The trend towards a game having to start and register with Steam for me to play it has got me doing the following: I purchase the game (from the store), then download a cracked version to actually install. Steam initially seemed like a great idea, but the more intrusive it gets, the more annoyed I get, and now I avoid it altogether. Retail stores for me, thanks.
It's interesting that each story posted here that has something to do with potential future-tech (near or far future) is often met with torrents of skepticism, with plenty of "I bet they didn't think of THIS and that's why it won't work" posts.
Now don't misunderstand - identifying caveats, weaknesses, errors, threats, dangers, oversights, and other potential problems is absolutely vital to the success of any project, but we (myself included) tend to post as if we don't believe any engineer or scientist working on the project-du-jour would think of any of them, while we are the sole identifiers of problems, the only possessors of some fundamental and absolute facts that cause the project at hand to be entirely unfeasible.
This a tech/science/deep-thoughts site, filled with tons of very insightful and intelligent contributors. Just seems that we'd be a little more on the side of, "hey, neat idea, I wonder how they worked around the problem of 'x'" rather than, "idiots didn't even consider 'x' I bet, it'll never work."
Well, I'm not whining. I have a "rooted" iPhone 3G that I'm fine with. But to counter your point - I would have purchased a Droid X, but after all the stories of how it has the integrated social networking interface stuff - "Motoblur" - that you cannot get rid of, and you can't (from what what I last read - quit reading updates quite a while back) root it without it resetting itself.
Oh, and chill with the hostility. Not sure where that stuff comes from. I just don't think things are as bad as is often portrayed (and you actually seem to be agreeing with me on that, so... why you pissed?).
It's too bad Jon Stewart didn't include "scary #^%@ companies do to us" in his Rally to Restore Sanity. I mean, yes, it'd be very nice if companies that sold us hardware let us use it how we want to, and it would CERTAINLY be nice if FaceBook would get real with their privacy issues, but honestly, I don't think kill switches are anything to get overly concerned about. It's not as if they're going to randomly laugh maniacally and start wiping random people's phones out for fun.
Is it great that they (ALL of them, except maybe RIM) retain tons of control? Not really. But if the intent is to keep your hardware safe from malicious code, at least the intent is partially positive. Not saying it's not there for other potential uses, too (kill a rooted phone, etc), but still, I don't think random death is going to occur either.
To be fair, they ARE brilliant, but even brilliance doesn't always result in "wow, awesome!" A case in point, Wayne Cherry designed both the 1970 Vauxhall SRV and the Pontiac Aztec.
It's true that Wave made almost no ripples (sorry, bad pun), but I very much doubt "hacks" defines the vast majority of Google's workforce.
Why bother putting tons of money and effort into solo gameplay when multiplayer is so much more attractive to everyone?
Because it's not more attractive to everyone. It's more attractive to some. After the disappointment of the most recent MoH single-player campaign, I won't be buying another. But I most certainly will be buying Dragon Age 2, Fallout Vegas (though it's very buggy) etc.
Interesting argument. I'll be sure to remember that.
I'm happy you have earned a good living writing code. That's honestly fantastic - wish I were that good. And hopefully you did allow less-skilled players to still enjoy the game. But being bad at a game isn't the same as being surrounded by players who will behave in a mean-spirited manner towards you because of it. If you can eliminate that situation, which happens all the time and is perpetrated by - wait for it - JERKS, then you will have truly achieved something that we'll all praise.
False assumption. I'm truly not good at multiplayer FPS. The odd thing is, I don't mind getting fragged and still enjoy the games. What's annoying is the childishness of some of those who actually ARE good - I'm happy they're skilled, but feel for the fact that many of them are socially challenged.
In your words, I do "suck," but I still have fun. I could just do without the whose-dick-is-bigger attitude so prevalent in the on-line gaming community.
If you want to be a jerk, direct your question at yourself. Write your own game, and invite everyone who's at least as much of a jerk as you plan on being to play with you.
Better yet, you could make a lot of money if you can write code that detects asshats and draws them all to the same server while leaving more fair-minded players alone.
This was my thought on coming to the end of the newest MoH. I was pissed. I mean, hell, six hours. Really? Honestly? Six hours of single-player content? I hit my on-line multi-player peak back when the first Half-Life made Quake look pathetically outdated. For a gamer, I'm relatively old, and not only do the kids annoy me, but my slow reflexes tend to draw curses and ire from them, making EVERYONE annoyed.
Sigh. I made a decision this time to NOT try before I bought (via torrent or other method, of course), and I did literally pay the price for not looking after number 1.
You're correct here, but the net effect, at least when I survey my single test subject - myself - is that this type of thing encourages piracy. Case in point - these days almost every game I purchase (picked up Fallout Vegas last night) that is sold on Steam has to, at a bare minimum, connect to Steam to register the game, and launch Steam in order to play the game. This irks me, and due to this fact, even though I do buy (rent??) a legal copy, I still download a "cracked" copy to rid myself of disc and internet verification requirements.
Similar situation here - if the retail version of a game will deny me the ability to run a trainer if I want to, I might (*might*) still buy the game, but even if I do I'm very likely to grab a "hacked" copy to actually install and use.
Good catch. I was indeed experiencing coffee overload on the day I created my account, and was literally jittery and shaking. I have long since eased up on the five-cup-a-day habit (down to two now).
Haha, not a problem. I've done much worse than that!:) I was at first confused as to why you said there was no cursing: "Hmm... maybe Carlin was wrong, and 'cock' and 'fuck' ~shouldn't~ be on that 7-word list!"
Slashdot Mirror
I bet they got the idea to do this from their neighbor's paper.
I wonder if they found the Old Lace component yet.
The trend towards a game having to start and register with Steam for me to play it has got me doing the following: I purchase the game (from the store), then download a cracked version to actually install. Steam initially seemed like a great idea, but the more intrusive it gets, the more annoyed I get, and now I avoid it altogether. Retail stores for me, thanks.
It's interesting that each story posted here that has something to do with potential future-tech (near or far future) is often met with torrents of skepticism, with plenty of "I bet they didn't think of THIS and that's why it won't work" posts.
Now don't misunderstand - identifying caveats, weaknesses, errors, threats, dangers, oversights, and other potential problems is absolutely vital to the success of any project, but we (myself included) tend to post as if we don't believe any engineer or scientist working on the project-du-jour would think of any of them, while we are the sole identifiers of problems, the only possessors of some fundamental and absolute facts that cause the project at hand to be entirely unfeasible.
This a tech/science/deep-thoughts site, filled with tons of very insightful and intelligent contributors. Just seems that we'd be a little more on the side of, "hey, neat idea, I wonder how they worked around the problem of 'x'" rather than, "idiots didn't even consider 'x' I bet, it'll never work."
Who says science can't be fun?
Well, I'm not whining. I have a "rooted" iPhone 3G that I'm fine with. But to counter your point - I would have purchased a Droid X, but after all the stories of how it has the integrated social networking interface stuff - "Motoblur" - that you cannot get rid of, and you can't (from what what I last read - quit reading updates quite a while back) root it without it resetting itself.
Oh, and chill with the hostility. Not sure where that stuff comes from. I just don't think things are as bad as is often portrayed (and you actually seem to be agreeing with me on that, so... why you pissed?).
It's too bad Jon Stewart didn't include "scary #^%@ companies do to us" in his Rally to Restore Sanity. I mean, yes, it'd be very nice if companies that sold us hardware let us use it how we want to, and it would CERTAINLY be nice if FaceBook would get real with their privacy issues, but honestly, I don't think kill switches are anything to get overly concerned about. It's not as if they're going to randomly laugh maniacally and start wiping random people's phones out for fun.
Is it great that they (ALL of them, except maybe RIM) retain tons of control? Not really. But if the intent is to keep your hardware safe from malicious code, at least the intent is partially positive. Not saying it's not there for other potential uses, too (kill a rooted phone, etc), but still, I don't think random death is going to occur either.
I sure do hope so.
To be fair, they ARE brilliant, but even brilliance doesn't always result in "wow, awesome!" A case in point, Wayne Cherry designed both the 1970 Vauxhall SRV and the Pontiac Aztec.
It's true that Wave made almost no ripples (sorry, bad pun), but I very much doubt "hacks" defines the vast majority of Google's workforce.
We should send some of our used desks from American schools to them, now that our larger ones have arrived.
For a win like that, you gotta clear your AC check box and take credit! You have successfully "freshened" a meme.
Why bother putting tons of money and effort into solo gameplay when multiplayer is so much more attractive to everyone?
Because it's not more attractive to everyone. It's more attractive to some. After the disappointment of the most recent MoH single-player campaign, I won't be buying another. But I most certainly will be buying Dragon Age 2, Fallout Vegas (though it's very buggy) etc.
if you want to be logical, you're an idiot.
Interesting argument. I'll be sure to remember that.
I'm happy you have earned a good living writing code. That's honestly fantastic - wish I were that good. And hopefully you did allow less-skilled players to still enjoy the game. But being bad at a game isn't the same as being surrounded by players who will behave in a mean-spirited manner towards you because of it. If you can eliminate that situation, which happens all the time and is perpetrated by - wait for it - JERKS, then you will have truly achieved something that we'll all praise.
If you're not having fun, you probably suck.
False assumption. I'm truly not good at multiplayer FPS. The odd thing is, I don't mind getting fragged and still enjoy the games. What's annoying is the childishness of some of those who actually ARE good - I'm happy they're skilled, but feel for the fact that many of them are socially challenged.
In your words, I do "suck," but I still have fun. I could just do without the whose-dick-is-bigger attitude so prevalent in the on-line gaming community.
If you want to be a jerk, direct your question at yourself. Write your own game, and invite everyone who's at least as much of a jerk as you plan on being to play with you.
Better yet, you could make a lot of money if you can write code that detects asshats and draws them all to the same server while leaving more fair-minded players alone.
+1 if I had mod points today...
This was my thought on coming to the end of the newest MoH. I was pissed. I mean, hell, six hours. Really? Honestly? Six hours of single-player content? I hit my on-line multi-player peak back when the first Half-Life made Quake look pathetically outdated. For a gamer, I'm relatively old, and not only do the kids annoy me, but my slow reflexes tend to draw curses and ire from them, making EVERYONE annoyed.
Sigh. I made a decision this time to NOT try before I bought (via torrent or other method, of course), and I did literally pay the price for not looking after number 1.
...no distribution is taking place...
You're correct here, but the net effect, at least when I survey my single test subject - myself - is that this type of thing encourages piracy. Case in point - these days almost every game I purchase (picked up Fallout Vegas last night) that is sold on Steam has to, at a bare minimum, connect to Steam to register the game, and launch Steam in order to play the game. This irks me, and due to this fact, even though I do buy (rent??) a legal copy, I still download a "cracked" copy to rid myself of disc and internet verification requirements.
Similar situation here - if the retail version of a game will deny me the ability to run a trainer if I want to, I might (*might*) still buy the game, but even if I do I'm very likely to grab a "hacked" copy to actually install and use.
To be fair, the article does point out that there is a wide gulf between his original concepts and what was actually implemented, in both cases.
Totally agree with giving Balmer the heave-ho though.
To be honest, after reading Steve Jobs' rant, 'spin computer' could equally be an Apple product.
It will become clear in 3-4 years (earliest)
Only if glasses are included with the analysis...
If I had points, +1 insightful, sir. Well written.
All the cool galaxies staying way the hell away from us and all.
The Cassini spacecraft found something interesting in Saturn's rings.
Wait... what year is this?
Five is right out!
Good catch. I was indeed experiencing coffee overload on the day I created my account, and was literally jittery and shaking. I have long since eased up on the five-cup-a-day habit (down to two now).
Haha, not a problem. I've done much worse than that! :) I was at first confused as to why you said there was no cursing: "Hmm... maybe Carlin was wrong, and 'cock' and 'fuck' ~shouldn't~ be on that 7-word list!"
Happy posting!