I remember the good old days when I first dabbled with online gaming, playing Duke3D on TEN (remember that?). This was at a time when MSN Gaming Zone was popular for playing commercial multiplayer games such as Outlaws, Outwars, Jedi Knight etc.
TEN had a 'Mr Bandwidth' character, an alien whose eyes would change colour according to your connection quality. I never got better than orange with my shitty internal modem, but it was still good fun to play a few games of Duke3D, and the idea of playing online with real people was a hugely novel and awesome concept to my young teenage self. I still play online occasionally these days but the magic is not there anymore. I remember one new year's eve, playing Red Light District as the clock struck twelve while my parents hosted their dinner party in the other room. Good times.
I'll have to fire up xDuke and YANG or whatever the kids are using these days for a trip down memory lane.
Many wet-shave hobbyists swear by traditional double-edged and straight razors, and use soaps or creams with shaving brushes as part of the process (Badger & Blade is a good resource for learning more). It helps to take your time and treat it as a pampering ritual to be savoured and and not a chore. Good preparation is part of it. I've just started using traditional soap pucks and a badger brush and it's made me look forward to shaving now, although the razor I received as a gift with the brush set takes only Mach3 heads so I'm yet to use a double-edged safety razor (I don't think I'd ever have the balls and patience for a straight). The Mach3 is a reasonable enough shave, but the refills are expensive and it's disingenous to think that Gillette can keep topping it and their current offerings forever. Will they reach a pinnacle cartridge and just stop, saying it is the best they can do and no razor will be perfect? I doubt it.
No doubt inertia plays a part, but many companies bottom lines are bolstered by misinformation and ignorance, that's obvious any time you turn on the television and watch an ad break. Sixty percent for AOL is probably low compared to others out there. Is it really possible that they can keep inventing new and improved toothbrushes, razors and air fresheners every year? Of course it isn't, but that doesn't stop some of the largest conglomerates making billions by selling lies and scaring people into believing that their homes stink and that the mascara they bought last year is now worthless junk that makes them look like shit.
Par for the course, and I can't see it changing any time soon.
The child kept talking about his invisible friend, saying that this friend gave him guidance and told him how to act. The parents of the child grew frustrated and embarrassed, and took the child to a doctor to get him cured.
The man kept talking about his invisible friend, saying that this friend gave him guidance and told him how to act. The man was elected as leader of the world's greatest superpower and given control of a nuclear arsenal.
So if an arrest has been made on the basis of software user registration details, surely the appropriate response is to start flooding the Internet with questionable documents (kitty porn, bomb-making instructions etc.), all in the name of a specific celebrity target?
There's a world of difference between a dedicated gaming device and a touch-screen phone in terms of controls. Using a touchscreen for all input or shoehorning in the phone's buttons for gaming controls can't provide the level of control of a d-pad and ABXY buttons positioned exactly where they need to be. Of course the games market is apparently going more 'casual' so perhaps touchscreens are the way to go. Not that I even have a portable games console or a smart phone for that matter so it's all academic. Fuck it, do what you want with your fucking games.
Yeah, all it will take is a packet collision between my order from an air conditioning company and some other guy's stool sample on its way to the lab and the shit will really hit the fan.
Wait, you are saying that choice is a bad thing? Having more choices is bad, how?
While it may seem self evident that more choice is always better, the reality is less than clear cut. See The Paradox of Choice. Consumers equate more choice with more freedom and therefore it must be a good thing, right? However, more choice can lead to greater anxiety and decreased satisfaction in the ultimate selection. Many of us have experienced that feeling of helplessness, however brief, when faced with thirty different varieties of ketchup in the supermarket.
Of course, that isn't to say that choice is inherently bad or that one size should always fit all. However, there might possibly surely be a sweet spot, beyond which greater choice and increased fragmentation become counterproductive. Whether or not this poses a problem in the open source community is an exercise for the reader.
Perhaps I should have used a PVP qualifier, but most multiplayer games pit humans against other humans and one wins at the expense of another. True, co-op games are multiplayer and not competitive (althought there can still be competition between co-operating players for scores etc.) but as the poster was talking about jerks dominating noobs I took it as given that he was talking about competitive multiplayer scenarios.
You can't expect people to handicap their abilities because there are noobs playing; an online multiplayer game is supposed to be competitive after all. I don't think it's fair to call people jerks because they are better at something than you are. If a few skilled people are able to ruin everybody else's efforts then I'd say that's a game design issue. Most games that I have played online have allowed me to play reasonably well enough when a noob as to be enjoyable.
Now, I'm a PC gamer mainly and stick to games where there is a heavy emphasis on teamplay, so the John McClane effect is less pronounced and effective. Dedicated custom servers mean that a few good admins can keep things pleasant enough most of the time. It may be that the console wolrd has more teabagging jerk 12 year olds calling everybody fags and screaming at their mothers for chocolate milk. YMMV after all...
According to Wikipedia, Nintendo's d-pad patent expired in 2005 which would mean that any company could freely use the plus-shaped d-pad as sported by the NES, SNES etc.
It's not just you. See a past post of mine on a story about AR. Thinking about it, an AR car track (with life size electric go-karts, the drivers wearing helmets (that is, the hard kind as well as the electronic kind)) might be easier to implement because movement is more restricted than running around with a laser gun. A go-kart is always the same height off the ground as its movement is more predictable than a running, ducking, rolling laser tag player.
An indoor kart track could change its environment like existing computer racing games (snow stage, jungle stage, etc.) as well as having powerups that affect the behaviour of the kart (boost, weapons). One thing to consider is the safety, because you might get more reckless driving if people feel like they are driving in a game despite them being propelled by a very real vehicle.
When walking down the street in real life you don't hear audio advertisements coming from nowhere, which appears to be the analogue for what APB will be implementing. You'll turn a corner and suddenly a booming voice of God announces the new flavour of Bawls. What I want to know is, if this game is set in a contemporary urban setting, why not integrate advertisements in a less jarring and more realistic manner? There's ample opportunity to use billboards, television sets (e.g. in a bar or motel lobby, you could overhear a commercial break from a television set like in Max Payne) as well as car radios. People won't mind as much because that's what they would expect from living in a modern city and you'll only hear or see an advert if you are close enough to the source.
Unless of course that's what the designers intend to do on top of the audio advertising talked about here. The article states that "in-game advertising has been tried by a number of games a number of times. It's yet to prove too effective", so perhaps they think that beaming ads directly into the players ears is more effective than the kind of advertising I'm talking about.
Slashdot Mirror
I remember the good old days when I first dabbled with online gaming, playing Duke3D on TEN (remember that?). This was at a time when MSN Gaming Zone was popular for playing commercial multiplayer games such as Outlaws, Outwars, Jedi Knight etc.
TEN had a 'Mr Bandwidth' character, an alien whose eyes would change colour according to your connection quality. I never got better than orange with my shitty internal modem, but it was still good fun to play a few games of Duke3D, and the idea of playing online with real people was a hugely novel and awesome concept to my young teenage self. I still play online occasionally these days but the magic is not there anymore. I remember one new year's eve, playing Red Light District as the clock struck twelve while my parents hosted their dinner party in the other room. Good times.
I'll have to fire up xDuke and YANG or whatever the kids are using these days for a trip down memory lane.
In every version I have played the nipples were covered with tassels so it wasn't much more explicit than a magazine skincare advert.
Living up to your name, I see.
Many wet-shave hobbyists swear by traditional double-edged and straight razors, and use soaps or creams with shaving brushes as part of the process (Badger & Blade is a good resource for learning more). It helps to take your time and treat it as a pampering ritual to be savoured and and not a chore. Good preparation is part of it. I've just started using traditional soap pucks and a badger brush and it's made me look forward to shaving now, although the razor I received as a gift with the brush set takes only Mach3 heads so I'm yet to use a double-edged safety razor (I don't think I'd ever have the balls and patience for a straight). The Mach3 is a reasonable enough shave, but the refills are expensive and it's disingenous to think that Gillette can keep topping it and their current offerings forever. Will they reach a pinnacle cartridge and just stop, saying it is the best they can do and no razor will be perfect? I doubt it.
No doubt inertia plays a part, but many companies bottom lines are bolstered by misinformation and ignorance, that's obvious any time you turn on the television and watch an ad break. Sixty percent for AOL is probably low compared to others out there. Is it really possible that they can keep inventing new and improved toothbrushes, razors and air fresheners every year? Of course it isn't, but that doesn't stop some of the largest conglomerates making billions by selling lies and scaring people into believing that their homes stink and that the mascara they bought last year is now worthless junk that makes them look like shit.
Par for the course, and I can't see it changing any time soon.
In America, we have these things called libraries that are subsidized by the tax-payers.
So do we, although not for much longer with the budget cuts...
The child kept talking about his invisible friend, saying that this friend gave him guidance and told him how to act. The parents of the child grew frustrated and embarrassed, and took the child to a doctor to get him cured.
The man kept talking about his invisible friend, saying that this friend gave him guidance and told him how to act. The man was elected as leader of the world's greatest superpower and given control of a nuclear arsenal.
Burma Shave.
A source inside Scotland Yard has also confirmed that they are looking to bring Time Magazine's Person of the Year 2006 in for questioning.
So if an arrest has been made on the basis of software user registration details, surely the appropriate response is to start flooding the Internet with questionable documents (kitty porn, bomb-making instructions etc.), all in the name of a specific celebrity target?
There's a world of difference between a dedicated gaming device and a touch-screen phone in terms of controls. Using a touchscreen for all input or shoehorning in the phone's buttons for gaming controls can't provide the level of control of a d-pad and ABXY buttons positioned exactly where they need to be. Of course the games market is apparently going more 'casual' so perhaps touchscreens are the way to go. Not that I even have a portable games console or a smart phone for that matter so it's all academic. Fuck it, do what you want with your fucking games.
You're thinking of salami, surely?
Yeah, all it will take is a packet collision between my order from an air conditioning company and some other guy's stool sample on its way to the lab and the shit will really hit the fan.
Body scanners in the subway? Screw that, I'll just take a Johnny Cab instead!
The Great Firewall of London
Wait, you are saying that choice is a bad thing? Having more choices is bad, how?
While it may seem self evident that more choice is always better, the reality is less than clear cut. See The Paradox of Choice. Consumers equate more choice with more freedom and therefore it must be a good thing, right? However, more choice can lead to greater anxiety and decreased satisfaction in the ultimate selection. Many of us have experienced that feeling of helplessness, however brief, when faced with thirty different varieties of ketchup in the supermarket.
Of course, that isn't to say that choice is inherently bad or that one size should always fit all. However, there might possibly surely be a sweet spot, beyond which greater choice and increased fragmentation become counterproductive. Whether or not this poses a problem in the open source community is an exercise for the reader.
There is no fork?
So that millions of people can express their unique individuality.
Perhaps I should have used a PVP qualifier, but most multiplayer games pit humans against other humans and one wins at the expense of another. True, co-op games are multiplayer and not competitive (althought there can still be competition between co-operating players for scores etc.) but as the poster was talking about jerks dominating noobs I took it as given that he was talking about competitive multiplayer scenarios.
You can't expect people to handicap their abilities because there are noobs playing; an online multiplayer game is supposed to be competitive after all. I don't think it's fair to call people jerks because they are better at something than you are. If a few skilled people are able to ruin everybody else's efforts then I'd say that's a game design issue. Most games that I have played online have allowed me to play reasonably well enough when a noob as to be enjoyable.
Now, I'm a PC gamer mainly and stick to games where there is a heavy emphasis on teamplay, so the John McClane effect is less pronounced and effective. Dedicated custom servers mean that a few good admins can keep things pleasant enough most of the time. It may be that the console wolrd has more teabagging jerk 12 year olds calling everybody fags and screaming at their mothers for chocolate milk. YMMV after all...
According to Wikipedia, Nintendo's d-pad patent expired in 2005 which would mean that any company could freely use the plus-shaped d-pad as sported by the NES, SNES etc.
I could care less about Slashdot's rules.
It's not just you. See a past post of mine on a story about AR. Thinking about it, an AR car track (with life size electric go-karts, the drivers wearing helmets (that is, the hard kind as well as the electronic kind)) might be easier to implement because movement is more restricted than running around with a laser gun. A go-kart is always the same height off the ground as its movement is more predictable than a running, ducking, rolling laser tag player.
An indoor kart track could change its environment like existing computer racing games (snow stage, jungle stage, etc.) as well as having powerups that affect the behaviour of the kart (boost, weapons). One thing to consider is the safety, because you might get more reckless driving if people feel like they are driving in a game despite them being propelled by a very real vehicle.
I believe this was the article you refer to.
When walking down the street in real life you don't hear audio advertisements coming from nowhere, which appears to be the analogue for what APB will be implementing. You'll turn a corner and suddenly a booming voice of God announces the new flavour of Bawls. What I want to know is, if this game is set in a contemporary urban setting, why not integrate advertisements in a less jarring and more realistic manner? There's ample opportunity to use billboards, television sets (e.g. in a bar or motel lobby, you could overhear a commercial break from a television set like in Max Payne) as well as car radios. People won't mind as much because that's what they would expect from living in a modern city and you'll only hear or see an advert if you are close enough to the source.
Unless of course that's what the designers intend to do on top of the audio advertising talked about here. The article states that "in-game advertising has been tried by a number of games a number of times. It's yet to prove too effective", so perhaps they think that beaming ads directly into the players ears is more effective than the kind of advertising I'm talking about.