Our company supplies us with 16 oz. bottled water stored in three refigerators located around the building. I personally drink only water 98% of the time. (I kicked caffeine and sodas several years ago.)
Employees discoverd and brought in "flavor packets." The first I heard of were Crystal Lite powder packets. They're just the right amount for 16 oz. water bottles, you dump them in and shake up the bottle. All add color, but no sugar, salt or any nutritional value whatsoever. There are also discount ones from Sam's/Wal-mart, but those don't dissolve well in cold water.
Then my manager found Water Enhancers (http://www.watersensations.com/). They mix with the water immediately because they're liquid. They're colorless, but they still add an immense amount of flavor (comparable to kool-aid) and make me feel like I'm drinking a soda w/o the fizz. These also have 0% of everything for nutrition. Nothing added but flavor.
Delegate: direct them to someone else that can and will help them. "I don't have the bandwidth to help you right now, but [insert junior admin name here] is available. I'll let him know you're coming and brief him on what you need."
Delay: Push them off to a time that is convenient for you. "I'm in the middle of something else right now. Can you enter a ticket or send me an e-mail of when you'd be available when I'm free later. It may not be today."
Do it: Go get it over with so you can continue with the rest of your work.
Believe it or not, you can also say "No" and not offend someone. I'd suggest you fulfill their request one more time, but when you finish tell them that your responsibilities lie elsewhere. If possible find them a replacement support person that can take care of them.
My sympathies for your losses, but just hang in there; you'll get through it and be the stronger when life returns to "normal." I strongly encourage you to get the above linked book. Typical time management (Franklin Covey, etc.) does not work for IT people. This book is helping me greatly.
Maybe you guys could hire an independant consultant to keep you in touch with the millions of gamers who find WoW to be one big wasted opportunity.
I'd equate this to someone complaining that a 200 item Chinese buffet does not have quiche on it.
NOTHING could ever possibly be perfect enough to please every gamer out there. The key thing is, they're pleasing most of the online gamers right now.THAT is the major accomplishment for which Pardo is being recognized.
Like the PvPers in UO, I sense you and your disgruntled few are in the minority. "Millions?" I think not.
Changed my mind completely about a new system I was planning to buy. No dual cores for me, thank you. I'll either grab an FX-57 when AM2 comes out and drops the DDR1 systems' prices, or I'll wait until the end of the year, see if Conroe lives up to the hype and how Vista affects either system.
$14.9 mil is a drop in the bucket for EA. Their insurance will likely take care of it in some fashion and it won't actually affect their profits for the year.
Since I was involved in and received a settlement from a class action suit against CSC for a similar overtime issue, I'll give you some of the math they gave us and what end result I received.
Employment dates - take the number of working days the employee has been working (in EA's case, we're talking 7 days a week.) In this suit from 2/14/01 to 2/14/06, 260 weeks or 1826 days. This is the maximum that an employee with EA through that full term could achieve.
Overtime - Since everyone works different overtime, you have to average this. Let's say Dev A worked 80 hours a week, Dev B worked 60 hours a week and the standard work week is 40 hours (ideally). Then the average OT would be 30 hours (A+B)/2 - 40
Pay rate - This would be calculated for each employee. So if your rate is $25/hour ($52k annual), then overtime should be 1.5 your rate, or $37.50.
Now if Bob Programmer was employed the full five years and was paid $25/hour, he should get about (#weeks * avg. OT * OT pay rate) = 260 * 30 * 37.50 = $292,500.00.
Keep in mind this is an ideal case where the employee was there for five years, everyone works gobs of overtime and the salary is in a certain range. If everyone involved received this ideal, then only 51 employees would get paid with $14.9 mil.
In reality, there are other factors that bite into this: lawyer fees come off the top, administration fees to distribute the monies, and other fractions that eat away at the lump sum. In my case they called in some state factors, where CA employees received a higher fraction (0.7) of pay than we TX employees (0.3). When I worked at CSC, I was making about $26/hour. I worked 45-50 hours a week. Some worked more; some worked less. I think they averaged us at 45 (all employees OT/number of employees). For about 2 years worth of 5 OT hours a week, after the "state factors" I ended up with a check for about $2,100.00. I suspect the EA employees may only see a maximum of $50k each, and I doubt there will be anything left for any scholorships or charities.
I was more thrilled that someone at least stood up and stuck it to CSC. Likewise in this case, I just don't want EA to get away with abusing their employees.
I don't consider it a pasttime, but it has happened to me.
For some reason I look like a geek, I guess. I got rid of the glasses, so I guess it's just the weight, the foodstains on my clothes, the circles under my eyes and the overall surly expression.
At any rate when I'm in a store, people somehow detect that I know about computers. They ask if I work there, I say "No," but they continue by asking if I know anything about computers. "Yes," I say with a thrust out chin and a gleam in my eye. They start asking the usual questions. When they take a breath I ask them the one key question: "What do you want to do with it?"
I worked at a Sears in a mall for a year when I was in college. That was when Sears sold Packard Bell's and Apple PowerPC's. I did pretty well providing information and selling several computers until a customer decided to tell my manager what a great salesman I was. "This young man was so informative. He spent an hour with me and explained everything I wanted to know about computers. Then he didn't even push a sale on me. He actually recommended a computer from somewhere else."
The manager didn't think I was such a good salesman.
I kept my job, but I could always feel my manager's eyes on the back of my neck. So I don't blame salespeople for not being able to spend oodles of time with customers to answer all their questions. I know their main job is to sell.
I think stores that sell computers should offer a PC consultant. Have a small training room off to the side with a few charts of typical computer parts and network components. Allow the customers 10 minutes free and charge $1 a minute beyond that. I think the masses would flock to such a service.
Aren't we talking about the same changes, limitations and other issues as when a good book is taken to the screen? The movie makers translate these works of fiction into their vision. Some producers, screen writers and directors have good vision; most do not.
As much as I enjoyed the Lord of the Rings trilogy movies, I despised what they changed and what was left out. I was grateful that someone brought a version of Tolkien's world to life, but resentful at how they felt they had the right to interpret it. (Arwen rescues Frodo. pshaw...)
Likewise with the games. True as some said here, the filmakers don't really know the game. If they played it at all, it was probably only 15 minutes or so. They interpret what they see and what they are told. You end up with a mishmosh on the screen.
A big piece of this I think all gamers can agree on is the lack of control. In the game you make the best possible choices: strategy, equipment, combat, money, etc. In the movie they seem to follow the path of an incompetent player. "Oooh, a dark room. I should stumble blindly into it instead of finding a torch."
You also lose something in the translation if you haven't experienced both media. Since I haven't played any Silent Hill game, I doubt I'll get much out of the movie. I did read the LotR series repeatedly, so I know how much is altered and missing in the movies.
I once had an idea to write a series of books based on the Ultima series. Basically how my persona came to the world of Sosaria, set off on adventures related to that game installment and was returned to Earth as if nothing happened hoping to return to that world again in the future. I realized this would never work because it would be traversing the game from my viewpoint and the way that I played it. Not too many people would enjoy shoulder-surfing while I played Ultima. Besides, how much dialog can be generated when all the main character keeps saying is "Name," "Job" and "Join.";-)
They rely solely on abosorbing existing studios, their talent and their customer base usually driving off 25% or more of the customers.
They ruined the Ultima series, they ruined Ultima Online and I have yet to hear about any EA product that didn't have major issues at release.
F*#$ you, EA!!
My condolences to the employees you abuse, the ideas you crush and the great games that you never allowed to be because they did not meet your schedule.
I guess I'm obsessive compulsive. I remember a few episodes where something similar to this occured.
Christmas 1985(??) - I received my first console, the 8-bit Nintendo. I started playing Legend of Zelda at 6pm and finally stopped the next morning at 9am when everyone started getting up. To me it felt like 3 hours.
1990 while at college, Ultima VI was released. A few days before it was released, I vowed that I should play back through Ultimas I through V to remind myself of the world and the philosophy. For about a week I went to school, went to work, came home and played while eating dinner. I slept about 2-4 hours each night. I finished U5 the night before the release, got a decent night's sleep then started U6 the next night and repeated the 2-4 hours of sleep a night for the next week. I was the first person to officially finish U6 (I have the certificate signed by Lord British, and my character name is in Ultima VII on a tombstone. WOOT!)
October 1997, I started Ultima Online. I tried to get my wife interested, but she didn't like the PvP aspect. On weeknights I'd get 4-6 hours of sleep, but on weekends I'd sometimes play about 48 hours straight with only breaks for food and the bathroom. Thankfully, that decreased steadily over the next 7.5 years. On occasion I'd end up just staying up until 1 or 2am Saturday mornings with short bursts of play during the week.
September 2004 - WoW Beta. I knew this was going to be a great game. I played as much as I could during the stress load beta week, but my sleeping habits improved and I typically got 6 hours of sleep.
November 2004 - WoW retail release. I get my wife interested in online gaming. We alternated playing a single account a couple hours each night. She returned from a business trip to find her own WoW account and the fun ensued. We now play frequently whenever time allows. When the girls visit Granny's on some weekends, she'll even stay up with me until 1 or 2am Saturday morning. While I'll occasionally stay up late during the week, I'm still averaging 6 hours a night and I think I'm doing fairly well.
In all of these cases, the time flies by. I remember hearing a theory of why this happens. Mostly it has to do with our brain being so distracted by fun, creative things that the logical brain doesn't have time to consider that time is passing.
Wow, something must be seriously wrong with my marriage and family.
Let's see, during the day my wife plays with our 5 year old and plays WoW. I came home yesterday to see the 5 year old playing WoW for the first time.:-) When the 8 year old gets home from school, she chooses to watch TV, play with her sister or play her hunter in WoW with Mommy after her homework is done.
In the evening, we have dinner together, maybe watch a TV show (Dirty Jobs is a family favorite), or the girls will play outside or in their room until bedtime. My wife and I may or may not play WoW.
When the girls go to bed, it's either movie time, WoW time or mommy & daddy time.
When mommy goes to bed, I'm up for another few hours playing WoW or doing work remotely.:-P
On the weekends we may go to a movie, out to eat, to a Ren Faire, to an event, to a theme park or on some occasions the girls go visit the grandparents. When the girls are gone it's mommy & daddy time or WoW time. Sometimes they alternate several times over the weekend./sigh Ah, bliss.
We've been married 12 years, been through our struggles but doing quite well now. I think we're in a pretty good balance. WoW has simply replaced other just as time-wasting forms of entertainment: TV, movie, etc. We definitely enjoy it as our preferred form of entertainment. The fact that it is episodic, that we can enjoy it in bits and chunks here and there and schedule major instance time on weekends, makes it even more convenient and attractive.
THIS is the model all games will seek to follow: FIT within your players' lives so they can enjoy it when they want.
I think it is valid if you consider that it's relative not absolute values you want to compare.
Regardless of how the companies reported it, they're going to report their best, biggest numbers. Assume that all the companies fudge their numbers in the same way. Therefore, all of the games start on an even, though falsified, basis: "At some point, we had this many players."
I think pointing out the obvious of "out of date" is a bit harsh on the chart's author, too. Of course it's out of date. He even states that. Companies only release this info (unwillingly sometimes) every quarter or so. I used to play UO, so I know they don't want anyone to know how their numbers are sinking (F you EA!!)
I for one am impressed at the collection and comparison of data. I think it shows us a good history and track record of what succeeded and what didn't. It also shows the typical lifespan of an average MMO: big spike in the first few months, leveling out and a slow decay. More accurate numbers aren't going to change the chart that much.
And that's about the extent of token ring as well; it's used for bad, punny jokes.
Dilbert's boss still uses token ring, but he lost the token somewhere in the ethernet.
Last I saw a TR network was at a job for an insurance company in 1998. They were beginning the process of replacing it with ethernet just as I left. They were still on Novell, too.
Token ring to rule them all
Token ring to bind them
Token ring to bring them all
And in the....... (connection lost)
Secondly, MMOGs are not chemical addictions and should not be treated as such. Alcohol.
I disagree with this part because the definition of "chemical addition" needs to be clarified.
Sure, MMOGs or any other non-consumable addictions are not chemicals in themselves, but the reward they give is. All addictions can be traced back to one thing: seratonin levels of the brain.
When you do something pleasurable, seratonin is released and makes you feel even better. It's a vicious cycle that takes conscious effort to break. Any person can become addicted to any activity or consumable.
I think all addictions do need to be treated the same up to a point:
admission of addiction
support from peers
removal of addictive action/item
normalization
If the person regains control, then it should be safe to re-introduce them to the action/item in moderation.
Personally, my experience with clinical depression makes me very aware of doing anything that may become addictive. I was addicted to Ultima Online to the point that I was losing a great deal of sleep. I'm proud to say that I enjoy World of Warcraft even more than UO, but I'm able to get up and walk away or do something besides just play all night.
of how AT&T is incapable of handling a smooth transition.
In our area (DFW Metroplex, TX) it started about three weeks ago. We noticed our business internet having DNS issues. We contacted our (former) SBC data centers (quite the maze that is) but they reported no issues. Problems disappeared in two days with no explanation except the up-level DNS servers started responding again.
Two weeks ago our long distance lines went down for about an hour. Again contacting the support center resulted with "We're not seeing anything." Issue disappeared with no explanation.
I'm a WoW player. I've seen server side issues (December 2004-February 2005), and I've seen ISP issues (F*** YOU COMCA$T!!!! Thank you, Verizon FiOS.) I've seen a major influx of new players (December 2005), and I've seen login server issues. It never dawned on me that AT&T's network could be behind the recent issues with WoW. I take back any obscenities I or my wife may have directed towards Blizzard for the past week of login issues. Now I know who'll be burning in my version of hell.
You'd think a company as big and as old as AT&T would know better how to handle these types of things like acquisition and network transition.
Screw up my work connections, I get busy.
Screw up my liesure connection, I get really pissed.
My favorite WoW quest of all times has to be the Morgan Ladimore (Mor'Ladim) quest series in Duskwood. I seem to be able to connect with the story: paladin goes off to war, returns to find his family killed, goes on a rampage in fury, dies in shame, suffers a living hell as undead and you finally get to put him to rest and receive his awesome 2h sword as a reward. Maybe only paladin-like personalities get this, but I truly enjoyed it.
Ultima IV is my favorite game of all times to this date. What I felt was truly innovative was that you could do whatever you wanted in the world, do the quests (in any order) or don't do the quests. You may not reach the ultimate goal if you didn't do the quests, but you knew you had an impact on that world.
Per the question here, my favorite single quest in any game was in Ultima V to get into Lord British's secret chamber atop the castle. You had to learn to play the harpsichord from an instructor at a lighthouse, then you had to be able to read a bit of music and actually play the sequence on the harpsichord near LB's room.
Answering the questions in the final chamber in the Stygian Abyss at the end of Ultima IV remains one of my most satisfying gaming experiences.
Which proves once again that when given the opportunity of free thought, free will and free action, people will immediately start acting like sheep.
Sounds like it was a big bandwagon effect. They started rolling and all the excluded anti-socials joined in to be part of the "winning" team.
I can't remember if I beta tested Shadowbane or not. I'm fairly sure the PvP-only aspect would have kept me away. I've yet to ever see a positive aspect of PvP. Someone always goes away mad.
"It turns out that the vast bulk of the federal information security money is spent on documenting these systems, not on securing or testing them against attacks," Paller said. "Most [agencies] are spending so much on the paperwork exercises that they don't have a lot of money left over to fix the problems they've identified."
Sounds like the exact same issue large corporations have. They spend so much time documenting processes and engaging procedures around those processes, no one does the actual work. What's worse is the reason they do all this documentation is so that anyone, regardless of skill level, can perform the job. Anyone in IT knows it takes a great deal more than "reading the instructions" to implement almost anything related to a computer.
I'm definitely not surprised. Our government for years has set a bad example that most U.S. companies gladly emulate: poor practice, no implementation, legal protection, excessive documentation, falsifying accounting, overspending the budget, overpaying the executives, underpaying the workers and getting no real work done.
Imagine how admired our government would be if they worked like a small business: small group of executive voices say to do it; fairly paid, valued workers do it; it gets done; customers are happy; repeat business ensues.
Actually, they should give credit to Matt Groenig.
This game premise sounds exactly like the science project Lisa did where she placed her tooth in a petri dish and it developed into a micro-civilization worshipping her.
None of this sounds original to me, and I'm still banning ALL EA products after the way they ruined Ultima Online and for the way they treat their employees.
Just look at my handle and you'll get a hint at how much Ultima influenced my life. Garriott deserves this and so much more recognition. He truly was a pioneer and an inovator before all others in this industry.
I recall playing Ultima IV, my first Ultima, on an Apple ][. I created a notebook to keep up with clues. As later versions came out, I purchased them, played them and stored them away. I went back and found all the previous games (even an original) as well and played them. My wall is covered will all of the cloth maps from all of the Ultima games. I have a bag containing all the trinkets. All the boxes line my bookshelf. I have a certificate signed by Lord British himself stating that I was the first to complete Ultima VI. I'm even immortalized in Ultima VII. You can find my gravestone in Skara Brae stating (in Britannic runes of course)"Here lies Phaltran who is *my real name*."
Did I mention I'm an Ultima fanatic? I don't fawn over celebrities. When I met Leonard Nimoy, Walter Koenig and Robert Picardo, I was pleased but not awed. If I ever get to meet Richard in person, I'll likely sound like a blithering idiot for stating something similar to this post.
The Virtues of the Avatar changed my life. They gave me a belief system that I could never find in religion. Shortly after discovering Ultima, I discovered Renaissance Faires. They went hand in hand. I have several costumes and accessories modeled after Avatar outfits. I bring my Avatar to life when I'm at Faire. I view all of these as positive impact on my life and I thank Richard for creating worlds that provided this.
Congratulations, Lord British. Well deserved recognition. Kudos all around.
What would a/. post be without humor? -> I certainly hope at this moment some EA executive is kicking him/herself in the ass for letting Richard leave Origin, for letting UO sink into ruination and for lacking the vision and leadership skills that Richard Garriott possesses.
Rollback the current SWG to pre-NGE and keep it in Episode IV timeline. Start a new SWG in the Episode I timeline. Give creative control to George Lucas and let him generate ideas for plot, quests, events, etc. Because if George could use his genious to create something as awesome as Episode I...
Sorry. I couldn't keep a straight face and keep typing. I seemed to have left my sarcasm switch on.
I played SWG in beta. That's all. It was uninteresting and boring then. I cannot imagine how mind-numbing it must be if all the die-hard SW fans that played it before hate it now.
SOE is making the same mistakes that EA made with Ultima Online: executives thinking they know what is best for the game.
All they have to do is listen to their playerbase. They created a dynamic world where they wanted the players to make a difference. LET THEM! It is obvious that the executives, producers and devs do not play their own games to the extent players do. If they did, then perhaps they would have that connection with their characters and the virtual world and understand why players get upset when flipping a bit alters the entire gaming experience. Similar to EA defending UO servers being offline. "Other servers are up. You can still play." Yeah, but the char I spent years developing and all of his STUFF is on the one that is down. What good does playing a new char on another server do me?
Might as well open a candy store selling everything for 5 cents, then once you have all the kids inside tell them they can only have 2 pieces each, there is no chocolate of any kind and everything now costs a dollar.
Slashdot Mirror
Employees discoverd and brought in "flavor packets." The first I heard of were Crystal Lite powder packets. They're just the right amount for 16 oz. water bottles, you dump them in and shake up the bottle. All add color, but no sugar, salt or any nutritional value whatsoever. There are also discount ones from Sam's/Wal-mart, but those don't dissolve well in cold water.
Then my manager found Water Enhancers (http://www.watersensations.com/). They mix with the water immediately because they're liquid. They're colorless, but they still add an immense amount of flavor (comparable to kool-aid) and make me feel like I'm drinking a soda w/o the fizz. These also have 0% of everything for nutrition. Nothing added but flavor.
Delegate: direct them to someone else that can and will help them. "I don't have the bandwidth to help you right now, but [insert junior admin name here] is available. I'll let him know you're coming and brief him on what you need."
Delay: Push them off to a time that is convenient for you. "I'm in the middle of something else right now. Can you enter a ticket or send me an e-mail of when you'd be available when I'm free later. It may not be today."
Do it: Go get it over with so you can continue with the rest of your work.
Believe it or not, you can also say "No" and not offend someone. I'd suggest you fulfill their request one more time, but when you finish tell them that your responsibilities lie elsewhere. If possible find them a replacement support person that can take care of them.
My sympathies for your losses, but just hang in there; you'll get through it and be the stronger when life returns to "normal." I strongly encourage you to get the above linked book. Typical time management (Franklin Covey, etc.) does not work for IT people. This book is helping me greatly.
I'd equate this to someone complaining that a 200 item Chinese buffet does not have quiche on it.
NOTHING could ever possibly be perfect enough to please every gamer out there. The key thing is, they're pleasing most of the online gamers right now. THAT is the major accomplishment for which Pardo is being recognized.
Like the PvPers in UO, I sense you and your disgruntled few are in the minority. "Millions?" I think not.
Changed my mind completely about a new system I was planning to buy. No dual cores for me, thank you. I'll either grab an FX-57 when AM2 comes out and drops the DDR1 systems' prices, or I'll wait until the end of the year, see if Conroe lives up to the hype and how Vista affects either system.
$14.9 mil is a drop in the bucket for EA. Their insurance will likely take care of it in some fashion and it won't actually affect their profits for the year.
Employment dates - take the number of working days the employee has been working (in EA's case, we're talking 7 days a week.) In this suit from 2/14/01 to 2/14/06, 260 weeks or 1826 days. This is the maximum that an employee with EA through that full term could achieve.
Overtime - Since everyone works different overtime, you have to average this. Let's say Dev A worked 80 hours a week, Dev B worked 60 hours a week and the standard work week is 40 hours (ideally). Then the average OT would be 30 hours (A+B)/2 - 40
Pay rate - This would be calculated for each employee. So if your rate is $25/hour ($52k annual), then overtime should be 1.5 your rate, or $37.50.
Now if Bob Programmer was employed the full five years and was paid $25/hour, he should get about (#weeks * avg. OT * OT pay rate) = 260 * 30 * 37.50 = $292,500.00.
Keep in mind this is an ideal case where the employee was there for five years, everyone works gobs of overtime and the salary is in a certain range. If everyone involved received this ideal, then only 51 employees would get paid with $14.9 mil.
In reality, there are other factors that bite into this: lawyer fees come off the top, administration fees to distribute the monies, and other fractions that eat away at the lump sum. In my case they called in some state factors, where CA employees received a higher fraction (0.7) of pay than we TX employees (0.3). When I worked at CSC, I was making about $26/hour. I worked 45-50 hours a week. Some worked more; some worked less. I think they averaged us at 45 (all employees OT/number of employees). For about 2 years worth of 5 OT hours a week, after the "state factors" I ended up with a check for about $2,100.00. I suspect the EA employees may only see a maximum of $50k each, and I doubt there will be anything left for any scholorships or charities.
I was more thrilled that someone at least stood up and stuck it to CSC. Likewise in this case, I just don't want EA to get away with abusing their employees.
For some reason I look like a geek, I guess. I got rid of the glasses, so I guess it's just the weight, the foodstains on my clothes, the circles under my eyes and the overall surly expression.
At any rate when I'm in a store, people somehow detect that I know about computers. They ask if I work there, I say "No," but they continue by asking if I know anything about computers. "Yes," I say with a thrust out chin and a gleam in my eye. They start asking the usual questions. When they take a breath I ask them the one key question: "What do you want to do with it?"
I worked at a Sears in a mall for a year when I was in college. That was when Sears sold Packard Bell's and Apple PowerPC's. I did pretty well providing information and selling several computers until a customer decided to tell my manager what a great salesman I was. "This young man was so informative. He spent an hour with me and explained everything I wanted to know about computers. Then he didn't even push a sale on me. He actually recommended a computer from somewhere else."
The manager didn't think I was such a good salesman.
I kept my job, but I could always feel my manager's eyes on the back of my neck. So I don't blame salespeople for not being able to spend oodles of time with customers to answer all their questions. I know their main job is to sell.
I think stores that sell computers should offer a PC consultant. Have a small training room off to the side with a few charts of typical computer parts and network components. Allow the customers 10 minutes free and charge $1 a minute beyond that. I think the masses would flock to such a service.
potato,potato,potato,potato,potato,potato,potato,p otato,potato
As much as I enjoyed the Lord of the Rings trilogy movies, I despised what they changed and what was left out. I was grateful that someone brought a version of Tolkien's world to life, but resentful at how they felt they had the right to interpret it. (Arwen rescues Frodo. pshaw...)
Likewise with the games. True as some said here, the filmakers don't really know the game. If they played it at all, it was probably only 15 minutes or so. They interpret what they see and what they are told. You end up with a mishmosh on the screen.
A big piece of this I think all gamers can agree on is the lack of control. In the game you make the best possible choices: strategy, equipment, combat, money, etc. In the movie they seem to follow the path of an incompetent player. "Oooh, a dark room. I should stumble blindly into it instead of finding a torch."
You also lose something in the translation if you haven't experienced both media. Since I haven't played any Silent Hill game, I doubt I'll get much out of the movie. I did read the LotR series repeatedly, so I know how much is altered and missing in the movies.
I once had an idea to write a series of books based on the Ultima series. Basically how my persona came to the world of Sosaria, set off on adventures related to that game installment and was returned to Earth as if nothing happened hoping to return to that world again in the future. I realized this would never work because it would be traversing the game from my viewpoint and the way that I played it. Not too many people would enjoy shoulder-surfing while I played Ultima. Besides, how much dialog can be generated when all the main character keeps saying is "Name," "Job" and "Join." ;-)
They rely solely on abosorbing existing studios, their talent and their customer base usually driving off 25% or more of the customers.
They ruined the Ultima series, they ruined Ultima Online and I have yet to hear about any EA product that didn't have major issues at release.
F*#$ you, EA!!
My condolences to the employees you abuse, the ideas you crush and the great games that you never allowed to be because they did not meet your schedule.
Never, ever will EA get another penny from me.
http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTA wMiwxLCxoZW50aHVzaWFzdA
Christmas 1985(??) - I received my first console, the 8-bit Nintendo. I started playing Legend of Zelda at 6pm and finally stopped the next morning at 9am when everyone started getting up. To me it felt like 3 hours.
1990 while at college, Ultima VI was released. A few days before it was released, I vowed that I should play back through Ultimas I through V to remind myself of the world and the philosophy. For about a week I went to school, went to work, came home and played while eating dinner. I slept about 2-4 hours each night. I finished U5 the night before the release, got a decent night's sleep then started U6 the next night and repeated the 2-4 hours of sleep a night for the next week. I was the first person to officially finish U6 (I have the certificate signed by Lord British, and my character name is in Ultima VII on a tombstone. WOOT!)
October 1997, I started Ultima Online. I tried to get my wife interested, but she didn't like the PvP aspect. On weeknights I'd get 4-6 hours of sleep, but on weekends I'd sometimes play about 48 hours straight with only breaks for food and the bathroom. Thankfully, that decreased steadily over the next 7.5 years. On occasion I'd end up just staying up until 1 or 2am Saturday mornings with short bursts of play during the week.
September 2004 - WoW Beta. I knew this was going to be a great game. I played as much as I could during the stress load beta week, but my sleeping habits improved and I typically got 6 hours of sleep.
November 2004 - WoW retail release. I get my wife interested in online gaming. We alternated playing a single account a couple hours each night. She returned from a business trip to find her own WoW account and the fun ensued. We now play frequently whenever time allows. When the girls visit Granny's on some weekends, she'll even stay up with me until 1 or 2am Saturday morning. While I'll occasionally stay up late during the week, I'm still averaging 6 hours a night and I think I'm doing fairly well.
In all of these cases, the time flies by. I remember hearing a theory of why this happens. Mostly it has to do with our brain being so distracted by fun, creative things that the logical brain doesn't have time to consider that time is passing.
Let's see, during the day my wife plays with our 5 year old and plays WoW. I came home yesterday to see the 5 year old playing WoW for the first time. :-) When the 8 year old gets home from school, she chooses to watch TV, play with her sister or play her hunter in WoW with Mommy after her homework is done.
In the evening, we have dinner together, maybe watch a TV show (Dirty Jobs is a family favorite), or the girls will play outside or in their room until bedtime. My wife and I may or may not play WoW.
When the girls go to bed, it's either movie time, WoW time or mommy & daddy time.
When mommy goes to bed, I'm up for another few hours playing WoW or doing work remotely. :-P
On the weekends we may go to a movie, out to eat, to a Ren Faire, to an event, to a theme park or on some occasions the girls go visit the grandparents. When the girls are gone it's mommy & daddy time or WoW time. Sometimes they alternate several times over the weekend. /sigh Ah, bliss.
We've been married 12 years, been through our struggles but doing quite well now. I think we're in a pretty good balance. WoW has simply replaced other just as time-wasting forms of entertainment: TV, movie, etc. We definitely enjoy it as our preferred form of entertainment. The fact that it is episodic, that we can enjoy it in bits and chunks here and there and schedule major instance time on weekends, makes it even more convenient and attractive.
THIS is the model all games will seek to follow: FIT within your players' lives so they can enjoy it when they want.
Regardless of how the companies reported it, they're going to report their best, biggest numbers. Assume that all the companies fudge their numbers in the same way. Therefore, all of the games start on an even, though falsified, basis: "At some point, we had this many players."
I think pointing out the obvious of "out of date" is a bit harsh on the chart's author, too. Of course it's out of date. He even states that. Companies only release this info (unwillingly sometimes) every quarter or so. I used to play UO, so I know they don't want anyone to know how their numbers are sinking (F you EA!!)
I for one am impressed at the collection and comparison of data. I think it shows us a good history and track record of what succeeded and what didn't. It also shows the typical lifespan of an average MMO: big spike in the first few months, leveling out and a slow decay. More accurate numbers aren't going to change the chart that much.
Dilbert's boss still uses token ring, but he lost the token somewhere in the ethernet.
Last I saw a TR network was at a job for an insurance company in 1998. They were beginning the process of replacing it with ethernet just as I left. They were still on Novell, too.
Token ring to rule them all
Token ring to bind them
Token ring to bring them all
And in the....... (connection lost)
Oops. Guess the MAU went down again.
Sure, MMOGs or any other non-consumable addictions are not chemicals in themselves, but the reward they give is. All addictions can be traced back to one thing: seratonin levels of the brain.
When you do something pleasurable, seratonin is released and makes you feel even better. It's a vicious cycle that takes conscious effort to break. Any person can become addicted to any activity or consumable.
I think all addictions do need to be treated the same up to a point:
If the person regains control, then it should be safe to re-introduce them to the action/item in moderation.
Personally, my experience with clinical depression makes me very aware of doing anything that may become addictive. I was addicted to Ultima Online to the point that I was losing a great deal of sleep. I'm proud to say that I enjoy World of Warcraft even more than UO, but I'm able to get up and walk away or do something besides just play all night.
In our area (DFW Metroplex, TX) it started about three weeks ago. We noticed our business internet having DNS issues. We contacted our (former) SBC data centers (quite the maze that is) but they reported no issues. Problems disappeared in two days with no explanation except the up-level DNS servers started responding again.
Two weeks ago our long distance lines went down for about an hour. Again contacting the support center resulted with "We're not seeing anything." Issue disappeared with no explanation.
I'm a WoW player. I've seen server side issues (December 2004-February 2005), and I've seen ISP issues (F*** YOU COMCA$T!!!! Thank you, Verizon FiOS.) I've seen a major influx of new players (December 2005), and I've seen login server issues. It never dawned on me that AT&T's network could be behind the recent issues with WoW. I take back any obscenities I or my wife may have directed towards Blizzard for the past week of login issues. Now I know who'll be burning in my version of hell.
You'd think a company as big and as old as AT&T would know better how to handle these types of things like acquisition and network transition.
Screw up my work connections, I get busy.
Screw up my liesure connection, I get really pissed.
My favorite WoW quest of all times has to be the Morgan Ladimore (Mor'Ladim) quest series in Duskwood. I seem to be able to connect with the story: paladin goes off to war, returns to find his family killed, goes on a rampage in fury, dies in shame, suffers a living hell as undead and you finally get to put him to rest and receive his awesome 2h sword as a reward. Maybe only paladin-like personalities get this, but I truly enjoyed it.
Ultima IV is my favorite game of all times to this date. What I felt was truly innovative was that you could do whatever you wanted in the world, do the quests (in any order) or don't do the quests. You may not reach the ultimate goal if you didn't do the quests, but you knew you had an impact on that world.
Per the question here, my favorite single quest in any game was in Ultima V to get into Lord British's secret chamber atop the castle. You had to learn to play the harpsichord from an instructor at a lighthouse, then you had to be able to read a bit of music and actually play the sequence on the harpsichord near LB's room.
Answering the questions in the final chamber in the Stygian Abyss at the end of Ultima IV remains one of my most satisfying gaming experiences.
More importantly than killing the dragons...
How many times did you get the transmolecular dot and slip into the easter egg screen? "Programmed by Stephen Robinett" (I think it was Stephen.)
First easter egg I ever knew about and found.
Sounds like it was a big bandwagon effect. They started rolling and all the excluded anti-socials joined in to be part of the "winning" team.
I can't remember if I beta tested Shadowbane or not. I'm fairly sure the PvP-only aspect would have kept me away. I've yet to ever see a positive aspect of PvP. Someone always goes away mad.
Sounds like the exact same issue large corporations have. They spend so much time documenting processes and engaging procedures around those processes, no one does the actual work. What's worse is the reason they do all this documentation is so that anyone, regardless of skill level, can perform the job. Anyone in IT knows it takes a great deal more than "reading the instructions" to implement almost anything related to a computer.
I'm definitely not surprised. Our government for years has set a bad example that most U.S. companies gladly emulate: poor practice, no implementation, legal protection, excessive documentation, falsifying accounting, overspending the budget, overpaying the executives, underpaying the workers and getting no real work done.
Imagine how admired our government would be if they worked like a small business: small group of executive voices say to do it; fairly paid, valued workers do it; it gets done; customers are happy; repeat business ensues.
This game premise sounds exactly like the science project Lisa did where she placed her tooth in a petri dish and it developed into a micro-civilization worshipping her.
None of this sounds original to me, and I'm still banning ALL EA products after the way they ruined Ultima Online and for the way they treat their employees.
I recall playing Ultima IV, my first Ultima, on an Apple ][. I created a notebook to keep up with clues. As later versions came out, I purchased them, played them and stored them away. I went back and found all the previous games (even an original) as well and played them. My wall is covered will all of the cloth maps from all of the Ultima games. I have a bag containing all the trinkets. All the boxes line my bookshelf. I have a certificate signed by Lord British himself stating that I was the first to complete Ultima VI. I'm even immortalized in Ultima VII. You can find my gravestone in Skara Brae stating (in Britannic runes of course)"Here lies Phaltran who is *my real name*."
Did I mention I'm an Ultima fanatic? I don't fawn over celebrities. When I met Leonard Nimoy, Walter Koenig and Robert Picardo, I was pleased but not awed. If I ever get to meet Richard in person, I'll likely sound like a blithering idiot for stating something similar to this post.
The Virtues of the Avatar changed my life. They gave me a belief system that I could never find in religion. Shortly after discovering Ultima, I discovered Renaissance Faires. They went hand in hand. I have several costumes and accessories modeled after Avatar outfits. I bring my Avatar to life when I'm at Faire. I view all of these as positive impact on my life and I thank Richard for creating worlds that provided this.
Congratulations, Lord British. Well deserved recognition. Kudos all around.
What would a /. post be without humor? -> I certainly hope at this moment some EA executive is kicking him/herself in the ass for letting Richard leave Origin, for letting UO sink into ruination and for lacking the vision and leadership skills that Richard Garriott possesses.
Rollback the current SWG to pre-NGE and keep it in Episode IV timeline. Start a new SWG in the Episode I timeline. Give creative control to George Lucas and let him generate ideas for plot, quests, events, etc. Because if George could use his genious to create something as awesome as Episode I...
Sorry. I couldn't keep a straight face and keep typing. I seemed to have left my sarcasm switch on.
I played SWG in beta. That's all. It was uninteresting and boring then. I cannot imagine how mind-numbing it must be if all the die-hard SW fans that played it before hate it now.
SOE is making the same mistakes that EA made with Ultima Online: executives thinking they know what is best for the game.
All they have to do is listen to their playerbase. They created a dynamic world where they wanted the players to make a difference. LET THEM! It is obvious that the executives, producers and devs do not play their own games to the extent players do. If they did, then perhaps they would have that connection with their characters and the virtual world and understand why players get upset when flipping a bit alters the entire gaming experience. Similar to EA defending UO servers being offline. "Other servers are up. You can still play." Yeah, but the char I spent years developing and all of his STUFF is on the one that is down. What good does playing a new char on another server do me?
Might as well open a candy store selling everything for 5 cents, then once you have all the kids inside tell them they can only have 2 pieces each, there is no chocolate of any kind and everything now costs a dollar.