Being able to play EVE means very little really. I play EVE on Vista and with a mid end card I get 100-150 fps while playing. Even if a very inefficient system was used that cut FPS in half, the game would still run nice and smooth. The EVE engine was meant to run on PCs made in 2003.
My 360 was manufactured in Nov 2005. It was not modded and the update bricked it. When I called they didn't openly tell me it was free to fix but the second I mentioned that it should be fixed for free they agreed with absolutely no hassle. I was sent a pre-paid shipping box and I didn't have to spend a dime other than some gas money to drop off the unit. I could of called to have it picked up though if I wanted to. The note from MS said they would cover any charges if they were required for a local pickup.
This concept isn't new in Japan. Looking at my old 1999 Japanese copy of 'Final Fantasy VI' from 1999 it says in English "FOR SALE AND CONSUMER USE IN JAPAN ONLY. COMMERCIAL USE AND RENTAL ARE PROHIBITED."
The Japanese text basically says the same but also says it can't be sold used. There are still a ton of second hand video game stores in Japan. Not all software lists it as being prohibited so they are still able to stay in business.
I did read your entire article. Why don't you read my entire comment. You want them to go right to stress testing. The game is no where near ready for that. The game mechanics and many other things still need to be worked out. From your attitude it sounds like you have never even participated in a small exclusive beta test. Many important things are done in this phase and it is a neccesary step for these types of games.
The author acts as if this phase of beta is a stress test. This is very early beta. It's basically the Alpha stage of WoW. The two game companies just choose to use different terms for the phases of beta. There are many game mechanics that are going to change in this stage of beta. For example one thing Brad wants to test is Trivial Loot Code(TLC). When so much is changing and the server structure is still under development you want to be real selective on who is playing the game and giving you feedback.
I think the actual beta test application is one of the best applications I've ever seen really. It gave plenty of opportunity to find out what type of player was applying to the beta. I've seen Brad post on the official forums and also on community boards he does not control. I've been very impressed with how much he cares about the game.
I would agree that there are many people out there that just want to play the game and not actully test or provide feedback on the game. However I've been in many early alpha/beta tests and there are a lot of very dedicated testers that provide amazing feedback. Not a lot of people get the chance to see some of the great discussions that go on between the testers and devs in these early tests. Once a test goes to a big stress test stage the devs kind of disapear from the scene because there is a lot of noise and it becomes hard to have some good discussions. I think early testing should absolutely be a hard processes in order to find out who the dedicated testers will be. If someone doesn't like to put forth the effort to fill out some information on an application I doubt they will be willing to take the time to post feedback/bug repots on the game.
Games I've tested
Meridian 59 by 3do (Beta) - 1996
Meridian 59 (Private dev server for testing potential patches) - 1997
Magestorm by engage games (beta 1997)
Diablo (Beta and stress) - 1998
Everquest (Beta 2,3,4 and stress) -1999
Asherons Call (Beta) - 1999
Diablo II (stress test) - 2001
Anarchy Online (stress test) - 2001
Dark Age of Camelot (Beta 3,4) - 2001
Earth and Beyond Closed Beta 2001
Meridian59 Re-release 2002
Final Fantasy XI Japanese Version Private test - Feb 2003
Final Fantasy US Open Beta Test - July 2003
World of Warcraft (Alpha and Beta) 2003
Everquest 2 (Late beta) 2004
Guild Wars (Private Alpha) 2004
Matrix Online - 2004
Auto Assult Online 2005
Guild Wars (Post release private Dev servers) 2005
Other betas that can't be mentioned due to NDAs
Okinawa Japan is almost guaranteed a hurricane each year if not several. The architecture there however is very bland unlike a lot of areas in mainland Japan. It's basically a concrete forest. Every house and building is concrete and can take a massive beating. All windows are built with metal re-inforcement by default. There is still massive debree like trees to clean up after a hurricane hits but buildings are for the most part just fine.
http://www.kadena.af.mil/weather/update/Typhoon_To tals.htm shows typhoons that have gone by Okinawa the last few years. Super Typhoon is the same classification for a high level 4 or level 5 hurricane.
http://www.nahaken-okn.ed.jp/photograph/image_54/8 00_600/naha_city_a.jpghttp://www.nahaken-okn.ed.jp/photograph/image_54/o riginal/jyousei-es_b.jpg
It may look bland but they can take a major beating and recover quickly without a huge finacial loss
I don't see any place in that entire article that mentions outlawing P2P entirely. It only states that pentalities can be given to creators of software that induce software piracy. It will also allow owners of the distributed material to sue those involved.
P2P can still be used for legal purposes. For example the current beta test of World of Warcraft uses bittorrent to distribute the 2 gig installation program. This new bill will not make the legal use of P2P illegal.
I really dislike PayPal's policies. As a seller there is no protection against digital goods. I sold something for $250 to someone. Then several days later I get an e-mail from PayPal stateing it was a stolen account and they take the funds out of my account. As a seller I have no way of knowing the account is stolen or not. The owner of the account and PayPal should be held reliable for stolen accounts. Not me as the seller.
I'll tell you this. Whenever I was looking for vulnerbilies in a network the first thing I'd do was look for Linux boxes. They were always the best exploit in gaining access to more secure OSs.
Some Japanese Energy/pick me up drinks/candy contain niacinamide, a form of Vitamin B-3 that has many beneficial properties. In Japanese, this ingredient is called "nikochin san amido" which can get confused with nicotine.
Slashdot Mirror
Being able to play EVE means very little really. I play EVE on Vista and with a mid end card I get 100-150 fps while playing. Even if a very inefficient system was used that cut FPS in half, the game would still run nice and smooth. The EVE engine was meant to run on PCs made in 2003.
My 360 was manufactured in Nov 2005. It was not modded and the update bricked it. When I called they didn't openly tell me it was free to fix but the second I mentioned that it should be fixed for free they agreed with absolutely no hassle. I was sent a pre-paid shipping box and I didn't have to spend a dime other than some gas money to drop off the unit. I could of called to have it picked up though if I wanted to. The note from MS said they would cover any charges if they were required for a local pickup.
This concept isn't new in Japan. Looking at my old 1999 Japanese copy of 'Final Fantasy VI' from 1999 it says in English "FOR SALE AND CONSUMER USE IN JAPAN ONLY. COMMERCIAL USE AND RENTAL ARE PROHIBITED." The Japanese text basically says the same but also says it can't be sold used. There are still a ton of second hand video game stores in Japan. Not all software lists it as being prohibited so they are still able to stay in business.
I did read your entire article. Why don't you read my entire comment. You want them to go right to stress testing. The game is no where near ready for that. The game mechanics and many other things still need to be worked out. From your attitude it sounds like you have never even participated in a small exclusive beta test. Many important things are done in this phase and it is a neccesary step for these types of games.
I think the actual beta test application is one of the best applications I've ever seen really. It gave plenty of opportunity to find out what type of player was applying to the beta. I've seen Brad post on the official forums and also on community boards he does not control. I've been very impressed with how much he cares about the game.
I would agree that there are many people out there that just want to play the game and not actully test or provide feedback on the game. However I've been in many early alpha/beta tests and there are a lot of very dedicated testers that provide amazing feedback. Not a lot of people get the chance to see some of the great discussions that go on between the testers and devs in these early tests. Once a test goes to a big stress test stage the devs kind of disapear from the scene because there is a lot of noise and it becomes hard to have some good discussions. I think early testing should absolutely be a hard processes in order to find out who the dedicated testers will be. If someone doesn't like to put forth the effort to fill out some information on an application I doubt they will be willing to take the time to post feedback/bug repots on the game.
Games I've tested
Meridian 59 by 3do (Beta) - 1996
Meridian 59 (Private dev server for testing potential patches) - 1997
Magestorm by engage games (beta 1997)
Diablo (Beta and stress) - 1998
Everquest (Beta 2,3,4 and stress) -1999
Asherons Call (Beta) - 1999
Diablo II (stress test) - 2001
Anarchy Online (stress test) - 2001
Dark Age of Camelot (Beta 3,4) - 2001
Earth and Beyond Closed Beta 2001
Meridian59 Re-release 2002
Final Fantasy XI Japanese Version Private test - Feb 2003
Final Fantasy US Open Beta Test - July 2003
World of Warcraft (Alpha and Beta) 2003
Everquest 2 (Late beta) 2004
Guild Wars (Private Alpha) 2004
Matrix Online - 2004
Auto Assult Online 2005
Guild Wars (Post release private Dev servers) 2005
Other betas that can't be mentioned due to NDAs
Okinawa Japan is almost guaranteed a hurricane each year if not several. The architecture there however is very bland unlike a lot of areas in mainland Japan. It's basically a concrete forest. Every house and building is concrete and can take a massive beating. All windows are built with metal re-inforcement by default. There is still massive debree like trees to clean up after a hurricane hits but buildings are for the most part just fine. http://www.kadena.af.mil/weather/update/Typhoon_To tals.htm shows typhoons that have gone by Okinawa the last few years. Super Typhoon is the same classification for a high level 4 or level 5 hurricane.
http://www.nahaken-okn.ed.jp/photograph/image_54/8 00_600/naha_city_a.jpg
http://www.nahaken-okn.ed.jp/photograph/image_54/o riginal/jyousei-es_b.jpg
It may look bland but they can take a major beating and recover quickly without a huge finacial loss
Umm you don't think this would of wiped out people in Arizona if it was inhabited at the time? http://www.meteorcrater.com/
Not really. Gold farmers use a US version of the game on US servers that do not have this issue.
I don't see any place in that entire article that mentions outlawing P2P entirely. It only states that pentalities can be given to creators of software that induce software piracy. It will also allow owners of the distributed material to sue those involved. P2P can still be used for legal purposes. For example the current beta test of World of Warcraft uses bittorrent to distribute the 2 gig installation program. This new bill will not make the legal use of P2P illegal.
Maybe there is just one?
I really dislike PayPal's policies. As a seller there is no protection against digital goods. I sold something for $250 to someone. Then several days later I get an e-mail from PayPal stateing it was a stolen account and they take the funds out of my account. As a seller I have no way of knowing the account is stolen or not. The owner of the account and PayPal should be held reliable for stolen accounts. Not me as the seller.
I'll tell you this. Whenever I was looking for vulnerbilies in a network the first thing I'd do was look for Linux boxes. They were always the best exploit in gaining access to more secure OSs.
Some Japanese Energy/pick me up drinks/candy contain niacinamide, a form of Vitamin B-3 that has many beneficial properties. In Japanese, this ingredient is called "nikochin san amido" which can get confused with nicotine.