You know, I think embryos have a chance at a soul...
but then they go to medical school, law school or join some neo-nazi group and any chance of a soul is shot out the window.
If I felt any moral implications of cloning and harvesting stem cells from embryos, I would simply comfort myself thinking "Ah, we were just saved from another politician."
They'll probably only care if they can be cloned, their "soul" transferred to the new body when they're about to die so they can keep going and enjoying their huge bank accounts.
When you apply a concept like this to anyone, you simply have to find the angle at which they will appreciate it and accept it.
At this point humankind is barely crawling in relation to our understanding of the workings of the universe. I believe that if we can get past our baby-steps of science, at some point we'll understand and be able to directly interact with what we now call science and it will become so natural to us it will be more like a religious experience.
I'm thinking towards the lines of major evolutionary leaps similar to that Star Trek:TNG episode where the exiled "criminal" was being hunted, was experiencing pain and glowing briefly until ultimately he transformed into an energy-based being able to heal and travel through space at will.
Eventually, the universe will be our playground. If we could travel in time 10,000 years forward, I doubt we'd recognize our own species. That is if we don't do something stupid and destroy ourselves.
Would you care if Jupiter's storms collided, formed an even larger, massive storm that eventually began erupting gas out of Jupiter into the solar system? This might lead to one of three possible endings:
- Jupiter splits into two smaller, planets
- Jupiter collapses and forms a second sun in our solar system
- Jupiter loses all of it's matter and disappears
You may not think even those are newsworthy, but think back to when that asteroid was heading towards Earth. It neared Jupiter, was pulled in and fell apart. I think Jupiter serves as a protector for the inner planets, and I think it may have been doing this more often and for longer than anyone can conceive.
After reading the story about that asteroid being pulled into Jupiter, I suddenly made a connection to the Roman mythos. Jupiter (Zeus) was the god in charge of protecting (and directing) all of mankind. I know the ancient Greeks and Romans were stargazers, and it makes me wonder if they were able to see events such as an asteroid being "swallowed" by Jupiter.
How many earth-destined bodies has Jupiter saved us from? We know of one that it missed; the one that ended the dinosaurs' reign. Again was this pure happenstance or was it "divine" intervention by Jupiter's course? Is it possible that our monotheistic and polytheistic religions with a prominent "Jupiter" god present are based upon the planet?
Pur conjecture, I admit, but it definitely has me appreciating the outer gas giants. If something happens to Jupiter, Earth is at much greater risk of being hit by a wandering celestial body.
Ballmer is an idiot, no doubt. I wouldn't expect him to be able to do much more in Windows than click through a powerpoint presentation someone else made for him.
We've seen many cases where Microsoft "engineers" have failed. How many times has Bill been embarassed because of a blue screen or a failed demo? Microsoft is not the smartest bunch of people in the world. They know how to get their poorly developed products bandaged so they'll keep working.
I lost faith in Symantec when their cure for a worm was worse than the worm itself (0.dir disk filling anyone?). I recently lost faith in McAfee because their startup checking program (shstat) chokes my P4 2.4Ghz to 100% CPU usage for over two minutes at every boot.
I have been slightly impressed with Microsoft's Antispyware program because it found and removed a few things that Search and Destroy and Ad-aware missed. I will not however pay for it when it becomes part of LiveCare.
Even though I'm still using XP (I'm too lazy to use Linux and don't make enough to buy a Mac), I'm at least able to use it now thanks to the/. community pointing me to AntiVir http://www.free-av.com/
I've been working with computers and networks for 22 years. Many a time I've seen a bad infestation as described in TFA. It would take about 2 hours to clear everything, and even then something is likely broken (usually IE or control panel) so badly that it won't function 100%. It is often much, much easier and faster to backup data, reimage and restore data. Besides, most of the time what's causing the infestation is all of the stupid freeware that will be immediately downloaded once the system is up and running again.
It's like trying to teach people how idiotic using AOL is. They don't want to learn and keep their computer safe and running smoothly; they want smiley icons, stock tickers and a weather monitor. I swear if someone just came up with an appliance that did all the stupid things freeware programs do, most people (read "unwashed masses") would never need a computer.
It doesn't surprise me that Ballmer doesn't know anything about fixing a computer or an OS, but ANY technical person at Microsoft would know what to do.
This definitely smacks of spin to make Microsoft appear like they're listening to the public.
In between the continents is a large vortex called The Maelstrom. I call it the Swirling Vortex of Death and feign terror whenever my ship sails dangerously close to it while traveling between continents.
So what does this prove?
Absolutely nothing unless you take into account that Blizzard has 6.5 million people brainwashed (probably 6.6 million today), it's 6/6/06 and like others, I think Cthulu and his reign of chaos may not be far behind. It just struck me as one of those strange coincidences.
Dallas was, I think, a pilot program for this. Used to be called Red Planet and was based out of a plaza that also had a multi-screen theater.
Any time I went to that plaza, I always saw lots of people at Red Planet, and several of my friends talked about it constantly. I couldn't see paying the amounts they talked about to play something I could play (Mechwarrior) on my computer. It made even less sense a few years later when LAN parties were possible.
That location went under, but it appears that there is still a Virtual World center in Plano, close to Dallas. I still have no interest in the pod mechwarrior game, but I just found a possibility to resurrect my miniature painting.:-)
Your post and two of the replies here give me an idea of how this could work.
Imagine a theme park that consists of several "worlds," each a different theme of gaming. In each of these worlds, you can experience arcade games, a few rides (physical or VR) and a VR/laser tag type arena or co-op challenge. Each part of this would be themed to match the world. Themes might include: racing, space, Medieval, WWII, animals, etc.
Add to this making the entire park an adventure. As you enter the park, you can choose to be a good guy or a bad guy. You can choose PvP or neutral. You're provided a basic belt and headgear that identifies you (good/bad; PvP/non) and the headgear allows you to see the altered world. The park itself would be decorative and colorful, but when you look through the headgear you'll also see added colors, textures, alien or castle themes, and you see the other attendees as their alternate self: alien/monster/beast or space agent/hero/fighter.
You register your character and your information is updated as you affect changes. If you're non-PvP, perhaps you earn credits by exploring. If you're PvP, you earn credits by "killing" others. (unable to attack for 15 seconds) Every few weeks there is a new park quest: explore the worlds in this sequence, scavenger hunt, kill specific species, etc. When you earn enough credits you can upgrade your equipment (+2 sword, grenade, invisibility).
On the more localized "worlds," as you enter each world, you may receive some extra equipment that attaches to your belt: gun, sword, wand, etc. You also receive your quests for that world.
The key thing about this concept to learn from the other attempts that have failed is to make the system upgradable, standardized and easy to maintain. Use basic modules that won't change often: USB, power belt. Then use upradable modules that can incorporate new technology as it becomes available: headgear (display), add-ons (gun, sword, wand, etc.). Then the real key is the software behind it. As long as everything is stored in a database, it's transportable to any new system that comes out.
Key issues of why this won't work:
- large amount of capital to startup
- identifying and implementing themes that will attract a diverse crowd yet prevent overuse of a single "world."
- PvP balance (It's a challenge in every game. How do you stop the "rez killers" from keeping one person killed constantly?)
- crowd control to keep the game fluid
- pricing model to convince people to go to this park instead of a theme park or paying for an online game
I bought my first "modern" mobile phone in January of 2004. At that time the new features were just being introduced: photo, web-surfing, instant-messaging.
I told the guy all I wanted was a phone. The lowest, simplest model still has instant messaging and web surfing, but it's a premium that costs extra, so I don't use it.
My phone is fine now, but I'm suspecting I'll have to replace it in another year or two. I'm dreading that experience because I know I'll be paying for features I neither want nor will use. I just want a freaking phone!
I agree with the comparison to a PDA, and I'll take it one step further from a techie/power point of view.
I've played and worked with computers for (OMG, I'm old) 24 years now. I've often seen and believed that computers were designed to do one or a few specific jobs. No machine can do everything yet that is exactly what these phones and phone companies are trying to make consumers believe.
I dislike laptops. They are not powerful enough for me and therefore cannot become my core system where I store and do everything. I see them as temporary solutions for when you must travel. You can do some things, but not everything. As you get smaller, you sacrifice more functionality for more portability: palm computers, PDAs and mobile phones. I also disgree with game consoles trying to emulate computer functions: surfing, e-mail, networked games.
Computers can do anything and everything these smaller devices are trying to do. They do it better, they do it faster and generally they do it cheaper. I think the market is really missing the mark here. Instead of trying to make other machines to emulate computer functions in a more limited way, why not give us a remote interface to our computers so we can do anything from anywhere ala Star Trek comm badges and LCARS. "Computer... call work, tell them I'll be late, order a pizza and log onto my WoW account and check my auctions."
-- a sort of gaming Olympics that now draws players from 67 nations. Professional South Korean gamers can earn more than $100,000 a year in domestic and international competitions.
Sounds like they're all eager to get on that gameshow and improve their financial status.
It may sound cruel, but this also sounds like natural selection. If a human is too stupid to allow survival instincts to override addiction, then they probably deserve to be removed from the gene pool.
I'm addicted to WoW, I'll admit. I'll play whenever I'm not busy doing something else, but I know when to get up from the machine, eat, shower, go to work, go exercise and spend time with my family. I honestly feel I'm in better balance than some of the other players I know.
It's all about moderation. While I wouldn't mind regulation of these games to force moderation, I'd prefer we let the abusers die off. We've already had too many government programs saving people that are too stupid to survive on their own. Survival of the fittest, IMO.
I played for 7.5 years starting in October 1997. I'm not sure how or why I stayed that long. When Samurai Empire came out, I quit "playing" and numbly continued "maintenance" of my account. When WoW came out, I sold my account for a pittance of what it would have been worth in UO's prime. I was grateful to be rid of the addiction.
I had disagreements from the start that UO was not similar enough to the Ultima series. This was rationalized by the multi-split world. In essence, Ultima prime, the Sosaria where all the series occured, was intact and not directly affected by the muliple shards that comprised UO.
The developers strayed further and further from the core history as time went on. I'm probably one of the top ten Ultima/Britannia/Lord British fans in the world, but what EA did to UO was too much for me.
To date, of the few hundred people I knew who played UO, I only know of four continuing to play. I have no clue of who is playing now.
Neither of which are games which I would consider playing, nor do I consider them successful in concept, delivery or number of players (Just judging by their websites and reactions of people I knew who tried them; I've never played either one because they hold no interest for me.)
Did they do better than UO as far as letting players rule the world? If the numbers on the website are to be believed, apparently so by a slim margin.
This has all been said before during the previous generation of MMORPG's. It's all well and good for these virtual world idealists to generalize about what should be in MMO's, but where's the proof of concept or implmentation?
TFA winds up saying "let players really impact the world." You know what happens when you allow that? You end up with a torn-up, useless crust of a world that no-one wants to visit because those that made the changes were idiots and ruined the wonderful world that was. Case in point: Ultima Online.
UO had high ideals and lofty goals: real economy, a real ecosystem, PvP and combat where skill mattered, not levels. What happened to it?
1. Raph Koster applied his ideals of how a society should act, but because it was so foreign to all the players, it was either ignored or abused. There was no "society" in UO; there were "clicks" as in real life and in any MMO.
2. UO's system of PvP drove players away by the thousands (my wife was one). Those that remained sent up such an uproar that we finally received consensual PvP... by mirroring the world, effectively dividing the population (75/25 by most counts). This, too, worked to drive players away. The PvPers had no prey and the non-PvPers had no way to retaliate against griefers.
3. Player-requested content and non-requested content. Players asked for all manner of content that had no place in the Ultima history: they got it. EA allowed Todd McFarlane to design content for an expansion. He single-handedly drove several thousand more players away. What exists today is Samurai Empire; something so foreign to the Medieval Europe theme of Britannia they might as well use machine guns, steam trains and spaceships (yes, I remember that Ultima I and II had spaceships.)
4. Skills vs. levels. I have yet to see a system of PvP that is balanced (part of the reason I despise it and avoid it). In UO the skills system simply required players to come up with certain skill combinations that worked best for PvP or PvE. At least with a level system you know that if the levels are equal, you can look to other factors to provide advantage. Regardless, if there's a way to get an unfair advantage, someone will find it and exploit it.
In summary if you give the players the reigns, they will no doubt ruin the world and drive off the other players.
I for one am very pleased with how Blizzard crafted WoW. I see room for lots of minor improvements, but the overall implementation is outstanding.
Regardless of the level cap, 60 or 70, the type of player that burns through ANY game to get to the top level and then stops playing because they've "done it all" will never be satisfied in a MMO. This personality type simply needs something new to consume on a constant basis.
I'm the type of player that likes to explore and make numerous achievements besides leveling. For me, WoW holds years of entertainment as it stands right now.
The "power players" would consider me slow because I've been playing since beta, I have 11 different characters on two servers ranging from level 60 to level 12. I like trying all manner of things and I like being as self-sufficient as possible (resource gatherers supporting crafts to make money for my "group"). I have yet to experience many of the high level, "end game" instances. I know I'm missing a great experience (and uber equipment), but I do not have 5-6 hours a night to try and get a group willing to help an instance newbie learn how to play those high level mobs.
Good example of the Eldar. Look then what humans did with what they were taught. They used it for their own gains, greed and corruption. When Sauron offered them power at the price of their freedom, they gave it to him (tricked, maybe). The dwarves ran away and hid, and the elves resisted in their way - waiting him out.
Numerous fantasy stories, both in literature and in games, capitalize on the weakness of humans: greed, lust, jealousy, etc. The REAL story, the moral and the lesson occur when someone overcomes those human desires and does what is right.
It is the players' part to roleplay doing the right thing regardless to which faction you belong.
It's much cheaper to buy a console/PC and a stack of games to stay home at night, forget about eating and take your mind off how you can barely afford to go to work the next day.
As long as I've been playing WoW (since beta), I still feel that I've barely scratched the surface of the storylines.
There are just certain quests/stories that stick out in my mind. My favorite above all is Morgan Ladimore's decent to Mor'Ladim. I think that most of my characters throughout D&D gaming, single RPGs and MMO's have always connected with the paladin personality. Falling from that state of grace that gives the paladin their powers is the worst possible ending, but doing so as a result of the loss of a loved one seems justified.
Since it's a small, side quest, I doubt it will have any presence in the movie.
I didn't see it mentioned, so I have to plug my first and my favorite, ye olde TI-99 4/A.
Be sure to have the classic black and silver with real keys not those chiclet, flat keys. It should also have the 13" RGB monitor, the expansion box with a floppy drive, the speech synthesizer, the twin joysticks, the tape data drive and the accoustic coupler modem.
I'd also suggest having the original IBM PC. Should have a green monochrome monitor, two floppy drives, no hard drive and a wide carriage, 9 pin dot matrix printer.
How about an Atari 800?
I'm still waiting for these to become valuable antiques since I have one of each in my attic. I just wish I had all the TI accessories I listed here. Think I'll go play Tunnels of Doom.:-)
Over the past several years, Blizzard has yet to produce any product that was less than outstanding: Diablo, Warcraft, Starcraft and WoW.
While the gaming industry is getting more similar to the movie industry there are still differences that have been the bane of most game-based movies. I will optimistically have faith that Blizzard can navigate these pitfalls.
You only need to look at the stories and mini-movies in their games from the last five years: Diablo II chapter movie sequences are a good example. Ghost's story in Starcraft and the Undead Prince in Warcraft III are others.
I'd think they would have better luck making a Diablo movie first. I think the story is simpler, has more chances for pulling the audience in and obviously lots of opportunities for special effects and unique scenery. (Imagine a male barbarian, female paladin and male mage travel together.... oh wait, that's Conan.;-)
Starcraft, too, would make a good movie.
The real questions that occur to me are:
-What time will they choose? (WC III, WoW, before?) Maybe there will just be lots of history explanation and flashbacks.
-What storylines will they follow? There are so many in WoW, but what is the "central" plot line?
-From which point of view will the movie be? I can guess Alliance, but it would be interesting if they did a second movie from the Horde perspective.
-Live action plus CGI special effects, or full digital animation? They'd get more general masses with live action, but they'd have the hardcore following of gamers and anime fans with full digital.
Regardless I think this will be worth seeing, and again, I trust that Blizzard will do a quality job. Let's hope the director and producer(s) they get listen to them.
Slashdot Mirror
but then they go to medical school, law school or join some neo-nazi group and any chance of a soul is shot out the window.
If I felt any moral implications of cloning and harvesting stem cells from embryos, I would simply comfort myself thinking "Ah, we were just saved from another politician."
When you apply a concept like this to anyone, you simply have to find the angle at which they will appreciate it and accept it.
At this point humankind is barely crawling in relation to our understanding of the workings of the universe. I believe that if we can get past our baby-steps of science, at some point we'll understand and be able to directly interact with what we now call science and it will become so natural to us it will be more like a religious experience.
I'm thinking towards the lines of major evolutionary leaps similar to that Star Trek:TNG episode where the exiled "criminal" was being hunted, was experiencing pain and glowing briefly until ultimately he transformed into an energy-based being able to heal and travel through space at will.
Eventually, the universe will be our playground. If we could travel in time 10,000 years forward, I doubt we'd recognize our own species. That is if we don't do something stupid and destroy ourselves.
...two embryos of the same sex don't try to get married, the Bush administration won't mind.
- Jupiter splits into two smaller, planets
- Jupiter collapses and forms a second sun in our solar system
- Jupiter loses all of it's matter and disappears
You may not think even those are newsworthy, but think back to when that asteroid was heading towards Earth. It neared Jupiter, was pulled in and fell apart. I think Jupiter serves as a protector for the inner planets, and I think it may have been doing this more often and for longer than anyone can conceive.
After reading the story about that asteroid being pulled into Jupiter, I suddenly made a connection to the Roman mythos. Jupiter (Zeus) was the god in charge of protecting (and directing) all of mankind. I know the ancient Greeks and Romans were stargazers, and it makes me wonder if they were able to see events such as an asteroid being "swallowed" by Jupiter.
How many earth-destined bodies has Jupiter saved us from? We know of one that it missed; the one that ended the dinosaurs' reign. Again was this pure happenstance or was it "divine" intervention by Jupiter's course? Is it possible that our monotheistic and polytheistic religions with a prominent "Jupiter" god present are based upon the planet?
Pur conjecture, I admit, but it definitely has me appreciating the outer gas giants. If something happens to Jupiter, Earth is at much greater risk of being hit by a wandering celestial body.
We've seen many cases where Microsoft "engineers" have failed. How many times has Bill been embarassed because of a blue screen or a failed demo? Microsoft is not the smartest bunch of people in the world. They know how to get their poorly developed products bandaged so they'll keep working.
I lost faith in Symantec when their cure for a worm was worse than the worm itself (0.dir disk filling anyone?). I recently lost faith in McAfee because their startup checking program (shstat) chokes my P4 2.4Ghz to 100% CPU usage for over two minutes at every boot.
I have been slightly impressed with Microsoft's Antispyware program because it found and removed a few things that Search and Destroy and Ad-aware missed. I will not however pay for it when it becomes part of LiveCare.
Even though I'm still using XP (I'm too lazy to use Linux and don't make enough to buy a Mac), I'm at least able to use it now thanks to the /. community pointing me to AntiVir http://www.free-av.com/
I've been working with computers and networks for 22 years. Many a time I've seen a bad infestation as described in TFA. It would take about 2 hours to clear everything, and even then something is likely broken (usually IE or control panel) so badly that it won't function 100%. It is often much, much easier and faster to backup data, reimage and restore data. Besides, most of the time what's causing the infestation is all of the stupid freeware that will be immediately downloaded once the system is up and running again.
It's like trying to teach people how idiotic using AOL is. They don't want to learn and keep their computer safe and running smoothly; they want smiley icons, stock tickers and a weather monitor. I swear if someone just came up with an appliance that did all the stupid things freeware programs do, most people (read "unwashed masses") would never need a computer.
It doesn't surprise me that Ballmer doesn't know anything about fixing a computer or an OS, but ANY technical person at Microsoft would know what to do.
This definitely smacks of spin to make Microsoft appear like they're listening to the public.
http://www.worldofwar.net/cartography/worldmap/ (Large map graphic if you want to see what I'm talking about.)
In between the continents is a large vortex called The Maelstrom. I call it the Swirling Vortex of Death and feign terror whenever my ship sails dangerously close to it while traveling between continents.
So what does this prove?
Absolutely nothing unless you take into account that Blizzard has 6.5 million people brainwashed (probably 6.6 million today), it's 6/6/06 and like others, I think Cthulu and his reign of chaos may not be far behind. It just struck me as one of those strange coincidences.
Any time I went to that plaza, I always saw lots of people at Red Planet, and several of my friends talked about it constantly. I couldn't see paying the amounts they talked about to play something I could play (Mechwarrior) on my computer. It made even less sense a few years later when LAN parties were possible.
That location went under, but it appears that there is still a Virtual World center in Plano, close to Dallas. I still have no interest in the pod mechwarrior game, but I just found a possibility to resurrect my miniature painting. :-)
Thanks for the link.
Imagine a theme park that consists of several "worlds," each a different theme of gaming. In each of these worlds, you can experience arcade games, a few rides (physical or VR) and a VR/laser tag type arena or co-op challenge. Each part of this would be themed to match the world. Themes might include: racing, space, Medieval, WWII, animals, etc.
Add to this making the entire park an adventure. As you enter the park, you can choose to be a good guy or a bad guy. You can choose PvP or neutral. You're provided a basic belt and headgear that identifies you (good/bad; PvP/non) and the headgear allows you to see the altered world. The park itself would be decorative and colorful, but when you look through the headgear you'll also see added colors, textures, alien or castle themes, and you see the other attendees as their alternate self: alien/monster/beast or space agent/hero/fighter.
You register your character and your information is updated as you affect changes. If you're non-PvP, perhaps you earn credits by exploring. If you're PvP, you earn credits by "killing" others. (unable to attack for 15 seconds) Every few weeks there is a new park quest: explore the worlds in this sequence, scavenger hunt, kill specific species, etc. When you earn enough credits you can upgrade your equipment (+2 sword, grenade, invisibility).
On the more localized "worlds," as you enter each world, you may receive some extra equipment that attaches to your belt: gun, sword, wand, etc. You also receive your quests for that world.
The key thing about this concept to learn from the other attempts that have failed is to make the system upgradable, standardized and easy to maintain. Use basic modules that won't change often: USB, power belt. Then use upradable modules that can incorporate new technology as it becomes available: headgear (display), add-ons (gun, sword, wand, etc.). Then the real key is the software behind it. As long as everything is stored in a database, it's transportable to any new system that comes out.
Key issues of why this won't work:
- large amount of capital to startup
- identifying and implementing themes that will attract a diverse crowd yet prevent overuse of a single "world."
- PvP balance (It's a challenge in every game. How do you stop the "rez killers" from keeping one person killed constantly?)
- crowd control to keep the game fluid
- pricing model to convince people to go to this park instead of a theme park or paying for an online game
My brain perks about ideas like this.
I bought my first "modern" mobile phone in January of 2004. At that time the new features were just being introduced: photo, web-surfing, instant-messaging.
I told the guy all I wanted was a phone. The lowest, simplest model still has instant messaging and web surfing, but it's a premium that costs extra, so I don't use it.
My phone is fine now, but I'm suspecting I'll have to replace it in another year or two. I'm dreading that experience because I know I'll be paying for features I neither want nor will use. I just want a freaking phone!
I've played and worked with computers for (OMG, I'm old) 24 years now. I've often seen and believed that computers were designed to do one or a few specific jobs. No machine can do everything yet that is exactly what these phones and phone companies are trying to make consumers believe.
I dislike laptops. They are not powerful enough for me and therefore cannot become my core system where I store and do everything. I see them as temporary solutions for when you must travel. You can do some things, but not everything. As you get smaller, you sacrifice more functionality for more portability: palm computers, PDAs and mobile phones. I also disgree with game consoles trying to emulate computer functions: surfing, e-mail, networked games.
Computers can do anything and everything these smaller devices are trying to do. They do it better, they do it faster and generally they do it cheaper. I think the market is really missing the mark here. Instead of trying to make other machines to emulate computer functions in a more limited way, why not give us a remote interface to our computers so we can do anything from anywhere ala Star Trek comm badges and LCARS. "Computer... call work, tell them I'll be late, order a pizza and log onto my WoW account and check my auctions."
Sounds like they're all eager to get on that gameshow and improve their financial status.
It may sound cruel, but this also sounds like natural selection. If a human is too stupid to allow survival instincts to override addiction, then they probably deserve to be removed from the gene pool.
I'm addicted to WoW, I'll admit. I'll play whenever I'm not busy doing something else, but I know when to get up from the machine, eat, shower, go to work, go exercise and spend time with my family. I honestly feel I'm in better balance than some of the other players I know.
It's all about moderation. While I wouldn't mind regulation of these games to force moderation, I'd prefer we let the abusers die off. We've already had too many government programs saving people that are too stupid to survive on their own. Survival of the fittest, IMO.
I played for 7.5 years starting in October 1997. I'm not sure how or why I stayed that long. When Samurai Empire came out, I quit "playing" and numbly continued "maintenance" of my account. When WoW came out, I sold my account for a pittance of what it would have been worth in UO's prime. I was grateful to be rid of the addiction.
I had disagreements from the start that UO was not similar enough to the Ultima series. This was rationalized by the multi-split world. In essence, Ultima prime, the Sosaria where all the series occured, was intact and not directly affected by the muliple shards that comprised UO.
The developers strayed further and further from the core history as time went on. I'm probably one of the top ten Ultima/Britannia/Lord British fans in the world, but what EA did to UO was too much for me.
To date, of the few hundred people I knew who played UO, I only know of four continuing to play. I have no clue of who is playing now.
Did they do better than UO as far as letting players rule the world? If the numbers on the website are to be believed, apparently so by a slim margin.
TFA winds up saying "let players really impact the world." You know what happens when you allow that? You end up with a torn-up, useless crust of a world that no-one wants to visit because those that made the changes were idiots and ruined the wonderful world that was. Case in point: Ultima Online.
UO had high ideals and lofty goals: real economy, a real ecosystem, PvP and combat where skill mattered, not levels. What happened to it?
1. Raph Koster applied his ideals of how a society should act, but because it was so foreign to all the players, it was either ignored or abused. There was no "society" in UO; there were "clicks" as in real life and in any MMO.
2. UO's system of PvP drove players away by the thousands (my wife was one). Those that remained sent up such an uproar that we finally received consensual PvP... by mirroring the world, effectively dividing the population (75/25 by most counts). This, too, worked to drive players away. The PvPers had no prey and the non-PvPers had no way to retaliate against griefers.
3. Player-requested content and non-requested content. Players asked for all manner of content that had no place in the Ultima history: they got it. EA allowed Todd McFarlane to design content for an expansion. He single-handedly drove several thousand more players away. What exists today is Samurai Empire; something so foreign to the Medieval Europe theme of Britannia they might as well use machine guns, steam trains and spaceships (yes, I remember that Ultima I and II had spaceships.)
4. Skills vs. levels. I have yet to see a system of PvP that is balanced (part of the reason I despise it and avoid it). In UO the skills system simply required players to come up with certain skill combinations that worked best for PvP or PvE. At least with a level system you know that if the levels are equal, you can look to other factors to provide advantage. Regardless, if there's a way to get an unfair advantage, someone will find it and exploit it.
In summary if you give the players the reigns, they will no doubt ruin the world and drive off the other players.
I for one am very pleased with how Blizzard crafted WoW. I see room for lots of minor improvements, but the overall implementation is outstanding.
I'm the type of player that likes to explore and make numerous achievements besides leveling. For me, WoW holds years of entertainment as it stands right now.
The "power players" would consider me slow because I've been playing since beta, I have 11 different characters on two servers ranging from level 60 to level 12. I like trying all manner of things and I like being as self-sufficient as possible (resource gatherers supporting crafts to make money for my "group"). I have yet to experience many of the high level, "end game" instances. I know I'm missing a great experience (and uber equipment), but I do not have 5-6 hours a night to try and get a group willing to help an instance newbie learn how to play those high level mobs.
Numerous fantasy stories, both in literature and in games, capitalize on the weakness of humans: greed, lust, jealousy, etc. The REAL story, the moral and the lesson occur when someone overcomes those human desires and does what is right.
It is the players' part to roleplay doing the right thing regardless to which faction you belong.
It's much cheaper to buy a console/PC and a stack of games to stay home at night, forget about eating and take your mind off how you can barely afford to go to work the next day.
I'm trusting he has a good sense of humor and will allow my account to continue.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, cMDRtACO!!111
There are just certain quests/stories that stick out in my mind. My favorite above all is Morgan Ladimore's decent to Mor'Ladim. I think that most of my characters throughout D&D gaming, single RPGs and MMO's have always connected with the paladin personality. Falling from that state of grace that gives the paladin their powers is the worst possible ending, but doing so as a result of the loss of a loved one seems justified.
Since it's a small, side quest, I doubt it will have any presence in the movie.
Be sure to have the classic black and silver with real keys not those chiclet, flat keys. It should also have the 13" RGB monitor, the expansion box with a floppy drive, the speech synthesizer, the twin joysticks, the tape data drive and the accoustic coupler modem.
I'd also suggest having the original IBM PC. Should have a green monochrome monitor, two floppy drives, no hard drive and a wide carriage, 9 pin dot matrix printer.
How about an Atari 800?
I'm still waiting for these to become valuable antiques since I have one of each in my attic. I just wish I had all the TI accessories I listed here. Think I'll go play Tunnels of Doom. :-)
BOOM!!
*** splaaaattt!!! ***
"OMFG!! That's so totally AWESOME!"
While the gaming industry is getting more similar to the movie industry there are still differences that have been the bane of most game-based movies. I will optimistically have faith that Blizzard can navigate these pitfalls.
You only need to look at the stories and mini-movies in their games from the last five years: Diablo II chapter movie sequences are a good example. Ghost's story in Starcraft and the Undead Prince in Warcraft III are others.
I'd think they would have better luck making a Diablo movie first. I think the story is simpler, has more chances for pulling the audience in and obviously lots of opportunities for special effects and unique scenery. (Imagine a male barbarian, female paladin and male mage travel together.... oh wait, that's Conan. ;-)
Starcraft, too, would make a good movie.
The real questions that occur to me are:
-What time will they choose? (WC III, WoW, before?) Maybe there will just be lots of history explanation and flashbacks.
-What storylines will they follow? There are so many in WoW, but what is the "central" plot line?
-From which point of view will the movie be? I can guess Alliance, but it would be interesting if they did a second movie from the Horde perspective.
-Live action plus CGI special effects, or full digital animation? They'd get more general masses with live action, but they'd have the hardcore following of gamers and anime fans with full digital.
Regardless I think this will be worth seeing, and again, I trust that Blizzard will do a quality job. Let's hope the director and producer(s) they get listen to them.
6 million * $8 = $48 million dollars.
So if they can produce the movie for $30 million, they'd do quite well. :-)