I hope you get modded down...just for purposely posting flamebait. It would be like saying that you had some great, ground breaking ideas in the past...but since you have had those ideas, there won't be anything else good coming out of you, so might as well just fire you. It's fine if you don't like FF, but SE could still do a lot of innovative things. Just look at Nintendo. After all these years, they are still able to innovate. In fact, they innovate more than the newer companies in the market.
Wow, they should hire people who post on slashdot to write for them...as most the comments on here are longer than that article.
While I agree with a lot of people posting that piracy is not the issue, I really think the people who give excuses to why they pirate are pathetic. Just admit you are too cheap and lazy to go out and do some research for a good game and buy it. You can blame DRM and having to upgrade your vid card drivers...but really, it just takes a little work. If that work is too much, just don't buy games. According to you guys there are no good games anyways...so just don't pirate the bad games either.
In any case, back on topic. Moving to the console sounds great at first...until you realize there is piracy there as well. Yes, to a lesser degree...but then you have something that most people ignore. Used game stores/ebay has pretty much any game you want at a discounted price. They don't get any money from that. This means they get none of the profit of a sale, and it is totally legitimate.
The truth is what a lot of people here has stated: make a great game, and they will come. As long as you are covering costs and making a profit...quit crying and enjoy what you do. If you aren't making a profit, then you probably are doing a poor job (exceptions always exist).
One thing that isn't a problem is sequels. I really don't understand why people are freaking out about them so much. In general, sequels take a good game and make it better. As opposed to movies, which tends to take a good movie and make it worse. The games to avoid generally are the ones with movie tie ins. These are the games that rely on a big names rather than stand on their own merit. But sequels are not the issue...just look at some of the big sellers for the PC: WCIII, HL2, Oblivion, CivIII. All great games. It doesn't have to be original to be enjoyable.
If there are no good games, there is no need to pirate any of them. But it doesn't make you feel good to break the law and acknowledge you are screwing other people over for not paying for their work...so you try to justify it by blaming DRM and being screwed in the past. But that's all you are doing is justifying it. Do some research on games before you buy it and you won't be stuck with a crappy game. I really don't care if you pirate games...just don't make it sound like you are this poor abused person and that everything around you has forced you in to a life of piracy. Just admit you are lazy and poor and pirate away.
Uhh, you kinda have a point....but not really. Combat system has very little to do with what you are talking about. All RPGs are going to have some form of xp system, character classes, levels, and uhh...spell name conventions. The hero may be similar (barring FF8), but generally heros have certain qualities. It's a final fantasy...so saving the world is sort of a given (honestly, most games out there are saving the world/princess/universe.
I guess what I am trying to say is that games, in general, have a lot of things in common...particularly RPGs. It's the story that matters. Sure, you are always going to save the world but it's how you get there that matters.
It's easier to propagate when there are more hosts to infect. It's as simple as that. On top of that, why target x machines when you can target y machines (when xy).
It's exactly this attitude that will burn you guys some day soon. I am not devoted to Microsoft...I am devoted to reality. Mac userbase has been too small to care about. It's beginning to get larger. As long as you are connected to a network, you are not safe. This is true of any OS. Get off this whole "my OS is more secure than your OS" crap. There is no totally secure OS. Realize that you are vulnerable and take the correct steps to protect yourself. Don't say "well, at least I a more secure than Windows". I guarantee you that my Windows box is more secure than yours because I lock it down tight.
If you are an indie, make something new and interesting...don't rehash what already is out there and done better. Most of fun of Guitar Hero comes from using the controller. For awhile, my guitar wasn't working...after messing around a bit I found that I could play the game with a regular controller. It was interesting to figure out the controls...but it would make a horrible game. Taking this and putting it on the keyboard is pointless. It would be like taking a game that is designed for the Wii and its controller and putting it on the PC with a keyboard. Sure, it can be done. Should it...I don't think so.
The one that got me was the "Based on a true story" next to the game about playing some rhinocerous looking man thing that is getting revenge for something.
Did I warp back in time? This is incredibly out of date. Yeah, guys have female avatars. The way people are going on about not wanting to be on ventrillo because they find out all the female avatars are guys...I mean, come on. What is wrong with you guys? I assume everyone is male unless otherwise stated. And who cares if they are or are not girls? I am there to play the game, not develop a romantic relationship. Some people really need to get out more.
I must have missed reading slashdot when they announced this. I remember weeks ago reading how Nintendo was going to have free downloadable retro games...not by any official source, just by the numerous Nintendo Fanboys here. Were people upset? Well, good, now I won't have to see any more posts on how Nintendo's download service is > XBox live. If something doesn't exist yet, don't make assumptions. Nintendo Wii (I still hate the name even though it has now become accepted) could be the best thing ever...but you can't say that until you get one in your hot little hands.
This is the most clueless post I have ever read on WoW. There is just so much wrong I don't know where to start. But here we go.
Blizzard has made an incredible UI. They allow others to make extensions that improve their UI even more. There are mods that make it easier to heal other people, modes that allow you to move and make extra buttons on the screen, mods that compare items you pick up to ones that are equipped, etc. etc. There is a mod called auctioneer. This is a useful addon because it scans the AH and stores the prices of each item. It is mostly used so that when something drops in the field, you immediately have an idea how much it costs. It also gives you a good baseline on how much to set your auction for. Can you use it to find items that are priced extremely low to resell. Sure. But pretty much everyone has this addon so it isn't like you are at some disadvantage. It just make the game more convenient which is a good thing.
So you have to ask this guy...what's your point? You just showed that it is very easy to make gold in WoW without buying gold. How is this a bad thing?
What you misunderstand is that this game is not about buying epic items. This game is about raiding. 1-60 is a fun game that sets you up for the end game content. You can not buy the best epics. You can buy mediocre epics that most people who raid wouldn't even waste time on. This game is for casuals for leveling. But once you hit 60, the only way to progress is to join with other people and play for 3-4 hours a few times a week (casual guild) or play hours every night (hardcore guild).
Auctioneer is not a loophole. It doesn't encourage buying or selling of gold. It can be used to play an economy just like tools that watch the stock market. This is not Blizzard treating their customers bad. This is Blizzard creating a UI that is so sophisticated that others can make tools this useful that extend it even further. Addons are not hacker tools. Addons are how the game was meant to be played.
The real problem are people who use illegal software (i.e. bots, hack tools that allow them to warp around the game) to get a lot of gold and then sell it to others.
Blizzard is not perfect and there is plenty you can criticize them for...like not going after the buyers of gold as agressively as the sellers. But your post is just flat out wrong on auctioneer. In fact, it makes the point that there are plenty of ways to make gold that has nothing to do with real money trade. This is true of any MMO with an economy. With brains, or effort, or tools (even legal ones!), you can do quite well without doing any work. Unsurprisingly, people do this in real life as well.
Considering all of the good gear can not be sold on the AH or traded...it really doesn't make sense for people to by gold to narrow the gear gap. A lot of people buy it just because they find farming for it boring or to get ahead at lower levels.
It really isn't that bad. So prices are driven up...that means everything you sell will go for more as well. People who buy gold are just lazy. Gold is easy to come by in WoW.
Actually, no, neither of you are correct. It doesn't matter how fun the game is, there will always be people who want to get ahead of others by any means possible in an MMO. As long as some person with more money than sense wants to be greater than other people, this will be the case. If there is no economy in the game and characters progress on their own merits, then the accounts will be sold. Buying gold has nothing to do with the boredom, it has to do with getting ahead.
You played a little of the game. You are right, a lot of the quests are fairly boring kill and fetch sort of things. But for the most part, you have no idea what you are talking about. Abilities you have take time because this game has PvP elements in it. If everything was instant, then it would be overpowered and make playing against other players less interesting. The same with the turning and facing your enemy. If there wasn't PvP, fine...make you turn and face and whack away. But this game was designed with PvP in mind. Controlling you chracter is essential when competing with other players.
Beyond this, the best items in the game can not even be purchased with gold. All of it has to be done through working with other players to down interesting bosses that require teamwork and strategy. This is really where the game begins. Whacking a few bunnies at low level isn't going to show you anything.
It is more successful than other games because it is more accessible to people who don't have a lot of time. Other MMOs force you to group up and spend hours online just to level. With WoW, you can solo your way up to the highest level at your own pace.
Uh, no, it is a board game. Just because there is a computer running the score board at the high school football game doesn't mean that suddenly is a computer game.
So, based on your logic, companies that are more modest do better than others. Brilliant. Or could it be that you read a site that has a majority of people that feel the same way you do about a certain (non-existant) console and thus feel it is winning because it gets the most posts modded up...hmm?
Ha! Don't touch Xenosaga then. The game has come a long way from the first one. I enjoy getting to the movies as it continues the story and plot. While the last few have been a bit weaker, they are still decent and fun. Oh yeah, I forgot, it's cool on here to pretend you hate anything popular.
I'd like to believe this...but I honestly think most people around here worship Nintendo/Apple/Linux. There is a good enough number of them that if you say anything negative about them, you get modded down. I wish there was a little more balance to the posters on games.slashdot.org, but it just isn't the case. I mean, someone saying they will buy 3 of anything that doesn't exist yet is crazy. But I believe that it is probably real. Just shows how well they marketed this that someone would be so stupid.
I don't care what console it is. You will always save money and get a better rev of the hardware if you wait 6 months to a year.
Ironic statement. If there is more money in the economy, the stuff you would sell would go for more. Therefore it would be easier to save up for something that has a static price...such as your mount.
Hold up. Why does it matter if he is an American or not? If he wasn't an American, your reply could be exactly the same.
A lot of people in well off countries aren't aware of how many products are produced using this kind of labor. So you can just reply in general without bringing national origin in to this.
You know, I am not a big fan of a lot of the things my country does or the people we elect...but this serious bias against Americans from non-Americans (and Americans too, actually) needs to stop on this site.
Let's just change your statement slightly as an exercise: It sounds like you are black, so I'm going to reply based on that assumption. What kind of shoes do you wear? Most likely they were made in sweatshops. What kind of clothes? Do you eat fruit, ever? Most likely that was picked and processed by low-wage immigrant workers. Do you use any sort of electronics? Guess what, those were made by low wage workers too, probably in sweat shops.
See how pointless that is? It detracts from your argument and makes you come off as a biased jerk.
Slashdot Mirror
I hope you get modded down...just for purposely posting flamebait. It would be like saying that you had some great, ground breaking ideas in the past...but since you have had those ideas, there won't be anything else good coming out of you, so might as well just fire you. It's fine if you don't like FF, but SE could still do a lot of innovative things. Just look at Nintendo. After all these years, they are still able to innovate. In fact, they innovate more than the newer companies in the market.
Wow, they should hire people who post on slashdot to write for them...as most the comments on here are longer than that article.
While I agree with a lot of people posting that piracy is not the issue, I really think the people who give excuses to why they pirate are pathetic. Just admit you are too cheap and lazy to go out and do some research for a good game and buy it. You can blame DRM and having to upgrade your vid card drivers...but really, it just takes a little work. If that work is too much, just don't buy games. According to you guys there are no good games anyways...so just don't pirate the bad games either.
In any case, back on topic. Moving to the console sounds great at first...until you realize there is piracy there as well. Yes, to a lesser degree...but then you have something that most people ignore. Used game stores/ebay has pretty much any game you want at a discounted price. They don't get any money from that. This means they get none of the profit of a sale, and it is totally legitimate.
The truth is what a lot of people here has stated: make a great game, and they will come. As long as you are covering costs and making a profit...quit crying and enjoy what you do. If you aren't making a profit, then you probably are doing a poor job (exceptions always exist).
One thing that isn't a problem is sequels. I really don't understand why people are freaking out about them so much. In general, sequels take a good game and make it better. As opposed to movies, which tends to take a good movie and make it worse. The games to avoid generally are the ones with movie tie ins. These are the games that rely on a big names rather than stand on their own merit. But sequels are not the issue...just look at some of the big sellers for the PC: WCIII, HL2, Oblivion, CivIII. All great games. It doesn't have to be original to be enjoyable.
If there are no good games, there is no need to pirate any of them. But it doesn't make you feel good to break the law and acknowledge you are screwing other people over for not paying for their work...so you try to justify it by blaming DRM and being screwed in the past. But that's all you are doing is justifying it. Do some research on games before you buy it and you won't be stuck with a crappy game. I really don't care if you pirate games...just don't make it sound like you are this poor abused person and that everything around you has forced you in to a life of piracy. Just admit you are lazy and poor and pirate away.
Uhh, you kinda have a point....but not really. Combat system has very little to do with what you are talking about. All RPGs are going to have some form of xp system, character classes, levels, and uhh...spell name conventions. The hero may be similar (barring FF8), but generally heros have certain qualities. It's a final fantasy...so saving the world is sort of a given (honestly, most games out there are saving the world/princess/universe.
I guess what I am trying to say is that games, in general, have a lot of things in common...particularly RPGs. It's the story that matters. Sure, you are always going to save the world but it's how you get there that matters.
It's easier to propagate when there are more hosts to infect. It's as simple as that. On top of that, why target x machines when you can target y machines (when xy).
It's exactly this attitude that will burn you guys some day soon. I am not devoted to Microsoft...I am devoted to reality. Mac userbase has been too small to care about. It's beginning to get larger. As long as you are connected to a network, you are not safe. This is true of any OS. Get off this whole "my OS is more secure than your OS" crap. There is no totally secure OS. Realize that you are vulnerable and take the correct steps to protect yourself. Don't say "well, at least I a more secure than Windows". I guarantee you that my Windows box is more secure than yours because I lock it down tight.
Yeah, that was driving me nuts. I kept thinking princess bride. Venerable! I do not think that word means what you think it means.
Or you could just buy guitar hero and save yourself hours of time and effort to play 3 songs.
If you are an indie, make something new and interesting...don't rehash what already is out there and done better. Most of fun of Guitar Hero comes from using the controller. For awhile, my guitar wasn't working...after messing around a bit I found that I could play the game with a regular controller. It was interesting to figure out the controls...but it would make a horrible game. Taking this and putting it on the keyboard is pointless. It would be like taking a game that is designed for the Wii and its controller and putting it on the PC with a keyboard. Sure, it can be done. Should it...I don't think so.
The one that got me was the "Based on a true story" next to the game about playing some rhinocerous looking man thing that is getting revenge for something.
Did I warp back in time? This is incredibly out of date. Yeah, guys have female avatars. The way people are going on about not wanting to be on ventrillo because they find out all the female avatars are guys...I mean, come on. What is wrong with you guys? I assume everyone is male unless otherwise stated. And who cares if they are or are not girls? I am there to play the game, not develop a romantic relationship. Some people really need to get out more.
I must have missed reading slashdot when they announced this. I remember weeks ago reading how Nintendo was going to have free downloadable retro games...not by any official source, just by the numerous Nintendo Fanboys here. Were people upset? Well, good, now I won't have to see any more posts on how Nintendo's download service is > XBox live. If something doesn't exist yet, don't make assumptions. Nintendo Wii (I still hate the name even though it has now become accepted) could be the best thing ever...but you can't say that until you get one in your hot little hands.
This is the most clueless post I have ever read on WoW. There is just so much wrong I don't know where to start. But here we go. Blizzard has made an incredible UI. They allow others to make extensions that improve their UI even more. There are mods that make it easier to heal other people, modes that allow you to move and make extra buttons on the screen, mods that compare items you pick up to ones that are equipped, etc. etc. There is a mod called auctioneer. This is a useful addon because it scans the AH and stores the prices of each item. It is mostly used so that when something drops in the field, you immediately have an idea how much it costs. It also gives you a good baseline on how much to set your auction for. Can you use it to find items that are priced extremely low to resell. Sure. But pretty much everyone has this addon so it isn't like you are at some disadvantage. It just make the game more convenient which is a good thing. So you have to ask this guy...what's your point? You just showed that it is very easy to make gold in WoW without buying gold. How is this a bad thing? What you misunderstand is that this game is not about buying epic items. This game is about raiding. 1-60 is a fun game that sets you up for the end game content. You can not buy the best epics. You can buy mediocre epics that most people who raid wouldn't even waste time on. This game is for casuals for leveling. But once you hit 60, the only way to progress is to join with other people and play for 3-4 hours a few times a week (casual guild) or play hours every night (hardcore guild). Auctioneer is not a loophole. It doesn't encourage buying or selling of gold. It can be used to play an economy just like tools that watch the stock market. This is not Blizzard treating their customers bad. This is Blizzard creating a UI that is so sophisticated that others can make tools this useful that extend it even further. Addons are not hacker tools. Addons are how the game was meant to be played. The real problem are people who use illegal software (i.e. bots, hack tools that allow them to warp around the game) to get a lot of gold and then sell it to others. Blizzard is not perfect and there is plenty you can criticize them for...like not going after the buyers of gold as agressively as the sellers. But your post is just flat out wrong on auctioneer. In fact, it makes the point that there are plenty of ways to make gold that has nothing to do with real money trade. This is true of any MMO with an economy. With brains, or effort, or tools (even legal ones!), you can do quite well without doing any work. Unsurprisingly, people do this in real life as well.
Considering all of the good gear can not be sold on the AH or traded...it really doesn't make sense for people to by gold to narrow the gear gap. A lot of people buy it just because they find farming for it boring or to get ahead at lower levels.
It really isn't that bad. So prices are driven up...that means everything you sell will go for more as well. People who buy gold are just lazy. Gold is easy to come by in WoW.
Actually, no, neither of you are correct. It doesn't matter how fun the game is, there will always be people who want to get ahead of others by any means possible in an MMO. As long as some person with more money than sense wants to be greater than other people, this will be the case. If there is no economy in the game and characters progress on their own merits, then the accounts will be sold. Buying gold has nothing to do with the boredom, it has to do with getting ahead.
You played a little of the game. You are right, a lot of the quests are fairly boring kill and fetch sort of things. But for the most part, you have no idea what you are talking about. Abilities you have take time because this game has PvP elements in it. If everything was instant, then it would be overpowered and make playing against other players less interesting. The same with the turning and facing your enemy. If there wasn't PvP, fine...make you turn and face and whack away. But this game was designed with PvP in mind. Controlling you chracter is essential when competing with other players.
Beyond this, the best items in the game can not even be purchased with gold. All of it has to be done through working with other players to down interesting bosses that require teamwork and strategy. This is really where the game begins. Whacking a few bunnies at low level isn't going to show you anything.
It is more successful than other games because it is more accessible to people who don't have a lot of time. Other MMOs force you to group up and spend hours online just to level. With WoW, you can solo your way up to the highest level at your own pace.
Uhh, no it doesn't. I get to pay later and get 1% cash back. As long as I make my payments it is a smart thing to do.
Uh, no, it is a board game. Just because there is a computer running the score board at the high school football game doesn't mean that suddenly is a computer game.
Too bad it doesn't exist yet.
Good thing xbox 520 games pay you to play!
So, based on your logic, companies that are more modest do better than others. Brilliant. Or could it be that you read a site that has a majority of people that feel the same way you do about a certain (non-existant) console and thus feel it is winning because it gets the most posts modded up...hmm?
The Wii and the PS3 don't freaking exist yet! You guys are arguing about consoles that aren't available to purchase. How dumb can you be?
Ha! Don't touch Xenosaga then. The game has come a long way from the first one. I enjoy getting to the movies as it continues the story and plot. While the last few have been a bit weaker, they are still decent and fun. Oh yeah, I forgot, it's cool on here to pretend you hate anything popular.
I'd like to believe this...but I honestly think most people around here worship Nintendo/Apple/Linux. There is a good enough number of them that if you say anything negative about them, you get modded down. I wish there was a little more balance to the posters on games.slashdot.org, but it just isn't the case. I mean, someone saying they will buy 3 of anything that doesn't exist yet is crazy. But I believe that it is probably real. Just shows how well they marketed this that someone would be so stupid.
I don't care what console it is. You will always save money and get a better rev of the hardware if you wait 6 months to a year.
Ironic statement. If there is more money in the economy, the stuff you would sell would go for more. Therefore it would be easier to save up for something that has a static price...such as your mount.
Hold up. Why does it matter if he is an American or not? If he wasn't an American, your reply could be exactly the same.
A lot of people in well off countries aren't aware of how many products are produced using this kind of labor. So you can just reply in general without bringing national origin in to this.
You know, I am not a big fan of a lot of the things my country does or the people we elect...but this serious bias against Americans from non-Americans (and Americans too, actually) needs to stop on this site.
Let's just change your statement slightly as an exercise:
It sounds like you are black, so I'm going to reply based on that assumption. What kind of shoes do you wear? Most likely they were made in sweatshops. What kind of clothes? Do you eat fruit, ever? Most likely that was picked and processed by low-wage immigrant workers. Do you use any sort of electronics? Guess what, those were made by low wage workers too, probably in sweat shops.
See how pointless that is? It detracts from your argument and makes you come off as a biased jerk.