Except that, as of a few weeks ago (give or take), it's explicitly been given the OK by the highest court in the US. So repeating "it's illegal" doesn't make it so, either, without specifying jurisdiction.
And the big difference between Steam and Amazon is that, if I decided I didn't want to agree with Amazon's EULA, I don't have to give back everything I've ever paid them for. So in that respect, yes, Steam is worse.
I had the same, AND the opposite experience with FSU's online courses.
Coincidentally (or not), the class that had the horrible textbook (it doesn't help to check against the solutions when they're wrong) and the absentee professor/TA ("quiz" grades from the first week were still unavailable before the midterm) was the "Statistics for Engineers" class. Twice. The first time, I withdrew rather than risk failing. The second was my last semester before graduation, so I had to "tough it out," which basically meant "get a different textbook and teach myself."
My guess is that, since the class was mainly for the online CS/SE program and the Stats department didn't have any appreciable online course present, neither the department nor the prof could be arsed to care that we paid our $800+ for the course.
The CS department, on the other hand, was more or less awesome.
I'm with you. I don't use any of that on the computer-computer. I'm actually looking for something to replace my HTPC. I might consider an Ouya + USB HD, assuming it ever actually sees the light of day.
Maybe I should stop waiting and snag one of those android media player boxes that are $60-80 on dealextreme.
Now that I've completely given up cable in favor of 100s of collected DVDs and downloads, maybe I should take another look at XBMC. Ever since.25, MythTV's been showing its cracks...
Ah, "misogynist," (note spelling) another word that has lost pretty much all meaning save to serve as a shibboleth within the ranks of the True Believers, thanks to overuse. How lovely.
Protip, white knight: There's a difference between hating women and not buying into feminist bullshit.
If it's a "throwaway" script, you have a point. But I don't expect to keep them viable for more than in the very short term (thus the qualifier "throwaway").
If all the bitching is about "throwaway" scripts, then they're even more disconnected from reality than they seemed at first blush.
You don't remember correctly. Other than the "elite" armor varieties, every style of armor was the same all the way up the tiers, from newbie armor to max (the elite skins were max armor level only). It was entirely an aesthetic decision, and every class had at least 1 "sensible" armor option.
. This game nickels and dimes you constantly with incredibly high fees, being able to obtain gold via $ would make it far more enjoyable for those who have the money to spend.
Funny. That's actually been my biggest complaint about it, too. Most of the convenience that was present and free in Guild Wars now has a price tag: Respeccing your traits? 1 silver per 20 levels. Fast travel to the far side of the zone and back? Another silver. Dying? Pay the fast-travel fee to respawn AND pay to repair your armor...
Someone cynical might wonder if they were detecting a whiff of Diablo III's thought process here...
I'm quite sure you list gems at a price just like you do when selling other items, and people put up an amount of gold which buys as many gems as possible based on the quantities and prices available (low to high).
Not so. I looked at the conversion in beta and the system offers you the exchange rate. You have no choice in it other than to choose whether to accept it (and how much to exchange) or not. You don't list anything, nor do you sell directly to other players.
The system names the price, the same way the rare material traders did in GW1, which could work just the same whether or not the pool was finite or not.
Q. Do we sell gems or gold to other players directly?
A. No, we do not sell gems or gold to other players directly. ArenaNet are the ONLY supplier for gems and gold exchanges. Whether you are buying gems with gold, buying gems with real money or buying gold with gems it all comes from ArenaNet.
You can only buy gems from players who are selling them for gold
I posted this elsewhere, but I don't think that's the case. I know that the prices are determined by how many people "buy" gems for gold and "sell" gems for gold, but I'm not convinced that the quantity of gems depends on it.
And if not, then, assuming someone used their exploited gold to buy 5000 gems, or just over $60 worth. That's $60 worth of account upgrades, character slots, etc... that ArenaNet didn't get paid for. You can't see how that might annoy them?
I wasn't arguing against the (mis)use of the 3-plural pronouns as a substitute for a gender-neutral pronoun (which is a role, whether they like it or not, that is technically filled, in English, by the male 3-singular pronouns).
I would much rather see that then the clumsy examples you mentioned, or the abominations that I did. It's at least easier to read.
The current problem is the design of gnome3 is bringing DLL hell to linux for anyone that wants to run things based on portions of gnome2.
The same thing happened when gnome2 came out. I still remember trying like hell to get gnucash to compile on Slackware *mumble* point *mumble* (it was waaay back, before Pat kicked gnome out of the distro completely)
Your trade has to be matched by a person who paid money for the gems
I'm not sure that part is correct. I have a feeling they're using the same (or a similar) algorithm to determine pricing that they used in the Rare Material traders in GW1, which can adjust pricing regardless of how many gems are in "the store," and I doubt we'll ever see the dollar-to-gem conversion rate change, which it certainly would otherwise.
Like you said, it's completely silly to use the gem store to buy gold at the moment, so it should be almost impossible to even buy gems with gold if they were limiting it to gems that were sold into the conversion (there's always a few idiots, after all)
If architects made buildings like programmers make software, then the first woodpecker to come along would destroy civilization.
Programmers seem to have no trouble with the concept that every single individual bit of the billion or so in a complex program has to be correct in memory for the program to work correctly.
Wait, what? I thought that the woodpecker comment meant that programs were so slipshod that they were barely held together by spit and duct tape, and one bird could wipe it out completely. (Yes, it's hyperbolic. Most adages are)
If you plug in your "perfectionist" complaint, how does it work out to anything that makes sense?
Because we've already had it drilled into us that that means only the females. And because we already have a perfectly functional word, whether or not some crybabies throw a piss fit over it because they don't understand the concept of subsets.
"They/them/their" is actually considered appropriate for TWO or more, known or unknown, being the plural pronouns, at least to sticklers. That's why it is (far too often) eschewed in favor of horrible writing: Randomly switching between "he" and "she", clunky "he/she" constructs, and my personal favorite that makes me just stop reading: made up bullshit like "sie/zie."
Slashdot Mirror
Except that, as of a few weeks ago (give or take), it's explicitly been given the OK by the highest court in the US. So repeating "it's illegal" doesn't make it so, either, without specifying jurisdiction.
And the big difference between Steam and Amazon is that, if I decided I didn't want to agree with Amazon's EULA, I don't have to give back everything I've ever paid them for. So in that respect, yes, Steam is worse.
I had the same, AND the opposite experience with FSU's online courses.
Coincidentally (or not), the class that had the horrible textbook (it doesn't help to check against the solutions when they're wrong) and the absentee professor/TA ("quiz" grades from the first week were still unavailable before the midterm) was the "Statistics for Engineers" class. Twice. The first time, I withdrew rather than risk failing. The second was my last semester before graduation, so I had to "tough it out," which basically meant "get a different textbook and teach myself."
My guess is that, since the class was mainly for the online CS/SE program and the Stats department didn't have any appreciable online course present, neither the department nor the prof could be arsed to care that we paid our $800+ for the course.
The CS department, on the other hand, was more or less awesome.
They've got access to the whole thing, though. They should be doing things like weighting whether or not the profile has ever linked to this video.
> say yoho
I know, wrong game, but damn it, PA/RTPI deserve some love too.
I'm with you. I don't use any of that on the computer-computer. I'm actually looking for something to replace my HTPC. I might consider an Ouya + USB HD, assuming it ever actually sees the light of day.
Maybe I should stop waiting and snag one of those android media player boxes that are $60-80 on dealextreme.
Now that I've completely given up cable in favor of 100s of collected DVDs and downloads, maybe I should take another look at XBMC. Ever since .25, MythTV's been showing its cracks...
OTOH, the xbox's hard drive is so blessed tiny
I don't think the Minbari approve of trolling, either. Just look what happened to the Stribe...
Unless devices come with a 'fucked' indicator that I've just been missing for all these years?
Laptops, at least, do.
Look for "Designed for use with Windows Vista"
It's like a cell phone for your car that doesn't work quite as well. Oh, and doesn't make phone calls or send SMS.
Ah, "misogynist," (note spelling) another word that has lost pretty much all meaning save to serve as a shibboleth within the ranks of the True Believers, thanks to overuse. How lovely.
Protip, white knight: There's a difference between hating women and not buying into feminist bullshit.
If it's a "throwaway" script, you have a point. But I don't expect to keep them viable for more than in the very short term (thus the qualifier "throwaway").
If all the bitching is about "throwaway" scripts, then they're even more disconnected from reality than they seemed at first blush.
They are most interested on developing super-sonic anti-ship torpedoes
Admittedly, I'm only a dabbler in physics, but wouldn't exceeding the speed of sound under water have... "exciting" effects?
Don't feed the butthurt feminist trolls...
You don't remember correctly. Other than the "elite" armor varieties, every style of armor was the same all the way up the tiers, from newbie armor to max (the elite skins were max armor level only). It was entirely an aesthetic decision, and every class had at least 1 "sensible" armor option.
"Requires Windows Vista[0] or Later" probably.
[0] Or XP SP3, or whenever XInput went live.
. This game nickels and dimes you constantly with incredibly high fees, being able to obtain gold via $ would make it far more enjoyable for those who have the money to spend.
Funny. That's actually been my biggest complaint about it, too. Most of the convenience that was present and free in Guild Wars now has a price tag: Respeccing your traits? 1 silver per 20 levels. Fast travel to the far side of the zone and back? Another silver. Dying? Pay the fast-travel fee to respawn AND pay to repair your armor...
Someone cynical might wonder if they were detecting a whiff of Diablo III's thought process here...
I'm quite sure you list gems at a price just like you do when selling other items, and people put up an amount of gold which buys as many gems as possible based on the quantities and prices available (low to high).
Not so. I looked at the conversion in beta and the system offers you the exchange rate. You have no choice in it other than to choose whether to accept it (and how much to exchange) or not. You don't list anything, nor do you sell directly to other players.
The system names the price, the same way the rare material traders did in GW1, which could work just the same whether or not the pool was finite or not.
Following up my sibling post:
From a FAQ on the gem store:
Q. Do we sell gems or gold to other players directly?
A. No, we do not sell gems or gold to other players directly. ArenaNet are the ONLY supplier for gems and gold exchanges. Whether you are buying gems with gold, buying gems with real money or buying gold with gems it all comes from ArenaNet.
It came off of a post on mmorpg.com, so YMMV...
You can only buy gems from players who are selling them for gold
I posted this elsewhere, but I don't think that's the case. I know that the prices are determined by how many people "buy" gems for gold and "sell" gems for gold, but I'm not convinced that the quantity of gems depends on it.
And if not, then, assuming someone used their exploited gold to buy 5000 gems, or just over $60 worth. That's $60 worth of account upgrades, character slots, etc... that ArenaNet didn't get paid for. You can't see how that might annoy them?
I wasn't arguing against the (mis)use of the 3-plural pronouns as a substitute for a gender-neutral pronoun (which is a role, whether they like it or not, that is technically filled, in English, by the male 3-singular pronouns).
I would much rather see that then the clumsy examples you mentioned, or the abominations that I did. It's at least easier to read.
The current problem is the design of gnome3 is bringing DLL hell to linux for anyone that wants to run things based on portions of gnome2.
The same thing happened when gnome2 came out. I still remember trying like hell to get gnucash to compile on Slackware *mumble* point *mumble* (it was waaay back, before Pat kicked gnome out of the distro completely)
Your trade has to be matched by a person who paid money for the gems
I'm not sure that part is correct. I have a feeling they're using the same (or a similar) algorithm to determine pricing that they used in the Rare Material traders in GW1, which can adjust pricing regardless of how many gems are in "the store," and I doubt we'll ever see the dollar-to-gem conversion rate change, which it certainly would otherwise.
Like you said, it's completely silly to use the gem store to buy gold at the moment, so it should be almost impossible to even buy gems with gold if they were limiting it to gems that were sold into the conversion (there's always a few idiots, after all)
If architects made buildings like programmers make software, then the first woodpecker to come along would destroy civilization.
Programmers seem to have no trouble with the concept that every single individual bit of the billion or so in a complex program has to be correct in memory for the program to work correctly.
Wait, what? I thought that the woodpecker comment meant that programs were so slipshod that they were barely held together by spit and duct tape, and one bird could wipe it out completely. (Yes, it's hyperbolic. Most adages are)
If you plug in your "perfectionist" complaint, how does it work out to anything that makes sense?
Because we've already had it drilled into us that that means only the females. And because we already have a perfectly functional word, whether or not some crybabies throw a piss fit over it because they don't understand the concept of subsets.
"They/them/their" is actually considered appropriate for TWO or more, known or unknown, being the plural pronouns, at least to sticklers. That's why it is (far too often) eschewed in favor of horrible writing: Randomly switching between "he" and "she", clunky "he/she" constructs, and my personal favorite that makes me just stop reading: made up bullshit like "sie/zie."