The mistake was choosing a fully fleshed out time period in the SW universe. It basically handcuffed the story away from any real galaxy changing events. Many people will naturally want to be a Jedi, why choose a time period where the star wars kidies can't live out their fantasies? I agree though, the character flexibility was amazing in SWG. Some people scoff "why would anybody want to be a dancer," but I had a few friends who found the social aspect of dancing/music to be much more fun than Baz Nitch camping.
If only it could be as good as Star Wars: Galaxies...
Star Wars Galaxies was the last big name MMO title to actually be innovative (compared to other graphical MMOs). Unfortunately a buggy release, and poor appeal to mainstream MMO players limited it's numbers. Ultimately it was destroyed when it was dumbed down to be a clone of every other MMO on the market. I hope they at least follow SWG and bring back roleplaying to MMORPG
Actually, I was just thinking the same thing for the opposite reason. MMOs have a watered down grinding gameplay, they can't match the depth and complexity of a single player RPG.
Actually it's a little of both. Single player MMO play is horrible, they have stories and gameplay about as complex as what you'd find on an Atari 2600. "Raid" co-op type gameplay is very complex, in depth, and more interesting; though not necessarily more fun, depends greatly on implementation.
How can you have a good 'teenage kid discovers he's the chosen one and saves the universe' story, when there are thousands of protagonists?
Why does everybody need to be "the chosen one"? Han Solo had a pretty interesting time, characters who weren't Frodo had important roles in LOTR. So long as each character has a unique and interesting heroic path their stories can make them compelling heroes. In fact you don't even need to be a hero, there was a large fanbase for SWG because it was a good sandbox game. Roleplaying doesn't necessarily mean playing a hero, just look at all the people who roleplay in forums without stats and numbers. Good roleplaying can just take the form of adopting a different character from yourself, just look at all the folks at the renaissance festival, sometimes it's fun being random serf #214.
MMOs are popular, not because they're better than single player RPGs, but because they have a good gimmick. To the hardcore fan, the single player, turn based, often tactical CRPG is obviously superior.
MMOs are popular because of their communities. For many it's socializing online, with a neat little goal for you and your friends to work towards.
What if I get a GPS implanted in my body? Does the 5th Amendment protect me then?
Nope, they can force you to produce any evidence other than your admission of guilt (offer not valid in Cuba). Breathalyzer, blood tests, DNA, implanted GPS data.
Wouldn't a great way to spread democracy in Cuba, be to try to get the fastest, highest speed internet to their citizens, so they can hear about all the terrible deeds of their government?
We (the US) have some grand proclamation (I forget the name) that states "There will be no communists in our hemisphere. Stupid yuppies, get of our lawn and take your damn governmental ideas with you." That's a direct quote, I think.
No they (the Cuban exile population) is rabidly against Castro and the communist government of Cuba. We (the rest of the US) think, "Meh."
Innovation is 90% efficiency solar panels or 100 MPG cars or even the company that invented the hardware that makes multitouch work, something that doesn't exist, not utilizing things that are already available.
90% efficiency solar panels and 100MPG cars are not innovation, as you point out though the technologies to get there might be.
Because they offer viewpoints that are not shared by male counterparts. It's not that you want women, but you want a diverse set of skills and backgrounds.
Why is there not so strong a push to get more male nurses and primary school teachers? Or even publishing?
There are for male nurses given that patients are getting larger and with pay increasing it is attracting more males. K-12 is more about baby sitting which has traditionally been a female role based on biology. There's plenty of men in adult teaching.
Seems to me to be a much better way to do things - if a business pays $100,000 for business equipment, I'm all for them being able to claim the entire $100,000 amount as an expense in one year (decreasing their net income), rather than forcing them to spread the expense out over 5 or 7 tax years.
The 5 to 7 year spread is closer to what actually is happening on the balance sheet. The equipment is an asset and depreciates rather than exist on the books as a one time expense.
No private company should ever receive special tax breaks or subsidies for any reason. Instead, just lower business taxes so everyone has a chance to profit equally.
Some businesses/industries are preferable to the population even when they are not the most economically advantageous. For example society would benefit more from a renewable energy company, even though it is not as economically efficient as a coal power company.
My cell phone company uses an offshore support center. Recently, I spent 50 minutes trying to get two simple questions answered about my calling plan. The rep would "put me on hold while my issue was researched".
You realize cellphones are affordable in part because costs have been reduced in the manufacture and support through the use of outsourcing. And how is spending 50 min on hold with somebody in India any different than spending 50 min on hold with somebody in Arkansas.
Some people think that offshoring will just raise the level of jobs we have here, and make more room for higher-level salaries. BULL! Where is the evidence?
Outsourcing has gone on for over 100 years and the lower costs of foreign made products has contributed to an ever increasing standard of living in the US.
Darn it! Companies that made their fortunes on US ingenuity turn their backs on the US for a quick buck, and we continue to allow it to happen. It makes me sick and enough is enough. We are stupid, especially in the face of growing trade deficits, to send good jobs somewhere else.
People made the same argument with the development of mass production (use of unskilled labor) and automation (replace people with machines). The fact is the economy can't grow without putting people out of work. Some level of labor needs to be freed up so they can contribute to new opportunities.
That said, what is important is an even playing field. Things like pegging the yuan to the dollar prevents the self correcting systems from working.
These people made an effort to better themselves by putting down some serious cash. They deserve better.
How would you propose this gets fixed? You can't just expect a job to be handed to you because you put effort to learn a skill. Look at all those actors in Hollywood who have jobs that aren't acting related.
Because the creationism/"ID" movement is simply a cover for teaching Christian religious doctrine in public schools as some sort of valid alternative to science, it is unconstitutional and not acceptable.
Why does ID have to be religious in nature. All that needs to be covered is that rather than natural selection the life forms gained their characteristic through the design of an intelligence. Doesn't have to be "God" it could be an alien civilization from another universe. I'm sure that's what the Christians had in mind;)
It's the Judicial branch's purpose to interpret law.
That power was not explicitly given in the Constitution and didn't exist before Marbury v Madison. It was a power grab through interpretation similar to what the executive branch has tried to pull off.
And your second link is an example of the Judiciary doing just that, not the Legislature.
The second example was the first case where the commerce clause essentially gave complete power to the federal government to regulate states. The commerce clause is one of the most abused powers in the Constitution.
All branches of the government have made plays to expand their powers, not just the executive branch.
Americans thing they are right with things being popular everywhere else, but they wrong about that.
Then why is Coca-Cola the 2nd most recognized word in the world, a McDonald's found in over 100 countries, and Baywatch got viewed by 1.1 Billion people a week.... didn't say it was the good stuff that was popular everywhere else.
As the telecoms... if you REALLY believe that the major law firms the telecoms employ didn't realize that wiretapping their customers with NO warrants or court appointed oversight... in essence, illegally listening in on private conversations... wasn't legal that's your business. However, at $500 an hour and some of the best legal teams out there (Skadden Arps, I'm looking in your direction) I find that INCREDIBLY hard to believe.
Why is it hard to believe? There's no clear case law and you can piece together previous decisions to create an argument that it was legal. Combine that with a secret government organization that is demanding immediate compliance and will not let the subject be discussed publicly, it's easy to see how telcoms would cave in such a coercive environment. Essentially the companies were put in a no-win, deal with criminal charges now, or deal with them later; and given the nature of the situation, there's no guarantees that the former case would be public. Just imagine - The Justice department has suspended the license and frozen company X's accounts. The reason why cannot be revealed for national security reasons. That would easily destroy a corporation.
Besides, why are people so angry at the telcoms, go after the real people responsible.
Hey, I have a quote from another frother that you might like! "Those who would sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither."
You do realize that once those frothers got into power idealism went out the window and they actually had to deal with putting together a real working government. For example the guy who created the framework of the US constitution also signed into law the liberty restraining Alien & Sedition acts.
You forgot a bit "Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed."
As for: "But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security."
The election process can take care of it, unfortunately the people ignore their 'duty' and just watch TV.
Perhaps its time to change 'the way it is'. We did it once before.
Before you decide to change it, you better have a damn good idea what you will change it to. And expect a few failures and conflicts (often bloody) along the way. It's easy to get people to buy into 'the way it is' than getting them to buy into any person's idea of 'the way it should be.' Just look at Iraq as an example.
Slashdot Mirror
Let's just hope they don't launch a week after "Squiggy" keeps one of the beta servers crashed for a week.
The mistake was choosing a fully fleshed out time period in the SW universe. It basically handcuffed the story away from any real galaxy changing events.
Many people will naturally want to be a Jedi, why choose a time period where the star wars kidies can't live out their fantasies?
I agree though, the character flexibility was amazing in SWG. Some people scoff "why would anybody want to be a dancer," but I had a few friends who found the social aspect of dancing/music to be much more fun than Baz Nitch camping.
Star Wars Galaxies was the last big name MMO title to actually be innovative (compared to other graphical MMOs).
Unfortunately a buggy release, and poor appeal to mainstream MMO players limited it's numbers. Ultimately it was destroyed when it was dumbed down to be a clone of every other MMO on the market.
I hope they at least follow SWG and bring back roleplaying to MMORPG
Actually it's a little of both.
Single player MMO play is horrible, they have stories and gameplay about as complex as what you'd find on an Atari 2600.
"Raid" co-op type gameplay is very complex, in depth, and more interesting; though not necessarily more fun, depends greatly on implementation.
Why does everybody need to be "the chosen one"? Han Solo had a pretty interesting time, characters who weren't Frodo had important roles in LOTR. So long as each character has a unique and interesting heroic path their stories can make them compelling heroes.
In fact you don't even need to be a hero, there was a large fanbase for SWG because it was a good sandbox game. Roleplaying doesn't necessarily mean playing a hero, just look at all the people who roleplay in forums without stats and numbers. Good roleplaying can just take the form of adopting a different character from yourself, just look at all the folks at the renaissance festival, sometimes it's fun being random serf #214.
MMOs are popular because of their communities. For many it's socializing online, with a neat little goal for you and your friends to work towards.
Nope, they can force you to produce any evidence other than your admission of guilt (offer not valid in Cuba). Breathalyzer, blood tests, DNA, implanted GPS data.
Who says it will reach the citizens?
Exactly! Put a McDonald's in Havana and let nature take its course, just like what we did to the Soviet Union.
At the very least the overweight people will start to bankrupt their government run health care system.
No they (the Cuban exile population) is rabidly against Castro and the communist government of Cuba.
We (the rest of the US) think, "Meh."
Who do you think the politicians will listen to?
90% efficiency solar panels and 100MPG cars are not innovation, as you point out though the technologies to get there might be.
Fish=Christianity
Spaghetti=string theory
I'm not installing a new system until time and angle measurments get upgraded to base 10.
Because they offer viewpoints that are not shared by male counterparts. It's not that you want women, but you want a diverse set of skills and backgrounds.
There are for male nurses given that patients are getting larger and with pay increasing it is attracting more males. K-12 is more about baby sitting which has traditionally been a female role based on biology. There's plenty of men in adult teaching.
The 5 to 7 year spread is closer to what actually is happening on the balance sheet. The equipment is an asset and depreciates rather than exist on the books as a one time expense.
Some businesses/industries are preferable to the population even when they are not the most economically advantageous. For example society would benefit more from a renewable energy company, even though it is not as economically efficient as a coal power company.
You realize cellphones are affordable in part because costs have been reduced in the manufacture and support through the use of outsourcing. And how is spending 50 min on hold with somebody in India any different than spending 50 min on hold with somebody in Arkansas.
Outsourcing has gone on for over 100 years and the lower costs of foreign made products has contributed to an ever increasing standard of living in the US.
People made the same argument with the development of mass production (use of unskilled labor) and automation (replace people with machines). The fact is the economy can't grow without putting people out of work. Some level of labor needs to be freed up so they can contribute to new opportunities.
That said, what is important is an even playing field. Things like pegging the yuan to the dollar prevents the self correcting systems from working.
How would you propose this gets fixed?
You can't just expect a job to be handed to you because you put effort to learn a skill. Look at all those actors in Hollywood who have jobs that aren't acting related.
Hey that's the American Dream, turn boobs into cash :D
Why does ID have to be religious in nature. All that needs to be covered is that rather than natural selection the life forms gained their characteristic through the design of an intelligence. Doesn't have to be "God" it could be an alien civilization from another universe. I'm sure that's what the Christians had in mind ;)
But it isn't exclusivity of property, it is exclusivity of distributing reproductions which is closer to counterfeiting.
That power was not explicitly given in the Constitution and didn't exist before Marbury v Madison. It was a power grab through interpretation similar to what the executive branch has tried to pull off.
The second example was the first case where the commerce clause essentially gave complete power to the federal government to regulate states. The commerce clause is one of the most abused powers in the Constitution.
All branches of the government have made plays to expand their powers, not just the executive branch.
Then why is Coca-Cola the 2nd most recognized word in the world, a McDonald's found in over 100 countries, and Baywatch got viewed by 1.1 Billion people a week.... didn't say it was the good stuff that was popular everywhere else.
Why is it hard to believe? There's no clear case law and you can piece together previous decisions to create an argument that it was legal. Combine that with a secret government organization that is demanding immediate compliance and will not let the subject be discussed publicly, it's easy to see how telcoms would cave in such a coercive environment. Essentially the companies were put in a no-win, deal with criminal charges now, or deal with them later; and given the nature of the situation, there's no guarantees that the former case would be public.
Just imagine - The Justice department has suspended the license and frozen company X's accounts. The reason why cannot be revealed for national security reasons.
That would easily destroy a corporation.
Besides, why are people so angry at the telcoms, go after the real people responsible.
You do realize that once those frothers got into power idealism went out the window and they actually had to deal with putting together a real working government. For example the guy who created the framework of the US constitution also signed into law the liberty restraining Alien & Sedition acts.
You forgot a bit
"Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed."
As for:
"But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security."
The election process can take care of it, unfortunately the people ignore their 'duty' and just watch TV.
Before you decide to change it, you better have a damn good idea what you will change it to. And expect a few failures and conflicts (often bloody) along the way. It's easy to get people to buy into 'the way it is' than getting them to buy into any person's idea of 'the way it should be.'
Just look at Iraq as an example.
I can build a robot to place a plastic bag over your head and eventually the problem would just goes away.