Call me a conspiracy theorist, but who's to say this was the Governor's plan to make the Dems look bad and they fell right into his trap? It could be completely innocent but, He could very well be playing politics right now, having discovered that his constituents liked the idea, and while his base may not be interested in the idea. He managed to get the Democrats to compromise with him before, and then just flips over to the 'good idea' to make em look bad. While he looks like some enlightened individual with the 'publics good' in mind.
Honestly. Don't blame the Democrats when really the Republican party has history of recently changing things around just so the Democrats can accidently put their foot in thier mouth and look stupid. It's worked for months now, and hasn't stoped.
It's hard to play the game, when the winning team keeps changing the rules on ya.
Be it a blog, a forum or just a plain old web zine. Remember, just because someone wrote it on the web, doesn't mean jack that it's even vaugly true. Remember people, one thing people love to do on the web, is exagerate, boast and inflame. And just because it involves doctors doesn't mean it's any diffrent.
Some of the complaints may be true, but on the Internet, accountability is zero, so you don't know if a post is true or fabricated. ONe person can falsely generate thousands of complaints against a doctor or, appeal to only those who wish to complain about a doctor and provide steeply one sided evidence against the individual.
I know a lot of people here may not like Doctors and the fortunes they apparently gain. But it's not without cause and things like this aren't making it any easier for them. No I don't want to give them a free pass but don't judge everything by it's cover people. Be weary of complaints and get a second opinion before you start marching along side the vocal minority.
I have to agree with a nother poster and say first of all, this article does read very much like a MMOG Geek trying to recount too many of his rather dull experiences. (Okay I've been guilty of that too on occasion) Sugar coated to make it look like an article about Guilds. Over all, the whole article really doesn't tell us much about guilds at all, other then really the flat obvious that yes, guilds can be nice and can be bad.
Had the author focused more on various traps guilds fall into, the cycles of them and more general reasons behind why they are formed, then perhaps their would be some decent realivent information here. At best the author interviewed a few players, asked them their opinions about guilds and wrote it up. It really doesn't say much of anything else really.
For those of us who play MMOG's, guilds/outfits/clans/Supergroups/whatever usually play a vital roll in maintain interest and replayability with an online MMOG. Often, what could be the make it or break it aspect for many players, they provide a common ground for a smaller circle of players within the global player base of a specific game server, a place to communicate and share a sort of mock kinship to unite them behind. This common ground often is the only real hook a player has to staying with the game, If that hook is lost, then they are dangleing endlessly on the edge of a knife from the developers point of view. They have little reason to stay on other then time invested and that alone won't retain them. Providing that social backbone for players to discuss and debate on all elements of the game provides a 'healthy' (I use the word loosely here) atmosphere for the player and thus maintains their interest and they in turn maintain their account.
Now, if the author developed more on that line of logic, their would be something to say about this article. Then again, I'm just expressing hypotheical views on simple online games. And I guess you could say I'm a bit biast about my own writing. Never the less, describing a few individuals experience in gaming really doesn't say much other then, what luck they've had, not what was the common elements, what could have worked instead when things when wrong and also what problems can occure in turn. Cute article but, really that publish worthy?
Now here's the real trick, how can I flip around and create a web server that does nearly the same thing as Massive's server except include my own images? I'm thinking, if I can put in my own little images, say my Outfit (Guild) banner, or stats images, that would be pretty awsome. Better yet if I got other people in my outfit to do this for kicks.
Sentack
Apparently their's a way to filter the adds from your system but editing your systems hosts file to redirect all the ad provider servers URL to 127.0.0.1.
Now, I've never done this before but it seems simple enough, the problem is, what are the server names? Their was a post on the SoE forums about this but SoE removed it (I knew I should have copied it as soon as I saw it!) But in general, I guess I could wait till it goes live and then snoop my own machine.. But I know someone has this info somewhere. Anyone?
Sentack
If gaming has been around since the 50's, shouldn't a generation at least have 'moved on' since then and the gamer generation 'taken over'?
It hasn't, and won't. The reason why? Much like Comic books and Roleplaying games, Video games is considered to be a juvinile and/or geeky activity only. It's not something 'respectable' adults do.
The children of the 60's, are now the ones trying to get us to say all M rated games are trying to corrupt the youth and only the goverment should step in. What's wrong with that picture, I ask you?
Look, the main problem is, many adults 40+ don't understand their can be a thing, as a video game intended only for play by Adults. The Playstation 2 and xBox are only for High School kids and anything that suggests otherwise is trying to break their self molded reality! They made up rules and when we tried to show them they were wrong, they go and blame us for it. Untill we can get over that obsticle, things are going to remain difficult.
Well if you ask me, the ESRB just shot itself in the foot. They fell to political pressures to change the rating, causing the game to be pulled from many of the big chains, possably making the game nearly impossable to pick up in any realistic retail store in the near future but, that's besides the point.
The real problem is this, the ESRB's actions make it look like they screwed up, which makes it look like the system is broken, which means that now the Goverment may push it's way back into the idea of regulating the gaming industry for allowing this to happen, which really means things are about to go into a serious downward spiral.
I know it sounds a little redicioulus but the ESRB should have held it's ground at this point and put forward a point of view somewhat simular to this. "The content was not an intentional part of the product put forward. The modifications broke what the designers intended to be put forward THUS, the game rating is based on the actually intended content of the game. You can not rate a game based on modified content even if the content is accessable thru the game. It wasn't intended to be viewable by the playerbase, thus it shouldn't be considered."
A somewhat hard sell in this case, but it matters not now, the ESRB showed some weakness and now they very well may put themselves in jeapordy for it.
I know it's perhaps best just to buy one of the cheep plastic ones, But is their a way to build your own better Super Soaker? I have a feeling someone's done it, and I bet the people of Slashdot know someone who's done it. Now is it worth it, is the question.
Tony
What are you nuts? You suggesting parents should get less involved with their kids? Not every parent is that involved in computers these days. They may look at them as a medium to check on news, write e-mail to family and friends and look up websites on fishing but you can't expect every parent to know the in's and out's of leet speak.
This is information for parents to help them connect better with their children. These days people constantly talk about how parents are getting less involved and thus children are becomeing more involved in negative influences like narcotics, Gangs, and more.
I'm not saying parents should turn into dictators, they just need to be educated into what their kids like and dislike. The more they can understand each other, the better I say.
Neat article over all.
Sentack
Well I would love to see this system come out in North America / Europe, but in the mean time and if the developer never does release it, at least we have a couple alternatives that I know about at least.
You have first, Neverwinter Nights. Which everyone pretty much knows about. Some love it, others hate it. It's also DnD which makes some happy and others groan. Over all it's at least one alternative.
The other, That I know of, is Blades of Avernum (http://www.avernum.com/blades/index.html), which is by Spiderweb Games developer, Jeff Vogal. For those in the know of small press, independant developer, old school Western Style RPG's, Jeff is often looked at as the current king of such games. Low quality graphics but high quality game play.
Now, I used to know of a few smaller old DOS apps that where RPG maker-ish applications. And this is beyond Bard's Tale Construction Set and the others like it but, those where far and few between. One of them, if I recall correctly (Verge), had you scripting everything, I mean nearly everything. Combat system and all. But lord knows where those games are like today.
While he hasn't done a lot of work in gaming as far as I know, he has done a little voice work on the Baulders Gate: Dark Alliance PS2 game and in Champions of Norrath as the main villian in both. What I think is his best work though is as Megabite in the tv series Reboot.
He has this spectacular deep rich dark voice that seems warm yet equaly frighting. He's an exceptional voice actor, he does such a great job giving deep sinister emotion and power to his voice, and he's not a young guy by any streach of the imagination too. He just seems perfect as the main villain for any storyline. Unlike many voice actors, I think he actually honestly can sound like a genuinely intelligent devious criminal mastermind and not one of the coders who's tryin to lower his voice an octive or two.
Sentack
Slashdot Mirror
Call me a conspiracy theorist, but who's to say this was the Governor's plan to make the Dems look bad and they fell right into his trap? It could be completely innocent but, He could very well be playing politics right now, having discovered that his constituents liked the idea, and while his base may not be interested in the idea. He managed to get the Democrats to compromise with him before, and then just flips over to the 'good idea' to make em look bad. While he looks like some enlightened individual with the 'publics good' in mind. Honestly. Don't blame the Democrats when really the Republican party has history of recently changing things around just so the Democrats can accidently put their foot in thier mouth and look stupid. It's worked for months now, and hasn't stoped. It's hard to play the game, when the winning team keeps changing the rules on ya.
Be it a blog, a forum or just a plain old web zine. Remember, just because someone wrote it on the web, doesn't mean jack that it's even vaugly true. Remember people, one thing people love to do on the web, is exagerate, boast and inflame. And just because it involves doctors doesn't mean it's any diffrent.
Some of the complaints may be true, but on the Internet, accountability is zero, so you don't know if a post is true or fabricated. ONe person can falsely generate thousands of complaints against a doctor or, appeal to only those who wish to complain about a doctor and provide steeply one sided evidence against the individual.
I know a lot of people here may not like Doctors and the fortunes they apparently gain. But it's not without cause and things like this aren't making it any easier for them. No I don't want to give them a free pass but don't judge everything by it's cover people. Be weary of complaints and get a second opinion before you start marching along side the vocal minority.
Sentack
I have to agree with a nother poster and say first of all, this article does read very much like a MMOG Geek trying to recount too many of his rather dull experiences. (Okay I've been guilty of that too on occasion) Sugar coated to make it look like an article about Guilds. Over all, the whole article really doesn't tell us much about guilds at all, other then really the flat obvious that yes, guilds can be nice and can be bad.
Had the author focused more on various traps guilds fall into, the cycles of them and more general reasons behind why they are formed, then perhaps their would be some decent realivent information here. At best the author interviewed a few players, asked them their opinions about guilds and wrote it up. It really doesn't say much of anything else really.
For those of us who play MMOG's, guilds/outfits/clans/Supergroups/whatever usually play a vital roll in maintain interest and replayability with an online MMOG. Often, what could be the make it or break it aspect for many players, they provide a common ground for a smaller circle of players within the global player base of a specific game server, a place to communicate and share a sort of mock kinship to unite them behind. This common ground often is the only real hook a player has to staying with the game, If that hook is lost, then they are dangleing endlessly on the edge of a knife from the developers point of view. They have little reason to stay on other then time invested and that alone won't retain them. Providing that social backbone for players to discuss and debate on all elements of the game provides a 'healthy' (I use the word loosely here) atmosphere for the player and thus maintains their interest and they in turn maintain their account.
Now, if the author developed more on that line of logic, their would be something to say about this article. Then again, I'm just expressing hypotheical views on simple online games. And I guess you could say I'm a bit biast about my own writing. Never the less, describing a few individuals experience in gaming really doesn't say much other then, what luck they've had, not what was the common elements, what could have worked instead when things when wrong and also what problems can occure in turn. Cute article but, really that publish worthy?
Sentack
Now here's the real trick, how can I flip around and create a web server that does nearly the same thing as Massive's server except include my own images? I'm thinking, if I can put in my own little images, say my Outfit (Guild) banner, or stats images, that would be pretty awsome. Better yet if I got other people in my outfit to do this for kicks. Sentack
Apparently their's a way to filter the adds from your system but editing your systems hosts file to redirect all the ad provider servers URL to 127.0.0.1.
Now, I've never done this before but it seems simple enough, the problem is, what are the server names? Their was a post on the SoE forums about this but SoE removed it (I knew I should have copied it as soon as I saw it!) But in general, I guess I could wait till it goes live and then snoop my own machine.. But I know someone has this info somewhere. Anyone? Sentack
If gaming has been around since the 50's, shouldn't a generation at least have 'moved on' since then and the gamer generation 'taken over'?
It hasn't, and won't. The reason why? Much like Comic books and Roleplaying games, Video games is considered to be a juvinile and/or geeky activity only. It's not something 'respectable' adults do.
The children of the 60's, are now the ones trying to get us to say all M rated games are trying to corrupt the youth and only the goverment should step in. What's wrong with that picture, I ask you?
Look, the main problem is, many adults 40+ don't understand their can be a thing, as a video game intended only for play by Adults. The Playstation 2 and xBox are only for High School kids and anything that suggests otherwise is trying to break their self molded reality! They made up rules and when we tried to show them they were wrong, they go and blame us for it. Untill we can get over that obsticle, things are going to remain difficult.
Sentack
Well if you ask me, the ESRB just shot itself in the foot. They fell to political pressures to change the rating, causing the game to be pulled from many of the big chains, possably making the game nearly impossable to pick up in any realistic retail store in the near future but, that's besides the point.
The real problem is this, the ESRB's actions make it look like they screwed up, which makes it look like the system is broken, which means that now the Goverment may push it's way back into the idea of regulating the gaming industry for allowing this to happen, which really means things are about to go into a serious downward spiral.
I know it sounds a little redicioulus but the ESRB should have held it's ground at this point and put forward a point of view somewhat simular to this. "The content was not an intentional part of the product put forward. The modifications broke what the designers intended to be put forward THUS, the game rating is based on the actually intended content of the game. You can not rate a game based on modified content even if the content is accessable thru the game. It wasn't intended to be viewable by the playerbase, thus it shouldn't be considered."
A somewhat hard sell in this case, but it matters not now, the ESRB showed some weakness and now they very well may put themselves in jeapordy for it.
Sentack
I know it's perhaps best just to buy one of the cheep plastic ones, But is their a way to build your own better Super Soaker? I have a feeling someone's done it, and I bet the people of Slashdot know someone who's done it. Now is it worth it, is the question. Tony
What are you nuts? You suggesting parents should get less involved with their kids? Not every parent is that involved in computers these days. They may look at them as a medium to check on news, write e-mail to family and friends and look up websites on fishing but you can't expect every parent to know the in's and out's of leet speak. This is information for parents to help them connect better with their children. These days people constantly talk about how parents are getting less involved and thus children are becomeing more involved in negative influences like narcotics, Gangs, and more. I'm not saying parents should turn into dictators, they just need to be educated into what their kids like and dislike. The more they can understand each other, the better I say. Neat article over all. Sentack
Well I would love to see this system come out in North America / Europe, but in the mean time and if the developer never does release it, at least we have a couple alternatives that I know about at least.
You have first, Neverwinter Nights. Which everyone pretty much knows about. Some love it, others hate it. It's also DnD which makes some happy and others groan. Over all it's at least one alternative.
The other, That I know of, is Blades of Avernum (http://www.avernum.com/blades/index.html), which is by Spiderweb Games developer, Jeff Vogal. For those in the know of small press, independant developer, old school Western Style RPG's, Jeff is often looked at as the current king of such games. Low quality graphics but high quality game play.
Now, I used to know of a few smaller old DOS apps that where RPG maker-ish applications. And this is beyond Bard's Tale Construction Set and the others like it but, those where far and few between. One of them, if I recall correctly (Verge), had you scripting everything, I mean nearly everything. Combat system and all. But lord knows where those games are like today.
Sentack
While he hasn't done a lot of work in gaming as far as I know, he has done a little voice work on the Baulders Gate: Dark Alliance PS2 game and in Champions of Norrath as the main villian in both. What I think is his best work though is as Megabite in the tv series Reboot. He has this spectacular deep rich dark voice that seems warm yet equaly frighting. He's an exceptional voice actor, he does such a great job giving deep sinister emotion and power to his voice, and he's not a young guy by any streach of the imagination too. He just seems perfect as the main villain for any storyline. Unlike many voice actors, I think he actually honestly can sound like a genuinely intelligent devious criminal mastermind and not one of the coders who's tryin to lower his voice an octive or two. Sentack