The thing that hits casual gamers most is the "can't catch up" syndrome. Especially if their friends are higher level. Some games are starting to mitigate that, CoH has sidekicking and mentoring, EQ2 has mentoring. Various games give XP bonuses when you haven't played for a while.
I think the biggest issue is that game developers turn their games into time-sinks. Obviously, as you get higher level and the sheer time it takes to level up increases, the casual player gets left out. If everybody could level in 1-3 hours, for every level, developers would still get months of playing time out of players. By that time, they'll probably have a social group and they'll be logging on as much to chat with them as to do any real gaming. Throw some crafting of some sort in there, and some high-end content (both massive raid and just really tough for a group), and you've got a game. The reality is that most people that play a game to level are going to start over with a new character when they're done. If you get 'em hooked with good gameplay, and limit the time-sinkyness, they'll keep playing.
When you say "cost of a good character" you're thinking only of money - not the countless hours to get there.
But the fact that the game isn't entertaining enough for everybody to play through the levels shows another problem with MMORPGs. Obviously, if the game were fun all through the leveling, and there weren't hours of tedious xp'ing required to level, everybody that wanted to play the game just would. It takes two...the people with more money than time, and the developers who spent more time putting in long timesinks to keep people hooked, instead of making for fun gameplay.
For approximately the cost of a good character, you can rent a character? So essentially, you're guaranteed to be losing money. I guess if you've got the $450 start up cash, plus $130...
But wait... What about the game software? Surely there's another $50+ dollars there (for the game, plus whatever expansions have to be enabled to play it). You're looking at around $500 to try a game.
Man, I wish I had that much spare cash...
Exploiting game bugs in an in-game fashion is grey at best, but at least all players would have equal access to said bugs until fixed.
That only holds up if everybody is out looking for bugs, or scouring the intraweb for the latest l337 h4xx0rz!. If someone, particularly a new player, wants to log on and play a game for a while they shouldn't need a mindset that causes them to check up on all the grey-area exploits out there. Getting wtfpwn3d because you didn't realize that if you jump on a grenade you can warp out of the map and score endless kills if sort of a downer.
The "hey, I'm just exploring new parts of the map that I have to glitch to get into explanation." Except that there's nothing stopping you from setting up your own game to play around with people of a like mind-set WITHOUT running roughshod over some other players.
But first you'd need to educate them on the importance of a secure password. If some would-be theif sees "ap2523ril" typed in after the login name, chances are they'll guess "april" and get it right. If all the characters are giberish looking, it becomes a lot tougher.
But then, like the old joke about outrunning the bear, maybe it's just important that your data is slightly tougher than someone elses to get at.
The downside is that a lot of companies won't give your CV a second glance without that magic piece of paper that says you graduated. Or at least it seems to be harder and harder to get your foot in the door without it.
If they're so close that the bulk price of hard-drives makes the difference on the cost, all it'll take is a hiccup in some PCB or chip fab house to push 'em over the edge. I hope cost isn't the factor, I'd rather believe it's a marketing thing to create their own upsell opportunity.
Will this be the real end of innovation in videogames?
I didn't realize we still had innovation. I thought we had three or four basic games with improving graphics, different controls and the same generic UI. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy a lot of the games out there nowadays. But I haven't seen something real innovative in a while.
I think the big hang up with an Xbox MMORPG is that most people don't want to pay the monthly subscription from Xbox live, and then pay another fee to play a specific game on there. And then there are people that own Xboxes that aren't welcome on Xbox live (which is their own choice, I admit).
I thoroughly enjoyed Shadowrun as a RPG, and I'd like to see that turned into a MMOG. But at this point I'd take any edgy futuristic game (Cyberpunk, Warhammer 40k, even Twilight 2k). I haven't been too impressed with the sci-fi games that have been coming out. I have some hope for Auto Assault, but if that falls through a good Car Wars game is in order.
The article states that most Senators in the state don't believe it'll really be enforced. And that some of the Senators are going to vote for it just to prevent them voting against being used against them later on. So basically it's no-lose for the Senators. They don't care about the bill, because they doubt it'll really be enforced. And they get to say "I protected the childrens!" next time campaign roll around. Useless feelgood legislature at it's...finest.
Let's face it, the world isn't an ideal place. Access to all the information about how far from ideal it really is will bring anybody down. Couple that with getting to see minimum amounts of sunshine, minimum amounts of contact with people outside your field and the constant pressure of only being called on when things are broken (so no phone call you get is good news)... Then, for the heck of it, let's add the effects of seeing a company strive for globalization and realizing your job isn't real secure anyway. But, on the plus side, you rarely have time to commit suicide so you're probably live until your organs fail!
You can play Skaven in EQ2... They call 'em "Rotongas" or something like that. But they're a mysterious rodent race predisposed to spell casting that are evil only. Smells like Skaven to me.
I'm a huge fan of the Warhammer universe, both 40k and Fantasy. I hope they actually get this out there, and do it well. From a personal standpoint, I'd probably prefer a 40k based game. But Fantasy already has an official RPG ruleset out there. And seeing people yelling "4 teh 3mp3r0x0r!" as they try to shoot things with their las-cannons just seems...wrong.
Maybe I'm too cynical, but I imagine that we'll just see an even faster regurgitation of the same old stuff. I can only assume that the garbage that's being put out is selling, or it would already be gone. If you can make a profit with easy "low hanging fruit" (reskin and release!) games, why devote a bunch of time or money to something truly innovative?
The only way I can think of they could spin a $465 system is if they go for the "entertainment centerpiece" angle. People *might* be more apt to buy it if they think of it as a quality DVD player replacement + game console. Or at least I would... My DVD player is muy mal, and my wife likes the PS-style games (at least compared to what's out for Xbox), so as a total replacement it might fly.
Perhaps you need to ground yourself and remove any metal jewelry before working on things.
Sadly I've tried that. I have better luck with certain vendors than others, to the point where I would order two parts from certain no longer existant major computer companies just to be sure I got one that worked. But I guess the fact they don't really exist anymore might be a subtle hint about their quality anyway.
It stated in the Article snippet that they have 5 months of oxygen. How is that stressful?
Because the replacements parts are going to take about four months to get there. Assuming nothing happens to, oh, delay launches or otherwise ruin the whole process of getting the parts up there. Then they have to fix it, and hope it works. I don't know about your experience, but if I had a nickel for every time the first set of parts I got didn't work I'd have a lot of nickels. But at least I always had my precious air.
Ever done CAD work for hours at a time... Day after day? It got to the point where I couldn't take using a mouse without some pain. I've swapped out to trackballs, and haven't had a problem since. I'm not likely to go for the "Look out, he's got a mouse!" variety of mouse, but I'm always interested in seeing if something better comes out.
On a side note, is that because you realised how good BNL are?
Actually, yeah. Plus they put on a great show. It was far better than the "stand in front of a crowd and play your newest CD" that I expected. They did a great job playing to the crowd. It was a lotta fun.
I got hooked on it when they did some material for Barenaked Ladies concert in town. I had heard of RvB, but didn't really check it out until after the concert. I don't regret my wife's love of the band anymore.
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The thing that hits casual gamers most is the "can't catch up" syndrome. Especially if their friends are higher level. Some games are starting to mitigate that, CoH has sidekicking and mentoring, EQ2 has mentoring. Various games give XP bonuses when you haven't played for a while.
I think the biggest issue is that game developers turn their games into time-sinks. Obviously, as you get higher level and the sheer time it takes to level up increases, the casual player gets left out. If everybody could level in 1-3 hours, for every level, developers would still get months of playing time out of players. By that time, they'll probably have a social group and they'll be logging on as much to chat with them as to do any real gaming. Throw some crafting of some sort in there, and some high-end content (both massive raid and just really tough for a group), and you've got a game. The reality is that most people that play a game to level are going to start over with a new character when they're done. If you get 'em hooked with good gameplay, and limit the time-sinkyness, they'll keep playing.
When you say "cost of a good character" you're thinking only of money - not the countless hours to get there.
But the fact that the game isn't entertaining enough for everybody to play through the levels shows another problem with MMORPGs. Obviously, if the game were fun all through the leveling, and there weren't hours of tedious xp'ing required to level, everybody that wanted to play the game just would. It takes two...the people with more money than time, and the developers who spent more time putting in long timesinks to keep people hooked, instead of making for fun gameplay.
For approximately the cost of a good character, you can rent a character? So essentially, you're guaranteed to be losing money. I guess if you've got the $450 start up cash, plus $130... But wait... What about the game software? Surely there's another $50+ dollars there (for the game, plus whatever expansions have to be enabled to play it). You're looking at around $500 to try a game. Man, I wish I had that much spare cash...
Exploiting game bugs in an in-game fashion is grey at best, but at least all players would have equal access to said bugs until fixed.
That only holds up if everybody is out looking for bugs, or scouring the intraweb for the latest l337 h4xx0rz!. If someone, particularly a new player, wants to log on and play a game for a while they shouldn't need a mindset that causes them to check up on all the grey-area exploits out there. Getting wtfpwn3d because you didn't realize that if you jump on a grenade you can warp out of the map and score endless kills if sort of a downer.
The "hey, I'm just exploring new parts of the map that I have to glitch to get into explanation." Except that there's nothing stopping you from setting up your own game to play around with people of a like mind-set WITHOUT running roughshod over some other players.
Nah. They won't ban it because then the massive gold farming industry would collapse!
But first you'd need to educate them on the importance of a secure password. If some would-be theif sees "ap2523ril" typed in after the login name, chances are they'll guess "april" and get it right. If all the characters are giberish looking, it becomes a lot tougher. But then, like the old joke about outrunning the bear, maybe it's just important that your data is slightly tougher than someone elses to get at.
The downside is that a lot of companies won't give your CV a second glance without that magic piece of paper that says you graduated. Or at least it seems to be harder and harder to get your foot in the door without it.
If they're so close that the bulk price of hard-drives makes the difference on the cost, all it'll take is a hiccup in some PCB or chip fab house to push 'em over the edge. I hope cost isn't the factor, I'd rather believe it's a marketing thing to create their own upsell opportunity.
Will this be the real end of innovation in videogames?
I didn't realize we still had innovation. I thought we had three or four basic games with improving graphics, different controls and the same generic UI. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy a lot of the games out there nowadays. But I haven't seen something real innovative in a while.
I think the big hang up with an Xbox MMORPG is that most people don't want to pay the monthly subscription from Xbox live, and then pay another fee to play a specific game on there. And then there are people that own Xboxes that aren't welcome on Xbox live (which is their own choice, I admit).
I thoroughly enjoyed Shadowrun as a RPG, and I'd like to see that turned into a MMOG. But at this point I'd take any edgy futuristic game (Cyberpunk, Warhammer 40k, even Twilight 2k). I haven't been too impressed with the sci-fi games that have been coming out. I have some hope for Auto Assault, but if that falls through a good Car Wars game is in order.
Next thing you know, Disney bucks will be worth more than real money! Err...wait a minute...
While Republican work hard to restrict the rights of gays and force moral codes based on religious beliefs into laws
Take a look at where she voted on gay rights... You'll be even unhappier.
The article states that most Senators in the state don't believe it'll really be enforced. And that some of the Senators are going to vote for it just to prevent them voting against being used against them later on. So basically it's no-lose for the Senators. They don't care about the bill, because they doubt it'll really be enforced. And they get to say "I protected the childrens!" next time campaign roll around. Useless feelgood legislature at it's...finest.
Let's face it, the world isn't an ideal place. Access to all the information about how far from ideal it really is will bring anybody down. Couple that with getting to see minimum amounts of sunshine, minimum amounts of contact with people outside your field and the constant pressure of only being called on when things are broken (so no phone call you get is good news)... Then, for the heck of it, let's add the effects of seeing a company strive for globalization and realizing your job isn't real secure anyway. But, on the plus side, you rarely have time to commit suicide so you're probably live until your organs fail!
You can play Skaven in EQ2... They call 'em "Rotongas" or something like that. But they're a mysterious rodent race predisposed to spell casting that are evil only. Smells like Skaven to me.
I'm a huge fan of the Warhammer universe, both 40k and Fantasy. I hope they actually get this out there, and do it well. From a personal standpoint, I'd probably prefer a 40k based game. But Fantasy already has an official RPG ruleset out there. And seeing people yelling "4 teh 3mp3r0x0r!" as they try to shoot things with their las-cannons just seems...wrong.
Maybe I'm too cynical, but I imagine that we'll just see an even faster regurgitation of the same old stuff. I can only assume that the garbage that's being put out is selling, or it would already be gone. If you can make a profit with easy "low hanging fruit" (reskin and release!) games, why devote a bunch of time or money to something truly innovative?
The only way I can think of they could spin a $465 system is if they go for the "entertainment centerpiece" angle. People *might* be more apt to buy it if they think of it as a quality DVD player replacement + game console. Or at least I would... My DVD player is muy mal, and my wife likes the PS-style games (at least compared to what's out for Xbox), so as a total replacement it might fly.
Perhaps you need to ground yourself and remove any metal jewelry before working on things.
Sadly I've tried that. I have better luck with certain vendors than others, to the point where I would order two parts from certain no longer existant major computer companies just to be sure I got one that worked. But I guess the fact they don't really exist anymore might be a subtle hint about their quality anyway.
It stated in the Article snippet that they have 5 months of oxygen. How is that stressful?
Because the replacements parts are going to take about four months to get there. Assuming nothing happens to, oh, delay launches or otherwise ruin the whole process of getting the parts up there. Then they have to fix it, and hope it works. I don't know about your experience, but if I had a nickel for every time the first set of parts I got didn't work I'd have a lot of nickels. But at least I always had my precious air.
Ever done CAD work for hours at a time... Day after day? It got to the point where I couldn't take using a mouse without some pain. I've swapped out to trackballs, and haven't had a problem since. I'm not likely to go for the "Look out, he's got a mouse!" variety of mouse, but I'm always interested in seeing if something better comes out.
On a side note, is that because you realised how good BNL are?
Actually, yeah. Plus they put on a great show. It was far better than the "stand in front of a crowd and play your newest CD" that I expected. They did a great job playing to the crowd. It was a lotta fun.
I got hooked on it when they did some material for Barenaked Ladies concert in town. I had heard of RvB, but didn't really check it out until after the concert. I don't regret my wife's love of the band anymore.