Now there's a guy who clearly knows nothing about gaming. Can't work cooking dinner or Lamaze into a game? Is he serious? Has he ever heard of...Japan? Has he played a game since 1985?
I agree that fanboy magazine ratings should be viewed with scepticism, but I also worry about "normalizing" the reviews. There is an underlying assumption here that the population of games is symmetric in the distribution of quality. This may not be true, if, for example, games which are in the low quality tail are not released (game companies are strategic actors, right?) at a higher rate than games in the high quality side of the distribution. In addition, gaming magazines do not necessarily choose which games to review at random either--they either review interesting games with a higher probability of being of high quality (if you want to be kind to the industry) or else review in response to payola/swag (in which case it is the companies strategy which matters again.)
So, the question is, conditional on nonrandom selection of games to release and nonrandom selection of games to review, what should we expect the distribution of quality to look like? My guess is that this distribution is nonormal and is skewed with more observations in the higher quality tail. This does not necessarily mean, however, that the reviews are "fair," but it suggests that the question is more complicated than a simple "grade inflation" argument.
Note that I am also making an assumption that quality is judged in some sort of absolute terms, and not relative to the other games that are released. There are probably some other assumptions lurking in there as well.
Just my $.02
Maybe, but these revolutionaries will need information and the ability to coordinate and communicate across vast distances to be victorious in their campaign, be it political, social, military or all three. Finding a way to bypass government restriction on speech and (virtual) association isn't necessarily antithetical to freedom.
"Despite the timing this has nothing to do with the recent abdication by Gates"
Yeah, sure. We all know the robots forced Gates out the door as soon as they became self-aware at 2:14 AM, Eastern time. Ray Ozzie is an android. What else explains the Lotus Notes (or "Notus") interface?
I mean, seriously, five and a half hours later and there are only 6 comments!? Let's estimate how many people will actually attend this conference:
(Number of positive slashdot comments = 2)*(Generous nonresponse bias adjustment = 10) + (best friends and spouses (if any) of organizers = 6) - (adjustments because that Real Doll isn't really your spouse, dude, and also because homeless Milanese ex-supermodels seeking shelter don't count = 3) = 23
Hope those 23 BSD dorks^H^H^H^H^H folks have a great con!
The article claims, not without justification, that more regulation a la net neutrality is not the answer as it would simply breed more opportunity for rent-seeking lobbyists and their pocket politicians to manipulate the rules (and pass special exemptions, etc.). But what is the author's proposed solution? Apply the expansion of eminent domain powers provided by the Kelo decision and let the government seize the telephone lines (and cables) for redevelopment!
Admittedly, the tone of the article is tongue-in-cheek, but this is a radical position for a conservative publication, isn't it? Plus, remember that the eminent domain powers required the government to pay the fair market value for the takings as decided (usually) by a court. Wait a minute, maybe this isn't so radical: if the telcos and cable companies could secure a taxpayer-funded buyout of their lines and cables to the tune of tens or hundreds of billions, then they'd be a lot better off than the buggy whip manufacturers when *their* business became obsolete. Time to buy Comcast stock!
I'd have to agree (without the strong language). If it wasn't _Chris Crawford_ making the comment, the story could have been a troll. Instead it's like listening to your cranky great-uncle complaining about music today.
Now if _Wil Wright_ tells us that there is no more creativity in gaming, I'll pay more attention.
It may also be that anyone who cares is still asleep. Remember, it generally takes longer for daylight to get into the basement through those little windows....
This question is rather vague. From the context, it seems as if the poster wants to know from/. readers how much respect the command if they are Ned the Company Computer Guy. What about the rest of the audience who are not? Is the poster interested in how much respect we all get? Or would he or she rather hear about how much respect we give to the techs in our workplaces?
Around my university, the respect we have for the techs is proportional to their ability and knowledge base, which is pretty slim for a lot (but not all) of them. A lot of them seem to think that their job is to install Windows-based software for people. Hiding in the depths of IT, however, I have encountered some very talented hardware folks.
I just read a few of these articles and I have to say that they are, mostly, quite good. My question to the gaming community on/. is: Is this a new form of (gaming) journalism/criticism or is it just that most of the game commentary and criticism out there is either bought-and-paid-for, payola-style gaming press reviews or else fanboy blogger types telling us how DoA rulez over Tekken?
I mean, are these article and the rest of the "new" gaming literature really great, or just great by comparison? And will game criticism and reviews ever get a forum like the New York Review of Books or the prestigious film commentary journals?
Q: Why did you release Stripe Snoop under the GPL?
A: Well, its not because I like Richard Stallman, thats for sure. I don't believe that all code should be Free Software,and think he is pretty much a coding communist. One of the reasons Stripe Snoop was created was the lack of cheap or quality magstripe software, especially that would run on Linux. I have worked very hard on Stripe Snoop, and the last thing I want are the very companies that have expensive, crappy software from using my code and not contributing code themselves. In this regard the GPL provides the protections I want, even if I disagree with most of the creator's politics.
Interesting to see a "security expert" (see earlier post--I can't verify this opinion) who thinks RMS is a code communist.
Nothing brightens up a crappy office like a decent looking area rug over whatever yellowed tiles or stained carpet is down. I had a windowless office for years as a grad student. One night I bought a $100 oriental rug at a big box home goods store, the next few weeks everybody kept saying that I had the nicest office on the floor.
Just my $.02
Tactile dimension hardly unique to Warhammer
on
NYT on Warhammer
·
· Score: 5, Interesting
TFA contains the following quote:
"But for these toy army generals, craftsmanship matters as much as tactics, and it is this aspect that most distinguishes Warhammer from fantasy games like Dungeons and Dragons."
Maybe I'm showing my age, but back when I played D&D (and that would be AD&D, youngsters) we spent a lot of time custom painting lead figures for our 3D tabletop model of the game. I still have a bag of plastic sea creatures and dinosaurs and other yard sale beasties as well that could serve as creatures we didn't have leads for in a pinch, but PCs were always lead and painstakingly painted.
It's hard to beat a physical representation of the game for settling disputes ("I wasn't near that chest--my character was on the other side of the room spiking that door, remember?") and visualizing what's going on.
Good point. What I mean here by popular (and what I think the poster means) is only that the books are written for a general audience--not that they are best sellers by any means. Think of Popular Mechanics, for example. Making math books for the masses by no means implies that the masses will buy them!
Slashdot Mirror
I find your ideas intriguing and would like to subscribe to your newsletter. Yours, Milton Friedman
Now there's a guy who clearly knows nothing about gaming. Can't work cooking dinner or Lamaze into a game? Is he serious? Has he ever heard of...Japan? Has he played a game since 1985?
From TFA: Själv tycker han inte att han handskats ovarsamt med sina inloggningsuppgifter. Translation: My hovercraft is full of eels!
No pedantics taken. I was about to post the same point for all the kiddies citing Neal Stephenson as their source of crypto knowledge.
He should've just wiped his hard drive, and presto! no evidence. Oh, wait...
Trips to the mainframe lab in Poughkeepsie, NY Second prize is two trips!
So, the question is, conditional on nonrandom selection of games to release and nonrandom selection of games to review, what should we expect the distribution of quality to look like? My guess is that this distribution is nonormal and is skewed with more observations in the higher quality tail. This does not necessarily mean, however, that the reviews are "fair," but it suggests that the question is more complicated than a simple "grade inflation" argument.
Note that I am also making an assumption that quality is judged in some sort of absolute terms, and not relative to the other games that are released. There are probably some other assumptions lurking in there as well. Just my $.02
For the record, the Knowles-like hyperbolic spoogefest is in TFA.
Maybe, but these revolutionaries will need information and the ability to coordinate and communicate across vast distances to be victorious in their campaign, be it political, social, military or all three. Finding a way to bypass government restriction on speech and (virtual) association isn't necessarily antithetical to freedom.
Tandy Trower: sounds like a pornstar, isn't: H0t P1C!!!
Yeah, sure. We all know the robots forced Gates out the door as soon as they became self-aware at 2:14 AM, Eastern time. Ray Ozzie is an android. What else explains the Lotus Notes (or "Notus") interface?
Like that water-cooled Xbox 360!!! Sw33t!!! Screw all this public policy crap.
(Number of positive slashdot comments = 2)*(Generous nonresponse bias adjustment = 10) + (best friends and spouses (if any) of organizers = 6) - (adjustments because that Real Doll isn't really your spouse, dude, and also because homeless Milanese ex-supermodels seeking shelter don't count = 3) = 23
Hope those 23 BSD dorks^H^H^H^H^H folks have a great con!
Admittedly, the tone of the article is tongue-in-cheek, but this is a radical position for a conservative publication, isn't it? Plus, remember that the eminent domain powers required the government to pay the fair market value for the takings as decided (usually) by a court. Wait a minute, maybe this isn't so radical: if the telcos and cable companies could secure a taxpayer-funded buyout of their lines and cables to the tune of tens or hundreds of billions, then they'd be a lot better off than the buggy whip manufacturers when *their* business became obsolete. Time to buy Comcast stock!
I concur. Actually, I read it as "cowpat."
I'd have to agree (without the strong language). If it wasn't _Chris Crawford_ making the comment, the story could have been a troll. Instead it's like listening to your cranky great-uncle complaining about music today. Now if _Wil Wright_ tells us that there is no more creativity in gaming, I'll pay more attention.
It may also be that anyone who cares is still asleep. Remember, it generally takes longer for daylight to get into the basement through those little windows....
Around my university, the respect we have for the techs is proportional to their ability and knowledge base, which is pretty slim for a lot (but not all) of them. A lot of them seem to think that their job is to install Windows-based software for people. Hiding in the depths of IT, however, I have encountered some very talented hardware folks.
I mean, are these article and the rest of the "new" gaming literature really great, or just great by comparison? And will game criticism and reviews ever get a forum like the New York Review of Books or the prestigious film commentary journals?
I heard that there will be a cheat code that lets you make some "edits" to the scorecard with a pencil .
Q: Why did you release Stripe Snoop under the GPL?
A: Well, its not because I like Richard Stallman, thats for sure. I don't believe that all code should be Free Software,and think he is pretty much a coding communist. One of the reasons Stripe Snoop was created was the lack of cheap or quality magstripe software, especially that would run on Linux. I have worked very hard on Stripe Snoop, and the last thing I want are the very companies that have expensive, crappy software from using my code and not contributing code themselves. In this regard the GPL provides the protections I want, even if I disagree with most of the creator's politics.
Interesting to see a "security expert" (see earlier post--I can't verify this opinion) who thinks RMS is a code communist.
Just my $.02
"But for these toy army generals, craftsmanship matters as much as tactics, and it is this aspect that most distinguishes Warhammer from fantasy games like Dungeons and Dragons."
Maybe I'm showing my age, but back when I played D&D (and that would be AD&D, youngsters) we spent a lot of time custom painting lead figures for our 3D tabletop model of the game. I still have a bag of plastic sea creatures and dinosaurs and other yard sale beasties as well that could serve as creatures we didn't have leads for in a pinch, but PCs were always lead and painstakingly painted.
It's hard to beat a physical representation of the game for settling disputes ("I wasn't near that chest--my character was on the other side of the room spiking that door, remember?") and visualizing what's going on.
Windows ME. Seriously, all trolling aside, this is the worst operating system known to man.
Good point. What I mean here by popular (and what I think the poster means) is only that the books are written for a general audience--not that they are best sellers by any means. Think of Popular Mechanics, for example. Making math books for the masses by no means implies that the masses will buy them!