Enjoyed Down and Out, thought Little Brother was mediocre, but worth giving to a teen that wouldn't normally think about these things. For all his progressive attitudes and such, Doctorow can't write women to save his life. He should look into that.
Sure, a middle ground with the option to go go left for harder or right for easier. I don't usually get much fun out of games without difficulty settings. As a kid there were games I was never going to complete. Now I'm in my forties there are probably fewer games like that but it still irks if I spend forty quid on a game and can't get out of the first few levels. Honestly I don't want to be challenged so much as I want to be entertained. And it helps if I feel like a mighty god. My job challenges me already and improving my hi-score at work has more material benefit. Games, for me, are to unwind. YMMV.
I remember playing the original Quake beta demo (not Quakeworld) online and you had to learn to lead your shots so they'd land where you thought your opponent was going to be. Everything since Quakeworld has been gravy.
It depends on where one is from. A society where corruption is rife can be convenient to deal with when you have a fat paycheck, but there are still things that you cannot buy for money - like political or social freedoms; and there are also things that you can only buy for so much money it's unrealistic - like security.
India is the world's biggest democracy and it places a few spots under the US on the murders per capita list. And I'm not sure which society you're talking about when you mention corruption.
By all accounts it's a better game. But it would have to be a MUCH better game.
They're talking about an expansion with no new classes (probably because they still haven't balanced the existing one) in a continent with content that'll let you level separately from Tortage to 80 (if I understood the article correctly - I was skimming) but that's solo-friendly. The MM bit of AOC was a joke at the start with each "level" feeling really sparse, as you struggled over hill and dale for miles, trying to get to a point that you could clearly see about twenty feet from you, but were unable to reach because of landscape restriction. Jeeze, I was almost kidding myself I was willing to give them another go with the expansion, but I'm getting ticked off just thinking about it. The extra month of gametime I paid for and half-used was the biggest waste of money I've ever spent on a game.
I played the first EU Beta weekend - for a couple of hours. I don't have great hopes for the game at release. There's much made of the quest system, but it still comes down to grinding monsters for experience. I actually had more fun with Runes of Magic, for the also couple of hours I played it.
They'll partner with ISPs, so you're paying a subscription model to access the games on a server located at your ISPs premises. The data you use will be part and parcel of your subscription to the service. It won't be viable any other way. Think more in terms of Gametap, with increased fees for access to newer games. It's not going to be a big dent in PC gaming whatever they do. This is for the millions of set-top TV boxes that are going to be produced to take advantage of the features, with the compression/decompression built into hardware.
Isn't that the real problem? SORBS doesn't find anyone else to give them a home (good!) but then sell out to a bunch of crooks who start running the blacklist as a real extortion tool for profit.
Build a motion sensor into your typical remote, give it a couple of gaming buttons, one of which should be a trigger button. Build a flash player into your set top box and you've got about a potential million flash games you can play on your STB.
"Or was it that the most convenient way to travel was by way of death?"
I'd completely forgotten about that. I remember at first I was indignant that people were doing it but by the end I was only indignant if I couldn't find a high enough ledge to jump off to kill myself. Did they ever do anything about quick travel? I left just before they significantly dropped the price of steeds so I had never been able to afford one.
I commented positively about AO on Lum the Mad's site once and he or one of the other posters described it as "Spreadsheets Online", which as a former longtime player I thought was pretty funny, and not a little apt. I'd love to see an AO makeover.
Re:The game is fine; public opinion needs fixing
on
Age of Conan, One Year On
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
"Funcom is facing a heck of a task battling people's existing prejudices in order to try and convince its 600,000 lost customers that they have indeed made the game playable and fun."
A two or three month free trial for those original accounts that played from the beginning would be a start.
"What is the reason you cancelled? Lack of content (unlikely, after just 1 month of playing)" You could easily max out your character and have at least a weeks worth of grinding under your belt within the first month the game was officially open. Fastest levelling game I ever saw.
The balance was atrocious and that was one of the factors that made me leave after about a month and a half (yeah, I actually left half way through a paid month. I'd had enough). FWIW I liked the combat. I played on a PvE server but some of the duelling videos coming out of the PvP servers were sheer ballet. I'm too old for all that competitive finger waggling but I've a real appreciation of those that can play to that kind of level.
Slashdot Mirror
Enjoyed Down and Out, thought Little Brother was mediocre, but worth giving to a teen that wouldn't normally think about these things. For all his progressive attitudes and such, Doctorow can't write women to save his life. He should look into that.
His reply on twitter when someone pointed out his original comment made the D*gg front page. He's @greenspeak
Sure, a middle ground with the option to go go left for harder or right for easier. I don't usually get much fun out of games without difficulty settings. As a kid there were games I was never going to complete. Now I'm in my forties there are probably fewer games like that but it still irks if I spend forty quid on a game and can't get out of the first few levels. Honestly I don't want to be challenged so much as I want to be entertained. And it helps if I feel like a mighty god. My job challenges me already and improving my hi-score at work has more material benefit. Games, for me, are to unwind. YMMV.
I remember playing the original Quake beta demo (not Quakeworld) online and you had to learn to lead your shots so they'd land where you thought your opponent was going to be. Everything since Quakeworld has been gravy.
I agree. If Hollywood had been involved in these mission Opportunity would already have carried out a successful rescue mission.
It depends on where one is from. A society where corruption is rife can be convenient to deal with when you have a fat paycheck, but there are still things that you cannot buy for money - like political or social freedoms; and there are also things that you can only buy for so much money it's unrealistic - like security.
India is the world's biggest democracy and it places a few spots under the US on the murders per capita list. And I'm not sure which society you're talking about when you mention corruption.
Chile has half the world's lithium and they're gearing up to play hardball over it. This will hopefully deflate those plans.
You're missing the real point of his question. I think he's really asking how to make his Time Capsule zombie/meteor/nuclear bomb-proof.
They're talking about an expansion with no new classes (probably because they still haven't balanced the existing one) in a continent with content that'll let you level separately from Tortage to 80 (if I understood the article correctly - I was skimming) but that's solo-friendly. The MM bit of AOC was a joke at the start with each "level" feeling really sparse, as you struggled over hill and dale for miles, trying to get to a point that you could clearly see about twenty feet from you, but were unable to reach because of landscape restriction. Jeeze, I was almost kidding myself I was willing to give them another go with the expansion, but I'm getting ticked off just thinking about it. The extra month of gametime I paid for and half-used was the biggest waste of money I've ever spent on a game.
I think you're right!
I played the first EU Beta weekend - for a couple of hours. I don't have great hopes for the game at release. There's much made of the quest system, but it still comes down to grinding monsters for experience. I actually had more fun with Runes of Magic, for the also couple of hours I played it.
There is no other ISP.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingston_upon_Hull#Telephone_system
They'll partner with ISPs, so you're paying a subscription model to access the games on a server located at your ISPs premises. The data you use will be part and parcel of your subscription to the service. It won't be viable any other way. Think more in terms of Gametap, with increased fees for access to newer games. It's not going to be a big dent in PC gaming whatever they do. This is for the millions of set-top TV boxes that are going to be produced to take advantage of the features, with the compression/decompression built into hardware.
Going by the pictures I would keep this away from children: http://www.sugarlabs.org/index.php?template=page&page=learners
Arrrgh. I need to dim the lights, put on some Pink Floyd and look at that comic strip again.
Isn't that the real problem? SORBS doesn't find anyone else to give them a home (good!) but then sell out to a bunch of crooks who start running the blacklist as a real extortion tool for profit.
Yeah. And the problem with this is the girls you find in bars is that they are the kind of girls you find in bars.
i.e. girls.
German paratroopers vs Lance Corporal Jones and his bayonetted rifle - "They don't like it up'em!"
Build a motion sensor into your typical remote, give it a couple of gaming buttons, one of which should be a trigger button. Build a flash player into your set top box and you've got about a potential million flash games you can play on your STB.
http://ng.neocron.com/
http://planetside.station.sony.com/
http://www.battlegroundeurope.com/
Not strictly speaking FFO. Huxley might offer that.
I'd completely forgotten about that. I remember at first I was indignant that people were doing it but by the end I was only indignant if I couldn't find a high enough ledge to jump off to kill myself. Did they ever do anything about quick travel? I left just before they significantly dropped the price of steeds so I had never been able to afford one.
I commented positively about AO on Lum the Mad's site once and he or one of the other posters described it as "Spreadsheets Online", which as a former longtime player I thought was pretty funny, and not a little apt. I'd love to see an AO makeover.
"Funcom is facing a heck of a task battling people's existing prejudices in order to try and convince its 600,000 lost customers that they have indeed made the game playable and fun."
A two or three month free trial for those original accounts that played from the beginning would be a start.
"What is the reason you cancelled? Lack of content (unlikely, after just 1 month of playing)"
You could easily max out your character and have at least a weeks worth of grinding under your belt within the first month the game was officially open. Fastest levelling game I ever saw.
The balance was atrocious and that was one of the factors that made me leave after about a month and a half (yeah, I actually left half way through a paid month. I'd had enough). FWIW I liked the combat. I played on a PvE server but some of the duelling videos coming out of the PvP servers were sheer ballet. I'm too old for all that competitive finger waggling but I've a real appreciation of those that can play to that kind of level.