Well, that unfortunately is incorrect. In many parts of the world where the Xbox 360 is not only sold but affordable, air conditioning is not always a given.
For instance in my old house, I had one of every console and about $10,000 worth of A/V gear and it had no air conditioning... none of my gear failed to operate nor did I have to worry about it failing.
A fan in the external PSU simply makes sense... air conditioning or not a simple small fan would stop almost all of this trouble. Ever notice how your PC has a fan on it's PSU? Well, we could just ASSUME everyone lives in climate controlled environments and leave them out, now couldn't we?
To blindly overlook a massive number of people and lifestyles that can easily own a 360 and aren't technologically inclined or even care about the placement of the unit is just insane. Most rich folks know nothing nor care, they will shove it in some available space in the entertainment center and place the plug on the ground just like any other device... and THEY ARE RIGHT, it should be designed to be used in this manner.
Well, as I stated my numbers were from the Northeast U.S. EB's and Gamestops and the numbers came from store managers. Also, when I was speaking with one Gamestop owner near where I live, he was telling me how one person had already been through TWO 360's and both were defective. The store went to great lengths to satisfy the person because he had bought one of each launch title and some accessories... they thought it was user error and tried to get either one to work with no luck either. I have seen one PSU unit that was slightly melted on one edge and it had simply been on the floor behind the entertainment center on a rug and it was the day after release, so at most it was running for 24 hours, and this is the most common placement.
Well well, I have no MS hatred.. and in fact was one of the hardware testers for the system... so I'd say you are wrong right off the bat.
Oh, and my "from-the-ass-numbers" include polling approx 30 EB/Gamestop stores in my region for a news story I did.
Even if you go low on the percentages, the fact is that about 10-20% are defective. Once Christmas hits and many more are opened, I believe - and it is just MHO - that the final percentage will be 20-30%. Even if it stays at 10-20% and the number grows, that is a lot of unhappy folks and a lot of upset parents. Recalls and lawsuits will ensue.
Imagine for a minute, that you bought your 360 on ebay for an inflated price to make your kid happy only to get shafted. And then have it take 3 weeks for him to get a replacement... you are into Feb. with a very sad kid and you wouldn't be so callous.
Well, I can only state what I know to be fact but I have been a editor/reviewer in the games industry for about 4 years and through all of my contacts I keep coming up with numbers closer to 20-30% defective based on EB/Gamestop stores sampled and averaged. On the low side it is at least 10-20%.
I have a feeling that after Christmas it will be close to 20-25% when all is said and done.
As far as the PS2, they did suffer from lens issues (any DVD media player does, and Blu-ray could be worse yet) Especially if you bought the system used and the upkeep was less than stellar. You can also go to your local music store and buy a CD/DVD lens cleaning disc for a couple bucks and run it through once a month.
Didja ever think that you may have air conditioning/live in a colder climate and THAT may be a contributing factor to your success? Nah, couldn't be that.. I mean everyone has the exact same setup and situation as you... stupid people... ugh.
Oh, gee you sure are right... you linked to ONE GUY who isn't having a problem with his Xbox 360... you really showed me. I best be shutting up now.
You, sir, are a fucktard.
The fact is that it is not a simple process as that poster claims. The MS rep tells the user to restart their Xbox, then they say to plug/unplug it, then they say to try some B.S. and call back. It is a giant runaround and it takes WEEKS to get your replacement unit once they agree to exchange it. Yeah, that sure is simple and painless.
Oh, and once the final numbers are out the total of defective units will be closer to 10-20%. Right now many stores are showing failure rates in the 20-30% of the units they received. Once Christmas day hits, the numbers will only go up.
We will see the truth in due time, give it about a month then see who should be shutting the fuck up.
Sorry if it was rushed, but the message was clear. I was typing quickly and this is a topic I am passionate about... I spent over 4 years in the games industry, and I am just sickened by the current state of gaming.
I guarantee a recall will be in place within two weeks of Christmas day. They simply cannot stand to lose face and mindshare once the big story Christmas day is little crying children and enraged parents about the "must have" 360. Because it won't be until damn near the release of the PS3 and Revolution that the average person will even have a chance at a 360 or a replacement unit.
Yes, the almighty dollar is the whole point, but beyond that just about every console since, and including, the PS1 has just been about outdoing the competition with numbers and hype. This is the trend that needs to stop.
The PS1 was just a big middle finger from Sony to Nintendo since Nintendo didn't use the product that Sony had created. It was sold on polygon numbers and hype. The PS2 was the king of B.S. hype... Saddam wants them to guide missiles and Toy Story in real-time graphics... umm, yeah. Then the Xbox was just MS's attempt to quickly make a grab for dollars with no cohesive plan or structure besides throwing a lot of money at the situation once they saw it wasn't as easy as they thought.
Now the 360 and PS3 are just dick waving contests with NO regard for the consumer or for the games. Even though they have all been about money from the start, there always was at least a strong focus on the content.
Umm, except the problem is the massive thick plastic enclosed power supply as well as the overheating of the console itself. Basically the only "hack" needed is to take the case off both the PSU and console and buy a box fan to blow on it 24/7.
Also, to those who dismiss the disc scratching as stupidity on the owners fault for "dropping" the Xbox 360 while it is running... I have seen with my own eyes the fact that repeatedly you can make it destroy a disc just by having it on a shelf and jumping in the room. Just the vibration from the jump makes the 360 scratch the disc.... so add into the "hack" a fluid vibration dampening system and you got a playable console! Easy, I mean what is the hubub about here?
Really, generally I am anti-lawyer and against frivolous lawsuits, but thi sis not one of them. This is a legitimate complaint and I believe that when the final numbers are known, that the number of defects will be much larger than MS is claiming. Also, MS support has been absolutely terrible when it comes to dissatisfied 360 owners, simply telling them to unplug and replug the system and call back.
To build such hype and such "demand" and then release a rushed faulty product should be punished. People need to stop this before everything is "beta" quality and we are all testers. What will become even worse is this Dec. 25th and the following days, I believe there will be many more unhappy folks once little Suzy and Tommy unwrap their shiny new Xbox 360 and it fails to operate or crashes continually or destroys their games... which is another thing: If you have a Xbox 360 and it destroy's your game by leaving the "360" degree circle of death scratch, MS's great response is that they will send you a free copy of PDZ. Umm, my copy of PGR3 is scratched... have a free PDZ! Not quite stellar customer support.
The 360 and PS3 amount to basically a giant pissing match between Sony and MS... the problem is that they forgot what the real aim of a console is: Easy, Fun, Enjoyment. Not Ghz, RAM, Polygons FTW.
For a DC revival. I always thought consumers gave up to easy with Sega, they should have been more vocal and even if SEGA would still have bowed out of hardware there could have still been life.
Now, however, is the perfect time for a comeback. people disillusioned with the 360 and PS3, high costs, complex controls, and unoriginal games are clamoring for something to fill the void. If people played their cards right, the DC could see a massive revival. News such as this keep my personal hope alive that the true spirit of gaming is not totally lost to greed, hollywood, and hooker beating "mature" games.
I owned a Neo-Geo, and it was never meant to be and never was a "console" game system. It was an ARCADE in your home. 100% PERFECT Arcade in your home. It cost a ton, yet it was cheaper than buying all the real cabs.
3D0 Was not a complete waste, it was a highly capable system ahead of it's time. There are many still around and they sold well with a decent library.
The Jaguar suffered from a number of blunders, not a "crash" of the industry.
This article was a waste... I lived through the first real crash and this supposed second one didn't even compare. B.S.
Oh, really? Lies, eh? here is a side by side with both systems: http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=ODk3
Yep. exact same size... oh, and don't forget the 360 still has the large power brick in addition... so it is actually larger. PWND.
12. I think that ought to do it, especially since most folks in Japan see the 360 as completely undesireable.
With 3 close friends in Japan and a couple colleagues, I can honestly say they really could care less overall. Sure they have their fanboy's but it is nowhere like here in the U.S.
The other funny thing is that the 360 is basically the *exact* same size as the original xbox PLUS the massive overheating power brick. Do they think the Japanese will be thrown off by the color white?
Also, Microsoft has gone so far out of their way to pander to the Japanese, yet really accomplish nothing. No Japan specific launch titles, nothing. I personally can't wait for the sales numbers to be as poor or worse than the Xbox 1, and for crap like the Wonderswan and GBC to still outsell it.
Now gaming was slightly more benign back when I was young, but I grew and learned so much from games. They took me to new worlds, increased my reading abilities, built freakish hand-eye coordination, and helped my decision making and process improvement abilities.
I don't think GTA, or PGR3 will be doing much of anything for kids though... and that's sad. There aren't many games left with any real substance where they have the ability to *help* kids even if the help is secondary or tertiary to the action. We need to get back to some of those games, there's nothing wrong with twitch and just fluff games... but there needs to be some balance.
My uncle is a neurosurgeon here in the U.S. For a number of years he was paying money to help fund medicine in South America. Then he got tired of paying and not seeing any real rewards, so he began bringing children with otherwise deadly brain issues to his home and fostering them and providing the surgery for free. Now, he still does this but he also brings a doctor from the village and trains them for free and gives them supplies and tools.
Same thing with the computers. You can educate yourself in just about anything online today, this gift of information and freedom is really where the benefits begin. I grew up relatively poor here in the U.S. and my whole life was changed by my parents sacrifice to buy me a computer, then when the internet came along I read everything I could and absorbed everything, it landed me my first job, payed my way and became the first college graduate in my family and now run a large network for a financial instituion.
It can happen, and this is a start in the right direction.
I own one, and I actually enjoyed it. I never had headaches or motion sickness or any of the usual bashes against it... it just didn't have many games. The funny thing is that when people come ove to my house they see it and want to try it because they've only ever heard stories... many of them think it is pretty neat. It's just more of a novelty than a serious system.
I got mine from Kay Bee Toystores on clearance for $2.49 for the Virtual Boy and each game for $0.79... can't beat that.
Nope, Guild Wars has no mechanism in place at all. For a modern product, it is pretty unbelievable. All you have is the ability to go to a crowded district and yell "WTS - Sword of Uberness" over and over while it gets lost in the 1,000 other people doing the same.
Then once you get a reply, you have to actually give some clue as to where you are or they can't even find you to come buy your sword of uberness. it is about a silly and cumbersome a system as I have ever seen. I don't play anymore, even with it being free, the game itself is pretty crappy on top of the other problems.
I never claimed Sony made *good* hardware, just that my personal PS2 is a gen 1 PS2 that has held up to more abuse and work than almost any over 5 years or so and still runs perfectly.
I would never own one single piece of sony A/V equipment, no TV's, no monitors, no stereos, no CD walkmans... nothing. The PS1 and PS2 are it... and I used to work for Sony! I've bought Wega's for relatives at discount, and they like them, but I never personally trust any Sony product.
Even with all that said, 100 million PS2's is still amazing. Even if every person had to buy two, that is still 50 million PS2's (and Sony still technically sold 100 mil). No matter how you slice it, that is a ton of any console to move.
Yep. Crystal Clear, and exactly what I had been dreaming of in a fantasy MMO. Like all good ideas, someone beat me to it apparently:) Story of my life, day late, dollar short.
It sounds like you may be a COH player, and if so, may I ask how well this works in practice? It seems like the perfect blend of gameplay for an MMO.
In games like Guild Wars where everything is instanced, you are left with a empty feeling. In WoW it feels too crowded at times and is frustrating (just MHO). This system seems like a perfect mixture.
I actually prefer instanced quests and common towns... however I think a blend of the two is actually the sweet spot.
Have towns and areas around the town as common areas and then quests be instanced. To me this is something that no one has tried yet and could be the real answer.
I don;t want to have to deal with waiting for rabbits to appear to kill and get their fur when 20 other people are doing the same to complete a quest. But have a nice area around each town that is common and maybe even contains a few high level monsters and a super badass one that require teaming and grouping for decent rewards.
Also I feel that every MMO should have at least a single soloable dungeon that players can enjoy when friends/guildmates are not on. Have it get stupidly tough near then end and ensure that players really will have to continually work to clear it over the life of their character. Also, have every weapon/item that is attainable in the regular quests be able to be had in this dungeon... that way every player has equal opportunity and is not penalized for their style of play.
I also believe that player created quests should be implemented. I know many times when I've been gold rich but really wanted a single weapon I couldn't get either due to skill or time. Instead of standing around saying "WTB - Uber Dragonslayer sword of insight" I could go and post a quest saying "1,000g to the first adventurer to bring me an Uber Dragonslayer sword of insight" and let bored/enterprising adventurers fulfill my request.
I also believe player created villages and towns would also draw peopl ein and lend a sense of ownership. Then when a warring faction comes and raids your village and you have to rebuild... you now have a real sense of hatred and loyalty.
Well, here are the facts for just one of his films "Alone in the Dark." When you total them up you see it almost breaks even right there... this is only US numbers and does not take into account DVD sales and rentals as well as the fact that a band paid $30,000 just to have their music in the film.
His movies are all crap, I'm no fan by a long shot, but this "news" story is totally wrong and fueled by nothing more than dislike for the guy and his work.
Budget $20,000,000 (estimated)
Opening Weekend $2,834,421 (USA) (30 January 2005) (2,124 Screens)
Gross $5,132,655 (USA) (13 February 2005) $4,663,908 (USA) (6 February 2005) $2,834,421 (USA) (30 January 2005)
Weekend Gross $107,753 (USA) (13 February 2005) (209 Screens) $873,102 (USA) (6 February 2005) (2,124 Screens) $2,834,421 (USA) (30 January 2005) (2,124 Screens)
Slashdot Mirror
Well, that unfortunately is incorrect. In many parts of the world where the Xbox 360 is not only sold but affordable, air conditioning is not always a given.
For instance in my old house, I had one of every console and about $10,000 worth of A/V gear and it had no air conditioning... none of my gear failed to operate nor did I have to worry about it failing.
A fan in the external PSU simply makes sense... air conditioning or not a simple small fan would stop almost all of this trouble. Ever notice how your PC has a fan on it's PSU? Well, we could just ASSUME everyone lives in climate controlled environments and leave them out, now couldn't we?
To blindly overlook a massive number of people and lifestyles that can easily own a 360 and aren't technologically inclined or even care about the placement of the unit is just insane. Most rich folks know nothing nor care, they will shove it in some available space in the entertainment center and place the plug on the ground just like any other device... and THEY ARE RIGHT, it should be designed to be used in this manner.
Well, as I stated my numbers were from the Northeast U.S. EB's and Gamestops and the numbers came from store managers. Also, when I was speaking with one Gamestop owner near where I live, he was telling me how one person had already been through TWO 360's and both were defective. The store went to great lengths to satisfy the person because he had bought one of each launch title and some accessories... they thought it was user error and tried to get either one to work with no luck either. I have seen one PSU unit that was slightly melted on one edge and it had simply been on the floor behind the entertainment center on a rug and it was the day after release, so at most it was running for 24 hours, and this is the most common placement.
Well well, I have no MS hatred.. and in fact was one of the hardware testers for the system... so I'd say you are wrong right off the bat.
Oh, and my "from-the-ass-numbers" include polling approx 30 EB/Gamestop stores in my region for a news story I did.
Even if you go low on the percentages, the fact is that about 10-20% are defective. Once Christmas hits and many more are opened, I believe - and it is just MHO - that the final percentage will be 20-30%. Even if it stays at 10-20% and the number grows, that is a lot of unhappy folks and a lot of upset parents. Recalls and lawsuits will ensue.
Imagine for a minute, that you bought your 360 on ebay for an inflated price to make your kid happy only to get shafted. And then have it take 3 weeks for him to get a replacement... you are into Feb. with a very sad kid and you wouldn't be so callous.
Well, I can only state what I know to be fact but I have been a editor/reviewer in the games industry for about 4 years and through all of my contacts I keep coming up with numbers closer to 20-30% defective based on EB/Gamestop stores sampled and averaged. On the low side it is at least 10-20%.
I have a feeling that after Christmas it will be close to 20-25% when all is said and done.
As far as the PS2, they did suffer from lens issues (any DVD media player does, and Blu-ray could be worse yet) Especially if you bought the system used and the upkeep was less than stellar. You can also go to your local music store and buy a CD/DVD lens cleaning disc for a couple bucks and run it through once a month.
Didja ever think that you may have air conditioning/live in a colder climate and THAT may be a contributing factor to your success? Nah, couldn't be that.. I mean everyone has the exact same setup and situation as you... stupid people... ugh.
Oh, gee you sure are right... you linked to ONE GUY who isn't having a problem with his Xbox 360... you really showed me. I best be shutting up now.
You, sir, are a fucktard.
The fact is that it is not a simple process as that poster claims. The MS rep tells the user to restart their Xbox, then they say to plug/unplug it, then they say to try some B.S. and call back. It is a giant runaround and it takes WEEKS to get your replacement unit once they agree to exchange it. Yeah, that sure is simple and painless.
Oh, and once the final numbers are out the total of defective units will be closer to 10-20%. Right now many stores are showing failure rates in the 20-30% of the units they received. Once Christmas day hits, the numbers will only go up.
We will see the truth in due time, give it about a month then see who should be shutting the fuck up.
Sorry if it was rushed, but the message was clear. I was typing quickly and this is a topic I am passionate about... I spent over 4 years in the games industry, and I am just sickened by the current state of gaming.
I guarantee a recall will be in place within two weeks of Christmas day. They simply cannot stand to lose face and mindshare once the big story Christmas day is little crying children and enraged parents about the "must have" 360. Because it won't be until damn near the release of the PS3 and Revolution that the average person will even have a chance at a 360 or a replacement unit.
We shall see how it goes.
Yes, the almighty dollar is the whole point, but beyond that just about every console since, and including, the PS1 has just been about outdoing the competition with numbers and hype. This is the trend that needs to stop.
The PS1 was just a big middle finger from Sony to Nintendo since Nintendo didn't use the product that Sony had created. It was sold on polygon numbers and hype. The PS2 was the king of B.S. hype... Saddam wants them to guide missiles and Toy Story in real-time graphics... umm, yeah. Then the Xbox was just MS's attempt to quickly make a grab for dollars with no cohesive plan or structure besides throwing a lot of money at the situation once they saw it wasn't as easy as they thought.
Now the 360 and PS3 are just dick waving contests with NO regard for the consumer or for the games. Even though they have all been about money from the start, there always was at least a strong focus on the content.
Umm, except the problem is the massive thick plastic enclosed power supply as well as the overheating of the console itself. Basically the only "hack" needed is to take the case off both the PSU and console and buy a box fan to blow on it 24/7.
... so add into the "hack" a fluid vibration dampening system and you got a playable console! Easy, I mean what is the hubub about here?
Also, to those who dismiss the disc scratching as stupidity on the owners fault for "dropping" the Xbox 360 while it is running... I have seen with my own eyes the fact that repeatedly you can make it destroy a disc just by having it on a shelf and jumping in the room. Just the vibration from the jump makes the 360 scratch the disc.
Really, generally I am anti-lawyer and against frivolous lawsuits, but thi sis not one of them. This is a legitimate complaint and I believe that when the final numbers are known, that the number of defects will be much larger than MS is claiming. Also, MS support has been absolutely terrible when it comes to dissatisfied 360 owners, simply telling them to unplug and replug the system and call back.
To build such hype and such "demand" and then release a rushed faulty product should be punished. People need to stop this before everything is "beta" quality and we are all testers. What will become even worse is this Dec. 25th and the following days, I believe there will be many more unhappy folks once little Suzy and Tommy unwrap their shiny new Xbox 360 and it fails to operate or crashes continually or destroys their games... which is another thing: If you have a Xbox 360 and it destroy's your game by leaving the "360" degree circle of death scratch, MS's great response is that they will send you a free copy of PDZ. Umm, my copy of PGR3 is scratched... have a free PDZ! Not quite stellar customer support.
The 360 and PS3 amount to basically a giant pissing match between Sony and MS... the problem is that they forgot what the real aim of a console is: Easy, Fun, Enjoyment. Not Ghz, RAM, Polygons FTW.
For a DC revival. I always thought consumers gave up to easy with Sega, they should have been more vocal and even if SEGA would still have bowed out of hardware there could have still been life.
Now, however, is the perfect time for a comeback. people disillusioned with the 360 and PS3, high costs, complex controls, and unoriginal games are clamoring for something to fill the void. If people played their cards right, the DC could see a massive revival. News such as this keep my personal hope alive that the true spirit of gaming is not totally lost to greed, hollywood, and hooker beating "mature" games.
I owned a Neo-Geo, and it was never meant to be and never was a "console" game system. It was an ARCADE in your home. 100% PERFECT Arcade in your home. It cost a ton, yet it was cheaper than buying all the real cabs.
3D0 Was not a complete waste, it was a highly capable system ahead of it's time. There are many still around and they sold well with a decent library.
The Jaguar suffered from a number of blunders, not a "crash" of the industry.
This article was a waste... I lived through the first real crash and this supposed second one didn't even compare. B.S.
Oh, really? Lies, eh? here is a side by side with both systems: http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=ODk3 Yep. exact same size... oh, and don't forget the 360 still has the large power brick in addition... so it is actually larger. PWND.
12. I think that ought to do it, especially since most folks in Japan see the 360 as completely undesireable.
With 3 close friends in Japan and a couple colleagues, I can honestly say they really could care less overall. Sure they have their fanboy's but it is nowhere like here in the U.S.
The other funny thing is that the 360 is basically the *exact* same size as the original xbox PLUS the massive overheating power brick. Do they think the Japanese will be thrown off by the color white?
Also, Microsoft has gone so far out of their way to pander to the Japanese, yet really accomplish nothing. No Japan specific launch titles, nothing. I personally can't wait for the sales numbers to be as poor or worse than the Xbox 1, and for crap like the Wonderswan and GBC to still outsell it.
Sure gives a new meaning to Xbox *360*. Nice 360 degree scratches on all your new shiny HD games. Merry Christmas!
Now gaming was slightly more benign back when I was young, but I grew and learned so much from games. They took me to new worlds, increased my reading abilities, built freakish hand-eye coordination, and helped my decision making and process improvement abilities.
I don't think GTA, or PGR3 will be doing much of anything for kids though... and that's sad. There aren't many games left with any real substance where they have the ability to *help* kids even if the help is secondary or tertiary to the action. We need to get back to some of those games, there's nothing wrong with twitch and just fluff games... but there needs to be some balance.
QFT!
My uncle is a neurosurgeon here in the U.S. For a number of years he was paying money to help fund medicine in South America. Then he got tired of paying and not seeing any real rewards, so he began bringing children with otherwise deadly brain issues to his home and fostering them and providing the surgery for free. Now, he still does this but he also brings a doctor from the village and trains them for free and gives them supplies and tools.
Same thing with the computers. You can educate yourself in just about anything online today, this gift of information and freedom is really where the benefits begin. I grew up relatively poor here in the U.S. and my whole life was changed by my parents sacrifice to buy me a computer, then when the internet came along I read everything I could and absorbed everything, it landed me my first job, payed my way and became the first college graduate in my family and now run a large network for a financial instituion.
It can happen, and this is a start in the right direction.
I own one, and I actually enjoyed it. I never had headaches or motion sickness or any of the usual bashes against it... it just didn't have many games. The funny thing is that when people come ove to my house they see it and want to try it because they've only ever heard stories... many of them think it is pretty neat. It's just more of a novelty than a serious system.
I got mine from Kay Bee Toystores on clearance for $2.49 for the Virtual Boy and each game for $0.79... can't beat that.
Nope, Guild Wars has no mechanism in place at all. For a modern product, it is pretty unbelievable. All you have is the ability to go to a crowded district and yell "WTS - Sword of Uberness" over and over while it gets lost in the 1,000 other people doing the same.
Then once you get a reply, you have to actually give some clue as to where you are or they can't even find you to come buy your sword of uberness. it is about a silly and cumbersome a system as I have ever seen. I don't play anymore, even with it being free, the game itself is pretty crappy on top of the other problems.
I never claimed Sony made *good* hardware, just that my personal PS2 is a gen 1 PS2 that has held up to more abuse and work than almost any over 5 years or so and still runs perfectly.
I would never own one single piece of sony A/V equipment, no TV's, no monitors, no stereos, no CD walkmans... nothing. The PS1 and PS2 are it... and I used to work for Sony! I've bought Wega's for relatives at discount, and they like them, but I never personally trust any Sony product.
Even with all that said, 100 million PS2's is still amazing. Even if every person had to buy two, that is still 50 million PS2's (and Sony still technically sold 100 mil). No matter how you slice it, that is a ton of any console to move.
Guild Wars doesn't, and`there are a number of other titles that dont.
Yep. Crystal Clear, and exactly what I had been dreaming of in a fantasy MMO. Like all good ideas, someone beat me to it apparently :) Story of my life, day late, dollar short.
It sounds like you may be a COH player, and if so, may I ask how well this works in practice? It seems like the perfect blend of gameplay for an MMO.
In games like Guild Wars where everything is instanced, you are left with a empty feeling. In WoW it feels too crowded at times and is frustrating (just MHO). This system seems like a perfect mixture.
I'll have to claim ignorance here as I've never played COH. I tend to play only fantasy based MMO's.
Would you mind explaining how this works in COH? Are towns and surrounding area common while quests are instanced?
Thanks, and if I'm worng here I will fully admit it. I have yet to find a fantasy MMO that does this.
I actually prefer instanced quests and common towns... however I think a blend of the two is actually the sweet spot.
Have towns and areas around the town as common areas and then quests be instanced. To me this is something that no one has tried yet and could be the real answer.
I don;t want to have to deal with waiting for rabbits to appear to kill and get their fur when 20 other people are doing the same to complete a quest. But have a nice area around each town that is common and maybe even contains a few high level monsters and a super badass one that require teaming and grouping for decent rewards.
Also I feel that every MMO should have at least a single soloable dungeon that players can enjoy when friends/guildmates are not on. Have it get stupidly tough near then end and ensure that players really will have to continually work to clear it over the life of their character. Also, have every weapon/item that is attainable in the regular quests be able to be had in this dungeon... that way every player has equal opportunity and is not penalized for their style of play.
I also believe that player created quests should be implemented. I know many times when I've been gold rich but really wanted a single weapon I couldn't get either due to skill or time. Instead of standing around saying "WTB - Uber Dragonslayer sword of insight" I could go and post a quest saying "1,000g to the first adventurer to bring me an Uber Dragonslayer sword of insight" and let bored/enterprising adventurers fulfill my request.
I also believe player created villages and towns would also draw peopl ein and lend a sense of ownership. Then when a warring faction comes and raids your village and you have to rebuild... you now have a real sense of hatred and loyalty.
Well, here are the facts for just one of his films "Alone in the Dark." When you total them up you see it almost breaks even right there... this is only US numbers and does not take into account DVD sales and rentals as well as the fact that a band paid $30,000 just to have their music in the film.
His movies are all crap, I'm no fan by a long shot, but this "news" story is totally wrong and fueled by nothing more than dislike for the guy and his work.
Budget
$20,000,000 (estimated)
Opening Weekend
$2,834,421 (USA) (30 January 2005) (2,124 Screens)
Gross
$5,132,655 (USA) (13 February 2005)
$4,663,908 (USA) (6 February 2005)
$2,834,421 (USA) (30 January 2005)
Weekend Gross
$107,753 (USA) (13 February 2005) (209 Screens)
$873,102 (USA) (6 February 2005) (2,124 Screens)
$2,834,421 (USA) (30 January 2005) (2,124 Screens)