This is, in effect, my wishlist for things I'd like to see done better in a future massively multiplayer online game, based on the problems I find in Worlf of Warcraft. Realize that these issues are not game crippling (at least not yet), but are things that reduce World of Warcraft from ZOMG PWN to very fun.
1) Massive?
Want: A single, continuous world on which ALL players (at least of a particular country/world region) play together.
There are at least 3 million US players of World of Warcraft, the other (almost) 4 million coming from China and Europe. However, the game isn't just split up by region or by language, but more fundamentally by servers. There are around 100 different servers which, depending on which one you decided upon, limits which other players you'll be with. Once you're on a server, you're stuck there unless you want to pay $25 to move elsewhere.
Being a computer guy, I can understand why this is necessary. Even if we were to assume that only 1 million of US players are on at peak hours, to have a single server/server cluster attempting to handle the massive amount of bandwith and processsing required would be rather enormous and cost prohibitive. It's a shame, but unless Blizzard was willing to pay 10x what they rake in through subscription fees they couldn't afford a single world, not to mention that the world isn't designed to handle that many people in it.
However, because of the current setup there's a problem I've noted. Eventually, servers get "full". When new players attempt to create their first character, a realm is automatically suggested for them. Invariably realms that are new or have low populations are suggested, and occaisionally medium ones. Once a server hits "high" population, players must specifically choose that realm by going against what was recommended. What this means is that there's a point where low level zones are practically deserted as everyone who actively plays on the server has reached max or near max level. This can happen, or show signs of it happening, as quickly as six months.
The reason this bothers me is that I have a large number of characters, spread out over many servers. Some of these characters are low levels on old, high population servers. This means that trying to find other players my level is often difficult. The problem is compounded by the fact that all new players are being directed away from the server, leaving the server to "stagnate".
Now, come the expansion people on all servers will be making new characters to take advantage of the new features/races etc. But that's a temporary solution to a more permanent problem. A problem that won't be fixed in World of Warcraft, but may be fixed in a sequel or competitor's offering.
2. 1337 5k33lz
Want: Pure skill based player versus player content.
I am not the most skilled video game player ever, but I am talented. It's something I egotistically pride myself on, and still enjoy taking an ego bruising now and again for. There are some things that do frustrate me.
You may remember a long time ago a post I made concerning a game called Gate 88, which, while interesting in concept, lent itself to give advantage to whomever won a confrontation. Not a small advantage, a freaking huge one that was completely unrecoverable from. This is not true of World of Warcraft, but there is an issue.
When fighting other players, their equipment is a very large factor. Having 1337 equipment that is hard to get grants a rather large, though not unsurmountable, obstacle to their foes. Evenly skilled players fighting will most often have a result of the player with better gear winning.
Now, were all gear equal and it more a matter of strategically choosing which gear to combine with what style of combat and then skillfully putting the theory into practice, I wouldn't care. If a player has devised a better combination of gear and combat style than my own, they deserve a win. Real life sports are won as a combination of preparation, strategy and skill, not just skill.
However, World of Warcraft sometimes runs into the "idiot with excaliber" scenario, wherein some moron has managed to get incredibly rediculous gear which is completely overpowering in comparison to everyone he's fighting. Without any strategy save "kill" and with the skill of a retarded monkey they plow through the field, successful only because of their equipment.
This is a scenario I have fought, lost to, over come, and everything in between. I like challenges, but I dislike ones where the challenge isn't a matter of skill but is instead a matter of things being unfairly weighted against you.
3. Dynamics
Want: A non static world.
The neatest thing about games like Worms, Scorched Earth and Vigilante 8 is that the world was always changing. When you dropped a bomb somewhere, you left a hole. Buildings crumbled, things blew up, and craters were created. The world was dynamic.
It would be nice if the same could be said of a game like World of Warcraft. I would like to see that my skillful efforts in battle would actually grant some advantage to my side. A days worth of crushing my enemies, seeing them driven before me, and hearing the lamentations of their women nets me nothing save the satisfaction of a job well done. Imagine at Troy, the armies have just errupted out of the horse, Troy lies open before them, the men unprepared and drunk, you are certain of victory. But instead of actually conquering anything you turn around and go home, knowing yours was a job well done. It sort of kills the buzz of conquest when nothing is conquered.
4. Customer service.
This is not to say that World of Warcraft's customer service is bad, but there is one area which I find lacking.
The essence of any community or relationship is communication. I can't claim to be perfect in this regard, but I grow everyday in the recognition that without communication there is hardly anything to call a community or a relationship. More and better communication = good.
Ther are two issues I have found with Blizzard's communication.
The first, and least important, is that it is slow. In game help can take a long time to arrive, and about 2/3rds of the time doesn't arrive while I'm still playing. If you know me, you know that I generally play my games in long stints as opposed to piecemeal. This is obviously an issue, but understandable to an extent because of the large number of players versus the feasible size of a support staff. However, improvement can still be had.
The second is more dire, and relates to the forums. Within those forums we find the people who care and know the most about the game. Very often, issues nestled deep in the players minds and thoughts are brought up. However, it is here that Blizzard's communication completely breaks down. The forum representatives, especially recently, are far more likely to respond to random zaniness in the general forum than they are to address legitimate concerns of the players in the entire breadth of the forums. I've maintained a close watch on the forums since before I left for Japan, and I can't say I'm impressed with what I've seen. In the past month, the number of "blue" posts in threads outside of the General Discussion is near zero. The ratio being 100:1 or more.
I'm not against Blizzard people from participating in the zaniness, but there's a real issue here. People want to be heard, even if the response is "No." When no response is made to issues that many forum people are concerned about, all we're left with is confusion. Is Blizzard working on this? Is this not an issue for them? Do they even care? Intentional or not, a failure to respond is equivalent in the minds of many as ignoring someone or some group. It's not good.
Now, there are all sorts of mitigating circumstances. The forumers don't know what kind of work goes into being a Blizzard representative. We do know they have all sorts of juicy tidbits about upcoming expansion details they can't tell us, and it's likely everything they say that isn't a silly quip or jest has to be carefully examined beforehand as to not let out any information being saved for a press release later. However, it would nice to let people know this kind of thing is going on. Give us a shout saying, "Because a great number of elements of the game are being changed in the expansion, many of which address current concerns and issues, we are not likely to be seen responding to requests made as it might reveal too soon exciting information before we're ready to give out all the details." Players would love that. As it is, in the middle of the Rogue Class review (a time for which communication is paramount) all Blizzard representatives simply vanished from the Rogue forum. I don't think I've seen a "blue" post in there since.
Quite simply, I've done the 9-5 monitor a forum thing. I was addicted to forums for a long time, and I know how long it takes to throw bones to people. Bureaucratic processes or not, there's no excuse for not making an excuse for disappearing altogether. There are plenty of excuses out there, good ones, for not addressing the issues people are bringing up. Give them please.
Thank you if you bothered to read all that. If you didn't, I don't know if you missed much.
20060821
Ware da funae goe?
I realize the Franklin, Dr. Weis, and Mr. Smee have all been absent for a long, long time now. The truth of the matter is, they all decided that they wouldn't bother me while I was moving and took it upon themselves to move themselves down here on their own power and initiative as not to inconvenience me.
I suspect that each met with an unpredictable element which gave rise to predictable responses. I have no doubt that Dr. Weis is off researching something he uncovered en route, or may well be hiding in my walls researching me. Franklin is bound to have been mistaken for a terrorist leader, a grass roots politician, or both, and thinks he's giving an elocution on the benefits of proper nail file management to a charity banquet when he's actually supposed to be giving a declaration of rebellion by some random militia hidden near the appalachian trail. Mr. Smee either got lost, nodded off, or is on some grand adventure he will be completely unable to quantify upon arriving.
I can't honestly say you can expect to see any of them in the near future, but maybe once my apartment is neater and less explodey, maybe after I have a sweet TV entertainment center, maybe after they're no longer oblidged to give me homewarming or christmas presents, they'll finally arrive.
In the meantime, don't worry about them. They'll take care of themselves.
I suspect that each met with an unpredictable element which gave rise to predictable responses. I have no doubt that Dr. Weis is off researching something he uncovered en route, or may well be hiding in my walls researching me. Franklin is bound to have been mistaken for a terrorist leader, a grass roots politician, or both, and thinks he's giving an elocution on the benefits of proper nail file management to a charity banquet when he's actually supposed to be giving a declaration of rebellion by some random militia hidden near the appalachian trail. Mr. Smee either got lost, nodded off, or is on some grand adventure he will be completely unable to quantify upon arriving.
I can't honestly say you can expect to see any of them in the near future, but maybe once my apartment is neater and less explodey, maybe after I have a sweet TV entertainment center, maybe after they're no longer oblidged to give me homewarming or christmas presents, they'll finally arrive.
In the meantime, don't worry about them. They'll take care of themselves.
20060813
Connections
I have come to the conclusion there is nothing worth doing on this green earth if it can not be connected to someone else.
Example: If there was no one I knew personally to play video games with, or to later discuss them with, I wouldn't play them. There'd be no point. It wouldn't feel good to beat Legend of Zelda if there was no one to connect that with.
It isn't limited to diversions, this applies to everything. Work, driving, running, swimming, philosophy, theology, music, everything. If there is never a connection, someone that shares or understands whatever it is, there's a deep and consuming sense of futility that gnaws. A cavernous hunger that devours whatever it is and takes from it all semblence of joy and mirth.
I'm currently suffering from a lack of connections. It's probably largely due to the newness of being in Texas, but I'm rather isolated. I have relatives nearby, but they don't "connect" like my friends and siblings did. I love them all so, but they aren't and shouldn't be a replacement for friends and a significant other.
It really comes down to the fact that I'm currently remote and far away from everyone whom I "connect" with. My best friend's in Massachusetts, my brother will be in College in New York, my sister's in Maryland, and my best buddy in college who truly understood me better than anyone else present there (and as well as anyone else for that matter) is a civil servant in Pennsylvania. Even those who, despite not having a full and deep "connect", were important are far away. The isolation is a weight that is hard to bear.
Talking to God while commuting helps, as does this.
Example: If there was no one I knew personally to play video games with, or to later discuss them with, I wouldn't play them. There'd be no point. It wouldn't feel good to beat Legend of Zelda if there was no one to connect that with.
It isn't limited to diversions, this applies to everything. Work, driving, running, swimming, philosophy, theology, music, everything. If there is never a connection, someone that shares or understands whatever it is, there's a deep and consuming sense of futility that gnaws. A cavernous hunger that devours whatever it is and takes from it all semblence of joy and mirth.
I'm currently suffering from a lack of connections. It's probably largely due to the newness of being in Texas, but I'm rather isolated. I have relatives nearby, but they don't "connect" like my friends and siblings did. I love them all so, but they aren't and shouldn't be a replacement for friends and a significant other.
It really comes down to the fact that I'm currently remote and far away from everyone whom I "connect" with. My best friend's in Massachusetts, my brother will be in College in New York, my sister's in Maryland, and my best buddy in college who truly understood me better than anyone else present there (and as well as anyone else for that matter) is a civil servant in Pennsylvania. Even those who, despite not having a full and deep "connect", were important are far away. The isolation is a weight that is hard to bear.
Talking to God while commuting helps, as does this.
20060807
Post-Post Modernism
The more I've observed people my age and teenagerish, the more I've come to the conclusion that ways of thinking are changing. There's a general discontent with how the world is ordered, and it only grows with age.
Post Modernism will be with us for a while yet, but I doubt that it will remain long enough to bother people 50 years from now. By then, it will be defined as a minor bump on the road between the end of the Enlightenment and the beginning of controlled anarchy.
What irks the youth of today are the continuing mixed messages we get. There are two sets of schools of thought competing for our allegience. The first set is made of the much derided relativistic schools. The second set is filled by the empirical schools. Both bombard us with their dogma, and the number of "bites" they are getting is diminishing.
The movement that is ever so subtlely beginning is one that rejects both "there are no absolutes" and "everything is absolute". In many ways it's a "common sense" movement. It goes without saying that there are absolutes and there are grey areas. Ultimately what will preserve Post Modernism for a while is the entrenchment of empiricism in established institutes, but when it has served its purpose in destroying empricism's credibility it will fade.
Right now the movement's in a celluar state, just fertilized and beginning to develop. Exactly what it will look like at birth, adulthood, and seniority are beyond anyone's ability to predict. However, some trends are clear. Young adults are rejecting institutions for their inefficiency and insincerity, yet find that anarchy is inefficient as well. Some bridging of the two will occur, assuming the second coming doesn't happen first.
That's all I can write for now. There's a large thunderstorm and I think it may knock out power just long enough to erase what I've written.
Post Modernism will be with us for a while yet, but I doubt that it will remain long enough to bother people 50 years from now. By then, it will be defined as a minor bump on the road between the end of the Enlightenment and the beginning of controlled anarchy.
What irks the youth of today are the continuing mixed messages we get. There are two sets of schools of thought competing for our allegience. The first set is made of the much derided relativistic schools. The second set is filled by the empirical schools. Both bombard us with their dogma, and the number of "bites" they are getting is diminishing.
The movement that is ever so subtlely beginning is one that rejects both "there are no absolutes" and "everything is absolute". In many ways it's a "common sense" movement. It goes without saying that there are absolutes and there are grey areas. Ultimately what will preserve Post Modernism for a while is the entrenchment of empiricism in established institutes, but when it has served its purpose in destroying empricism's credibility it will fade.
Right now the movement's in a celluar state, just fertilized and beginning to develop. Exactly what it will look like at birth, adulthood, and seniority are beyond anyone's ability to predict. However, some trends are clear. Young adults are rejecting institutions for their inefficiency and insincerity, yet find that anarchy is inefficient as well. Some bridging of the two will occur, assuming the second coming doesn't happen first.
That's all I can write for now. There's a large thunderstorm and I think it may knock out power just long enough to erase what I've written.
20060805
The Matrix Has Me
That's right, I'm back online. Took long enough.
I have stories to tell, and here they are.
1) I moved to Texas. I'm actually living in my own apartment now. It's a nice apartment. Pictures pre-Kevin's stuff cluttering everywhere will be provided later. It's cheap, huge, quality and extremely well positioned. 10-20 minutes to work, 20-30 minutes to relatives, a hop skip and a jump away from groceries. The only thing it's missing is a Mech of some kind for me to drive.
2) I got a car. It's a 2006 Toyota Corolla S. It's on a 4 year lease, with the option to buy, sell, return or trade at the end. I got some good deals and haggled down the payments too. I named it Tyrael. Tyrael kicks butt. Silver exterior, black interior, and sweet.
3) I dinged up my car. My advice to you all, looking at a ninety degree angle to the direction you are travelling is a bad idea. Green lights have a nasty habit of changing colors suddenly. Luckily I was driving slowly, and hit the brakes quickly, and only hit them at 10-15 miles per hour. I suffered only small cosmetic damage. The other car lost a bumper, had three panels bent in and a rear wheel tilted at a funny angle. I had it looked at recently. 1k. Ouch.
4) I just finished my first week of work. I'm in a place called the "Leper Colony" where they send all the techie people who don't have a security clearance yet. There isn't a whole lot to do other than orientation and watching videos about health, safety and ethics. I will have an interesting project coming up, but so far it hasn't be bad.
5) Not 30 minutes ago I finally got internet, having been here over a week. It was supposed to be installed before I arrived, but it wasn't. Then it was supposed to be installed Monday, but it wasn't. Finally, it was installed today after I took matters into my own hands. It's extremely relieving to be reconnected to the Matrix, my memories of the real world wiped clean.
And that's all. Wait, photos.
Apartment: http://www.flickr.com/photos/25706837@N00/sets/72157594225406242/
Car: http://www.flickr.com/photos/25706837@N00/sets/72157594225405687/
I have stories to tell, and here they are.
1) I moved to Texas. I'm actually living in my own apartment now. It's a nice apartment. Pictures pre-Kevin's stuff cluttering everywhere will be provided later. It's cheap, huge, quality and extremely well positioned. 10-20 minutes to work, 20-30 minutes to relatives, a hop skip and a jump away from groceries. The only thing it's missing is a Mech of some kind for me to drive.
2) I got a car. It's a 2006 Toyota Corolla S. It's on a 4 year lease, with the option to buy, sell, return or trade at the end. I got some good deals and haggled down the payments too. I named it Tyrael. Tyrael kicks butt. Silver exterior, black interior, and sweet.
3) I dinged up my car. My advice to you all, looking at a ninety degree angle to the direction you are travelling is a bad idea. Green lights have a nasty habit of changing colors suddenly. Luckily I was driving slowly, and hit the brakes quickly, and only hit them at 10-15 miles per hour. I suffered only small cosmetic damage. The other car lost a bumper, had three panels bent in and a rear wheel tilted at a funny angle. I had it looked at recently. 1k. Ouch.
4) I just finished my first week of work. I'm in a place called the "Leper Colony" where they send all the techie people who don't have a security clearance yet. There isn't a whole lot to do other than orientation and watching videos about health, safety and ethics. I will have an interesting project coming up, but so far it hasn't be bad.
5) Not 30 minutes ago I finally got internet, having been here over a week. It was supposed to be installed before I arrived, but it wasn't. Then it was supposed to be installed Monday, but it wasn't. Finally, it was installed today after I took matters into my own hands. It's extremely relieving to be reconnected to the Matrix, my memories of the real world wiped clean.
And that's all. Wait, photos.
Apartment: http://www.flickr.com/photos/25706837@N00/sets/72157594225406242/
Car: http://www.flickr.com/photos/25706837@N00/sets/72157594225405687/
20060802
Unplugged
I'm at work, so this'll be brief because I have moral objections to counting things like blogging towards hours worked in a day.
Anyway, as of last night I am still without internet at home. I have no clue when I'll have it, but I should know later today because I'll be home from work early enough that the apartment office will still be open.
When I get the intarweb I'll be posting a massive update about stuff that most of you may have already heard, but will still be recorded here for completeness and posterity.
I need my Matrix fix.
Anyway, as of last night I am still without internet at home. I have no clue when I'll have it, but I should know later today because I'll be home from work early enough that the apartment office will still be open.
When I get the intarweb I'll be posting a massive update about stuff that most of you may have already heard, but will still be recorded here for completeness and posterity.
I need my Matrix fix.
20060713
Homeless
All my stuff was just now packed up, placed in a truck, and taken off to places uncharted and/or unknown. It took an hour and a half, three extremely buff and kind spanish-speaking movers, and a lot of standing around and feeling rather unhelpful and awkward.
Dad is probably relishing the reduced strain on the fuses from all the now departed electronics I was sporting.
In any case, to keep my mind off of the partially severed connection to my typical delights, I'll be getting myself a cell phone and probably going to see the new Pirates of the Carribean movie with my best friend. After that I'll fly out on Tuesday to Dallas to make sure the apartment I have on reserve is as awesome as I think it is, buy a car, and set up a bank account. I'll be returning Friday so that I don't miss an important person's birthday party, and then leaving again around Wednesday.
Time is flying by.
Dad is probably relishing the reduced strain on the fuses from all the now departed electronics I was sporting.
In any case, to keep my mind off of the partially severed connection to my typical delights, I'll be getting myself a cell phone and probably going to see the new Pirates of the Carribean movie with my best friend. After that I'll fly out on Tuesday to Dallas to make sure the apartment I have on reserve is as awesome as I think it is, buy a car, and set up a bank account. I'll be returning Friday so that I don't miss an important person's birthday party, and then leaving again around Wednesday.
Time is flying by.
A Death in the Family
Recently, a long time member of our household bit the dust. He then sat floating in a semi-yellow pool of unclean water for two days before we realized it.
If you're quiet in life, you will surely pass quietly and probably unnoticed. Newton was very quiet.
For all the perils and mishaps he survived, the grim reaper finally caught up with him. I guess he finally got bored of Iraq and other troubled parts of the world and found the time to slaughter a lonely newt.
Farewell Newton, enjoy the great sewer in the sky.
If you're quiet in life, you will surely pass quietly and probably unnoticed. Newton was very quiet.
For all the perils and mishaps he survived, the grim reaper finally caught up with him. I guess he finally got bored of Iraq and other troubled parts of the world and found the time to slaughter a lonely newt.
Farewell Newton, enjoy the great sewer in the sky.
20060705
Jobification
If you're hearing about this for the first time here, it's a testament to the following:
1) How busy I've been.
2) How bad I really am at informing people.
3) Bear-riding mice wearing a fez.
In short, there is big news. I have a job.
In long, t h e r e i s b i g n e w s. I h a v e j o b.
In sanity, I recently (well, not recently anymore) had a job interview with Raytheon. The peculiar thing about this interview was that it was in Texas, 20 minutes away from where my grandparents and uncle's family live. Stranger still was that Raytheon deemed fit to fly me down there, equip me with a rental car, and pay for my meals. Oddity continued to climb when the rental car I was supposed to have reserved for me wasn't availible, and so I was given a free upgrade to a Monte Carlo LT (if an infinite number of monkeys can write shakespeare, what can an infinite number of horses do?).
Anyway, I interviewed down in Texas. The interview was far less stressful than I imagined it would be. I basically told two guys how awesome I was, an arduous task for me, and then listened to them try and convince me that Raytheon was equally awesome. Then they fingerprinted me and took a urine sample.
Odd, yes?
In any case, I got a job offer the Monday thereafter. I decided to be indecisive as rushing into what would obviously be an excellent experience for me, near to relatives and providing more than enough benefits and salary, would be too obvious. However, a cold, dagger-like wind came from the south every time I attempted to seriously consider turning down the job. I suspect that had I done so, certain southern folk by my mother's maiden name would have come for my head.
So yes, I have a job at Raytheon in Garland, Texas. I'll make gobs of money, have gobs of benefits, and be near gobs of relatives.
I also recently aquired an apartment about five to ten minutes away from work, and twenty from my relatives. $480 a month, 646 sq ft, no fireplace. I was adament about the fireplace. Up until that one I was astonished that every apartment in Texas had a fireplace where a bookshelf, a lamp or a TV would have been perfect. This is Texas folks, and not Texas from the Day After Tomorrow. It's not cold in Texas, ever.
So there you have it. I start work the 31st, I'll probably be down there the preceding Friday.
Part of me will miss being able to goof off all day. The rest of me is won over by te promise of great heaps of money.
1) How busy I've been.
2) How bad I really am at informing people.
3) Bear-riding mice wearing a fez.
In short, there is big news. I have a job.
In long, t h e r e i s b i g n e w s. I h a v e j o b.
In sanity, I recently (well, not recently anymore) had a job interview with Raytheon. The peculiar thing about this interview was that it was in Texas, 20 minutes away from where my grandparents and uncle's family live. Stranger still was that Raytheon deemed fit to fly me down there, equip me with a rental car, and pay for my meals. Oddity continued to climb when the rental car I was supposed to have reserved for me wasn't availible, and so I was given a free upgrade to a Monte Carlo LT (if an infinite number of monkeys can write shakespeare, what can an infinite number of horses do?).
Anyway, I interviewed down in Texas. The interview was far less stressful than I imagined it would be. I basically told two guys how awesome I was, an arduous task for me, and then listened to them try and convince me that Raytheon was equally awesome. Then they fingerprinted me and took a urine sample.
Odd, yes?
In any case, I got a job offer the Monday thereafter. I decided to be indecisive as rushing into what would obviously be an excellent experience for me, near to relatives and providing more than enough benefits and salary, would be too obvious. However, a cold, dagger-like wind came from the south every time I attempted to seriously consider turning down the job. I suspect that had I done so, certain southern folk by my mother's maiden name would have come for my head.
So yes, I have a job at Raytheon in Garland, Texas. I'll make gobs of money, have gobs of benefits, and be near gobs of relatives.
I also recently aquired an apartment about five to ten minutes away from work, and twenty from my relatives. $480 a month, 646 sq ft, no fireplace. I was adament about the fireplace. Up until that one I was astonished that every apartment in Texas had a fireplace where a bookshelf, a lamp or a TV would have been perfect. This is Texas folks, and not Texas from the Day After Tomorrow. It's not cold in Texas, ever.
So there you have it. I start work the 31st, I'll probably be down there the preceding Friday.
Part of me will miss being able to goof off all day. The rest of me is won over by te promise of great heaps of money.
20060607
Nibbles and Bits
I just got my first response from a job opportunity. A REAL LIVE PERSON sent me an e-mail concerning a job down in Garland, TX with Raytheon! They want to interview me! It'll last three hours! I'm freaking out from both joy and pure terror!
Time to get Dad to help be in shape for the interview.
::dances::
Wait, the last time I danced... uh oh...
Time to get Dad to help be in shape for the interview.
::dances::
Wait, the last time I danced... uh oh...
20060530
Japan goes Wii
A recent poll from the magazine Famitsu showed staggering changes in how the Japanese view the final contenders in the new generation of consoles. Basically, 23% of their readers thought the PS3 would win the day, while 70% were certain the Wii would "win" (a vaguely defined term if ever there was one).
To better understand that this is more than your average poll, understand that Famitsu is the behemoth of gaming magazines in Japan. Japan is a nation without video game rentals as they are actually outlawed. As such, the gamers of Japan look to magazines to tell them which games are and aren't worth buying. Put two and two together, and you begin to realize that this is akin to the authority National Geographic has on geography.
This same poll also places 88.6% of Famitsu's readers in the category "Thinks PS3 price is too expensive".
There have been other polls which have different things to say about the state of the gaming populace in Japan. However, the level of dedication to gaming in these polls is not reflective of the fervent interest Famitsu readers have. They are the "hardcore" gamers in Japan, which makes the Famitsu poll so disturbing if you're sitting in the Sony camp.
A fundamental piece of knowledge concerning the goals of the three major companies has been their target audiences. Nintendo was going for the casual and not-a-gamer crowds, while Microsoft and Sony duked it out over the hardcore gamers. This was never questioned or refuted, because it is largely true. The only additional information to add is that neither Sony nor Microsoft would begrudge casual gamers buying their systems, and Microsoft is taking some small steps towards courting that crowd as well.
As such, it is shocking that the Famitsu readers are favoring the Wii by such a large margin. They are the "hardcore" that Sony was counting on to carry them this new generation. Yet, 70% of them think that the Wii will win, and nearly 90% are agast at the PS3's price.
Conclude from that what you wiill.
To better understand that this is more than your average poll, understand that Famitsu is the behemoth of gaming magazines in Japan. Japan is a nation without video game rentals as they are actually outlawed. As such, the gamers of Japan look to magazines to tell them which games are and aren't worth buying. Put two and two together, and you begin to realize that this is akin to the authority National Geographic has on geography.
This same poll also places 88.6% of Famitsu's readers in the category "Thinks PS3 price is too expensive".
There have been other polls which have different things to say about the state of the gaming populace in Japan. However, the level of dedication to gaming in these polls is not reflective of the fervent interest Famitsu readers have. They are the "hardcore" gamers in Japan, which makes the Famitsu poll so disturbing if you're sitting in the Sony camp.
A fundamental piece of knowledge concerning the goals of the three major companies has been their target audiences. Nintendo was going for the casual and not-a-gamer crowds, while Microsoft and Sony duked it out over the hardcore gamers. This was never questioned or refuted, because it is largely true. The only additional information to add is that neither Sony nor Microsoft would begrudge casual gamers buying their systems, and Microsoft is taking some small steps towards courting that crowd as well.
As such, it is shocking that the Famitsu readers are favoring the Wii by such a large margin. They are the "hardcore" that Sony was counting on to carry them this new generation. Yet, 70% of them think that the Wii will win, and nearly 90% are agast at the PS3's price.
Conclude from that what you wiill.
Travesty
There's been a lot of experience with travesty these past few weeks. Nothing serious really, but I've encountered various levels of it. A series of events have transpired such that I wonder how many sane people are left in the world, and whether I'll be able to find one of the opposite gender suitable for courtship before my mortal coil is sprung.
Anyway, onto the travesties.
1) The Draenei as the new Alliance race in the World of WarCraft expansion:
This is the smallest of the travesties, and in and of itself isn't bad. I'm looking forwards to running around doing the Tunak Tunak Tan dance, which this race features. However, the travesty was the brutal surgery the history of Azeroth went through to make this possible. Surgery is a nice way of saying that they literally had to rip the whole thing to pieces and sew it back together to work.
The idea as it was presented was that the Draenei were a race who were quite naturally talented with magic. The evil Sargeras offered them power for their allegience, which some of them took greedily while the others fled. These others were chased by their corrupted brethern, who became the Eredar demons of Sargeras' Burning Legion army, and were aided by the Light to evade their pursuers. They eventually settled on Draenor, where after a few millenia of peaceful living were utterly crushed by the Orcs, who were now pawns of the Burning legion. The chaotic, demonic bloodlust of the orcs corrupted many Draenei, mutating their form into the strange and twisted figures seen in WarCraft 3. Most of them look more like the Eredar. These ones crash landed their nethership which they used to escape the orcs after some Blood Elves sabotaged it.
That's jolly good, until several points were sent straight into the heart of this. 1) Sargeras was purportedly disturbed by the existence of demons, including the Eredar, which is partly why he went mad in the first place. 2) Spaceship?
I realize not every game developer can be Bungie and have a supremely anal attitude towards lore, but Blizzard already completely ignored the previously important gender roles of the Night Elves when they made World of WarCraft. It's a travesty what they keep doing to the lore.
2) Halo 2 for PC becomes a Vista exclusive:
If you don't know what Halo 2 is, you don't play video games. If you don't know what Vista is, it's the next version of Windows that Microsoft will find some way of forcing you to upgrade to.
This didn't really bother me until I found more intelligent people than I making the following points.
A) For the cost of upgrading to Vista you can buy an original Xbox and Halo 2 or an Xbox 360 and Halo 3 (when it comes out), depending on what version of Vista you're upgrading to.
B) If Vista was really all that great, it would sell itself and wouldn't need to lean on Bungie for a reason to buy it.
In the end, why does it take so long to port a game to PC when it's been shown time and time again that the Xbox is little more than a PC-in-a-box? Not only that, it's being forced onto an OS no one even has yet.
Travesty.
3) Gunbound:
You may not know of Gunbound, but you may have played many games like it. Worms and Scorched Earth are games which function on similar principles. You have some tank or other object which is horribly beweaponed and lobs shots around an arena at other tanks or objects. Gunbound doesn't deviate here.
One of the unique features of Gunbound was that you had an Avatar. It wasn't just a tank, you had a little person riding it. That person could be decked out in many different outfits, and depending on the server you played on these trappings had bonuses they would grant you. Outfits could be purchased with gold or cash, gold being earned through fighting and cash being legal tender. It was very novel, incredibly cool and overall fun.
After many years of not having access to the game, I finally installed it on Raijin and took it for a spin. The game's as good as ever in the gameplay department, with even a few new tanks since I last played. However, somewhere between then and now travesty struck.
When outfits were purchased before, they were permanent. Your account would be able to sport them unto eternity. Now, the same is true, except the prices are 10x higher to do that. If those Matrix Glasses cost 9000 gold before, they're 60000 gold now for a permanent buy.
Fear not! You can still rent them for a week for 9000 gold... or a month for 18000! It... it just really sucks. There isn't a better way of putting it. Luckily, any items you had before this was done are permanent, so that 27000 Archangel outfit was a real steal. Seriously, imagine if you were paying $2800 to rent that used car for a week. Ugh.
The depths of this travesty know no bounds.
4) PS3 Price:
You knew it had to be here, but the price of this sucker is quite insane. We've been up and down this issue before, but we're likely to see this keep coming up. Sony's PR has done a bang up job of keeping the public grumbling at them over this. I wonder if they're not trying to replicate all the buzz Nintendo got for changing their consoles' name from Revolution to Wii. The difference there is, a Wii by any other name sells just as cheap. Also, the name becomes catchy after a while. The price of the PS3 doesn't grow on you. The more I think about spending $600 for a console, not counting games and extra controllers, the more I grimace. It took a week for Sony apologists to stop sulking in corners and come out to try and defend their beloved PS3. It took 2 minutes to blow their arguments out of the water, 1:52 of which was laughing at the absurdity of their statements.
We've heard the "It's a cheap Blu-Ray" player argument. We've heard the "It's cheap for the power it has" argument. And we've heard straight from Sony the "You'll buy it anyway even without games" argument. These arguments have already been thoroughly rebutted. Honestly, the PS3 is going to be a good system, but come on guys. Seriously, you can come up with better reasons for supporting it than that.
The worst argument yet was that most cutting edge technology is expensive as the early adopters will buy it at any price within reason. Then the prices plummet as it goes mainstream. The idea is that the same is true of the PS3. There are several problems with this argument.
A) The types of cutting edge technology being referred to here are largely technologies where there are multiple competitors making hardware which all does exactly the same thing. Sony TVs, Brand Silly TVs, Panasonic TVs, they all let you hook up VCRs, DVD players and cable to them. Aside from the actual quality of each brand's product, there's little difference. A casual buyer would be just as happy with no brand in particular so long as it worked.
Video game consoles, on the other hand, are extremely focused on brand. There are large, gaping differences between the consoles, and what you buy changes what you can interact with drastically. Imagine if you could only get PBS on a Sony TV, Fox on Brand Silly, and HBO on Panasonic. That's what video game consoles are analogous to. To compare them to technologies like TVs is a severely flawed comparison.
B) Aside from the similar hardware counterpoint, there's the fact that in those competitive hardware fields it's possible to come in late with a good product and enjoy profit. It doesn't matter that there have been TVs for years before, if this new brand does everything the others do it'll sell. That's not to say it's easy to make TVs and whatnot, but there's nothing inherent in the market that makes it impossible for latecomers to succeed so long as they aren't lazy about it.
In the video game industry it's very different. Coming in late is like going to an event at college which offers free food halfway through. Were you expecting food? Sorry, the only things left are the salads no one eats and the deserts that everyone hates. You can't just come in anytime you want and expect things to work just as they would if you came in first. There is food to be had, but it is all scraps.
Now Sony can't be said to be extremely late. They certainly aren't coming in halfway through. However, they're using the same exact strategy for their console they used for the PS2. Overshadow your earliest competitor with far better graphics at E3, charge a lot at launch, use the next generation video format to push consoles. It worked beautifully for the PS2, but Sony is ignoring a great many factors that are vastly different.
i) Sega vs Microsoft
When the PS2 began Sony's second generation of dominion, it was competing against Sega, a financially rocky company that wasn't particularly big. Now that the PS3 is coming, it's fighting another early competitor, but this one is Microsoft. We don't even need to think twice concerning the chance of Microsoft suddenly going bankrupt. It isn't happening this decade.
ii) Sega vs Microsoft Pt 2
Sony amazed us with incredible bonanza's at the E3s prior to the launches of both the Dreamcast and the Xbox 360. However, people believed Sony at the E3 before the Dreamcast. When the one after that came, people were disappointed but there was still a marked difference in graphical prowess between the two systems. It was enough for gamers to feel comfortable with the overhyping Sony had done before, because to an extent they still delivered.
The E3 before the Xbox 360 launched, a similar tactic was used. However, the public took the awesome images with a grain of salt. Only the most zealous of fanboys claimed that all, if any, of the images were not prerendered. Again, the public was ready to forgive that hyping if the system delivered. Unfortunately, this E3 showed that Sony's games looked little different from Microsoft's. The result is a largely dissapointed public, many of whom wondered why they waited, and many others who didn't bother to wonder and just went and bought Xbox 360s.
iii) DVD vs Blu-Ray
DVDs rock. It's hard to refute, although I'm sure my dad could do a good job. They are significantly better than video tapes. They don't wear out as quickly, they give all sorts of options, you can skip ahead with scenes, select specific episodes and largely not have to deal with many of the issues that plagued video tapes. There's a reason why everything's on DVD these days.
Of course, the ill-designed DVD menu is a menace that has come of this, but that is a different travesty for another day.
When the PS2 came onto the scene, there was no question as to the place DVDs would have in the home. People were already buying DVD players and DVDs. Everyone knew they were better, if not necessarily widely circulated yet. While there was some cling to videos that existed, the alure of different language tracks, deleted scenes and director commentary won the day. While some may complain about the cost of buying an entire anime series at only 3 episodes a disc, these are the same people that don't remember that buying cartoons on tape usually involved fewer episodes of lower quality video and audio, and often more expensive per video than we enjoy now per DVD.
The PS3 enjoys no such luxury. It will be one of the first Blu-Ray players on the market, there will be few if any movies on Blu-Ray when it launches, if any in stores. There is not drastic chasm of difference between DVDs and Blu-Ray, like there was for video tapes and DVDs. Most of the public doesn't even know what Blu-Ray is. Ask someone and they'll probably think you're talking about fish.
Travesty.
So I've yet to see the price justified properly. If this trend continues, I may have to beat my Nintendo fanboyism senseless and write a post critical of Nintendo while praising Sony just so that there's something on the internet which successfully does so. I'm actually quite shocked that there haven't been better arguments that the Wii will do poorly, or that Sony will prevail. Whether that's a travesty or not isn't important. What is important is that it's now 1 AM, and I should be asleep, quenching my thirst, or both.
Anyway, onto the travesties.
1) The Draenei as the new Alliance race in the World of WarCraft expansion:
This is the smallest of the travesties, and in and of itself isn't bad. I'm looking forwards to running around doing the Tunak Tunak Tan dance, which this race features. However, the travesty was the brutal surgery the history of Azeroth went through to make this possible. Surgery is a nice way of saying that they literally had to rip the whole thing to pieces and sew it back together to work.
The idea as it was presented was that the Draenei were a race who were quite naturally talented with magic. The evil Sargeras offered them power for their allegience, which some of them took greedily while the others fled. These others were chased by their corrupted brethern, who became the Eredar demons of Sargeras' Burning Legion army, and were aided by the Light to evade their pursuers. They eventually settled on Draenor, where after a few millenia of peaceful living were utterly crushed by the Orcs, who were now pawns of the Burning legion. The chaotic, demonic bloodlust of the orcs corrupted many Draenei, mutating their form into the strange and twisted figures seen in WarCraft 3. Most of them look more like the Eredar. These ones crash landed their nethership which they used to escape the orcs after some Blood Elves sabotaged it.
That's jolly good, until several points were sent straight into the heart of this. 1) Sargeras was purportedly disturbed by the existence of demons, including the Eredar, which is partly why he went mad in the first place. 2) Spaceship?
I realize not every game developer can be Bungie and have a supremely anal attitude towards lore, but Blizzard already completely ignored the previously important gender roles of the Night Elves when they made World of WarCraft. It's a travesty what they keep doing to the lore.
2) Halo 2 for PC becomes a Vista exclusive:
If you don't know what Halo 2 is, you don't play video games. If you don't know what Vista is, it's the next version of Windows that Microsoft will find some way of forcing you to upgrade to.
This didn't really bother me until I found more intelligent people than I making the following points.
A) For the cost of upgrading to Vista you can buy an original Xbox and Halo 2 or an Xbox 360 and Halo 3 (when it comes out), depending on what version of Vista you're upgrading to.
B) If Vista was really all that great, it would sell itself and wouldn't need to lean on Bungie for a reason to buy it.
In the end, why does it take so long to port a game to PC when it's been shown time and time again that the Xbox is little more than a PC-in-a-box? Not only that, it's being forced onto an OS no one even has yet.
Travesty.
3) Gunbound:
You may not know of Gunbound, but you may have played many games like it. Worms and Scorched Earth are games which function on similar principles. You have some tank or other object which is horribly beweaponed and lobs shots around an arena at other tanks or objects. Gunbound doesn't deviate here.
One of the unique features of Gunbound was that you had an Avatar. It wasn't just a tank, you had a little person riding it. That person could be decked out in many different outfits, and depending on the server you played on these trappings had bonuses they would grant you. Outfits could be purchased with gold or cash, gold being earned through fighting and cash being legal tender. It was very novel, incredibly cool and overall fun.
After many years of not having access to the game, I finally installed it on Raijin and took it for a spin. The game's as good as ever in the gameplay department, with even a few new tanks since I last played. However, somewhere between then and now travesty struck.
When outfits were purchased before, they were permanent. Your account would be able to sport them unto eternity. Now, the same is true, except the prices are 10x higher to do that. If those Matrix Glasses cost 9000 gold before, they're 60000 gold now for a permanent buy.
Fear not! You can still rent them for a week for 9000 gold... or a month for 18000! It... it just really sucks. There isn't a better way of putting it. Luckily, any items you had before this was done are permanent, so that 27000 Archangel outfit was a real steal. Seriously, imagine if you were paying $2800 to rent that used car for a week. Ugh.
The depths of this travesty know no bounds.
4) PS3 Price:
You knew it had to be here, but the price of this sucker is quite insane. We've been up and down this issue before, but we're likely to see this keep coming up. Sony's PR has done a bang up job of keeping the public grumbling at them over this. I wonder if they're not trying to replicate all the buzz Nintendo got for changing their consoles' name from Revolution to Wii. The difference there is, a Wii by any other name sells just as cheap. Also, the name becomes catchy after a while. The price of the PS3 doesn't grow on you. The more I think about spending $600 for a console, not counting games and extra controllers, the more I grimace. It took a week for Sony apologists to stop sulking in corners and come out to try and defend their beloved PS3. It took 2 minutes to blow their arguments out of the water, 1:52 of which was laughing at the absurdity of their statements.
We've heard the "It's a cheap Blu-Ray" player argument. We've heard the "It's cheap for the power it has" argument. And we've heard straight from Sony the "You'll buy it anyway even without games" argument. These arguments have already been thoroughly rebutted. Honestly, the PS3 is going to be a good system, but come on guys. Seriously, you can come up with better reasons for supporting it than that.
The worst argument yet was that most cutting edge technology is expensive as the early adopters will buy it at any price within reason. Then the prices plummet as it goes mainstream. The idea is that the same is true of the PS3. There are several problems with this argument.
A) The types of cutting edge technology being referred to here are largely technologies where there are multiple competitors making hardware which all does exactly the same thing. Sony TVs, Brand Silly TVs, Panasonic TVs, they all let you hook up VCRs, DVD players and cable to them. Aside from the actual quality of each brand's product, there's little difference. A casual buyer would be just as happy with no brand in particular so long as it worked.
Video game consoles, on the other hand, are extremely focused on brand. There are large, gaping differences between the consoles, and what you buy changes what you can interact with drastically. Imagine if you could only get PBS on a Sony TV, Fox on Brand Silly, and HBO on Panasonic. That's what video game consoles are analogous to. To compare them to technologies like TVs is a severely flawed comparison.
B) Aside from the similar hardware counterpoint, there's the fact that in those competitive hardware fields it's possible to come in late with a good product and enjoy profit. It doesn't matter that there have been TVs for years before, if this new brand does everything the others do it'll sell. That's not to say it's easy to make TVs and whatnot, but there's nothing inherent in the market that makes it impossible for latecomers to succeed so long as they aren't lazy about it.
In the video game industry it's very different. Coming in late is like going to an event at college which offers free food halfway through. Were you expecting food? Sorry, the only things left are the salads no one eats and the deserts that everyone hates. You can't just come in anytime you want and expect things to work just as they would if you came in first. There is food to be had, but it is all scraps.
Now Sony can't be said to be extremely late. They certainly aren't coming in halfway through. However, they're using the same exact strategy for their console they used for the PS2. Overshadow your earliest competitor with far better graphics at E3, charge a lot at launch, use the next generation video format to push consoles. It worked beautifully for the PS2, but Sony is ignoring a great many factors that are vastly different.
i) Sega vs Microsoft
When the PS2 began Sony's second generation of dominion, it was competing against Sega, a financially rocky company that wasn't particularly big. Now that the PS3 is coming, it's fighting another early competitor, but this one is Microsoft. We don't even need to think twice concerning the chance of Microsoft suddenly going bankrupt. It isn't happening this decade.
ii) Sega vs Microsoft Pt 2
Sony amazed us with incredible bonanza's at the E3s prior to the launches of both the Dreamcast and the Xbox 360. However, people believed Sony at the E3 before the Dreamcast. When the one after that came, people were disappointed but there was still a marked difference in graphical prowess between the two systems. It was enough for gamers to feel comfortable with the overhyping Sony had done before, because to an extent they still delivered.
The E3 before the Xbox 360 launched, a similar tactic was used. However, the public took the awesome images with a grain of salt. Only the most zealous of fanboys claimed that all, if any, of the images were not prerendered. Again, the public was ready to forgive that hyping if the system delivered. Unfortunately, this E3 showed that Sony's games looked little different from Microsoft's. The result is a largely dissapointed public, many of whom wondered why they waited, and many others who didn't bother to wonder and just went and bought Xbox 360s.
iii) DVD vs Blu-Ray
DVDs rock. It's hard to refute, although I'm sure my dad could do a good job. They are significantly better than video tapes. They don't wear out as quickly, they give all sorts of options, you can skip ahead with scenes, select specific episodes and largely not have to deal with many of the issues that plagued video tapes. There's a reason why everything's on DVD these days.
Of course, the ill-designed DVD menu is a menace that has come of this, but that is a different travesty for another day.
When the PS2 came onto the scene, there was no question as to the place DVDs would have in the home. People were already buying DVD players and DVDs. Everyone knew they were better, if not necessarily widely circulated yet. While there was some cling to videos that existed, the alure of different language tracks, deleted scenes and director commentary won the day. While some may complain about the cost of buying an entire anime series at only 3 episodes a disc, these are the same people that don't remember that buying cartoons on tape usually involved fewer episodes of lower quality video and audio, and often more expensive per video than we enjoy now per DVD.
The PS3 enjoys no such luxury. It will be one of the first Blu-Ray players on the market, there will be few if any movies on Blu-Ray when it launches, if any in stores. There is not drastic chasm of difference between DVDs and Blu-Ray, like there was for video tapes and DVDs. Most of the public doesn't even know what Blu-Ray is. Ask someone and they'll probably think you're talking about fish.
Travesty.
So I've yet to see the price justified properly. If this trend continues, I may have to beat my Nintendo fanboyism senseless and write a post critical of Nintendo while praising Sony just so that there's something on the internet which successfully does so. I'm actually quite shocked that there haven't been better arguments that the Wii will do poorly, or that Sony will prevail. Whether that's a travesty or not isn't important. What is important is that it's now 1 AM, and I should be asleep, quenching my thirst, or both.
20060522
Gloom, not doom.
A lot of people are mad at Sony. Not everyone, some people are just annoyed. There are certainly a great number of indifferent people, and plenty who are still staring dreamily at pictures of the PS3.
Now, Sony's done many things to raise one's ire. They took out the rumble pack from their controller and shamelessly imitated Nintendo. They priced their system at $500-$600. They use a Cel chip which, while powerful, has an architecture that currently gives developers migraines. And most recently, they told us we'd buy it without games.
You can guess that everyone and their twin brother has projected a horrible, firey death for Sony and everyone involved. It doesn't take much to know that angry people write angry things, and that even the best of attempts to think straight when one is livid with rage go awry. As such, reading the comments on /. will lead you to believe that the gamers of the world are ready to swim to Japan and wring Sony's neck in the greatest seaborne invasion since Normandy.
I'm certainly not perfect, and I'm sure I've cast my share of doom at Sony here and there. However, despite continual attempts by Sony's wonderful PR (seriously, who hired them?) to destroy their chances at another successful console Sony will certainly do well. Consider what I have to say.
Nintendo once had a monopoly on the video game market, followed by another near monopoly. The NES and SNES quite simply dominated. Some people had Sega's Genesis, but hands down Nintendo was still king. Today, Nintendo is third in the US, and generally low on market share in general. They've always made profit, but were they to continue to hemorrhage market share they certainly would go out of business.
What went wrong with Nintendo, at least partially, is what's going wrong with Sony now. Namely, hubris. If you look at it historically, no console manufacturer has maintained dominance for more than two generations. Both Atari and Nintendo enjoyed the high life. One collapsed, was consumed, and was spat out as a brand. The other lives on, but many say barely. Sony's at the same juncture as Atari and Nintendo were, and is repeating their mistakes.
I highly doubt Sony is going to follow in Atari's footsteps, if only because Atari's vanity was so great that cartridges were literally bulldozed into landfills. They are more likely to go the way of Nintendo because of the similarities between the two companies. Beyond both being japanese, they both supplanted a previously popular competitor (although the situations were different), and they both released (or will release) the most technologically powerful system, last, in the generation they lost (or will lose) the limelight.
The Nintendo 64 was the best system in terms of graphics, heck, hardware in general. Four built in ports meant easy four player games. It was a dream. It was also built with the attitude, "They'll buy it because we're Nintendo". It was sold with that attitude, and by the time Nintendo had figured out that something was amiss, Sony was laughing all the way to the bank. However, the Nintendo 64 did very well for the very reason they thought it would. It was Nintendo, and so people bought it. However, as good as slightly less than half the market may seem it's a staggering drop from a monopoly.
Sony is probably going to experience something similar. People will definately buy the PS3, lots of them. I'd be surprised if Sony failed to sell at least 50 million PS3s before they're done. However, considering the success of the PS2, selling only that many is a staggering drop in success. If Sony doesn't realize what's happened when they start work on the PS4, they'll be near to where Nintendo is now.
Unfortunately, Sony has many more problems to face than Nintendo did in the same position. Specifically, Nintendo never failed to make a profit on any of its consoles, and also had our favorite Nintendo franchises to carry them along. Sony, on the other hand, is not as straight out profitable as Nintendo. Despite having somewhere between 1/10th and 1/5th the market share Sony has, Nintendo made more money on their Gamecube than Sony made on the PS2. Additionally, Sony's major franchises are actually third party products. Metal Gear Solid and Grand Theft Auto are already taking the first steps to leaving them. What were originally thought to be Sony exclusives turned up elsewhere. Snake will be in Super Smash Brothers: Brawl, and Grand Theft Auto 4 will be on the Xbox 360 with exclusive content. The latest and greatest Final Fantasy has always been on the Sony train since the N64 failed to provide the storage space for those eye dropping computer rendered sequences. While Final Fantasy XIII will be a PS3 exclusive, Nintendo's been reigning on Sony's parade with many of it's own exclusives such as Crystal Chronicles and numerous remakes of the old classic Final Fantasies.
In short, Sony will do well this generation, but is on road to destruction. Sony will not suddenly drop off the map this generation. However, they're going to have to work doubly hard next generation to prevent from falling into that long list of companies that didn't last in the world of video games. I think they can do it, it's up to them to actually do so.
Now, Sony's done many things to raise one's ire. They took out the rumble pack from their controller and shamelessly imitated Nintendo. They priced their system at $500-$600. They use a Cel chip which, while powerful, has an architecture that currently gives developers migraines. And most recently, they told us we'd buy it without games.
You can guess that everyone and their twin brother has projected a horrible, firey death for Sony and everyone involved. It doesn't take much to know that angry people write angry things, and that even the best of attempts to think straight when one is livid with rage go awry. As such, reading the comments on /. will lead you to believe that the gamers of the world are ready to swim to Japan and wring Sony's neck in the greatest seaborne invasion since Normandy.
I'm certainly not perfect, and I'm sure I've cast my share of doom at Sony here and there. However, despite continual attempts by Sony's wonderful PR (seriously, who hired them?) to destroy their chances at another successful console Sony will certainly do well. Consider what I have to say.
Nintendo once had a monopoly on the video game market, followed by another near monopoly. The NES and SNES quite simply dominated. Some people had Sega's Genesis, but hands down Nintendo was still king. Today, Nintendo is third in the US, and generally low on market share in general. They've always made profit, but were they to continue to hemorrhage market share they certainly would go out of business.
What went wrong with Nintendo, at least partially, is what's going wrong with Sony now. Namely, hubris. If you look at it historically, no console manufacturer has maintained dominance for more than two generations. Both Atari and Nintendo enjoyed the high life. One collapsed, was consumed, and was spat out as a brand. The other lives on, but many say barely. Sony's at the same juncture as Atari and Nintendo were, and is repeating their mistakes.
I highly doubt Sony is going to follow in Atari's footsteps, if only because Atari's vanity was so great that cartridges were literally bulldozed into landfills. They are more likely to go the way of Nintendo because of the similarities between the two companies. Beyond both being japanese, they both supplanted a previously popular competitor (although the situations were different), and they both released (or will release) the most technologically powerful system, last, in the generation they lost (or will lose) the limelight.
The Nintendo 64 was the best system in terms of graphics, heck, hardware in general. Four built in ports meant easy four player games. It was a dream. It was also built with the attitude, "They'll buy it because we're Nintendo". It was sold with that attitude, and by the time Nintendo had figured out that something was amiss, Sony was laughing all the way to the bank. However, the Nintendo 64 did very well for the very reason they thought it would. It was Nintendo, and so people bought it. However, as good as slightly less than half the market may seem it's a staggering drop from a monopoly.
Sony is probably going to experience something similar. People will definately buy the PS3, lots of them. I'd be surprised if Sony failed to sell at least 50 million PS3s before they're done. However, considering the success of the PS2, selling only that many is a staggering drop in success. If Sony doesn't realize what's happened when they start work on the PS4, they'll be near to where Nintendo is now.
Unfortunately, Sony has many more problems to face than Nintendo did in the same position. Specifically, Nintendo never failed to make a profit on any of its consoles, and also had our favorite Nintendo franchises to carry them along. Sony, on the other hand, is not as straight out profitable as Nintendo. Despite having somewhere between 1/10th and 1/5th the market share Sony has, Nintendo made more money on their Gamecube than Sony made on the PS2. Additionally, Sony's major franchises are actually third party products. Metal Gear Solid and Grand Theft Auto are already taking the first steps to leaving them. What were originally thought to be Sony exclusives turned up elsewhere. Snake will be in Super Smash Brothers: Brawl, and Grand Theft Auto 4 will be on the Xbox 360 with exclusive content. The latest and greatest Final Fantasy has always been on the Sony train since the N64 failed to provide the storage space for those eye dropping computer rendered sequences. While Final Fantasy XIII will be a PS3 exclusive, Nintendo's been reigning on Sony's parade with many of it's own exclusives such as Crystal Chronicles and numerous remakes of the old classic Final Fantasies.
In short, Sony will do well this generation, but is on road to destruction. Sony will not suddenly drop off the map this generation. However, they're going to have to work doubly hard next generation to prevent from falling into that long list of companies that didn't last in the world of video games. I think they can do it, it's up to them to actually do so.
20060516
Job Searching
Yeah, it's started again. I've been spending my morning hours searching for jobs. I've discovered some interesting things I need to remember.
-Don't ignore internships. They can be paid, or are at least a better option than venting frustration at the fact that every job and its brother requires at least one year of experience.
-I think I can I think I can...
-There's some idiot, or set of idiots, who doesn't understand basic formatting and somehow still has a job. Therefore, I should be able to get a job.
-Don't ignore internships. They can be paid, or are at least a better option than venting frustration at the fact that every job and its brother requires at least one year of experience.
-I think I can I think I can...
-There's some idiot, or set of idiots, who doesn't understand basic formatting and somehow still has a job. Therefore, I should be able to get a job.
20060512
E3: The Road Ahead
Now the speculation begins.
With just about everything said and done, the time for prognostication has come. I have no claims of seerhood or prophet like predictions. I just have my gut feelings, and here's what they're saying.
Sony's screwed.
This isn't just about price. This is about what Sony showed us this E3. Sony unveiled to us that with an extra year of development, they created a system that doesn't show any better performance quality than the Xbox 360 that costs an extra $200. A system which shamelessly tacked on motion sensors into its controller at the cost of force feedback. A system whose only major exclusive games are Metal Gear Solid 4 and Final Fantasy 13.
That's a brief summary. Depth time.
Coming into this, those of us who pay attention to video games and the companies that make them had expectations of Sony. Their system was given a year longer to develop than Microsoft's, and as such we expected to see a year's worth of improvement over Microsoft's system. Through the course of Sony's press conference, the feeling grew that Sony didn't have it all together. Their conference lacked style, lacked structure, and looked like it lacked preparation. The most interesting parts of the show were third party games. Most importantly, the vast majority of games that were shown did not look any better than what had been out on the Xbox 360 this past Christmas. Sony fanboys and the rest of us alike had been expecting that Sony was going to plaster Microsoft with games so beautiful we would cry, or at least significantly better looking. Because that was not seen, we strained to find other redeeming qualities in the system, and found nothing that set it apart.
Sony revealed a new online service, something Microsoft has had and refined for a few years now. Not to mention that Microsoft's is running right now, with a full feature set while Sony's still resides in the realm of vaporware. Sony showed connectivity between the PSP and PS3, something Nintendo pioneered with their Gameboy Advance and Gamecube (both of which were also far cheaper). Sony showed off their eyetoy, but only left us wondering was it all smoke and mirrors through a lack of details. Lastly, they tried to wow us with their motion sensitive controller, but left us scratching our heads at the removal of the force feedback (and the possible irony of them copying Nintendo after bashing motion detection as a gimmick).
Overall the feeling I got in my gut, as well as from what I read of other people, was that Sony had dissapointed. The price was a kick where it hurts, and the higher price of the full version a shotgun to the face. A lot of people have made the argument that it's a bargain because of the built in blu-ray player. That worked for Sony with the PS2 because we knew that DVDs were the next medium. There were no ifs or buts about it, DVDs were what was next. Now, we have no clue. There's too much uncertainty as to what the next medium will be, or even if as to whether we need it.
Meanwhile, Microsoft showed off their second generation of games for the Xbox 360, not all of which were sports games or first person shooters. Microsoft caught wind somewhere that the hardcore gaming crowd only has so much money to spend, and that the market as a whole will shrink (or in the case of Japan, is shrinking minus what Nintendo has accomplished) if nothing is done to reach out to more people than teens age 14-19, and college students age 20-24. Their efforts are somewhat bungled, and not entirely effective, but will ultimately give them a huge advantage. They will have a good number of games for people who aren't interested in Football 2010 or Gunfirekilldead 2007. Additionally, with their online service connecting PCs and consoles, they've leveraged their OS (again) to propel them through a new market.
Nintendo showed that they've got games, and lots of them. They showed that their new console works, and works well. They showed that they understand what needs to be done in the console industry, and that they know how to do it. Nintendo isn't just reaching out to the greater public, they're building huge bridges while maintaining the beauty of the place they're building bridges from. Nintendo killed any question as to whether they have third party support, and in an industry where franchises are becoming stale and losing the weight they carried, Nintendo still has all their old classics such as Mario, Link and Samus standing strong and fresh as the day they were conceived.
Because of all that, I can't see this generation going Sony's way. Early adopters and some casual gamers who already have a playstation of one form or another will buy the PS3, but aside from holiday frenzy it will hardly sell. Like the PSP, it may start strong at Christmas, but sales will just end there. Meanwhile, disillusioned hardcore gamers will jump ship to the Xbox 360 and to the great series residing there. With a potential price drop to boot, the Xbox 360 will sell at least as much as the PS3 if not more during the holidays and will continue to sell thereafter. In Japan, sales of the Xbox 360 will pick up some but not significantly, while the PS3 will fare better there but not enough to make up for the poor showing in the US. Meanwhile, Nintendo will fare better than either of their "competitors". Through simple elegance, and low price, the Wii will sell like crazy in the US, and will hardly be found in stores in Japan. While there will be contention for the US market, Japan will be soundly won by Nintendo.
Microsoft may turn a small profit halfway through the generation, Nintendo will make money as always, and Sony will lose large gobs of money and accomplish little.
I never thought I'd want to predict Microsoft doing well, but honestly they have an understanding that games need to move away from the current "nerdy guy shoot things crush" mindset. It's nowhere as complete or perfect as Nintendo's, but I'll pick the huge monolithic megacorporation that has some sense of what needs to be done over the one that has been riding on the success of their first console ever since it was successful.
With just about everything said and done, the time for prognostication has come. I have no claims of seerhood or prophet like predictions. I just have my gut feelings, and here's what they're saying.
Sony's screwed.
This isn't just about price. This is about what Sony showed us this E3. Sony unveiled to us that with an extra year of development, they created a system that doesn't show any better performance quality than the Xbox 360 that costs an extra $200. A system which shamelessly tacked on motion sensors into its controller at the cost of force feedback. A system whose only major exclusive games are Metal Gear Solid 4 and Final Fantasy 13.
That's a brief summary. Depth time.
Coming into this, those of us who pay attention to video games and the companies that make them had expectations of Sony. Their system was given a year longer to develop than Microsoft's, and as such we expected to see a year's worth of improvement over Microsoft's system. Through the course of Sony's press conference, the feeling grew that Sony didn't have it all together. Their conference lacked style, lacked structure, and looked like it lacked preparation. The most interesting parts of the show were third party games. Most importantly, the vast majority of games that were shown did not look any better than what had been out on the Xbox 360 this past Christmas. Sony fanboys and the rest of us alike had been expecting that Sony was going to plaster Microsoft with games so beautiful we would cry, or at least significantly better looking. Because that was not seen, we strained to find other redeeming qualities in the system, and found nothing that set it apart.
Sony revealed a new online service, something Microsoft has had and refined for a few years now. Not to mention that Microsoft's is running right now, with a full feature set while Sony's still resides in the realm of vaporware. Sony showed connectivity between the PSP and PS3, something Nintendo pioneered with their Gameboy Advance and Gamecube (both of which were also far cheaper). Sony showed off their eyetoy, but only left us wondering was it all smoke and mirrors through a lack of details. Lastly, they tried to wow us with their motion sensitive controller, but left us scratching our heads at the removal of the force feedback (and the possible irony of them copying Nintendo after bashing motion detection as a gimmick).
Overall the feeling I got in my gut, as well as from what I read of other people, was that Sony had dissapointed. The price was a kick where it hurts, and the higher price of the full version a shotgun to the face. A lot of people have made the argument that it's a bargain because of the built in blu-ray player. That worked for Sony with the PS2 because we knew that DVDs were the next medium. There were no ifs or buts about it, DVDs were what was next. Now, we have no clue. There's too much uncertainty as to what the next medium will be, or even if as to whether we need it.
Meanwhile, Microsoft showed off their second generation of games for the Xbox 360, not all of which were sports games or first person shooters. Microsoft caught wind somewhere that the hardcore gaming crowd only has so much money to spend, and that the market as a whole will shrink (or in the case of Japan, is shrinking minus what Nintendo has accomplished) if nothing is done to reach out to more people than teens age 14-19, and college students age 20-24. Their efforts are somewhat bungled, and not entirely effective, but will ultimately give them a huge advantage. They will have a good number of games for people who aren't interested in Football 2010 or Gunfirekilldead 2007. Additionally, with their online service connecting PCs and consoles, they've leveraged their OS (again) to propel them through a new market.
Nintendo showed that they've got games, and lots of them. They showed that their new console works, and works well. They showed that they understand what needs to be done in the console industry, and that they know how to do it. Nintendo isn't just reaching out to the greater public, they're building huge bridges while maintaining the beauty of the place they're building bridges from. Nintendo killed any question as to whether they have third party support, and in an industry where franchises are becoming stale and losing the weight they carried, Nintendo still has all their old classics such as Mario, Link and Samus standing strong and fresh as the day they were conceived.
Because of all that, I can't see this generation going Sony's way. Early adopters and some casual gamers who already have a playstation of one form or another will buy the PS3, but aside from holiday frenzy it will hardly sell. Like the PSP, it may start strong at Christmas, but sales will just end there. Meanwhile, disillusioned hardcore gamers will jump ship to the Xbox 360 and to the great series residing there. With a potential price drop to boot, the Xbox 360 will sell at least as much as the PS3 if not more during the holidays and will continue to sell thereafter. In Japan, sales of the Xbox 360 will pick up some but not significantly, while the PS3 will fare better there but not enough to make up for the poor showing in the US. Meanwhile, Nintendo will fare better than either of their "competitors". Through simple elegance, and low price, the Wii will sell like crazy in the US, and will hardly be found in stores in Japan. While there will be contention for the US market, Japan will be soundly won by Nintendo.
Microsoft may turn a small profit halfway through the generation, Nintendo will make money as always, and Sony will lose large gobs of money and accomplish little.
I never thought I'd want to predict Microsoft doing well, but honestly they have an understanding that games need to move away from the current "nerdy guy shoot things crush" mindset. It's nowhere as complete or perfect as Nintendo's, but I'll pick the huge monolithic megacorporation that has some sense of what needs to be done over the one that has been riding on the success of their first console ever since it was successful.
Zombies: Spirit
Being a member of the Messiah College Zombie Defense Squad, which will probably need a new name and strategy seeing as how most of our membership is graduating shortly, I feel it is necessary to discuss important information concerning zombies every now and then.
Today we're discussing what largely only applies in a complete collapse of civilization in the face of rampaging hordes of the undead.
As I was walking around campus recently, which I especially enjoy doing when everyone's gone, I came to a startling realization. Namely, places have "spirit". This is an attribute embued by the presence of people, whether you see them or not. There is a "sense" of life, even if you can't actually see or hear anyone around. When everyone's gone, that too is gone.
In order to maintain one's own spirit, one must cultivate a small area to house it. A small room with some trappings of normal life, a larger one if you have a few friends. Without this one can become somewhat depressed, or otherwise in low spirits.
In the case of a zombie infestation, a "sense" of death is apparent. The constant presence of the undead dims the atmosphere, and makes the maintanence of spirit supremely important. Just as the lives of everyone around us boost us without our knowing or caring, the presence of the undead are a severe weight upon the soul that will quickly drive the unattendant to madness.
Too many of us foolishly believe that we would be immune to the trauma that a world of the undead brings, or even just a small outbreak. But the subliminal effects break through defenses. The only recourse is to have a method of rejuvenation that heals faster than the situation harms.
So the next time a zombie outbreak occurs, remember well the importance of one's spirits.
Today we're discussing what largely only applies in a complete collapse of civilization in the face of rampaging hordes of the undead.
As I was walking around campus recently, which I especially enjoy doing when everyone's gone, I came to a startling realization. Namely, places have "spirit". This is an attribute embued by the presence of people, whether you see them or not. There is a "sense" of life, even if you can't actually see or hear anyone around. When everyone's gone, that too is gone.
In order to maintain one's own spirit, one must cultivate a small area to house it. A small room with some trappings of normal life, a larger one if you have a few friends. Without this one can become somewhat depressed, or otherwise in low spirits.
In the case of a zombie infestation, a "sense" of death is apparent. The constant presence of the undead dims the atmosphere, and makes the maintanence of spirit supremely important. Just as the lives of everyone around us boost us without our knowing or caring, the presence of the undead are a severe weight upon the soul that will quickly drive the unattendant to madness.
Too many of us foolishly believe that we would be immune to the trauma that a world of the undead brings, or even just a small outbreak. But the subliminal effects break through defenses. The only recourse is to have a method of rejuvenation that heals faster than the situation harms.
So the next time a zombie outbreak occurs, remember well the importance of one's spirits.
20060510
E3: Microsoft Press Conference
If there's one thing Sony lacked, it was style. Nintendo had style and clear goals, Microsoft has style and clear goals. While Nintendo was obviously out to prove they have games for everyone, and a concept that works well, Microsoft is out to prove they have the games and the add-ons.
However, if Peter Moore is the "Zen Master of Gaming", I'm the "Hermitic Tibetan Monk of Supernatural Gaming Principle".
I have to hand it to Microsoft, they aren't giving up on the Japanese market. It's important that they are, because they can never oust Sony or Nintendo from contention if they can't sell well in Japan. However, I remain skeptical of their ability to make much of a beachhead there with the Xbox 360.
I get the feeling that Microsoft is honestly aware of what needs to happen in the industry. They may not know exactly how to do it, or aren't willing to go as far as Nintendo, but the feeling is there that they know that the gamer base must be broadened.
However, I also very much dislike the micropayment trend. While I appreciate additional content, the precedent that games like Oblivion are setting disturbs me. I don't like the idea of spending $5 for what amounts to one character model. I'll spend $5 for 4-6 new maps in a FPS, because that's an entire map worth of new content. Halo 2 had that right, but while I like what Halo 2 did, I must sigh sadly as it is has paved the way for the exploitation of it's own brilliance.
As nice a marketing stunt as tattooing your arms is, I think Peter Moore should have consulted with his wife first, assuming he's married.
I'm skeptical of Windows Vista being the best video game operating system ever, simply because it'll tax my CPU and GPU harder than XP does. Unless Microsoft has finally done something to alleviate the huge morass like problems their OS has, I don't think the "magic" of DirectX 10 will help much. Being a computer science person, I'd like to know the details on how Windows Vista is "built" for video games. Who knows Microsoft, you might impress me enough that I'll buy it because I want it, as opposed to because I have to get it in order to keep getting the software I need.
I need to get better aquainted with the original Shadowrun, so I can understand what exactly was going on with the new one.
I think Alan Wake is a terrible name for a game.
One critique I currently have for Microsoft's conference is that Peter Moore talks too much. While the other conferences featured a central "host" figure, Peter Moore had far too much face time, and really has a voice that grows more annoying the more he talks.
OMG! t3h 3v1l! Oh wait, the nineties ended 6 years ago. Sorry Bill.
Bill, while the integration is nice, the presentation there was pretty boring. Save, of course, for the brief screens of Shadowrun.
Ending the conference with the Halo 3 trailer was oh so classy.
However, if Peter Moore is the "Zen Master of Gaming", I'm the "Hermitic Tibetan Monk of Supernatural Gaming Principle".
I have to hand it to Microsoft, they aren't giving up on the Japanese market. It's important that they are, because they can never oust Sony or Nintendo from contention if they can't sell well in Japan. However, I remain skeptical of their ability to make much of a beachhead there with the Xbox 360.
I get the feeling that Microsoft is honestly aware of what needs to happen in the industry. They may not know exactly how to do it, or aren't willing to go as far as Nintendo, but the feeling is there that they know that the gamer base must be broadened.
However, I also very much dislike the micropayment trend. While I appreciate additional content, the precedent that games like Oblivion are setting disturbs me. I don't like the idea of spending $5 for what amounts to one character model. I'll spend $5 for 4-6 new maps in a FPS, because that's an entire map worth of new content. Halo 2 had that right, but while I like what Halo 2 did, I must sigh sadly as it is has paved the way for the exploitation of it's own brilliance.
As nice a marketing stunt as tattooing your arms is, I think Peter Moore should have consulted with his wife first, assuming he's married.
I'm skeptical of Windows Vista being the best video game operating system ever, simply because it'll tax my CPU and GPU harder than XP does. Unless Microsoft has finally done something to alleviate the huge morass like problems their OS has, I don't think the "magic" of DirectX 10 will help much. Being a computer science person, I'd like to know the details on how Windows Vista is "built" for video games. Who knows Microsoft, you might impress me enough that I'll buy it because I want it, as opposed to because I have to get it in order to keep getting the software I need.
I need to get better aquainted with the original Shadowrun, so I can understand what exactly was going on with the new one.
I think Alan Wake is a terrible name for a game.
One critique I currently have for Microsoft's conference is that Peter Moore talks too much. While the other conferences featured a central "host" figure, Peter Moore had far too much face time, and really has a voice that grows more annoying the more he talks.
OMG! t3h 3v1l! Oh wait, the nineties ended 6 years ago. Sorry Bill.
Bill, while the integration is nice, the presentation there was pretty boring. Save, of course, for the brief screens of Shadowrun.
Ending the conference with the Halo 3 trailer was oh so classy.
20060509
E3: Nintendo Press Conference
As opposed to Sony's, this was viewed live. As such, it will be written while it goes on. Should be interesting, ne?
Reggie asked some very good questions right off the bat.
1) Do you know anyone who has never read a book, watched TV, or seen a movie?
2) How can be considered a mass media form if we know people who haven't played video games?
Even deeper is the notion that video games can't be considered art until the first question becomes "Do you know anyone who has never read a book, watched TV, seen a movie, or played a video game?"
"We'll explain later." - The quote which currently defines the conference. Name, price, release date, everything will be explained later apparently.
Mascotville! Featuring Mario, Link, Samus and even Sonic. No one cares about you Rayman. Oooooo, Final Fantasy. Ooo, Link will be there on launch day! Noice.
So far, Nintendo's done a good job of getting me excited. A good thing for the beginning of a conference.
There's a speaker in the freaking controller. Way to make Sony feel stupid for trying to copy them. Not to mention that Sony apparently sacrificed the rumble feature for their mimicry. Dang, the nunchuck addon also has motion sensing. A techie's dream methinks.
Okay Nintendo, stop showing us 90% of what you're already shown us in gameplay videos. It's annoying, and it's going to ruin an otherwise really fun conference. Seriously, don't make them so short either. Unless you blow us away with later long videos or demonstrations, this is going to sour things significantly.
If Super Smash Bros. isn't among the 27 games on the show floor tomorrow, I'll be a sad, sad man.
Now it's blahdiddyblah time concerning the DS. I want more Wii!
I wish I could have typed that guy's speech goof fast enough, but I didn't. It was hilarious.
Thank you Nintendo for saying how much you SELL as opposed to how much you SHIP. Sony bugs me every time they do that. It's like they have to hide something, really bothers me.
Take him off the stage! He's a hack! He can't make a speech to save his life! It's not SuDOko, but SUDOKU. No stresses!
Not sure what to think of a 3D Final Fantasy 3. Crap, now I HAVE to beat Windwaker before I can play the DS Zelda. And good grief Nintendo, think of the children! Your games look so deliciously good, they will have no allowence left to spend on snacks or bully protection! My DS "greed list" is already too huge!
Satoru Iwata FTW.
NOOOO! Lost connection = bad! I wanted to see which of the three obviously meganerds won the chance to be the first gamer to use the new controller! Travesty! The irony of how Reggie had just mentioned all the people watching online is not lost on me.
Me = Refreshmonkeying
Well, it appears that I must wait until later to finish this. In about 45 minutes the conference will end and the on demand stream will go up. Hopefully then I can complete my thoughts and impressions.
EDIT: Here we go!
Of course, it just had to be that I only missed ten minutes of the conference.
Scott Dyer or whoever he is has just proven to the world how much of a nerd he is. All of us sub-nerds are now envious.
Satoru Iwata obviously can't play tennis.
Dang, that was anti-climatic.
Oh well.
Reggie asked some very good questions right off the bat.
1) Do you know anyone who has never read a book, watched TV, or seen a movie?
2) How can be considered a mass media form if we know people who haven't played video games?
Even deeper is the notion that video games can't be considered art until the first question becomes "Do you know anyone who has never read a book, watched TV, seen a movie, or played a video game?"
"We'll explain later." - The quote which currently defines the conference. Name, price, release date, everything will be explained later apparently.
Mascotville! Featuring Mario, Link, Samus and even Sonic. No one cares about you Rayman. Oooooo, Final Fantasy. Ooo, Link will be there on launch day! Noice.
So far, Nintendo's done a good job of getting me excited. A good thing for the beginning of a conference.
There's a speaker in the freaking controller. Way to make Sony feel stupid for trying to copy them. Not to mention that Sony apparently sacrificed the rumble feature for their mimicry. Dang, the nunchuck addon also has motion sensing. A techie's dream methinks.
Okay Nintendo, stop showing us 90% of what you're already shown us in gameplay videos. It's annoying, and it's going to ruin an otherwise really fun conference. Seriously, don't make them so short either. Unless you blow us away with later long videos or demonstrations, this is going to sour things significantly.
If Super Smash Bros. isn't among the 27 games on the show floor tomorrow, I'll be a sad, sad man.
Now it's blahdiddyblah time concerning the DS. I want more Wii!
I wish I could have typed that guy's speech goof fast enough, but I didn't. It was hilarious.
Thank you Nintendo for saying how much you SELL as opposed to how much you SHIP. Sony bugs me every time they do that. It's like they have to hide something, really bothers me.
Take him off the stage! He's a hack! He can't make a speech to save his life! It's not SuDOko, but SUDOKU. No stresses!
Not sure what to think of a 3D Final Fantasy 3. Crap, now I HAVE to beat Windwaker before I can play the DS Zelda. And good grief Nintendo, think of the children! Your games look so deliciously good, they will have no allowence left to spend on snacks or bully protection! My DS "greed list" is already too huge!
Satoru Iwata FTW.
NOOOO! Lost connection = bad! I wanted to see which of the three obviously meganerds won the chance to be the first gamer to use the new controller! Travesty! The irony of how Reggie had just mentioned all the people watching online is not lost on me.
Me = Refreshmonkeying
Well, it appears that I must wait until later to finish this. In about 45 minutes the conference will end and the on demand stream will go up. Hopefully then I can complete my thoughts and impressions.
EDIT: Here we go!
Of course, it just had to be that I only missed ten minutes of the conference.
Scott Dyer or whoever he is has just proven to the world how much of a nerd he is. All of us sub-nerds are now envious.
Satoru Iwata obviously can't play tennis.
Dang, that was anti-climatic.
Oh well.
E3: Sony Press Conference
Don't be confused, this and coming E3 segments will not necessarily be separate rants about the methods and madnesses of Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo. While I may eventually use what foresight I have to predict the outcome of the next console war, these entries are more likely to just encapsulate whatever struck me the hardest about what I've seen.
In this case, why do 90% of video games (excluding sports) involve guns, swords, cars, or a combination thereof?
I am reminded of the friend of my host family from Japan, who emplored me that I might make video games that were so violent. In fact, I think I can finally see what he sees. He is a parent, and thus is concerned for his children. I am soon to be a part of the real world, which puts me one step closer to having children. Thus, I have become far more aware of parental concerns, although nowhere near the level a real parent would have.
In any case, while I enjoy games that involve violence in one form or another, I also enjoy games that don't. Katamari Damancy, Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan!, and others come to mind. Thus it pains me that they are so maligned in the industry. I don't want the abolishment of violent games, but it would be nice if there was something other than them to play.
The world doesn't need another First Person Shooter. While I may not have much choice if I find a job with a video game company, I know now that if I ever get creative control I will forge ahead on the hard path of innovation and non-violence. Not because I am a pacifist, but because I want there to be video games my children can play (while they WILL play outside, I don't want to lock them out of the house).
I can only hope I see better promise from Microsoft and Nintendo.
There were some technowhatsits that piqued my interest. The connection between the PSP and PS3 interested me, as did the use of the eyetoy to analyze cards and create monsters from them. Unfortunately, those techie things weren't given much attention or detail. The person feature and mannerism capturing doohickey was interesting, but boring.
However, I will comment that Sony are copycatting hacks. Regardless of how well the PS3 controller does the job, which from looking at the conference it was hard to tell as half of it wasn't even shown from the feed I had, Nintendo came first. As far as I can tell it's limited to tilting mechanics, with a little bit of throwing it around. It looked like there was some lag between the controller and the demo, but again it's hard to tell. Hell, it's entirely possible the demo was staged, but that's jumping to conclusions. In any case, the whole thing reeks of "me too" mentality, with Sony copying Nintendo so that if and when the Nintendo console is highly successful they can ride on Nintendo's coattails. An all around grr to Sony.
Lastly, watching HD stuff in a low-res video stream isn't impressive.
In this case, why do 90% of video games (excluding sports) involve guns, swords, cars, or a combination thereof?
I am reminded of the friend of my host family from Japan, who emplored me that I might make video games that were so violent. In fact, I think I can finally see what he sees. He is a parent, and thus is concerned for his children. I am soon to be a part of the real world, which puts me one step closer to having children. Thus, I have become far more aware of parental concerns, although nowhere near the level a real parent would have.
In any case, while I enjoy games that involve violence in one form or another, I also enjoy games that don't. Katamari Damancy, Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan!, and others come to mind. Thus it pains me that they are so maligned in the industry. I don't want the abolishment of violent games, but it would be nice if there was something other than them to play.
The world doesn't need another First Person Shooter. While I may not have much choice if I find a job with a video game company, I know now that if I ever get creative control I will forge ahead on the hard path of innovation and non-violence. Not because I am a pacifist, but because I want there to be video games my children can play (while they WILL play outside, I don't want to lock them out of the house).
I can only hope I see better promise from Microsoft and Nintendo.
There were some technowhatsits that piqued my interest. The connection between the PSP and PS3 interested me, as did the use of the eyetoy to analyze cards and create monsters from them. Unfortunately, those techie things weren't given much attention or detail. The person feature and mannerism capturing doohickey was interesting, but boring.
However, I will comment that Sony are copycatting hacks. Regardless of how well the PS3 controller does the job, which from looking at the conference it was hard to tell as half of it wasn't even shown from the feed I had, Nintendo came first. As far as I can tell it's limited to tilting mechanics, with a little bit of throwing it around. It looked like there was some lag between the controller and the demo, but again it's hard to tell. Hell, it's entirely possible the demo was staged, but that's jumping to conclusions. In any case, the whole thing reeks of "me too" mentality, with Sony copying Nintendo so that if and when the Nintendo console is highly successful they can ride on Nintendo's coattails. An all around grr to Sony.
Lastly, watching HD stuff in a low-res video stream isn't impressive.
20060504
At the End of the Tour...
...when the roads disappear.
I just finished my last final, probably ever. While the future remains uncertain, the certainty of this being the last final I ever take (at least at Messiah) is very weird. Very very weird.
There are all sorts of great feelings I should be having, some of which I am, some of which I'm not. I've certainly done a good job on the two finals I took today, and I've certainly done a good job on my Senior Project. There's now very little for me to do the next week but sit around, make fun of my roommates, play video games, and I suppose do important stuff like graduate next Saturday, pack up, and look for jobs.
I received my replacement CD-ROM drive external enclosure, so those single player PC games I had been without are now back into circulation, just in time for the Messiah network to go wonkers so I can't play World of Warcraft. Odd timing that one.
Speaking of World of Warcraft, my sociology paper on the subject got a 50/50. In fact, my professor had a nice discussion with me concerning the paper before the final. He really, really enjoyed it and even found it useful. Apparently his sister and daughter are dealing with boyfriends who are hopelessly addicted to the game. His description of their "junkie" like tendencies reminds me how thankful I am to have developed the will to control my urges to do nothing but play video games.
In any case, as tempting as it is to sit around and play video games, I think my time would be better spent socializing with my friends and preventing them from studying for their finals in the limited time I have remaining here.
I think I'll do that right away.
Bai.
I just finished my last final, probably ever. While the future remains uncertain, the certainty of this being the last final I ever take (at least at Messiah) is very weird. Very very weird.
There are all sorts of great feelings I should be having, some of which I am, some of which I'm not. I've certainly done a good job on the two finals I took today, and I've certainly done a good job on my Senior Project. There's now very little for me to do the next week but sit around, make fun of my roommates, play video games, and I suppose do important stuff like graduate next Saturday, pack up, and look for jobs.
I received my replacement CD-ROM drive external enclosure, so those single player PC games I had been without are now back into circulation, just in time for the Messiah network to go wonkers so I can't play World of Warcraft. Odd timing that one.
Speaking of World of Warcraft, my sociology paper on the subject got a 50/50. In fact, my professor had a nice discussion with me concerning the paper before the final. He really, really enjoyed it and even found it useful. Apparently his sister and daughter are dealing with boyfriends who are hopelessly addicted to the game. His description of their "junkie" like tendencies reminds me how thankful I am to have developed the will to control my urges to do nothing but play video games.
In any case, as tempting as it is to sit around and play video games, I think my time would be better spent socializing with my friends and preventing them from studying for their finals in the limited time I have remaining here.
I think I'll do that right away.
Bai.
20060424
It's coming...
Friday's the big day. I, and my partner, will be presenting our educational magnum opus to whoever happens to want to come. I suspect people who like video games will be the primary audience, bored of project about complicated things they won't understand. Professors will be there, and peers as well. Unfortunately I suspect that as I go into the intricacies of how Python manages variable values and socketing UDP connections; most of the audience will wonder where the video game is at.
In any case, Codename: Vect0r is coming along very well. A lot of the presentation aspect of the game has been cemented to the point where I need not work on it anymore (although I do need to acquisition some sound effects). All that remains to successfully conclude the project to a level I will be satisfied with is to finish the networking aspect, really only an issue of some minor coding, and integrating the menu system. Even if the menu system, my partner's half, is incomplete and screwy, it won't be the end of the world because I already have a plan for such circumstances (although I'll be really annoyed with my partner).
I look forward to demonstrating Vect0r to people post graduation!
In any case, Codename: Vect0r is coming along very well. A lot of the presentation aspect of the game has been cemented to the point where I need not work on it anymore (although I do need to acquisition some sound effects). All that remains to successfully conclude the project to a level I will be satisfied with is to finish the networking aspect, really only an issue of some minor coding, and integrating the menu system. Even if the menu system, my partner's half, is incomplete and screwy, it won't be the end of the world because I already have a plan for such circumstances (although I'll be really annoyed with my partner).
I look forward to demonstrating Vect0r to people post graduation!
20060412
WHY WHY WHY
I am not a happy camper.
That is not to say that there aren't things I couldn't be happy about. Nay, there are plenty of things to look forward to in the coming days. However, one of the things I have been trying to accomplish for over a week has been eluding me, and continues to do so even now.
Namely, proper sleep.
I don't know why my attempts at sleep have been fitful, broken affairs ending in my tired, bleary eyes staring at the sunlight beaming through the windows. I don't know why I have had the tendency to wake up two or more times in the middle of the night for no reason at all. I don't know why I haven't been able to sleep right.
Last night, this morning, everything was at last going good after a week of this. I fell asleep with ease, and did not stir for anything as the hours passed.
And then the freaking fire alarm went off at 8 in the morning.
This did not make me happy. Nor was I happy to learn that this was a planned fire drill for my complex.
And, of course, I can't get back to sleep. This is the problem with being a dutiful person who wakes up to his alarm easily and can get up and go to class at a moment's notice. This is the problem with being forced out of bed and forced to walk around and get the blood running. This is just a problem.
I have words, oh do I have words.
That is not to say that there aren't things I couldn't be happy about. Nay, there are plenty of things to look forward to in the coming days. However, one of the things I have been trying to accomplish for over a week has been eluding me, and continues to do so even now.
Namely, proper sleep.
I don't know why my attempts at sleep have been fitful, broken affairs ending in my tired, bleary eyes staring at the sunlight beaming through the windows. I don't know why I have had the tendency to wake up two or more times in the middle of the night for no reason at all. I don't know why I haven't been able to sleep right.
Last night, this morning, everything was at last going good after a week of this. I fell asleep with ease, and did not stir for anything as the hours passed.
And then the freaking fire alarm went off at 8 in the morning.
This did not make me happy. Nor was I happy to learn that this was a planned fire drill for my complex.
And, of course, I can't get back to sleep. This is the problem with being a dutiful person who wakes up to his alarm easily and can get up and go to class at a moment's notice. This is the problem with being forced out of bed and forced to walk around and get the blood running. This is just a problem.
I have words, oh do I have words.
20060411
Rant: Naruto Wars
Today was a long day. I have had naught but broken sleep this past week and I do not understand why I have been waking up constantly and at odd hours during my attempts at slumber. I had to get up early this morning, had two classes in the afternoon, a test, and a lecture with mandantory attendence on Kurt Gödel that I wished I could have understood but my brain was, at that point, resembling a pancake.
Mmm... pancakes.
Anwyay, recently in a video game I like to play the creator has proposed some changes. I and other like me have shown concern and constructive criticism over the changes. However, much to my delight, someone gave me rant fodder in the form of a post telling us all to "stop complaining". This is my response to that post, put here because I've been too busy to update in a long time.
Don't bother reading it unless you want to be baffled.
Disclaimer: Take the following into account.
I A) Understand the basic fundamental reasoning behind the changes.
I B) Want Naruto Wars to be as balanced as it can be, and really don't expect it to be much more balanced than 5.50d was.
I C) Am complaining not because I will not enjoy the new version, but because I feel the drop in balance from 5.50d to the current versions has hurt NW's reputation. I feel that if this continues, the time it will take me to find a game will be longer than the longest queue for World of Warcraft.
That said. I will now respond to each and every point I see in this entire thread deserving of my rantification.
QUOTE (VideoGameGuru)
Stop complaining
Firstly, a good number of us aren't "complaining" but are, instead, employing what is called constructive criticism. We aren't saying things like, "OMGWTFBBQ j00 5ux0rz11!1" but are instead making arguments as to why different courses of action should be considered.
QUOTE (VideoGameGuru)
think of the changes this way
As previously noted, I too have a good understanding of what the end goal of all these changes is. I've thought of the changes that way and I've come to the conclusion that, as it is, it will only result in an extremely unbalanced v6.5 which will only cause problems for NW and solve very little.
QUOTE (VideoGameGuru)
Issue #1 - Lowered health.
Most people are saying that because the lowered health, all spellcasters are gonna be rigged...
If you remember the drastic change from 500d to 6.0c, spellcasters are now (or i should say were) called 'utterly useless for late game' I highly doubt 250-300 less hp transforms a nuker from 'useless' to 'omfg rigged' Think about it
In a post I previously made, I'll note that it isn't just a matter of nukers. This is a matter of nukers, harassers and bashers. I can't tell you how many close calls I've both had and seen had in my time playing this game which were determined by as little as 17 hp, let alone the ones where I or my opponent walked away with less than 250 health.
Additionally, the enlightened players on this board realize that nukers are currently in no way "useless" but are instead "decent". Going from "decent" to "rigged" isn't that big a step.
Lets continue this with the next issue.
QUOTE (VideoGameGuru)
Issue #2 - 40% lowered hp regen.
Not a big issue as far as im concerned.. since when did the miniscule ammount of hp u regen per minute make a difference while fighting another player? Most battles are over within 15-20 secs.. and in that time players would already dish out so much hp, regen makes almost no difference whatsoever by the time the fights over. At least half of most peoples regen comes from soulstones anyway, which will still have the same regen.
It isn't miniscule for strength heroes, and NW does not solely consist of 15-20 second battles. The entire early portion of the game is comprised of the long, drawn out lane wars wherein a good hp regen was a strong advantage. Without that hp regen, one of the only defenses against harassers for most heroes, out regenning their damage, is gone. Along with the hp reduction, you'll be spending a lot of time running back and forth between your base and your tower just because your hp is being continually drained by the relentless assault some of the best harassers, such as Haku and the Akatsuki leader, can lay down.
Note the highlight in the quote. Lets break down what that means. If half of most character's regen comes from soulstones, the other half comes from what just got smashed hard with the nerf stick. Additionally, that's only most characters. A good number of characters don't often get soulstones if ever, and as such are getting hurt even more.
Your argument for both of these issues boils down to "It won't make much difference". If that's the case, will it make that much difference if we don't make those changes?
QUOTE (VideoGameGuru)
Issue #3 - Lowered dmg growth
OMG WE HAVE SO MUCH LESS HP WE WILL TAKE SO MUCH DMG NOW AND DIE
.............
OMG WE DO SO MUCH LESS DMG IT WILL BE HARDER TO KILL PPL NOW
.........
think about those two comments (together) for a sec....
Honestly, the lower damage growth makes sense along with the less hp. The problem is that the current interpretation has been that this relates only to physical damage and not jutsu damage. This interpretation, which I remind you has not yet been rebuttled by Wanderer, is the cause of the whole issue surrounding nukers and harassers. So long as their skill damage remains unchanged, they all just got a huge buff.
Also, I haven't noted much of the second statement, but that may just be me.
QUOTE (VideoGameGuru)
Issue #4 - Revamped armor.
Remember the most annoying thing? when there would be a kimmimaro with 3-4 agi seals so that you couldnt do practically any normal dmg to him? Supposedly not a problem anymore. See-ya armor stackers! From what its supposed to do, armor will no longer be as powerful, but not at all useless.
The revamped armor actually isn't that much of an issue for me. It's the revamp of the armor items that is the issue. Most of these items weren't being used by agility heroes anyway, and if they were they were sacrificing a lot for the sake of taking marginally less damage. All the item revamp has done is reduce everyone but the agility hero's armor as well. The agility heros will get less armor from their seals, everyone else, who couldn't armor stack like that anyway, now also will have less armor. THAT is what doesn't make sense to me.
QUOTE (VideoGameGuru)
Underpowered heros will now be more behind compared to other characters. THIS is a miniscule problem in the long run. All that needs to happen to fix this seemingly large problem is a buff on underpowered heros for 6.5c or w/e the next small update will be.
That's like saying "all that needs to happen in Iraq is for the government to solidify and take control". It's a simple statement, it encompasses what needs to happen, but at the same time fails to deliver the message of just how complicated that's going to get. In the long run we're all going to be dust on this earth, so why complain that a bunch of terrorists flew some planes into our buildings. We and all of humanity one day will be dead, so what does it matter?
This is the problem with statements like "eventually" and "in the long run". They don't help. If people are starving now, it doesn't help to say, "eventually we'll get you food and jobs". That doesn't stop them from dying of hunger. In the same way, assuring us that what imbalances there will be "eventually" will vanish does not asuage our fears that they will be.
Onward and forward through the thread entire!
QUOTE (ThePhoenixFire)
And the next step after this one is to nerf all the spell damage to bring it in line with the nerfed health.
That would help solve the nuker/harasser problem. As I mentioned in a previous post, a LOT of testing will have to be done to make sure that this next version is balanced. Getting all the spell damages in line would be one of the major areas to make certain of balance.
QUOTE (Narutol)emon)
if u havent noticed most spells like itachi's fire and gai's peacock have already been nerfed, and your expecting it to be nerfed more?
Except that the previous Gai change was supposed to balance it for how the health currently is. Now that health is going away again, it'll go back to being imbalanced. Gai netting ftw.
QUOTE (Drake 22)
theres no need to nerf spell damage more then its already been nerfed
See the previous post.
QUOTE (Uchiha.Itachi.)
i dunno i plan to play this game maybe 1 or 2 times.. if it really is a problem... well im gonna quit naruto wars and start RPing and mass DOTA with some friends
Despite the complaints, I highly suggest you stick around. NW is fun and worth playing. I remember in the age old days of Hero Wars and the first Aeon of Strife maps when WarCraft III first came out. As imbalanced as things can get, I don't think it'll ever be as bad as those days. If everyone who thinks there is a problem jumps ship, there'll be noone to tell Wanderer what should be changed.
There are enough DOTA players as is, they don't need anyone else. Play NW!
Onward!
QUOTE (Beradin)
Summary: Logical Statements
There's no point in me evaluating everything here. As my summary there purports, it's all logical. I will highlight some stuff I missed.
QUOTE (Beradin)
It's not about killing people... Those units who rely on damage for killing units, imagine how hard it will be now to simply get creep kills.... let alone towers. Agi heroes have not been nerfed, rather given a boost while damage has been reduced and corruption orb nerfed? yeah...
A very good point. With less armor and damage heros who already had a hard time creeping are definately going to be at a loss for what to do.
Onward!
QUOTE (Wanderer)
Well I hav stated this b4 and I WILL state it again. I dun care if u quit playing NW or not. Simply leave if u dun like it, extremely simple. No nid to post it on the forum, its really veri pointless. Period.
I just ask, Wanderer, that you realize that finding games in the public list is already hard enough. While we can all learn a lesson from Blizzard in ignoring threats of "I h473 j00 I qu17" in the World of Warcraft forums, we should be aware that we want to avoid unnecessarily turning off players from NW.
And yes, posting that you're leaving is pointless.
Onward!
QUOTE (king-elrond)
naruto wars isnt supposed to be like dota. and if u havent noticed dota is even more rigged on spellcasters. lion is f**king unstopable, and then u got lich and CM who can take on a whole team and some other dudes. and those who r spellcasters in NW have low health if u havent noticed. so just make sure they waste their spells and then u can just net and pawn. in my opinion this is a much more balanced versian than any other ones
We should definately remember what Naruto Wars is and isn't. It isn't DOTA, and as such comparisons between them are rather pointless, especially when some of us never played DOTA.
In any case, I don't think Wanderer likes large discussions of DOTA (this is a NW forum after all) so let's avoid mentioning it too much.
Onward!
QUOTE (Beradin)
Summary: DOTA Jargon
I don't know what it all means, so I'll just say the less we talk about DOTA the better.
QUOTE (OmegaGenesis)
Wanderer, I give you the OG Thumbs Up Award for putting these people in their place for thinking its going to hurt us that they stop playing NW because of new changes.
I'll restate a previous point. I'm not going anywhere. I will be here to haunt your every step. As such, be careful you don't trod on those of us who show concern, we'll remember.
That said, it is A) still hard enough to find public games and B) many of us are not complaining, but are instead just trying to make NW the best it can be. Don't hate us for wanting what we think is best (namely, balance).
And I'm just going to skip anything else relating to DOTA, for the most part.
Onward!
And Skip!
Onward!
QUOTE (VideoGameGuru)
Beradin, i was talking about spellcasters like temari and raikage. As of late game (6.0c) they WERE pretty much useless compared to other characters.
o.O
Temari, Raikage, useless? Maybe in the hands of a person unfamiliar with their proper usage. However, I can hardly say that either of them are nerfed in this new version. If anything, the less HP and regen everyone will have only makes ZAP even more of a problem for the enemy team.
QUOTE (VideoGameGuru)
And yes, the hp regen might be a problem for EARLY game for melee chars, but once you lvl up some, hp regen really isnt gonna pose a problem at all. With the hp count you will obtain mid/late game (even if it is like 250 less) regen is not gonna make a noticable impact in the middle of a battle. If you have a problem with being harrassed early game by ranged players, just hold position behind the creeps untill you lvl that way. no problems
"Might" nothing. I don't think you quite understand what the implications of early game play are.
Tower hugging is hardly the solution. For one, it hardly stops some harassers from using long range spells to force you to leave the field altogether. For two, if you're tower hugging you aren't farming, your tower is. You may, on a rare occaision, get a kill but that's precious little to the free reign you've given your opponent. Failure to farm properly early game easily leads to a weaker hero late game.
This isn't to mention how many times I've escaped death as characters such as the Dumb Twins and Mizuki simply because as I ran away my hp was regening such that the pursuing hero was only keeping my hp even as opposed to making any progress in finishing me off.
Onward.
QUOTE (Beradin)
Summary: More Logical Statements
<3 Beradin.
Anyway, some highlights.
QUOTE
HP Regen isn't really about making difference during the match. It's more focused on what you can do after the battles and counter/nulling some of poison effects. Since corruption's so nerfed and buildings and creeps are buffed, it will be impossible to be able to continue pushing after battle when your life doesn't restore fast enough, meaning longer, much longer game. Considering average private matches take 1 hour to 1 hour and 20 minutes, yeah little bit too much with changes since I'm thinking at least hour and 30 minutes for match to end
That hadn't even crossed my mind. Since I don't believe Wanderer wants to make NW games take longer, barring him coming out and saying it, that would be a major problem.
Onward!
Skip!
Onward!
Skip! Thanks to both of you for reiterating the "Stop talking about DOTA" thing!
Onward!
QUOTE (Mr.X)
While I agree with you on AGL seals to curruption orbs is not right, you are totally wrong on the aspect of nukers in the game. The DO suck late especially Raikage. Going for a melee build is no fun, and counters the reason people choose mages. Also Raikage only has 2 spamable moves and he can't get a hex crystal, so no heavy spaming. Besides melee chars can do as much damage as one of his moves in a single hit late game.
I'm afraid I agree with Beradin. Raikage and other nukers do not suck late game. Some of them will if you keep trying to nuke with them, some of them won't, and some of them will if you just don't know how to properly keep nuking with them late game. I suggest you challenge Beradin in a match vs him as any of the nukers mentioned here and you'll be unpleasently surprised when he wins.
Or, you may prove your point.
QUOTE (Mr.X)
Now unfortunatly with all the changes going on it will be hard to say what the end result is. Honestly I think this path Wanderer has choosen is not quite as balanced as he is hoping, but I will have to wait and see. If things don't work out we can let him know how we feel.
I personally prefer disaster prevention rather disaster cleanup. While calling this a "disaster" is hardly fair, the principle holds. It's much easier to do things right the first time than mess them up and later fix it.
Onward!
QUOTE (Beradin)
Summary: Restatement of Logic
Like I said, actually play him, post the replay, and show that Nukers are already decent late game. That way, the point can come across.
Onward!
Skip!
Onward!
QUOTE (AcExDistortion)
I'm probably going to stick with 5.50, these changes don't sound too good
To my knowledge, a lot of players currently prefer 5.50d. I believe KTS uses it for all official matches.
Onward!
Skip!
Onward!
QUOTE (AcExDistortion)
But I still say 6.0c is balanced enough in terms of health, damage, and character types. Melee characters are big on owning end game with mediocrity early on, just as much as nukers own early game but play big support characters end game (with the proper build, their combination of nukes and physical attacks [[i.e Neji]] own end game too). I fail to see the reason behind the whole health and damage drop, seeing as it was balanced enough
While some people might have words with you when calling 6.0c balanced enough, your thoughts are similar to many. Many feel that earlier versions were already about to reach a very nice balance, wherein new characters would fit in nicely and old throwaways were ready to step into the limelight and recieve the respect they deserve. Whatever the intentions of the new version, it seems more a catalyst for unbalance than one for a new age of balance.
Onward!
QUOTE (Beradin)
I really couldn't agree more. Only reason for unbalance in game, well at least in 5.50d were because of few unbalanced characters/skills. Otherwise game was perfectly fine with heroes being used for different purposes. I mean even with all those items, good matches lasted good hour and half everytime
Reiteration of previous thoughts!
Onward!
Skip!
Onward!
QUOTE (VideoGameGuru)
These changes are really not near as bad/drastic as everyone is making them out to be!
We all know our old strategies wont work anymore, so think of something new. If the game never underwent changes everyone would stop playing because it would get boring anyway. Whenever a problem has come up in the past, wanderer has fixed it. So lets say these changes DO tend to make the game worse (although i really dont think they will) Wanderer will come up with a way to fix it and set the game right again.
This isn't a matter of new or old strategies. This isn't a matter of changes. This is a matter of changes we feel do nothing to make the game better and if anything will promote problems that were on the verge of or just previously fixed. If you so desired, I could list for you my favorite strategy with my favorite character, and tell you exactly how nothing has changed about the strategy except how it is now even more power because of the changes.
And again, I prefer prevention to post-apocalypse reaction. We who are showing concern want to prevent any problems from ever happening. Why should we wait until after it happens to solve it? If you were in a plane that was going to crash, would you wait until after it crashed to figure out why it wasn't flying right?
We have no doubt that Wanderer can fix problems as they come. We just want to save him work, and everyone else headache, by preventing problems before they happen.
Onward!
Skip!
Onward!
QUOTE (VideoGameGuru)
well since main bases are now completely immune to jutsu u cant waterfall it and go invis.... but that was just cheap as hell anyway.
From my experience, the damage from that on towers and the main base was extremely minimal. Unlike the Akatsuki leader, maintaining the skill for its duration would not eventually destroy them. Generally, the Main Base did more damage to Zabuza than Zabuza would be able to do to the base.
I may have been mistaken, in which case that change fixes a major issue I didn't know about. Otherwise, it just prevents Kagerou from healing all towers and the base all the time.
Onward!
QUOTE (AcExDistortion)
Waterfall didn't hit buildings anyway
Thanks for that clarification!
Onward!
Skip!
Onward!
Skip!
Onward!
Skip!
Onward!
QUOTE (chaos)
Well for all those people thinking wanderer is making naruto wars fall...it's his map he can do what ever he wants with it...if you don't like the changes then play older versions or don't play at all
It is true he can do whatever he wants with it. And it is true we can play older versions or leave. Again, I stress two points.
1) I don't think Wanderer likes making his map imbalanced.
2) We want NW to be the best it can be.
As such, we offer our suggestions and concerns in this forum.
Onward!
QUOTE (fatman987)
I dont really think hes making NW fall, hes just trying to balance it.
He may be, and we want him to succeed in that.
Onward!
Skip!
Onward!
Skip!
Done!
I will respond periodically.
Mmm... pancakes.
Anwyay, recently in a video game I like to play the creator has proposed some changes. I and other like me have shown concern and constructive criticism over the changes. However, much to my delight, someone gave me rant fodder in the form of a post telling us all to "stop complaining". This is my response to that post, put here because I've been too busy to update in a long time.
Don't bother reading it unless you want to be baffled.
Disclaimer: Take the following into account.
I A) Understand the basic fundamental reasoning behind the changes.
I B) Want Naruto Wars to be as balanced as it can be, and really don't expect it to be much more balanced than 5.50d was.
I C) Am complaining not because I will not enjoy the new version, but because I feel the drop in balance from 5.50d to the current versions has hurt NW's reputation. I feel that if this continues, the time it will take me to find a game will be longer than the longest queue for World of Warcraft.
That said. I will now respond to each and every point I see in this entire thread deserving of my rantification.
QUOTE (VideoGameGuru)
Stop complaining
Firstly, a good number of us aren't "complaining" but are, instead, employing what is called constructive criticism. We aren't saying things like, "OMGWTFBBQ j00 5ux0rz11!1" but are instead making arguments as to why different courses of action should be considered.
QUOTE (VideoGameGuru)
think of the changes this way
As previously noted, I too have a good understanding of what the end goal of all these changes is. I've thought of the changes that way and I've come to the conclusion that, as it is, it will only result in an extremely unbalanced v6.5 which will only cause problems for NW and solve very little.
QUOTE (VideoGameGuru)
Issue #1 - Lowered health.
Most people are saying that because the lowered health, all spellcasters are gonna be rigged...
If you remember the drastic change from 500d to 6.0c, spellcasters are now (or i should say were) called 'utterly useless for late game' I highly doubt 250-300 less hp transforms a nuker from 'useless' to 'omfg rigged' Think about it
In a post I previously made, I'll note that it isn't just a matter of nukers. This is a matter of nukers, harassers and bashers. I can't tell you how many close calls I've both had and seen had in my time playing this game which were determined by as little as 17 hp, let alone the ones where I or my opponent walked away with less than 250 health.
Additionally, the enlightened players on this board realize that nukers are currently in no way "useless" but are instead "decent". Going from "decent" to "rigged" isn't that big a step.
Lets continue this with the next issue.
QUOTE (VideoGameGuru)
Issue #2 - 40% lowered hp regen.
Not a big issue as far as im concerned.. since when did the miniscule ammount of hp u regen per minute make a difference while fighting another player? Most battles are over within 15-20 secs.. and in that time players would already dish out so much hp, regen makes almost no difference whatsoever by the time the fights over. At least half of most peoples regen comes from soulstones anyway, which will still have the same regen.
It isn't miniscule for strength heroes, and NW does not solely consist of 15-20 second battles. The entire early portion of the game is comprised of the long, drawn out lane wars wherein a good hp regen was a strong advantage. Without that hp regen, one of the only defenses against harassers for most heroes, out regenning their damage, is gone. Along with the hp reduction, you'll be spending a lot of time running back and forth between your base and your tower just because your hp is being continually drained by the relentless assault some of the best harassers, such as Haku and the Akatsuki leader, can lay down.
Note the highlight in the quote. Lets break down what that means. If half of most character's regen comes from soulstones, the other half comes from what just got smashed hard with the nerf stick. Additionally, that's only most characters. A good number of characters don't often get soulstones if ever, and as such are getting hurt even more.
Your argument for both of these issues boils down to "It won't make much difference". If that's the case, will it make that much difference if we don't make those changes?
QUOTE (VideoGameGuru)
Issue #3 - Lowered dmg growth
OMG WE HAVE SO MUCH LESS HP WE WILL TAKE SO MUCH DMG NOW AND DIE
.............
OMG WE DO SO MUCH LESS DMG IT WILL BE HARDER TO KILL PPL NOW
.........
think about those two comments (together) for a sec....
Honestly, the lower damage growth makes sense along with the less hp. The problem is that the current interpretation has been that this relates only to physical damage and not jutsu damage. This interpretation, which I remind you has not yet been rebuttled by Wanderer, is the cause of the whole issue surrounding nukers and harassers. So long as their skill damage remains unchanged, they all just got a huge buff.
Also, I haven't noted much of the second statement, but that may just be me.
QUOTE (VideoGameGuru)
Issue #4 - Revamped armor.
Remember the most annoying thing? when there would be a kimmimaro with 3-4 agi seals so that you couldnt do practically any normal dmg to him? Supposedly not a problem anymore. See-ya armor stackers! From what its supposed to do, armor will no longer be as powerful, but not at all useless.
The revamped armor actually isn't that much of an issue for me. It's the revamp of the armor items that is the issue. Most of these items weren't being used by agility heroes anyway, and if they were they were sacrificing a lot for the sake of taking marginally less damage. All the item revamp has done is reduce everyone but the agility hero's armor as well. The agility heros will get less armor from their seals, everyone else, who couldn't armor stack like that anyway, now also will have less armor. THAT is what doesn't make sense to me.
QUOTE (VideoGameGuru)
Underpowered heros will now be more behind compared to other characters. THIS is a miniscule problem in the long run. All that needs to happen to fix this seemingly large problem is a buff on underpowered heros for 6.5c or w/e the next small update will be.
That's like saying "all that needs to happen in Iraq is for the government to solidify and take control". It's a simple statement, it encompasses what needs to happen, but at the same time fails to deliver the message of just how complicated that's going to get. In the long run we're all going to be dust on this earth, so why complain that a bunch of terrorists flew some planes into our buildings. We and all of humanity one day will be dead, so what does it matter?
This is the problem with statements like "eventually" and "in the long run". They don't help. If people are starving now, it doesn't help to say, "eventually we'll get you food and jobs". That doesn't stop them from dying of hunger. In the same way, assuring us that what imbalances there will be "eventually" will vanish does not asuage our fears that they will be.
Onward and forward through the thread entire!
QUOTE (ThePhoenixFire)
And the next step after this one is to nerf all the spell damage to bring it in line with the nerfed health.
That would help solve the nuker/harasser problem. As I mentioned in a previous post, a LOT of testing will have to be done to make sure that this next version is balanced. Getting all the spell damages in line would be one of the major areas to make certain of balance.
QUOTE (Narutol)emon)
if u havent noticed most spells like itachi's fire and gai's peacock have already been nerfed, and your expecting it to be nerfed more?
Except that the previous Gai change was supposed to balance it for how the health currently is. Now that health is going away again, it'll go back to being imbalanced. Gai netting ftw.
QUOTE (Drake 22)
theres no need to nerf spell damage more then its already been nerfed
See the previous post.
QUOTE (Uchiha.Itachi.)
i dunno i plan to play this game maybe 1 or 2 times.. if it really is a problem... well im gonna quit naruto wars and start RPing and mass DOTA with some friends
Despite the complaints, I highly suggest you stick around. NW is fun and worth playing. I remember in the age old days of Hero Wars and the first Aeon of Strife maps when WarCraft III first came out. As imbalanced as things can get, I don't think it'll ever be as bad as those days. If everyone who thinks there is a problem jumps ship, there'll be noone to tell Wanderer what should be changed.
There are enough DOTA players as is, they don't need anyone else. Play NW!
Onward!
QUOTE (Beradin)
Summary: Logical Statements
There's no point in me evaluating everything here. As my summary there purports, it's all logical. I will highlight some stuff I missed.
QUOTE (Beradin)
It's not about killing people... Those units who rely on damage for killing units, imagine how hard it will be now to simply get creep kills.... let alone towers. Agi heroes have not been nerfed, rather given a boost while damage has been reduced and corruption orb nerfed? yeah...
A very good point. With less armor and damage heros who already had a hard time creeping are definately going to be at a loss for what to do.
Onward!
QUOTE (Wanderer)
Well I hav stated this b4 and I WILL state it again. I dun care if u quit playing NW or not. Simply leave if u dun like it, extremely simple. No nid to post it on the forum, its really veri pointless. Period.
I just ask, Wanderer, that you realize that finding games in the public list is already hard enough. While we can all learn a lesson from Blizzard in ignoring threats of "I h473 j00 I qu17" in the World of Warcraft forums, we should be aware that we want to avoid unnecessarily turning off players from NW.
And yes, posting that you're leaving is pointless.
Onward!
QUOTE (king-elrond)
naruto wars isnt supposed to be like dota. and if u havent noticed dota is even more rigged on spellcasters. lion is f**king unstopable, and then u got lich and CM who can take on a whole team and some other dudes. and those who r spellcasters in NW have low health if u havent noticed. so just make sure they waste their spells and then u can just net and pawn. in my opinion this is a much more balanced versian than any other ones
We should definately remember what Naruto Wars is and isn't. It isn't DOTA, and as such comparisons between them are rather pointless, especially when some of us never played DOTA.
In any case, I don't think Wanderer likes large discussions of DOTA (this is a NW forum after all) so let's avoid mentioning it too much.
Onward!
QUOTE (Beradin)
Summary: DOTA Jargon
I don't know what it all means, so I'll just say the less we talk about DOTA the better.
QUOTE (OmegaGenesis)
Wanderer, I give you the OG Thumbs Up Award for putting these people in their place for thinking its going to hurt us that they stop playing NW because of new changes.
I'll restate a previous point. I'm not going anywhere. I will be here to haunt your every step. As such, be careful you don't trod on those of us who show concern, we'll remember.
That said, it is A) still hard enough to find public games and B) many of us are not complaining, but are instead just trying to make NW the best it can be. Don't hate us for wanting what we think is best (namely, balance).
And I'm just going to skip anything else relating to DOTA, for the most part.
Onward!
And Skip!
Onward!
QUOTE (VideoGameGuru)
Beradin, i was talking about spellcasters like temari and raikage. As of late game (6.0c) they WERE pretty much useless compared to other characters.
o.O
Temari, Raikage, useless? Maybe in the hands of a person unfamiliar with their proper usage. However, I can hardly say that either of them are nerfed in this new version. If anything, the less HP and regen everyone will have only makes ZAP even more of a problem for the enemy team.
QUOTE (VideoGameGuru)
And yes, the hp regen might be a problem for EARLY game for melee chars, but once you lvl up some, hp regen really isnt gonna pose a problem at all. With the hp count you will obtain mid/late game (even if it is like 250 less) regen is not gonna make a noticable impact in the middle of a battle. If you have a problem with being harrassed early game by ranged players, just hold position behind the creeps untill you lvl that way. no problems
"Might" nothing. I don't think you quite understand what the implications of early game play are.
Tower hugging is hardly the solution. For one, it hardly stops some harassers from using long range spells to force you to leave the field altogether. For two, if you're tower hugging you aren't farming, your tower is. You may, on a rare occaision, get a kill but that's precious little to the free reign you've given your opponent. Failure to farm properly early game easily leads to a weaker hero late game.
This isn't to mention how many times I've escaped death as characters such as the Dumb Twins and Mizuki simply because as I ran away my hp was regening such that the pursuing hero was only keeping my hp even as opposed to making any progress in finishing me off.
Onward.
QUOTE (Beradin)
Summary: More Logical Statements
<3 Beradin.
Anyway, some highlights.
QUOTE
HP Regen isn't really about making difference during the match. It's more focused on what you can do after the battles and counter/nulling some of poison effects. Since corruption's so nerfed and buildings and creeps are buffed, it will be impossible to be able to continue pushing after battle when your life doesn't restore fast enough, meaning longer, much longer game. Considering average private matches take 1 hour to 1 hour and 20 minutes, yeah little bit too much with changes since I'm thinking at least hour and 30 minutes for match to end
That hadn't even crossed my mind. Since I don't believe Wanderer wants to make NW games take longer, barring him coming out and saying it, that would be a major problem.
Onward!
Skip!
Onward!
Skip! Thanks to both of you for reiterating the "Stop talking about DOTA" thing!
Onward!
QUOTE (Mr.X)
While I agree with you on AGL seals to curruption orbs is not right, you are totally wrong on the aspect of nukers in the game. The DO suck late especially Raikage. Going for a melee build is no fun, and counters the reason people choose mages. Also Raikage only has 2 spamable moves and he can't get a hex crystal, so no heavy spaming. Besides melee chars can do as much damage as one of his moves in a single hit late game.
I'm afraid I agree with Beradin. Raikage and other nukers do not suck late game. Some of them will if you keep trying to nuke with them, some of them won't, and some of them will if you just don't know how to properly keep nuking with them late game. I suggest you challenge Beradin in a match vs him as any of the nukers mentioned here and you'll be unpleasently surprised when he wins.
Or, you may prove your point.
QUOTE (Mr.X)
Now unfortunatly with all the changes going on it will be hard to say what the end result is. Honestly I think this path Wanderer has choosen is not quite as balanced as he is hoping, but I will have to wait and see. If things don't work out we can let him know how we feel.
I personally prefer disaster prevention rather disaster cleanup. While calling this a "disaster" is hardly fair, the principle holds. It's much easier to do things right the first time than mess them up and later fix it.
Onward!
QUOTE (Beradin)
Summary: Restatement of Logic
Like I said, actually play him, post the replay, and show that Nukers are already decent late game. That way, the point can come across.
Onward!
Skip!
Onward!
QUOTE (AcExDistortion)
I'm probably going to stick with 5.50, these changes don't sound too good
To my knowledge, a lot of players currently prefer 5.50d. I believe KTS uses it for all official matches.
Onward!
Skip!
Onward!
QUOTE (AcExDistortion)
But I still say 6.0c is balanced enough in terms of health, damage, and character types. Melee characters are big on owning end game with mediocrity early on, just as much as nukers own early game but play big support characters end game (with the proper build, their combination of nukes and physical attacks [[i.e Neji]] own end game too). I fail to see the reason behind the whole health and damage drop, seeing as it was balanced enough
While some people might have words with you when calling 6.0c balanced enough, your thoughts are similar to many. Many feel that earlier versions were already about to reach a very nice balance, wherein new characters would fit in nicely and old throwaways were ready to step into the limelight and recieve the respect they deserve. Whatever the intentions of the new version, it seems more a catalyst for unbalance than one for a new age of balance.
Onward!
QUOTE (Beradin)
I really couldn't agree more. Only reason for unbalance in game, well at least in 5.50d were because of few unbalanced characters/skills. Otherwise game was perfectly fine with heroes being used for different purposes. I mean even with all those items, good matches lasted good hour and half everytime
Reiteration of previous thoughts!
Onward!
Skip!
Onward!
QUOTE (VideoGameGuru)
These changes are really not near as bad/drastic as everyone is making them out to be!
We all know our old strategies wont work anymore, so think of something new. If the game never underwent changes everyone would stop playing because it would get boring anyway. Whenever a problem has come up in the past, wanderer has fixed it. So lets say these changes DO tend to make the game worse (although i really dont think they will) Wanderer will come up with a way to fix it and set the game right again.
This isn't a matter of new or old strategies. This isn't a matter of changes. This is a matter of changes we feel do nothing to make the game better and if anything will promote problems that were on the verge of or just previously fixed. If you so desired, I could list for you my favorite strategy with my favorite character, and tell you exactly how nothing has changed about the strategy except how it is now even more power because of the changes.
And again, I prefer prevention to post-apocalypse reaction. We who are showing concern want to prevent any problems from ever happening. Why should we wait until after it happens to solve it? If you were in a plane that was going to crash, would you wait until after it crashed to figure out why it wasn't flying right?
We have no doubt that Wanderer can fix problems as they come. We just want to save him work, and everyone else headache, by preventing problems before they happen.
Onward!
Skip!
Onward!
QUOTE (VideoGameGuru)
well since main bases are now completely immune to jutsu u cant waterfall it and go invis.... but that was just cheap as hell anyway.
From my experience, the damage from that on towers and the main base was extremely minimal. Unlike the Akatsuki leader, maintaining the skill for its duration would not eventually destroy them. Generally, the Main Base did more damage to Zabuza than Zabuza would be able to do to the base.
I may have been mistaken, in which case that change fixes a major issue I didn't know about. Otherwise, it just prevents Kagerou from healing all towers and the base all the time.
Onward!
QUOTE (AcExDistortion)
Waterfall didn't hit buildings anyway
Thanks for that clarification!
Onward!
Skip!
Onward!
Skip!
Onward!
Skip!
Onward!
QUOTE (chaos)
Well for all those people thinking wanderer is making naruto wars fall...it's his map he can do what ever he wants with it...if you don't like the changes then play older versions or don't play at all
It is true he can do whatever he wants with it. And it is true we can play older versions or leave. Again, I stress two points.
1) I don't think Wanderer likes making his map imbalanced.
2) We want NW to be the best it can be.
As such, we offer our suggestions and concerns in this forum.
Onward!
QUOTE (fatman987)
I dont really think hes making NW fall, hes just trying to balance it.
He may be, and we want him to succeed in that.
Onward!
Skip!
Onward!
Skip!
Done!
I will respond periodically.
20060326
Adventures in Fast Forwarding
Legend of Lemnear, save your sanity and don't watch it. Don't believe me? Believe him or him.
Or believe me.
A comprehensive list of things Lemnear fails to be.
-Entertaining
-Intelligent
-Porn (Though it tried)
-Worth watching
The story unfolds with the obligatory burning village, the obligatory dying townspeople, the obligatory "I'm the only person in the whole village who stands a chance against the evil but gets caught or killed anyway" would be hero, the obligatory sorceror etc. Everything in this was so standard it might as well have been titled, "An animated summary of common elements in 80s anime".
To put it simply, I watched this via occaisional glances over my shoulder while a couple of my friends watched it at 4x speed. I didn't miss anything. I quite honestly knew as much as they did concerning plot, character development, and events, probably because there were none that were noteworthy.
Actually, I lie. There was one noteworthy event. The main heroine dies. She's the legendary warrior who has to save everyone, and she dies. This was the most beautiful moment in the entire "epic". The world was righted, and all the people in it beautiful; until she arbitrarily revived, and with her brought back to life her brother/lover/person/thing.
Yeah...
Or believe me.
A comprehensive list of things Lemnear fails to be.
-Entertaining
-Intelligent
-Porn (Though it tried)
-Worth watching
The story unfolds with the obligatory burning village, the obligatory dying townspeople, the obligatory "I'm the only person in the whole village who stands a chance against the evil but gets caught or killed anyway" would be hero, the obligatory sorceror etc. Everything in this was so standard it might as well have been titled, "An animated summary of common elements in 80s anime".
To put it simply, I watched this via occaisional glances over my shoulder while a couple of my friends watched it at 4x speed. I didn't miss anything. I quite honestly knew as much as they did concerning plot, character development, and events, probably because there were none that were noteworthy.
Actually, I lie. There was one noteworthy event. The main heroine dies. She's the legendary warrior who has to save everyone, and she dies. This was the most beautiful moment in the entire "epic". The world was righted, and all the people in it beautiful; until she arbitrarily revived, and with her brought back to life her brother/lover/person/thing.
Yeah...
20060321
Hah!
I knew the instant I made certain assertions (in the post below which you should read first) they would be refuted by empirical evidence, and so they were.
It appears that the problem with my CD-ROM is either a function of the case I have it in or the CD-ROM itself. The Floppy may just be related to its current hookup, which was done after installation using the old motherboard.
The long log in time thing, however, is just something else that I've managed to fix.
What I guess I'll end up doing for a while is not using CDs. However, this sucks royally.
I'll figure out whether I should eat the cost of a new CD-ROM drive or whether the case itself is the problem soon enough, but this has been a stressful enough morning as is.
Gyargh. Way to waste an hour and a half of time I had set aside for RELAXING. Now the only things I have to look forward to today are lunch, two classes, and a paper due on my birthday.
I'd cry, but somewhere kids are starving.
It appears that the problem with my CD-ROM is either a function of the case I have it in or the CD-ROM itself. The Floppy may just be related to its current hookup, which was done after installation using the old motherboard.
The long log in time thing, however, is just something else that I've managed to fix.
What I guess I'll end up doing for a while is not using CDs. However, this sucks royally.
I'll figure out whether I should eat the cost of a new CD-ROM drive or whether the case itself is the problem soon enough, but this has been a stressful enough morning as is.
Gyargh. Way to waste an hour and a half of time I had set aside for RELAXING. Now the only things I have to look forward to today are lunch, two classes, and a paper due on my birthday.
I'd cry, but somewhere kids are starving.
Rantification
Rant rant rant.
Right now, I'm watching another system restore attemp to remedy the following crippling problems with Raijin.
1. Exceptionally long wait time between Windows loading and the login screen appearing.
2. The inability of Windows to read floppy disks in my drive.
3. The inability of Windows to realize that there are more kinds of CDs than just audio CDs.
Now that I've finally solved once and for all every hardware issue I was having, Windows has decided it is time to make up for all those years I missed out on the suckiness of 3.1, 95 and so on.
Let me also specify that Norton Antivirus is crap. Crapity crap. Crapity crapicity of craphood. I think it operates on the principle that if it uses up gobs of CPU time and claims it didn't find any viruses, people will think it does such a great job at auto-protecting the computer from them. I would do just as well using a method of defeating viruses pioneered by a friend of mine. Namely, let them all in and hope they cancel each other out.
If it wasn't for the fact that I managed to fix the CD-Rom problem last night, only to have it return this morning, I'd think there was something wrong with my drive. If it wasn't for the fact that the very floppy drive that "has no disk" in it was used to install my RAID drivers, I'd think that was screwy coincidentally at the same time. If it wasn't for the fact that my Windows installation was obviously ripping apart at the seams, I'd think it was a good OS.
Needless to say I'm glad that I've been backing up important files on my Mac. The latest version of my senior project lies housed safely in the bosom of an ancient iMac whose only failings have been in hardware, and only twice at that. The ease with which Macs rebound from disaster has amazed me. In comparison, the complete shenanigans I go through to simply diagnose my problems leave me in tears.
So now as system restore fails to correct any problems once again, I pray that my CD-ROM can function long enough to repair my installation. As it stands, nothing seems to be working and my system is royally screwed.
That's not to say I couldn't live without CD-Roms, floppies or stand to wait an extra minute for my system to start up. However, that's like saying one can still bicycle with only one wheel. THERE'S SOMETHING FUNDAMENTALLY WRONG AND ONLY AN IDIOT WOULD STILL TRY TO USE IT FOR ANY SERIOUS PURPOSE.
I have enough on my plate at the moment without having to deal with Windows going bonkers on me.
And there it goes again with the "lets take 2 minutes to get from loading Windows to the login screen" crap again. This is blargh and a half my friends. Blargh and a half.
I swear there's an undocumented feature in Windows, "Detects most busy time for user and screws up then."
Right now, I'm watching another system restore attemp to remedy the following crippling problems with Raijin.
1. Exceptionally long wait time between Windows loading and the login screen appearing.
2. The inability of Windows to read floppy disks in my drive.
3. The inability of Windows to realize that there are more kinds of CDs than just audio CDs.
Now that I've finally solved once and for all every hardware issue I was having, Windows has decided it is time to make up for all those years I missed out on the suckiness of 3.1, 95 and so on.
Let me also specify that Norton Antivirus is crap. Crapity crap. Crapity crapicity of craphood. I think it operates on the principle that if it uses up gobs of CPU time and claims it didn't find any viruses, people will think it does such a great job at auto-protecting the computer from them. I would do just as well using a method of defeating viruses pioneered by a friend of mine. Namely, let them all in and hope they cancel each other out.
If it wasn't for the fact that I managed to fix the CD-Rom problem last night, only to have it return this morning, I'd think there was something wrong with my drive. If it wasn't for the fact that the very floppy drive that "has no disk" in it was used to install my RAID drivers, I'd think that was screwy coincidentally at the same time. If it wasn't for the fact that my Windows installation was obviously ripping apart at the seams, I'd think it was a good OS.
Needless to say I'm glad that I've been backing up important files on my Mac. The latest version of my senior project lies housed safely in the bosom of an ancient iMac whose only failings have been in hardware, and only twice at that. The ease with which Macs rebound from disaster has amazed me. In comparison, the complete shenanigans I go through to simply diagnose my problems leave me in tears.
So now as system restore fails to correct any problems once again, I pray that my CD-ROM can function long enough to repair my installation. As it stands, nothing seems to be working and my system is royally screwed.
That's not to say I couldn't live without CD-Roms, floppies or stand to wait an extra minute for my system to start up. However, that's like saying one can still bicycle with only one wheel. THERE'S SOMETHING FUNDAMENTALLY WRONG AND ONLY AN IDIOT WOULD STILL TRY TO USE IT FOR ANY SERIOUS PURPOSE.
I have enough on my plate at the moment without having to deal with Windows going bonkers on me.
And there it goes again with the "lets take 2 minutes to get from loading Windows to the login screen" crap again. This is blargh and a half my friends. Blargh and a half.
I swear there's an undocumented feature in Windows, "Detects most busy time for user and screws up then."
20060320
Temporary?
I have temporary memory. To be more specific, 95% of everything important I digest vanishes into a dusty filing cabinet in my brain, never to be seen again.
In coming home from spring break, I managed to remember everything. Absolutely everything from the least important to almost the most important. I say almost with good reason.
I left my wallet, my keys, and my student ID 500 miles back in Massachusetts.
Whee.
My deepest apologies to my dear parents who have long endured these continual, patience trying adventures.
So I've got a temporary card for the time being. I think the guy I got it couldn't have shaken his head in a more depressing manner when I informed him that I couldn't show him any identification because that was also left behind. Thankfully, some people still do things on good faith.
In coming home from spring break, I managed to remember everything. Absolutely everything from the least important to almost the most important. I say almost with good reason.
I left my wallet, my keys, and my student ID 500 miles back in Massachusetts.
Whee.
My deepest apologies to my dear parents who have long endured these continual, patience trying adventures.
So I've got a temporary card for the time being. I think the guy I got it couldn't have shaken his head in a more depressing manner when I informed him that I couldn't show him any identification because that was also left behind. Thankfully, some people still do things on good faith.
20060315
Franklin: "Trash"
Hai guys!
This is Franklin. I wanted to let you know, that today is a special day. Today the garbage man gets a big hug.
I always wanted to be a garbage man. Maybe it was the glamour. Maybe it was the interesting things you can find in the garbage. But mostly, it was the fact that I spent so much of my life in a garbage can. My nickname was "Trash"!
My parents were fond of that name. Whenever I opened my mouth to speak, they would throw me in the garbage in appreciation. That's where I met Roachy. Now Roachy and his vast family live with my parents. They were so overjoyed that the regular trashcan was not good enough.
My parents dropped me off at the town dump. It was a goldmine of new friends and ideas. I was so thankful for the kindness my parents showed me.
This is Franklin. I wanted to let you know, that today is a special day. Today the garbage man gets a big hug.
I always wanted to be a garbage man. Maybe it was the glamour. Maybe it was the interesting things you can find in the garbage. But mostly, it was the fact that I spent so much of my life in a garbage can. My nickname was "Trash"!
My parents were fond of that name. Whenever I opened my mouth to speak, they would throw me in the garbage in appreciation. That's where I met Roachy. Now Roachy and his vast family live with my parents. They were so overjoyed that the regular trashcan was not good enough.
My parents dropped me off at the town dump. It was a goldmine of new friends and ideas. I was so thankful for the kindness my parents showed me.
20060313
Technically Incompetant
Job hunting is in full swing during spring break, and I'm plowing ahead despite many, many discouragements. There are plenty of jobs flying around for people with 3 or more years of experience, but trying to find entry-level positions for graduates can be like pulling teeth.
On of my major frustrations is concerning searching various websites that are dedicated towards jobs for graduates, or other websites with an option for restricting searches to such jobs. The problem is, namely, incompetants posting irrelevant jobs or failing to post jobs in such a way as to get the proper response.
Example: I search for jobs in my field. Because I search entry level, jobs for which experience of less than one year is required are shown. However, because whoever posted the job was technically incompetant, they failed to actually fill out the job form properly and simply put everything in the description field and assumed that would work. The requirements field, and the experience field are left to blank and default (less than one year experience) respectively. Thus, I keep getting jobs listed to me that require 3 or more years of experience.
Is it simply because anyone who has any technical knowhow is simply too smart for such mundane jobs? I have no clue, but it keeps bugging me because I have precious little time to figure out whether or not I definitively want to live with my sister and brother-in-law and having my time used up by jobs I'm obviously not qualified for is frustrating.
Grr.
On of my major frustrations is concerning searching various websites that are dedicated towards jobs for graduates, or other websites with an option for restricting searches to such jobs. The problem is, namely, incompetants posting irrelevant jobs or failing to post jobs in such a way as to get the proper response.
Example: I search for jobs in my field. Because I search entry level, jobs for which experience of less than one year is required are shown. However, because whoever posted the job was technically incompetant, they failed to actually fill out the job form properly and simply put everything in the description field and assumed that would work. The requirements field, and the experience field are left to blank and default (less than one year experience) respectively. Thus, I keep getting jobs listed to me that require 3 or more years of experience.
Is it simply because anyone who has any technical knowhow is simply too smart for such mundane jobs? I have no clue, but it keeps bugging me because I have precious little time to figure out whether or not I definitively want to live with my sister and brother-in-law and having my time used up by jobs I'm obviously not qualified for is frustrating.
Grr.
20060307
20060226
King of Bandits
Tonight, aside from posting the promised Caution at a time that is dubious to be called Saturday, I was victorious. Booyaka.
Every Saturday night is poker night. No limit Texas hold'em. No money is actually won or lost because we're college students. We don't have money. When we do, we need it for food. So, pansy poker it is.
For every person you knock out, you get five points. For every person you survive, you get five points. When it gets down to one on one, the kill is worth ten points. Blinds double as more people are pushed out. Award bracelets are granted for winning tables and having the most points for the night.
Tonight, I won both games, eliminating 8 people (including one on one). I am the first person to monopolize all the bracelets for a night. I now have three white bracelets (tables won) and one black (most points for a night).
Booyaka!
Every Saturday night is poker night. No limit Texas hold'em. No money is actually won or lost because we're college students. We don't have money. When we do, we need it for food. So, pansy poker it is.
For every person you knock out, you get five points. For every person you survive, you get five points. When it gets down to one on one, the kill is worth ten points. Blinds double as more people are pushed out. Award bracelets are granted for winning tables and having the most points for the night.
Tonight, I won both games, eliminating 8 people (including one on one). I am the first person to monopolize all the bracelets for a night. I now have three white bracelets (tables won) and one black (most points for a night).
Booyaka!
Caution: Earphone
CAUTION: All civilians should be aware of the hazards presented by Earphones. Failure to do so can result in deafness, ornery behavior, a severe lack of hair, aging, and "Young Whippersnappers".
In the event you find another civilian unaware of the situations in the depicted image, inform them how in your day such dangerous devices didn't exist, and how grateful you were regardless.
20060221
Slowing Down
You may or may not have noticed, but the rate of updates here has been similar to the rate at which a groups of friends can peel me away from a technological interface. There are a number of good reasons for this, all of which cover up the fact that I'm too lazy to bother with this for five minutes.
I aim to post here somewhat more frequently, but between everything that is already distracting me from this (things both good and otherwise) and other upcoming events (such as my birthday) don't expect too much.
And now, a few random things.
I visited Jo and Ste again this weekend. We rocked the house.
In addition to previously listed birthday wishes, a new mousepad recently came to my attention as a good one.
A dear friend finally found that quote I was looking for so I could add it to my quote file. Booyaka!
There will likely be another edition of Caution: Something this weekend.
Enjoy!
I aim to post here somewhat more frequently, but between everything that is already distracting me from this (things both good and otherwise) and other upcoming events (such as my birthday) don't expect too much.
And now, a few random things.
I visited Jo and Ste again this weekend. We rocked the house.
In addition to previously listed birthday wishes, a new mousepad recently came to my attention as a good one.
A dear friend finally found that quote I was looking for so I could add it to my quote file. Booyaka!
There will likely be another edition of Caution: Something this weekend.
Enjoy!
20060218
Distractions
My apologies for the long delay in updating, I've had a genuinely grotesque number of other things going on that have distracted me from the supremely important task of updating a blog.
So, here's a general update of everything going on in my life.
-Python and Pygame are being installed on Raijin for the sake of programming for my project, Codename: Vect0r. Dr. Chase directed me to a website detailing the history of the game, Space War, which Vect0r is based off of. I had previously been unable to remember the name of the game myself. Interestingly enough, Dr. Chase was at MIT and was able to play the original when it was made there on those super building sized computers.
-I've been addicted to a custom WarCraft III map based on the anime Naruto. My roommates and I enjoy playing it, and I've proven to be quite excellent at taking hard to play characters and kicking butt with them. One particular character is actually a pair of them, Fuujin and Raijin, and they are my "So, did you have a side of death with that order of pain?" character.
-In World of Warcraft my hunter remains at level 31. My paladin, has increased to level 24. My warlock is level 16 and has passed the 100 mark in both tailoring and enchanting skills. My warrior is now level 20, and will be dual wielding like mad shortly. My priest hasn't been played too much (my brother was at a youth retreat and the priest is solely for play with him), but is level 9 going on 10.
-I've got a test on Tuesday I'm not worried about. I'll study anyway.
-I'm staying with my sister for the weekend. The original plan was for my sister and brother-in-law to drive down after my sister returned from work, arrive around 8pm, eat some pizza with me, and then we'd all come up. My bro changed the plans, picking me up earlier in the afternoon for the purpose of surprising my sister. She was already home when we returned. Steve had called her and given the excuse that they needed more milk (I drink a lot) and as such had gone out to the grocery store. I hid in the trunk, Steve went inside and went through the usual routine for leaving. Jocelyn came out, and Steve gave her an ice scraper to put into the trunk to make room for me. The trunk popped, Jocelyn opened it up, and I jumped up and yelled, "HASGH!" I wish I'd had a camera.
-Job hunting is going slowly, but surely. My resume is looking much better than it once was. Some refinements can still be made, but at this point the actual job hunting takes precedence. A great resume is nothing without a job to send it to.
-My birthday is coming up on the 23rd of March. The only thing I've so far alluded to desiring is the Settlers of Catan board game. Additional desires would be more RAM for Raijin (DDR400 PC3200, either 2x 256MB or 2x 512MB), a World of Warcraft Game Card, and something homemade. My biggest desire of all would be to spend time with family. Unfortunately, my birthday falls on a Thursday of all days. Blargh.
-I spent some time trying to find a quote I had submitted to Quotes R Us. It was a great quote from a great friend, and neither of us can remember what it was. B'oh.
-Updated my blog 0 times between the last update and this one.
So, here's a general update of everything going on in my life.
-Python and Pygame are being installed on Raijin for the sake of programming for my project, Codename: Vect0r. Dr. Chase directed me to a website detailing the history of the game, Space War, which Vect0r is based off of. I had previously been unable to remember the name of the game myself. Interestingly enough, Dr. Chase was at MIT and was able to play the original when it was made there on those super building sized computers.
-I've been addicted to a custom WarCraft III map based on the anime Naruto. My roommates and I enjoy playing it, and I've proven to be quite excellent at taking hard to play characters and kicking butt with them. One particular character is actually a pair of them, Fuujin and Raijin, and they are my "So, did you have a side of death with that order of pain?" character.
-In World of Warcraft my hunter remains at level 31. My paladin, has increased to level 24. My warlock is level 16 and has passed the 100 mark in both tailoring and enchanting skills. My warrior is now level 20, and will be dual wielding like mad shortly. My priest hasn't been played too much (my brother was at a youth retreat and the priest is solely for play with him), but is level 9 going on 10.
-I've got a test on Tuesday I'm not worried about. I'll study anyway.
-I'm staying with my sister for the weekend. The original plan was for my sister and brother-in-law to drive down after my sister returned from work, arrive around 8pm, eat some pizza with me, and then we'd all come up. My bro changed the plans, picking me up earlier in the afternoon for the purpose of surprising my sister. She was already home when we returned. Steve had called her and given the excuse that they needed more milk (I drink a lot) and as such had gone out to the grocery store. I hid in the trunk, Steve went inside and went through the usual routine for leaving. Jocelyn came out, and Steve gave her an ice scraper to put into the trunk to make room for me. The trunk popped, Jocelyn opened it up, and I jumped up and yelled, "HASGH!" I wish I'd had a camera.
-Job hunting is going slowly, but surely. My resume is looking much better than it once was. Some refinements can still be made, but at this point the actual job hunting takes precedence. A great resume is nothing without a job to send it to.
-My birthday is coming up on the 23rd of March. The only thing I've so far alluded to desiring is the Settlers of Catan board game. Additional desires would be more RAM for Raijin (DDR400 PC3200, either 2x 256MB or 2x 512MB), a World of Warcraft Game Card, and something homemade. My biggest desire of all would be to spend time with family. Unfortunately, my birthday falls on a Thursday of all days. Blargh.
-I spent some time trying to find a quote I had submitted to Quotes R Us. It was a great quote from a great friend, and neither of us can remember what it was. B'oh.
-Updated my blog 0 times between the last update and this one.
20060207
Re-livification
Using the greatest of holy powers, summoning every last strength and skill I have, and falling on my knees before the Lord, I have done what must be done.
Raijin has been ressurrected.
Verily I now may begin the project which has long eluded me. Vector (name will possibly change) will be a triumph of triumphs!
I've looked up a few tips that will help prevent further problems. May Raijin reign supreme for years to come!
Raijin has been ressurrected.
Verily I now may begin the project which has long eluded me. Vector (name will possibly change) will be a triumph of triumphs!
I've looked up a few tips that will help prevent further problems. May Raijin reign supreme for years to come!
20060206
WHEEEEEEEEEEEE!
Life, don't talk to me about life.
I haven't been updating much despite the awesome class schedule I have had because I have been busy.
Busy buying books.
Busy paying for college.
Busy paying my credit card bill.
Busy doing homework.
Busy fixing a friends computer.
Busy watching my computer die, again.
Busy figuring out the problem with my computer.
Busy returning my stupid motherboard.
Busy ordering a new motherboard of a different type.
Busy drowning my woes in video games.
Busy not watching the super bowl.
Busy busy, no time for chat.
I haven't been updating much despite the awesome class schedule I have had because I have been busy.
Busy buying books.
Busy paying for college.
Busy paying my credit card bill.
Busy doing homework.
Busy fixing a friends computer.
Busy watching my computer die, again.
Busy figuring out the problem with my computer.
Busy returning my stupid motherboard.
Busy ordering a new motherboard of a different type.
Busy drowning my woes in video games.
Busy not watching the super bowl.
Busy busy, no time for chat.
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