I'll agree that the Power Glove was an abomination of a controller (but at least it had a manual control override on it). I remember some interesting effects from it though. Not every developer had programmed handling of input patterns normally impossible with regular controllers (i.e. pressing both left and right on the d-pad at the same time).
I distinctly remember "attempting" to play "Milon's Secret Castle" with the Power Glove, with the result of Milon "moonwalking" across the screen. If I could have been in control of what was happening, I'd have been able to shoot in the opposite direction I was walking in!
I play VegaStrike using a keyboard and trackball. I have a joystick and found using it in a flight/space sim to be virtually useless. My trusty trackball is a thousand times more accurate than any joystick style controller I've ever used.
The second thing is easy. Just play Project Entropia. The in-game currency is freely convertable to real-world currency and vice-versa. Additionally, the game has no sign-up or monthly fees, the client is freely downloadable, and you don't need to put real money into the game to play (although it's damn hard if you don't). You start with a set of clothes and nothing else. You cannot fight mobs without a weapon (but you can collect "sweat" from the mobs while they beat the living snot out of you.)
FlyFF still has a ways to go before it is truly ready. There are still a number of glaring bugs such as poor translation and incorrect spacing and placement of messages (e.g. You have received PlayerName penya as a reward for bounty 5000.), and while flying, attacking flying monsters will result in any number of bugs occurring. Some people can fight the monsters. Some people will appear to attack but not do damage. Others won't attack at all. On mine, the bug is really nasty. If I try to enter combat mode, I cannot stop flying without logging out and back on.
That aside though, the healing items cannot just be collected and spammed. In addition to the 2-3 second delay before you can use another healing item (which is not in place for MP pots), the items also have a maximum amount that the item will be effective on (i.e. If you have a healing item that heals 70 HP, with a maximum of 300 HP, if you have over 300 HP, the item won't do anything.)
Regardless, the recovery rate is rather high while sitting (but agonizingly slow while standing), and if you don't want to be bothered by aggressive mobs while recovering, you can always just hop on your broom or board (after lv 20). Land-based monsters can't attack you while you are flying and the actual flying monsters don't hug the ground either.
SCSI is probably your best bet for multiple drive configurations. They even make external towers for arrays of optical drives (which I've used before with a net-attached SCSI server).
That would be because it states that Congress has the power to regulate commerce with foreign countries, not the power to regulate commerce within foreign countries.
In other words, Congress should not have the power to stop Google from conducting business within China. Google operates solely on an international medium with business locations located throughout the world.
How many servers does Google have worldwide and what percentage actually reside within US borders?
If you are allowed to modify your computer, pick up a cheap sound card. Configure the system to send system sounds through the regular card and music through the new one (or vice-versa).
It may be tricky to do, but it can be done (and ironically, I think it may actually be easier to do in Linux than in Windows. Windows is more user-friendly my eye!)
Why don't the game companies devise a new standard practice to handle copy protection (and take a cue from some business software developers)
My solution is to use hardware keys (or maybe RSA tags). I think it would be a more elegant solution to the problems. Also, since a software download won't come with the hardware key, the software could be programmed to allow a period of time (say 2 weeks) where the key is not necessary to allow shipment of the key. This will save wear and tear on the discs (if they exist) as well as allowing copy protection for downloaded games. I'm sure a hardware key would be more durable than a CD.
No copy protection plan is foolproof, people will continue to "patch" software to bypass the checks, but it would at least get rid of the stupid crap that goes on with validating discs (and as an added bonus, since the copy protection is on a piece of hardware, we could even make a backup copy of the software in case the original is damaged.)
Sony - EQ, EQ2, SWG (and I think they support FFXI) Blizzard - WoW Funcom - Anarchy Online CCP Games - EVE Online NCSoft - CoH, CoV, Guild Wars, Lineage, Lineage II Wizet - MapleStory AeonSoft - Fly for Fun MindArk - Project Entropia
I think you are missing the point. NTP is trying to claim that they are due money because they hold a piece of paper that says that they were doing it first. The problem is, NTP doesn't do anything but hold pieces of paper.
RIM is saying, "We don't owe you anything. You should never have received those pieces of paper, and we will make sure that the issuer investigates the matter."
The USPTO is invalidating the patents left and right. If (and likely when) the patents are all gone, NTP won't have a leg to stand on. I wonder anyone will sue NTP at that point for extortion due to the "licenses" that other companies purchased.
If you had posted this under the "Shock Therapy" section of the thread, you may have gotten away with it since the movie "Shock Treatment" was the sequel.
There are bigger players on the internet than the telcos. If the telcos try to move to a tiered program, that will only open the doors wider for independent ISPs with pipes running to companies like Level 3 and Internap. The only result of this will be better connectivity. The telcos are looking after their bottom line, and providing good service to Podunk isn't on their agenda (the gains would be a drop in the bucket to them). On the other hand, the opposite is true for a small town ISP with a nice big pipe. People will pay for better service and the telcos will be stuck with laying (and maintaining) copper for it.
If they were in the news more for finding serial killers and recovering kidnapped children than they were for using the PATRIOTACT, then perhaps. There is a use for an FBI, but not this one.
Did it ever occur to you that PATRIOT Act stuff is the only thing that the media deems newsworthy? There is a lot of day-to-day stuff that the FBI handles that doesn't get news coverage.
Oh, and to the grandparent: The FBI is not the department that is supposed to handle counterfeiting cases. That would be the division of the Treasury Department known as the Secret Service.
Then, you can wake me up when necessity catches up to our tech level. The last video card I bought was a Radeon 9250 based card (which will run the games I want to play) and I bought that in October for about $50. Why would I pay hundreds of dollars on something that far exceeds the performance necessary?
The question I ask: What is the cheapest card that will do what I need it to do?
Now, if I had an insane amount of capital to do with as I wish, I might consider going all out (just to ensure that I won't have to upgrade for a long time).
I don't disagree that the airlines should be allowed to remove passengers from flights as they deem necessary. What I disagree with is that currently, it's essentially, "No, I'm afraid we can't let you board the plane, but thanks for your donation."
This is where the grey area lies. The airlines should have the right to refuse to allow you to board... as long as they refund your ticket with no penalty.
If a company accepts payment for a service (such as transportation from point A to point B), then either they must provide that service or refund the payment in full.
Slashdot Mirror
Your suggestion is nothing new. This is done already on the Chinese servers of MMORPGs (as mandated by the Chinese government, from what I hear).
I play MMORPGs extensively on the weekends so I can try and catch up to the people who have more free time during the week than I do.
I'll agree that the Power Glove was an abomination of a controller (but at least it had a manual control override on it). I remember some interesting effects from it though. Not every developer had programmed handling of input patterns normally impossible with regular controllers (i.e. pressing both left and right on the d-pad at the same time). I distinctly remember "attempting" to play "Milon's Secret Castle" with the Power Glove, with the result of Milon "moonwalking" across the screen. If I could have been in control of what was happening, I'd have been able to shoot in the opposite direction I was walking in!
I play VegaStrike using a keyboard and trackball. I have a joystick and found using it in a flight/space sim to be virtually useless. My trusty trackball is a thousand times more accurate than any joystick style controller I've ever used.
The second thing is easy. Just play Project Entropia. The in-game currency is freely convertable to real-world currency and vice-versa. Additionally, the game has no sign-up or monthly fees, the client is freely downloadable, and you don't need to put real money into the game to play (although it's damn hard if you don't). You start with a set of clothes and nothing else. You cannot fight mobs without a weapon (but you can collect "sweat" from the mobs while they beat the living snot out of you.)
Ummm... I'm guessing that it just doesn't work under Linux with WINE/Cedega/whatever then. TA still works great on any Windows machine I use.
FlyFF still has a ways to go before it is truly ready. There are still a number of glaring bugs such as poor translation and incorrect spacing and placement of messages (e.g. You have received PlayerName penya as a reward for bounty 5000.), and while flying, attacking flying monsters will result in any number of bugs occurring. Some people can fight the monsters. Some people will appear to attack but not do damage. Others won't attack at all. On mine, the bug is really nasty. If I try to enter combat mode, I cannot stop flying without logging out and back on.
That aside though, the healing items cannot just be collected and spammed. In addition to the 2-3 second delay before you can use another healing item (which is not in place for MP pots), the items also have a maximum amount that the item will be effective on (i.e. If you have a healing item that heals 70 HP, with a maximum of 300 HP, if you have over 300 HP, the item won't do anything.)
Regardless, the recovery rate is rather high while sitting (but agonizingly slow while standing), and if you don't want to be bothered by aggressive mobs while recovering, you can always just hop on your broom or board (after lv 20). Land-based monsters can't attack you while you are flying and the actual flying monsters don't hug the ground either.
Oh no! The apocalypse is coming!
This can mean one of two things:
1) The number of admins who don't know better have exceeded those who do.
or...
2) Management
(Please note, I am not trying to be a troll. I am only trying to be amusing.)
AOL chant rooms in 1994 were way more scary!
I'd be scared of AOL chant rooms too!
SCSI is probably your best bet for multiple drive configurations. They even make external towers for arrays of optical drives (which I've used before with a net-attached SCSI server).
I guess it's time to move the corporate HQ to Canada then. I'm sure Google would prefer to not be repressed.
FYI, there was a sequel to Shadow President called Cyber Judas. If I remember correctly, it was a pretty decent game as well.
That would be because it states that Congress has the power to regulate commerce with foreign countries, not the power to regulate commerce within foreign countries.
In other words, Congress should not have the power to stop Google from conducting business within China. Google operates solely on an international medium with business locations located throughout the world.
How many servers does Google have worldwide and what percentage actually reside within US borders?
If you are allowed to modify your computer, pick up a cheap sound card. Configure the system to send system sounds through the regular card and music through the new one (or vice-versa).
It may be tricky to do, but it can be done (and ironically, I think it may actually be easier to do in Linux than in Windows. Windows is more user-friendly my eye!)
Why don't the game companies devise a new standard practice to handle copy protection (and take a cue from some business software developers)
My solution is to use hardware keys (or maybe RSA tags). I think it would be a more elegant solution to the problems. Also, since a software download won't come with the hardware key, the software could be programmed to allow a period of time (say 2 weeks) where the key is not necessary to allow shipment of the key. This will save wear and tear on the discs (if they exist) as well as allowing copy protection for downloaded games. I'm sure a hardware key would be more durable than a CD.
No copy protection plan is foolproof, people will continue to "patch" software to bypass the checks, but it would at least get rid of the stupid crap that goes on with validating discs (and as an added bonus, since the copy protection is on a piece of hardware, we could even make a backup copy of the software in case the original is damaged.)
Let's see:
Sony - EQ, EQ2, SWG (and I think they support FFXI)
Blizzard - WoW
Funcom - Anarchy Online
CCP Games - EVE Online
NCSoft - CoH, CoV, Guild Wars, Lineage, Lineage II
Wizet - MapleStory
AeonSoft - Fly for Fun
MindArk - Project Entropia
You forgot, "Slingshot the starship around the sun."
That works well when aliens try to talk to whales.
I think you are missing the point. NTP is trying to claim that they are due money because they hold a piece of paper that says that they were doing it first. The problem is, NTP doesn't do anything but hold pieces of paper.
RIM is saying, "We don't owe you anything. You should never have received those pieces of paper, and we will make sure that the issuer investigates the matter."
The USPTO is invalidating the patents left and right. If (and likely when) the patents are all gone, NTP won't have a leg to stand on. I wonder anyone will sue NTP at that point for extortion due to the "licenses" that other companies purchased.
If you had posted this under the "Shock Therapy" section of the thread, you may have gotten away with it since the movie "Shock Treatment" was the sequel.
are just part of the 2006 EA Sports lineup that the PS3 won't have (the 2007 lineup will be ready when the PS3 is released).
*ducks*
There are bigger players on the internet than the telcos. If the telcos try to move to a tiered program, that will only open the doors wider for independent ISPs with pipes running to companies like Level 3 and Internap. The only result of this will be better connectivity. The telcos are looking after their bottom line, and providing good service to Podunk isn't on their agenda (the gains would be a drop in the bucket to them). On the other hand, the opposite is true for a small town ISP with a nice big pipe. People will pay for better service and the telcos will be stuck with laying (and maintaining) copper for it.
If they were in the news more for finding serial killers and recovering kidnapped children than they were for using the PATRIOTACT, then perhaps. There is a use for an FBI, but not this one.
Did it ever occur to you that PATRIOT Act stuff is the only thing that the media deems newsworthy? There is a lot of day-to-day stuff that the FBI handles that doesn't get news coverage.
Oh, and to the grandparent: The FBI is not the department that is supposed to handle counterfeiting cases. That would be the division of the Treasury Department known as the Secret Service.
Then, you can wake me up when necessity catches up to our tech level. The last video card I bought was a Radeon 9250 based card (which will run the games I want to play) and I bought that in October for about $50. Why would I pay hundreds of dollars on something that far exceeds the performance necessary?
The question I ask: What is the cheapest card that will do what I need it to do?
Now, if I had an insane amount of capital to do with as I wish, I might consider going all out (just to ensure that I won't have to upgrade for a long time).
The score is already -1, so I don't need to mod it, but there isn't an option for "bad pun" anyway.
I don't disagree that the airlines should be allowed to remove passengers from flights as they deem necessary. What I disagree with is that currently, it's essentially, "No, I'm afraid we can't let you board the plane, but thanks for your donation."
This is where the grey area lies. The airlines should have the right to refuse to allow you to board... as long as they refund your ticket with no penalty.
If a company accepts payment for a service (such as transportation from point A to point B), then either they must provide that service or refund the payment in full.