I'm starting to warm up to the DDO model where they still use microtransactions, only they are not as much 'micro': Instead of more levels or better gear you can buy yourself access to areas and instances, access to classes/races, an XP gain boost for a day, etc etc etc. The point is that in-game you will not get a free pass just because you have cash, and you can play with/against others without feeling handicapped just because you don't pay cash.
Current speculative thinking is that all the lead designers from WoW have been pulled to work on their next MMO, hence the changing of the game by the current lead developers.
Remember, even Blizzard was surprised at the success WoW had, and they certainly didn't expect to keep working on it for so long.
There's even a YA novel (Little Brother) by Doctorow that has this issue as a plot point; somehow I doubt that the people in charge are going to read it...
Indeed, as I found out recently when I moved to 2x 1920x1200 monitors. I've mitigated the problems somewhat with a lot of keybinding customization (toggle max horizontally/vertically + throw window left/right/bottom/up did help a lot), but it's still clunky at times.
Hell, the Jita/Market hub problem has a very easy solution: just tax transactions more if they take place in congested systems. With th volume of trade that goes on in Jita and the margins available, even a 0.1% tax of items sold there would cause traders to seek other nearby systems.
For what it's worth, their current major pain point is that they use a single thread per solar system, this decision was made very early in development and removing it would mean a more or less complete rewrite of their code. Hell, if they do that they may as well go the Erlang route...
Quite simply, because the nodes need to be active continuously. You can't just say "Hi, system BH-7A1 will be offline for the next 3 minutes due to migration".
No single neuron holds any single memory. The process could be said to have holographic qualities, in that as neurons die, memory/thinking becomes fuzzier. And neurons, like most cells, do replace most of their molecules in the long term.
Simple: don't allow handsets/devices to talk via the network directly. Instead, they have to talk with a third-party provider, and charge based on bandwidth used that provider. Like the Amazon/Sprint deal with the kindle.
The white elephant in the room is that EvE is much much more friendly towards players with a life outside the game. If you have a life or kids, you can still have a meaningful progression in the game, as the skills progress over time, not with skill use or XP gained. Don't have time for the next 3 months due to a deathmarch project at work? No problem, spend 3 minutes per week to login, set skill training, logout.
Slashdot Mirror
VPNs and proxies to the rescue.
I'm starting to warm up to the DDO model where they still use microtransactions, only they are not as much 'micro': Instead of more levels or better gear you can buy yourself access to areas and instances, access to classes/races, an XP gain boost for a day, etc etc etc. The point is that in-game you will not get a free pass just because you have cash, and you can play with/against others without feeling handicapped just because you don't pay cash.
Thankfully it inspired the netbook...
Enterprise MySQL... crap, I'm going to have support nightmares tonight.
Current speculative thinking is that all the lead designers from WoW have been pulled to work on their next MMO, hence the changing of the game by the current lead developers.
Remember, even Blizzard was surprised at the success WoW had, and they certainly didn't expect to keep working on it for so long.
It's a warning, not an instruction manual! - Orwell
There's even a YA novel (Little Brother) by Doctorow that has this issue as a plot point; somehow I doubt that the people in charge are going to read it...
Indeed, as I found out recently when I moved to 2x 1920x1200 monitors. I've mitigated the problems somewhat with a lot of keybinding customization (toggle max horizontally/vertically + throw window left/right/bottom/up did help a lot), but it's still clunky at times.
That *is* the vista (view) knob!
Hell, the Jita/Market hub problem has a very easy solution: just tax transactions more if they take place in congested systems. With th volume of trade that goes on in Jita and the margins available, even a 0.1% tax of items sold there would cause traders to seek other nearby systems.
For what it's worth, their current major pain point is that they use a single thread per solar system, this decision was made very early in development and removing it would mean a more or less complete rewrite of their code. Hell, if they do that they may as well go the Erlang route...
Quite simply, because the nodes need to be active continuously. You can't just say "Hi, system BH-7A1 will be offline for the next 3 minutes due to migration".
Also, keep in mind that fingers do get larger during the normal course of life, so you will need to resize it anyway at some point in the future.
I'd gather you'd love Mass Effect. Pity it's not an MMO.
John Varley also has written recently some fiction for juveniles (Red Lighning/Red Thunder), and it's very Heinleinesque.
I sure hope that you will give EvE online a look. And don't let the steep learning curve throw you off: http://www.eve-pirate.com/uploads/LearningCurve.jpg
Ah, it's not *one* ID everywhere. It's just one id for all low-impact sites (blog comments, simple sites that you need to register etc).
No single neuron holds any single memory. The process could be said to have holographic qualities, in that as neurons die, memory/thinking becomes fuzzier. And neurons, like most cells, do replace most of their molecules in the long term.
Simple: don't allow handsets/devices to talk via the network directly. Instead, they have to talk with a third-party provider, and charge based on bandwidth used that provider. Like the Amazon/Sprint deal with the kindle.
The white elephant in the room is that EvE is much much more friendly towards players with a life outside the game. If you have a life or kids, you can still have a meaningful progression in the game, as the skills progress over time, not with skill use or XP gained. Don't have time for the next 3 months due to a deathmarch project at work? No problem, spend 3 minutes per week to login, set skill training, logout.
That's exactly why I'm still playing EvE and now WoW, EvE provides a sandbox where the players will set up their own content and drama.
Yes. People still need power, services, coordinated infrastructure. People will still need to work.
Off-topic, but I was wondering about the source of your signature, I can't seem to find anything searching for it...
Apologies, I hadn't meant to say that. Let me rephrase: In the near term (2007, possibly 2008), I can see the share of Mac Desktops rising.
Shotgun Debugging: http://catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/S/shotgun-debuggi ng.html . Sadly, I've seen it too often for comfort.