Humanoid

Following on from a post in another thread (where it was off-topic), I've run into a problem with starting a single player game in Age of Empires 2, post UserPatch. It turns out that the Ubisoft-published "Collector's Edition" implements a community-sourced No-CD crack in order to get around the problem of the game executables not recognising the DVD on which the rerelease is on as valid media. The UserPatch executable, on the other hand, retains the standard CD check and therefore "breaks" the CE release. Now, I only really ever intend to play the game multiplayer, so it's not really unworkable as such, but a trap to be wary of. Additionally, it's also worth noting that the music in the game is present as a Redbook audio track on the CD and therefore does not play on any DVD release. I'm used to playing without the CD since it's never been required for multiplayer, but eh, a lazy effort all-around by both MS and Ubisoft.

Fired up MoTB again and within minutes remembered why I didn't even get out of the starting dungeon on my last attempt, years ago. *Every* bloody thing in that dungeon is immune to sneak attacks. Screw D&D rules, I'd be just as effective waving around soft fluffy cushions as a rogue. Not really having any fun playing as a spectator, so I am once again snookered. Downloading Divinity 2 from GOG now.

Yeah, I'd tend to assume that it's sort of a boilerplate global requirement when any studio, KS-backed or not, deals with Microsoft Games. But it does indicate negligence in any case, either failure to read fine print, or a misinformed (or overconfident) assumption about how far their exemption went. We'll discount malice for now. Random tangent: This week, after seeing the poor reception for AoE2HD, I went ahead and bought a budget disc re-release of the CE (AoE1+2+expansions) for a tenner. The rerelease was published by Ubisoft for whatever reason. UserPatch 1.2 works great by the way.

Things like this will end up pretty awkward logistically too. I mean, I get three copies of the game out of this, nominally the boxed copy, the dogtag copy (even though it's blank it counts as a copy), and the base digital copy. This is confirmed by me getting three Steam keys for the game. But it terms of giving away copies, if the receiving party wanted DRM-free then I'd have to give them access to my HBS website account, or otherwise resort to, ahem, unofficial channels.

This might just be me, but I think Monte may have made a mistake in picking the name. I can't seem to not call it "Nurma-nurma," which makes it somewhat difficult for me to take seriously. And I do participate in a PnP group that I could see possibly playing a campaign in a setting like this. I almost always type it as Numenara before going back and correcting it. :|

Why is that? You can still back the game and get a DRM free version, as well as the expansion, all patches, and even mods. By doing so you aren't supporting DRM in any way, quite the opposite, you are directly supporting the developer and allowing them to circumvent what Microsoft really wants them to do. I think the implication is he didn't back during the actual KS campaign and thus will not be officially given access to the DRM-free version. Did the previous version of the pre-order page state specifically that you'd only be getting a Steam key? It does now. There's a little bit of a gotcha too there I guess, since I assume that previously there'd be an assumption that the pre-order with the dog tags USB key would have the non-Steam game on it.

In context it's understandable, though with the benefit of hindsight given the complexities of the licencing model it's obviously something that should have been cleared up during the campaign. Also raises the question of whether it would be possible to, within the constraints they have, provide an alternate DRMed version which has one-time activation but is not linked to a Steam/Steam-like client. Aside, this bit was weird: "These updates will require Backers to re-download the game from the Harebrained Account Website, since it will not include auto-patching functionality." I hope that means directly downloading a patch file and not the entire package....

I'm kind of the opposite, most of the loot I get is either only incidentally interesting to me, or just filler. I get the hardcover sourcebooks, and I assume I'll read them at some point, but it's pure background as I don't PnP. I get a fifth copy of Wasteland 2 overall so I can, uh, yeah. I don't listen to game soundtracks, don't really have an interest in the novellas, and don't usually bother with pre-release versions of games. Maybe I shouldn't think about this kind of thing too much lest I realise how poorly I spent my cash in objective terms - but nah, the point is that I put in what I think getting a new game of this type is worth to me. EDIT: To kind of illustrate the point, if it was the same cash for a CE box of the game plus a half-dozen T-shirts I'd probably take that one....

Guess that silly petition thing for a Betrayal at Krondor follow-up will be the last we'll hear of it then.

The pink shirt is gone. No deal.

The difference is that it's the one promised during the KS campaign, indeed as a stretch goal, so they're bound to do it for all copies of the game. So the technical ability is there, leading to the assumption that the restriction of future, paid DLC is a commercial one.\\EDIT: beaten!

Cowon made the best portable music players bar none, it's a shame that it looks like they've left that part of their business behind. I waited too long and missed out on the now-discontinued J3. Sure, it's a niche market to care for such trivialities as audio quality, but I find the trend towards folding all portable devices into smartphones, with all the compromises that entails, to be a very unfortunate one.

Apparently yes, in a manner so complex as to lead to the creation of walkthroughs specifically for it. Didn't read it so it may be mostly self-evident, but still, that's a lot of images.

There's a good deal of damage done regardless of the resolution, because what they've done is paint themselves as lawyers, staying within the letter of the law but all to happy to trample over the spirit of it. Fully within their rights to do so, but no one likes lawyers. The feeling I get is similar to, say, misuse of donations by a charity who, while still pursuing the goal of helping their particular cause, give the cushy contract to a buddy of the suits running it to carry out the work. I stress it's not an analogy, but just the gut feeling I get from the move. I, and I suspect a good many others, would have thrown in a bit extra as a pushback against the notion that Steam be the end-all ultimate utopia of video game platforms, but instead we've ended up achieving the opposite. Steam is certainly a tool of convenience, and I'm totally fine with that, hence my assertion that having mods require manual installation is fine, but when actual capabilities are different then something starts to smell, especially as it's clear it's not a technical limitation but a business-imposed one. While I'm certainly not going to do anything drastic like some of the reactions have threatened (e.g. chargebacks), it does mean I'll stay at the lower tiers for any of their future offerings.

Got to say I'm more than a little surprised about the open admission that the online requirement was DRM for the sake of wanting DRM as opposed to the usual drivel. I mean he's basically saying that the RMAH is just a facade for the draconian DRM despite it hurting the game. I half expected the article to say he was a former employee, but looks like that's not the case. Contrast the statement: "Without the auction houses the always-on requirement would stop making sense, and then players would ask for it to be removed, and no one from the business side of things would likely be willing to give that up. So it remains, but at the cost of the game itself," with EA's recent defense: ”Many continue to claim the Always-On function in SimCity is a DRM scheme. It’s not. People still want to argue about it. We can’t be any clearer – it’s not. Period.”

The precedent was set when the second release of the PS3 removed PS2 compatibility from hardware - up until then there was basically a PS2 inside every PS3, which was laudable but in financial terms a ridiculous extravagance. The requirement that Sony put a Cell inside every PS4 to achieve backwards compatibility with the PS3 meant the chances were nil from the very beginning. It's only slightly more rational in engineering terms than duct-taping a full-blown PS3 to every new PS4. Support for PS2 games would depend on whether a modern mid-range PC nowadays could run a PS2 native game acceptably - I have no idea whether that's the case or not, but it's basically what the PS4 would have to do. But one suspects that given the option of either implementing that, or getting customers to pay again for the same game (albeit at whatever the new price will be), Sony will choose the latter. EDIT: Ironically perhaps, it may well be the least engineering effort for Sony to reverse-port the PC port of their PS3 games to get them running on the PS4.

Batman: Origins would have been a good title for a game based on the 60s Batman show.

$1000. Personally I wouldn't want my ugly mug in the game even if I did pledge that much though.

Hopeful that they'll reverse that decision looking at the outcry in the comments. Even if they don't though, it's not quite clear if the direct download version is meaningfully hobbled or not - installing mods manually isn't a bother, so if it just means there's no in-game mod browser, then eh. It's just the last sentence which is the sticking point, at least for people who buy DLC. Since I'm not one, technically the decision doesn't really personally impact me, but I am somewhat disappointed out of principle. Y'know, if they were a bit smarter about it, they'd talk about the direct download version first, then afterwards talk about how the Steam version has some extra convenience by virtue of the platform's features. Would turn it into a PR win instead of a loss, though there's still the DLC issue.

The place where the loss of the paper manual is felt most keenly. I never really got around to playing the game, but Falcon 4.0's hardcover binder manual is something I cherish.

Didn't Sony just refresh with the new cheap-looking pop-top PS3s?

More likely the source of confusing is that F2P "casual" game Ultima Forever, which is being developed by EA/Bioware/Debbie Mythic (whatever the hell they're calling themselves today) currently. They currently possess whatever's left of Origin's (the company, not the platform) assets after the closure. LB had a sly dig at it when talking about his wife in the SotA final stream - the real "Lady British."

I have a Nokia 6300 dumbphone which is the only mobile phone I've ever purchased. For about a year prior to that I used another Nokia dumbphone, model unknown, that was a hand-me-down from a family member, until it started dropping calls. That was in 2007, so I was very much a latecomer to this whole mobile gadgets stuff. I wouldn't get very far with a smartphone as I pre-pay just the $30 every 6 months for my access and have no data allowance whatsoever. If you count the now old-fashioned MP3 player as a mobile device then I also have a Sansa Clip Zip player.

Yeah, despite the name, "Crew Skills" are really your skills, except you delegate their execution, you've got just the three. As for the rewards of crafting, I found that while levelling how much utility you get out of the skills is, naturally for an MMO, dependent on how much you want to grind it out. You learn to make basic "green" equipment which is equivalent to basic solo quest reward stuff. If you "reverse engineer", i.e. destroy the stuff you created for a partial component refund, you have a chance of learning an advanced "blue" version of that item which is superior to what you'd otherwise be wearing when solo questing. (And for a second tier, repeat the above replacing green with blue and blue with purple, but that's not worth the time and material investment at lower levels). Personally I just used the materials I had on hand without buying any extras from trade, and the result is that every so often I'd luck out into getting something decent - but as I levelled it became a rarer occurrence since I steadily fell behind the tradeskill levelling curve (i.e. I'd be making decent level 25 gear at level 30). So unless things have changed, if you want your profession to remain useful for the entire levelling curve, expect to have to supplement your crafting materials from the trade network on a regular basis. No idea how useful crafting is once you hit max level, but at a guess based on traditional MMO patterns is that you get to make stuff better than any flashpoint gear but inferior to any operations gear.

Clearly the solution is to use Volourn style quotes.