Tell me what type of game you like and I will tell you in what ways it is time consuming and basically makes you run around behaving repetitively and collecting virtual crap. FPS, RTS, puzzle games...whatever it is it is all repetitive crap. It just happens that you prefer your repetitive, virtual collection of crap from of entertainment over RPGs.
You like to delude yourself to think everyone else is a lemming. You are just as much a lemming as anyone else.
So, Eve has permadeath. Except you don't die since you have a clone. But your ship really does die! Except you have insurance that covers most of that. But you lose implants! Which you can rebuy, but most people aren't going to fight with their expensive implants in. So essentially there is no permadeath and you are just left with a repair bill to replace implants and what insurance didn't cover in the ship. Hardcore!
Oh, yes, the thrill of targeting your enemy. Orbiting them and pushing F1-F6. That's so stressful!
I think people who like Eve have very active imaginations. I really tried to like the game, but it is about as exciting as an Excel spreadsheet with a poorly designed GUI. They actually made space combat boring.
I wouldn't mod you down, but I disagree with you completely. You are looking at the past with rose colored glasses. The games today are just as good, if not better, than the ones in the past. When a field is new, everything is innovative. The best of the innovation becomes a genre. This is how it is in just about everything. Get used to it.
There are so many good games out right now, I can't even come close to keep up. Had difficulty been set lower? Yes and no. Now we have the option to make it easier if we want to play through the game or we can make it really hard if we crave that. I don't want to go back to the times where I had to start Cobra Triangle over from the start because I keep getting owned by that log.
Quite frankly, there are plenty of non-"dumbed down" games out there. You are just one of those people with the broken mindset that if you criticize stuff, it makes you cool. There is a lot of great games out there if you would just pull your head out of your dosbox.
They can already be mined without this. I am not saying an opt-out is bad...you should have that option. If you think your time can't be monitored, it already can. So if you are overly paranoid either don't play or make sure no one knows your character name.
I imagined hardcore arena players would want this option as well to gain an upper hand on their opponents who would have their gear/build published.
Most people didn't have HDTV's in the previous generation. We do know, so the graphical inadequacies of the Wii are much more obvious. After playing stuff that looks beautiful and going to the Wii, it looks like crap. Everything is relative. People used to think the Super Nintendo graphics were amazing. They aren't. And neither is the original Xbox by TODAY's standards. This should be obvious.
good game != graphics...duh. But a good game can be enhanced by good graphics. More processing power allows for better AI and more AI on the screen. It is more than just a graphical difference.
The Wii out sold its competitors. I am sure that matters to the people who work at Nintendo and invest in it. That doesn't mean it makes better games or that the model of releasing weak hardware is the right model for everyone. I, and many others, would much rather stick with our traditional controller and continue to push the cutting edge of technology. It is great Nintendo fills the casual market. Doesn't mean the rest of us can't want more and are disappointed in Nintendo this gen.
It's funny how Slashdot bashes everything that is massively successful. They say that it is dumbed down to appeal to the masses. But suddenly when Nintendo does it, it isn't dumbed down, it is the best console ever.
The Wii proved that state of the art isn't required to make a lot of money. That doesn't mean there isn't a market for people who want something that pushes the edge. You may be happy with the Wii, but if all three companies did the same thing I would be disappointed.
And seriously, what are you talking about? Nintendo is the king of making you buy a million different accessories to play its games. The longer this generation goes on, the more apparent the weakness of the Wii will be. Not just graphically, but in AI and type of games possible.
Honestly, they are going to deny having another console until they are about to release it. So really, you can't say good for Nintendo since you have no idea what the real situation is.
Using any metric to compare consoles is ultimately stupid. Metacritic, console sales, attach rate are all interesting but garbage to the individual. The 360 has the most games I want to play, so I got that. I am very happy with that decision. Any data anyone gives isn't going to make me less happy about that decision. It would take a game I loved (say like a Final Fantasy) to be released only on the Wii to make me regret my decision (not really though, I would just buy a Wii too). But to be honest, I would be disappointed if any game I really wanted was released on the Wii because the only thing it can offer better is the control scheme. In every other aspect it would have to be an inferior game to run on the Wii.
But my opinion is equally as useless to someone who loves their Wii. So really, buy what you like and everyone should just drop the fanboyism.
It seems to me you are locked in your bubble as well. I honestly don't care that the Wii sells more consoles. They are targeting a different audience than the PS3 and the 360. The PS3 and 360 are targeted towards people like me who started out on the Atari and the NES. It is a continuation of a long cycle of better hardware and iteratively different controllers.
Nintendo decided to back out of the hardware race, and went the route of keeping their price cheap and innovating on the controls. Obviously, financially it paid off. But they lost gamers like me because they just don't really have the games I want to play anymore. Everything is built around the gimmick of flipping your wrist when often a button press will do.
Don't get me wrong, I am not belittling them for it. I am glad they innovated and are doing well this time around after being so weak last gen. But really, let's be honest. Most games on the Wii suck. Of course, Nintendo still delivers but they did the same on the gamecube and failed. Their success this time is not due to games...it is purely the price point and the controller and tapping in to a new market.
To someone like me, who doesn't give a crap about the company, I only chase the games I like, the 360 won this gen (where the PS2 won the last round and I was all Nintendo before that). Your sales info is stupid to me because it doesn't really prove anything other than that you are a fanboy that pays attention to irrelevant things instead of just caring about the games.
It is good to have competition. I just hope that Sony and MS don't follow Nintendo's lead. I like playing with a traditional controller. I don't want wii-motes and Natal to play my games. I like a console that pushes the edge on hardware and capabilities at the time it is released. The Wii does not impress me at all. And just because mom's, gfs, wives, and grandparents are buying them, doesn't change the fact that it has the least selection of games I am interested in, is significantly inferior hardware-wise, and has a control scheme that is enjoyable for parties but a bit annoying otherwise. Again, the brand on my console doesn't matter...they have to deliver the games I want to play and the Wii went too far to the cater to the new gamers rather than sticking with the people who grew up with them.
Uhh, not really how it works. If someone downloads $10000 worth of computer software, but has only $2000 that breaks your model since they can't spend as much as they downloaded. Of course, that money never existed anyways. The question is how much money did the developer lose to piracy. The numbers they put out are always way too high. But I imagine there is some loss that would not exist if piracy was not possible (or if people didn't do it).
Where is your proof that you didn't lose any money? How can you know that if you had some magical platform where piracy was not possible that some of these people would not have payed for your game?
The amount of loss companies claim to piracy is ridiculous. Equally ridiculous is your claim that you lost $0. The only difference is your extreme falsehood gets modded up on Slashdot.
If your employer spends that much time putting something like this in place, it is pretty clear they don't actually care about the work that is being done. If you don't trust your employees and can't monitor the performance based on the results, then your company is a failure.
I don't really believe your story, but if it is true, I would leave that company in a heart beat. Besides, you can just monitor your bosses to show that they were doing the same thing then sue the crap out of them.
First, you have to know the character name of the person who plays. Second, you have to know all their alts names as well. Third, it only really tells you that they are playing not their geo-location.
I agree that it should have an opt-out for the privacy insane people. But comparing this with cyber-stalking that results in suicide is sensationalist nonsense. Slashdot sometimes seems to be the Glen Beck of privacy.
I hope you don't read fantasy or sci fi...or watch TV...or go to movies. None of us "require simulation (sic?) from an online fake environment to further foster [our] own mind[s]". We do it because we find it fun. Some people don't know how to balance that out and you hear stories like yours. The same goes with people with alcohol or gambling. I don't play WoW now, but I had no problem having a relationship, working full time, playing on 2 soccer teams, and playing violin in an orchestra all while enjoying gaming. I don't watch much TV so it pretty much replaced that. Why no one says anything if you spend 3 hours watching TV doing nothing but staring at pictures but when you are actually interacting with a game for 3 hours, that is suddenly weird. It's a double standard and you should be smart enough to realize that.
If you think playing WoW a lot is lame, then don't play WoW. I am sure how you spend your pass time is probably stupid to a lot of people too. It's just easier not to judge and let people do what makes them happy. I find judgmental people to be the losers in life. They are too busy judging others to see that they are just as flawed in a different way. And no one likes them.
A bot is something that is set up to solely benefit the person or company running the bot. They are played at the detriment to others in the game. NPCs are designed by the developers and used to enhance the experience.
They may both be run by code instead of players, but the intentions for both are extremely different. Over-simplifying it to your level is either done out of an effort to justify the use of something selfish and unwanted by the community at large (and not allowed) or just plain stupidity.
His point is that you can't know when someone's online habits just by this since you don't know if they are on playing different characters. This is true because it only monitors characters, not accounts.
Uh, no. They are copying the game exactly and trying to earn money by marketing it with a similar name. It isn't just a look and feel thing, they are copying the creative concepts that are the game. If their goal is not to be sued, they are doing it the wrong way.
You do realize that the whole infrastructure of the Internet was already paid for through tax dollars, right? When there is a lack of competition (like in this market) yes, publicly owned utilities are a lot better (as in cheaper for you and run more efficiently).
I agree with your point that if they are taxing you and that money goes to some company, that the company in turn actually owes you something.
But when you talk about the intrinsic value of a pirate, you come off as hypocritical. If a person takes from a company, then shouldn't he owe something as well? You can say he could create a sale, but you can't really prove that a pirate produces a sale or sales. It is the flip side of the same argument you are using.
Quite frankly, piracy is wrong. Taxing people for piracy is wrong as well.
Yes, with Mass Effect 2, BioShock 2, Starcraft 2, Diablo 3, and the next Final Fantasy coming out, what will we ever play? You are are over-reacting. Tons of great games are coming out that are not bejeweled. I don't see the proportion of crap games to good games changing much.
Actually, I hope they don't innovate all that much. I don't like the dumb motion control things. It's fine for parties, but when I want to relax give me a nice controller with lots of buttons so I can kick back on my couch. Natal is of absolutely no interest to me.
Fanbois get all uppity about sales. Who cares? The gamecube sold like crap yet you still liked it, right? Personally, I think Nintendo has the worst games of the three this time around. I still like Nintendo, I am still glad they exist. Just get over the idiocy.
You don't know what you are talking about. I really doubt Activision has any power over what Blizzard is doing. If they are worse than EA, why can I still play Starcraft on battle.net.
EA is worse, hands down. If you think otherwise, you have to be on drugs. Heck, even people on drugs should be able to figure out that EA is worse.
I haven't bought a sport game in a long time, so I am not really EA's primary customer. But I am a gamer and do by games. Every now and then I will buy a football or hockey game. Based on this, I am with you. I am going to avoid buying EA games at all costs now. I am just going to support developers who actually show at least some loyalty to their fans.
Slashdot Mirror
Tell me what type of game you like and I will tell you in what ways it is time consuming and basically makes you run around behaving repetitively and collecting virtual crap. FPS, RTS, puzzle games...whatever it is it is all repetitive crap. It just happens that you prefer your repetitive, virtual collection of crap from of entertainment over RPGs.
You like to delude yourself to think everyone else is a lemming. You are just as much a lemming as anyone else.
So, Eve has permadeath. Except you don't die since you have a clone. But your ship really does die! Except you have insurance that covers most of that. But you lose implants! Which you can rebuy, but most people aren't going to fight with their expensive implants in. So essentially there is no permadeath and you are just left with a repair bill to replace implants and what insurance didn't cover in the ship. Hardcore!
Oh, yes, the thrill of targeting your enemy. Orbiting them and pushing F1-F6. That's so stressful!
I think people who like Eve have very active imaginations. I really tried to like the game, but it is about as exciting as an Excel spreadsheet with a poorly designed GUI. They actually made space combat boring.
I wouldn't mod you down, but I disagree with you completely. You are looking at the past with rose colored glasses. The games today are just as good, if not better, than the ones in the past. When a field is new, everything is innovative. The best of the innovation becomes a genre. This is how it is in just about everything. Get used to it.
There are so many good games out right now, I can't even come close to keep up. Had difficulty been set lower? Yes and no. Now we have the option to make it easier if we want to play through the game or we can make it really hard if we crave that. I don't want to go back to the times where I had to start Cobra Triangle over from the start because I keep getting owned by that log.
Quite frankly, there are plenty of non-"dumbed down" games out there. You are just one of those people with the broken mindset that if you criticize stuff, it makes you cool. There is a lot of great games out there if you would just pull your head out of your dosbox.
They can already be mined without this. I am not saying an opt-out is bad...you should have that option. If you think your time can't be monitored, it already can. So if you are overly paranoid either don't play or make sure no one knows your character name.
I imagined hardcore arena players would want this option as well to gain an upper hand on their opponents who would have their gear/build published.
Most people didn't have HDTV's in the previous generation. We do know, so the graphical inadequacies of the Wii are much more obvious. After playing stuff that looks beautiful and going to the Wii, it looks like crap. Everything is relative. People used to think the Super Nintendo graphics were amazing. They aren't. And neither is the original Xbox by TODAY's standards. This should be obvious.
good game != graphics...duh. But a good game can be enhanced by good graphics. More processing power allows for better AI and more AI on the screen. It is more than just a graphical difference.
The Wii out sold its competitors. I am sure that matters to the people who work at Nintendo and invest in it. That doesn't mean it makes better games or that the model of releasing weak hardware is the right model for everyone. I, and many others, would much rather stick with our traditional controller and continue to push the cutting edge of technology. It is great Nintendo fills the casual market. Doesn't mean the rest of us can't want more and are disappointed in Nintendo this gen.
It's funny how Slashdot bashes everything that is massively successful. They say that it is dumbed down to appeal to the masses. But suddenly when Nintendo does it, it isn't dumbed down, it is the best console ever.
The Wii proved that state of the art isn't required to make a lot of money. That doesn't mean there isn't a market for people who want something that pushes the edge. You may be happy with the Wii, but if all three companies did the same thing I would be disappointed.
And seriously, what are you talking about? Nintendo is the king of making you buy a million different accessories to play its games. The longer this generation goes on, the more apparent the weakness of the Wii will be. Not just graphically, but in AI and type of games possible.
Honestly, they are going to deny having another console until they are about to release it. So really, you can't say good for Nintendo since you have no idea what the real situation is.
Using any metric to compare consoles is ultimately stupid. Metacritic, console sales, attach rate are all interesting but garbage to the individual. The 360 has the most games I want to play, so I got that. I am very happy with that decision. Any data anyone gives isn't going to make me less happy about that decision. It would take a game I loved (say like a Final Fantasy) to be released only on the Wii to make me regret my decision (not really though, I would just buy a Wii too). But to be honest, I would be disappointed if any game I really wanted was released on the Wii because the only thing it can offer better is the control scheme. In every other aspect it would have to be an inferior game to run on the Wii.
But my opinion is equally as useless to someone who loves their Wii. So really, buy what you like and everyone should just drop the fanboyism.
It seems to me you are locked in your bubble as well. I honestly don't care that the Wii sells more consoles. They are targeting a different audience than the PS3 and the 360. The PS3 and 360 are targeted towards people like me who started out on the Atari and the NES. It is a continuation of a long cycle of better hardware and iteratively different controllers.
Nintendo decided to back out of the hardware race, and went the route of keeping their price cheap and innovating on the controls. Obviously, financially it paid off. But they lost gamers like me because they just don't really have the games I want to play anymore. Everything is built around the gimmick of flipping your wrist when often a button press will do.
Don't get me wrong, I am not belittling them for it. I am glad they innovated and are doing well this time around after being so weak last gen. But really, let's be honest. Most games on the Wii suck. Of course, Nintendo still delivers but they did the same on the gamecube and failed. Their success this time is not due to games...it is purely the price point and the controller and tapping in to a new market.
To someone like me, who doesn't give a crap about the company, I only chase the games I like, the 360 won this gen (where the PS2 won the last round and I was all Nintendo before that). Your sales info is stupid to me because it doesn't really prove anything other than that you are a fanboy that pays attention to irrelevant things instead of just caring about the games.
It is good to have competition. I just hope that Sony and MS don't follow Nintendo's lead. I like playing with a traditional controller. I don't want wii-motes and Natal to play my games. I like a console that pushes the edge on hardware and capabilities at the time it is released. The Wii does not impress me at all. And just because mom's, gfs, wives, and grandparents are buying them, doesn't change the fact that it has the least selection of games I am interested in, is significantly inferior hardware-wise, and has a control scheme that is enjoyable for parties but a bit annoying otherwise. Again, the brand on my console doesn't matter...they have to deliver the games I want to play and the Wii went too far to the cater to the new gamers rather than sticking with the people who grew up with them.
Uhh, not really how it works. If someone downloads $10000 worth of computer software, but has only $2000 that breaks your model since they can't spend as much as they downloaded. Of course, that money never existed anyways. The question is how much money did the developer lose to piracy. The numbers they put out are always way too high. But I imagine there is some loss that would not exist if piracy was not possible (or if people didn't do it).
Where is your proof that you didn't lose any money? How can you know that if you had some magical platform where piracy was not possible that some of these people would not have payed for your game?
The amount of loss companies claim to piracy is ridiculous. Equally ridiculous is your claim that you lost $0. The only difference is your extreme falsehood gets modded up on Slashdot.
If your employer spends that much time putting something like this in place, it is pretty clear they don't actually care about the work that is being done. If you don't trust your employees and can't monitor the performance based on the results, then your company is a failure.
I don't really believe your story, but if it is true, I would leave that company in a heart beat. Besides, you can just monitor your bosses to show that they were doing the same thing then sue the crap out of them.
First, you have to know the character name of the person who plays. Second, you have to know all their alts names as well. Third, it only really tells you that they are playing not their geo-location.
I agree that it should have an opt-out for the privacy insane people. But comparing this with cyber-stalking that results in suicide is sensationalist nonsense. Slashdot sometimes seems to be the Glen Beck of privacy.
I hope you don't read fantasy or sci fi...or watch TV...or go to movies. None of us "require simulation (sic?) from an online fake environment to further foster [our] own mind[s]". We do it because we find it fun. Some people don't know how to balance that out and you hear stories like yours. The same goes with people with alcohol or gambling. I don't play WoW now, but I had no problem having a relationship, working full time, playing on 2 soccer teams, and playing violin in an orchestra all while enjoying gaming. I don't watch much TV so it pretty much replaced that. Why no one says anything if you spend 3 hours watching TV doing nothing but staring at pictures but when you are actually interacting with a game for 3 hours, that is suddenly weird. It's a double standard and you should be smart enough to realize that.
If you think playing WoW a lot is lame, then don't play WoW. I am sure how you spend your pass time is probably stupid to a lot of people too. It's just easier not to judge and let people do what makes them happy. I find judgmental people to be the losers in life. They are too busy judging others to see that they are just as flawed in a different way. And no one likes them.
A bot is something that is set up to solely benefit the person or company running the bot. They are played at the detriment to others in the game. NPCs are designed by the developers and used to enhance the experience.
They may both be run by code instead of players, but the intentions for both are extremely different. Over-simplifying it to your level is either done out of an effort to justify the use of something selfish and unwanted by the community at large (and not allowed) or just plain stupidity.
His point is that you can't know when someone's online habits just by this since you don't know if they are on playing different characters. This is true because it only monitors characters, not accounts.
And may I add: Duh!
Uh, no. They are copying the game exactly and trying to earn money by marketing it with a similar name. It isn't just a look and feel thing, they are copying the creative concepts that are the game. If their goal is not to be sued, they are doing it the wrong way.
And how exactly did that long rant invalidate his point? They still own it. They still would sue him. Your whole post is a pointless nit-pick.
Or, more likely, the guy just didn't have a clue how it worked.
You do realize that the whole infrastructure of the Internet was already paid for through tax dollars, right? When there is a lack of competition (like in this market) yes, publicly owned utilities are a lot better (as in cheaper for you and run more efficiently).
I agree with your point that if they are taxing you and that money goes to some company, that the company in turn actually owes you something.
But when you talk about the intrinsic value of a pirate, you come off as hypocritical. If a person takes from a company, then shouldn't he owe something as well? You can say he could create a sale, but you can't really prove that a pirate produces a sale or sales. It is the flip side of the same argument you are using.
Quite frankly, piracy is wrong. Taxing people for piracy is wrong as well.
Yes, with Mass Effect 2, BioShock 2, Starcraft 2, Diablo 3, and the next Final Fantasy coming out, what will we ever play? You are are over-reacting. Tons of great games are coming out that are not bejeweled. I don't see the proportion of crap games to good games changing much.
Actually, I hope they don't innovate all that much. I don't like the dumb motion control things. It's fine for parties, but when I want to relax give me a nice controller with lots of buttons so I can kick back on my couch. Natal is of absolutely no interest to me.
Fanbois get all uppity about sales. Who cares? The gamecube sold like crap yet you still liked it, right? Personally, I think Nintendo has the worst games of the three this time around. I still like Nintendo, I am still glad they exist. Just get over the idiocy.
You don't know what you are talking about. I really doubt Activision has any power over what Blizzard is doing. If they are worse than EA, why can I still play Starcraft on battle.net.
EA is worse, hands down. If you think otherwise, you have to be on drugs. Heck, even people on drugs should be able to figure out that EA is worse.
I haven't bought a sport game in a long time, so I am not really EA's primary customer. But I am a gamer and do by games. Every now and then I will buy a football or hockey game. Based on this, I am with you. I am going to avoid buying EA games at all costs now. I am just going to support developers who actually show at least some loyalty to their fans.