Those are art films. To most of the world, art films are boring. That's why most of them don't do stellar business.
People love action films. Hollywood knows this, and that's why every summer is stuffed to the gills with action films. Action films make the money that the movie industry needs to keep the business rolling. Art films are what they make to keep the snobs happy.
The real acme of skill in filmaking isn't to make some bloody boring art film. It's to make one badass action film that's so good that only the worst snobs refuse to acknowledge the legitimate dramatic (or comedic) genius within the top-knotch action/adventure sequences.
Put another way, the world needs more John Woos, Akira Kurosawas, Hayao Miyazakis, Sam Peckinpahs, and Sergio Leones- not another boring Merchant Ivory joint.
There is no job worth that level of pressure, and any employer or coworker who'd dare to lay that sort of guilt trip upon a man should be arrested on charges of Racketeering. (Either you put in the overtime, or we put you in the poorhouse. To hell with you, your life, your family, or anything else outside the company.)
Working men fought and _died_ for the 40 hour work week. They fought and _died_ for every benefit we enjoy in the workplace today, either by custom or by law. To dare defame their memory, to squander their sacrifice, to insult their legacy by bowing to the demands of some overeducated, overpaid paper-pusher is not simple blasphemy against all of the values of the working class. It is treason against the human race.
Furthermore, to dare place any job above yourself, your wife, your children, and all that is good in life is to deny that _you_ are a free individual who's time and expertise is finite and valuable. That truth is the foundation of liberty, and the bedrock of capitalism vis-a-vis the exchange of services.
Tell the boss to go to hell. When the whistle blows (as it were), the wise and righteous man drops whatever he's doing, punches out, and goes home. Overtime is for slave laborers.
Well, it was only a matter of time before this happenned. Fortunately, nothing really happenned over there. It was another round of blather, yabber, and bullshit aimed at staving off the other inevitability: government (mis)regulation.
The MIT professor, for the most part, is correct. Unless the governments of the world, on their own or in conjunction with others, make a credible threat to the many corporations that make money off online commerce then nothing substantial will be done. Why? Because it's cheaper and easier to let it fly as things are, which translates into more money into corporate coffers and that means a greater profit margin.
Wow. This sounds a lot like the Anti-Trust Debate of 19th Century America. The more things change...
Boys and girls, don't be so quick to conclude one way or the other about Hasbro's intentions toward WotC product. It's never that simple, and it's never that easy to predict.
From the view of the mainstream business media, the motivation for the buyout stems from WotC's year-round product strength. "Magic: The Gathering" (aka "Crack for Gamers") and "Pokemon" are the current strengths of WotC proper. TSR and Five Rings Publishing, two of WotC's subsidiaries, produce powerful product in their own rights: D&D (TSR), Alternity (TSR), Marvel Saga (TSR), Fifth Age/Dragonlance (TSR), Legend of the Five Rings (FRPG), and Legend of the Burning Sands (FRPG).
As you see, Hasbro has quite a lot of material for its branches to draw upon. It's more than places for new toys to come from. It's also a place for other media to raid for tie-in products. Hasbro, through Microprose, could make a Gamma World game for the PC using the Alternity RPG as a basis for a game engine. Hasbro can also use the Runequest name (and nothing else) with the upcoming 3rd Ed. of D&D as a new fantasy setting, and then turn around to sell toys of signature characters as well as computer or console games using the name and the rules.
Hasbro isn't stupid. They know that they've got a damn good buy with WotC, so they aren't going to upset that cart. What they might do is use some of its might to consolidate loose ends for what it does control. For example, the Star Wars RPG is a West End Game product. Their dire straits make new product impossible, so that licence is up in the air. You'd better believe that Hasbro would assist WotC in acquiring that licence. (TSR has Diablo, Starcraft, and Warcraft already; this is not impossible.) The same could occur with regard to the L5R RPG; the next edition could become a D&D setting, if Hasbro so desires.
Whatever happens, this will be very interesting and very important for the tabletop gaming world.
It's been a good run, but all things must end. Let the show die a quiet, dignified death. There's still plenty of good entertainment out there, and plenty of good parodies of that entertainment. Seek it out and give them your time and business. Oh, and circulate the tapes. There's nothing wrong with that.
Slashdot Mirror
Of course, you realize that someone either already did one or more of these things or that they will begin doing so presently.
Never give your enemies ideas; the less they know, the easier they are to defeat.
Those are art films. To most of the world, art films are boring. That's why most of them don't do stellar business.
People love action films. Hollywood knows this, and that's why every summer is stuffed to the gills with action films. Action films make the money that the movie industry needs to keep the business rolling. Art films are what they make to keep the snobs happy.
The real acme of skill in filmaking isn't to make some bloody boring art film. It's to make one badass action film that's so good that only the worst snobs refuse to acknowledge the legitimate dramatic (or comedic) genius within the top-knotch action/adventure sequences.
Put another way, the world needs more John Woos, Akira Kurosawas, Hayao Miyazakis, Sam Peckinpahs, and Sergio Leones- not another boring Merchant Ivory joint.
Bollocks. Pure bollocks.
There is no job worth that level of pressure, and any employer or coworker who'd dare to lay that sort of guilt trip upon a man should be arrested on charges of Racketeering. (Either you put in the overtime, or we put you in the poorhouse. To hell with you, your life, your family, or anything else outside the company.)
Working men fought and _died_ for the 40 hour work week. They fought and _died_ for every benefit we enjoy in the workplace today, either by custom or by law. To dare defame their memory, to squander their sacrifice, to insult their legacy by bowing to the demands of some overeducated, overpaid paper-pusher is not simple blasphemy against all of the values of the working class. It is treason against the human race.
Furthermore, to dare place any job above yourself, your wife, your children, and all that is good in life is to deny that _you_ are a free individual who's time and expertise is finite and valuable. That truth is the foundation of liberty, and the bedrock of capitalism vis-a-vis the exchange of services.
Tell the boss to go to hell. When the whistle blows (as it were), the wise and righteous man drops whatever he's doing, punches out, and goes home. Overtime is for slave laborers.
Well, it was only a matter of time before this happenned. Fortunately, nothing really happenned over there. It was another round of blather, yabber, and bullshit aimed at staving off the other inevitability: government (mis)regulation.
The MIT professor, for the most part, is correct. Unless the governments of the world, on their own or in conjunction with others, make a credible threat to the many corporations that make money off online commerce then nothing substantial will be done. Why? Because it's cheaper and easier to let it fly as things are, which translates into more money into corporate coffers and that means a greater profit margin.
Wow. This sounds a lot like the Anti-Trust Debate of 19th Century America. The more things change...
Boys and girls, don't be so quick to conclude one way or the other about Hasbro's intentions toward WotC product. It's never that simple, and it's never that easy to predict.
From the view of the mainstream business media, the motivation for the buyout stems from WotC's year-round product strength. "Magic: The Gathering" (aka "Crack for Gamers") and "Pokemon" are the current strengths of WotC proper. TSR and Five Rings Publishing, two of WotC's subsidiaries, produce powerful product in their own rights: D&D (TSR), Alternity (TSR), Marvel Saga (TSR), Fifth Age/Dragonlance (TSR), Legend of the Five Rings (FRPG), and Legend of the Burning Sands (FRPG).
As you see, Hasbro has quite a lot of material for its branches to draw upon. It's more than places for new toys to come from. It's also a place for other media to raid for tie-in products. Hasbro, through Microprose, could make a Gamma World game for the PC using the Alternity RPG as a basis for a game engine. Hasbro can also use the Runequest name (and nothing else) with the upcoming 3rd Ed. of D&D as a new fantasy setting, and then turn around to sell toys of signature characters as well as computer or console games using the name and the rules.
Hasbro isn't stupid. They know that they've got a damn good buy with WotC, so they aren't going to upset that cart. What they might do is use some of its might to consolidate loose ends for what it does control. For example, the Star Wars RPG is a West End Game product. Their dire straits make new product impossible, so that licence is up in the air. You'd better believe that Hasbro would assist WotC in acquiring that licence. (TSR has Diablo, Starcraft, and Warcraft already; this is not impossible.) The same could occur with regard to the L5R RPG; the next edition could become a D&D setting, if Hasbro so desires.
Whatever happens, this will be very interesting and very important for the tabletop gaming world.
It's been a good run, but all things must end. Let the show die a quiet, dignified death. There's still plenty of good entertainment out there, and plenty of good parodies of that entertainment. Seek it out and give them your time and business. Oh, and circulate the tapes. There's nothing wrong with that.