Right, people should know that this is only going to last 7 days, it will be on a separate server from the regular beta that is solely designed to be stress tested. Imagine 100,000 accounts trying to log on one game server.
The whole point is to crash it repeatedly, so don't expect to have much actual play time if you are only in the stress test.
There will be an open beta (I bet within the next month or two). And as stated above I "heard" it is a truly awesome game.
Yep, more and more people would just do this. The more the movie and music industries try to restrict people's ability and freedom to control the music/movie they purchased, the more people that turn to illegal methods to get the movie/music for free...
They are just shooting themselves in the foot, you will never convince middle america that they do not own the movie/music they bought but that it is just a "license." That just doesn't fly with the vast bulk of consumers....
I live in Chicago, and it is a pain to lug groceries around the city and then up the elevators to my apartment. The 10 dollar fee or whatever peapod charges is HIGHLY worth it.
Plus the arguments about not leaving the house or obesity are just erroneous. Groceries are healthier than ordering pizza (which is a possibility in pretty much any urban/suburban setting), and for those of us with busy lifestyles, getting your groceries in a two-hour window on a Saturday or Sunday morning while you having your morning coffee and catching up on the news or whatever isn't exactly precluding you from going outdoors:P
Yep, I think this is a very good point. Cable as it stands now is dying. Because it is controlled by a few big companies that essentially have monopolies over vast territories, all programming has to appeal to a broad, lowest common-denominator type group.
This is why ratings are dropping, large groups of people that want more from their entertainment are turning to dvds, and other alternative forms of entertainment.
This trend will continue, and then as the technology improves, tv via the web will slowly start to pick up more and more regular views (becuase of its much lower costs, it need only appeal to a smaller group of viewers). Advertisers will realize much of their most highly sought after audience (males 18-35, really anyone under 35) is spending more and more time watching tv via the web.
The money will start to flow into this new medium, and where the money goes, the companies follow. So you will start to have subsidiaries of Comcast et al. starting web tv channels. Shows that appeal to niche audiences (e.g., the higher educated, people who demand more from their entertainment etc.) will have a home.
As this occurs via the web, the cable companies will start to trim costs in other ways in order to deliver this same content on television, since they will have to in order to continue making profit. And channels like TechTv will start poping up again (TechTv as it was meant to be more so than what it is now).
Of course if it weren't video games it would be something else. Someone who is inspired to commit a crime or violent act because of a video game is going to be a bad apple even if there were no video games....
I haven't read this decision, but I suspect it was from an out-of-touch judge.
How do you get around the fact that the IM chat is immediately recorded (by definition) when it appears in your IM application?
What about implied consent? Since you know by using the IM application that your conversation is automatically being recorded in the other party(or parties) IM application, doesn't that necessarily mean that you have consented to its recording?
I think so, and I think this decision is just one that will be dismissed or criticised when this issue is briefed before the majority of courts in other jurisdictions. It is a NH state decision - it has no force anywhere else.....
I would qualify that with two points:
Seek GOOD legal advice, i.e. from someone who deals with these types of issues; and
If you can't afford good legal advice (it is going to be expensive) then if you can avoid this whole issue by simply changing your website that would be much simpler and MUCH MUCH less expensive.
Principles are good, but litigation is EXTREMELY expensive and a huge pain so it is best to avoid it at all costs if you can......
I totally agree. DAOC was my first MMORPG, and so I had nothing to base it against. But now that I have tried basically every MMORPG that is on the market, I really do appreciate the concept of the RvR in DAOC. It is truly brilliant (even if seemingly obvious to a non-MMORPG player)
That said, the reason I am no longer playing DAOC is because the game so poorly implemented that concept (and had other serious issues from the dev team)
I don't see why WoW with an alliance and horde can't do this same thing? Have an RvR zone? It seems perfectly set up for such an endeavor. And given Blizzard's track record, they would likely implement it much better than DAOC did.
Well your post got modded as funny, so I too will assume it was sarcastic.
But in my opinion this is a terrible system. The bell curve has no true logical basis. And even if it did, this system would still be flawed:
assume a company of 1000 people split into 10 divisions of 100 people each. Under this system each of those 10 divisions must utilize this ranking system. But what if one division has all 100 of the "superstar" employees, and another has all the worst employees? Under this system, a certain percentage of really bad employees must be ranked as above average or "superstars" while a certain percentage of true "superstars" must be ranked at below average or failing.
I think any person who would implement such a system is a true "1" It is just an obviously bad system. They should simply allow each division head to rank at will, then essentially "meta-moderate" that persons rankings somehow. Have someone come in an audit the department from either the outside or from another department to see how accurate those rankings are... That would be a much better system...
I agree. Isn't this just taking the concept of "bloatware" to the digital media player hardware market?
There is a reason why iPods are so popular: they are relatively inexpensive, they are small and portable, and they do what the user wants them to do well: play music.
I am with the Jupitar analyst, I just don't see a market for this (especially against the iPod) unless the price goes down to iPod levels....
Except if rental price goes up significantly, people will just stop renting and only buy GOOD movies on DVDs. So basically the movie industry would get hammered on the 90% of movies that suck...
Also, if prices go up people will turn to illicit means and/or it would create a large financial incentive for a blackmarket.
Right, the prior poster's point, I believe, was that the value of the items is not intrinsic - it is solely based on the value a person places on their real world time.
1 million SWG credits are only worth the value I place on my time that I believe it would take to acquire those credits.
So for example if I think I can acquire 50k credits an hour in SWG, and I value my hour of time at 1 dollar, then I would probably only be willing to pay 1 dollar for 50k credits. It is not the credits themselves that determine the value I am willing to pay, it is the value I place on my time.
Exactly, I think it is safe to assume the population of people that have pirated music probably consists almost exclusively of people who also would not volunteer to be monitored.
The fact that people who actually volunteered to be monitored still possessed digital music files (presumably pirated versions), speaks much louder than the fact that some of these individuals chose to delete those files....
Actually it isn't based on a poll, but rather 40,000 voluntary computer users who allow their computers to be monitored...
Hmm I wonder if people who know their computers are being monitored are more likely to delete their digital music files... Maybe that would affect the validity of this study, you think?:p
"Methodology Note: NPD MusicWatch Digital information is collected continuously from the PCs of 40,000 volunteer online panelists, balanced to represent the online population of PC users. NPD's MusicLab survey was fielded in September of 2003 to a representative sample of 5,000 respondents aged 13 and older."
Techtv case mod contest
on
The "Spider Case"
·
· Score: 5, Informative
Techtv Just had a case mod contest. This article is about a mod that was too heavy to qualify for the contest, at the bottom of the page under "related stories" are links to the 4 contest finalists. Some pretty unbelievable cases IMHO.
I agree if the item is "stolen" in the game within the rule set then that is probably not a crime.
But just because the game company owns the item doesn't mean you don't have a right to use that item. If the company decided to delete the item, you may not have a claim. But if someone hacks your account and steals that item, I strongly believe you do have a legitimate claim. Instead of thinking of a magic item in the game, think of your apartment or a leased car. You don't own the car you lease, you don't own your apartment, you are only allowed to use them because of your agreement with the true owner. But you could still sue if someone stole your leased car or broke into your apartment.
As noted in the article, the biggest problem would be educating the court as to the nature of the item and game, but courts need to be educated in most cases dealing with highly specialized or technical facts, so I don't think this would be a large problem for a good attorney...
As an aside, I think many other laws apply to in the game actions. For example, I strongly believe "griefing" could be actionable under tort law as intential infliction of emotional distress...
The claims procedures established to implement the settlement reflect the parties' concerns about the submission of improper or fraudulent claims. Such claims, if approved, will take settlement benefits away from legitimate class members and from California's public schools, which will receive vouchers worth two-thirds of any unclaimed settlement funds. The www.msfreepc.com website recommends procedures that will lead consumers to file improper claims that will be denied.
Two-thirds of unclaimed money will got to California public schools... So I doubt money is a motivating factor for Microsoft. More likely they just don't want Lindows capitalizing on their settlement agreement.
Slashdot Mirror
Agree. If I had mod points I would mod you up.
Neither will do anything on an issue such as this - it is handled at a MUCH lower level.
Right, people should know that this is only going to last 7 days, it will be on a separate server from the regular beta that is solely designed to be stress tested. Imagine 100,000 accounts trying to log on one game server. The whole point is to crash it repeatedly, so don't expect to have much actual play time if you are only in the stress test. There will be an open beta (I bet within the next month or two). And as stated above I "heard" it is a truly awesome game.
Actually the name is supposed to be a reference to the lawyer from Usual Suspects, but the hotdog guy is just an added bonus :)
That is what I did.....
They are just shooting themselves in the foot, you will never convince middle america that they do not own the movie/music they bought but that it is just a "license." That just doesn't fly with the vast bulk of consumers....
Plus the arguments about not leaving the house or obesity are just erroneous. Groceries are healthier than ordering pizza (which is a possibility in pretty much any urban/suburban setting), and for those of us with busy lifestyles, getting your groceries in a two-hour window on a Saturday or Sunday morning while you having your morning coffee and catching up on the news or whatever isn't exactly precluding you from going outdoors :P
This is why ratings are dropping, large groups of people that want more from their entertainment are turning to dvds, and other alternative forms of entertainment.
This trend will continue, and then as the technology improves, tv via the web will slowly start to pick up more and more regular views (becuase of its much lower costs, it need only appeal to a smaller group of viewers). Advertisers will realize much of their most highly sought after audience (males 18-35, really anyone under 35) is spending more and more time watching tv via the web.
The money will start to flow into this new medium, and where the money goes, the companies follow. So you will start to have subsidiaries of Comcast et al. starting web tv channels. Shows that appeal to niche audiences (e.g., the higher educated, people who demand more from their entertainment etc.) will have a home.
As this occurs via the web, the cable companies will start to trim costs in other ways in order to deliver this same content on television, since they will have to in order to continue making profit. And channels like TechTv will start poping up again (TechTv as it was meant to be more so than what it is now).
Or at least I hope that is what happens...
How do you get around the fact that the IM chat is immediately recorded (by definition) when it appears in your IM application?
What about implied consent? Since you know by using the IM application that your conversation is automatically being recorded in the other party(or parties) IM application, doesn't that necessarily mean that you have consented to its recording?
I think so, and I think this decision is just one that will be dismissed or criticised when this issue is briefed before the majority of courts in other jurisdictions. It is a NH state decision - it has no force anywhere else.....
And considering that Matrix MMORPG isn't even really an anticipated release by MMORPG regulars, you can pretty much kiss it goodbye now....
I would qualify that with two points:
Seek GOOD legal advice, i.e. from someone who deals with these types of issues; and
If you can't afford good legal advice (it is going to be expensive) then if you can avoid this whole issue by simply changing your website that would be much simpler and MUCH MUCH less expensive.
Principles are good, but litigation is EXTREMELY expensive and a huge pain so it is best to avoid it at all costs if you can......
I totally agree. DAOC was my first MMORPG, and so I had nothing to base it against. But now that I have tried basically every MMORPG that is on the market, I really do appreciate the concept of the RvR in DAOC. It is truly brilliant (even if seemingly obvious to a non-MMORPG player)
That said, the reason I am no longer playing DAOC is because the game so poorly implemented that concept (and had other serious issues from the dev team)
I don't see why WoW with an alliance and horde can't do this same thing? Have an RvR zone? It seems perfectly set up for such an endeavor. And given Blizzard's track record, they would likely implement it much better than DAOC did.
But in my opinion this is a terrible system. The bell curve has no true logical basis. And even if it did, this system would still be flawed: assume a company of 1000 people split into 10 divisions of 100 people each. Under this system each of those 10 divisions must utilize this ranking system. But what if one division has all 100 of the "superstar" employees, and another has all the worst employees? Under this system, a certain percentage of really bad employees must be ranked as above average or "superstars" while a certain percentage of true "superstars" must be ranked at below average or failing.
I think any person who would implement such a system is a true "1" It is just an obviously bad system. They should simply allow each division head to rank at will, then essentially "meta-moderate" that persons rankings somehow. Have someone come in an audit the department from either the outside or from another department to see how accurate those rankings are... That would be a much better system...
I agree. Isn't this just taking the concept of "bloatware" to the digital media player hardware market?
There is a reason why iPods are so popular: they are relatively inexpensive, they are small and portable, and they do what the user wants them to do well: play music.
I am with the Jupitar analyst, I just don't see a market for this (especially against the iPod) unless the price goes down to iPod levels....
Here is the link to the full report (101 page .pdf) if anyone is interested:
CED Report
Except if rental price goes up significantly, people will just stop renting and only buy GOOD movies on DVDs. So basically the movie industry would get hammered on the 90% of movies that suck...
Also, if prices go up people will turn to illicit means and/or it would create a large financial incentive for a blackmarket.
Yeah, I was going to say "market realities" = they bribed, err "contributed" the most to Hatch :)
It is always nice to see a lack of journalistic integrity in reviewers...
Right, the prior poster's point, I believe, was that the value of the items is not intrinsic - it is solely based on the value a person places on their real world time.
1 million SWG credits are only worth the value I place on my time that I believe it would take to acquire those credits.
So for example if I think I can acquire 50k credits an hour in SWG, and I value my hour of time at 1 dollar, then I would probably only be willing to pay 1 dollar for 50k credits. It is not the credits themselves that determine the value I am willing to pay, it is the value I place on my time.
The fact that people who actually volunteered to be monitored still possessed digital music files (presumably pirated versions), speaks much louder than the fact that some of these individuals chose to delete those files....
Hmm I wonder if people who know their computers are being monitored are more likely to delete their digital music files... Maybe that would affect the validity of this study, you think?
Here is the official press release
Note it states:
Techtv Just had a case mod contest. This article is about a mod that was too heavy to qualify for the contest, at the bottom of the page under "related stories" are links to the 4 contest finalists. Some pretty unbelievable cases IMHO.
But just because the game company owns the item doesn't mean you don't have a right to use that item. If the company decided to delete the item, you may not have a claim. But if someone hacks your account and steals that item, I strongly believe you do have a legitimate claim. Instead of thinking of a magic item in the game, think of your apartment or a leased car. You don't own the car you lease, you don't own your apartment, you are only allowed to use them because of your agreement with the true owner. But you could still sue if someone stole your leased car or broke into your apartment.
As noted in the article, the biggest problem would be educating the court as to the nature of the item and game, but courts need to be educated in most cases dealing with highly specialized or technical facts, so I don't think this would be a large problem for a good attorney...
As an aside, I think many other laws apply to in the game actions. For example, I strongly believe "griefing" could be actionable under tort law as intential infliction of emotional distress...
Two-thirds of unclaimed money will got to California public schools... So I doubt money is a motivating factor for Microsoft. More likely they just don't want Lindows capitalizing on their settlement agreement.