Back in the early days of WoW, you could get a dishonorable kill for killing non-combatant NPCs. I'd also like to see the same happen for ganking much lower level characters. It's one thing for an 80 to kill a 70 (which really doesn't have much of a chance either), but for an 80 to kill a 20 and camp the body is really ridiculous. That should be considered dishonorable and the 80 should get some sort of reputation penalty for it.
Blizzard apparently thought otherwise though because they removed the entire concept of a dishonorable kill from the game.
I'm American and my wife is Canadian. She says growing up her brother was a big G.I. Joe fan and insisted they were actually all Canadian, pointing out that Real American Hero means simply that they were North American.
You didn't really give us much here continue with...
It's "feign indignation at the high quality of life of the previous poster" + "state your childhood desires to have such luxury" + "state how much worse you had it" so that the next poster can follow up. Get with the program!
Well, people still play. I think they still have several hundred thousand subscribers, though many may not be active. They just released a new expansion in the last few months or so.
You have to solo the first 10 levels, then get ready for some hot sitting-in-town-for-hours-afraid-to-go-to-the-bathroom-because-you-may-miss-an-invite action with your "Looking for group" flag up. Eventually I made a White Mage just to get in groups when I realized my thief, no matter how good I was, just wasn't going to get me anywhere. It worked for awhile, but they raised the level cap and Red Mages became the healer of choice. When my static group broke up because they wanted to play wow, I stopped playing.
That's why I was pretty excited to hear Square is making a new MMO. If it's somewhere between FFXI and WoW in difficulty and required skill, I'm sold. FFXI was great except you could do NOTHING without a party, and even when you got one odds were they had no idea what a skillchain/magic burst was. Most of the time was spent sitting in Jeuno waiting for a group.
WoW got something very right when it was possible to play solo and accomplish something. They started getting it wrong when I can kill 3 elites at once who are 2-3 levels higher than I am without needing to even pop a health potion just by pressing one button over and over.
When I bought Metal Gear 4 for the PS3 from a Gamestop in Austin all they had left was the gutted copy. I asked if there was a discount since it was opened and they gave me 10%. I thought that was reasonable.
>VCR have an old-school DRM chip in them that can tell when the composite cables are plugged into anything that's not a TV that will cause the brightness to go up and down the entire movie
Even the old ones from the 80's still sitting around in mom's basement? My parents have a VCR we got in 1988 or so that still works fine.
You said something that gave me a flashback. Remember back in the day the guy on the street who had the big bucks and bought 2(!) VCRs, then rented videos and played them on one and recorded them with the other?
Could the old VCR have a role here again? Is there a reason you can't record a ideo on a VCR you are watching with Apple TV or a similar product? Sorry for my ignorance about this, but since it's a magnetic tape simply recording what's on the screen, would it record in the high def resolution?
If they released an updated FFVII with a battle system like XII I would probaby rip out my own throat. XII is the only game in the series (except XI, which doesn't count) I never got around to beating because I hated the battle system so much.
Perhaps this sort of thing is why Square hasn't/won't do it. There are things they'd feel would have to change to bring the experience up to modern RPG experiences, but know any little thing that deviated from the original would be bitched about endlessly by the fans. Personally, I'd be very happy with an exact port with updated visuals. I could probably live with Red XIII and Cait Sith being written out of the game (not a fan of the obligatory silly character/ super strong silent inhuman character, but I can live with it). I'm sure there's some huge Red XIII fan out there who'd consider that blasphmey however. Square knows they can't win making any changes, and doesn't see the point to just do a visual update I guess.
Yes, you're right- I read part of what you said and quickly fired off a response.
In my defense, you did say:
"it fits perfectly with the way the market normally works. On one end of the spectrum, you have a cheaper product that aims to make less money per unit, but make it up in volume. On the other end of the spectrum, you have a product that's more expensive and aims to make more money per unit even if the volume is lower."
So why should I think you would contradict your statement in the next sentence? You said it "fits perfectly" only to then say it does not.
You're totally wrong on one of your points- the Wii maks money on every unit sold. Even though it's selling for less, Nintendo is making way more money than Sony is, as it sells each PS3 at a signifigant loss. Sony is the one trying to "make it up in volume", by selling at a loss simply to increase it's user base and make it's money off software sales.
I took the AP classes in high school, but I also took Auto Mechanics as an elective my senior year. I think I learned more practical information in that one class than all others combined.
Man, I'm going to have to dust that one off when I get home now. Were it not for Einhander, I wouldn't think Square could do anything but FF, but now I do have some hope for this game.
Einhander 2 would rock my face off though- I'd rather have that than a FFVII remake.
Honestly, if you're running Linux in your home and nothing else, I expect you to be able to handle powercycling yourself and insuring that your computer is running properly (including checking your router, your ethernet card, and to make sure your DHCP client is running).
Really? Why? Do you pay less for service if you are running an alternate OS?
HIPA laws state that as long as you had 'credible coverage' at the time of conception and there has been no more than a 63 day gap in coverage, a group policy has to cover a pregnancy. That does not apply to individual policies though.
As an independent contractor, the only coverage I could get is as an individual, so my only option is the Tricare COBRA. I pity those who don't have that.
In the US, maternity leave means you are technically still an employee and are not dropped from the policy.
This is how I understand things to work:
If you quit a job while pregnant, you can rely on something like Medicade because presumably you won't have an income. It's great if you qualify, and the closest thing to socalized medicing the US has- everything is 100% covered, including the first few weeks after the delivery.
If you are dropped from a policy by no fault of your own, like the company defaulted on payments or something, it's illegal for another insurance company to refuse to insure you.
The only time it gets weird is in a situation like mine. I am more than capabale to pay for insurance, and I'd really like to, but no one will insure us.
So in the US, your co-worker would have still been covered by the company policy (assuming there was one), or she'd have public assistance.
I should note that no doctor or hospital in the US will ever deny care due to inabililty to pay. A large portion of hospital revenue is eaten up every year for indigent care, though the state helps pay for some of the cost with tax money.
Before you drop your wife's insurance let me tell you what I am currently finding out the hard way. You will be hard pressed to find an insurance policy on a pregnant woman. Group policies can be more forgiving, but so far everyone I've talked to says it is a 'pre-existing condition' and they won't cover my 7-weeks pregnant wife. If you are going to get a policy, your wife can't deliver for 11 months from the date the policy becomes effective or it's not covered.
I just got out of the Air Force and am now working as an independent contractor. Tricare does have a COBRA-type polkicy I can get but it's very expensive. I can't just get the coverage for my wife, I have to be on the policy, so I'm having to pay about $2200/3 months for it. At least it comes in 3 month chunks, so I won't have to carry it longer than I need it.
If there weren't that program available to me, I don't know what I'd do. In Georgia where I live there is a Medicade program for pregnant women, but I make too much money to qualify for that. If you make more than $1600/week with a family of 4 (they count the unborn) you make too much. My wife had to have a c-section last time and I saw the bill Tricare got. For everything throughout the pregnancy they paid out over $60k.
I have heard that if you can't get coverage and you talk to OB docs, they can usually work with you and sometimes you can end up paying less than if you had insurance. I have not looked in to that yet.
Good luck!
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Back in the early days of WoW, you could get a dishonorable kill for killing non-combatant NPCs. I'd also like to see the same happen for ganking much lower level characters. It's one thing for an 80 to kill a 70 (which really doesn't have much of a chance either), but for an 80 to kill a 20 and camp the body is really ridiculous. That should be considered dishonorable and the 80 should get some sort of reputation penalty for it.
Blizzard apparently thought otherwise though because they removed the entire concept of a dishonorable kill from the game.
I'm American and my wife is Canadian. She says growing up her brother was a big G.I. Joe fan and insisted they were actually all Canadian, pointing out that Real American Hero means simply that they were North American.
You didn't really give us much here continue with...
It's "feign indignation at the high quality of life of the previous poster" + "state your childhood desires to have such luxury" + "state how much worse you had it" so that the next poster can follow up. Get with the program!
Well, people still play. I think they still have several hundred thousand subscribers, though many may not be active. They just released a new expansion in the last few months or so.
You have to solo the first 10 levels, then get ready for some hot sitting-in-town-for-hours-afraid-to-go-to-the-bathroom-because-you-may-miss-an-invite action with your "Looking for group" flag up. Eventually I made a White Mage just to get in groups when I realized my thief, no matter how good I was, just wasn't going to get me anywhere. It worked for awhile, but they raised the level cap and Red Mages became the healer of choice. When my static group broke up because they wanted to play wow, I stopped playing.
That's why I was pretty excited to hear Square is making a new MMO. If it's somewhere between FFXI and WoW in difficulty and required skill, I'm sold. FFXI was great except you could do NOTHING without a party, and even when you got one odds were they had no idea what a skillchain/magic burst was. Most of the time was spent sitting in Jeuno waiting for a group.
WoW got something very right when it was possible to play solo and accomplish something. They started getting it wrong when I can kill 3 elites at once who are 2-3 levels higher than I am without needing to even pop a health potion just by pressing one button over and over.
When I bought Metal Gear 4 for the PS3 from a Gamestop in Austin all they had left was the gutted copy. I asked if there was a discount since it was opened and they gave me 10%. I thought that was reasonable.
Opera keeps them and their history all cached though- I don't think FF did that, but I could be wrong.
Thanks for the link!
>VCR have an old-school DRM chip in them that can tell when the composite cables are plugged into anything that's not a TV that will cause the brightness to go up and down the entire movie
Even the old ones from the 80's still sitting around in mom's basement? My parents have a VCR we got in 1988 or so that still works fine.
You said something that gave me a flashback. Remember back in the day the guy on the street who had the big bucks and bought 2(!) VCRs, then rented videos and played them on one and recorded them with the other?
Could the old VCR have a role here again? Is there a reason you can't record a ideo on a VCR you are watching with Apple TV or a similar product? Sorry for my ignorance about this, but since it's a magnetic tape simply recording what's on the screen, would it record in the high def resolution?
Some? As in more than one? Which ones?
Or would it be put in the water like Fluoride?
before Opera 9.5/FF3 are released and they have new ideas to copy?
If they released an updated FFVII with a battle system like XII I would probaby rip out my own throat. XII is the only game in the series (except XI, which doesn't count) I never got around to beating because I hated the battle system so much.
Perhaps this sort of thing is why Square hasn't/won't do it. There are things they'd feel would have to change to bring the experience up to modern RPG experiences, but know any little thing that deviated from the original would be bitched about endlessly by the fans. Personally, I'd be very happy with an exact port with updated visuals. I could probably live with Red XIII and Cait Sith being written out of the game (not a fan of the obligatory silly character/ super strong silent inhuman character, but I can live with it). I'm sure there's some huge Red XIII fan out there who'd consider that blasphmey however. Square knows they can't win making any changes, and doesn't see the point to just do a visual update I guess.
Can I sue the grocery store for refusing to sell me one egg?
No, because you can always get one egg from someone else. The supermarket does not have a monopoly on eggs.
Yes, you're right- I read part of what you said and quickly fired off a response.
In my defense, you did say:
"it fits perfectly with the way the market normally works. On one end of the spectrum, you have a cheaper product that aims to make less money per unit, but make it up in volume. On the other end of the spectrum, you have a product that's more expensive and aims to make more money per unit even if the volume is lower."
So why should I think you would contradict your statement in the next sentence? You said it "fits perfectly" only to then say it does not.
You're totally wrong on one of your points- the Wii maks money on every unit sold. Even though it's selling for less, Nintendo is making way more money than Sony is, as it sells each PS3 at a signifigant loss. Sony is the one trying to "make it up in volume", by selling at a loss simply to increase it's user base and make it's money off software sales.
I took the AP classes in high school, but I also took Auto Mechanics as an elective my senior year. I think I learned more practical information in that one class than all others combined.
Does the 360 (or the PS3) upconvert regular DVDs to higher resolutions? I can't find anything official either way.
Man, I'm going to have to dust that one off when I get home now. Were it not for Einhander, I wouldn't think Square could do anything but FF, but now I do have some hope for this game.
Einhander 2 would rock my face off though- I'd rather have that than a FFVII remake.
Honestly, if you're running Linux in your home and nothing else, I expect you to be able to handle powercycling yourself and insuring that your computer is running properly (including checking your router, your ethernet card, and to make sure your DHCP client is running).
Really? Why? Do you pay less for service if you are running an alternate OS?
Try talking my wife into that one! Besides, since she had a C-Secton last time, it's very likely she will need another one this time.
HIPA laws state that as long as you had 'credible coverage' at the time of conception and there has been no more than a 63 day gap in coverage, a group policy has to cover a pregnancy. That does not apply to individual policies though.
As an independent contractor, the only coverage I could get is as an individual, so my only option is the Tricare COBRA. I pity those who don't have that.
In the US, maternity leave means you are technically still an employee and are not dropped from the policy.
This is how I understand things to work:
If you quit a job while pregnant, you can rely on something like Medicade because presumably you won't have an income. It's great if you qualify, and the closest thing to socalized medicing the US has- everything is 100% covered, including the first few weeks after the delivery.
If you are dropped from a policy by no fault of your own, like the company defaulted on payments or something, it's illegal for another insurance company to refuse to insure you.
The only time it gets weird is in a situation like mine. I am more than capabale to pay for insurance, and I'd really like to, but no one will insure us.
So in the US, your co-worker would have still been covered by the company policy (assuming there was one), or she'd have public assistance.
I should note that no doctor or hospital in the US will ever deny care due to inabililty to pay. A large portion of hospital revenue is eaten up every year for indigent care, though the state helps pay for some of the cost with tax money.
Before you drop your wife's insurance let me tell you what I am currently finding out the hard way. You will be hard pressed to find an insurance policy on a pregnant woman. Group policies can be more forgiving, but so far everyone I've talked to says it is a 'pre-existing condition' and they won't cover my 7-weeks pregnant wife. If you are going to get a policy, your wife can't deliver for 11 months from the date the policy becomes effective or it's not covered.
I just got out of the Air Force and am now working as an independent contractor. Tricare does have a COBRA-type polkicy I can get but it's very expensive. I can't just get the coverage for my wife, I have to be on the policy, so I'm having to pay about $2200/3 months for it. At least it comes in 3 month chunks, so I won't have to carry it longer than I need it.
If there weren't that program available to me, I don't know what I'd do. In Georgia where I live there is a Medicade program for pregnant women, but I make too much money to qualify for that. If you make more than $1600/week with a family of 4 (they count the unborn) you make too much. My wife had to have a c-section last time and I saw the bill Tricare got. For everything throughout the pregnancy they paid out over $60k.
I have heard that if you can't get coverage and you talk to OB docs, they can usually work with you and sometimes you can end up paying less than if you had insurance. I have not looked in to that yet. Good luck!