Sure, companies can afford expensive services or set up complicated rerouting. But what about those of us who would like simply to host a domain (or have one hosted for us by an ISP)?
I'm using several different anti-spam measures, and still a bunch get through.
What really ticks me off is I have a couple of really sweet domains -- which are literally unusable due to spam. Inadequate filters and I can't tell the spam from the legit stuff. Have filters that're too good, and legit email gets bounced.
I'm using Fastmail.fm for a couple of those otherwise unusable domains. It blocks about 95% of the spam with my current settings and custom sieve rule set. But even one still ticks me off.
Hell yes, I support the idea that we humans need to get off our collective asses and get off this fragile little planet.
However, Mr. Cubicledrone, I'm not going to argue that the notion is impractical. Or that it shouldn't be done. We NEED to get off this planet and out there, exploring.
I will repeat what many others here have said: This announcement is NOTHING but a political ploy from a guy who's built an entire existence around lies. His -father- floated the same proposal over a decade ago -- and then never funded a single project that would've pushed NASA in that direction.
Bush the Lesser, as always, will probably do his father one better: Grandious proposals, followed by gutting the very programs he claims to be supporting.
Environmental initiatives -- followed by massive cuts in EPA enforcement, Parks department funding, and pollution restrictions.
Education reform (aka "Leave No Child Behind") -- Grossly underfunded.
Photo-op last year with those rescued miners in Pennsylvania -- followed by cuts in OSHA safety enforcement funding.
And in this case, look for NASA's budget to be cut, not increased. It's what the Shrubster's done before, and it's what he'll keep on doing.
Frankly, we'll see a Taikonaut on the Moon long before we'll ever see another American there. China's is the only manned space program actually BUILDING NEW LAUNCH SYSTEMS.
You can believe it helps my productivity as a tech writer. FrameMaker on part of one screen, a couple open emails on the other, a search browser somewhere in the middle, Acrobat somewhere else, and an IM or two near the bottom--
Oh damn! Right, it's also easier to be non-productive with so much real-estate clamoring for attention. *grins*
I just recently picked up a VAIO PCG-RZ22G desktop a couple weeks ago, after my homebuilt system finally had a complete meltdown.
This thing isn't even top-of-the-line, and yet it has video capture and recording software -- a thing they call 'Gigapocket' (whatever the hell that actually means). In preactical terms though, what it does mean is that I can record and playback video. And yes -- this thing also has a DVD burner.
I think I paid about $1350 for the unit. Could've gotten an even faster one, but this was good enough, and I could only just barely justify the 'extra toys' expense of this one.
So... I don't know why people are all excited about some model available in Japan. This one's available right now, in the U.S. and elsewhere. And it's CHEAP!
(1) Is trying to sell me something, and (2) I did not request or explicitly opt-in to receive.
It annoys me that just because my address has been harvested from who knows where, that my only options are to change it periodically or wade through my SpamAssassin folder every now and then looking for the false-positives. It also annoys me that my ISP-alloted thruput and server capacity is being taken without my permission -- which in my book equals theft.
...that upon the last cry of 'wolf', the boy was telling the truth.
True enough -- there have been those who've been throwing around the terms 'nazi' and 'fascist' quite loosely over the years, often in a paroxism of hyperbole.
Thing is, though, we here in the U.S. didn't used to lock up citizens and foreigners by the thousands, bereft of the rights guaranteed them by the Constitution. We didn't used to put civil rights, Green party, and antiwar activists on "no fly" lists. We didn't used to threaten first-strike nuclear weapons' policies. And even if it was usually ignored, our Presidents used to at least give a wink and nod towards the notion that it's supposed to be Congress that passes laws and declares wars, and that the Judiciary passes judgment.
Time to call it what it is, even if to the ears of some, it is crying 'wolf' -- because wolf it is, this time.
That's okay -- a growing number of us here in the U.S. are becoming increasingly ashamed of what is being done in our name.
On behalf of all of those who do actually believe that human rights are inalienable, that our last Presidential election was stolen, and that our government is completely out of control -- we apologize, and hope to put matters to right, if we can.
Some of us still remember that torture, in any form, is wrong. That due process, habeas corpus, free and open trials, rights to face once accusers, freedom from unreasonable search and seizure were so important -- so fundamental to the basic existence of civilized human beings -- we put them into the operating covenant of our nation. Some of us still remember that 'ferreted out and arrested' does not automatically equal "Guilty".
And if we fail to prevail... well, it was nice knowing you. We hope you remember us in our better days, before we turned into a dangerous pack of rabid fear-mongering sheep.
...will relegate the grand old empire known as the Unites States of America to the dustbin of history.
I'm far more fearful of those calling themselves "patriots" these days than I am of any terrorist or shadowy terrorist organization.
Sure, you're right: It is no guarantee that every foreign student isn't a terrorist wannabe, sympathizer, or future bomber. So for the sake of what?-- one out of ten thousand, we'd deny the remaining 9,999 the right to read books free of censorship, the right to pursue research free of crypto-fascist religiously-motivated dogma, and the basic human rights of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness -- not to mention privacy?
Yeah, sure -- I might get killed in any one of a hundred horrible ways. But y'know what? We're all gonna die someday, and I'd rather have one day of freedom and liberty than eighty years of fascist repression.
Or, as dear old Ben Franklin put it, "Those that can give up essential liberty for the sake of a little temporary safety deserve neither."
I'd rather take my chances with the terrorists, thank you very much. They're far less hypocritical.
I used to work for the Microsoft's "Asheron's Call", back when they used to use a whole slew of volunteers, as opposed to just a few minimum wage Admins (with which they replaced all of us when MS feared a labor law lawsuit). They now have the same model now as Sony: A tiny number of GMs responsible for thousands of players. Have a problem? Take a number and MAYBE someone'll get around to you, and no, there's no way to flag your request in case of an emergency.
I also served for a time as a Guardian in Funcom's "Anarchy Online", when that game first launched (if the game equivalent of the Titanic ever could be said to have 'launched') before the sheer levels of incompetence (on the part of their whole staff) and impotence (on my part as an Operations Coordinator) caused me to decide to quit in disgust.
Aside: Yeah, I was a glutton for punishment... but I'd fooled myself into thinking it'd be different or better the second time around. I was wrong: It was worse beyond my wildest imaginings. On the other hand, that experience, except for brief (1 month each) forays into playing E&B and DAoC, pretty much broke my online gaming (and volunteering) habit.
I'll be quite honest -- I got to see both sides of that online game addiction coin. I played WAY too much. Same kind of thing, in that the more I played, the more the nerfs, sociopathic fellow players, annoying game bugs, and the general arbitrariness of the whole thing got on my nerves.
You can't win. Even if you think you've accomplished something and are ahead, the Devs can just as easily take it away a month later.
What's worse, the more time you put into it, the harder it'll be just to walk away from your 'investment' of time.
And when I made it onto the Online Team as an Asheron's Call Sentinel (in-game GM, but with limited powers) and Chancellor (out-of-game Help chatroom), I was literally putting in 50-60 hours a week on that gig. There, the problem was that I'd fooled myself into believing I was accomplishing something good and worthwhile -- completely blind to the fact I was being used like a flop-house whore by Microsoft.
My own damned fault though, as far as I'm concerned, and my blindness was embraced willingly, because I didn't want to believe it was all a waste of time -- and not even fun.
Needless to say, my consulting business as a tech writer began to suffer. Oh, I got my projects done on time and all that. But I wasn't putting in anything like the time necessary to continue landing new gigs. The money began to dry up.
I witnessed firsthand more than a few players and online team volunteers flunking out of college, losing their jobs, getting divorced, being evicted, you name it. These games, like any addictive activity, had the very real potential to ruin people's lives. I know. I -saw- it happen, and came damned close to having it happen to me, too.
I have to say it: This guy is dead-on right about the way enjoyment, fun, and entertainment slowly morph into hate, anger, and loathing. What's worse, the more I'd put into it, the worse it got.
The same model as applies in EQ applied in Asheron's Call. Get people to buy the game, get 'em to sign on, and suck up as much of their time as possible -- and periodically grab some more money through "optional" expansion packs. Make quitting as difficult as possible -- up to and including making it nigh impossible to quit without a scavenger hunt on some obscure webpage... about as hard as it used to be to find an uncamped Olthoi Noble spawn in the old Black Spawn Den. As far as I know, Microsoft's Gaming Zone STILL does not have a customer service phone number you can call to resolve account problems or to cancel. (Well, you -could- call the number they are required by law to put on your credit card bill, and they'd do the deed... but the AC Online Team was explicitly -forbidden- from giving out, mentioning, or otherwise acknowledging the existence of that phone number.)
Same deal for players on the constant nerfs, character balancing, overpowered items (guaranteed to be nerfed), useless quest items (guaranteed to be left alone), and buggy patches. Now mind you, I got to work behind the curtain to a certain degree.
We ALWAYS knew that patch days were going to be utter hell, especially in the ACHR (AC Help Room), because each patch had a fairly significant chance of breaking the game software entirely for a sizeable percentage of the players, especially those patches which affected graphic elements and/or the GUI. Then, inside the game, we had the usual MOB training and kill-stealing, kids with foul-mouths and too little supervision, and the occasional sexual stalker or online harasser. On those patch days, I would often put in 14-18 hours straight (yes, I was insane), just trying to help players get into the game. We hated the bugginess of the patches, and knew damned well that the developers spent virtually zero time regression testing each patch slapped on like another leaky seal on a sinking submarine. The so-called test team, known as Vanguard, seemed to exist entirely and solely for the purpose of leaking quest solutions to the most exploitive players in the game (some of which were ON the Vanguard test team).
And why? Because they (MS and Turbine) didn't have the budget or the time for it. Players were always clamoring for new content, so they got it -- ready or not. Emphasis on 'not'.
As for the volunteer team itself... well, welcome to Peyton Place, my friends. Few people could be more vicious at times than those who'd clawed their way to a position of pseudo-authority in the ranks of unpaid volunteers. The less the actual reward, the more nasty the infighting. Now, mind you, a LOT of the volunteers were great. Heck, we STILL stay in touch, quite a few of us, and this is years after they let us go.
But we weren't paid professionals. Most of us did the job because we thought it might make a difference. Some, though, did the job because they liked the power, or because they thought it would help them cheat -- and in a few sad cases, it did. I had a particular talent for enforcing against harassment and other ingame stuff usually willfully ignored by MS management. Of course, it helped that most players had no real idea as to exactly what I could do... but my powers pretty much began and ended at teleportation, gagging, and one-day game bans. MS didn't trust us with anything more. I got quite a bit done by bluff and subterfuge, and by giving the distinct impression that if I asked MS management to permaban an account, they'd do so. Actually, on balance, they had such a laissez faire attitude towards the players, you'd see players get away with some of the most amazingly racist, sexually explicit, and downright criminal behavior on a regular basis. Players's would run around with foul or racist names for a year or more before the MS Admins would get around to doing anything about it.
In any event, I came around to an interesting realization, during my time with AC: The people running these games -- companies like Sony (EQ), MS (AC and AC2), EA (Earth & Beyond), and Mythic (DAoC), and Funcom (Anarchy Online). And the Developers. And the GMs. In the fictional game world they create, they ARE the gods.
And like the Greek gods of myth, they're flawed, vain, petty, arbitrary, and they make mistakes. AC's ongoing Chief Dev hated mages, so guess which class was constantly getting nerfed after game launch? Funcom's head of the Admin teams refused to believe that there was anything resembling serious in-game harassment could occur -- and so that game launched without the ability to squelch (block unwanted chat).
Anyway... I left AC entirely shortly after they dismissed the volunteers, in part because as my playing character, I witnessed a guy spamming broadcast chat in one of the towns, asking if there were any little girls around because he "liked them young and tight". There was much more explicit stuff, but you get the idea. It was reported, but nothing was done. I heard tell that another fellow spammed racial epithets in front of dozens of other players for hours, again with nothing done about it.
Let's fact it: These companies are in it to make a buck. They care only to entertain enough to get you hooked, then as far as they're concerned, you're just a renewing account and a credit card number.
I prefer single-player games now. There's no issue of cheats or exploiters. No harassment. Patches actually FIX bugs, as opposed to creating them. And most of all, there comes a point where I can honestly say, "I won! That was fun. Now I'll go do something else until the next interesting game comes out."
cheers, Technowitch formerly Chancellor and Sentinel Kadera
Well, the first thing you do is call AOL and cancel your acc't there and/or use their online systems to do the deed.
Then, if the following month, if you see a charge from them, call the customer service number on the back of the credit card you used to pay for your AOL account. Tell them that you cancelled the account, the date on which you did so, and let them know that the charges were not authorized. Let your CC company know that no future charges from AOL should be honored.
Perhaps not, but that's what happens when someone believes the hype and is disappointed with what's delivered.
A good many gamers -- particularly those of use who were burned by less-than-stellar initial releases of other online gaming products -- are now a more informed audience.
In other words, I already know I'm not interested in X-Box Live and its meager offerings. This, especially given the sheer level of incompetency and carelessness shown by Microsoft's Gaming Zone and their support (or utter lack thereof) for MS-sponsored online gaming.
Or to put it still another way: We know better. And there's no service to call up and irately cancel if we don't bother to buy the products in the first place.
As someone who's worked in the computer industry for 16+ years, as employee, temp, contractor, and freelance, I've covered pretty near all the bases and situations.
And yes, I have had previous employers and/or clients ask me for "help" some time after we'd parted ways. Sometimes it's just a simple, "Do you happen to remember where...?"-type question. Occasionally, it's rather more involved. Once, I had a client who'd lost the documentation files I'd worked on, and they were -desperate- to know if I had a backup copy (I did; I always do).
I have some very simple rules regarding these requests for help. If it is something I can answer in 10 minutes or less of phone or email time, no problem. I see this sort of service as simple good customer relations.
If it sounds like it'll be longer than that, I say, "I'll be glad to help you, but you need to understand that I need to pay the bills and make a living, too. My standard hourly rate is $x/hour, with a two hour minimum for off-site work and an eight hour minimum for on-site. As soon as you send me a faxed authorization letter on company letter head and a purchase order number against which we can charge my time, we can do business."
The bozos and those cheapskates looking for a free ride usually bugger off right quick. The people who are serious and ethical hardly ever blink an eye -- because to them, it's simply business.
There is power in the word "no" -- and we, particularly we here in America where 'organized labor' has become a dirty word, have lost sight of it.
"No" as in "No, this schedule is unreasonable and I will not give up my vacation to meet these arbitrary, marketing department-driven deadlings."
"No" as in "No, I'm not available to work all weekend, just because the Quality Assurance group found all these bugs and they now need to be documented. I promised my daughter I'd see her in her first soccer game and that's a promise I mean to keep."
"No" as in "No, I've given you late evenings four nights already this week, the world is not going to fall apart if I go home ON TIME this Friday, because my spouse has prepared a lovely anniversary dinner and he'll be mighty pissed if I miss it... again!"
I'm serious. This 'higher productivity' bullshit has come at the cost of our lives and what's worse, we continue to pretend to think that sacrificing our lives for the almighty spreadsheet somehow will entitle us to the life of the wannabe dot-com neuveau riche.
It's rubbish. The whole game was rigged from the start, except perhaps for a few lucky 'lottery ticket' winners -- most of whom are either now broke (again) or have sold their souls to Beelzebub (aka the Almighty Dollar).
Technowitch...who would be more wealthy if she said 'no' less often, but much less happy...
Okay, so it wasn't quite that dramatic. However, I went from about 12 diopters of miopia in both eyes, along with some astigmatism, to 20/20 vision.
Having worn eyeglasses since the age of 7, and contact lenses most of my adult life, I'd had no idea how much of my everyday existence was defined by those words on my driver's licence: "Needs Corrective Lenses".
I love the results and would do it again in a heartbeat. The price was great -- $3300(US) for both eyes, with all of the preparatory and followup exams. I could've gotten it done cheaper, but I write for a living. So yes, the thought that I could be that one in however many it is who ends up blind did prey on my thoughts. What's more, I'm one of those sorts who is terrified of anything getting near my eyes. (I have a LOT of trouble watching one particular scene in "A Clockwork Orange", and it's not because of what little Droogy Alex is being forced to vid, but rather what they do to make certain he watches...). Anyway -- thank goodness for valium.
The first day was pretty hellish, what with the pain and constant eye-watering, but I got through it by listening to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone on CD, napping, and listening to music. I could tell that my vision had been improved, but the eye shields kept me from seeing much.
The following morning, the eye-shields came off, and I'd say I was at about 20/40 vision. Over the following week, my eyes kept getting better, although dryness was a problem -- treatable though with natural tears eyedrops.
Within three weeks, I was back to 100%, no more drops needed, and my vision has never been sharper or better.
Slashdot Mirror
Sure, companies can afford expensive services or set up complicated rerouting. But what about those of us who would like simply to host a domain (or have one hosted for us by an ISP)?
I'm using several different anti-spam measures, and still a bunch get through.
What really ticks me off is I have a couple of really sweet domains -- which are literally unusable due to spam. Inadequate filters and I can't tell the spam from the legit stuff. Have filters that're too good, and legit email gets bounced.
I'm using Fastmail.fm for a couple of those otherwise unusable domains. It blocks about 95% of the spam with my current settings and custom sieve rule set. But even one still ticks me off.
Hell yes, I support the idea that we humans need to get off our collective asses and get off this fragile little planet.
However, Mr. Cubicledrone, I'm not going to argue that the notion is impractical. Or that it shouldn't be done. We NEED to get off this planet and out there, exploring.
I will repeat what many others here have said: This announcement is NOTHING but a political ploy from a guy who's built an entire existence around lies. His -father- floated the same proposal over a decade ago -- and then never funded a single project that would've pushed NASA in that direction.
Bush the Lesser, as always, will probably do his father one better: Grandious proposals, followed by gutting the very programs he claims to be supporting.
Environmental initiatives -- followed by massive cuts in EPA enforcement, Parks department funding, and pollution restrictions.
Education reform (aka "Leave No Child Behind") -- Grossly underfunded.
Photo-op last year with those rescued miners in Pennsylvania -- followed by cuts in OSHA safety enforcement funding.
And in this case, look for NASA's budget to be cut, not increased. It's what the Shrubster's done before, and it's what he'll keep on doing.
Frankly, we'll see a Taikonaut on the Moon long before we'll ever see another American there. China's is the only manned space program actually BUILDING NEW LAUNCH SYSTEMS.
I believe Mr. Franklin said it best: "Those that can give up essential liberty for a little temporary safety will get neither."
We're all going to die someday. I'd rather have a year of freedom than decades of the illusory safety of the gulag.
-Technowitch
And I run 'em at 16x12 res.
You can believe it helps my productivity as a tech writer. FrameMaker on part of one screen, a couple open emails on the other, a search browser somewhere in the middle, Acrobat somewhere else, and an IM or two near the bottom--
Oh damn! Right, it's also easier to be non-productive with so much real-estate clamoring for attention. *grins*
-Technowitch
Sex = procreation = creating life
Violence = killing = destroying life
How perverse a species we've become, that the former is 'dirty' and 'immoral', whereas the other is 'no great harm'.
Personally, I'd rather my kids watch people making love all day long than to see a single instance where killing, maiming, and hurting is glorified.
I just recently picked up a VAIO PCG-RZ22G desktop a couple weeks ago, after my homebuilt system finally had a complete meltdown.
This thing isn't even top-of-the-line, and yet it has video capture and recording software -- a thing they call 'Gigapocket' (whatever the hell that actually means). In preactical terms though, what it does mean is that I can record and playback video. And yes -- this thing also has a DVD burner.
I think I paid about $1350 for the unit. Could've gotten an even faster one, but this was good enough, and I could only just barely justify the 'extra toys' expense of this one.
So... I don't know why people are all excited about some model available in Japan. This one's available right now, in the U.S. and elsewhere. And it's CHEAP!
-Technowitch
Loved 'Better Off Dead'.
"Ricky, I'm sorry your mom blew up."
...the end of that particular road is already here.
They don't have to prove a thing to drop you into a very, very deep hole from which you will never be seen again.
Think it can't happen? Just ask Mr. Padilla.
I define spam as any email that:
(1) Is trying to sell me something, and
(2) I did not request or explicitly opt-in to receive.
It annoys me that just because my address has been harvested from who knows where, that my only options are to change it periodically or wade through my SpamAssassin folder every now and then looking for the false-positives. It also annoys me that my ISP-alloted thruput and server capacity is being taken without my permission -- which in my book equals theft.
-Technowitch
...that upon the last cry of 'wolf', the boy was telling the truth.
True enough -- there have been those who've been throwing around the terms 'nazi' and 'fascist' quite loosely over the years, often in a paroxism of hyperbole.
Thing is, though, we here in the U.S. didn't used to lock up citizens and foreigners by the thousands, bereft of the rights guaranteed them by the Constitution. We didn't used to put civil rights, Green party, and antiwar activists on "no fly" lists. We didn't used to threaten first-strike nuclear weapons' policies. And even if it was usually ignored, our Presidents used to at least give a wink and nod towards the notion that it's supposed to be Congress that passes laws and declares wars, and that the Judiciary passes judgment.
Time to call it what it is, even if to the ears of some, it is crying 'wolf' -- because wolf it is, this time.
That's okay -- a growing number of us here in the U.S. are becoming increasingly ashamed of what is being done in our name.
On behalf of all of those who do actually believe that human rights are inalienable, that our last Presidential election was stolen, and that our government is completely out of control -- we apologize, and hope to put matters to right, if we can.
Some of us still remember that torture, in any form, is wrong. That due process, habeas corpus, free and open trials, rights to face once accusers, freedom from unreasonable search and seizure were so important -- so fundamental to the basic existence of civilized human beings -- we put them into the operating covenant of our nation. Some of us still remember that 'ferreted out and arrested' does not automatically equal "Guilty".
And if we fail to prevail... well, it was nice knowing you. We hope you remember us in our better days, before we turned into a dangerous pack of rabid fear-mongering sheep.
...will relegate the grand old empire known as the Unites States of America to the dustbin of history.
I'm far more fearful of those calling themselves "patriots" these days than I am of any terrorist or shadowy terrorist organization.
Sure, you're right: It is no guarantee that every foreign student isn't a terrorist wannabe, sympathizer, or future bomber. So for the sake of what?-- one out of ten thousand, we'd deny the remaining 9,999 the right to read books free of censorship, the right to pursue research free of crypto-fascist religiously-motivated dogma, and the basic human rights of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness -- not to mention privacy?
Yeah, sure -- I might get killed in any one of a hundred horrible ways. But y'know what? We're all gonna die someday, and I'd rather have one day of freedom and liberty than eighty years of fascist repression.
Or, as dear old Ben Franklin put it, "Those that can give up essential liberty for the sake of a little temporary safety deserve neither."
I'd rather take my chances with the terrorists, thank you very much. They're far less hypocritical.
-Technowitch
Thanks bunches, Fastlink. Mega props to ya.
best,
Technowitch
I used to work for the Microsoft's "Asheron's Call", back when they used to use a whole slew of volunteers, as opposed to just a few minimum wage Admins (with which they replaced all of us when MS feared a labor law lawsuit). They now have the same model now as Sony: A tiny number of GMs responsible for thousands of players. Have a problem? Take a number and MAYBE someone'll get around to you, and no, there's no way to flag your request in case of an emergency.
I also served for a time as a Guardian in Funcom's "Anarchy Online", when that game first launched (if the game equivalent of the Titanic ever could be said to have 'launched') before the sheer levels of incompetence (on the part of their whole staff) and impotence (on my part as an Operations Coordinator) caused me to decide to quit in disgust.
Aside: Yeah, I was a glutton for punishment... but I'd fooled myself into thinking it'd be different or better the second time around. I was wrong: It was worse beyond my wildest imaginings. On the other hand, that experience, except for brief (1 month each) forays into playing E&B and DAoC, pretty much broke my online gaming (and volunteering) habit.
I'll be quite honest -- I got to see both sides of that online game addiction coin. I played WAY too much. Same kind of thing, in that the more I played, the more the nerfs, sociopathic fellow players, annoying game bugs, and the general arbitrariness of the whole thing got on my nerves.
You can't win. Even if you think you've accomplished something and are ahead, the Devs can just as easily take it away a month later.
What's worse, the more time you put into it, the harder it'll be just to walk away from your 'investment' of time.
And when I made it onto the Online Team as an Asheron's Call Sentinel (in-game GM, but with limited powers) and Chancellor (out-of-game Help chatroom), I was literally putting in 50-60 hours a week on that gig. There, the problem was that I'd fooled myself into believing I was accomplishing something good and worthwhile -- completely blind to the fact I was being used like a flop-house whore by Microsoft.
My own damned fault though, as far as I'm concerned, and my blindness was embraced willingly, because I didn't want to believe it was all a waste of time -- and not even fun.
Needless to say, my consulting business as a tech writer began to suffer. Oh, I got my projects done on time and all that. But I wasn't putting in anything like the time necessary to continue landing new gigs. The money began to dry up.
I witnessed firsthand more than a few players and online team volunteers flunking out of college, losing their jobs, getting divorced, being evicted, you name it. These games, like any addictive activity, had the very real potential to ruin people's lives. I know. I -saw- it happen, and came damned close to having it happen to me, too.
I have to say it: This guy is dead-on right about the way enjoyment, fun, and entertainment slowly morph into hate, anger, and loathing. What's worse, the more I'd put into it, the worse it got.
The same model as applies in EQ applied in Asheron's Call. Get people to buy the game, get 'em to sign on, and suck up as much of their time as possible -- and periodically grab some more money through "optional" expansion packs. Make quitting as difficult as possible -- up to and including making it nigh impossible to quit without a scavenger hunt on some obscure webpage... about as hard as it used to be to find an uncamped Olthoi Noble spawn in the old Black Spawn Den. As far as I know, Microsoft's Gaming Zone STILL does not have a customer service phone number you can call to resolve account problems or to cancel. (Well, you -could- call the number they are required by law to put on your credit card bill, and they'd do the deed... but the AC Online Team was explicitly -forbidden- from giving out, mentioning, or otherwise acknowledging the existence of that phone number.)
Same deal for players on the constant nerfs, character balancing, overpowered items (guaranteed to be nerfed), useless quest items (guaranteed to be left alone), and buggy patches. Now mind you, I got to work behind the curtain to a certain degree.
We ALWAYS knew that patch days were going to be utter hell, especially in the ACHR (AC Help Room), because each patch had a fairly significant chance of breaking the game software entirely for a sizeable percentage of the players, especially those patches which affected graphic elements and/or the GUI. Then, inside the game, we had the usual MOB training and kill-stealing, kids with foul-mouths and too little supervision, and the occasional sexual stalker or online harasser. On those patch days, I would often put in 14-18 hours straight (yes, I was insane), just trying to help players get into the game. We hated the bugginess of the patches, and knew damned well that the developers spent virtually zero time regression testing each patch slapped on like another leaky seal on a sinking submarine. The so-called test team, known as Vanguard, seemed to exist entirely and solely for the purpose of leaking quest solutions to the most exploitive players in the game (some of which were ON the Vanguard test team).
And why? Because they (MS and Turbine) didn't have the budget or the time for it. Players were always clamoring for new content, so they got it -- ready or not. Emphasis on 'not'.
As for the volunteer team itself... well, welcome to Peyton Place, my friends. Few people could be more vicious at times than those who'd clawed their way to a position of pseudo-authority in the ranks of unpaid volunteers. The less the actual reward, the more nasty the infighting. Now, mind you, a LOT of the volunteers were great. Heck, we STILL stay in touch, quite a few of us, and this is years after they let us go.
But we weren't paid professionals. Most of us did the job because we thought it might make a difference. Some, though, did the job because they liked the power, or because they thought it would help them cheat -- and in a few sad cases, it did. I had a particular talent for enforcing against harassment and other ingame stuff usually willfully ignored by MS management. Of course, it helped that most players had no real idea as to exactly what I could do... but my powers pretty much began and ended at teleportation, gagging, and one-day game bans. MS didn't trust us with anything more. I got quite a bit done by bluff and subterfuge, and by giving the distinct impression that if I asked MS management to permaban an account, they'd do so. Actually, on balance, they had such a laissez faire attitude towards the players, you'd see players get away with some of the most amazingly racist, sexually explicit, and downright criminal behavior on a regular basis. Players's would run around with foul or racist names for a year or more before the MS Admins would get around to doing anything about it.
In any event, I came around to an interesting realization, during my time with AC: The people running these games -- companies like Sony (EQ), MS (AC and AC2), EA (Earth & Beyond), and Mythic (DAoC), and Funcom (Anarchy Online). And the Developers. And the GMs. In the fictional game world they create, they ARE the gods.
And like the Greek gods of myth, they're flawed, vain, petty, arbitrary, and they make mistakes. AC's ongoing Chief Dev hated mages, so guess which class was constantly getting nerfed after game launch? Funcom's head of the Admin teams refused to believe that there was anything resembling serious in-game harassment could occur -- and so that game launched without the ability to squelch (block unwanted chat).
Anyway... I left AC entirely shortly after they dismissed the volunteers, in part because as my playing character, I witnessed a guy spamming broadcast chat in one of the towns, asking if there were any little girls around because he "liked them young and tight". There was much more explicit stuff, but you get the idea. It was reported, but nothing was done. I heard tell that another fellow spammed racial epithets in front of dozens of other players for hours, again with nothing done about it.
Let's fact it: These companies are in it to make a buck. They care only to entertain enough to get you hooked, then as far as they're concerned, you're just a renewing account and a credit card number.
I prefer single-player games now. There's no issue of cheats or exploiters. No harassment. Patches actually FIX bugs, as opposed to creating them. And most of all, there comes a point where I can honestly say, "I won! That was fun. Now I'll go do something else until the next interesting game comes out."
cheers,
Technowitch
formerly Chancellor and Sentinel Kadera
Well, the first thing you do is call AOL and cancel your acc't there and/or use their online systems to do the deed.
Then, if the following month, if you see a charge from them, call the customer service number on the back of the credit card you used to pay for your AOL account. Tell them that you cancelled the account, the date on which you did so, and let them know that the charges were not authorized. Let your CC company know that no future charges from AOL should be honored.
That'll do it.
Because we've become a bunch of fat, lazy, stupid idiots, entirely willing to trade essential liberties for the illusion of safety.
;)
Um, can I come live with you?
You and me both.
I've been considering property in British Columbia, to be quite honest.
This is not the country in which I grew up.
Perhaps not, but that's what happens when someone believes the hype and is disappointed with what's delivered.
A good many gamers -- particularly those of use who were burned by less-than-stellar initial releases of other online gaming products -- are now a more informed audience.
In other words, I already know I'm not interested in X-Box Live and its meager offerings. This, especially given the sheer level of incompetency and carelessness shown by Microsoft's Gaming Zone and their support (or utter lack thereof) for MS-sponsored online gaming.
Or to put it still another way: We know better. And there's no service to call up and irately cancel if we don't bother to buy the products in the first place.
As someone who's worked in the computer industry for 16+ years, as employee, temp, contractor, and freelance, I've covered pretty near all the bases and situations.
And yes, I have had previous employers and/or clients ask me for "help" some time after we'd parted ways. Sometimes it's just a simple, "Do you happen to remember where...?"-type question. Occasionally, it's rather more involved. Once, I had a client who'd lost the documentation files I'd worked on, and they were -desperate- to know if I had a backup copy (I did; I always do).
I have some very simple rules regarding these requests for help. If it is something I can answer in 10 minutes or less of phone or email time, no problem. I see this sort of service as simple good customer relations.
If it sounds like it'll be longer than that, I say, "I'll be glad to help you, but you need to understand that I need to pay the bills and make a living, too. My standard hourly rate is $x/hour, with a two hour minimum for off-site work and an eight hour minimum for on-site. As soon as you send me a faxed authorization letter on company letter head and a purchase order number against which we can charge my time, we can do business."
The bozos and those cheapskates looking for a free ride usually bugger off right quick. The people who are serious and ethical hardly ever blink an eye -- because to them, it's simply business.
There is power in the word "no" -- and we, particularly we here in America where 'organized labor' has become a dirty word, have lost sight of it.
...who would be more wealthy if she said 'no' less often, but much less happy...
"No" as in "No, this schedule is unreasonable and I will not give up my vacation to meet these arbitrary, marketing department-driven deadlings."
"No" as in "No, I'm not available to work all weekend, just because the Quality Assurance group found all these bugs and they now need to be documented. I promised my daughter I'd see her in her first soccer game and that's a promise I mean to keep."
"No" as in "No, I've given you late evenings four nights already this week, the world is not going to fall apart if I go home ON TIME this Friday, because my spouse has prepared a lovely anniversary dinner and he'll be mighty pissed if I miss it... again!"
I'm serious. This 'higher productivity' bullshit has come at the cost of our lives and what's worse, we continue to pretend to think that sacrificing our lives for the almighty spreadsheet somehow will entitle us to the life of the wannabe dot-com neuveau riche.
It's rubbish. The whole game was rigged from the start, except perhaps for a few lucky 'lottery ticket' winners -- most of whom are either now broke (again) or have sold their souls to Beelzebub (aka the Almighty Dollar).
Technowitch
Oh, bite me.
And everyone else here, too, you larcenous moron.
Yeesh.
And just think, just in time for a Neanderthal's party to win in the U.S. midterm elections!
Coincidence? I don't think so!
-----
Paid for by "The Committee to Elect Edward D Wood Jr, Posthumously"
Okay, so it wasn't quite that dramatic. However, I went from about 12 diopters of miopia in both eyes, along with some astigmatism, to 20/20 vision.
Having worn eyeglasses since the age of 7, and contact lenses most of my adult life, I'd had no idea how much of my everyday existence was defined by those words on my driver's licence: "Needs Corrective Lenses".
I love the results and would do it again in a heartbeat. The price was great -- $3300(US) for both eyes, with all of the preparatory and followup exams. I could've gotten it done cheaper, but I write for a living. So yes, the thought that I could be that one in however many it is who ends up blind did prey on my thoughts. What's more, I'm one of those sorts who is terrified of anything getting near my eyes. (I have a LOT of trouble watching one particular scene in "A Clockwork Orange", and it's not because of what little Droogy Alex is being forced to vid, but rather what they do to make certain he watches...). Anyway -- thank goodness for valium.
The first day was pretty hellish, what with the pain and constant eye-watering, but I got through it by listening to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone on CD, napping, and listening to music. I could tell that my vision had been improved, but the eye shields kept me from seeing much.
The following morning, the eye-shields came off, and I'd say I was at about 20/40 vision. Over the following week, my eyes kept getting better, although dryness was a problem -- treatable though with natural tears eyedrops.
Within three weeks, I was back to 100%, no more drops needed, and my vision has never been sharper or better.
A real medical miracle if you ask me.
YMMV, of course...
-Technowitch
That wasn't Sting. It was Mick Jagger.
My response:
"Excuse me, sir, but I have ovaries, thanks very much.
And I have a life, too, portions of which you get to rent for the very reasonable fee of $x-thousands/year.
Anything more than that is slavery... which is illegal, last time I checked."
cheers,
Technowitch