Unfortunately probably as many or more people will avoid buying anything from EA, myself included.
I have yet to forgive them for ruining the Ultima series and Ultima Online. I don't care what IP they get, they'd have to give me the game for free before I'd play it.
As they absorb and ruin more independent studios, I think more and more people will start boycotting EA.
Right there with you Dunbal. PC gaming will never die, and IMO is growing again.
Eventually consumers will catch on to the "buy a new console, buy all new games" scheme. If I bought a new PC today I could still play some of my old DOS games and almost everything in between. Add emulation and I can play other computers' games AND console games.
Besides, with internet access and a keyboard, how is a console much different than a PC? Oh, yeah, the PC has much more computing and graphical power.
Not to detract from DiGioia drastically improving the city's IT infrastructure and delivery, but how is this any different from the jobs thousands of IT managers/admins do every year? We're always looking to improve and re-use existing resources.
I think the real story here is "previous IT manager was a major failure; ignored technology for 10 years." I didn't see anything truly innovative about what DiGioia did. I guess what also must be newsworthy is getting a city to part with that much money for that big of an overhaul. That's the real accomplishment.
Whether or not the game has staying power, so many players out there now want the instant gratification. They'll burn through a game's content in a few days and expect the developers to create more overnight. I've watched this trend from Ultima Online in 1997 through present day with World of Warcraft. You have the "gimme now, I'm bored, I'm done" crowd and you have others that explore, achieve, socialize and flesh out the depth of the game. The double-edge sword is that the former will be the first ones to try and abandon a new game, and the latter wait until a game has been around for a while to join or they are reluctant to leave their established virtual world.
A free introduction, dynamic systems allowing change, dynamic or large amounts of content, inexpensive development and near 100% uptime are requirements for any MMO coming out today. I had never heard anything about this game until today.
I'd suggest another reason students are avoiding IT classes: IT is a dead-end industry.
As an IT professional of 26 years and a father of two, I am certainly doing my best to steer my children away from IT. I want them to do something that contributes to the world, helps others and provides a rewarding occupation. A computer is a tool, and nothing more. It should be only a small fraction of our job not the central focus of it. My kids can already do more with a computer than 90% of the people I've ever worked with or supported. In one hour I can teach them more about how a computer works than any high school or college course could in a semester. There simply is no reason for IT classes especially if they're more than a year behind.
I have no worries that we'll still have programmers and technologists for the future. Those that have a knack for and enjoy technology will pursue it on their own, take technical courses and find jobs doing what they enjoy. Others will have jobs that utilize a computer in some fashion but have no need to understand why it works. A large percentage of the population gets by just fine with no daily computer usage at all.
Call me a Luddite or a doomsayer, but I think people should learn much more important skills such as communication, hunting and construction. One of these days there will be no more computers as we know them now. Either technology will become so advanced it will be an integral and automatically understood part of our lives or it will disappear all together.
I've been working professionally with computers since 1984. I've been building my own systems since 1994.
This was not a primer or builder's guide. It was more of a "we don't know if our CPU will work on boards other than this or with components other than this." Over the months that I was troubleshooting this issue, I saw that list on AMD's website grow. Components matched, had the right voltages and bus speeds but were not on AMD's compatibility list.
With the number of pieces I switched out, the CPU was the only piece left that could have been faulty.
I am still considering trying AMD again. Surely since the years my problems occurred they would have improved.
Didn't Microsoft do this with their Zune's a year or two ago? I seem to recall a blog from a MS employee of how everyone went back to their iPods. I'm sure this will be the same result.
I forget the specs; I only recall it was an Athlon class. Regardless of video card I installed, nVidia or ATI, the system would randomly crash/reboot after 15 min, 1 hour, 3 hours... Thought it was heat, poor seating or a grounding issue, but all those checked out.
Later I did more research and discovered AMDs compatibility charts: CPU, power supplies, motherboards, GPU. Just the fact that it existed bothered me. Intel has no such document to the best of my knowledge, but then Windows and every hardware and software designed for Windows are designed around Intel.
I may try AMD again due to recent reviews and friend recommendations.
I stand corrected. I just did the same thing and hit $520. Though my history with AMD has me leery of compatibility which requires more research and time. I'd rather a builder handle that for me.
I'm in the same boat. I was considering an upgrade earlier this year, but as I started pricing systems and couldn't compare systems side-by-side I decided to hold off.
After reading this article I'm considering something I swore to never do again 13 years ago: I may buy an AMD./shudder
Exactly. I'm guessing there is a high percentage of system builders on/. It stopped being economical to build your own system in the early 00's, but I still use the same judgment of bang for the buck on a pre- or custom built system: I'm going to get the most processor that fits my budget. On one hand I'll trust that the system builder is pricing the CPU accordingly and when I pick one of three CPU in the $xxx range I'll be getting equivalent power. On the other hand I *will* do quite a bit of research before I purchase, know generally which ones are more powerful and watch the price drops for a prime time to purchase.
I'm thrilled when new CPU come out because I can start looking at the previous generation for my next upgrade.
Attaching a DVI/HDMI cable from a PC graphics card is no more difficult than the HDBMI/RGB/RCA cables from a console. Decent graphics cards (128MB+) can easily drive a 40-60" TV be it DLP, LCD, plasma or LED.
I did this exact thing using a 50" DLP when WoW came out in November 2004.
You forgot one step for the PC that would make Kotick's "dream" a reality:
0. Attach PC to HD, large format LCD TV via DVI/HDMI cable.
Am I missing something here? There is nothing difficult about connecting a PC to a TV. When WoW first came out November 2004 we connected it to our 50" DLP screen for a week as everyone in the family tried out the new game. The rest of us watched as if it was an interactive movie.
UO was a generation of MMOs that was still learning how to do a MMO properly. WoW is so successful because Blizzard got the formula 99% correct and MMORPG became a household name for 12 million people.
I played UO from retail release in September 1997 until WoW came out in 2004. I was a long-time Ultima series player and had high hopes for UO. It greatly disappointed on that point. The first few months were pure frustration due to bugs, stealing and PKs. Sheer determination and attraction to the world of Britannia kept me playing. I am certain these issues and 'features' of the game steered others away.
I tried to get my wife and friends interested in it multiple times over the years, but each time PKs and the sheer tediousness of repetitive tasks to increase skills left a bad impression. I kept playing because there was nothing else like it. EQ came out, but had such horrendous artwork (trying to be realistic with too low graphics/technology) I avoided it. I beta tested and tried many other MMOs, but they were all still learning, too: poor interfaces, weak mechanics, no story, pure PvP.
UO was a major stepping stone for MMORPGs. While the open-ended skill system is a good method for skill based systems, the PvP system, or lack thereof in the first years, was a good example of how NOT to design a game.
Eye candy, easy interface, easy to learn, tons of information, low system requirements, appeal to casual, hard-core, PvP players all around... WoW learned all it could from its predecessors and put it all together correctly. There is a reason there are not games similar to UO; people learned well from its mistakes.
There is no stopping them because they are the ones who built this maze in which we now find ourselves working and they want it this way but faster and cheaper.
I started in IT in 1984 because I liked technology and liked the idea of helping people do their job more efficiently.
Now I completely loathe my job and have no satisfaction in it whatsoever. Because business (managers, executives) did not understand technology and could not control every aspect of IT, standards, processes and procedures were created so multiple levels of management jobs could be created and they could plan, discuss and report on the work without ever doing any real work at all. Meanwhile we admins/techs lose sleep, give up personal time and are looked down upon as we perform the actual work. Add to this the extra challenges of lack of real planning, short notice, navigating the imposed standards and processes, receiving approval from numerous individuals at multiple levels and then the potential technical challenge of the change/fix/add.
In our spare time we're supposed to stay up on technology and trends, finds ways to improve the business, get/stay certified, be on call 24x7, document every freaking thing we do, deliver outstanding customer service and maintain a positive attitude.
I don't even need to mention that every manager above the admin/tech is making at least twice the tech's salary.
They have us right where they want us. Why change?
Now imagine that you did all your normal work, put in the long hours, saved the company $$$, picked up extra duties by the departure of a team member, earned two certifications, came close to divorce and losing your family because you're not there and when you are there you're grumpy, management only talks to you to give you more work and you receive NO raise, NO bonus or any form of gratification.
Welcome to the last two years of my life. I have a feeling there are many others here who have similar experiences.
Had 100% matching up to 4% and last year was cut in half, 50% up to 4%. Yes, it was a major slap in the face, but in the end we were purchased by another company with 100% up to 5%. Major morale booster with the new company, but I'm fairly certain now it was all planned manipulation of our emotions.
You forgot two important points that uniforms provide: social engineering and cost savings.
With the ease of getting the right color polo shirt, hackers can easily pass for a company employee to other employees or customers and acquire information useful to steal information, equipment or money. Get a blue vest and a clipboard and you can walk out of Wal-mart with a cart full of LCD TVs as you "transfer them" to another store. Remember the chaos caused by a group of people with blue polo shirts and khaki pants at Best Buy?
The only benefit uniforms provide in my opinion are employer paid clothing that doesn't have to come out of your pocket when it gets torn by your every day work. I worked in a computer rental shop that required dress pants and ties. Not only was my tie getting caught in PC fans constantly, but I went through 4 pair of pants in one year and I had to pay to replace them.
Despite the original poster stating "...know us by name," the managers cannot actually tell one IT person apart from another. Wearing similar shirts help management to think less... if that is possible.
Slashdot Mirror
- Avoid avarice when EA suits show up to buy out your studio and ruin your life's work.
I have yet to forgive them for ruining the Ultima series and Ultima Online. I don't care what IP they get, they'd have to give me the game for free before I'd play it.
As they absorb and ruin more independent studios, I think more and more people will start boycotting EA.
I chose my TI-99/4A over my Atari 2600 rather quickly. NES (8 bit) came out and distracted me briefly with Zelda, but I went for the PC 286.
I think we're all cursed to tolerate the console fanboys every generation.
Eventually consumers will catch on to the "buy a new console, buy all new games" scheme. If I bought a new PC today I could still play some of my old DOS games and almost everything in between. Add emulation and I can play other computers' games AND console games.
Besides, with internet access and a keyboard, how is a console much different than a PC? Oh, yeah, the PC has much more computing and graphical power.
How far off is it before NELL is LOL'ing and STFU'ing?
I think the real story here is "previous IT manager was a major failure; ignored technology for 10 years." I didn't see anything truly innovative about what DiGioia did. I guess what also must be newsworthy is getting a city to part with that much money for that big of an overhaul. That's the real accomplishment.
TFA nor the website tell what the purpose of the game is either. After reading the "city history" I gathered you can choose to be a cop or a criminal.
Whether or not the game has staying power, so many players out there now want the instant gratification. They'll burn through a game's content in a few days and expect the developers to create more overnight. I've watched this trend from Ultima Online in 1997 through present day with World of Warcraft. You have the "gimme now, I'm bored, I'm done" crowd and you have others that explore, achieve, socialize and flesh out the depth of the game. The double-edge sword is that the former will be the first ones to try and abandon a new game, and the latter wait until a game has been around for a while to join or they are reluctant to leave their established virtual world.
A free introduction, dynamic systems allowing change, dynamic or large amounts of content, inexpensive development and near 100% uptime are requirements for any MMO coming out today. I had never heard anything about this game until today.
As an IT professional of 26 years and a father of two, I am certainly doing my best to steer my children away from IT. I want them to do something that contributes to the world, helps others and provides a rewarding occupation. A computer is a tool, and nothing more. It should be only a small fraction of our job not the central focus of it. My kids can already do more with a computer than 90% of the people I've ever worked with or supported. In one hour I can teach them more about how a computer works than any high school or college course could in a semester. There simply is no reason for IT classes especially if they're more than a year behind.
I have no worries that we'll still have programmers and technologists for the future. Those that have a knack for and enjoy technology will pursue it on their own, take technical courses and find jobs doing what they enjoy. Others will have jobs that utilize a computer in some fashion but have no need to understand why it works. A large percentage of the population gets by just fine with no daily computer usage at all.
Call me a Luddite or a doomsayer, but I think people should learn much more important skills such as communication, hunting and construction. One of these days there will be no more computers as we know them now. Either technology will become so advanced it will be an integral and automatically understood part of our lives or it will disappear all together.
Yes. Replaced everything except CPU. I'm hoping it was just a bad batch or a fluke.
This was not a primer or builder's guide. It was more of a "we don't know if our CPU will work on boards other than this or with components other than this." Over the months that I was troubleshooting this issue, I saw that list on AMD's website grow. Components matched, had the right voltages and bus speeds but were not on AMD's compatibility list.
With the number of pieces I switched out, the CPU was the only piece left that could have been faulty.
I am still considering trying AMD again. Surely since the years my problems occurred they would have improved.
Didn't Microsoft do this with their Zune's a year or two ago? I seem to recall a blog from a MS employee of how everyone went back to their iPods. I'm sure this will be the same result.
Later I did more research and discovered AMDs compatibility charts: CPU, power supplies, motherboards, GPU. Just the fact that it existed bothered me. Intel has no such document to the best of my knowledge, but then Windows and every hardware and software designed for Windows are designed around Intel.
I may try AMD again due to recent reviews and friend recommendations.
Try comparing with this builder.
http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/
After reading this article I'm considering something I swore to never do again 13 years ago: I may buy an AMD. /shudder
I'm thrilled when new CPU come out because I can start looking at the previous generation for my next upgrade.
Attaching a DVI/HDMI cable from a PC graphics card is no more difficult than the HDBMI/RGB/RCA cables from a console. Decent graphics cards (128MB+) can easily drive a 40-60" TV be it DLP, LCD, plasma or LED.
I did this exact thing using a 50" DLP when WoW came out in November 2004.
0. Attach PC to HD, large format LCD TV via DVI/HDMI cable.
Am I missing something here? There is nothing difficult about connecting a PC to a TV. When WoW first came out November 2004 we connected it to our 50" DLP screen for a week as everyone in the family tried out the new game. The rest of us watched as if it was an interactive movie.
I played UO from retail release in September 1997 until WoW came out in 2004. I was a long-time Ultima series player and had high hopes for UO. It greatly disappointed on that point. The first few months were pure frustration due to bugs, stealing and PKs. Sheer determination and attraction to the world of Britannia kept me playing. I am certain these issues and 'features' of the game steered others away.
I tried to get my wife and friends interested in it multiple times over the years, but each time PKs and the sheer tediousness of repetitive tasks to increase skills left a bad impression. I kept playing because there was nothing else like it. EQ came out, but had such horrendous artwork (trying to be realistic with too low graphics/technology) I avoided it. I beta tested and tried many other MMOs, but they were all still learning, too: poor interfaces, weak mechanics, no story, pure PvP.
UO was a major stepping stone for MMORPGs. While the open-ended skill system is a good method for skill based systems, the PvP system, or lack thereof in the first years, was a good example of how NOT to design a game.
Eye candy, easy interface, easy to learn, tons of information, low system requirements, appeal to casual, hard-core, PvP players all around... WoW learned all it could from its predecessors and put it all together correctly. There is a reason there are not games similar to UO; people learned well from its mistakes.
I started in IT in 1984 because I liked technology and liked the idea of helping people do their job more efficiently.
Now I completely loathe my job and have no satisfaction in it whatsoever. Because business (managers, executives) did not understand technology and could not control every aspect of IT, standards, processes and procedures were created so multiple levels of management jobs could be created and they could plan, discuss and report on the work without ever doing any real work at all. Meanwhile we admins/techs lose sleep, give up personal time and are looked down upon as we perform the actual work. Add to this the extra challenges of lack of real planning, short notice, navigating the imposed standards and processes, receiving approval from numerous individuals at multiple levels and then the potential technical challenge of the change/fix/add.
In our spare time we're supposed to stay up on technology and trends, finds ways to improve the business, get/stay certified, be on call 24x7, document every freaking thing we do, deliver outstanding customer service and maintain a positive attitude.
I don't even need to mention that every manager above the admin/tech is making at least twice the tech's salary.
They have us right where they want us. Why change?
Welcome to the last two years of my life. I have a feeling there are many others here who have similar experiences.
You are fortunate to have received that raise for your previous projects. Only method for a raise I've seen in the past 13 years is a new job.
Had 100% matching up to 4% and last year was cut in half, 50% up to 4%. Yes, it was a major slap in the face, but in the end we were purchased by another company with 100% up to 5%. Major morale booster with the new company, but I'm fairly certain now it was all planned manipulation of our emotions.
With the ease of getting the right color polo shirt, hackers can easily pass for a company employee to other employees or customers and acquire information useful to steal information, equipment or money. Get a blue vest and a clipboard and you can walk out of Wal-mart with a cart full of LCD TVs as you "transfer them" to another store. Remember the chaos caused by a group of people with blue polo shirts and khaki pants at Best Buy?
The only benefit uniforms provide in my opinion are employer paid clothing that doesn't have to come out of your pocket when it gets torn by your every day work. I worked in a computer rental shop that required dress pants and ties. Not only was my tie getting caught in PC fans constantly, but I went through 4 pair of pants in one year and I had to pay to replace them.
Despite the original poster stating "...know us by name," the managers cannot actually tell one IT person apart from another. Wearing similar shirts help management to think less... if that is possible.