IANAPG (I am not a power gamer), however, I played a 3.5 wizard in a long-running campaign, and by level 10-12, most fights came down to "Calaten blasts the crap out of the enemy" or "Calaten sits back and throws a few random non-damage spells to let the party actually DO something". By the high-teens, I was capable of literally doing more than the rest of the party combined (which included a rather naively-played Druid, I would note).
The same reason I'm still stuck with two servers running Win2k and one running NT4. Vendors who never updated their software (or went out of business), and upper management unwilling to shell out the money (and associated headaches) to upgrade and transition to a different vendor.
Short answer: Lousy third-party software requirements.
According to a quick search, I am the only person in the US with my first/last name combo. I don't even have Facebook, but my personal info is there to be found fairly easily. Just because you have a common name doesn't mean everyone does. I enjoyed having discussions on the WoW forums back when I played. Now, I'd be afraid to post, in case someone took offense to a comment meant to be joking and decided to do something about it.
To be fair, you can play a completely lesbian female berserker, or a completely gay male healer. It's only NPCs who... keep their options open.
Also, Shale should tot
Honestly, I can't estimate how hard it would be to control two analog devices at once
You're saying you've never used a 360 or PS2/3 controller before?
And to be fair to the G13, its joystick seems to be an actual analog input, while the Belkin I linked is only an 8-way input. It's just shaped awkwardly.
I was thinking something more along the lines of this little toy, only better quality of course. Standard access to necessary keys, with the addition of a second analog control to complement the mouse. Much simpler than a wiimote headband, wouldn't you say?
So when you're holding the Q key and leaning with your mouse, you can still fire just fine... but how do you aim? This discussion is reaching the point of religious apologism here. If you're trying to do two things at once that require fine control, you cannot do it through one analog input.
Let's move away from FPS for a moment into an example from a related genre. Take a game like Saint's Row or GTA. Driving is accomplished with WASD, which means that your options are either "drive straight" or "turn the wheel all the way to the side". Steering is jerky and crashes are inevitable. Now, you could press a modifier key to steer with the mouse for fine control (and admittedly, that option would have been nice) but then while steering, you'd be incapable of looking around. Now maybe while you're holding shift and remapping steering, looking is remapped to WASD, so at least you can look in the four main directions, but that's still inferior to having full camera control AND steering control simultaneously. Two simultaneous analog actions require two inputs.
Please understand where I'm coming from. I prefer PC gaming to console. I think keyboard/mouse is greatly superior to a controller (especially for any sort of shooter). But for some games, having a single analog input is annoying.
That would be utterly amazing. Though it might still run into a bit of the 8-way run issue. Running at something other than a 45 degree angle would require holding down (for example) A and W, but pressing on A slightly less hard. Certainly doable, but still not as intuitive as "point thumbstick and go". But at least it becomes possible at that point, and I'm sure reflexes would catch up quickly enough.
At which point you can't aim while leaning out of cover. Sure, you can add a "lean" modifier button; holding shift or something, but the fact remains that while the keyboard/mouse combo IS very versatile, it has limitations. You'll never get past the single-analog-input issue. If you want to get technical, the 360 controller has FOUR analog inputs (though admittedly, the triggers almost never get used as such). Yes, it's very limited in versatility, but it does have advantages. There are a lot of games (I'd even say the majority) that work better with a keyboard/mouse setup than with a controller, but not all of them.
My point was that it's still a digital input. Each direction is only ON or OFF. There's no "half ON" for walking or for making smoother turns. I don't care if you use WASD or YGHJ or GVBN.
I guess the optimal here would be a dedicated gaming input for the PC that has a thumbstick-style input for the left hand. I'm pretty sure I've seen a few of those in the past. But I don't even know if the majority of PC games would support a second analog input, even if you had one handy.
I think that's missing the point a bit. Q and E are digital inputs. You can either be "Leaned all the way out" exposing yourself to fire, or "covered, but can't see a darn thing" fully hidden. There's no soft middle-ground. It's the same reason that games like GTA and Saint's Row (and other hybrid shooting/driving) games suffer on the PC. The computer only has one analog input: the mouse. WASD is great for fast-moving shooters where you don't care how fast you're moving, you just want to go THAT WAY. It's not so great when you want degrees of movement, like say, turning a steering wheel, or peeking out of cover slightly.
Again, though, look at Windows Vista. And they've practically got a monopoly on the market. There reaches a point where more advertising money is a net loss, bringing in less sales than you've spent.
This is true. However, they are functional DRM, and more importantly, do not require a constant internet connection. It's not an issue of "No DRM" it's an issue of "DRM that doesn't actively piss me off". Admittedly, Dragon Age pushes that line, and I don't doubt that the PC version of Mass Effect probably does as well (I got the console version). They're still all FAR better than this new Ubisoft crippleware.
So I don't see what you could do on a PC that you can't do on a console these days.
Can't do and aren't doing are two very different things. The biggest thing for PCs in my eyes is user-created content and mods. AAA games like Fallout 3 get a massive boost to playable longevity through the modding community. But the console version? You only get paid-to-download first-party DLC from the store. No third-party community at all. THAT is possibly the weakest point of the current console generation.
The fact that they did indeed lose, despite the current business climate speaks volumes about just HOW BAD things were. Once things came out, it was simply impossible for the court to turn a blind eye to EA's reprehensible business practices.
Slashdot Mirror
IANAPG (I am not a power gamer), however, I played a 3.5 wizard in a long-running campaign, and by level 10-12, most fights came down to "Calaten blasts the crap out of the enemy" or "Calaten sits back and throws a few random non-damage spells to let the party actually DO something". By the high-teens, I was capable of literally doing more than the rest of the party combined (which included a rather naively-played Druid, I would note).
The same reason I'm still stuck with two servers running Win2k and one running NT4. Vendors who never updated their software (or went out of business), and upper management unwilling to shell out the money (and associated headaches) to upgrade and transition to a different vendor.
Short answer: Lousy third-party software requirements.
According to a quick search, I am the only person in the US with my first/last name combo. I don't even have Facebook, but my personal info is there to be found fairly easily. Just because you have a common name doesn't mean everyone does. I enjoyed having discussions on the WoW forums back when I played. Now, I'd be afraid to post, in case someone took offense to a comment meant to be joking and decided to do something about it.
To be fair, you can play a completely lesbian female berserker, or a completely gay male healer. It's only NPCs who... keep their options open. Also, Shale should tot
Missed the point. You can't buy game-time in WoW with Gold.
A quick perusal of the android store shows that it's already back up. Hooray for a functional legal process for once?
Honestly, I can't estimate how hard it would be to control two analog devices at once
You're saying you've never used a 360 or PS2/3 controller before?
And to be fair to the G13, its joystick seems to be an actual analog input, while the Belkin I linked is only an 8-way input. It's just shaped awkwardly.
I was thinking something more along the lines of this little toy, only better quality of course. Standard access to necessary keys, with the addition of a second analog control to complement the mouse. Much simpler than a wiimote headband, wouldn't you say?
So when you're holding the Q key and leaning with your mouse, you can still fire just fine... but how do you aim? This discussion is reaching the point of religious apologism here. If you're trying to do two things at once that require fine control, you cannot do it through one analog input.
Let's move away from FPS for a moment into an example from a related genre. Take a game like Saint's Row or GTA. Driving is accomplished with WASD, which means that your options are either "drive straight" or "turn the wheel all the way to the side". Steering is jerky and crashes are inevitable. Now, you could press a modifier key to steer with the mouse for fine control (and admittedly, that option would have been nice) but then while steering, you'd be incapable of looking around. Now maybe while you're holding shift and remapping steering, looking is remapped to WASD, so at least you can look in the four main directions, but that's still inferior to having full camera control AND steering control simultaneously. Two simultaneous analog actions require two inputs.
Please understand where I'm coming from. I prefer PC gaming to console. I think keyboard/mouse is greatly superior to a controller (especially for any sort of shooter). But for some games, having a single analog input is annoying.
That would be utterly amazing. Though it might still run into a bit of the 8-way run issue. Running at something other than a 45 degree angle would require holding down (for example) A and W, but pressing on A slightly less hard. Certainly doable, but still not as intuitive as "point thumbstick and go". But at least it becomes possible at that point, and I'm sure reflexes would catch up quickly enough.
At which point you can't aim while leaning out of cover. Sure, you can add a "lean" modifier button; holding shift or something, but the fact remains that while the keyboard/mouse combo IS very versatile, it has limitations. You'll never get past the single-analog-input issue. If you want to get technical, the 360 controller has FOUR analog inputs (though admittedly, the triggers almost never get used as such). Yes, it's very limited in versatility, but it does have advantages. There are a lot of games (I'd even say the majority) that work better with a keyboard/mouse setup than with a controller, but not all of them.
My point was that it's still a digital input. Each direction is only ON or OFF. There's no "half ON" for walking or for making smoother turns. I don't care if you use WASD or YGHJ or GVBN.
I guess the optimal here would be a dedicated gaming input for the PC that has a thumbstick-style input for the left hand. I'm pretty sure I've seen a few of those in the past. But I don't even know if the majority of PC games would support a second analog input, even if you had one handy.
I think that's missing the point a bit. Q and E are digital inputs. You can either be "Leaned all the way out" exposing yourself to fire, or "covered, but can't see a darn thing" fully hidden. There's no soft middle-ground. It's the same reason that games like GTA and Saint's Row (and other hybrid shooting/driving) games suffer on the PC. The computer only has one analog input: the mouse. WASD is great for fast-moving shooters where you don't care how fast you're moving, you just want to go THAT WAY. It's not so great when you want degrees of movement, like say, turning a steering wheel, or peeking out of cover slightly.
Again, though, look at Windows Vista. And they've practically got a monopoly on the market. There reaches a point where more advertising money is a net loss, bringing in less sales than you've spent.
This is true. However, they are functional DRM, and more importantly, do not require a constant internet connection. It's not an issue of "No DRM" it's an issue of "DRM that doesn't actively piss me off". Admittedly, Dragon Age pushes that line, and I don't doubt that the PC version of Mass Effect probably does as well (I got the console version). They're still all FAR better than this new Ubisoft crippleware.
300% of China?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_exports
People's Republic of China $1,194,000,000,000 Germany $1,187,000,000,000
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators
Population of Germany: 82,140,043
Population of China: 1,325,639,982
Germany, export per capita: $14450.93
China, export per capita: $900.70
So, not 300% either way (almost even, compared straight, and 1600% in Germany's favor per capita). Still very revealing.
So I don't see what you could do on a PC that you can't do on a console these days.
Can't do and aren't doing are two very different things. The biggest thing for PCs in my eyes is user-created content and mods. AAA games like Fallout 3 get a massive boost to playable longevity through the modding community. But the console version? You only get paid-to-download first-party DLC from the store. No third-party community at all. THAT is possibly the weakest point of the current console generation.
"But how will you carry the ring, Mr. Baggins... if you don't have any... fingers?"
While I agree with your point... you brought Nazis into the argument.
Sorry. You lose.
The fact that they did indeed lose, despite the current business climate speaks volumes about just HOW BAD things were. Once things came out, it was simply impossible for the court to turn a blind eye to EA's reprehensible business practices.
NHL 2020
Dude, I would so totally play that. Just imagine, jet-powered hockey skates, on-ice obstacles, shifting play field, multi-layered rink...
Can't you just see it now? You control a squad of giant cyborg gorillas, hurling yellow, crescent-shaped plasma grenades at enemy facilities!
... but I'm apparently in the minority here. Just like I'm sure that people DO exist that liked Uwe Boll's films. ...
Aside from his mother, I mean.