Played on it a long time ago when it was still known as WoWScape. It was the whole reason I actually started playing on retail, me and a good portion of my friends. Blizzard would have lost out on thousands of dollars from me and my friends if it wasn't for them.
Scapegaming actually was good enough that it got me (Feral druid), my best friend (Rogue), his roommate (Resto shaman), his roommates friends (Enhance shaman), their wife (Arms Warrior), neighbor down the road (Ret Paladin), Another friend (rogue), step brother (Rogue), another friend (Mage), and a few others. WoWScape actually got enough friends playing retail that we could host our own personal raids if we wanted.
Since then, all of us left. Scapegaming brought Blizzard a lot of business, but The Wrath of the Lich King ran them off. Only way I can tolerate WoW anymore is if I find an old TBC server now. Lasted till just before ICC was released on retail, but I just can't stand it anymore, it just isn't fun. Was fun back in the day raiding Kara, SSC, and the Eye just playing around, talking shit in Vent and having fun while half of them were wasted and still able to hold their own. Then 3.0 had to come and ruin it.
I honestly wonder about how much did Scapegaming make blizzard compared to how much it cost them. Wouldn't be surprised if it did them more good than harm. And don't try and mention the trail accounts on WoW, they capped you at level 10 and a bunch of other stuff, none of my friends were willing to try it like that. Actually downloaded the software off the internet months before we ever thought about registering a retail account.
It probably didn't help or hurt Blizzard as much as you think. Truth be told, most of the people that play WoW are not aware of F2P servers and my cat has more computer savvy then them. My guess is that for every one account that this brought in, 10 more were oblivious to this. So really, I highly doubt this did any noteworthy business or harm to Blizzard.
Secondly, WoW is a MMORPG. So everything you and your friends and family did on this service will remain hidden from the world or normal players of the game... Now it is gone forever with this service going offline. All that time and energy you and your friends did on this service is now lost to the world. Granted, you and your friends got to experience the game in an unique way and you got practice. However, you and your friends could have gotten it had you tried the demo and/or purchased it.
Yes, I am going to "mention the trail accounts on WoW, they capped you at level 10 and a bunch of other stuff, none of my friends were willing to try it like that."... Here is the deal: Getting to level 10 isn't an easy feat in WoW. When I played the demo, I wasn't even at level 7 when I went and got the full version. I didn't get anywhere near the 1 or 10 gold cap they had... Heck, I wasn't even in a profession yet, or tried PvM, or a Raid, or even 1% of exploring the world. What I am saying is: By the time you hit whatever caps or restrictions they have, you should have a good idea whether or not you want to continue. This whole "me and my friends weren't willing to try it with restrictions" is nothing more than an excuse to validate playing a legitimate game on an illegitimate service.
I am no fan of Blizzard and I quit playing long before the first expansion came out. However, I am no fan of people who do things like Scapegaming. It is not hurting Blizzard in anyway and is cheating yourself out of the full blown experience a game has.
Satan and Jesus made a bet that they could process the most souls using Microsoft Excel in one hour. So, Satan and Jesus went to work. In 45 minutes, Satan was well ahead of Jesus in souls.
Suddenly, 5 minutes before the hour was up the power cut out! Satan began cussing and was fit to be tied! Jesus only smiled and when the power came back on, he just fired up the computer and went on. Why is that?
Ottumwa, Iowa? The Center of the Video Game Universe?! Nooooo! Say it isn't so! All Ottumwa, Iowa and the whole state in fact is the Epicenter of BF Nowhere and a huge black hole for technology! (I should know - I use to live there!)
If you were just to use real science and real facts, all you would be left with is an ex-lawyer and a bunch of dumb politicians who wouldn't know Pac Man from a banana.
Nah... That would be too hard for them to understand or do anything about!
EA already uses "Service Updates" as an excuse to stop supporting online play after a certain period of time for many of its titles. http://www.ea.com/2/service-updates Now, it's going to restrict the ability to even update the game? FTA, "According to EA, the content can include anything from title updates and downloads . . .." So, to paraphrase, if I want to play my game on another console, or my console croaks and I replace it, I might not be able to download the updates (and there will be updates because the title shipped will be buggy) without paying again?
I am sure though a call to their tech support may net you a free pass. If you can explain and show that your console died and you had to get another one, I would imagine they would let you reuse or reissue you a new pass...Granted I know that means waiting 3 hours on their tech support line or 3 years for an email answer.
My assumption on life out there has always been this:
What if they know we are here, but afraid to say anything?
If we look into our history and our current world, would you want to deal with us? If they are advanced enough to see us or communicate with us, then they would see how we treat each other and be reluctant to talk to us. Maybe they would think the opposite of what Hawking is saying - that WE would attack THEM. Even if they were more advanced than us, it could be possible they are generally peaceful and be reluctant to attack.
I frankly think Hawkins is right... but he should have looked down here to find all of that in his home world.
Soooo... let me get this strait - Instead of taking us over by force (like the Cybermen) or taking over our computer systems (like in Rise Of The Machines), they are going to boink us into submission?
Slashdot Mirror
Played on it a long time ago when it was still known as WoWScape. It was the whole reason I actually started playing on retail, me and a good portion of my friends. Blizzard would have lost out on thousands of dollars from me and my friends if it wasn't for them.
Scapegaming actually was good enough that it got me (Feral druid), my best friend (Rogue), his roommate (Resto shaman), his roommates friends (Enhance shaman), their wife (Arms Warrior), neighbor down the road (Ret Paladin), Another friend (rogue), step brother (Rogue), another friend (Mage), and a few others. WoWScape actually got enough friends playing retail that we could host our own personal raids if we wanted.
Since then, all of us left. Scapegaming brought Blizzard a lot of business, but The Wrath of the Lich King ran them off. Only way I can tolerate WoW anymore is if I find an old TBC server now. Lasted till just before ICC was released on retail, but I just can't stand it anymore, it just isn't fun. Was fun back in the day raiding Kara, SSC, and the Eye just playing around, talking shit in Vent and having fun while half of them were wasted and still able to hold their own. Then 3.0 had to come and ruin it.
I honestly wonder about how much did Scapegaming make blizzard compared to how much it cost them. Wouldn't be surprised if it did them more good than harm. And don't try and mention the trail accounts on WoW, they capped you at level 10 and a bunch of other stuff, none of my friends were willing to try it like that. Actually downloaded the software off the internet months before we ever thought about registering a retail account.
It probably didn't help or hurt Blizzard as much as you think. Truth be told, most of the people that play WoW are not aware of F2P servers and my cat has more computer savvy then them. My guess is that for every one account that this brought in, 10 more were oblivious to this. So really, I highly doubt this did any noteworthy business or harm to Blizzard.
Secondly, WoW is a MMORPG. So everything you and your friends and family did on this service will remain hidden from the world or normal players of the game... Now it is gone forever with this service going offline. All that time and energy you and your friends did on this service is now lost to the world. Granted, you and your friends got to experience the game in an unique way and you got practice. However, you and your friends could have gotten it had you tried the demo and/or purchased it.
Yes, I am going to "mention the trail accounts on WoW, they capped you at level 10 and a bunch of other stuff, none of my friends were willing to try it like that."... Here is the deal: Getting to level 10 isn't an easy feat in WoW. When I played the demo, I wasn't even at level 7 when I went and got the full version. I didn't get anywhere near the 1 or 10 gold cap they had... Heck, I wasn't even in a profession yet, or tried PvM, or a Raid, or even 1% of exploring the world. What I am saying is: By the time you hit whatever caps or restrictions they have, you should have a good idea whether or not you want to continue. This whole "me and my friends weren't willing to try it with restrictions" is nothing more than an excuse to validate playing a legitimate game on an illegitimate service.
I am no fan of Blizzard and I quit playing long before the first expansion came out. However, I am no fan of people who do things like Scapegaming. It is not hurting Blizzard in anyway and is cheating yourself out of the full blown experience a game has.
Add a beat to it and you may have the next hit rap song!
I'd highly doubt he'd understand any of this. Nevermind the fact I thought the same thing you said when I heard it.
Reminds me of this joke I heard:
Satan and Jesus made a bet that they could process the most souls using Microsoft Excel in one hour. So, Satan and Jesus went to work. In 45 minutes, Satan was well ahead of Jesus in souls.
Suddenly, 5 minutes before the hour was up the power cut out! Satan began cussing and was fit to be tied! Jesus only smiled and when the power came back on, he just fired up the computer and went on. Why is that?
Jesus SAVES.
Please don't tempt Zynga... They are the Game Developer answer to forum trolls!
Ottumwa, Iowa? The Center of the Video Game Universe?! Nooooo! Say it isn't so! All Ottumwa, Iowa and the whole state in fact is the Epicenter of BF Nowhere and a huge black hole for technology! (I should know - I use to live there!)
...after seeing the website for this game: "Why do I got a bad feeling about this?"
If you were just to use real science and real facts, all you would be left with is an ex-lawyer and a bunch of dumb politicians who wouldn't know Pac Man from a banana.
Nah... That would be too hard for them to understand or do anything about!
Then what? Does our new robotic overlords get massive headaches from Caffeine Withdraw?
Over 9,000
People keep saying "Try Nukes!" but based on BP's performance so far, the question "Would you trust them?" comes to mind.
I mean whats the worst that they could do? Oh wait... I kind of like not glowing in the dark.
I guess since you use a Mac, you don't have to worry about such things..
We are all going to die or glow in the dark aren't we?
EA already uses "Service Updates" as an excuse to stop supporting online play after a certain period of time for many of its titles. http://www.ea.com/2/service-updates Now, it's going to restrict the ability to even update the game? FTA, "According to EA, the content can include anything from title updates and downloads . . . ." So, to paraphrase, if I want to play my game on another console, or my console croaks and I replace it, I might not be able to download the updates (and there will be updates because the title shipped will be buggy) without paying again?
I am sure though a call to their tech support may net you a free pass. If you can explain and show that your console died and you had to get another one, I would imagine they would let you reuse or reissue you a new pass...Granted I know that means waiting 3 hours on their tech support line or 3 years for an email answer.
What problems can't a nuclear explosion solve?
Big Lizards
..Those are the only ones I can think of.
Zombies
Cockroaches
Death
Isn't he the guy that said that UMD Movies would take off and be replacing DVDs?
Apparently Pachter has never heard of this thing called a "recession" that is causing the drop in console sales as well.
Wasn't he the guy that said the PSP's UMD movie format would pick up and do well in 2007?
There is another reason sales are declining... Apparently Mr. Pachter has not heard of this thing called a "recession" the world is going through.
My assumption on life out there has always been this:
What if they know we are here, but afraid to say anything?
If we look into our history and our current world, would you want to deal with us? If they are advanced enough to see us or communicate with us, then they would see how we treat each other and be reluctant to talk to us. Maybe they would think the opposite of what Hawking is saying - that WE would attack THEM. Even if they were more advanced than us, it could be possible they are generally peaceful and be reluctant to attack.
I frankly think Hawkins is right... but he should have looked down here to find all of that in his home world.
You can run, but you can't hide forever!
I agree. They are going to have to really stretch the legal and scientific laws to prove any of this BS.
That and prove the actions caused the results...
My only guess here is that the parents want them to settle out of court in order to prevent any of that pesky stuff like prove the truth.
Yes! Just what I always wanted! A $599 USD door stop! I hear Lex Luthor now!
Soooo... let me get this strait - Instead of taking us over by force (like the Cybermen) or taking over our computer systems (like in Rise Of The Machines), they are going to boink us into submission?
Yeah, that will work perfectly...
Yes but... It still won't end the Duke Nukem Forever jokes.
Damn you Steve Jobs!
http://dontfingussthisweek.ytmnd.com/ (Note: The music is NSFW)
Feel free to send this to the CA Legislators!