A former employer of mine, Computer Science Corporation, did pretty much that.
IF you attended the Christmas party, you received your Christmas bonus: a canned ham.
On the upside, they did offer door prizes of a big screen TV, DVD players and a few other electronic goodies. Oh, yeah, for some reason the only winners were the managers, the relatives of the sub-contractor manager and the lady that organized the event. Talk about rigged.
That actually sounds very similar to my beliefs. I guess I fall into that UU category. I was ordained by the Universal Life Church as a minister years and years ago. I don't preach publicly, but I do talk to whomever is interested.
The only difficulty I have with any religious label is the same difficulty I have with our society in general over the past 20 years. People feel that everything must have a name. I used to have depression; now I have manic-depressive, bipolar disorder. My wife doesn't drive angry she has "road rage." Kids aren't undisciplined they have ADD and ADHD. I call BS.
The axioms you mention I'd call spirituality (knowing one's own self), but again that's just putting a label on something that already existed before it had a name.
My own path of belief is rather silly when I step back and look at it, but the beliefs still hold true. I've been told my beliefs compare to Buddhism, but I haven't bother to research that further. Regardless, just trying to be a decent person and accepting others non-judgmentally is a great basis for a good life and peace in general.
It was rather sad to read that article and some of these comments and have my parents come to mind: "Christian intolerance" describes them quite well. Their version of Christianity only includes white, Anglo Saxon, republican heterosexuals. They'll probably have a freak session when they discover that our nicest neighbors (about the only people in our neighborhood we care to associate with) are a male homosexual couple. I can imagine them saying "You can't raise our granddaughters next to someone like THAT!"
In layman's terms, I can download a CD of data (680Mb) in 10 minutes or less. My downloads *really* depend upon the site/server at the other end now and the routers in between. Fastest I've seen is 680Mb in 4 minutes; slowest at about 20 minutes. Firefox downloader has reported about 3200-3500kb/s (not sure if I have the units rights of kilobytes or kilobits).
Apparently not though my knee jerk reaction is "Yes, you are."
I find it rather odd and slightly humorous how hot and cold people are when you discuss cable vs. satellite vs. fiber. It's nearly as heated as a political discussion. Some had bad experiences with this vendor so they'll never deal with them again; others had the completely opposite with the same vendor.
I left cable TV (Comcast) about 12 years ago for DirecTV. Quality was better, service was much better, price was cheaper and customer service was stellar. I vowed to never give Comcast another penny. Then @home came along with internet cable. Change to AT&T@home then Comcast ended up with it. GRRRRrrrr! Service degraded, prices went up and customer service was severely lacking, but it was the fastest connection possible at that time.
In December 2005 FiOS internet finally arrived in my neighborhood. I jumped immediately. My installation experience was better than the article author's. It was fairly quick and quite painless. In one step I tripled my bandwidth and slightly lowered my bill. I have yet to ever lose connectivity or have a complaint about it.
March 2006 and FiOS TV became available. We'd been so pleased with our internet service we immediately signed up. I called DirecTV to cancel and received the same reaction as this author: "You've been a customer for so long." Yeah, but FiOS is THAT much better. Same channels, better picture, no lost signal, HD included, HD DVR included, similar customer service and cheaper. It just can't be beat.
I truly enjoy the HD, especially hockey and football games, but the DVR and VOD have been miraculous. I can play WoW for hours and still catch my favorite shows sans commercials. Best of both worlds.
According to the "how the survey was conducted link," only IT director and higher were considered. Then it was based upon responses that considered themselves knowledgeable of the vendors. Granted there probably are some IT executives out there that do know what's going on with vendors, but in my 22 years in IT, I have yet to meet one.
IT execs have their skills and their place; in every job I've been in, their job is to make decisions based upon what their underlings provide to them or recommend. The only dealings with a vendor an exec might have is a free lunch, free goodies or approval of a very expensive deal.
Any of the past executives I've dealt with would have responded to this survey based upon what fliers, catalogs or magazines were on their desk.
CDW #1?!?! Get real. That invalidates the whole thing right there.
how they treat employees is a conclusion being drawn far more from conjecture than any real-world experience.
I live in Dallas and I had several friends who lived in Austin and worked at Origin Systems. A portion of my hatred of EA comes from their experience when EA acquired Origin. They were given the choice of move to CA or find a new job. Those I spoke to who chose to move informed me that their pay was not increased enough to compensate for the cost of living difference from TX to CA. From what I gathered, they moved because they had no other choice or they hoped that they would be able to promote out of their current position quickly and get back to the level of living they'd known.
The main reason I despise EA is because of the Ultima and Ultima Online games that were produced after the acquisition of Origin. Ultima IX was pushed out the door unfinished to catch the holiday season. It barely worked. It finally was stable when the patch was released the next February. Then at least you could finish. It wasn't a great game in execution, but it at least finished the story of the Ultima series.
UO was flat out ruined. Inviting Todd McFarlane (sp?) to design artwork and characters for the game twisted it to a very mechanical and gothic theme. Then due to the larger majority of players being Asian, the theme was turned towards samurai and ninja. Basically, EA catered to whomever they felt were their mainstream audience and completely lost the essence of the game's world.
I do have one question about your departure from EA. You mention that you spend the same amount of time working and that you were not exploited by EA. My question is what is the difference in what you are working on? From what I've read and heard, my suspicion is that you were doing quite a bit of re-writing and debugging of code that was not "yours" due to project changes and employee departures at EA. I am guessing that now you are working on your own code and seeing that move forward daily instead of being rehashed and "fixed" constantly. Please, help me understand your working conditions.
For years gamers have known that EA was on the decline. Like a bad sequel to a movie, they just kept pumping out the same crap with new bells and whistles; no real development or innovation in sight.
Now that a business analyst looks at it, we see evidence that EA is rotten to the core, not just bruised on the surface. They're apparently doing everything wrong, game-wise, development-wise and business-wise. The only thing they seem to do correctly is take over, assimilate and ruin a game studio in just such a manner as to manipulate the market share and keep their piece of pie the same size.
I'll never forgive EA for how it has ruined numerous studios (Origin was my favorite), several (former) employees' lives and the games that we loved to play.
...in May EA told investors that it was "prioritizing game quality higher than making that date,"
Something familiar about those words....
Oh, yeah. That has been Blizzard's policy for a decade now. "It's done when it's done." Go figure that it only took EA 10 years to adopt the one practice they should have been doing from the beginning.
Too little, too late. I feel extremely sorry for all of the lives it would affect, but I seriously hope EA bites the big one, goes down the toilet and either gets bought by a REAL game company or is taken apart and sold for scrap.
All excellent points, and I agree with you to some extent.
I'm getting a laugh how so many of these replies point back at me and state "if you get emotionally attached..." I guess I was too general. When I first played UO (my first MMO), I did get upset about getting killed by a player. The idea that another player would kill me for no reason at all never occurred to me. I had the (naive) ideal that we'd all play the game cooperatively. That was nine years ago. Death, loss, defeat do not bother me any more than "Ok, I learned this, so next time I'll try this." Heck play a paladin or a priest in WoW and you get used to dieing.;-)
I wouldn't try to draw parallels between online worlds and the real world. It is obvious that the anonymity of the internet in general and MMO's especially bring out a different persona in some people. What I suggest that if the intent is there, then those similar intentions may reveal themselves IRL. I've often been called a "paladin" IRL by my friends. It's just my nature. I help where I see it needed, I have an optimistic view that people are generally good (or can be) and witnessing any unkind acts disappoint me. (So yes, I'm often disappointed by people.)
I do like the PvP implementation in WoW, so much so that I started characters on a PvP realm to play with friends. I have yet to get them to the point of facing "foes" in the open world, but I've already felt the frustration (player interference with quests) that some elements of the PvP consent realms offer. I doubt I'll play them much more.
Online worlds offered the chance for global communities to get together, form friendships and generally brighten everyone's day by trouncing virtual evils. Unfortunately, online worlds have turned into a global social experiment where we see examples of the worst behavior that humans can offer. Sure it's a game, no one gets hurt and when you turn it off, it's gone. But those memories that are created linger and good or bad, they'll have an affect on you and those around you.
This sounds very familiar. We did something quite similar in UO. We built a town and defended it not only from the monsters but from players who would come attack our town and our "citizens."
Defending attackers is definitely within my realm of "justice;" corpse camping, however, I feel is dishonorable, but it is a game mechanic and a way to deter future attacks (maybe).
Back to my theme of "why PvP at all?" Do you enjoy watching the alarm channel? Isn't there something more enjoyable that you'd rather be doing? Why are the actions of the griefers allowed to control what players do? I'd rather not spend my time reacting to a griefer or have my game altered or interrupted because a player feels it is entertaining to watch me struggle or worse, when I do kill them, they simply come back because to them killing or being killed is the sum of the game.
It seems many choose to destroy. Its interesting so few choose to build.
Indeed. Though it is prejudiced and stereotyping, it is typically the immature male (pre-teen, teenager, young adult) that follows this path of destruction. I think it stems from the fact that they have yet to have to struggle to create something or build something worthwhile and they have no concept of what value a creation holds or how precious time is.
Re-read my post. I do play on a normal server. I never flag. I don't duel.
I was suggesting that because Warhammer is so PvP centric, it's not going to survive long because of the typical actions of the majority of PvPers I've ever encountered in all the different MMO's I've played or tested.
As tm2b stated, even removing the PvP factor, their are still griefers. Regardless of how many mechanical, technical or logical safeguards are within the game, the griefers will find some way to ruin the game for someone if not everyone. I'm simply predicting that these griefers will ruin Warhammer before it has a chance to prove itself.
What if the next time you fight Rag in WOW he doesn't react the same way he always does, and instead starts trying different strategies of fights
Here's another point where I misunderstand players stating "the AI is predictable."
Just last night my guild took down Rag. It took four tries.
The previous week we took him down on the first try even without using fire protection potions because we doubted we would kill him on the first attempt.
The week before we failed to take him down in three attempts.
Obviously player skill and character equipment are the biggest difference factors. Assume that we had the same people on the same characters with the same gear (which is quite close to reality). Even though Rag basically makes the same attacks, those attacks, his reactions and many other factors of the combat are very unpredictable, and from what I witnessed last night, comprised of a good deal of luck. (AoE knockback attack direction, frequency and resistance.)
I completely understand predictable monsters. I remember in UO when you could pull a monster to a rock and stand on the other side of the rock, untouched, while you skilled up your archery. I do not see any such predictability in the mobs in WoW. The monsters have an array of attacks and the random attack generator (or AI response program) causes every fight to be somewhat different. There are enough variables that mathematically no fight with higher level, complex mobs would ever be the same. Yes, fighting a pig with only one attack would be the same again and again, but what happens if another pig nearby reacts and starts fighting or a new one spawns near you?
Granted I've only played WoW since beta and I only have seven characters above 40 including two 60's. I have yet to see BWL, AQ40 or Naxx. Perhaps when I've "seen it all" like the uber, epiced 24x7 players, I might notice those AI patterns occurring more often.;-)
I see that you have major issues and that you applied a number of your issues to what you read within what I wrote.
It's these sort of extremist attitudes about games and the inability to discuss differences intelligently and calmly that end up providing poor images for gaming in general.
Since you made many assumptions and personally attacked me and my opinions, I'll return the favor.
Please, take your Ritalin, go back to school and let the adults talk.
It took me a long time just to get past "I hate dieing.":-) WoW minimized that greatly, and PvP death in WoW is one of the best I've seen implemented.
This is what truly bothers me about PvP. I should not have to alter my gameplay just because someone feels like interfering with me. This is a game that I play (and pay) for a limited time some days to enjoy not be fouled up by someone else. For constant interference in my projects and goals, I can always go back to work.
In your example, what if your only objective, something that you must complete before you could continue, was being blocked by a group of the highest level, toughest players on the server and no one was available to come help you? What alternative do you have but to quit? Why should another player have that control over me?
Those aren't reasons; those are validations that I hear from the PvPers. It still comes down to "I like to ruin someone else's day."
You either enjoy the challenge and the dynamics of it, or you cry about the big bad bullies who are obviously deranged serial killers in real life.
Spoken like a hardcore PKer that disconnects the people behind the characters. I think quite the opposite of the PKers I've encountered. (Again, not to be confused with PvPers.) PKers are people who enjoy seeing others suffer in a game because they have no control of their real life. PKing is an outlet where they are the ones in charge, not their boss or their mother.
PvPers I respect when it is consensual. I see and respect players wanting to go head to head with another willing opponent. I still do not understand it though. Either a player "wins" by getting money, gear or some reward and others "lose," or it was just a big waste of time.
How can you not naturally extend this into fighting them?
By being human and using my higher brain functions to negotiate that fighting over virtual property is not worth causing real emotions.
The same people who complain about how the big bad PKer killed them without consent is the same person who would act like an asshat if they knew there were no consequences.
I strongly disagree. The anonymity is what I feel causes PKers to run rampant. Meeting a small portion of the UO community in real life, it was very apparent that PKs were hiding their identity and the general populace disliked the behavior that PKs demonstrated.
I can be completely anonymous in WoW. I could create a character, act nice, join my guild and then start robbing people blind, treat them like crap and get that character kicked out. Then immediately go back to my "good" character and act like nothing ever happened. I do not do that because it is not in my nature to act like an asshat. Anyone that does act that way does have something antisocial within themselves and they believe MMO's are a good place to let them out.
The problems in most PvP systems that are notoriously bad usually boils down to some facet of the implementation or the game mechanics.
Again I disagree. Just because there is a brick missing in a wall is no reason for someone to walk up with a hammer and start chipping away until the whole thing collapses. Just because I have an opportunity to steal a lady's purse (as I had today at lunch) does not mean I'll do it. There is nothing making anyone do anything except their own initiative. People in general, but PKs especially, choose to be asshats.
This does sound intriguing and a slight improvement on the MMO... if you like PvP.
I suffered through the first three years of UO with rampant player killing (not consenual PvP).
I quit DAoC not only because it quickly became a tedious grind but also because the heart of the content dealt with RvR play.
I've beta tested numerous MMOG's, but I completely avoided Guild Wars because it sounds similar to WAR - all PvP all the time.
I play characters on normal and PvP realms in WoW. I see the same stereotypical actions on both types of realms - people kill other players because they can and because they like being jerks.
I have yet to hear a valid reason of why people like PvP: "Challenge of a human opponent," "Unpredictable," "Fair chance," or "Dispense justice" are the most frequent comments I hear from PvPers (not to be confused with PKers). To me it always boils down to "ruin someone else's day." Regardless of how balanced the playing field, someone has to lose and I've only come across a handful of good losers in computer gaming in my lifetime. Where there are sore losers, there is revenge, and it sounds like WAR will allow hundreds of sore losers to gang up and exact their revenge on the handful of champions who (probably) rightfully earned that position.
It comes down to a balance system which has yet to be properly implemented in any game (though I feel WoW is the best so far). I expect that within a month all the realms of WAR will be 'pwned' by the thousands of immature, social outcast PKers who thrive on ruining someone's day, the PvPers wanting to dispense justice will get tired of beating their heads against the wall and players really wanting to play a game will go back to a more controlled environment.
If WAR can make their visions come true, I'd really like to see it because I know all other MMO's will learn from it. I just doubt that it can be done.
I understand DLP TVs are not considered wall hanging capable, but other than that, they are very comparable to LCD and Plasma. I spent a year researching all three technologies before choosing a DLP set. I'm still very pleased with my purchase.
DLP isn't as sharp as LCD, but I definitely enjoy my HD hockey games seeing the puck fly at full speed across a scratched ice surface as players get into a fight and I can see the stitching around their numbers. My DLP is generation one, too. I'd love to upgrade to a gen 3. I can't imagine how much sharper it could get.
DLP doesn't fade as plasma does after 2-3 years of use.
DLP doesn't have dead pixels (though this has decreased dramatically over the past two years).
DLP definitely has no lighting issues. We have two skylights in our living room where the TV is used. Even during high noon, the picture is still bright and clear. I think it's 10,000 lumens is plenty to compensate. Often when there's a blank white screen, we have to squint or turn away because it's so bright.:-)
The only complaint I hear/read about DLP is the price of the bulb. I've had my set since April of 2004, so I guess I'm getting close to a replacement soon. Since that is the only maintenance I have (no recharging, no re-alignment), I'm pretty happy with spending $400 every three years for a maintenance cost.
My only complaint is that because it is projector technology, I have to wait a few seconds before the picture comes up and you cannot simply turn the screen off and back on due to cool down.
LCD projection is the only comparable technology I've seen that could pull me away from DLP.
I use LCD panels for my computer, but from everything I've read, there is quite a difference between a LCD monitor and a LCD TV. Plasma and LCD still are not an attractive choice for me as a TV.
Get/upgrade your PC and you'll have the best of both worlds.
You'll be able to play emulators of all the console games you currently have, plus emulations of older console and arcade games (as long as you own them to be legal), and you'll be able to keep up with current games including MMORPGs where you can play and socialize with hundreds of people including those of your age group if you so choose.
With a PC and the right (ergonomic) devices, you'll be able to keep playing as long as you have the desire to do so.
A fine endorsement of A&A, and I thank you for the link. I've added it to my extensive Ren Faire bookmark collection.
There are some things about Daniel that I disagree with, but I do not doubt the original works from his smithy. I do know that he is harsh on his apprentices and employees. I see that often enough in any business where the owner/manager wants to make sure that only those people who really want to be there will suffer through the worst of times.
As for A&A, I'll likely try one of there blades when I'm in the mood for a replica. I have trouble immediately accepting them when I see a quote from Oakshott who also endorses Museum Replica and their crap. I only collect replicas (like the Lord of the Rings swords) for wall mounting. When I want to wear something at the faire, I prefer something original and different from others' blades, and that is exactly what I bought from Angel Sword. My sword and dagger are completely unique. I know only one other sword exists that is even similar to mine (different blade finish and hardware), and I know that my dagger is a one of a kind.
Most of what you mention are "growing pains" as the population increased exponentially and there wasn't enough infrastructure (food, transportation, dwelling) to keep up with it and all those that had the power to change things didn't because they were sitting comfortably.
What's ironic is that as science made discoveries to allow us to live healthy lives and live longer, that in turn caused more problems related to more growth and expansion.
Granted there have been numerous improvements thanks to what science discovered. I disagree with the medicine, however. I wouldn't trust a modern day doctor to treat me for anything. Surgery is a different matter, but for everyday illnesses and ailments I've witnessed and used homeopathic and holistic treatments that date well before Medieval times, but most people forget that, too.
All I can say is that the scientists should get out more. Daniel Watson of www.angelsword.com has been making "technowootz" swords for years. Angel Sword visits numerous large Renaissance Faires around the country. I own two blades of his, and I can assure you, they're the strongest material I'll likely ever see in my lifetime.
I think the only news here is that "scientists apply the term 'nanotubes' to an ancient process that was rediscovered several decades ago."
I got a kick out of Daniel as I asked about the no-breakage/replacement guarantee.
Me: So if Bubba Redneck ticks me off, I hack into his truck's engine block and the blade breaks, you'll replace it?
Daniel: I doubt it would break, but if it does, yeah, we'll replace it.
I guess it's comforting that science and the media confirms something we Ren Faire geeks have known for years: ancient science is better, and modern science is only rediscovering what has been lost.
You're thinking of mnemonics, so no, this is not how the memory wizards do it.
I think (or would hope) that everyone uses these cognitive thinking methods whether they know it or not. I immediately recognize that I use all of the techniques he mentioned, but I didn't know there were formal names for it. I simply call it "putting it into context." If you can picture or associate something with something else, then you have a much higher chance that triggering any of those memories will fire off the entire context of the memory allowing you to look around the memory in more detail as if you were back within that context.
What really freaks me out sometimes is picking up an old object: a toy I passed to my kids, a stack of old birthday cards or a trophy from twenty years ago. Just touching one thing can bring back a flood of memories I thought I'd forgotten, but they come back full force and get reinforced.
Mnemonics is associating symbols/icons/pictures with something else you want to remember. I've seen this done various ways, but I have yet to setup my own association "world." One memory wiz I met used the buildings he knew by heart on his daily commute (twenty or more). He'd associate something with one of those buildings and follow his drive to recall them, backwards or forwards.
Another method was very similar but more limited as I saw it. You would basically take a number list of items and create a picture of that item referencing the number. For example: 1. tree, 2. shoes, 3. plate, 4. table.
Picture the tree with a trunk shaped like the number one, or simply the fact that it's a tall straight tree, the trunk already looks like a 1.
There are typically a pair of shoes, so there's 2.
Picture a triangular plate. Triangle has three sides, so there's 3.
A table has four legs.
This is usable if you just need to memorize a list of items, like a grocery list. I find the other "drive thru" technique to be more applicable to nearly any situation.
As for computer memory... whenever we can develop neural nets that use biological "chips" similar to our brain cells, then yes, I think these same techniques could be applied.
The only reference I have for cross addiction is to suggest that you visit a local Alcoholics Anonymous meeting and notice how many people are smoking, chugging down quarts of coffee or chewing gum like crazy.
My hat is off to them for breaking a destructive addiction, but it is obvious the addictive personality is still there and being dealt with (or not) constantly.
Everybody knows that success in EQ/WoW/Whatever means maxing out every stat you can - it it weren't people wouldn't spend so much time playing.
For the Achiever type of player, you are correct: it's all about reaching goals and being the best.
For the other archetype players, it is very different.
Player killers play to ruin someone else's day. Player vs. player (quite different, but still grouped as one type) seek the competition that another human offers. This could be competition in anything: chess, tennis, speedreading, etc. The sport just happens to be pixelated gladiators in a virtual world.
For Explorers it's about what they can discover and see. These are the type that will leave a game the quickest because once they've covered the ground, they really have seen it all. I think everyone has a bit of explorer in them. I was so impressed the first time I saw the sun set over the ocean in WoW. You could almost search the world the whole time doing nothing but looking for such views and enjoying the artists' work.
For Socializers, as long as there are people, there is something to do. It doesn't matter where you go or what you do just as long as there is someone to talk to and share the experience with.
I recognize that a majority of players have some or all of these traits and very few are exclusive to any one type.
Regardless the only reason I've every concluded why we all play these games is to create memories. What do you gain from watching a movie or TV show or reading a book or articles for two hours? You might learn something new and you'll create some memories of your experience. On that level, there is very little difference between traditional forms of entertainment and MMO's.
I disagree that "gaming machine" = console, but I do agree that there is a small niche of gamers willing to pay THAT kind of money for an uber gaming system.
PC's have been my gaming machines since 1984. I'm considering buying a new machine for Christmas, but I don't plan on spending more than $1300. I'd be curious to see Alienware's change in sales since Dell's acquisition or how this acquisition of VoodooPC might affect HP's numbers.
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IF you attended the Christmas party, you received your Christmas bonus: a canned ham.
On the upside, they did offer door prizes of a big screen TV, DVD players and a few other electronic goodies. Oh, yeah, for some reason the only winners were the managers, the relatives of the sub-contractor manager and the lady that organized the event. Talk about rigged.
The only difficulty I have with any religious label is the same difficulty I have with our society in general over the past 20 years. People feel that everything must have a name. I used to have depression; now I have manic-depressive, bipolar disorder. My wife doesn't drive angry she has "road rage." Kids aren't undisciplined they have ADD and ADHD. I call BS.
The axioms you mention I'd call spirituality (knowing one's own self), but again that's just putting a label on something that already existed before it had a name.
My own path of belief is rather silly when I step back and look at it, but the beliefs still hold true. I've been told my beliefs compare to Buddhism, but I haven't bother to research that further. Regardless, just trying to be a decent person and accepting others non-judgmentally is a great basis for a good life and peace in general.
It was rather sad to read that article and some of these comments and have my parents come to mind: "Christian intolerance" describes them quite well. Their version of Christianity only includes white, Anglo Saxon, republican heterosexuals. They'll probably have a freak session when they discover that our nicest neighbors (about the only people in our neighborhood we care to associate with) are a male homosexual couple. I can imagine them saying "You can't raise our granddaughters next to someone like THAT!"
In layman's terms, I can download a CD of data (680Mb) in 10 minutes or less. My downloads *really* depend upon the site/server at the other end now and the routers in between. Fastest I've seen is 680Mb in 4 minutes; slowest at about 20 minutes. Firefox downloader has reported about 3200-3500kb/s (not sure if I have the units rights of kilobytes or kilobits).
I find it rather odd and slightly humorous how hot and cold people are when you discuss cable vs. satellite vs. fiber. It's nearly as heated as a political discussion. Some had bad experiences with this vendor so they'll never deal with them again; others had the completely opposite with the same vendor.
I left cable TV (Comcast) about 12 years ago for DirecTV. Quality was better, service was much better, price was cheaper and customer service was stellar. I vowed to never give Comcast another penny. Then @home came along with internet cable. Change to AT&T@home then Comcast ended up with it. GRRRRrrrr! Service degraded, prices went up and customer service was severely lacking, but it was the fastest connection possible at that time.
In December 2005 FiOS internet finally arrived in my neighborhood. I jumped immediately. My installation experience was better than the article author's. It was fairly quick and quite painless. In one step I tripled my bandwidth and slightly lowered my bill. I have yet to ever lose connectivity or have a complaint about it.
March 2006 and FiOS TV became available. We'd been so pleased with our internet service we immediately signed up. I called DirecTV to cancel and received the same reaction as this author: "You've been a customer for so long." Yeah, but FiOS is THAT much better. Same channels, better picture, no lost signal, HD included, HD DVR included, similar customer service and cheaper. It just can't be beat.
I truly enjoy the HD, especially hockey and football games, but the DVR and VOD have been miraculous. I can play WoW for hours and still catch my favorite shows sans commercials. Best of both worlds.
According to the "how the survey was conducted link," only IT director and higher were considered. Then it was based upon responses that considered themselves knowledgeable of the vendors. Granted there probably are some IT executives out there that do know what's going on with vendors, but in my 22 years in IT, I have yet to meet one.
IT execs have their skills and their place; in every job I've been in, their job is to make decisions based upon what their underlings provide to them or recommend. The only dealings with a vendor an exec might have is a free lunch, free goodies or approval of a very expensive deal.
Any of the past executives I've dealt with would have responded to this survey based upon what fliers, catalogs or magazines were on their desk.
CDW #1?!?! Get real. That invalidates the whole thing right there.
I live in Dallas and I had several friends who lived in Austin and worked at Origin Systems. A portion of my hatred of EA comes from their experience when EA acquired Origin. They were given the choice of move to CA or find a new job. Those I spoke to who chose to move informed me that their pay was not increased enough to compensate for the cost of living difference from TX to CA. From what I gathered, they moved because they had no other choice or they hoped that they would be able to promote out of their current position quickly and get back to the level of living they'd known.
The main reason I despise EA is because of the Ultima and Ultima Online games that were produced after the acquisition of Origin. Ultima IX was pushed out the door unfinished to catch the holiday season. It barely worked. It finally was stable when the patch was released the next February. Then at least you could finish. It wasn't a great game in execution, but it at least finished the story of the Ultima series.
UO was flat out ruined. Inviting Todd McFarlane (sp?) to design artwork and characters for the game twisted it to a very mechanical and gothic theme. Then due to the larger majority of players being Asian, the theme was turned towards samurai and ninja. Basically, EA catered to whomever they felt were their mainstream audience and completely lost the essence of the game's world.
I do have one question about your departure from EA. You mention that you spend the same amount of time working and that you were not exploited by EA. My question is what is the difference in what you are working on? From what I've read and heard, my suspicion is that you were doing quite a bit of re-writing and debugging of code that was not "yours" due to project changes and employee departures at EA. I am guessing that now you are working on your own code and seeing that move forward daily instead of being rehashed and "fixed" constantly. Please, help me understand your working conditions.
Now that a business analyst looks at it, we see evidence that EA is rotten to the core, not just bruised on the surface. They're apparently doing everything wrong, game-wise, development-wise and business-wise. The only thing they seem to do correctly is take over, assimilate and ruin a game studio in just such a manner as to manipulate the market share and keep their piece of pie the same size.
I'll never forgive EA for how it has ruined numerous studios (Origin was my favorite), several (former) employees' lives and the games that we loved to play.
Something familiar about those words....Oh, yeah. That has been Blizzard's policy for a decade now. "It's done when it's done." Go figure that it only took EA 10 years to adopt the one practice they should have been doing from the beginning.
Too little, too late. I feel extremely sorry for all of the lives it would affect, but I seriously hope EA bites the big one, goes down the toilet and either gets bought by a REAL game company or is taken apart and sold for scrap.
I'm getting a laugh how so many of these replies point back at me and state "if you get emotionally attached..." I guess I was too general. When I first played UO (my first MMO), I did get upset about getting killed by a player. The idea that another player would kill me for no reason at all never occurred to me. I had the (naive) ideal that we'd all play the game cooperatively. That was nine years ago. Death, loss, defeat do not bother me any more than "Ok, I learned this, so next time I'll try this." Heck play a paladin or a priest in WoW and you get used to dieing.
I wouldn't try to draw parallels between online worlds and the real world. It is obvious that the anonymity of the internet in general and MMO's especially bring out a different persona in some people. What I suggest that if the intent is there, then those similar intentions may reveal themselves IRL. I've often been called a "paladin" IRL by my friends. It's just my nature. I help where I see it needed, I have an optimistic view that people are generally good (or can be) and witnessing any unkind acts disappoint me. (So yes, I'm often disappointed by people.)
I do like the PvP implementation in WoW, so much so that I started characters on a PvP realm to play with friends. I have yet to get them to the point of facing "foes" in the open world, but I've already felt the frustration (player interference with quests) that some elements of the PvP consent realms offer. I doubt I'll play them much more.
Online worlds offered the chance for global communities to get together, form friendships and generally brighten everyone's day by trouncing virtual evils. Unfortunately, online worlds have turned into a global social experiment where we see examples of the worst behavior that humans can offer. Sure it's a game, no one gets hurt and when you turn it off, it's gone. But those memories that are created linger and good or bad, they'll have an affect on you and those around you.
Defending attackers is definitely within my realm of "justice;" corpse camping, however, I feel is dishonorable, but it is a game mechanic and a way to deter future attacks (maybe).
Back to my theme of "why PvP at all?" Do you enjoy watching the alarm channel? Isn't there something more enjoyable that you'd rather be doing? Why are the actions of the griefers allowed to control what players do? I'd rather not spend my time reacting to a griefer or have my game altered or interrupted because a player feels it is entertaining to watch me struggle or worse, when I do kill them, they simply come back because to them killing or being killed is the sum of the game.
Indeed. Though it is prejudiced and stereotyping, it is typically the immature male (pre-teen, teenager, young adult) that follows this path of destruction. I think it stems from the fact that they have yet to have to struggle to create something or build something worthwhile and they have no concept of what value a creation holds or how precious time is.I was suggesting that because Warhammer is so PvP centric, it's not going to survive long because of the typical actions of the majority of PvPers I've ever encountered in all the different MMO's I've played or tested.
As tm2b stated, even removing the PvP factor, their are still griefers. Regardless of how many mechanical, technical or logical safeguards are within the game, the griefers will find some way to ruin the game for someone if not everyone. I'm simply predicting that these griefers will ruin Warhammer before it has a chance to prove itself.
Just last night my guild took down Rag. It took four tries.
The previous week we took him down on the first try even without using fire protection potions because we doubted we would kill him on the first attempt.
The week before we failed to take him down in three attempts.
Obviously player skill and character equipment are the biggest difference factors. Assume that we had the same people on the same characters with the same gear (which is quite close to reality). Even though Rag basically makes the same attacks, those attacks, his reactions and many other factors of the combat are very unpredictable, and from what I witnessed last night, comprised of a good deal of luck. (AoE knockback attack direction, frequency and resistance.)
I completely understand predictable monsters. I remember in UO when you could pull a monster to a rock and stand on the other side of the rock, untouched, while you skilled up your archery. I do not see any such predictability in the mobs in WoW. The monsters have an array of attacks and the random attack generator (or AI response program) causes every fight to be somewhat different. There are enough variables that mathematically no fight with higher level, complex mobs would ever be the same. Yes, fighting a pig with only one attack would be the same again and again, but what happens if another pig nearby reacts and starts fighting or a new one spawns near you?
Granted I've only played WoW since beta and I only have seven characters above 40 including two 60's. I have yet to see BWL, AQ40 or Naxx. Perhaps when I've "seen it all" like the uber, epiced 24x7 players, I might notice those AI patterns occurring more often. ;-)
I see that you have major issues and that you applied a number of your issues to what you read within what I wrote.
It's these sort of extremist attitudes about games and the inability to discuss differences intelligently and calmly that end up providing poor images for gaming in general.
Since you made many assumptions and personally attacked me and my opinions, I'll return the favor.
Please, take your Ritalin, go back to school and let the adults talk.
This is what truly bothers me about PvP. I should not have to alter my gameplay just because someone feels like interfering with me. This is a game that I play (and pay) for a limited time some days to enjoy not be fouled up by someone else. For constant interference in my projects and goals, I can always go back to work.
In your example, what if your only objective, something that you must complete before you could continue, was being blocked by a group of the highest level, toughest players on the server and no one was available to come help you? What alternative do you have but to quit? Why should another player have that control over me?
Those aren't reasons; those are validations that I hear from the PvPers. It still comes down to "I like to ruin someone else's day."
Spoken like a hardcore PKer that disconnects the people behind the characters. I think quite the opposite of the PKers I've encountered. (Again, not to be confused with PvPers.) PKers are people who enjoy seeing others suffer in a game because they have no control of their real life. PKing is an outlet where they are the ones in charge, not their boss or their mother.
PvPers I respect when it is consensual. I see and respect players wanting to go head to head with another willing opponent. I still do not understand it though. Either a player "wins" by getting money, gear or some reward and others "lose," or it was just a big waste of time.
By being human and using my higher brain functions to negotiate that fighting over virtual property is not worth causing real emotions.
I strongly disagree. The anonymity is what I feel causes PKers to run rampant. Meeting a small portion of the UO community in real life, it was very apparent that PKs were hiding their identity and the general populace disliked the behavior that PKs demonstrated.
I can be completely anonymous in WoW. I could create a character, act nice, join my guild and then start robbing people blind, treat them like crap and get that character kicked out. Then immediately go back to my "good" character and act like nothing ever happened. I do not do that because it is not in my nature to act like an asshat. Anyone that does act that way does have something antisocial within themselves and they believe MMO's are a good place to let them out.
Again I disagree. Just because there is a brick missing in a wall is no reason for someone to walk up with a hammer and start chipping away until the whole thing collapses. Just because I have an opportunity to steal a lady's purse (as I had today at lunch) does not mean I'll do it. There is nothing making anyone do anything except their own initiative. People in general, but PKs especially, choose to be asshats.
I suffered through the first three years of UO with rampant player killing (not consenual PvP).
I quit DAoC not only because it quickly became a tedious grind but also because the heart of the content dealt with RvR play.
I've beta tested numerous MMOG's, but I completely avoided Guild Wars because it sounds similar to WAR - all PvP all the time.
I play characters on normal and PvP realms in WoW. I see the same stereotypical actions on both types of realms - people kill other players because they can and because they like being jerks.
I have yet to hear a valid reason of why people like PvP: "Challenge of a human opponent," "Unpredictable," "Fair chance," or "Dispense justice" are the most frequent comments I hear from PvPers (not to be confused with PKers). To me it always boils down to "ruin someone else's day." Regardless of how balanced the playing field, someone has to lose and I've only come across a handful of good losers in computer gaming in my lifetime. Where there are sore losers, there is revenge, and it sounds like WAR will allow hundreds of sore losers to gang up and exact their revenge on the handful of champions who (probably) rightfully earned that position.
It comes down to a balance system which has yet to be properly implemented in any game (though I feel WoW is the best so far). I expect that within a month all the realms of WAR will be 'pwned' by the thousands of immature, social outcast PKers who thrive on ruining someone's day, the PvPers wanting to dispense justice will get tired of beating their heads against the wall and players really wanting to play a game will go back to a more controlled environment.
If WAR can make their visions come true, I'd really like to see it because I know all other MMO's will learn from it. I just doubt that it can be done.
I understand DLP TVs are not considered wall hanging capable, but other than that, they are very comparable to LCD and Plasma. I spent a year researching all three technologies before choosing a DLP set. I'm still very pleased with my purchase.
DLP isn't as sharp as LCD, but I definitely enjoy my HD hockey games seeing the puck fly at full speed across a scratched ice surface as players get into a fight and I can see the stitching around their numbers. My DLP is generation one, too. I'd love to upgrade to a gen 3. I can't imagine how much sharper it could get.
DLP doesn't fade as plasma does after 2-3 years of use.
DLP doesn't have dead pixels (though this has decreased dramatically over the past two years).
DLP definitely has no lighting issues. We have two skylights in our living room where the TV is used. Even during high noon, the picture is still bright and clear. I think it's 10,000 lumens is plenty to compensate. Often when there's a blank white screen, we have to squint or turn away because it's so bright. :-)
The only complaint I hear/read about DLP is the price of the bulb. I've had my set since April of 2004, so I guess I'm getting close to a replacement soon. Since that is the only maintenance I have (no recharging, no re-alignment), I'm pretty happy with spending $400 every three years for a maintenance cost.
My only complaint is that because it is projector technology, I have to wait a few seconds before the picture comes up and you cannot simply turn the screen off and back on due to cool down.
LCD projection is the only comparable technology I've seen that could pull me away from DLP.
I use LCD panels for my computer, but from everything I've read, there is quite a difference between a LCD monitor and a LCD TV. Plasma and LCD still are not an attractive choice for me as a TV.
You'll be able to play emulators of all the console games you currently have, plus emulations of older console and arcade games (as long as you own them to be legal), and you'll be able to keep up with current games including MMORPGs where you can play and socialize with hundreds of people including those of your age group if you so choose.
With a PC and the right (ergonomic) devices, you'll be able to keep playing as long as you have the desire to do so.
There are some things about Daniel that I disagree with, but I do not doubt the original works from his smithy. I do know that he is harsh on his apprentices and employees. I see that often enough in any business where the owner/manager wants to make sure that only those people who really want to be there will suffer through the worst of times.
As for A&A, I'll likely try one of there blades when I'm in the mood for a replica. I have trouble immediately accepting them when I see a quote from Oakshott who also endorses Museum Replica and their crap. I only collect replicas (like the Lord of the Rings swords) for wall mounting. When I want to wear something at the faire, I prefer something original and different from others' blades, and that is exactly what I bought from Angel Sword. My sword and dagger are completely unique. I know only one other sword exists that is even similar to mine (different blade finish and hardware), and I know that my dagger is a one of a kind.
What's ironic is that as science made discoveries to allow us to live healthy lives and live longer, that in turn caused more problems related to more growth and expansion.
Granted there have been numerous improvements thanks to what science discovered. I disagree with the medicine, however. I wouldn't trust a modern day doctor to treat me for anything. Surgery is a different matter, but for everyday illnesses and ailments I've witnessed and used homeopathic and holistic treatments that date well before Medieval times, but most people forget that, too.
I think the only news here is that "scientists apply the term 'nanotubes' to an ancient process that was rediscovered several decades ago."
I got a kick out of Daniel as I asked about the no-breakage/replacement guarantee.
Me: So if Bubba Redneck ticks me off, I hack into his truck's engine block and the blade breaks, you'll replace it?
Daniel: I doubt it would break, but if it does, yeah, we'll replace it.
I guess it's comforting that science and the media confirms something we Ren Faire geeks have known for years: ancient science is better, and modern science is only rediscovering what has been lost.
I'd basically give up gaming all together if EA owned everything.
I think (or would hope) that everyone uses these cognitive thinking methods whether they know it or not. I immediately recognize that I use all of the techniques he mentioned, but I didn't know there were formal names for it. I simply call it "putting it into context." If you can picture or associate something with something else, then you have a much higher chance that triggering any of those memories will fire off the entire context of the memory allowing you to look around the memory in more detail as if you were back within that context.
What really freaks me out sometimes is picking up an old object: a toy I passed to my kids, a stack of old birthday cards or a trophy from twenty years ago. Just touching one thing can bring back a flood of memories I thought I'd forgotten, but they come back full force and get reinforced.
Mnemonics is associating symbols/icons/pictures with something else you want to remember. I've seen this done various ways, but I have yet to setup my own association "world." One memory wiz I met used the buildings he knew by heart on his daily commute (twenty or more). He'd associate something with one of those buildings and follow his drive to recall them, backwards or forwards.
Another method was very similar but more limited as I saw it. You would basically take a number list of items and create a picture of that item referencing the number. For example: 1. tree, 2. shoes, 3. plate, 4. table.
Picture the tree with a trunk shaped like the number one, or simply the fact that it's a tall straight tree, the trunk already looks like a 1.
There are typically a pair of shoes, so there's 2.
Picture a triangular plate. Triangle has three sides, so there's 3.
A table has four legs.
This is usable if you just need to memorize a list of items, like a grocery list. I find the other "drive thru" technique to be more applicable to nearly any situation.
As for computer memory... whenever we can develop neural nets that use biological "chips" similar to our brain cells, then yes, I think these same techniques could be applied.
My hat is off to them for breaking a destructive addiction, but it is obvious the addictive personality is still there and being dealt with (or not) constantly.
For the Achiever type of player, you are correct: it's all about reaching goals and being the best.
For the other archetype players, it is very different.
Player killers play to ruin someone else's day. Player vs. player (quite different, but still grouped as one type) seek the competition that another human offers. This could be competition in anything: chess, tennis, speedreading, etc. The sport just happens to be pixelated gladiators in a virtual world.
For Explorers it's about what they can discover and see. These are the type that will leave a game the quickest because once they've covered the ground, they really have seen it all. I think everyone has a bit of explorer in them. I was so impressed the first time I saw the sun set over the ocean in WoW. You could almost search the world the whole time doing nothing but looking for such views and enjoying the artists' work.
For Socializers, as long as there are people, there is something to do. It doesn't matter where you go or what you do just as long as there is someone to talk to and share the experience with.
I recognize that a majority of players have some or all of these traits and very few are exclusive to any one type.
Regardless the only reason I've every concluded why we all play these games is to create memories. What do you gain from watching a movie or TV show or reading a book or articles for two hours? You might learn something new and you'll create some memories of your experience. On that level, there is very little difference between traditional forms of entertainment and MMO's.
PC's have been my gaming machines since 1984. I'm considering buying a new machine for Christmas, but I don't plan on spending more than $1300. I'd be curious to see Alienware's change in sales since Dell's acquisition or how this acquisition of VoodooPC might affect HP's numbers.