I wonder how much use the feature would get though. Most of Google's (and other engine's) users probably wouldn't use it, thus lightening the load. Of course, I don't know if they even store that kind of full-text data.
Regardless, I'm just wishing. I don't expect it to happen.
Ah yes. Exactly what I was about to post. Smart searches that guess what I mean are nice when I'm looking for something but don't know quite what it is yet, but sometimes I do know exactly what I want. When I can quote some text from the site verbatim, or I'm looking for something that's difficult to express clearly, like info on something in the C language, regexps are exactly the thing I need.
I suppose its value depends on how much entertainment you get out of it. I enjoy two hours of a good movie much more than grinding my way to the next level no matter how many hours I "get" to spend on it. So for me, it's a choice between a couple hours of fun or many hours of tedium. Not a hard choice at all. For you, four or five hours a day in a MMORPG is time well spent.
I blame Fallout for my disinterest in the RPG genre. My theory is that playing through Fallout is like an RPG orgasm -- with a very long refractory period.
Thief is a great game indeed. All it would take to make me disappear from the world would be a MMO Thief game (assuming it was up to T1 standards). I couldn't get into the MMO thing for less than that. Traditional grind based MMORPGs interest me not at all, but an MMOFPS (where S=sneaker) would be a dangerous drug.
If they're up to stuff that makes thousands of people angry enough to call them, don't you think they should get an earful? Besides, it's not like they're calling their personal numbers. They're making work-related phone calls to their offices, as I understand it.
There *was* a need for them. Note the emphasis on the past tense. At one time, recording and distributing music took lots of expensive equipment: recording gear, factories, delivery systems, and relationships with music stores. Not anymore it doesn't. Recording equipment is much cheaper these days. A band could theoretically record on its own for less than the price of the gear they perform with. Very many long-time musicians end up with recording studios in their basements. Write some songs and make friends with one of them, and there's your album. The Internet allows distribution at a very low price. The one thing that the big labels provide is a hype machine. I think that's less relevant these days, since the music business is more niche based than it was in the past.
Just selling shit to us on the level is the alternative. People will still buy music. Do you know how I know that? Because they do it now, even though they don't have to.
Nearly any song you might want is available on the Internet, for free. You might think that everyone would just go and download music for free when they want it (the RIAA seems to hold that opinion) like the amoral consumers they are. Well, obviously not. Many people buy music both from online stores and on CD, even though they don't have to. When I ask people why they do that, the answer I usually get is that they want to support the artists. So, if people buy music anyway, what exactly is the problem with selling it in a non-defective form? There's only one problem: when a person (not a *consumer*) can use the music they buy on all their devices, and don't have to re-buy with every format change (both of which I think we all agree should be legal), the music publishers lose the oppurtunity to milk fans for every cent they can. What a shame.
They don't need to (or probably even want to). The important thing is that a few thousand people call up and give their little speeches; it's not so important whether they tell the executives or their proxies.
My guess would be that they want to balance the number of calls to each phone number, and they want to know how many people participated. Sounds pretty reasonable to me.
I know SI measurements are largely metric -- that was my point. The people who do need what metric units offer use them, and the rest of us don't. The rest of my point is that we're doing just fine with imperial measurements, even if they aren't as "neat" as metric, so what makes you think there's a problem?
I just don't see any incentive to change except that everyone else does it. It doesn't much matter to me if it's easier to remember that there are ten millimeters to a centimeter. Everyone in the US manages to remember it just fine: it's clearly not that difficult. For that matter, everyone in the world manages to remember that there are 24 hours in a day, 60 minutes in an hour, and so on. If nearly everyone in the country is fine with Imperial measurement, then who are you, presumably inexperienced in its use, to tell us we're wrong?
I agree, and my first sentence is a little misleading. What really bothers me is the idea that movie style narratives are something that games are *missing*. I'm all for new types of interaction, but sometimes the proponents of these new styles hawk them as the way games should be, with headlines like, "No more 'Porn Narrative'." In reality, the narrative in many games is exactly what gamers want, just like porn scripts are the right thing for what they do. I don't want to hear about how he's "tried to reshape storytelling for games". I'd rather hear about his new game that tries an innovative new form of storytelling. It's the difference between "I'm here to fix your crappy stuff" and "here's something cool you might like". It's not the games I mind (although they're not the sort of thing I want to play), but the way they're marketed.
Man, when will these game developers get the idea that *story is not the point*.
Now I backpedal. I realize that some people enjoyed this game, and some *would* like a larger helping of narrative in their games. But every time I see another article talking about narrative as if a lack of it is the one thing holding games back, a little bit of "twitch" gamer in me feels like it's been kicked in the crotch. There are many of us who don't want a game whose purpose is to funnel us through a story.
I though Half-Life 2 was a boring, boring game, because I never really got to do what I like to do in a game. I like to have enough flexibility that I can tackle the game however I see fit. HL2 was more like "shoot at some Combine soldiers then figure out which way forward is." Bore me to tears, why don't you? That's where I see story oriented games going.
A couple of games I do like are the Descent games and the Thief games. They feature what's important to me: engaging gameplay and levels in which I can go wherever I want. Neither tries to move me in the right direction, or worse, allow me only one direction.
The Descent games are purely about gameplay. The story is practically nonexistent, except at the beginning and end of each game. I like this, because I'm not turning to games to hear a story. I'm turning to them for an enjoyable *activity*. Descent's levels are also often hub-based: locked doors are frequently your entry point, requiring you to explore the level (one of my favorite in-game activities), then find your way back, often more than once for each key and door. Although the goals are monotonous, the exploration in the game is very strong, and the enemies are challenging.
The Thief games also have very strong non-linear gameplay, but they add an engaging story. As you might not expect from my comments up to this point, Thief's story is one of my favorite parts. The difference between Thief and the games I'm railing against is that the story is presented in a way I really like: cutscenes between levels. And what cutscenes they are! I don't hesitate at all to call them the best I've ever seen. The game is worth buying for them alone. The thing I like about its structure is that I get my gameplay, and then I get to relax and get some story as well. I like the fact that after completing a difficult level I get some time in which the game makes no demands on me (unlike Indigo Prophecy, I gather).
I can't really develop an affinity for a game that doesn't leave me alone to play it as I choose. I want to get in there and do my thing. Story also really helps me get into the game, but not so much when I don't get the experience that makes me feel I'm part of the game's world and not just along for the ride. It seems like game developers are forgetting about the "in it for the game" gamers like me who really don't want to take part in a movie.
* Please don't suggest games I might like or tell me that not *all* new games are the kind I hate. I know they aren't all like that, and I have plenty of games I'm playing. If anyone's interested, here's a short list (mostly older games): Descent games (via DXX-Rebirth and Loki's D3 engine), Cube, Warsow, and a bit of Moon Buggy (yes, the one you play in a terminal).
There's no good reason to change. Dividing by 10 is not all it's cracked up to be. I'd much rather use a system of measurement that simplifies calculations I actually want to do: travel time in minutes at 60mph, thirds and quarters of a foot, and so on.
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Cube and Sauer are good, as that AC says. Weak single-player, but the blazing fast multiplayer is a blast.
Best not be talking bad about Commander Keen.
I agree though, what a change! My first full-3d game was Descent, not Quake, but that one's good too. It's still one of my favorite FPSes.
I wonder how much use the feature would get though. Most of Google's (and other engine's) users probably wouldn't use it, thus lightening the load. Of course, I don't know if they even store that kind of full-text data.
Regardless, I'm just wishing. I don't expect it to happen.
Ah yes. Exactly what I was about to post. Smart searches that guess what I mean are nice when I'm looking for something but don't know quite what it is yet, but sometimes I do know exactly what I want. When I can quote some text from the site verbatim, or I'm looking for something that's difficult to express clearly, like info on something in the C language, regexps are exactly the thing I need.
Same here. I see a breathtaking expanse of tedium awaiting me, and I just can't handle that.
I suppose its value depends on how much entertainment you get out of it. I enjoy two hours of a good movie much more than grinding my way to the next level no matter how many hours I "get" to spend on it. So for me, it's a choice between a couple hours of fun or many hours of tedium. Not a hard choice at all. For you, four or five hours a day in a MMORPG is time well spent.
I blame Fallout for my disinterest in the RPG genre. My theory is that playing through Fallout is like an RPG orgasm -- with a very long refractory period.
Thief is a great game indeed. All it would take to make me disappear from the world would be a MMO Thief game (assuming it was up to T1 standards). I couldn't get into the MMO thing for less than that. Traditional grind based MMORPGs interest me not at all, but an MMOFPS (where S=sneaker) would be a dangerous drug.
Yes they do. I hate it when I ask, "Where's Steve?" and it turns out he's leveling. Of all the stupid reasons to stay home, that's one of the worst.
I suppose you're right. I hadn't thought of the die method.
If they're up to stuff that makes thousands of people angry enough to call them, don't you think they should get an earful? Besides, it's not like they're calling their personal numbers. They're making work-related phone calls to their offices, as I understand it.
There *was* a need for them. Note the emphasis on the past tense. At one time, recording and distributing music took lots of expensive equipment: recording gear, factories, delivery systems, and relationships with music stores. Not anymore it doesn't. Recording equipment is much cheaper these days. A band could theoretically record on its own for less than the price of the gear they perform with. Very many long-time musicians end up with recording studios in their basements. Write some songs and make friends with one of them, and there's your album. The Internet allows distribution at a very low price. The one thing that the big labels provide is a hype machine. I think that's less relevant these days, since the music business is more niche based than it was in the past.
IMHO, it's time for them to go.
Just selling shit to us on the level is the alternative. People will still buy music. Do you know how I know that? Because they do it now, even though they don't have to.
Nearly any song you might want is available on the Internet, for free. You might think that everyone would just go and download music for free when they want it (the RIAA seems to hold that opinion) like the amoral consumers they are. Well, obviously not. Many people buy music both from online stores and on CD, even though they don't have to. When I ask people why they do that, the answer I usually get is that they want to support the artists. So, if people buy music anyway, what exactly is the problem with selling it in a non-defective form? There's only one problem: when a person (not a *consumer*) can use the music they buy on all their devices, and don't have to re-buy with every format change (both of which I think we all agree should be legal), the music publishers lose the oppurtunity to milk fans for every cent they can. What a shame.
If only there were some way to make copies....
They don't need to (or probably even want to). The important thing is that a few thousand people call up and give their little speeches; it's not so important whether they tell the executives or their proxies.
My guess would be that they want to balance the number of calls to each phone number, and they want to know how many people participated. Sounds pretty reasonable to me.
For a minute, I thought you were being sarcastic.
I know SI measurements are largely metric -- that was my point. The people who do need what metric units offer use them, and the rest of us don't. The rest of my point is that we're doing just fine with imperial measurements, even if they aren't as "neat" as metric, so what makes you think there's a problem?
I just don't see any incentive to change except that everyone else does it. It doesn't much matter to me if it's easier to remember that there are ten millimeters to a centimeter. Everyone in the US manages to remember it just fine: it's clearly not that difficult. For that matter, everyone in the world manages to remember that there are 24 hours in a day, 60 minutes in an hour, and so on. If nearly everyone in the country is fine with Imperial measurement, then who are you, presumably inexperienced in its use, to tell us we're wrong?
If you have to keep telling them, then why haven't you ever stopped to think that *maybe it's not everyone else who's wrong*?
There's no reason that the default item needs to be at the top though, or even shown in the context menu. That's just clutter.
I agree, and my first sentence is a little misleading. What really bothers me is the idea that movie style narratives are something that games are *missing*. I'm all for new types of interaction, but sometimes the proponents of these new styles hawk them as the way games should be, with headlines like, "No more 'Porn Narrative'." In reality, the narrative in many games is exactly what gamers want, just like porn scripts are the right thing for what they do. I don't want to hear about how he's "tried to reshape storytelling for games". I'd rather hear about his new game that tries an innovative new form of storytelling. It's the difference between "I'm here to fix your crappy stuff" and "here's something cool you might like". It's not the games I mind (although they're not the sort of thing I want to play), but the way they're marketed.
Man, when will these game developers get the idea that *story is not the point*.
Now I backpedal. I realize that some people enjoyed this game, and some *would* like a larger helping of narrative in their games. But every time I see another article talking about narrative as if a lack of it is the one thing holding games back, a little bit of "twitch" gamer in me feels like it's been kicked in the crotch. There are many of us who don't want a game whose purpose is to funnel us through a story.
I though Half-Life 2 was a boring, boring game, because I never really got to do what I like to do in a game. I like to have enough flexibility that I can tackle the game however I see fit. HL2 was more like "shoot at some Combine soldiers then figure out which way forward is." Bore me to tears, why don't you? That's where I see story oriented games going.
A couple of games I do like are the Descent games and the Thief games. They feature what's important to me: engaging gameplay and levels in which I can go wherever I want. Neither tries to move me in the right direction, or worse, allow me only one direction.
The Descent games are purely about gameplay. The story is practically nonexistent, except at the beginning and end of each game. I like this, because I'm not turning to games to hear a story. I'm turning to them for an enjoyable *activity*. Descent's levels are also often hub-based: locked doors are frequently your entry point, requiring you to explore the level (one of my favorite in-game activities), then find your way back, often more than once for each key and door. Although the goals are monotonous, the exploration in the game is very strong, and the enemies are challenging.
The Thief games also have very strong non-linear gameplay, but they add an engaging story. As you might not expect from my comments up to this point, Thief's story is one of my favorite parts. The difference between Thief and the games I'm railing against is that the story is presented in a way I really like: cutscenes between levels. And what cutscenes they are! I don't hesitate at all to call them the best I've ever seen. The game is worth buying for them alone. The thing I like about its structure is that I get my gameplay, and then I get to relax and get some story as well. I like the fact that after completing a difficult level I get some time in which the game makes no demands on me (unlike Indigo Prophecy, I gather).
I can't really develop an affinity for a game that doesn't leave me alone to play it as I choose. I want to get in there and do my thing. Story also really helps me get into the game, but not so much when I don't get the experience that makes me feel I'm part of the game's world and not just along for the ride. It seems like game developers are forgetting about the "in it for the game" gamers like me who really don't want to take part in a movie.
* Please don't suggest games I might like or tell me that not *all* new games are the kind I hate. I know they aren't all like that, and I have plenty of games I'm playing. If anyone's interested, here's a short list (mostly older games): Descent games (via DXX-Rebirth and Loki's D3 engine), Cube, Warsow, and a bit of Moon Buggy (yes, the one you play in a terminal).
There's no good reason to change. Dividing by 10 is not all it's cracked up to be. I'd much rather use a system of measurement that simplifies calculations I actually want to do: travel time in minutes at 60mph, thirds and quarters of a foot, and so on.
And maybe he couldn't see the summary either. Of course, that raises the question of how he managed to post here.
Firefox and Opera have come and gone? Unless you're posting from the future, I think you are mistaken. They are still here.
Oops. I just got trolled.