I have, every time the revised TOS pops up, hit "decline". If I try to start one of the games I actually have currently installed I get the pop up. Hit "decline" and it closes down. The games are not launchable. I haven't tried to reinstall anything I have purchased from them, but just downloading and installing a game I purchased will, I assume, not even be possible without agreeing to the new TOS. Of course, even if I could install one, I would not be able to play it anyway.
I've been going back and forth with Steam Support on this and not getting any definitive explanations to my questions. The only thing I am told is that unless I agree I cannot access any Steam services. Sure makes me feel robbed to not be able to access the games I paid them for already. Not like I use them to play online or intend to ever again make a purchase from them, so they can cut me off from using any of their services aside from being able to access the games I paid them for.
I have also sent some emails from Valve's contact page. Gabe Newell is on vacation until the 24th of this month. I wrote an email to one of the points of contact he recommended in his vacation auto-reply. Haven't heard anything back yet, but it hasn't even been 24 hours at this point.
Re:Hate to put a damper on the celebration
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Diablo III Released
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· Score: 1
It runs on Windows and Macs...There is an announcement about a coming Linux version, but that was back in 2007. So might very well be that no one is actively working on the game anymore.
In case there are Elite fans out there who haven't heard of it; check out Oolite http://www.oolite.org/.
It's an open source version that is nicely done. Available on Linux, MacOS & Windows.
I think the main reason they don't throttle the customers with the limited plans is that they very much wish to see those people go over the limit so they can then charge them for additional usage.
I hated HS and would have done anything to get out early.
In the end, as there was no early out, I simply dropped out of HS entirely. A bit thereafter I took the insanely easy GED exam, got my paper and started at my local community college in what would have been my senior year in HS.
I don't regret that decision. Never have. And once you have your BS/BA no one cares about your HS history.
Companies can, and will, drop you at any moment without a reason given if it serves their needs.
Loyalty is earned. If a company doesn't value me and pay me/train me accordingly of course I will jump ship if I find what looks to be a better opportunity.
Kind of late to the game...nearly 24 hours after story posting. Was actually running my D&D campaign yesterday so no time for Slasdot.
Up front, I was quite pessimistic about this new edition...and still not sure where my judgment will ultimately fall.
However, after a bit of exposure to the three core books (they're up on bit torrent and better copies on that place that the first rule says you aren't supposed to speak of...). I'm guardedly excited. Enough so that I did allow myself to get caught up in the excitement of release day and picked my copy of the PHB up on the way home from work Friday evening.
The book is quite lovely, and I have to say I'm really happy how clean the print is (I don't own 3.5 edition books, but my third edition ones have a horrid background that obscures the text). The artwork is nice and it's nice to see women adventurers depicted sensibly (no chainmail bikinis).
I'm not versed enough on the rule set yet to say anything other than they look interesting. I could see playing them if I can twist my players arms harshly enough the next time we re-boot and start a new campaign (we are on second edition as of now).
I am not happy with what appears to be very miniature focused tactical rules. However, perhaps ranges of "squares" can be easily converted. My group is darn cheap. We have a small collection of minatures...enough that all the current players have someone to depict their characters and there are some which are fitting enough for a few of the main NPC allies they have. For opponents we actually use hexagon tiles that I pencil something descriptive on...like orc 1, 2, 3...or NPC's names. We don't use a battle mat. I draw a rough map out on a white board laid flat on the table. I also write 'NTS' on my little maps as I have one jerk who will complain that the map is not to scale...
Other than that possible concern about the role of miniatures in the game (and for my group it's more about some players being under financial constraints), the only other things I think that are worth pointing out are:
1. The index (like most RPGs) is not very expansive.
2. There is no appendix of important tables in the read of the PHB. I think that would have been handy to anyone using the book whether a player or the DM.
3. The inclusion of a section detailing a great number of magic items. This was always something left to the DMG. I don't understand why it had to be put into the PHB. I would much more rather have seen those pages utilized with something like an appendix of useful tables, more spells, or, heck, even a more extensive listing along with descriptions of odd ball equipment.
In summary, it looks promising and I'm looking forward to reading through my copy of the PHB in the next couple weeks. I don't know enough yet to recommend the game or not, but I would advise anyone to take a look online for the PDFs and take a gander first. If it looks cool to you then plop down your money and get a copy. (Same as I say to anyone who I tell about a good band...d/l some MP3's, check it out and if you dig it, buy it.
I've downloaded a number of things to check them out, found that I liked them and that led to sales. Anime and music primarily.
Though one thing that I have downloaded and liked a lot, but did not buy was some soundtracks to various anime. The only legal way I could find to buy the recordings was as Japanese imports and that was mighty costly.
Today I received an email from Amazon asking me to take a survey about their MP3 store as I've been purchasing a good deal from there. One of the things I mentioned when asked about what I would like to see more of is things just like that. I'd pay a fair price for that music if it was offered. Gladly.
RS, by the way, I believe both DVD Decrypter and DVD Shrink will break region encryption for you. I use both for ripping and backing up DVDs I purchase (also clears away unskippable bits too)
The price does sound pretty high for what sounds like basically a pair of ads for the upcoming new core books.
Will the contents of these two books be worth much once the core books are out and I pay good money for them as well? (If I do that is...The system sounds a lot like a CRPG. Don't get me wrong; I play and enjoy WoW...it's just not what I'm seeking in a table top game.)
Personally, I'm going to wait until the first scans hit usenet and check them thoroughly before laying down my pair of twenties.
Yeah, this is an FPS with elves and magic in a "re-worked" Shadowrun universe...In other words, it has nothing to do with the actual pen and paper game. There was a story about this posted some months ago when Microsoft posted a promotional video. I saw things such as a raise dead spell and elves with guns running about. Apparently the key to the game is to be the team to get the most relics. The relics are the source of all (finite) magic in the re-imagined world.
When I first heard they were making a Shadowrun game I was very excited expecting it to be an RPG. Heck, I figured this would be my sole reason to buy an X-Box. Then I saw what they were building and how the entire game world was being changed and felt sick to my stomach. I honestly don't understand the reasoning behind using an established game world to market a game while turning it into something that would totally turn off anyone who'd be attracted by the Shadowrun name.
This SR veteran GM will not be signing onto any beta of this game let alone dropping money on it or the console to play it on. Nor will any of my players.
Just wanted to mention, since I didn't see any reference to it in the comments so far, that the movie Wil mentions -- The Gamers: Dorkness Rising looks to be great. Movie site link: http://www.the-gamers.com/
At least if the first one is anything to go on -- The Gamers (http://gamers.deadgentlemen.com/). Just watched it after downloading an avi of it and it has me sold on buying a DVD of it as well as the new one when it's out.
If you're a gamer you must see it. Basically the movie goes back and forth between the game table and the in-game action. They do a good job of hitting all the "in" jokes in gamer circles.
If nothing else, let this roughly recalled quote be your guide.
DM:'You're going to backstab him...with a siege weapon?!?'
There is some good advice in this thread and you should take it to heart.
I can think of a few other things. For one, do you have email addresses of old classmates, profs and school friends? Are you in touch with them all? If not, consider starting to contact them even if you haven't seen them in well over a year. Drop them a line to see how they are and what they are up to and mention that you are in the job market and would truly appreciate hearing of any openings they may know of.
Do you live near a decent market? If not, would you consider moving? Being willing to relocate might open new opportunities for you.
By all means, follow up! I can't stress that enough. If you see a job listing and send in your resume and cover letter (you do fine tune each to the job and company right? Research is easy with companies having a web presence and being unemployed you should have the spare time.) follow up a few days later. An email is the most basic, better if you are able to pinpoint an actual person, better than that is to call them. I know you said you are shy, but forcing yourself to do this is well worth it. Just call the main switchboard and ask to speak with someone in HR. If they ask why say it's to follow up on a job application. Believe me, this small bit of initative will make you stand out from the mass of emailed resumes.
Is your resume on the job boards? At least once a week (better once a day) go into your account and "update" your resume. When employers and consulting agencies do a candidate search the responses are listed by freshness. At least that is what my sister who is a headhunter has told me.
Again, I know you said you are shy (and I can empathize with that), but you might want to force yourself to take the steps to get involved with a developer community. Many technologies have regional/local user groups. Could be a good way to meet new people and maybe learn of an opening somewhere.
You haven't said where your talents/skills lie, but I bet you could find ways of putting them to use which would help you build a portfolio showing you can code. Whether it's volunteering to help a local non-profit on their website, soliciting local businesses for consulting work, hobby projects which you can reference in your cover letters (and pointing to source code on your website), etc. You need to show a prospective employer that you can "do".
Once you get an interview, whether it is a phone interview or a face-to-face one make sure to follow up immediately with a "thank you for your time" email. It used to be a thank you card was the norm, but email seems to be very acceptable now and it is immdediate. Also reiterate in it briefly why you want the job, how excited you are about the possibility of working there, etc. You can also use this as an opportunity to point out something that you forgot in the interview. Again, a little extra effort and initiative helps you stand out. Personally, this and being very enthusiastic in the interview, have probably led to more job offers than anything else.
Finally, just to reiterate what others have said -- look into getting into a consulting group. It'll get you job experience and help you build up a network. Once you can put some work experience on your resume your educational background (and that GPA) will not be the thing a prospective employer will focus in on. They'll see that you can hold a job, know how to work, and can produce results.
I have to agree with the parent that the human touch in customer service is a big deal.
Aside from a (hopefully) active group of developers and designers on the game's boards, customer service and support is the public face of the people/company running the game and taking your hard earned money each month.
My main experience is with City of Heroes. In playing for about 10 months I only had a couple times in-game where I needed to contact support and deal with a GM and both were very positive and left me satisfied and talking well of the experience to other players. In both these cases there was a problem with a mission I was on. In the one an object we needed to get was actually embedded into the floor and wasn't visible or targetable. The GM moved it up out of the floor for us. The other was when a door wouldn't open when the trigger event fired (taking down a group of bad guys). The team and I went out and came back twice and still we couldn't get the door to open. We put a support request in and a GM promptly showed up and popped the door open for us.
I doubt either of these experiences would have turned out the same if support consisted of a "smart system" of some kind in place of a living, breathing person.
I also needed help from support on a couple other occassions where I couldn't log in to my character or favored server for some reason or another. Getting a response from a real person certainly made me feel a lot better about "server issues" as it left me with the feeling that someone was actually tending to the problem. Some boiler plate text sent to me by a bot wouldn't have left me with the same feeling.
Human run support/customer service is much better I believe than some automated system. As for people never being totally satisfied, welcome to the world of dealing with customers. Think customers in other settings are often 100% satisfied with the customer service they get? They aren't. People like to complain. Human nature.
Cutting customer service won't help in my opinion. If it's a matter of cost a game company could always try a mix of paid staff and volunteers. Though I believe with volunteers you would need to keep an eye on them and maybe integrate a post-customer service moderation system for your customers to use in an effort to weed out the power hungry jerks.
Same here. Been GMing the game since the first edition came out.
Initially when I heard that there was going to be a 360 Shadowrun game coming out I had figured it was an RPG and fully intended to purchase one of the consoles solely to play this game.
Then I find out it's to be a first person shooter...and then I hear that they are ripping out the entire history and starting from scratch in a rather warped way...then I see the movie promo for the game and see that it's a deathmatch game with pointy eared avatars, some magic (rocket launchers by any other name...), and what looks to be a rez spell...What the heck? I also seem to recall reading something about magic being a finite resource controlled by possession of a handful of artifacts which seem to be the "prizes/flags" you fight for in the game?!?
Honestly, Microsoft, why did you bother getting the license if you are going to completely gut the entire game world? All you do is annoy those of us who love it...and for people who don't know it, well why would they care about the Shadowrun name being on the game in the first place?
Good point. I'm back in northern Jersey after being away for about 12 years and the sprawl is quite a lot to take in.
I'm living in the small town bordering the small town I grew up in and the changes are incredible. Or maybe scary is a better way of putting it.
Forest land is disappearing. Watershed and park land is being built right up against. Nothing like hiking with a view of a big McMansion development.
I think the worst though is that developers have actually ground down the tops of some of the small mountains to create the space to bring in important things like...A Lowes, a Home Depot, a Bed Bath and Beyond...and, everyone's favorite, a soon to open WalMart. They've also cut into the side of another mountain to put in a gigantic gated senior community.
Where has seeing all of this led me? Looking to get out of here. I'm happy to be back around some good old life long friends, but this place isn't fit to live in. Ok, for me. Other people love it and I will be happy to leave it to them.
Maybe I misread the article, but it seems things like Protected Video Path are only required in a machine to be certified as Vista ready or whatever. So those of us who don't buy from Dell and the like should be ok. It doesn't seem the OS itself will require this...at least not initially.
Granted, I still think this is an extremly crappy thing to require of vendors since it means in a few years most people are only going to be able to (know how to) watch locked down video and find their ability to use media they purchase with any degree of freedom eroded thin to non-existent.
However, I think that "my competitor voted for the law thats forcing you to watch commercials" may then become one of the best campaign slogans ever. People will be genuinely, extremely, pissed off if they lose the ability to channel surf during commercials. Theres no need to be technically savy at all to grasp the impact of this. The people will actaully be mad as hell over this one, and they will know it is the politicians that will have sold them out.
Very good point. Mess with the people's bread and circuses and get your throat cut.
This is one of those things that would turn into a firestorm if the government mandated it. Infringe on people's liberties and such...no problem...Screw with their ability to watch the television and you have a revolution of millions of "Average Joes" on your hands.
I never GMed a Rifts campaign, but I played in one that ran on and off (switching off w/ my own Shadowrun campaign) for years.
While I agree, putting different archtypes up against one another could be a slaughterfest, I never found this to be a detriment to the game. Or, at least to how my group played it. We stuck pretty close to the combat rules, but the game was a lot more about role playing and exploring the incredible world of the game.
My characters always tended to be "squishy" -- a technomancer, a dog boy and such -- while my group also included a juicer, tatooed person, dragon, cyborgs, and a glitter boy (glitter gal in this case) to name a few of the heavy hitters. While I couldn't stand side by side in combat directly with the dragon for instance I never found it a problem. And most importantly, I had fun.
My GM always had things for all characters in his game to do. Including in combat. While I wasn't facing the incoming fire that the dragon and glitter gal were getting I could do other things in combat. Things that required more in the way of stealth or cunning for instance. In other words, I and the other easily killed always had things to do even as combat raged.
I do agree with other posters that the system wasn't always as clear or streamlined as it could be. However, for me and my group, the rules were useable. More importantly, the world of the game was incredible and that was what we were there for. To live for a while each week in such an amazing reality. Not dice dynamics.
One final note, I think the art work for the books has always been above board and added to the atmosphere the rules/setting info was trying to get across.
It's not like currency is backed by gold reserves anymore. The dollars in my pocket are really just backed by the good faith of the issuing nation. If said nation wished to they could print tons more...and that would make the ones in my pocket worth even less.
If you have any interest in the super hero genre I'd recommend City of Heroes as a good game to try.
In my experince there over the past half year I've found the players to be mainly nice people and helpful. I tend to learn by observing a bit and asking questions and I never ran into anyone who had a problem with my questions. Most were quite happy to show me the ropes.
Two of the nice things about the game are the fact that a high level character can "side kick" a lower level character. That means you can easily tag along with experienced player who are playing their main characters even if they are at a level quite higher than you.
The second nice thing is that with the release of City of Villains the new content has give Super Groups (read: Guild/Clan/Whatever) a reason to recruit. Members generate prestiege for their super group. That prestiege is needed by the group to build up the group's base. So if you enter the game and people see you don't have a super group name floating over your character's head you will be approached and invited to join.
Of course all groups are not created equal. Ask what they stand for, how active they are, if they often have teams made up of nothing but group members and such. Then join one.
If you find that you don't like the people say thank you and leave. Soon you'll find another group to try.
Being in a decent super group is a great way to learn the game, and also makes the game a lot more fun in my opinion. The advantages are many. Your group will have its own chat channel meaning you have a place to ask "dumb" questions about the game without much fear of anyone giving you grief for being a "noob". The group will be a good source for mentors. The group will give you a set of people you can team with and who will care about your welfare.
At least in my experience in the game that is how it has been. And let me tell you, I've asked some really dumb questions and never caught any grief aside from some gentle ribbing.
Many games have free trials that would be worthwhile. I started City of Heroes with what they called a 'bootleg' disk. It was the full game with a trial license code. I was able to play for a week to try it out without it costing me a dime. After that I had to get a license and pay for monthly access. I wouldn't be surprised if other games have a similiar trial offer.
Don't worry about age or anything. I group with a number people who claim to be 50+ and they have a great time and are great team mates.
Finally, once you are no longer a noob (or, n00b...), pass on the favors others did for you and be a mentor to new players. It's a nice thing to do, a chance to meet some new friends, and can be a good deal of fun. At least that's what I've found as I've begun to do some mentoring myself...While still asking the occassional dumb question of my own mentors.
Slashdot Mirror
You are very much and sadly correct.
I have, every time the revised TOS pops up, hit "decline". If I try to start one of the games I actually have currently installed I get the pop up. Hit "decline" and it closes down. The games are not launchable. I haven't tried to reinstall anything I have purchased from them, but just downloading and installing a game I purchased will, I assume, not even be possible without agreeing to the new TOS. Of course, even if I could install one, I would not be able to play it anyway.
I've been going back and forth with Steam Support on this and not getting any definitive explanations to my questions. The only thing I am told is that unless I agree I cannot access any Steam services. Sure makes me feel robbed to not be able to access the games I paid them for already. Not like I use them to play online or intend to ever again make a purchase from them, so they can cut me off from using any of their services aside from being able to access the games I paid them for.
I have also sent some emails from Valve's contact page. Gabe Newell is on vacation until the 24th of this month. I wrote an email to one of the points of contact he recommended in his vacation auto-reply. Haven't heard anything back yet, but it hasn't even been 24 hours at this point.
There is Open Mule.
http://www.codenautics.com/openmule/
It runs on Windows and Macs...There is an announcement about a coming Linux version, but that was back in 2007. So might very well be that no one is actively working on the game anymore.
In case there are Elite fans out there who haven't heard of it; check out Oolite http://www.oolite.org/. It's an open source version that is nicely done. Available on Linux, MacOS & Windows.
I think the main reason they don't throttle the customers with the limited plans is that they very much wish to see those people go over the limit so they can then charge them for additional usage.
Does it even need to be a person?
Perhaps that part of the job can be done by a small treaded bot or a drone eliminating any personnel needing to get close to the target.
Or trying to pay off some huge karmic debt.
My friend, glad you received a 5 rating, but I truly believe it should be as Insightful. Not Funny.
I too hate being called a "consumer". I am a bloody citizen.
In my opinion, you said it perfectly. My hat is off to you, Sir.
I like the idea of this program.
I hated HS and would have done anything to get out early.
In the end, as there was no early out, I simply dropped out of HS entirely. A bit thereafter I took the insanely easy GED exam, got my paper and started at my local community college in what would have been my senior year in HS.
I don't regret that decision. Never have. And once you have your BS/BA no one cares about your HS history.
Cthulumas. The most dreaded time of year.
Something I have noticed which is odd is that the games use "their" when a new posting has come up.
Like this,
"...got a big ol' reward for being such a great farmer and wants to share their success with you"
If these games have access to users' personal information you'd think they'd know enough about each user to use "his" or "her" in place of "their."
At will employment works both ways.
Companies can, and will, drop you at any moment without a reason given if it serves their needs.
Loyalty is earned. If a company doesn't value me and pay me/train me accordingly of course I will jump ship if I find what looks to be a better opportunity.
Kind of late to the game...nearly 24 hours after story posting. Was actually running my D&D campaign yesterday so no time for Slasdot.
Up front, I was quite pessimistic about this new edition...and still not sure where my judgment will ultimately fall.
However, after a bit of exposure to the three core books (they're up on bit torrent and better copies on that place that the first rule says you aren't supposed to speak of...). I'm guardedly excited. Enough so that I did allow myself to get caught up in the excitement of release day and picked my copy of the PHB up on the way home from work Friday evening.
The book is quite lovely, and I have to say I'm really happy how clean the print is (I don't own 3.5 edition books, but my third edition ones have a horrid background that obscures the text). The artwork is nice and it's nice to see women adventurers depicted sensibly (no chainmail bikinis).
I'm not versed enough on the rule set yet to say anything other than they look interesting. I could see playing them if I can twist my players arms harshly enough the next time we re-boot and start a new campaign (we are on second edition as of now).
I am not happy with what appears to be very miniature focused tactical rules. However, perhaps ranges of "squares" can be easily converted. My group is darn cheap. We have a small collection of minatures...enough that all the current players have someone to depict their characters and there are some which are fitting enough for a few of the main NPC allies they have. For opponents we actually use hexagon tiles that I pencil something descriptive on...like orc 1, 2, 3...or NPC's names. We don't use a battle mat. I draw a rough map out on a white board laid flat on the table. I also write 'NTS' on my little maps as I have one jerk who will complain that the map is not to scale...
Other than that possible concern about the role of miniatures in the game (and for my group it's more about some players being under financial constraints), the only other things I think that are worth pointing out are:
1. The index (like most RPGs) is not very expansive.
2. There is no appendix of important tables in the read of the PHB. I think that would have been handy to anyone using the book whether a player or the DM.
3. The inclusion of a section detailing a great number of magic items. This was always something left to the DMG. I don't understand why it had to be put into the PHB. I would much more rather have seen those pages utilized with something like an appendix of useful tables, more spells, or, heck, even a more extensive listing along with descriptions of odd ball equipment.
In summary, it looks promising and I'm looking forward to reading through my copy of the PHB in the next couple weeks. I don't know enough yet to recommend the game or not, but I would advise anyone to take a look online for the PDFs and take a gander first. If it looks cool to you then plop down your money and get a copy. (Same as I say to anyone who I tell about a good band...d/l some MP3's, check it out and if you dig it, buy it.
Quite true.
I've downloaded a number of things to check them out, found that I liked them and that led to sales. Anime and music primarily.
Though one thing that I have downloaded and liked a lot, but did not buy was some soundtracks to various anime. The only legal way I could find to buy the recordings was as Japanese imports and that was mighty costly.
Today I received an email from Amazon asking me to take a survey about their MP3 store as I've been purchasing a good deal from there. One of the things I mentioned when asked about what I would like to see more of is things just like that. I'd pay a fair price for that music if it was offered. Gladly.
RS, by the way, I believe both DVD Decrypter and DVD Shrink will break region encryption for you. I use both for ripping and backing up DVDs I purchase (also clears away unskippable bits too)
The price does sound pretty high for what sounds like basically a pair of ads for the upcoming new core books.
Will the contents of these two books be worth much once the core books are out and I pay good money for them as well? (If I do that is...The system sounds a lot like a CRPG. Don't get me wrong; I play and enjoy WoW...it's just not what I'm seeking in a table top game.)
Personally, I'm going to wait until the first scans hit usenet and check them thoroughly before laying down my pair of twenties.
Yeah, this is an FPS with elves and magic in a "re-worked" Shadowrun universe...In other words, it has nothing to do with the actual pen and paper game. There was a story about this posted some months ago when Microsoft posted a promotional video. I saw things such as a raise dead spell and elves with guns running about. Apparently the key to the game is to be the team to get the most relics. The relics are the source of all (finite) magic in the re-imagined world.
When I first heard they were making a Shadowrun game I was very excited expecting it to be an RPG. Heck, I figured this would be my sole reason to buy an X-Box. Then I saw what they were building and how the entire game world was being changed and felt sick to my stomach. I honestly don't understand the reasoning behind using an established game world to market a game while turning it into something that would totally turn off anyone who'd be attracted by the Shadowrun name.
This SR veteran GM will not be signing onto any beta of this game let alone dropping money on it or the console to play it on. Nor will any of my players.
Just wanted to mention, since I didn't see any reference to it in the comments so far, that the movie Wil mentions -- The Gamers: Dorkness Rising looks to be great. Movie site link: http://www.the-gamers.com/
At least if the first one is anything to go on -- The Gamers (http://gamers.deadgentlemen.com/). Just watched it after downloading an avi of it and it has me sold on buying a DVD of it as well as the new one when it's out.
If you're a gamer you must see it. Basically the movie goes back and forth between the game table and the in-game action. They do a good job of hitting all the "in" jokes in gamer circles.
If nothing else, let this roughly recalled quote be your guide.
DM: 'You're going to backstab him...with a siege weapon?!?'
There is some good advice in this thread and you should take it to heart.
I can think of a few other things. For one, do you have email addresses of old classmates, profs and school friends? Are you in touch with them all? If not, consider starting to contact them even if you haven't seen them in well over a year. Drop them a line to see how they are and what they are up to and mention that you are in the job market and would truly appreciate hearing of any openings they may know of.
Do you live near a decent market? If not, would you consider moving? Being willing to relocate might open new opportunities for you.
By all means, follow up! I can't stress that enough. If you see a job listing and send in your resume and cover letter (you do fine tune each to the job and company right? Research is easy with companies having a web presence and being unemployed you should have the spare time.) follow up a few days later. An email is the most basic, better if you are able to pinpoint an actual person, better than that is to call them. I know you said you are shy, but forcing yourself to do this is well worth it. Just call the main switchboard and ask to speak with someone in HR. If they ask why say it's to follow up on a job application. Believe me, this small bit of initative will make you stand out from the mass of emailed resumes.
Is your resume on the job boards? At least once a week (better once a day) go into your account and "update" your resume. When employers and consulting agencies do a candidate search the responses are listed by freshness. At least that is what my sister who is a headhunter has told me.
Again, I know you said you are shy (and I can empathize with that), but you might want to force yourself to take the steps to get involved with a developer community. Many technologies have regional/local user groups. Could be a good way to meet new people and maybe learn of an opening somewhere.
You haven't said where your talents/skills lie, but I bet you could find ways of putting them to use which would help you build a portfolio showing you can code. Whether it's volunteering to help a local non-profit on their website, soliciting local businesses for consulting work, hobby projects which you can reference in your cover letters (and pointing to source code on your website), etc. You need to show a prospective employer that you can "do".
Once you get an interview, whether it is a phone interview or a face-to-face one make sure to follow up immediately with a "thank you for your time" email. It used to be a thank you card was the norm, but email seems to be very acceptable now and it is immdediate. Also reiterate in it briefly why you want the job, how excited you are about the possibility of working there, etc. You can also use this as an opportunity to point out something that you forgot in the interview. Again, a little extra effort and initiative helps you stand out. Personally, this and being very enthusiastic in the interview, have probably led to more job offers than anything else.
Finally, just to reiterate what others have said -- look into getting into a consulting group. It'll get you job experience and help you build up a network. Once you can put some work experience on your resume your educational background (and that GPA) will not be the thing a prospective employer will focus in on. They'll see that you can hold a job, know how to work, and can produce results.
Good luck to you!
I have to agree with the parent that the human touch in customer service is a big deal.
Aside from a (hopefully) active group of developers and designers on the game's boards, customer service and support is the public face of the people/company running the game and taking your hard earned money each month.
My main experience is with City of Heroes. In playing for about 10 months I only had a couple times in-game where I needed to contact support and deal with a GM and both were very positive and left me satisfied and talking well of the experience to other players. In both these cases there was a problem with a mission I was on. In the one an object we needed to get was actually embedded into the floor and wasn't visible or targetable. The GM moved it up out of the floor for us. The other was when a door wouldn't open when the trigger event fired (taking down a group of bad guys). The team and I went out and came back twice and still we couldn't get the door to open. We put a support request in and a GM promptly showed up and popped the door open for us.
I doubt either of these experiences would have turned out the same if support consisted of a "smart system" of some kind in place of a living, breathing person.
I also needed help from support on a couple other occassions where I couldn't log in to my character or favored server for some reason or another. Getting a response from a real person certainly made me feel a lot better about "server issues" as it left me with the feeling that someone was actually tending to the problem. Some boiler plate text sent to me by a bot wouldn't have left me with the same feeling.
Human run support/customer service is much better I believe than some automated system. As for people never being totally satisfied, welcome to the world of dealing with customers. Think customers in other settings are often 100% satisfied with the customer service they get? They aren't. People like to complain. Human nature.
Cutting customer service won't help in my opinion. If it's a matter of cost a game company could always try a mix of paid staff and volunteers. Though I believe with volunteers you would need to keep an eye on them and maybe integrate a post-customer service moderation system for your customers to use in an effort to weed out the power hungry jerks.
Same here. Been GMing the game since the first edition came out.
Initially when I heard that there was going to be a 360 Shadowrun game coming out I had figured it was an RPG and fully intended to purchase one of the consoles solely to play this game.
Then I find out it's to be a first person shooter...and then I hear that they are ripping out the entire history and starting from scratch in a rather warped way...then I see the movie promo for the game and see that it's a deathmatch game with pointy eared avatars, some magic (rocket launchers by any other name...), and what looks to be a rez spell...What the heck? I also seem to recall reading something about magic being a finite resource controlled by possession of a handful of artifacts which seem to be the "prizes/flags" you fight for in the game?!?
Honestly, Microsoft, why did you bother getting the license if you are going to completely gut the entire game world? All you do is annoy those of us who love it...and for people who don't know it, well why would they care about the Shadowrun name being on the game in the first place?
Good point. I'm back in northern Jersey after being away for about 12 years and the sprawl is quite a lot to take in.
I'm living in the small town bordering the small town I grew up in and the changes are incredible. Or maybe scary is a better way of putting it.
Forest land is disappearing. Watershed and park land is being built right up against. Nothing like hiking with a view of a big McMansion development.
I think the worst though is that developers have actually ground down the tops of some of the small mountains to create the space to bring in important things like...A Lowes, a Home Depot, a Bed Bath and Beyond...and, everyone's favorite, a soon to open WalMart. They've also cut into the side of another mountain to put in a gigantic gated senior community.
Where has seeing all of this led me? Looking to get out of here. I'm happy to be back around some good old life long friends, but this place isn't fit to live in. Ok, for me. Other people love it and I will be happy to leave it to them.
Maybe I misread the article, but it seems things like Protected Video Path are only required in a machine to be certified as Vista ready or whatever. So those of us who don't buy from Dell and the like should be ok. It doesn't seem the OS itself will require this...at least not initially.
Granted, I still think this is an extremly crappy thing to require of vendors since it means in a few years most people are only going to be able to (know how to) watch locked down video and find their ability to use media they purchase with any degree of freedom eroded thin to non-existent.
However, I think that "my competitor voted for the law thats forcing you to watch commercials" may then become one of the best campaign slogans ever. People will be genuinely, extremely, pissed off if they lose the ability to channel surf during commercials. Theres no need to be technically savy at all to grasp the impact of this. The people will actaully be mad as hell over this one, and they will know it is the politicians that will have sold them out.
Very good point. Mess with the people's bread and circuses and get your throat cut.
This is one of those things that would turn into a firestorm if the government mandated it. Infringe on people's liberties and such...no problem...Screw with their ability to watch the television and you have a revolution of millions of "Average Joes" on your hands.
I never GMed a Rifts campaign, but I played in one that ran on and off (switching off w/ my own Shadowrun campaign) for years.
While I agree, putting different archtypes up against one another could be a slaughterfest, I never found this to be a detriment to the game. Or, at least to how my group played it. We stuck pretty close to the combat rules, but the game was a lot more about role playing and exploring the incredible world of the game.
My characters always tended to be "squishy" -- a technomancer, a dog boy and such -- while my group also included a juicer, tatooed person, dragon, cyborgs, and a glitter boy (glitter gal in this case) to name a few of the heavy hitters. While I couldn't stand side by side in combat directly with the dragon for instance I never found it a problem. And most importantly, I had fun.
My GM always had things for all characters in his game to do. Including in combat. While I wasn't facing the incoming fire that the dragon and glitter gal were getting I could do other things in combat. Things that required more in the way of stealth or cunning for instance. In other words, I and the other easily killed always had things to do even as combat raged.
I do agree with other posters that the system wasn't always as clear or streamlined as it could be. However, for me and my group, the rules were useable. More importantly, the world of the game was incredible and that was what we were there for. To live for a while each week in such an amazing reality. Not dice dynamics.
One final note, I think the art work for the books has always been above board and added to the atmosphere the rules/setting info was trying to get across.
Very good point...
It's not like currency is backed by gold reserves anymore. The dollars in my pocket are really just backed by the good faith of the issuing nation. If said nation wished to they could print tons more...and that would make the ones in my pocket worth even less.
If you have any interest in the super hero genre I'd recommend City of Heroes as a good game to try.
In my experince there over the past half year I've found the players to be mainly nice people and helpful. I tend to learn by observing a bit and asking questions and I never ran into anyone who had a problem with my questions. Most were quite happy to show me the ropes.
Two of the nice things about the game are the fact that a high level character can "side kick" a lower level character. That means you can easily tag along with experienced player who are playing their main characters even if they are at a level quite higher than you.
The second nice thing is that with the release of City of Villains the new content has give Super Groups (read: Guild/Clan/Whatever) a reason to recruit. Members generate prestiege for their super group. That prestiege is needed by the group to build up the group's base. So if you enter the game and people see you don't have a super group name floating over your character's head you will be approached and invited to join.
Of course all groups are not created equal. Ask what they stand for, how active they are, if they often have teams made up of nothing but group members and such. Then join one.
If you find that you don't like the people say thank you and leave. Soon you'll find another group to try.
Being in a decent super group is a great way to learn the game, and also makes the game a lot more fun in my opinion. The advantages are many. Your group will have its own chat channel meaning you have a place to ask "dumb" questions about the game without much fear of anyone giving you grief for being a "noob". The group will be a good source for mentors. The group will give you a set of people you can team with and who will care about your welfare.
At least in my experience in the game that is how it has been. And let me tell you, I've asked some really dumb questions and never caught any grief aside from some gentle ribbing.
Many games have free trials that would be worthwhile. I started City of Heroes with what they called a 'bootleg' disk. It was the full game with a trial license code. I was able to play for a week to try it out without it costing me a dime. After that I had to get a license and pay for monthly access. I wouldn't be surprised if other games have a similiar trial offer.
Don't worry about age or anything. I group with a number people who claim to be 50+ and they have a great time and are great team mates.
Finally, once you are no longer a noob (or, n00b...), pass on the favors others did for you and be a mentor to new players. It's a nice thing to do, a chance to meet some new friends, and can be a good deal of fun. At least that's what I've found as I've begun to do some mentoring myself...While still asking the occassional dumb question of my own mentors.
Good luck!