I'm sure they'd nerf the magic system every bit as much as they did for the LARP version of Mage simply because they'd have to. That is, you'd have set spell lists for each level of any given sphere and a handful of effects that utilize one or more spheres at a time. In short, it would be D&D with some implementation of Paradox instead of spells/day.
But this seems like a good idea in many ways. I'm a bit taken aback that MicroSoft is doing something to let hobbists flex their creative muscle, especially in such a (relatively) open way. I mean, development for X-Box and PC? That's a pretty sweet deal.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm sure a lot of the games will probably suck eggs, but it might just turn out that we'd see some real innovation in design and concept with an infusion of fresh development blood. Because you never know, one of those hobbists/indie designers might crank out something good enough to either a) get picked up by an existing studio or b) generate enough interest from others to start up their own studio. Then it just becomes a matter of being a good enough businessman to keep things working.
No, if you're running a system with one of those operating systems, you're probably blissfully ignorant of the security problems and just accept the kinks as they are. Odds are you've never patched your system because you didn't know that you needed to. Your 'decision' to stay with that OS is also probably more along the lines of either a) not wanting to upgrade because you think it's too much work/too expensive or b) because 'it works just fine for me'.
Honestly, how many people on Slashdot routinely run '98 or older except as a test bed for software/web applications that they have to make sure run on anything that Grandma & Grandpa Sixpack might still be using? I know two people who run '98, and one of them does so for the purpose of testing and development. The other runs it because her system won't handle XP and she doesn't have the cash on hand to upgrade.
From everything that I've heard mentioned both here and on other sites, the biggest memory hog in Firefox is the Forecastfox extension. Once I uninstalled that, Firefox's footprint dropped down to the 30 megs or so that it's at now from the 70-ish that it was at. Granted, I haven't used said extension in quite a while, so it's possible that this problem has been fixed as well.
Tell me about it. I remember how great that game was at the time and what a change it was from the 2D games like Commander Keen. I still remember how excited we were to get 'new' hardware just so we could run at a good framerate at 800x600!
The MPAA says that Torrentspy is facilitating thievery, but then turn around and say that downloading movies is actually copyright infringement. Well, which is it? At this point, the penalties for actually stealing movies or music are almost nonexistent compared to copyright infringement. Consider that if you steal a CD or DVD from, oh say Tower Records, you get a veritable slap on the wrist (read: a fine and probably never being allowed in that store again), but if you 'infinge on copyrights' you face a multi-thousand dollar fine and possible jail time.
So again, I have to ask, which is the actual crime here? I'm sure that I'm incredibly naive (and a poor speller to boot), but shouldn't copyright infringement cover something more along the lines of wholesale idea theft like copying a movie's plot and characters for your own film? Please explain this to me...
To answer the parent's question, the MPAA suit will obviously attract more damage, as they have the money and clout with congress to get their way. The problem is that we're trying to apply old standards to a new media/frontier/world, and they just don't work well.
Don't forget that fungi and plants also have cells walls and are both eukaryotic. Granted, the composition of the wall is different, but they've still got them. This is actually problematic when it comes to treating fungal infections, since the only viable target is the cell wall.
You'd think by now that we'd have found some compounds to inhibit other metabolic processes as well - perhaps protein synthesis at either the transcription or translation stage, or possibly DNA synthesis. Clearly it's easiest to attack the cell wall, but there have to be other targets...
Anyway, I pretty much have to agree with you on the whole bacteria vs. fungi war. Both have basically the same range of energy sources in the environment, with factors such as humidity and temperature biasing any given area towards one or the other. Of course there are some fungi that produce antifungals as well, so the chemical warfare gets even more complicated.
Boy did I read your post too quickly... I thought you said you saw that on Daily Rotten and was just a little confused...
Yes, off-topic, I know.
But seriously, I'm exttremely glad Ubi has ditched this in favor of a less crippling copy-protection scheme. If for no other reason than I can finally go get my copy of HoMM 5.
It's not just the price or the time needed to play. It's also the fact that it's really hard to convince most gamers that they need to continue buying supplements. I'll admit that I have a lot of 3e/3.5e books, and I'll also admit that 3.5 was basically a cash-grab by WotC. Having said that, however, the truth is that most of the more recent supplements aren't things that I feel the need to buy. It's either stuff that I'd come up with on my own already, or it's material that is kind of cool, but not interesting enough to warrant purchasing. Hell, I don't even use half of the material in half of the supplements that I have now. Why would I need to buy more?
Also, there is the fact that the industry moves in cicles. If you recall, there was a significant drop-off in the market during the late 80's and 90's, which would correspond to the time between the initial frenzy over 2nd edition and the release of 3rd. I think that the same thing is happening here, and that when 4th edition comes out, we'll see a big boom in the market again (at least for a few years).
Another factor this time is the sheer glut of 3rd edition materials that were released. Everyone and their brother jumped all over the open-source nature of the d20 system, so there's even more dross to sort through and more competition in the market than ever before.
Might and Magic 6 & 7 had elven paper dolls, but they weren't completely naked. IIRC, they always at least had some form of underclothes on. Then again, you may be thinking of a completely different game...
While the Dwemer ruins were always interesting, I would have to say that my personal favorite quest isn't one. Just exploring the game world is my favorite 'quest'. There were so many little dungeons and cave networks that existed for absolutely no reason whatsoever, other than as a place to poke around in and maybe find some loot.
Of course, if you've played the Tribunal expansion, then you get to learn all sorts of fun things about Vivec, Sotha Sil, Almalexia, and the Dwemer. You learn things that you'd probably be far happier not knowing, even if you end up siding with the Prince instead of Almalexia.
The demo was certainly pretty and all, and the summons were most impressive, but I too was somewhat disappointed. I didn't like that two of the three party members were on 'auto-pilot' (and yes, I know that you can turn that off), and I didn't really like the fact that actions are repeated over and over in combat until you specify a different action. It's almost like they wanted to eliminate any remaining difficulty in a series that has gotten progressively easier over the past few years.
Having said that, the music and graphics were top-notch, as was to be expected, and I actually did enjoy the fact that random encounters can now be avoided. I am looking forward to playing the finished product, but not with nearly as much enthusiasm as I hold for other titles that are coming out this year.
As far as the article is concerned, I'm pretty surprised that there wasn't a Dragon Warrior title in the elite cadre of perfect-scoring games.
Back when I was much younger (say, in my early teens), I'd buy the game and guide at the same time. I quickly learned that doing so completely ruined the fun of playing the game. Instead of learning what to do and exploring, I'd just flip to page 3, get the answer, and continue. It's like gaming on autopilot.
Now I still get the occasional guide (or use GameFaqs, as has been mentioned to death already), but I never buy it/go there until after at least one playthrough. The guide serves as a tool for re-plays. That way I get the satisfaction of having thought and worked on the game without a hand-holding from someone else, but I still can say "yeah, I found all the goodies."
Because if the only two PS3 titles available at the same time as the system are Madden Stat Update for the Current Season and GTA: Somewhere, I couldn't really give a crap. More launch titles means a greater chance of having at least one title for each genre, which translates into happier customers.
Also, how do you define 'best' games? What makes a game good is relatively independent of when it's released, be it at launch or three years later.
If it means having a better system with fewer bugs and more launch titles, I can't see how a delay would be bad from an end-user perspective. I realize that any delay will harm them as a corporation, and possibly drive up the system price, but these are relatively minor concerns. Then again, most manufacturers already sell the system itself at a loss.
The only thing Sony really needs to worry about time-wise is beating the Revolution out of the gates. Given that details on the Nintendo system are still sketchy at best, this probably isn't a concern either.
Unfortunately, the vast majority of Americans are just as ignorant of science and the scientific method. To them, the words 'theory' and 'hypothesis' are roughly analogous. And, of course, since 'hypothesis' is usually defined as 'educated guess', you can imagine why we have so many problems.
HIV is an enveloped virus, not a naked one. This means that all of the progeny virus particles bud out through the cell membrane, taking a portion of it with them. There isn't the lysis associated with a naked virus, and the cell doesn't simply explode. Infected cells are instead killed off by other, non-infected immune cells which recognize the foreign proteins (from HIV) that are being expressed on the surface of the infected cells.
For a while the body can produce new T-cells as quickly as they can be infected and killed off. Eventually, however, production slows, the T-cell count drops, and full-blown AIDS begins.
Anyway, even if this hypothetical treatment does work, another virus will come out of the woodwork. It's happened pretty much every time we've made any significant progress - why should we expect it to not happen again?
If you've got a PS2 and like tactical games, I highly recommend getting it. Also consider that it has intuitive controls, a great storyline, a fair amount of humor, and, of course, Prinnies*. Alas, it's kinda hard to find at times due to a small production run.
* - Basically a penguin that explodes when you throw it and has a propencity for shouting 'Dood!'
Maybe I'm the exception then, because there are a good number of PS1 titles that I still play - Breath of Fire III, Castlevania: SotN, Final Fantasy VII, Alundra, Neo Nectaris, Legend of Mana, etc... You're saying that we should just abandon games that we enjoyed (assuming they have replay value) simply because something newer is available? No, I don't agree with that.
As for the hardware matchup, well, yeah. I'm with you there.
If the games are good, it shouldn't really matter who has more titles. This is nothing more than the console version of measuring penis length. Now, when you include previous-generation titles that play on the new system, who comes out ahead?
He's also making a movie out of Dungeon Siege starring none other than that bald guy from The Transporter. I'm sure it will be a horrible movie that not only manages to completely ignore the better parts of the game, but also completely rip off Lord of the Rings.
Now, I can't be entirely certain of this, chiefly because I can't remember where I heard it, but supposedly Boll gets to keep making movies because the studios know that he'll produce a loss for them. Why on earth they want a loss is beyond me, but apparently they do.
Having said that, do you think it might be possible to get someone to make a good movie out of a game?
What does the minimum inhibitory concentration have to do with anything? Or are you referring to some other possible interpretation of that abbreviation?
> On the other hand, you're probably paying $20 for a game someone else bought new and then decided it sucks.
At least I only paid $20 for it though. Then, if I sell it back because I think it sucks, I'm out $15-$17 (depending on how generous the store is) instead of $45-$47. Also, keep in mind that 'a suck game' is a subjective issue. Sure, Fr46M4$t3R thought game-X blew, but do he and I have the same taste?
Slashdot Mirror
I'm sure they'd nerf the magic system every bit as much as they did for the LARP version of Mage simply because they'd have to. That is, you'd have set spell lists for each level of any given sphere and a handful of effects that utilize one or more spheres at a time. In short, it would be D&D with some implementation of Paradox instead of spells/day.
But this seems like a good idea in many ways. I'm a bit taken aback that MicroSoft is doing something to let hobbists flex their creative muscle, especially in such a (relatively) open way. I mean, development for X-Box and PC? That's a pretty sweet deal.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm sure a lot of the games will probably suck eggs, but it might just turn out that we'd see some real innovation in design and concept with an infusion of fresh development blood. Because you never know, one of those hobbists/indie designers might crank out something good enough to either a) get picked up by an existing studio or b) generate enough interest from others to start up their own studio. Then it just becomes a matter of being a good enough businessman to keep things working.
No, if you're running a system with one of those operating systems, you're probably blissfully ignorant of the security problems and just accept the kinks as they are. Odds are you've never patched your system because you didn't know that you needed to. Your 'decision' to stay with that OS is also probably more along the lines of either a) not wanting to upgrade because you think it's too much work/too expensive or b) because 'it works just fine for me'.
Honestly, how many people on Slashdot routinely run '98 or older except as a test bed for software/web applications that they have to make sure run on anything that Grandma & Grandpa Sixpack might still be using? I know two people who run '98, and one of them does so for the purpose of testing and development. The other runs it because her system won't handle XP and she doesn't have the cash on hand to upgrade.
From everything that I've heard mentioned both here and on other sites, the biggest memory hog in Firefox is the Forecastfox extension. Once I uninstalled that, Firefox's footprint dropped down to the 30 megs or so that it's at now from the 70-ish that it was at. Granted, I haven't used said extension in quite a while, so it's possible that this problem has been fixed as well.
Tell me about it. I remember how great that game was at the time and what a change it was from the 2D games like Commander Keen. I still remember how excited we were to get 'new' hardware just so we could run at a good framerate at 800x600!
The MPAA says that Torrentspy is facilitating thievery, but then turn around and say that downloading movies is actually copyright infringement. Well, which is it? At this point, the penalties for actually stealing movies or music are almost nonexistent compared to copyright infringement. Consider that if you steal a CD or DVD from, oh say Tower Records, you get a veritable slap on the wrist (read: a fine and probably never being allowed in that store again), but if you 'infinge on copyrights' you face a multi-thousand dollar fine and possible jail time.
So again, I have to ask, which is the actual crime here? I'm sure that I'm incredibly naive (and a poor speller to boot), but shouldn't copyright infringement cover something more along the lines of wholesale idea theft like copying a movie's plot and characters for your own film? Please explain this to me...
To answer the parent's question, the MPAA suit will obviously attract more damage, as they have the money and clout with congress to get their way. The problem is that we're trying to apply old standards to a new media/frontier/world, and they just don't work well.
Don't forget that fungi and plants also have cells walls and are both eukaryotic. Granted, the composition of the wall is different, but they've still got them. This is actually problematic when it comes to treating fungal infections, since the only viable target is the cell wall.
You'd think by now that we'd have found some compounds to inhibit other metabolic processes as well - perhaps protein synthesis at either the transcription or translation stage, or possibly DNA synthesis. Clearly it's easiest to attack the cell wall, but there have to be other targets...
Anyway, I pretty much have to agree with you on the whole bacteria vs. fungi war. Both have basically the same range of energy sources in the environment, with factors such as humidity and temperature biasing any given area towards one or the other. Of course there are some fungi that produce antifungals as well, so the chemical warfare gets even more complicated.
Boy did I read your post too quickly... I thought you said you saw that on Daily Rotten and was just a little confused...
Yes, off-topic, I know.
But seriously, I'm exttremely glad Ubi has ditched this in favor of a less crippling copy-protection scheme. If for no other reason than I can finally go get my copy of HoMM 5.
It's not just the price or the time needed to play. It's also the fact that it's really hard to convince most gamers that they need to continue buying supplements. I'll admit that I have a lot of 3e/3.5e books, and I'll also admit that 3.5 was basically a cash-grab by WotC. Having said that, however, the truth is that most of the more recent supplements aren't things that I feel the need to buy. It's either stuff that I'd come up with on my own already, or it's material that is kind of cool, but not interesting enough to warrant purchasing. Hell, I don't even use half of the material in half of the supplements that I have now. Why would I need to buy more?
Also, there is the fact that the industry moves in cicles. If you recall, there was a significant drop-off in the market during the late 80's and 90's, which would correspond to the time between the initial frenzy over 2nd edition and the release of 3rd. I think that the same thing is happening here, and that when 4th edition comes out, we'll see a big boom in the market again (at least for a few years).
Another factor this time is the sheer glut of 3rd edition materials that were released. Everyone and their brother jumped all over the open-source nature of the d20 system, so there's even more dross to sort through and more competition in the market than ever before.
Might and Magic 6 & 7 had elven paper dolls, but they weren't completely naked. IIRC, they always at least had some form of underclothes on. Then again, you may be thinking of a completely different game...
What is this discontinued plugin of which you speak? I can still check Hotmail via Outlook, and I'm using Office 2003.
While the Dwemer ruins were always interesting, I would have to say that my personal favorite quest isn't one. Just exploring the game world is my favorite 'quest'. There were so many little dungeons and cave networks that existed for absolutely no reason whatsoever, other than as a place to poke around in and maybe find some loot.
Of course, if you've played the Tribunal expansion, then you get to learn all sorts of fun things about Vivec, Sotha Sil, Almalexia, and the Dwemer. You learn things that you'd probably be far happier not knowing, even if you end up siding with the Prince instead of Almalexia.
The demo was certainly pretty and all, and the summons were most impressive, but I too was somewhat disappointed. I didn't like that two of the three party members were on 'auto-pilot' (and yes, I know that you can turn that off), and I didn't really like the fact that actions are repeated over and over in combat until you specify a different action. It's almost like they wanted to eliminate any remaining difficulty in a series that has gotten progressively easier over the past few years.
Having said that, the music and graphics were top-notch, as was to be expected, and I actually did enjoy the fact that random encounters can now be avoided. I am looking forward to playing the finished product, but not with nearly as much enthusiasm as I hold for other titles that are coming out this year.
As far as the article is concerned, I'm pretty surprised that there wasn't a Dragon Warrior title in the elite cadre of perfect-scoring games.
Back when I was much younger (say, in my early teens), I'd buy the game and guide at the same time. I quickly learned that doing so completely ruined the fun of playing the game. Instead of learning what to do and exploring, I'd just flip to page 3, get the answer, and continue. It's like gaming on autopilot.
Now I still get the occasional guide (or use GameFaqs, as has been mentioned to death already), but I never buy it/go there until after at least one playthrough. The guide serves as a tool for re-plays. That way I get the satisfaction of having thought and worked on the game without a hand-holding from someone else, but I still can say "yeah, I found all the goodies."
Because if the only two PS3 titles available at the same time as the system are Madden Stat Update for the Current Season and GTA: Somewhere, I couldn't really give a crap. More launch titles means a greater chance of having at least one title for each genre, which translates into happier customers.
Also, how do you define 'best' games? What makes a game good is relatively independent of when it's released, be it at launch or three years later.
If it means having a better system with fewer bugs and more launch titles, I can't see how a delay would be bad from an end-user perspective. I realize that any delay will harm them as a corporation, and possibly drive up the system price, but these are relatively minor concerns. Then again, most manufacturers already sell the system itself at a loss.
The only thing Sony really needs to worry about time-wise is beating the Revolution out of the gates. Given that details on the Nintendo system are still sketchy at best, this probably isn't a concern either.
Unfortunately, the vast majority of Americans are just as ignorant of science and the scientific method. To them, the words 'theory' and 'hypothesis' are roughly analogous. And, of course, since 'hypothesis' is usually defined as 'educated guess', you can imagine why we have so many problems.
HIV is an enveloped virus, not a naked one. This means that all of the progeny virus particles bud out through the cell membrane, taking a portion of it with them. There isn't the lysis associated with a naked virus, and the cell doesn't simply explode. Infected cells are instead killed off by other, non-infected immune cells which recognize the foreign proteins (from HIV) that are being expressed on the surface of the infected cells.
For a while the body can produce new T-cells as quickly as they can be infected and killed off. Eventually, however, production slows, the T-cell count drops, and full-blown AIDS begins.
Anyway, even if this hypothetical treatment does work, another virus will come out of the woodwork. It's happened pretty much every time we've made any significant progress - why should we expect it to not happen again?
Disgaea
If you've got a PS2 and like tactical games, I highly recommend getting it. Also consider that it has intuitive controls, a great storyline, a fair amount of humor, and, of course, Prinnies*. Alas, it's kinda hard to find at times due to a small production run.
* - Basically a penguin that explodes when you throw it and has a propencity for shouting 'Dood!'
Maybe I'm the exception then, because there are a good number of PS1 titles that I still play - Breath of Fire III, Castlevania: SotN, Final Fantasy VII, Alundra, Neo Nectaris, Legend of Mana, etc... You're saying that we should just abandon games that we enjoyed (assuming they have replay value) simply because something newer is available? No, I don't agree with that.
As for the hardware matchup, well, yeah. I'm with you there.
If the games are good, it shouldn't really matter who has more titles. This is nothing more than the console version of measuring penis length. Now, when you include previous-generation titles that play on the new system, who comes out ahead?
My vote is still for the PC.
He's also making a movie out of Dungeon Siege starring none other than that bald guy from The Transporter. I'm sure it will be a horrible movie that not only manages to completely ignore the better parts of the game, but also completely rip off Lord of the Rings.
Now, I can't be entirely certain of this, chiefly because I can't remember where I heard it, but supposedly Boll gets to keep making movies because the studios know that he'll produce a loss for them. Why on earth they want a loss is beyond me, but apparently they do.
Having said that, do you think it might be possible to get someone to make a good movie out of a game?
What does the minimum inhibitory concentration have to do with anything? Or are you referring to some other possible interpretation of that abbreviation?
Does this surprise anyone? The only thing that I'm surprised about is that the administration hasn't made some prominent scientists 'disappear'.
> On the other hand, you're probably paying $20 for a game someone else bought new and then decided it sucks.
At least I only paid $20 for it though. Then, if I sell it back because I think it sucks, I'm out $15-$17 (depending on how generous the store is) instead of $45-$47. Also, keep in mind that 'a suck game' is a subjective issue. Sure, Fr46M4$t3R thought game-X blew, but do he and I have the same taste?