I actually grabbed that example from a MUD called Gemstone that I used to play. It's class and level based, and due to the way it handles skills it makes each profession valuable and really gives you a role in the world. Not to mention there aren't a bunch of annoying 1337$@uC3r$ running around trying to sell you gold and/or being dipshits in general. It's a good game.
I don't think every game has to be multiplayer, but there are some that could really benefit from it. The TES series is a great example: it would have made the game a hell of a lot more fun if I could play with even just one friend in the same world. A big part of the game is getting all sorts of ridiculous gear and artifacts and just making your character look like a badass. Tycho put it really well:
But elaborate character creation in the absence of multiplayer is, for him, a sort of masturbation. If you create a character, and no-one is there to see it, what's the point?
Having a buddy to kill stuff with and say, "Wow, check out what I found!!" or, "Come see this ridiculous cave in the middle of nowhere!" would just make it more fun, I think. Definitely would have kept me playing Oblivion longer.
On a side note, there was word of a muliplayer Morrowind hack in alpha. I don't think it ever got past that and from the little bit I read it was pretty buggy. I just tried to look it up and found this interview with some guy named _FERRET who is apparently working on a multiplayer Oblivion hack. Cool.
Why not give players who would rather not focus on combat experience for practicing their trade? For example, a rogue who specializes in lockpicking/locksmithing gains X experience for opening a box of Y difficulty, dependant on his level. That way the character can advance in the game and the player gets fullfilment by practicing his skills. Seems win-win to me.
Forgive me, I was not trying to make a comparison that paintball == real gunfight. I'm very aware that that is not true, and it would be silly to think that. However, having run around in the woods for countless hours while people chased me with guns, I cannot for one second doubt that I haven't honed some kind of survival instinct that would probably have helped in this situation. Regardless that the terrain is different and regardless that the guns are not actually going to kill me, there is still some kind of instinctual learning going on. There is some similarity in that they are both weapons and they both work the same way: both of them miss and neither can hit you unless they're pointing at you. At some point there needs to be some reloading.
I see what you're saying about a survival instinct, and yeah you're right. It's easy to say this, but personally if I were in a room full of people and suddenly half of them were dead and I didn't do anything to help them I wouldn't be able to live with myself.
I sincerely hope that you never have to find out the difference between paintball and a firefight.
Obviously there is a difference, I made no claim otherwise. And thank you, I hope I never have to find out either.
What I was pointing out was that when there are people coming after you with guns (with bullets or paintballs or hell, even airsoft pellets) trying to SHOOT YOU, your survival instinct should kick in. That did not happen here. The moral of the story is that, and I speak for what I have seen here in America -- I don't know about the rest of you countries out there, people have lost that instinct. Maybe we have become dulled to violence to the point what we think it can't affect us? Maybe we're used to having everything done for us? Maybe we just think things like this don't happen anymore. I don't know what the reason is, but it's dangerous.
To you guys that are saying "bullets go faster than textbooks" and all this: Really? Did you have to do the math to figure that out? Throw a good, 10-15lb college texbook book ten feet in the air and let it hit you in the face, see what happens to you. I bet you do more than just blink.
Some sort of "drill" for these things might not be a bad idea. Panic and poor preparation are 2 major killers in all life-and-death situations, so preparing students for this kind of thing can save lives. Make it dynamic, throwing a few curveballs into the mix (chained doors and such) to help them think on their feet. I mean, fire drills are pretty common and I'd imagine "bomb drills" are done, and let's not forget the "H Bomb Drills" of old (duck and cover!).
As an owner of a paintball field I'm around guns a hell of a lot. When everything happened at VT and I heard the guy simply walked in and shot people one by one, I was incredibly confused. I could not for the life of me think of a reason why you would watch a man with a gun walk in and start shooting your friends and NOT DO ANYTHING TO DEFEND YOURSELF. Obviously I wasn't there, and obviously there were probably some other circumstances. But out of thirty, what was it thirty two, people not one picked up a desk or a book and chucked it at this guy's head.
We (in general) have lost our survival instinct. We've lost that 'fight or flight' and we've become sheep-like. "Oh, it's not me. Maybe he'll leave aft-... OK, maybe after this one." It just blows my mind. Clearly you are going to be freaking out, but when your life is on the line you cannot freak out in a manner that has you sitting in your chair twiddling your fucking thumbs!!
So yes. Maybe drills are the way to go. Paintball has helped me find my instincts (nothing to get your ass moving like a guy shooting 15 balls a second at you), but I realise that's not for everyone. People just need to be aware that, and this is key, shit happens! You can not plan for everything, but you have to be able to REACT.
To stray back to the topic at hand, this is really fucked up and these teachers should be fired and given some kind of counseling. Something has to be loose in your head to think this is OK to do.
Yeah, you're both (you and the previous poster) correct I suppose.
Really, though, if I had kids I wouldn't want them eating pot flavored candy. Again, although I do partake, I have a strong belief that kids + drugs =:( and I really think (read: hope) that that is the basis for this law.
Maybe you guys aren't aware of this, but, uh, marijuana, regardless of what I think about it, is illegal. As far as I know, they can criminalize an illegal substance or anything representing it and it's totally fine because, once again, it's an illegal substance.
Besides that fact, even as someone who does indulge on occasion, I do not think that kids should be getting their hands on pot-flavored lollypops that "taste good, just like pot!" and give them incentive to smoke. Imagine a 10 year old with a joint in his mouth.
This might open up a whole new market for AV software..
"NEW Norton Antivirus now protects you from malicious Silverlight plugins! Only $199.99!!"
On a more serious note (or is it?) I don't know how I feel about this yet. Not only because Adobe is entrenched in this market already, but MS hasn't exactly got a great track record with internet technologies.
Off-topic, but Uplink is a great game. If you like Introversion's style you should check out Darwinia, which is another game by them. Beautiful graphics and awesome gameplay!
people who frequent The Consumerist seem to be at least a bit more educated about consumer issues than your regular joe perhaps these votes count for a bit more than a poll that reached more people and got more numbers
I completely agree. Many people I talk to don't even know what the RIAA is, much less that they're out to shaft every one of them.
I truly hope that this tax gets shot down. They tax our money when we get it, they tax our money when we spend it. The only safe haven from the latter is the 'net, and now they want to tax that too. Give us a break, you bastards!
Slashdot Mirror
Fifty fiiive bells will chime!
I actually grabbed that example from a MUD called Gemstone that I used to play. It's class and level based, and due to the way it handles skills it makes each profession valuable and really gives you a role in the world. Not to mention there aren't a bunch of annoying 1337$@uC3r$ running around trying to sell you gold and/or being dipshits in general. It's a good game.
I don't think every game has to be multiplayer, but there are some that could really benefit from it. The TES series is a great example: it would have made the game a hell of a lot more fun if I could play with even just one friend in the same world. A big part of the game is getting all sorts of ridiculous gear and artifacts and just making your character look like a badass. Tycho put it really well:
Having a buddy to kill stuff with and say, "Wow, check out what I found!!" or, "Come see this ridiculous cave in the middle of nowhere!" would just make it more fun, I think. Definitely would have kept me playing Oblivion longer.
On a side note, there was word of a muliplayer Morrowind hack in alpha. I don't think it ever got past that and from the little bit I read it was pretty buggy. I just tried to look it up and found this interview with some guy named _FERRET who is apparently working on a multiplayer Oblivion hack. Cool.
Why not give players who would rather not focus on combat experience for practicing their trade? For example, a rogue who specializes in lockpicking/locksmithing gains X experience for opening a box of Y difficulty, dependant on his level. That way the character can advance in the game and the player gets fullfilment by practicing his skills. Seems win-win to me.
don't you mean .003c?
Forgive me, I was not trying to make a comparison that paintball == real gunfight. I'm very aware that that is not true, and it would be silly to think that. However, having run around in the woods for countless hours while people chased me with guns, I cannot for one second doubt that I haven't honed some kind of survival instinct that would probably have helped in this situation. Regardless that the terrain is different and regardless that the guns are not actually going to kill me, there is still some kind of instinctual learning going on. There is some similarity in that they are both weapons and they both work the same way: both of them miss and neither can hit you unless they're pointing at you. At some point there needs to be some reloading.
I see what you're saying about a survival instinct, and yeah you're right. It's easy to say this, but personally if I were in a room full of people and suddenly half of them were dead and I didn't do anything to help them I wouldn't be able to live with myself.
Obviously there is a difference, I made no claim otherwise. And thank you, I hope I never have to find out either.
What I was pointing out was that when there are people coming after you with guns (with bullets or paintballs or hell, even airsoft pellets) trying to SHOOT YOU, your survival instinct should kick in. That did not happen here. The moral of the story is that, and I speak for what I have seen here in America -- I don't know about the rest of you countries out there, people have lost that instinct. Maybe we have become dulled to violence to the point what we think it can't affect us? Maybe we're used to having everything done for us? Maybe we just think things like this don't happen anymore. I don't know what the reason is, but it's dangerous.
To you guys that are saying "bullets go faster than textbooks" and all this: Really? Did you have to do the math to figure that out? Throw a good, 10-15lb college texbook book ten feet in the air and let it hit you in the face, see what happens to you. I bet you do more than just blink.
As an owner of a paintball field I'm around guns a hell of a lot. When everything happened at VT and I heard the guy simply walked in and shot people one by one, I was incredibly confused. I could not for the life of me think of a reason why you would watch a man with a gun walk in and start shooting your friends and NOT DO ANYTHING TO DEFEND YOURSELF. Obviously I wasn't there, and obviously there were probably some other circumstances. But out of thirty, what was it thirty two, people not one picked up a desk or a book and chucked it at this guy's head.
We (in general) have lost our survival instinct. We've lost that 'fight or flight' and we've become sheep-like. "Oh, it's not me. Maybe he'll leave aft-
So yes. Maybe drills are the way to go. Paintball has helped me find my instincts (nothing to get your ass moving like a guy shooting 15 balls a second at you), but I realise that's not for everyone. People just need to be aware that, and this is key, shit happens! You can not plan for everything, but you have to be able to REACT.
To stray back to the topic at hand, this is really fucked up and these teachers should be fired and given some kind of counseling. Something has to be loose in your head to think this is OK to do.
HAHA!
"You can't see through them," they said!
"Who would wear those?!" they said!
The best move I ever made was patenting tin foil glasses!
::waves hand::
You want to watch the new Star Wars films.
Yeah, you're both (you and the previous poster) correct I suppose.
:( and I really think (read: hope) that that is the basis for this law.
Really, though, if I had kids I wouldn't want them eating pot flavored candy. Again, although I do partake, I have a strong belief that kids + drugs =
I was really hoping that more than one person would pick up on that without me having to point it out, but yes, it is.
Really, if you think about it, alcoholism is one of the few diseases you can be yelled at for having.
"Goddammit, Otto, you're an alcoholic!"
"Goddammit, Otto, you have lupis!"
One of those two just doesn't sound right.
Maybe you guys aren't aware of this, but, uh, marijuana, regardless of what I think about it, is illegal. As far as I know, they can criminalize an illegal substance or anything representing it and it's totally fine because, once again, it's an illegal substance. Besides that fact, even as someone who does indulge on occasion, I do not think that kids should be getting their hands on pot-flavored lollypops that "taste good, just like pot!" and give them incentive to smoke. Imagine a 10 year old with a joint in his mouth.
It's a hat, duh. Do you realize how long it would take to make a tin foil jacket??
I love how there are only two entries that have been accepted.
This might open up a whole new market for AV software..
"NEW Norton Antivirus now protects you from malicious Silverlight plugins! Only $199.99!!"
On a more serious note (or is it?) I don't know how I feel about this yet. Not only because Adobe is entrenched in this market already, but MS hasn't exactly got a great track record with internet technologies.
+1 Futurama reference!
Off-topic, but Uplink is a great game. If you like Introversion's style you should check out Darwinia, which is another game by them. Beautiful graphics and awesome gameplay!
I was unaware that there is a "secure" version.
I truly hope that this tax gets shot down. They tax our money when we get it, they tax our money when we spend it. The only safe haven from the latter is the 'net, and now they want to tax that too. Give us a break, you bastards!