If you've ever owned a Toshiba Libretto (the old Pentium MMX ones, not the newer Pentium M machines) then you know the hell that is touch-typing on a Lilliputian keyboard. The only reason I got rid of my classic Libretto was the keyboard; it was a very handy device otherwise. This Asus notebook looks to be a good bit larger than the Librettos, but still cramped.
Considering that this device is a good bit more powerful and expandable than the Palm Foleo, yet it is about the same form factor and just as portable, $299 isn't a bad price at all. The Foleo is $499 ($49 more than your cheap laptop example) and is nothing more than a PDA in a laptop shell. The Eee is a true ultraportable laptop; while it is shown running Linux with Qtopia and KDE frontends, I could easily see it running Windows XP with the specs listed. I would venture to say that the Eee's biggest fans will be those folks who considered a Foleo but want more for their money. I don't think it's meant to be compared to a "true" laptop.
And yes, you are correct in that you can get a decent Windows-based laptop for $450, but it won't be nearly as silent, lightweight or, dare I say it, "cool" as the Eee. I'd love to have one to throw in the backpack on road trips.
4) It wasn't unplugged while mounted. It was spontaneous. One evening it worked, the next morning nothing. No computer interface in between. Strange.
Not strange at all. I had a 1st gen Nano that did that about every two or three days, and I never plugged it into my Linux system. I only ever used iTunes for Windows with it. I'd be sitting at work listening to some music while typing away, then when the next song queued up, BAM it rebooted, shut itself down, then wouldn't turn on again. The manual reset sequence (hold on/hold off/play and center button) didn't work either. The only way I could get it to come back on was to plug it into the PC and do a restore from iTunes.
Interestingly, after two failed firmware updates, I did the manual reset sequence and tried the update again and it worked. After that it never locked up on me. I still sold it though; too much trouble from a supposedly simple device. I bought a Samsung something-or-other that worked as a mass storage device (hence, OS neutral) and never looked back.
For me it depends on the type of display. If it's a CRT, black text/white background is easier to read but it fatigues me faster. On an LCD it's pretty much all the same.
It's not a lack of quests that makes it seem like a job to me, but rather the increased time-sink associated with those quests (multi-hour quests and such), as well as the increased dependence on raiding once you hit the 40s and up. I know that I'm not the usual MMORPG player in that I solo most of the time I play, but a lot of casual players do just that. It's hard to build solid gaming relationships when you are limited to a few hours a week due to real life time constraints.
1. Race only changes whose ass you're looking at while you play.
I disagree. Play a night elf rogue, then play a dwarf rogue. You'll notice a definite difference especially if you go with a Subtlety build. This is because night elves get a bonus to stealth. Or try this one: Play a tauren hunter, then an orc hunter. Orcs have bonuses that pretty much make them the top hunters in the game, and it really shows. While the biggest difference that race brings is indeed the character model that you see, there are also racial bonuses to consider, and some races are significantly better than others in a given class.
2. Playing alts above level 20 is not practical for casual players - levelling takes too long.
If you read my post, you'll see that this is exactly what I am saying. I only have one high level character and he has yet to hit 62. I have 20 or so characters below level 30 because that's around the time it become more a job and less an adventure.
There are a few free-to-play MMOs out there that are worth playing, though none quite as polished as WoW. Silkroad Online is graphically almost on par with games like WoW and EQ2, but personally I can't stand the controls. You can't use the WASD buttons to run, and there's no custom keybinding for movement other than switching the mouse buttons. To me it's like trying to fly a helicopter and pick your nose while eating an ice cream cone all at the same time. Also the PvP aspect is confusing as there aren't really factions (yet, European expansion this week if I'm not mistaken). On the plus side, players can set up shops, and the general community is decent, at least on the server I tried.
"Fly For Fun" by gPotato is okay if you can stand the cutesy anime theme. It's a fun game to play but I have a hard time getting into it for more than 20 minutes at a time, since it's more grinding than questing. It has a much better interface than Silkroad and the controls are very nice, and graphically it's acceptable for a 3D game. It has the Jobs/Paths schema in place of character races/classes/builds, and if I ever bother to get past level 8 I would probably enjoy exploring those options. One of the goals of the game -- oddly enough, paralleled with WoW after the expansion -- is obtaining the ability to fly freely throughout the game world, hence the name "Fly For Fun". The community on the servers I tried were extremely friendly and sociable, though not a lot of native English speakers. It's not uncommon to be strolling along and suddenly get mega-buffs from high level players that allow you to take on mobs several levels above you with ease. It's like an anime version of Munchkinland from the Wizard of Oz; everyone is SO HAPPY!
For something a bit different, try Maple Story. It's essentially the same thing as "Fly For Fun" with the so-cute-it's-sickening anime theme, only it's a 2D side-scroller and no flying (that I know of). It's geared more towards kids and teens, but it can be addictive to anyone foolish enough to sit down in front of it and log in. Especially vulnerable are fans of other side-scrolling action/adventure games from the console glory days. The social aspect is not really there for me personally; I don't care to chat with 8 year olds about their pokemon collection, in-game or in real life.
Now that I don't play WoW more than 5-10 hours per week, I also would enjoy an hourly rate. Every day, I edge closer to canceling my account and sticking to single-player games and free MMOs. Then again, where else can I see naked night elves dancing by the light of dwarven braziers? *Sigh*
As i mentioned in my other post the best way to deal with same side griefing is to complain to the guild master of the guild of the person who griefed you.
I agree, and I've had to do this a few times, usually with good results. Either they have a chat with the offender and he usually (though grudgingly) apologizes, or in rare cases the guild leader or officer I talk to says something like "screw you noob, we do that shit for fun, go back to Horde/Alliance". As little as I play now, it rarely happens anymore anyway, and when it does I have two dozen other characters to waste my time with.
Wait, ore nodes I can understand. You clear the monsters, they take the ore. But most of the good stuff are in instances so if you teamed with a jerk you can always leave. How can you steal kills? if you hit something you tag it and only you get XP for it. At most their helping you level. If you heavily damage a monster it doesn't untag till it heals fully so were exactly are they griefing you?
Sorry if you misunderstood; I was referring to kill-stealing as, for example, a hunter following a paladin and range-shooting everything the pally runs towards, just to be an ass.
Stealing skinning? you have a lock on the corpse for X seconds after you killed it. He can't skin it unless you've ignored the corpse right? If a person harasses by following you and picking up trash you ignore how exactly is that griefing? I haven't played for a while but I haven't heard them removing those anti-griefing measures.
No, it is only "locked" until you loot it. I've had an asshole dwarf (my toon at the time was also a dwarf, same faction of course) that saw me skinning my kills, then followed me and attempted to time his skinning so that I was deprived of it. He would stand right on top of me and spam-click the body. I only got to skin about half the time. I never said it was "trash I ignored". Stealing skins is only stealing if you didn't want them and I'd never have a problem with someone skinning something I left and didn't try to skin myself.
It is almost impossible to run into "griefers" (aside from occasionaly miners ninja-looting the ore nodes)
I will take issue with that statement. My only true pet peeve in this game is that same-faction griefing is completely ignored by Blizzard. If you are Alliance and a Horde steals a kill or a resource node, you can either settle it with PvP or just go your own way, and I am perfectly okay with that. It is balanced and it is more than fair; you are, after all, enemies. However, if you are Alliance and another Alliance follows you around, kill-stealing, trying to take nodes from you, ninja-skinning you, there is absolutely NO recourse available to you. Sure, you can ask the guy to stop it, and he'll keep on doing it cause he's in it for the fun of annoying you. You can/ignore him (for non WoW players, that stops him from messaging you) but that isn't a solution at all when his harassment of you is physical and not verbal. You can try reporting him to a GM, but they will kindly tell you that what the guy is doing is not considered griefing because apparently same-faction griefing doesn't exist in their eyes. Basically, some guy can decide he hates your guts or wants to bug you for fun and he can get away with it scot-free. You can't settle it PvP, you can't get assistance from the GMs and you can't make him stop without logging out until he goes away. How in the world this isn't griefing of the worst kind I'll never know. Yet, you so much as call him a "bastard" and he can report you for swearing, which will get you a warning or a ban if it's happened before. This gross imbalance has twice made me almost quit the game for good. Thankfully such assholes are very few and far between.
Excellent points, and I agree with everything you wrote. My two cents is that, while WoW is very friendly especially to the casual player (which is why I still play), it can also reach the level of "serious and complicated" that its predecessors attained. It all depends on how much time and effort you are willing to throw at it. For example, my jobless girlfriend, who incidentally got me into the game, plays around 4-8 hours per day, every day. She rattles off end-game instance names, factions, armor sets etc. that mean absolutely nothing to me. She may as well be speaking another language. On the other hand, my highest level character is 61 after two years and change, and the majority of my 20 or so characters are sub-30s. That's because to me, the most fun is had in the leveling and questing aspect. For her, it's the feeling of achieving a lofty goal when she and her raiding buddies take down that boss for a server-first kill. For me, it's being able to play for 1-2 hours a day every few days or so and have fun doing it. Sure, I could do that in a single-player game, but with WoW there is an almost endless supply of class/race/build combinations to tinker with. Us casual players enjoy such things.
I would normally just tell you to see the above thread where as many as six people tell the first dumbass that it's a remote desktop connection (Vista being the OS on the machine the screenshot came from) showing PG2 running on XP, but at this point I seriously doubt your reading comprehension. The point of the article is that the guy started noticing odd connections after he introduced Vista to his network. That doesn't mean he's right or wrong (I wouldn't bet the farm without trying it myself first), but only that he's observant.
Maybe, but then you can also get a $400 laptop that will do the basic web/email/schoolwork thing. And who, apart from us geeks, ever cracks the case on a store-bought desktop PC anyway? Most clueless PC users I've ever known just buy a new box every 2 years or so instead of upgrading, because avoiding the hassle of upgrading is worth the extra $100 or so. With every peripheral out there either USB or wireless (or both!), it makes no sense to even have PCI slots in bargain-basement brand-name PCs. When you add the whole portability/space-saving factor, laptops are beginning to look practical.
True, however I'd be willing to bet the average straight guy with a smile on his face would be confused for at least a few seconds if someone said to him "Wow, you sure look gay today!"
It's my understanding that there is a version of pirated XP floating around out there with a standalone, runs-from-a-folder copy of IE7 slipstreamed in. I know I've seen references to it on Digg or OSNews or somewhere like that.
Spoken like a true totalitarian. What happens when the laws change and the perfectly legal and moral things I do on my computer become immoral and illegal according to the government? Sorry bud, but I'll hang on to my privacy.
I know, I know, feeding the troll and all...but I just had to jump on one thing:
...the punk ghetto kid who suddenly became popular with everyone - by selling drugs.
So you equate copyright infringement with a crime that gets people on both sides of the transaction killed? Seriously dude, no one died over a copied CD or DVD, but every day drug pushers and drug users die as a direct result of their illegal activity. What's that? They got what they deserved? Probably, but they are still human beings. I guess their lives mean nothing next to the RIAA members losing a few dollars though. Carry on with your crusade, Herr AC.
Actually what I liked best about "V" was not the sub-par acting, the hokey (though pretty decent for the time) effects, or the overt alien-invasion plot. It was the sub-plot of the resistance movement triumphing over the oppressive foreigners, right down to the WWII references. It was very moving and inspiring to my seven year old mind when I first watched it.
Childhood's End would be good but unfortunately the "huge ships settle over all major cities on earth" imagery has been stolen by Independence Day.
I take it, then, you haven't seen the "V" miniseries from the early 80s? I always felt that "V" was the inspiration for that particular part of the "Independence Day" plot. Then again, I'm old enough that I actually watched "V" in first-run.
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If you've ever owned a Toshiba Libretto (the old Pentium MMX ones, not the newer Pentium M machines) then you know the hell that is touch-typing on a Lilliputian keyboard. The only reason I got rid of my classic Libretto was the keyboard; it was a very handy device otherwise. This Asus notebook looks to be a good bit larger than the Librettos, but still cramped.
Considering that this device is a good bit more powerful and expandable than the Palm Foleo, yet it is about the same form factor and just as portable, $299 isn't a bad price at all. The Foleo is $499 ($49 more than your cheap laptop example) and is nothing more than a PDA in a laptop shell. The Eee is a true ultraportable laptop; while it is shown running Linux with Qtopia and KDE frontends, I could easily see it running Windows XP with the specs listed. I would venture to say that the Eee's biggest fans will be those folks who considered a Foleo but want more for their money. I don't think it's meant to be compared to a "true" laptop.
And yes, you are correct in that you can get a decent Windows-based laptop for $450, but it won't be nearly as silent, lightweight or, dare I say it, "cool" as the Eee. I'd love to have one to throw in the backpack on road trips.
Interestingly, after two failed firmware updates, I did the manual reset sequence and tried the update again and it worked. After that it never locked up on me. I still sold it though; too much trouble from a supposedly simple device. I bought a Samsung something-or-other that worked as a mass storage device (hence, OS neutral) and never looked back.
I thought colloquialisms like "but man" were acceptable? I guess it depends on your status in the grammar nazi hierarchy.
Nah, then they'd know that It's A Trap!
For me it depends on the type of display. If it's a CRT, black text/white background is easier to read but it fatigues me faster. On an LCD it's pretty much all the same.
It's not a lack of quests that makes it seem like a job to me, but rather the increased time-sink associated with those quests (multi-hour quests and such), as well as the increased dependence on raiding once you hit the 40s and up. I know that I'm not the usual MMORPG player in that I solo most of the time I play, but a lot of casual players do just that. It's hard to build solid gaming relationships when you are limited to a few hours a week due to real life time constraints.
There are a few free-to-play MMOs out there that are worth playing, though none quite as polished as WoW. Silkroad Online is graphically almost on par with games like WoW and EQ2, but personally I can't stand the controls. You can't use the WASD buttons to run, and there's no custom keybinding for movement other than switching the mouse buttons. To me it's like trying to fly a helicopter and pick your nose while eating an ice cream cone all at the same time. Also the PvP aspect is confusing as there aren't really factions (yet, European expansion this week if I'm not mistaken). On the plus side, players can set up shops, and the general community is decent, at least on the server I tried.
"Fly For Fun" by gPotato is okay if you can stand the cutesy anime theme. It's a fun game to play but I have a hard time getting into it for more than 20 minutes at a time, since it's more grinding than questing. It has a much better interface than Silkroad and the controls are very nice, and graphically it's acceptable for a 3D game. It has the Jobs/Paths schema in place of character races/classes/builds, and if I ever bother to get past level 8 I would probably enjoy exploring those options. One of the goals of the game -- oddly enough, paralleled with WoW after the expansion -- is obtaining the ability to fly freely throughout the game world, hence the name "Fly For Fun". The community on the servers I tried were extremely friendly and sociable, though not a lot of native English speakers. It's not uncommon to be strolling along and suddenly get mega-buffs from high level players that allow you to take on mobs several levels above you with ease. It's like an anime version of Munchkinland from the Wizard of Oz; everyone is SO HAPPY!
For something a bit different, try Maple Story. It's essentially the same thing as "Fly For Fun" with the so-cute-it's-sickening anime theme, only it's a 2D side-scroller and no flying (that I know of). It's geared more towards kids and teens, but it can be addictive to anyone foolish enough to sit down in front of it and log in. Especially vulnerable are fans of other side-scrolling action/adventure games from the console glory days. The social aspect is not really there for me personally; I don't care to chat with 8 year olds about their pokemon collection, in-game or in real life.
Now that I don't play WoW more than 5-10 hours per week, I also would enjoy an hourly rate. Every day, I edge closer to canceling my account and sticking to single-player games and free MMOs. Then again, where else can I see naked night elves dancing by the light of dwarven braziers? *Sigh*
Excellent points, and I agree with everything you wrote. My two cents is that, while WoW is very friendly especially to the casual player (which is why I still play), it can also reach the level of "serious and complicated" that its predecessors attained. It all depends on how much time and effort you are willing to throw at it. For example, my jobless girlfriend, who incidentally got me into the game, plays around 4-8 hours per day, every day. She rattles off end-game instance names, factions, armor sets etc. that mean absolutely nothing to me. She may as well be speaking another language. On the other hand, my highest level character is 61 after two years and change, and the majority of my 20 or so characters are sub-30s. That's because to me, the most fun is had in the leveling and questing aspect. For her, it's the feeling of achieving a lofty goal when she and her raiding buddies take down that boss for a server-first kill. For me, it's being able to play for 1-2 hours a day every few days or so and have fun doing it. Sure, I could do that in a single-player game, but with WoW there is an almost endless supply of class/race/build combinations to tinker with. Us casual players enjoy such things.
I would normally just tell you to see the above thread where as many as six people tell the first dumbass that it's a remote desktop connection (Vista being the OS on the machine the screenshot came from) showing PG2 running on XP, but at this point I seriously doubt your reading comprehension. The point of the article is that the guy started noticing odd connections after he introduced Vista to his network. That doesn't mean he's right or wrong (I wouldn't bet the farm without trying it myself first), but only that he's observant.
Maybe, but then you can also get a $400 laptop that will do the basic web/email/schoolwork thing. And who, apart from us geeks, ever cracks the case on a store-bought desktop PC anyway? Most clueless PC users I've ever known just buy a new box every 2 years or so instead of upgrading, because avoiding the hassle of upgrading is worth the extra $100 or so. With every peripheral out there either USB or wireless (or both!), it makes no sense to even have PCI slots in bargain-basement brand-name PCs. When you add the whole portability/space-saving factor, laptops are beginning to look practical.
True, however I'd be willing to bet the average straight guy with a smile on his face would be confused for at least a few seconds if someone said to him "Wow, you sure look gay today!"
It's my understanding that there is a version of pirated XP floating around out there with a standalone, runs-from-a-folder copy of IE7 slipstreamed in. I know I've seen references to it on Digg or OSNews or somewhere like that.
Spoken like a true totalitarian. What happens when the laws change and the perfectly legal and moral things I do on my computer become immoral and illegal according to the government? Sorry bud, but I'll hang on to my privacy.
So you equate copyright infringement with a crime that gets people on both sides of the transaction killed? Seriously dude, no one died over a copied CD or DVD, but every day drug pushers and drug users die as a direct result of their illegal activity. What's that? They got what they deserved? Probably, but they are still human beings. I guess their lives mean nothing next to the RIAA members losing a few dollars though. Carry on with your crusade, Herr AC.
Actually what I liked best about "V" was not the sub-par acting, the hokey (though pretty decent for the time) effects, or the overt alien-invasion plot. It was the sub-plot of the resistance movement triumphing over the oppressive foreigners, right down to the WWII references. It was very moving and inspiring to my seven year old mind when I first watched it.
I take it, then, you haven't seen the "V" miniseries from the early 80s? I always felt that "V" was the inspiration for that particular part of the "Independence Day" plot. Then again, I'm old enough that I actually watched "V" in first-run.
I thought we already knew what the password was: Jesus!
Requirements for posting on Slashdot:
1. Boring. Check!
2. Unsexy. Check!
3. Technophile. BZZT!! You lose. Now go back to Digg!
Did you use your "Jump to Conclusions" mat?