Much more importantly as we see in the Star Wars prequels, making an entirely CGI environment often results in extremely forced and wooden performances from actors
You've never acted, have you? One of the first things you learn in performance art is how to act without props, stage settings, or other actors It's just you, an empty stage, some lighting, and the audience. A CGI film is you, a green screen, sightlines, some lighting, and the film crew. They're practically analogous. Any "wooden" performance is not the fault of CGI. It's the fault of either the actor or (more likely) the director..
OH NOES!!! George Lucas added a couple Dewbacks to Star Wars! DEWBACKS!!!
Seriously. The special editions came out 14 years ago. There are guys who are raped in prison who get over the trauma faster. Stop acting all butt-hurt and move on already.
First, IBM showed that a modern corporation could defeat a chess grandmaster, now they are taking on Jeopardy (which should actually be easier)
Hardly. Chess is a "solvable" problem. For every possible board position, there is an "optimal" move to make. The problem is only a matter of computational complexity. It's not feasible for a computer to "brute force" chess, so some predictive nuance is required. Trivia is a far more complex problem. Not only is the problem and solution set much larger, there's the issue of deriving the context from natural languages.
In this case, since human language and logic are inherently fuzzy, the computer will be at a disadvantage in many cases.
Which is exactly why this could be a fascinating experiment. The computer won't be simply pulling data from a database, but it will need to make inferences based on context.
I'd say a fair wage is being paid for the value of what you produce. so if all I produce is crap, I get paid commensurately.
We agree here. Under this argument, good teachers would make six figures, and junk bond traders would have to resort to panhandling.
how about you say either someone should be compensated commensurate with the value of what they produce as governed by the market
There's one small problem with this argument. Under this system, the value of unskilled labor will tend to zero. You can always find someone willing to do it for less - especially when quality of service no longer matters.
Right.. but it's still "insurance". It shouldn't cost an insurance company "more" to cover someone with a pre-existing condition, because they are continually signing on members who are in good health.
I'd love to see you bring that idea up at your next local "Tea Party" meeting. Who will then pay for your medical bills when a hundred bitter seniors beat you with their homemade signs for taking away their Medicare?
Well then, I guess the "insurance" my employer provides "isn't insurance" either. As the premiums for a 21 year old non-smoker are the same as a 55 year old with emphysema.
Should the "mediocre" be deprived of earning a fair living? Not everyone wants to be an entrepreneur. Most simply want an honest wage and benefits for an honest day's work.
That we involve victims in sentencing hearings is abominable, as is that we enforce arbitrary minimum sentencing regulations.
That's just silly - as well as contradictory. If you don't want "mandatory minimums", you obviously need to leave some level of sentencing discretion up to the judge. In these cases, a Judge must weigh both the mitigating as well as the aggravating facts in the case.
...or it's about a 17 year old who strips in front of her webcam, or a 15 year old who sexts a topless picture to her boyfriend, or someone who has a naked picture... of Bart Simpson.
We can agree that the "abuse" of children must be fought with all available means, including long prison sentences. But we must also agree that there is a point where this crusade to "protect the children" goes quite a bit too far.
One question, do you seriously not think that anyone watching child porn is a paedophile?.
It is not necessary that someone watching "child porn" is a pedophile. "Pedophilia", in the medical sense, refers to the sexual attraction to "a pre-pubescent child. By law, any sexual image of a child under the age of 18 is considered "child pornography". There's nothing psychologically wrong with sexual attraction to, say, a 16 year old. Their bodies are fully developed (i.e. they're capable of having children). The problem with this is purely social and legal.
And now 50 Hordies and 50 Allys have to compete for mobs and quest items, and a few of us have figured out the best way to get ahead is to kill the guys on the other side. So much hilarity ensues.
Yup. That's the reason I'm only 40% of the way to lv81 after four hours of playing last night. It was a bloodbath:) Adding the 3rd dimension to PvP made it a totally new game. On my warlock, I made it a point to single out the Rogues. Call it karmic retribution.
Mob spawns appear to be scaling seamlessly. I went to Vashj'ir immediately after the release. Horde and Alliance were everywhere. But I didn't have to wait for any mob spawns. When I went after the first mini-boss for a quest, you could see her respawn immediately after someone had killed her. None of the killing or gathering quests were any more difficult than when I'm questing in an empty zone.
Imagine the additional cost in supporting this tiered model as well. I can see, every month, thousands of phone calls by angry customers saying "I only played 10 1/2 hours this month. Why am I being billed at the 11-20 hour tier?".
It is a balancing act. Blizzard has to balance the needs of the hardcore players with the casual players. If all items were gained through gold, the advantage would be with the players who could dedicate the most time to the game. Gold generation is a function of time spent playing. With the points/badge system, this problem is obviated. When Frost Badges were the end-game currency, there was a finite/em number of badges any player could get per week. The disparity between badges generated between casual and hard-core players is narrowed.
You mean for everybody who can organize a team or who can tolerate being in a group of douchebags.
The "MM" in MMORPG implies you're going to be interacting with a large group of people. If you are a social misfit without rudimentary interpersonal skills, then this game is not for you. You don't need to be good at "organizing a team". But you do need to know how to be a "team player". If you want to avoid douchebags, simply find a guild with players who match the goals you have for the game. Be advised, however, that raiding, even casually, requires communication and teamwork. If you can't do this, then you probably want to avoid raiding.
A lot of people can't do either, quickly reach the end of what can be done in the solo game, and get completely frustrated with the difficulty of actually playing the group content.
Why do you need to 'quickly' reach the end game? I know people who have played for over a year without reaching end-game content. They're getting their money's worth just by slowly leveling a bunch of alts. Now if you're saying "I don't enjoy solo content, and I don't enjoy group content", why continue playing?? Cancel your subscription and pick up Call of Duty.
My god! You're right. The fact that lobbyists spent more money on the 2010 election than any other election in history had absolutely no influence on elections. Just like the financial services industry didn't write the Bankruptcy reform legislation in 2005, and the private corrections industry doesn't push the States for longer sentences just to lift their bottom line. No, Mr. sumdumass, you're right. You hold just as much political power as the CEO of Phillip Morris.
And if I may offer you some friendly advice: smoking crack can still get you a decade in prison, so I suggest you get some help for that.
Slashdot Mirror
You've never acted, have you? One of the first things you learn in performance art is how to act without props, stage settings, or other actors It's just you, an empty stage, some lighting, and the audience. A CGI film is you, a green screen, sightlines, some lighting, and the film crew. They're practically analogous. Any "wooden" performance is not the fault of CGI. It's the fault of either the actor or (more likely) the director..
OH NOES!!! George Lucas added a couple Dewbacks to Star Wars! DEWBACKS!!! Seriously. The special editions came out 14 years ago. There are guys who are raped in prison who get over the trauma faster. Stop acting all butt-hurt and move on already.
Hardly. Chess is a "solvable" problem. For every possible board position, there is an "optimal" move to make. The problem is only a matter of computational complexity. It's not feasible for a computer to "brute force" chess, so some predictive nuance is required. Trivia is a far more complex problem. Not only is the problem and solution set much larger, there's the issue of deriving the context from natural languages.
Don't call me "Watson". The name's "Turd Ferguson".
Human Jeopardy players seldom do this. :)
Which is exactly why this could be a fascinating experiment. The computer won't be simply pulling data from a database, but it will need to make inferences based on context.
We agree here. Under this argument, good teachers would make six figures, and junk bond traders would have to resort to panhandling.
There's one small problem with this argument. Under this system, the value of unskilled labor will tend to zero. You can always find someone willing to do it for less - especially when quality of service no longer matters.
Right.. but it's still "insurance". It shouldn't cost an insurance company "more" to cover someone with a pre-existing condition, because they are continually signing on members who are in good health.
I'd love to see you bring that idea up at your next local "Tea Party" meeting. Who will then pay for your medical bills when a hundred bitter seniors beat you with their homemade signs for taking away their Medicare?
Well then, I guess the "insurance" my employer provides "isn't insurance" either. As the premiums for a 21 year old non-smoker are the same as a 55 year old with emphysema.
Should the "mediocre" be deprived of earning a fair living? Not everyone wants to be an entrepreneur. Most simply want an honest wage and benefits for an honest day's work.
You can tell that to Paul F. Little (a.k.a. Max Hardcore) when he gets out of federal prison next year.
You left out the possibility of your keys not existing in the first place.
That we involve victims in sentencing hearings is abominable, as is that we enforce arbitrary minimum sentencing regulations.
That's just silly - as well as contradictory. If you don't want "mandatory minimums", you obviously need to leave some level of sentencing discretion up to the judge. In these cases, a Judge must weigh both the mitigating as well as the aggravating facts in the case.
Nope. Murder of a Federal employee carries a different set of punishments.
Nope. This is Federal Prison. With good behavior, her sentence will not be reduced by more than 15%
We can agree that the "abuse" of children must be fought with all available means, including long prison sentences. But we must also agree that there is a point where this crusade to "protect the children" goes quite a bit too far.
It is not necessary that someone watching "child porn" is a pedophile. "Pedophilia", in the medical sense, refers to the sexual attraction to "a pre-pubescent child. By law, any sexual image of a child under the age of 18 is considered "child pornography". There's nothing psychologically wrong with sexual attraction to, say, a 16 year old. Their bodies are fully developed (i.e. they're capable of having children). The problem with this is purely social and legal.
Yup. That's the reason I'm only 40% of the way to lv81 after four hours of playing last night. It was a bloodbath:) Adding the 3rd dimension to PvP made it a totally new game. On my warlock, I made it a point to single out the Rogues. Call it karmic retribution.
Mob spawns appear to be scaling seamlessly. I went to Vashj'ir immediately after the release. Horde and Alliance were everywhere. But I didn't have to wait for any mob spawns. When I went after the first mini-boss for a quest, you could see her respawn immediately after someone had killed her. None of the killing or gathering quests were any more difficult than when I'm questing in an empty zone.
Imagine the additional cost in supporting this tiered model as well. I can see, every month, thousands of phone calls by angry customers saying "I only played 10 1/2 hours this month. Why am I being billed at the 11-20 hour tier?".
It is a balancing act. Blizzard has to balance the needs of the hardcore players with the casual players. If all items were gained through gold, the advantage would be with the players who could dedicate the most time to the game. Gold generation is a function of time spent playing. With the points/badge system, this problem is obviated. When Frost Badges were the end-game currency, there was a finite/em number of badges any player could get per week. The disparity between badges generated between casual and hard-core players is narrowed.
You mean for everybody who can organize a team or who can tolerate being in a group of douchebags.
The "MM" in MMORPG implies you're going to be interacting with a large group of people. If you are a social misfit without rudimentary interpersonal skills, then this game is not for you. You don't need to be good at "organizing a team". But you do need to know how to be a "team player". If you want to avoid douchebags, simply find a guild with players who match the goals you have for the game. Be advised, however, that raiding, even casually, requires communication and teamwork. If you can't do this, then you probably want to avoid raiding.
A lot of people can't do either, quickly reach the end of what can be done in the solo game, and get completely frustrated with the difficulty of actually playing the group content.
Why do you need to 'quickly' reach the end game? I know people who have played for over a year without reaching end-game content. They're getting their money's worth just by slowly leveling a bunch of alts. Now if you're saying "I don't enjoy solo content, and I don't enjoy group content", why continue playing?? Cancel your subscription and pick up Call of Duty.
You say that like it's a bad thing. ;)
My god! You're right. The fact that lobbyists spent more money on the 2010 election than any other election in history had absolutely no influence on elections. Just like the financial services industry didn't write the Bankruptcy reform legislation in 2005, and the private corrections industry doesn't push the States for longer sentences just to lift their bottom line. No, Mr. sumdumass, you're right. You hold just as much political power as the CEO of Phillip Morris.
And if I may offer you some friendly advice: smoking crack can still get you a decade in prison, so I suggest you get some help for that.