First they get hooked on the Space Invaders, then they start playing the Dungeons & Dragons game, listening to the Rock and Roll music and reading comic books! Our children will be rife with disobedience, leather jackets and sassback!
These disks are far too easy for big companies to tamper with. I'm sick of hearing about anti-piracy lockouts, rootkits and hoojiggers like that. Why should I put up with digital encryption and conversions?
I'll invent a new format! A simple one! A fantastic format that's still as portable as a DVD! Perhaps...yes...I'll put still frames of images on a reel. And it will spin, making the sequential images appear to move! To the drawing table!
Come on, if that was an honest question, and you *do* recognize everything you said, why bother asking it? Just to link gold farmers in? Come on... don't lie.
Just hoping to spark some intelligent conversation on a topic related to this issue that I could actually discuss. I'm hardly a master of international censorship policy and politics, but I've seen firsthand how this particular region's internet users can affect things I do. I tacked that addendum on at the end to ward off the "Not all farmers are Chinese, you insensitive clod!" flame posts.
Still managed to garner all sorts of other kinds of flames, though. Hoo-wee. -1 Overrated? What the hell? I don't know why I even bother coming here anymore...
Yeah, that's about what I figured... They won't stop stealing my crafting nodes any time soon, I suppose. Maybe one or two that just passively pawns off things they don't need to the companies will be stopped, but I'm sure the bulk'll still be out there.
Didn't know if someone out there had some more in-depth information on how things are going to be regulated or not, though. Never hurts to ask. Usually.
Because I'm curious how a political subject could affect one of my sources of recreation? Well, damn me for not warming up the soap box 'n sandwich boards and instead focusing on a small niche issue that's of interest to vocal minority!
Seriously. Honest question. Can this potentially impact the gold farming/spawn camping industry in modern MMOs?
And, yes, I know they're not all Chinese. Yes, I know not every farmer is an adolescent. Yes, I know a large number of farming outfits are run from private offices. So don't start.
...Until we see a virus targetting the DS? You just know that someone, somewhere is just rubbing their hands together while arching an eyebrow with this announcement.
Mischief Makers was one of those incredibly random platformers that tries to invigorate the stale genre with some new quirk. With MM, you shake things. Lots of things. EVERYTHING. You start hearing Marina's happy "Shake! Shake!" in your sleep if you play it enough.
Grab, shake, throw. Sometimes things explode. Sometimes they get bigger. Sometimes YOU get bigger. Sometimes you grab them to fling yourself up 1000 feet in the air. Whatever happens, it's often a unique event.
It's quality fun, though some of the levels can be incredibly frustrating if you're trying for a 100% completion rate (which affects the ending). In the near decade I've owned it, I've only gotten the gem for the last footrace stage once...
If you want that kind of thing, you'll have to shell out an extra $20 for the pre-order only Collector's/Premium/Platinum Edition. Or $140 if you realize you want it that cloth map after the game is out and have to go hunting for it on eBay.
Apparently you can't even come up with something NEW and then franchise it off. EQ was popular enough to spawn it's own line of action figures, books and other assorted media. There's enough lore to fill an official Atlas, apparently! But when the franchise got it's second MMO... Well... I don't know a single person that currently plays it. And those that did at one point don't have anything positive to say.
Is that a case of living up to the original or the "It just wasn't the same" concept that seems to be hitting SWG?
Seriously though, I think this is another case of showing that fans actually have impact. Us English speaking ones may have to rely on translation efforts rather than an official release, but they made it.
What I'd wanted better gear for would be to further myself in PVE. I actually enjoyed questing; the lore of the world and the stories it had were pretty interesting at times. That's the aspect of the game I enjoyed -- going on adventures with friends. Not stabbing some random stranger in the face.
My roommate and I are the perfect example of the raider/casual oddcouple. She's in the major uberguild of the server, is one of the primary healers and can spend anywhere from 6 to 20 hours a day raiding. I've seen her go from Onyxia to BWL to MC all in one spree. She enjoys it and coincidentally met her fiance through the same guild (one of the lead warlocks). She is also unemployed, living off of her family inheritance.
I, on the other hand, am in a guild that is essentially a small group of friends. I've never even set foot into Molten Core, since we tend to RP more than anything else. I raid every now and then, but I get terrible migraines if I have to stare at the screen for too long. Between that and my full time job, my character has completely stagnated. I've got top of the line crafted gear, but it'll never get better unless I seriously raid. In essence, I've finished the game... There's just nowhere for it to take me now.
Now we have the announcement that the next big thing is, amazingly, another megaraid dungeon. Whoop-de-doo.
The expansion will probably add a decent amount of casual-friendly content (new areas to explore, 5 and 10-man dungeons that don't have to be completed in daily segments, etc.), so I'll probably be back when that's released. But for now, there isn't a single reason for me to keep shelling out $15 a month.
It was an interesting article on why he does things the way he has been, but it doesn't answer the Big Question:
How the hell does he keep getting these properties?
Granted, Alone in the Dark and House of the Dead were essentially games that have a small, hardcore fanbase. They're niche titles. The rest of us gamers more or less just latched on because "Hollywood screwed up another game-based movie! Argharghargh!" But with Bloodrayne and Dungeon Seige, we're starting to get into mainstream territory. And Metal Gear? Criminy!
Hey, wait a minute, I thought we hated cinematics in video games? I guess since these are ending movies, they're okay? Or since they're nostalgic, they're okay?
Well, the earlier rant was about having gameplay actually interrupted by the little beggars. A cool ending cinema is a big different from having the game pause every five minutes for some random tidbit of motion capture. Ever line yourself up for a tough platform jump only to have the game shove an FMV under your nose right before you take off, sending you into the pit as soon as it finishes? That's the difference.
My parents wouldn't even let me go near the Fantasy section at the bookstore when I was a kid and we went to the mall. They told me all those books were Satanic and evil. So, naturally, I checked out a stack of the buggers at the library every week. After we finally got internet access, I wrote up a 15 page essay on the fallacies and origins of the "AD&D=Evil" folklore, presented it to my folks and it apparently swayed them enough to actually buy me the Player's Guide for 2nd Edition. This being back when 2nd Edition was the bee's knees, mind you. Ten years later and I've still got it on my shelf.
And then some dip two towns over stabs his girlfriend's father with a sword because they've managed to intertwine sex and Vampire: The Masquerade into some horrible knot of self-delusion... So we're back at square one.
Same stinkin' thing happened with the GBA, too. As soon as I acquired one, they announce the SP. Even as a kid, it wasn't more than a month or two after I got my NES that the SNES was all over Nintendo Power.
Sex has been present almost as long as online games have been running. It's been the focus of dozens of MUDs, can be witnessed in errant/emotes in out of the way zones in current commercial MMOs and I personally know three people that worked in brothels in Rhydin, the freeform chat room based RP system that ran amok on AOL.
This is just the first time someone bothered to give it graphics. And possibly the first time you were charged for the privledge, but I'd have to check my facts on that one...
You may return to your "robe and wizard hat" quips now.
...I had been wondering if Statesman would be the titular hero for any foreign releases of the game.
Unfortunately, I'm not sure if I'll be renewing now. After my favorite character took a heavy hit from the ol' nerf bat, I've been one of the hangers on who just dicks around with the character creation system.
...
Ah, who'm I kiddin'? Clobbering a dozen street punks in the face at the same time is harder to give up than smoking.
Totally serious -- no foolies! Though you need the magic of a rewritable third party cart in order to actually have it on your Gameboy (which run over $100 for the good ones). Some of the best coffee cup portable titles that I've ever played have been homebrew titles from the fine folks at gbadev.org. Rogue is easier to play than Hack due to having fewer controls, but they're both pretty swank conversions. For those curious as to how it works, pressing the L button opens up a key list. Takes some doing, but soon you'll be zipping your @ all over the place!
For commercial releases, Silver Star Saga is pretty handy for short bursts (think Zelda with random R-Type battles). The Megaman Battle Network games are excellent for eating up some time as well, though unfortunately the titles are almost identical in gameplay throughout the series... And if you want an RPG with some heavy replayability and adventure game/dating sim qualities, look for Riviera: The Promised Land. It had a very limited run, though, so you may have to settle for a used copy.
And if you don't mind a game that'll cram sugar down your throat, try Hamtaro: Ham Ham Heartbreak. I know, I know... Smarmy and saccharine. However, it's a surprisingly entertaining diversion as you run around trying various combinations of actions on things to progress the story.
Original (fine) -> Combat update (bad) -> Original (fine) -> NGE (bad)
I haven't followed Galaxies very closely (MUD player), but it seems like the game's due for another revolution of the wheel in a few months once everyone complains loud enough.
Slashdot Mirror
First they get hooked on the Space Invaders, then they start playing the Dungeons & Dragons game, listening to the Rock and Roll music and reading comic books! Our children will be rife with disobedience, leather jackets and sassback!
I'm guessing you've never sat through a hardcore FF-fanboy round table discussion about who could beat up who, have you?
I'll invent a new format! A simple one! A fantastic format that's still as portable as a DVD! Perhaps...yes...I'll put still frames of images on a reel. And it will spin, making the sequential images appear to move! To the drawing table!
Just hoping to spark some intelligent conversation on a topic related to this issue that I could actually discuss. I'm hardly a master of international censorship policy and politics, but I've seen firsthand how this particular region's internet users can affect things I do. I tacked that addendum on at the end to ward off the "Not all farmers are Chinese, you insensitive clod!" flame posts.
Still managed to garner all sorts of other kinds of flames, though. Hoo-wee. -1 Overrated? What the hell? I don't know why I even bother coming here anymore...
*trails off mumbling*
Didn't know if someone out there had some more in-depth information on how things are going to be regulated or not, though. Never hurts to ask. Usually.
Because I'm curious how a political subject could affect one of my sources of recreation? Well, damn me for not warming up the soap box 'n sandwich boards and instead focusing on a small niche issue that's of interest to vocal minority!
And, yes, I know they're not all Chinese. Yes, I know not every farmer is an adolescent. Yes, I know a large number of farming outfits are run from private offices. So don't start.
I used to mess around with TownEdit all the time, by the way. Fun stuff!
...Until we see a virus targetting the DS? You just know that someone, somewhere is just rubbing their hands together while arching an eyebrow with this announcement.
I always called the buggers "tetrads." Am I the only one?
Grab, shake, throw. Sometimes things explode. Sometimes they get bigger. Sometimes YOU get bigger. Sometimes you grab them to fling yourself up 1000 feet in the air. Whatever happens, it's often a unique event.
It's quality fun, though some of the levels can be incredibly frustrating if you're trying for a 100% completion rate (which affects the ending). In the near decade I've owned it, I've only gotten the gem for the last footrace stage once...
If you want that kind of thing, you'll have to shell out an extra $20 for the pre-order only Collector's/Premium/Platinum Edition. Or $140 if you realize you want it that cloth map after the game is out and have to go hunting for it on eBay.
Is that a case of living up to the original or the "It just wasn't the same" concept that seems to be hitting SWG?
Seriously though, I think this is another case of showing that fans actually have impact. Us English speaking ones may have to rely on translation efforts rather than an official release, but they made it.
What I'd wanted better gear for would be to further myself in PVE. I actually enjoyed questing; the lore of the world and the stories it had were pretty interesting at times. That's the aspect of the game I enjoyed -- going on adventures with friends. Not stabbing some random stranger in the face.
I, on the other hand, am in a guild that is essentially a small group of friends. I've never even set foot into Molten Core, since we tend to RP more than anything else. I raid every now and then, but I get terrible migraines if I have to stare at the screen for too long. Between that and my full time job, my character has completely stagnated. I've got top of the line crafted gear, but it'll never get better unless I seriously raid. In essence, I've finished the game... There's just nowhere for it to take me now.
Now we have the announcement that the next big thing is, amazingly, another megaraid dungeon. Whoop-de-doo.
The expansion will probably add a decent amount of casual-friendly content (new areas to explore, 5 and 10-man dungeons that don't have to be completed in daily segments, etc.), so I'll probably be back when that's released. But for now, there isn't a single reason for me to keep shelling out $15 a month.
How the hell does he keep getting these properties?
Granted, Alone in the Dark and House of the Dead were essentially games that have a small, hardcore fanbase. They're niche titles. The rest of us gamers more or less just latched on because "Hollywood screwed up another game-based movie! Argharghargh!" But with Bloodrayne and Dungeon Seige, we're starting to get into mainstream territory. And Metal Gear? Criminy!
Well, the earlier rant was about having gameplay actually interrupted by the little beggars. A cool ending cinema is a big different from having the game pause every five minutes for some random tidbit of motion capture. Ever line yourself up for a tough platform jump only to have the game shove an FMV under your nose right before you take off, sending you into the pit as soon as it finishes? That's the difference.
eAthena? They based it on Ragnarok Online, huh? Makes sense, since RO and the Seiken Densetsu titles play pretty similarly.
And then some dip two towns over stabs his girlfriend's father with a sword because they've managed to intertwine sex and Vampire: The Masquerade into some horrible knot of self-delusion... So we're back at square one.
Same stinkin' thing happened with the GBA, too. As soon as I acquired one, they announce the SP. Even as a kid, it wasn't more than a month or two after I got my NES that the SNES was all over Nintendo Power.
This is getting rediculous.
This is just the first time someone bothered to give it graphics. And possibly the first time you were charged for the privledge, but I'd have to check my facts on that one...
You may return to your "robe and wizard hat" quips now.
Unfortunately, I'm not sure if I'll be renewing now. After my favorite character took a heavy hit from the ol' nerf bat, I've been one of the hangers on who just dicks around with the character creation system.
Ah, who'm I kiddin'? Clobbering a dozen street punks in the face at the same time is harder to give up than smoking.
Totally serious -- no foolies! Though you need the magic of a rewritable third party cart in order to actually have it on your Gameboy (which run over $100 for the good ones). Some of the best coffee cup portable titles that I've ever played have been homebrew titles from the fine folks at gbadev.org. Rogue is easier to play than Hack due to having fewer controls, but they're both pretty swank conversions. For those curious as to how it works, pressing the L button opens up a key list. Takes some doing, but soon you'll be zipping your @ all over the place!
For commercial releases, Silver Star Saga is pretty handy for short bursts (think Zelda with random R-Type battles). The Megaman Battle Network games are excellent for eating up some time as well, though unfortunately the titles are almost identical in gameplay throughout the series... And if you want an RPG with some heavy replayability and adventure game/dating sim qualities, look for Riviera: The Promised Land. It had a very limited run, though, so you may have to settle for a used copy.
And if you don't mind a game that'll cram sugar down your throat, try Hamtaro: Ham Ham Heartbreak. I know, I know... Smarmy and saccharine. However, it's a surprisingly entertaining diversion as you run around trying various combinations of actions on things to progress the story.
Is this it?
Original (fine) -> Combat update (bad) -> Original (fine) -> NGE (bad)
I haven't followed Galaxies very closely (MUD player), but it seems like the game's due for another revolution of the wheel in a few months once everyone complains loud enough.