I've played the WoW stress test and ever Guild Wars beta weekend up to the release.
The biggest difference is the instanced areas in Guild Wars. In the cities everyone is there, you get 2-6 people to join your team and then you start the mission. You won't run into any other players outside of the cities when you are in your team. The game plays straight through like Dungeon Siege or Diablo 2. When you play WoW there is a lot of waiting around for monsters to respawn & you are always running into other players. None of that here.
Guild Wars is not a true MMORPG, but I'd still call it a MMORPG. It just plays without some of the annoyances of other online RPGs.
You can check out this pinball message board for any specific technical repair questions. There are experts on there that will help you out for free.
Video & PC games are really have pushed pinball machines to the wayside. I know I'm not the only person who would be happy to see a resurgance of their popularity.
Sometimes I wonder how growing up with computers affects the brain. There is a very abstract element to it all. I've been interacting with computers for hours a day since about 3rd grade. It would be a completely different experience to have your first computer interaction at 50, let alone try to become an expert.
Warhammer isn't the only table top wargame
on
NYT on Warhammer
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
I've been painting miniatures since I was in 2nd grade, but I never managed to actually play any wargames simply because of the cost and money involved. I honestly don't think I'll have the time until I retire.
If you have any interest in any non-warhammer wargaming take a look at some of these sites: www.nirya.be/snv/ttm/ www.wargamesfoundry .com www.wargamesjournal.com
And no, its not cheap. If you don't have at least $1000 to spend it will be difficult to play anything beyond a skirmish level.
Corporations hate losing control, but in a free society and a free market they do. Once IBM was the big guy, Microsoft got rid of them. Now we all have Microsoft -- but I don't they will be king of the hill much longer. The next might be Google.
Fortunately there are corporations that are on "our" side. I can recall a certain Verizon fighting the hand of God subpoenas the RIAA was issuing. And there are plenty of corporations making CD burners, DVD burners, portable MP3 players, etc. etc. Does anyone believe the people buying 100 packs of CD-Rs at Office Max to back up files that they created? How about an 80gb MP3 player? I don't know too many people who have bought $10,000 worth of songs off iTunes.
There are plenty of reasons to hate corporations but I think that lumping them into one big catagory is a big mistake.
That being said I do believe copyright is important -- however I also believe there is a need for copyright reform.
You go on and on about how the government is the problem not the free market. Notice his references to censorship, "Palladium authenication becomes law", and a bit tax?
Some people see tons of rules and regulations as a way to "fight" the big corporations. In reality it makes it much harder for the little guys to jump through the loopholes with their smaller pockets. The internet changed all of that. You don't need any licence to start a website, register a domain, send an e-mail, etc.
Why now? How about when they shut down Napster? How about domain name lawsuits over generics words like madonna? How about scientologists sucessfully going after people posting on usenet? This is hardly anything new.
Sounds like a publicity stunt to me. I haven't heard of prices that crazy in Everquest, UO, or any other virtual world. $26,000 will generate stories in major newspapers and other print publications. Hell, and their servers obviously can't even withstand the bandwidth right now.
Amusingly HL2 does not make me sick -- but playing Doom and other old FPS shooters such as Wolfenstein 3D and Descent do. Even more strangely I was able to play those games all day way back when. Now I try playing Doom for 3 minutes and I feel sick.
New games don't bother me, but I have had some problems with the original Unreal Tournament. The government seems eager to spend lots of money right now maybe they should have a study on first person shooter sickness.
If you want more screenshots and another review..
on
Review: Half-Life 2
·
· Score: 1
Heres link to my review of Half Life 2. I wrote a review of the Counter-Strike Source beta earlier this year that got posted on the main page (quite a shock.) And yes, this game rocks despite its very wierd ending.
This is going to be a big boost to non-US gaming producers. They can make great games too so I'm not complaining.
I think what this means is US gaming companies will have to be more focused and only hire the best of the best. Less games, maybe, just maybe, more quality games (after Daikatana we know name doesn't guarentee shit.)
People in the gaming industry may be forced to go freelance. Working at home might be nice, but if they thought 70 hour work weeks were bad now they'll need to work 100 hours a week just to compete.
We've seen several gaming companies go belly-up in this past year. EA is one of the few computer gaming companies that actually seems healthy. Lawsuits raise costs for everyone. If EA hits some unlucky bumps in the road things could get ugly. Maybe in 10 years only Koreans will be making PC games. Lets just hope the end result of this lawsuit is better for all of us.
I can't think of any reason to do this other than NCSoft really is a giant even in comparison to Marvel. The original Lineage's subscription numbers blew away Ultima Online and Everquest's combined.. Acacia and SCO brought us the patent lawsuit business model, is Marvel following in their steps?
quite to the contrary: "Prosecutor Russell McGuire said Jaynes from Raleigh, North Carolina, amassed a net wealth of $24 million peddling worthless products to AOL customers." http://www.thisislondon.com/news/arti cles/14483934 ?source=Evening%20Standard&ct=5
"One specific incident that sparked a great deal of controversy - the Janet Jackson incident at this year's Super Bowl - was of less concern to parents with only 17% "very" concerned about the impact of the incident on their children." Did the heat really get taken off us? I think all this bull shit is being overblown by lawyers and politicians...
Here we are, over a decade later Snow Crash was published. MMORPGs seem to have brought the metaverse into reality yet it is not quite the metaverse we imagined. Other virtual worlds such as Second Life and Moove seem to be a step closer to the metaverse, but both lack the simplicity and core elements to attract a huge market on the same level as instant messaging has.
Without question, text based chat on IRC, AOL, instant messaging and elsewhere has played a major role in bringing the masses online. Ironically, in an age of high-powered video cards and broadband, internet communication it seems text-based communication still works the best. While text-based communication unquestionably has advantages over graphical forms of communication (ie, I can search usenet postings from years ago) there still are some disadvantages. Flame wars erupt on message boards over the misinterpreted connotation of an otherwise benign comment. The lack of body language and tone of voice seem to be the primary causes. In many cases, "call me now" is the only option to prevent a disaster.
What do you feel is standing in the way of the "true" metaverse becoming reality? Or is it only a matter of time before an innovative developer brings it to us? Also, how would you feel about Digital Rights Management in a metaverse? Do you think that DRM would encourage artists to create their own works, leading to a more diverse and vibrant metaverse, or would the world be better off without it?
These kind of ridiculous lawsuits not only undermind the legitimacy of intellectual property, but will also give countries that ignore international IP laws gigantic competative advantages in the next century. (remember, IP laws protect open source) This is a real issue that must be addressed if the western world wants to remain a world leader. Instead congress is wasting its time on bills like the INDUCE Act.
Everyone says there is no profit in it. They are wrong. There is always profit in something -- the question is, for who?
Who is going to really profit from ultra-high speed internet connections? Businesses and people who deliver DRM content. Porn sites, big media companies, etc. On the bright side, the technical innovators such as porn site owners and companies like Vonage have the potential to reap millions before over-regulation occurs.
Guess who really pays for it? Suckers!
Saying that businesses do things only for short-term profit is wrong. Big businesses pour millions and millions of dollars, sometimes billions into projects that loose money. Why? Because they think they can make even more money later on. Big businesses can afford to do this. I can't. Look at the dot-com boom, huge corporations literly pissed away money as did small investors riding the wave. Some made fortunes, others lost it. If I can't make a profit off of something within a year, sorry I'm moving on to something else.
On a more serious note, I had a 28.8k dial-up connection for nearly 10 years. It sucked ass. Today I have a 350kb cable connection from Time Warner which I pay just under $50 for. It gives me problems occasionally, but for the most part I'm happy with it. It still costs far far far less than I paid during the early years of dial-up.
How do you know we'd be moving at 20 miles an hour on private roads without the highway system? I hear people complain that its big business and MBAs that are the reason we don't have flying cars and all the crazy shit they predicted in the 50s that we'd have by the year 2000. I think you have it switched around. Its not logical to innovate when there is no need to.
MBAs, business men, and just average people reap millions off of publicly funded projects. The free market is here whether you like it or not. Its not an "evil" nor is it inherantly "good." Its just there. People are constantly trying to figure out how to make money for whatever purpose.
I'm not a right-winger. I'm not voting for Bush. I really don't believe that the US should be spending government money building some huge infrastructure thats going to be way cheaper to build in another decade. As long as there are millions and millions of starving people in the world I think we should have far higher priorities.
They could have been more creative then "HL2 goes gold monday?" How about "HL2 is getting pushed back 9 months and Counter Strike Source got cancelled due to lisencing issues."
Slashdot Mirror
I've played the WoW stress test and ever Guild Wars beta weekend up to the release.
The biggest difference is the instanced areas in Guild Wars. In the cities everyone is there, you get 2-6 people to join your team and then you start the mission. You won't run into any other players outside of the cities when you are in your team. The game plays straight through like Dungeon Siege or Diablo 2. When you play WoW there is a lot of waiting around for monsters to respawn & you are always running into other players. None of that here.
Guild Wars is not a true MMORPG, but I'd still call it a MMORPG. It just plays without some of the annoyances of other online RPGs.
You can check out this pinball message board for any specific technical repair questions. There are experts on there that will help you out for free.
Video & PC games are really have pushed pinball machines to the wayside. I know I'm not the only person who would be happy to see a resurgance of their popularity.
Sometimes I wonder how growing up with computers affects the brain. There is a very abstract element to it all. I've been interacting with computers for hours a day since about 3rd grade. It would be a completely different experience to have your first computer interaction at 50, let alone try to become an expert.
I've been painting miniatures since I was in 2nd grade, but I never managed to actually play any wargames simply because of the cost and money involved. I honestly don't think I'll have the time until I retire.
y .com
If you have any interest in any non-warhammer wargaming take a look at some of these sites:
www.nirya.be/snv/ttm/
www.wargamesfoundr
www.wargamesjournal.com
And no, its not cheap. If you don't have at least $1000 to spend it will be difficult to play anything beyond a skirmish level.
Corporations hate losing control, but in a free society and a free market they do. Once IBM was the big guy, Microsoft got rid of them. Now we all have Microsoft -- but I don't they will be king of the hill much longer. The next might be Google.
Fortunately there are corporations that are on "our" side. I can recall a certain Verizon fighting the hand of God subpoenas the RIAA was issuing. And there are plenty of corporations making CD burners, DVD burners, portable MP3 players, etc. etc. Does anyone believe the people buying 100 packs of CD-Rs at Office Max to back up files that they created? How about an 80gb MP3 player? I don't know too many people who have bought $10,000 worth of songs off iTunes.
There are plenty of reasons to hate corporations but I think that lumping them into one big catagory is a big mistake.
That being said I do believe copyright is important -- however I also believe there is a need for copyright reform.
You go on and on about how the government is the problem not the free market. Notice his references to censorship, "Palladium authenication becomes law", and a bit tax?
Some people see tons of rules and regulations as a way to "fight" the big corporations. In reality it makes it much harder for the little guys to jump through the loopholes with their smaller pockets. The internet changed all of that. You don't need any licence to start a website, register a domain, send an e-mail, etc.
Why now? How about when they shut down Napster? How about domain name lawsuits over generics words like madonna? How about scientologists sucessfully going after people posting on usenet? This is hardly anything new.
Sounds like a publicity stunt to me. I haven't heard of prices that crazy in Everquest, UO, or any other virtual world. $26,000 will generate stories in major newspapers and other print publications. Hell, and their servers obviously can't even withstand the bandwidth right now.
Amusingly HL2 does not make me sick -- but playing Doom and other old FPS shooters such as Wolfenstein 3D and Descent do. Even more strangely I was able to play those games all day way back when. Now I try playing Doom for 3 minutes and I feel sick.
New games don't bother me, but I have had some problems with the original Unreal Tournament. The government seems eager to spend lots of money right now maybe they should have a study on first person shooter sickness.
Heres link to my review of Half Life 2. I wrote a review of the Counter-Strike Source beta earlier this year that got posted on the main page (quite a shock.) And yes, this game rocks despite its very wierd ending.
This is going to be a big boost to non-US gaming producers. They can make great games too so I'm not complaining.
I think what this means is US gaming companies will have to be more focused and only hire the best of the best. Less games, maybe, just maybe, more quality games (after Daikatana we know name doesn't guarentee shit.)
People in the gaming industry may be forced to go freelance. Working at home might be nice, but if they thought 70 hour work weeks were bad now they'll need to work 100 hours a week just to compete.
We've seen several gaming companies go belly-up in this past year. EA is one of the few computer gaming companies that actually seems healthy. Lawsuits raise costs for everyone. If EA hits some unlucky bumps in the road things could get ugly. Maybe in 10 years only Koreans will be making PC games. Lets just hope the end result of this lawsuit is better for all of us.
I can't think of any reason to do this other than NCSoft really is a giant even in comparison to Marvel. The original Lineage's subscription numbers blew away Ultima Online and Everquest's combined.. Acacia and SCO brought us the patent lawsuit business model, is Marvel following in their steps?
"Fraud via spam is not that profitable"
i cles/14483934 ?source=Evening%20Standard&ct=5
quite to the contrary: "Prosecutor Russell McGuire said Jaynes from Raleigh, North Carolina, amassed a net wealth of $24 million peddling worthless products to AOL customers."
http://www.thisislondon.com/news/art
People will murder for far less than that.
So what? This just means more millionaire non-US spammers.
Notice any decrease of drug dealers despite the lengthy jail time they face?
Your telling me that you think the government has "effectivelly" solved drug and "alchool" problems?
Hmm sounds like 2001: A Space Odyssey a few years late.
"One specific incident that sparked a great deal of controversy - the Janet Jackson incident at this year's Super Bowl - was of less concern to parents with only 17% "very" concerned about the impact of the incident on their children." Did the heat really get taken off us? I think all this bull shit is being overblown by lawyers and politicians...
Read the Age of Spiritual Machines. I don't know how old you are, but it might give you a little hope ;)
Here we are, over a decade later Snow Crash was published. MMORPGs seem to have brought the metaverse into reality yet it is not quite the metaverse we imagined. Other virtual worlds such as Second Life and Moove seem to be a step closer to the metaverse, but both lack the simplicity and core elements to attract a huge market on the same level as instant messaging has.
Without question, text based chat on IRC, AOL, instant messaging and elsewhere has played a major role in bringing the masses online. Ironically, in an age of high-powered video cards and broadband, internet communication it seems text-based communication still works the best. While text-based communication unquestionably has advantages over graphical forms of communication (ie, I can search usenet postings from years ago) there still are some disadvantages. Flame wars erupt on message boards over the misinterpreted connotation of an otherwise benign comment. The lack of body language and tone of voice seem to be the primary causes. In many cases, "call me now" is the only option to prevent a disaster.
What do you feel is standing in the way of the "true" metaverse becoming reality? Or is it only a matter of time before an innovative developer brings it to us? Also, how would you feel about Digital Rights Management in a metaverse? Do you think that DRM would encourage artists to create their own works, leading to a more diverse and vibrant metaverse, or would the world be better off without it?
These kind of ridiculous lawsuits not only undermind the legitimacy of intellectual property, but will also give countries that ignore international IP laws gigantic competative advantages in the next century. (remember, IP laws protect open source) This is a real issue that must be addressed if the western world wants to remain a world leader. Instead congress is wasting its time on bills like the INDUCE Act.
Its just like sharing fake files on P2P apps but with a completely opposite intention ;)
Everyone says there is no profit in it. They are wrong. There is always profit in something -- the question is, for who?
Who is going to really profit from ultra-high speed internet connections? Businesses and people who deliver DRM content. Porn sites, big media companies, etc. On the bright side, the technical innovators such as porn site owners and companies like Vonage have the potential to reap millions before over-regulation occurs.
Guess who really pays for it? Suckers!
Saying that businesses do things only for short-term profit is wrong. Big businesses pour millions and millions of dollars, sometimes billions into projects that loose money. Why? Because they think they can make even more money later on. Big businesses can afford to do this. I can't. Look at the dot-com boom, huge corporations literly pissed away money as did small investors riding the wave. Some made fortunes, others lost it. If I can't make a profit off of something within a year, sorry I'm moving on to something else.
On a more serious note, I had a 28.8k dial-up connection for nearly 10 years. It sucked ass. Today I have a 350kb cable connection from Time Warner which I pay just under $50 for. It gives me problems occasionally, but for the most part I'm happy with it. It still costs far far far less than I paid during the early years of dial-up.
How do you know we'd be moving at 20 miles an hour on private roads without the highway system? I hear people complain that its big business and MBAs that are the reason we don't have flying cars and all the crazy shit they predicted in the 50s that we'd have by the year 2000. I think you have it switched around. Its not logical to innovate when there is no need to.
MBAs, business men, and just average people reap millions off of publicly funded projects. The free market is here whether you like it or not. Its not an "evil" nor is it inherantly "good." Its just there. People are constantly trying to figure out how to make money for whatever purpose.
I'm not a right-winger. I'm not voting for Bush. I really don't believe that the US should be spending government money building some huge infrastructure thats going to be way cheaper to build in another decade. As long as there are millions and millions of starving people in the world I think we should have far higher priorities.
Hell, if I would have known this could have been done I might have thought about getting XM a while ago.
They could have been more creative then "HL2 goes gold monday?" How about "HL2 is getting pushed back 9 months and Counter Strike Source got cancelled due to lisencing issues."
Dude, they updated the netcode a loooooong time ago ;)