Uhh, that would do nothing. If you remove the cost of everything, the economy would be flooded with too much gold causing insane inflation. How do you measuer skill in PvP under the current system? Kills? Certain classes will have an insane advantage over others. Gold sinks exisit for a reason. Rep grinds I do hate, but they put those in place for all the people ahead of the curve...they have something to do until the next dungeon. But make a game as fun as you can, there will still be people buying shortcuts.
Congratulations, you have just created a game that no one would want to play! There are games that exist that require skill to play...they are called FPS. We are talking MMORPG...and WoW actually does do a very good job of making it so that farmers aren't really a big deal. The best drops are things that you can only get when you are in a group with other people running instances. You can not sell these things so they are meaningless to the economy. These items are much better than things you can purchase. People still buy gold because they like a shortcut. And even in FPS, people use cheats to get ahead. In your game they would just get a program that recorded mouse movements so that they could create the runes with a single click thus removing all skill from the game other that the small amount of strategy left (which will already be figured out what is the best thing to do and probably be scripted).
There is only one way to curtail (and that is the best you can do) gold farming/selling greatly. And that is to ban the people who BUY the gold. The gold sellers will always come back with new characters to sell gold. But if their market is too afraid to buy because they will be banned, then they can't make a profit and go find something else to do.
Power leveling has nothing to do with the in game economy. It makes a lot of people have no clue how to play their characters, but it isn't really a problem as most people who play WoW don't know how to play their characters (from my experience anyways):)
Actually, I agree with you. The reason we have analogies is so that we can take something complex and hard to understand...and make it easier to understand by comparing it something that another person can easily identify with. Power leveling is not complex. It makes sense they check in a lot since they have paid a large chunk of change and that the other person could be ruining their account.
Usually it is enjoyable the first time up. After that it becomes very tedious. Not that I would ever pay for this service, but I can understand why people would do it.
Wow. Something that could be perceived to be negative about the Wii is reported and the highly moderated posts are the ones who rush to defend their actions. Not a surprise but it still bugs the living heck out of me. What this is saying is that third party launch titles will not be online. Yeah, games in the future will have it...but still it sucks that the Wii will be limited for those initial games.
Listen, companies you love can do bad things. Companies you hate can do good things. If what IGN is reporting is true (big if), then this is a dumb move by Nintendo. The only good thing you can say about it is that at least it isn't something they plan to be permanent.
As far as the whole "myspace" comment goes...saying that Nintendo is doing this to avoid pedophiles...give me a break. If there is a post in here where the government is trying to protect children from adult content, everyone runs around in circles screaming how terrible that is and how parents should be responsible (and I agree). But as soon as Nintendo does it, it is a good thing? I don't think so. I sincerely hope they don't force a similar "friend code" system on the Wii. It just makes it a pain in the butt to maintain friends and set up games.
Right...so you think Blizzard should hand over the way they generate and validate keys. You don't see how a company would be reluctant to do that?
And to whoever modded me down over this, I really hope you lose your ability to mod. While you may not agree with what I am saying, that is NOT a reason to mod a person down.
I think I have to side with Blizzard on this one. It was purely and open source project so that people could play a game that they pirated. Could you come up with some other reasons for bnetd? Sure. But its primary reason for existence was to get around using valid keys. This is differt to me than a bit torrent...that is just a way of transferring files. It has both legal and illegal uses...but file sharing is something that is generic and not owned by anyone. The only reason bnetd exisited was because of Blizzard. Considering battle.net is the service they use to keep people buying legitimate copies, I can understand why they would go after bnetd. Put yourself in their shoes. If you wrote some software and someone came along and released a way to unlock your program without paying you, I think you would be fairly irritated as well.
But if you look at all the games that have been "successful" lately, they are basically sequels or taking a genre and doing it better. HL2, CivIV, WoW (not a sequel, but is the best MMORPG to date -- well, most popular in any case), etc etc. To be a success, a game needs to be enjoyable and pay attention to detail. This is true if it is a Wii game or a 360 game. To take games in a new direction has a lot of risk. Even great games get overlooked if all the variables don't fall in to place. I honestly don't care if a game is innovative. I just care that it is done well.
Umm, yeah...and? What's your point? This is a game that takes a lot less effort to get at and enjoy than spending months practicing and paying for lessons. But I can be like you: you can make a lot more money writing a novel that only does modestly well than posting on Slashdot.
I wonder how much this guy gets paid. If it is more than I currently make...they should get rid of him and hire me because I could write a more interesting article in an hour that would actually use some form of logic. I am sure he is praised by Dreamcast lovers...but really, isn't it time to move on. If the product they made was so fantastic, it would have been able to keep going. Competition is never a bad thing. Assume that competition is bad. Two consoles come to market, the Dreamcast and some other console. The Dreamcast is superior, and so the other company bows out. There is still going to be a ton of whiny people who mourn the loss of their other console. This way, any console maker can me awarded for making a better product, supporting games people want to play, pricing it better, or having superior marketing. In reality, a world without competition still would have seen the Dreamcast die. If the company really believed in their product, they wouldn't have given up.
Unlike the article, I can't put mine on 3 pages with a bunch of pretty pictures of old consoles. On the other hand, I don't have to worry about a bunch of jerks commenting on how they could do my job better than me.
I really don't see how Firefly would appeal to goth girls. It is very sad we couldn't bring that show back. It sounds more like you are bitter that you can't get a girl of your own.
....ok. I think you are confusing story with gameplay. You could have totally different stories and have the exact same gameplay structure. For example, FF has very similar gameplay while having very diverse stories (though all the stories revolve around saving the world so it isn't a great example). What you are doing is similar to complaining that a book you are reading can't get around having characters, dialogue, and stuff that happens. Well, duh.
Umm, I read slashdot and actually have the guts to post what I believe rather than posting with the crowd. How would thinking differently than the majority of slashdot make it apply to myself?
Nintendo has ALWAYS dominated the handheld market. We are talking about consoles here where Nintendo has fell behind as of late. This is a real criticism of Nintendo. Putting your fingers in your ears and screaming "la la la" is not going to change that. Like I said, to a slashdotter, this criticism seems stupid, but it is there. Yes, you have facts about the DS...which is irrelevant to the conversation. Are you denying that there is a portion of people who dislike Nintendo because of this?
Currently Nintendo is viwed as the "less mature" console. Nintendo has to change their image before you can ask whether the Wii will be the same...though your response doesn't make sense since it is impossible for something to be "more" the same.
I never said ANYTHING about other consoles winning. It's dumb backing something that doesn't exist on the market yet that you haven't even tried.
Now you really show your fanboyism by denying that it is smart to wait on first revs of hardware. ALL consumer electronics are buggy when they first come out and improve with time.
I state Nintendo has done some dumb things, and you say I am wrong...because they were mistakes on the consumer side??? Huh? Virtual Boy, treating third party software companies poorly, and not moving to a disc format were all huge mistakes on Nintendo's part.
You are a fanboy...so having any logical discussion with you about this is pointless because you won't listen to logic. Any thing that isn't...omg 3 Nintendo...is offensive to you. Not sure why I even bothered responding other than the fact that I am sick of the the rampant fanboyism on this site.
You also read slashdot...and are probably friends with like minded people. Listen, I am not saying every teen early 20 will want the PS3...I am just saying that is the demographic that cares about that sort of thing more than others. Are there exception. Of course! There always is. But there are trends. And using yourself and small group of friends as a counter agrument is meaningless.
No offense, but you are clueless. If ther was one company, prices would be inflated even more. The PS3 and 360 have more expensive hardware. If you adjust for inflation, this is the same cost as the original Nintendo. Nintendo sold the least units worldwide this time around...they innovated to try to beat the competition. Wouldn't you think the other companies would try to innovate now as well?
When you surround yourself with people who think exactly like you, it's hard to see that other people think differently. I am not saying that this guy is right (I think he is wrong). But when you come on Slashdot, don't expect people to counter you on any positive statement on Linux, Macs, or Nintendo. It gives the illusion that everybody out there is just like you and will be buying a Wii first. This is not true. Nintendo still has the kiddy image. While that doesn't matter to a slashdotter, it matters to others. The PS3 will be seen as the more mature console and will thus appeal to the teen/early 20s crowd. It is funny to read slashdot posts that are already claiming victory for the Wii when it isn't out yet. Maybe I have out grown being excited over things. I will wait unitl it is out. Wait until the bugs have been ironed out. Wait until a price drop...then decide what I will purchase. It seems like most people on here are terrible consumers...that drool over things that don't exist yet. While Nintendo does have a good reputation, they have made plenty of stupid mistakes in the past to warrant caution. Patience is a virtue.
That's all this is on Slashdot considering how Nintendo heavy the fans are around here. If you just read here, you would have to assume the only console people will buy is the Wii. It will be really insteresting to see how the 3 compete this year. It surely won't be 70% wii as Mr. fanboy posted up earlier...but Nintendo at has a decent chance this time around to be competitive as far as sales go (we all know they will be the most profitable). I really don't care who wins. Competition is a good thing because it forces companies to innovate, increase quality, or reduce prices. People who want Nintendo to destroy the competition are morons. With no competition their next console could be like the VirtualBoy. I hope all the companies do well and continue to bring us better things at a competitive price.
While I enjoy some games on the DS, the stylus isn't really that great. If you play for any extended period of time (particularly Metroiod Prime Hunters), your hand will go numb or start to hurt. I think the DS is a neat concept...but it is really not designed very well for use with the stylus. I haven't tried the lite yet...maybe they have improved its egonomics. So to me, an all stylus game isn't very appealing. I am surprised more people don't complain about this.
I honestly don't think the parent poster knows anything about xbox live premium service. This does not state that the Wii will have that level of service at all. This should be modded down since it is inaccurate...but since it says something positive about Nintendo, it gets modded up. Please moderators....as they would say on a WoW forum...learn2mod.
What moral aspect of the game. People have been playing Risk forever. This is just using google maps.
It's people like you that scare the living crap out of me. Do you actually believe playing a strategy game like this promotes violence? Because it is on "real-life maps" are we actally training people to conduct war? Do you cry when someone takes your knight in chess because it is animal abuse? If you really are concerned about the moral aspects of this game, then you are flat out nuts. I can understand at least a little bit why people look at GTA and think that it is over the top (though I still think it should have every right to exist and be sold). But when you get to something as abstract as a straegy game that uses a real map..come on! Even if the site wasn't slashdotted you wouldn't see people talking about morals because this game has nothing to do with morals. It's a GAME. Please check in with reality.
My first MMO experience was with FFXI. As painful as that game was, it sucked me in. I got to the point where I had to rely on a lot of other people to get anything done. I really hated to be a burden on others so I just gave it up. I vowed not to play another game like that again because it just sucked me in.
When WoW came along, I just ignored it. That is, until my brother stated playing. It looked like a lot of fun so I decided to join him. He stopped playing but I continued, surpassed him, and joined an end game guild. I made all the raids and was probably the most educated and was made a high ranking officer. I then not only wanted to play the game, I was obligated to be there to help run the raids. But some raids had some timing issues...and it really ticked me off. It is really hard to make me mad (unless you are family). I had to step back and say wow...I am getting pissed off at a video game. I was gaining weight and my mind was infested with thoughts of WoW. I finally had to admit to myself I was addicted (even though I did a fairly good job of keeping it under control). So a few weeks ago I told my guild I was taking a break...but, was actually quitting. I just logged off and never looked back. So, while it is addicting, it isn't as hard to give up. I am much happier now since I quit and I know that I will not touch an MMO ever again.
As much as people want to criticize this article...there is a lot of truth to it. It eases you in and as you build social relationships becomes more and more demanding. But you have to look at what you want out of life. Even if you are great and well loved in WoW, it will eventually go away and you will be left with a few people on your IM list that will fade away. Much better off spending that time on something that is more long term. While WoW is a well done game, you really have to becareful. I'd say most people who are in a raiding guild are addicted and should probably walk away. Not that I want to tell other people how to spend their freetime, just because it isn't healthy. In the same sense that I think people should give up smoking (thankfully dropping WoW is so much easier).
That would be incredibly hard to do. Besides, people would exploit it by coming in mid way. Or if you prevent people coming in mid way, that would just tick them off. They have dungeons set to be 5 10 20 or 40 man. That can fit anyone. The best drops are in 40 man dungeons. The bosses require (sometimes) complex strategies that would be too hard to change depending on number of players. It's a nice idea, but it just wouldn't work.
Slashdot Mirror
Uhh, that would do nothing. If you remove the cost of everything, the economy would be flooded with too much gold causing insane inflation. How do you measuer skill in PvP under the current system? Kills? Certain classes will have an insane advantage over others. Gold sinks exisit for a reason. Rep grinds I do hate, but they put those in place for all the people ahead of the curve...they have something to do until the next dungeon. But make a game as fun as you can, there will still be people buying shortcuts.
Congratulations, you have just created a game that no one would want to play! There are games that exist that require skill to play...they are called FPS. We are talking MMORPG...and WoW actually does do a very good job of making it so that farmers aren't really a big deal. The best drops are things that you can only get when you are in a group with other people running instances. You can not sell these things so they are meaningless to the economy. These items are much better than things you can purchase. People still buy gold because they like a shortcut. And even in FPS, people use cheats to get ahead. In your game they would just get a program that recorded mouse movements so that they could create the runes with a single click thus removing all skill from the game other that the small amount of strategy left (which will already be figured out what is the best thing to do and probably be scripted).
There is only one way to curtail (and that is the best you can do) gold farming/selling greatly. And that is to ban the people who BUY the gold. The gold sellers will always come back with new characters to sell gold. But if their market is too afraid to buy because they will be banned, then they can't make a profit and go find something else to do.
Power leveling has nothing to do with the in game economy. It makes a lot of people have no clue how to play their characters, but it isn't really a problem as most people who play WoW don't know how to play their characters (from my experience anyways) :)
Actually, I agree with you. The reason we have analogies is so that we can take something complex and hard to understand...and make it easier to understand by comparing it something that another person can easily identify with. Power leveling is not complex. It makes sense they check in a lot since they have paid a large chunk of change and that the other person could be ruining their account.
Usually it is enjoyable the first time up. After that it becomes very tedious. Not that I would ever pay for this service, but I can understand why people would do it.
Wow. Something that could be perceived to be negative about the Wii is reported and the highly moderated posts are the ones who rush to defend their actions. Not a surprise but it still bugs the living heck out of me. What this is saying is that third party launch titles will not be online. Yeah, games in the future will have it...but still it sucks that the Wii will be limited for those initial games.
Listen, companies you love can do bad things. Companies you hate can do good things. If what IGN is reporting is true (big if), then this is a dumb move by Nintendo. The only good thing you can say about it is that at least it isn't something they plan to be permanent.
As far as the whole "myspace" comment goes...saying that Nintendo is doing this to avoid pedophiles...give me a break. If there is a post in here where the government is trying to protect children from adult content, everyone runs around in circles screaming how terrible that is and how parents should be responsible (and I agree). But as soon as Nintendo does it, it is a good thing? I don't think so. I sincerely hope they don't force a similar "friend code" system on the Wii. It just makes it a pain in the butt to maintain friends and set up games.
Right...so you think Blizzard should hand over the way they generate and validate keys. You don't see how a company would be reluctant to do that?
And to whoever modded me down over this, I really hope you lose your ability to mod. While you may not agree with what I am saying, that is NOT a reason to mod a person down.
I think I have to side with Blizzard on this one. It was purely and open source project so that people could play a game that they pirated. Could you come up with some other reasons for bnetd? Sure. But its primary reason for existence was to get around using valid keys. This is differt to me than a bit torrent...that is just a way of transferring files. It has both legal and illegal uses...but file sharing is something that is generic and not owned by anyone. The only reason bnetd exisited was because of Blizzard. Considering battle.net is the service they use to keep people buying legitimate copies, I can understand why they would go after bnetd. Put yourself in their shoes. If you wrote some software and someone came along and released a way to unlock your program without paying you, I think you would be fairly irritated as well.
But if you look at all the games that have been "successful" lately, they are basically sequels or taking a genre and doing it better. HL2, CivIV, WoW (not a sequel, but is the best MMORPG to date -- well, most popular in any case), etc etc. To be a success, a game needs to be enjoyable and pay attention to detail. This is true if it is a Wii game or a 360 game. To take games in a new direction has a lot of risk. Even great games get overlooked if all the variables don't fall in to place. I honestly don't care if a game is innovative. I just care that it is done well.
Umm, yeah...and? What's your point? This is a game that takes a lot less effort to get at and enjoy than spending months practicing and paying for lessons. But I can be like you: you can make a lot more money writing a novel that only does modestly well than posting on Slashdot.
I wonder how much this guy gets paid. If it is more than I currently make...they should get rid of him and hire me because I could write a more interesting article in an hour that would actually use some form of logic. I am sure he is praised by Dreamcast lovers...but really, isn't it time to move on. If the product they made was so fantastic, it would have been able to keep going. Competition is never a bad thing. Assume that competition is bad. Two consoles come to market, the Dreamcast and some other console. The Dreamcast is superior, and so the other company bows out. There is still going to be a ton of whiny people who mourn the loss of their other console. This way, any console maker can me awarded for making a better product, supporting games people want to play, pricing it better, or having superior marketing. In reality, a world without competition still would have seen the Dreamcast die. If the company really believed in their product, they wouldn't have given up.
Unlike the article, I can't put mine on 3 pages with a bunch of pretty pictures of old consoles. On the other hand, I don't have to worry about a bunch of jerks commenting on how they could do my job better than me.
I really don't see how Firefly would appeal to goth girls. It is very sad we couldn't bring that show back. It sounds more like you are bitter that you can't get a girl of your own.
....ok. I think you are confusing story with gameplay. You could have totally different stories and have the exact same gameplay structure. For example, FF has very similar gameplay while having very diverse stories (though all the stories revolve around saving the world so it isn't a great example). What you are doing is similar to complaining that a book you are reading can't get around having characters, dialogue, and stuff that happens. Well, duh.
Umm, I read slashdot and actually have the guts to post what I believe rather than posting with the crowd. How would thinking differently than the majority of slashdot make it apply to myself?
Nintendo has ALWAYS dominated the handheld market. We are talking about consoles here where Nintendo has fell behind as of late. This is a real criticism of Nintendo. Putting your fingers in your ears and screaming "la la la" is not going to change that. Like I said, to a slashdotter, this criticism seems stupid, but it is there. Yes, you have facts about the DS...which is irrelevant to the conversation. Are you denying that there is a portion of people who dislike Nintendo because of this?
Currently Nintendo is viwed as the "less mature" console. Nintendo has to change their image before you can ask whether the Wii will be the same...though your response doesn't make sense since it is impossible for something to be "more" the same.
I never said ANYTHING about other consoles winning. It's dumb backing something that doesn't exist on the market yet that you haven't even tried.
Now you really show your fanboyism by denying that it is smart to wait on first revs of hardware. ALL consumer electronics are buggy when they first come out and improve with time.
I state Nintendo has done some dumb things, and you say I am wrong...because they were mistakes on the consumer side??? Huh? Virtual Boy, treating third party software companies poorly, and not moving to a disc format were all huge mistakes on Nintendo's part.
You are a fanboy...so having any logical discussion with you about this is pointless because you won't listen to logic. Any thing that isn't...omg 3 Nintendo...is offensive to you. Not sure why I even bothered responding other than the fact that I am sick of the the rampant fanboyism on this site.
You also read slashdot...and are probably friends with like minded people. Listen, I am not saying every teen early 20 will want the PS3...I am just saying that is the demographic that cares about that sort of thing more than others. Are there exception. Of course! There always is. But there are trends. And using yourself and small group of friends as a counter agrument is meaningless.
No offense, but you are clueless. If ther was one company, prices would be inflated even more. The PS3 and 360 have more expensive hardware. If you adjust for inflation, this is the same cost as the original Nintendo. Nintendo sold the least units worldwide this time around...they innovated to try to beat the competition. Wouldn't you think the other companies would try to innovate now as well?
So, just put the content on 5 disks. Really, it doesn't matter. The company with the most games that people want will win.
When you surround yourself with people who think exactly like you, it's hard to see that other people think differently. I am not saying that this guy is right (I think he is wrong). But when you come on Slashdot, don't expect people to counter you on any positive statement on Linux, Macs, or Nintendo. It gives the illusion that everybody out there is just like you and will be buying a Wii first. This is not true. Nintendo still has the kiddy image. While that doesn't matter to a slashdotter, it matters to others. The PS3 will be seen as the more mature console and will thus appeal to the teen/early 20s crowd. It is funny to read slashdot posts that are already claiming victory for the Wii when it isn't out yet. Maybe I have out grown being excited over things. I will wait unitl it is out. Wait until the bugs have been ironed out. Wait until a price drop...then decide what I will purchase. It seems like most people on here are terrible consumers...that drool over things that don't exist yet. While Nintendo does have a good reputation, they have made plenty of stupid mistakes in the past to warrant caution. Patience is a virtue.
That's all this is on Slashdot considering how Nintendo heavy the fans are around here. If you just read here, you would have to assume the only console people will buy is the Wii. It will be really insteresting to see how the 3 compete this year. It surely won't be 70% wii as Mr. fanboy posted up earlier...but Nintendo at has a decent chance this time around to be competitive as far as sales go (we all know they will be the most profitable). I really don't care who wins. Competition is a good thing because it forces companies to innovate, increase quality, or reduce prices. People who want Nintendo to destroy the competition are morons. With no competition their next console could be like the VirtualBoy. I hope all the companies do well and continue to bring us better things at a competitive price.
While I enjoy some games on the DS, the stylus isn't really that great. If you play for any extended period of time (particularly Metroiod Prime Hunters), your hand will go numb or start to hurt. I think the DS is a neat concept...but it is really not designed very well for use with the stylus. I haven't tried the lite yet...maybe they have improved its egonomics. So to me, an all stylus game isn't very appealing. I am surprised more people don't complain about this.
I honestly don't think the parent poster knows anything about xbox live premium service. This does not state that the Wii will have that level of service at all. This should be modded down since it is inaccurate...but since it says something positive about Nintendo, it gets modded up. Please moderators....as they would say on a WoW forum...learn2mod.
What moral aspect of the game. People have been playing Risk forever. This is just using google maps.
It's people like you that scare the living crap out of me. Do you actually believe playing a strategy game like this promotes violence? Because it is on "real-life maps" are we actally training people to conduct war? Do you cry when someone takes your knight in chess because it is animal abuse? If you really are concerned about the moral aspects of this game, then you are flat out nuts. I can understand at least a little bit why people look at GTA and think that it is over the top (though I still think it should have every right to exist and be sold). But when you get to something as abstract as a straegy game that uses a real map..come on! Even if the site wasn't slashdotted you wouldn't see people talking about morals because this game has nothing to do with morals. It's a GAME. Please check in with reality.
Meh, if you are raiding and starting alts to 60...that's a sure sign of addiction. You are just in the denial stage I was in a month ago!
My first MMO experience was with FFXI. As painful as that game was, it sucked me in. I got to the point where I had to rely on a lot of other people to get anything done. I really hated to be a burden on others so I just gave it up. I vowed not to play another game like that again because it just sucked me in.
When WoW came along, I just ignored it. That is, until my brother stated playing. It looked like a lot of fun so I decided to join him. He stopped playing but I continued, surpassed him, and joined an end game guild. I made all the raids and was probably the most educated and was made a high ranking officer. I then not only wanted to play the game, I was obligated to be there to help run the raids. But some raids had some timing issues...and it really ticked me off. It is really hard to make me mad (unless you are family). I had to step back and say wow...I am getting pissed off at a video game. I was gaining weight and my mind was infested with thoughts of WoW. I finally had to admit to myself I was addicted (even though I did a fairly good job of keeping it under control). So a few weeks ago I told my guild I was taking a break...but, was actually quitting. I just logged off and never looked back. So, while it is addicting, it isn't as hard to give up. I am much happier now since I quit and I know that I will not touch an MMO ever again.
As much as people want to criticize this article...there is a lot of truth to it. It eases you in and as you build social relationships becomes more and more demanding. But you have to look at what you want out of life. Even if you are great and well loved in WoW, it will eventually go away and you will be left with a few people on your IM list that will fade away. Much better off spending that time on something that is more long term. While WoW is a well done game, you really have to becareful. I'd say most people who are in a raiding guild are addicted and should probably walk away. Not that I want to tell other people how to spend their freetime, just because it isn't healthy. In the same sense that I think people should give up smoking (thankfully dropping WoW is so much easier).
That would be incredibly hard to do. Besides, people would exploit it by coming in mid way. Or if you prevent people coming in mid way, that would just tick them off. They have dungeons set to be 5 10 20 or 40 man. That can fit anyone. The best drops are in 40 man dungeons. The bosses require (sometimes) complex strategies that would be too hard to change depending on number of players. It's a nice idea, but it just wouldn't work.