (at least on the PC) doesn't take moments; it is possible to immediately popping up a video. Besides, with the immense storage that Blu-ray can provide, lossy compression won't be much of a problem anymore.
I'm so sick of people complaining that cut-scenes in a game are crappy or useless. To me, if today a game doesn't have great story with great cutscenes, voice acting and all that, I'm not as interested. All this does not mean that somehow the rest of the game should be crap. Where do you make that connection? I *like* cutscene galore, Final Fantasy X-style.
Oh, let me take this opportunity to point out that game developers currently jump through hoops to compress the hell out of everything that goes on DVD, making sure that it produces as little visual artefacts as possible. They usually do a pretty good job, but a lot of effort goes into this.
Yes, these are dangerous times to be a chicken. That's the saddest part of this whole affair.
Of course, dressing up as a chicken with your scouting club and chasing it through crowded areas is not sad at all. Not at all. :) Some people...
Which will be fun to some people.
Get this right, man. You mean to say that you didn't enjoy the game, but it was never poorly conceived or implemented. I personally hope companies will be making this type of game for a long, long time and people like you will not dominate demand.
Yes, but what does Googlefight think of all this?
Is Digg better than Slashdot?
*ducks*
Yeah, in such a short time there have been released a whole slew of mods for Oblivion. The Natural Environments mod tries to adjust lighting and settings to make everything look more natural (but personally I don't like it), there's one that makes the UI fill your screen so it's bigger, a coloured map, small mods that get rid of the "Loading Area..." message (this is a must!) and a lot of .ini tweaks that improve performance and graphics a lot. Search around and improve your game...
You'll be glad to know that there are several mods for Oblivion that enhance the distant land textures with higher-resolution ones. They make a big difference. You might want to check them out:
Landscape LOD Replacement (21MB) - This mod replaces all the distant blurry LOD landscapes with better looking higher resolution textures. This means you don't have to use the uGridsToLoad command, and hence you won't experience any major performance reductions or visual glitches. More details here.
Landscape LOD Replacement (Border Regions) (42MB) - By the same author as the mod above, this mod fixes all the blurry landscapes from the border regions as well. More details here.
Normal Map LOD Replacement (16.5MB) - This mod replaces all the normal maps for distant land - basically it improves the shadows in all distant terrain, and is a great complement to the Landscape LOD Replacement mods further above.
http://www.tweakguides.com/Oblivion_4.html