random n00b
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Has anyone actually made the claim that DRM actually causes significant loss of sales? I haven't seen that, myself, and personally I don't believe it does.It just seems like gamers claiming that DRM has a huge effect on PC game sales isn't much different to publishers claiming that piracy has a huge effect on PC game sales, in that neither side can really prove such claims.But that has nothing to do with not wanting to install malware in my computer and/or waste time begging for something I have already paid for. That's as "meaningful" as it gets for me.
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Well, personally, I would try and get hold of something a bit more tangible than personal anecdotes and impressions before calling my fellow countrymen racists so broadly, but that's just me. Mind you, I'm not saying Americans aren't racist, as I don't live there and lack the most basic elements to form an opinion. But it's not pretty to do that kind of allegations without some sort of backing.Besides, more people will tell you that McCain "looks Presidential" than they would Obama. In a country that elected George Bush because he was the kind of guy you could drink beer with, it's really not unthinkable at all.That, and all my alarms go off when somebody starts throwing around the word "people" without making clear who these "people" are or where they got their facts from. Li'l personality quirk o' mine.
It would be great if you could find the source for those figures, too. Anyway, that's not quite the kind of racism I had in mind when I made my comment, but I guess "reverse" racism is still racism.Will race be an issue in this election? Sure, because somewhere around 90% of black voters have said they are voting for Obama, and a full 70-80% of them (can't recall the precise percentages; saw them on a newscast) admit that they are voting for him purely because he is black. So yes, in a racially mixed election race is going to be a factor. And if Obama loses, I suspect there will be much gnashing of teeth and allegations that he lost because too many white folks wouldn't vote for a black man without considering the possibility that too many folks of all color wouldn't vote for an inexperienced, ultra-liberal candidate of any color. Of course if he wins, there will be grousing from the other side that he only won because all the blacks voted for him without considering the possibility that there were simply too many people of all colors wouldn't vote for an aging Bush-buddy with a gun-toting, ultra-conservative veep on the ticket.
I think you give them too much credit.One thing every election has. The blame game. It's the only thing policians are really good at.
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Are you implying that racism is still prevalent enough in the American general public for that to have a significant impact on a Presidential election?
Nice.
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I don't know about this, man. While action-driven games may not be your cup of tea, there isn't necessarily a stupid design decision behind them. I mean, I love story-driven games as much as anyone else, but sometimes I'm in the mood for just some good ol' hack & slash.Grind, grind, grind, Boss Fight. Grind, grind, grind, Boss Fight. Grind, grind, grind, Boss Fight...: Yes, that was very funny in Invaders and Galaxians. Not in the 21st century.Of course, if the game is marketed as something else...
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That's still total bollocks. I purchase games to play games, not to wrestle with their DRM - especially when pirates (and yes, this game WILL be pirated) have it much easier. More and more games are shipping with skimpy manuals or no manuals at all, but with this kind of official malware, they'll have to start printing leaflets on how to operate the DRM properly. This is just another iteration of the absurd idea that legit users should go through all the hoops the dev/publisher wants them to, while illegit users aren't affected whatsoever and all under the pretense that these measures are undertaken to leave illegit users out. Brilliant, indeed.Allow me, if you will to broaden the discussion a bit.Ascararon made this announcement for drm in Sacred 2.
[The link takes to you to post by rpghwatch]
The most important difference from Mass Effect is that you get a revoke tool and that activations can be de-activated.
There are some other differences which you can read by yourself.
To me, this is much more lenient system than EA's - especially since it seems to look for the customer's rights, too - not just the publisher's or the developer's.
Haha, good luck with that, especially in the face of Diablo 3.
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It took me a while to realize that you were referring to smoking pipes, being completely ignorant of what "corncob" and "briar" pipes are. For some reason, I thought you had acquired two plumbing implements on which you intended to rely to prove the superiority of your point. Then the "choice of weapon" comment... nevermind.
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Awesome thread Bok! Do you really play 38 games regularly, or you just add an extra drive when you are running low on space?
Seriously, maybe we can set up a few games based on what people have installed.
Deus Ex, Diablo 2 LOD, Starfleet Command 2, Wing Commander Kilrathi Saga, Wing Commander Standoff, Lego Star Wars II, TIE Fighter DOS, PES 6.
A reasonable 8 for those of you that are mathematically impaired. And I still manage to procrastinate far better than any of you.
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And I've heard (read here even, possibly?) that EA customer support is dismal. Their "case by case" approach to the issue essentially means that unless you can get a hold of a supervisor somehow, you are basically wasting your time. To be fair, I don't like badmouthing companies based on hearsay, but even in the BIO forums I've seen people complain about the SecuROM suite preventing them from playing their legitimately acquired games. That's very bad publicity, even if it's only anecdotal.
It's a shame really, I was really looking forward to MEPC, and will immediately shell out the cash if/when they remove this thing.
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How's that "realistic"?
"Realistic" would be tossing in a 'nade, and closing the door. Not quite so glamourous, to be sure. Hence my comment.
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Random Fact of Gaming #42:
Realism ≠ Fun
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And cheaper, too. Unfortunately, not many old games have the sort of loyal following that make possible the volume of activity in that game's modding community. I don't think I would have played BG2 as much as I have if it wasn't for the mods.I'm playing my umpteenth installation of BGII with lots of fanmade mods.Five minutes of this is a lot more fun than my entire stint with Mass Effect.
That's a pretty bleak outlook you have. And while the fad seems to be hitting some high profile releases hard, the practice isn't too widespread. I am inclined to think that in time, they will be unable to justify the investment in DRM suites like that, and will instead shift to trying to encourage purchase instead of discouraging piracy.Of course there will come a time when the alternative to accepting install-limit DRM or [insert some currently draconian thing here] will basically mean a refusal to play most games, but hey, I'm sure as hell going to do my part to make sure that doesn't happen. -
Jags delivers!But this is surely the best:Red Alert and Diablo 2 were also great.
I like both
and 5.Even more ninja awesomeness (this time with pink and cyborg ninjas!)
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That's probably the most useless (in a practical sense) thing you could do since you are both supporting the industry and thus encouraging them to continue using that sort of DRM, and at the same time, supporting piracy, albeit indirectly.If I were gaming on the PC, I'd buy the game, then crack it to remove the DRM.It's the reason I didn't buy MEPC.
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Yeah, I saw it and flagged it for reply, but lost it somehow. :SDid you see this post?
That's one conclusion, but not necessarily the only one. It says that, according to "calculations", Boltzmann's Brains are infinitely more likely to appear, than our orderly kind of universes. But, in a truly timeless setup, as long as the probability of our own universe appearing isn't strictly zero, it cannot be said with any degree of certainty whether we are what Boltzmann proposed or not. In principle, it's a juxtaposition of infinites... a mathematical indetermination, as evidenced by this:Personally I read it in our Tiede-lehti (simply "Science-magazine") some months ago, but I couldn't find it again. Anyway, of course everyone in the field assumes it to be false and tries to disprove it (if they haven't already. ) with varying success. But it is still daunting and shameful fact, because according to their formulations and laws (that in current light are exactly right) we being Boltzmann's brains floating in vacuum is infinitely more likely than we and universe really existingIn an interview Dr. Linde described these brains as a form of reincarnation. Over the course of eternity, he said, anything is possible.
Well, I think that article (and the theories it talks about) need more definition, especially as far as "the universe" is concerned. And also, I'd like to see those "calculations" that predict the universe (our own observable universe) being overrun by floating brains. Come think of it... I probably wouldn't like that. But the point remains, it all depends on the premises they choose to build their model on, apparently.As that quote showcases, existence of such entities appearing in our universe and possibly ****ing it up. That is presuming I (or in your case you) am not Bolzmann's brain already
Luckily scientists are getting their act together and striking back against imaginary bogeyman (thought experiments are big part of science though) because personally I felt relatively uneasy for time after reading it. Luckily Sartre's argument against solipsism worked here too (of course my rational sense didn't believe in it, but unconscious is easily lured indeed by morbid mental pictures. At least in my case)
Cosmologists aren't people?“People are not prepared for this discussion,” Dr. Linde said. -
Ah, I didn't know about the reality-spanning implications of that. While interesting as a thought experiment, it's just another cosmogony... everyone has their own I guess.edit2: the DANGER in Boltzmann's brains stems from the fact it is supposed to have certain "godlike" qualities. Namely the ability to formulate reality again. After all it is faster to create informational structures than actually study them and gulping and chewing information is very raidon d'etre for these "things". And then it raises the solipstic creepy thought what if I'm only Boltzmann's brain and outer reality is just some sort of fabrication from my part? And THAT is deadly for science.
What is exactly predicted to happen? I don't follow.edit3: what is most scary they're PREDICTED to happen in some point if given enough time. That's why cosmologists have tried to defeat the problem - prolly succesfully - by noting that universally likely don't "live" long enough for them to appear
Good point. We can always use more quality sci-fi. Carry on with the pop science!I don't really see a problem. Few people take it very seriously (most of the media I've read is actually reporting it humorously). On the other hand, the science fiction it spawns will be well worth it. It'll stimulate the minds of budding scientists for decades to come.I mean, let's be realistic here - what's not cool the universe suddenly blowing up because a mad physicist created a super death ray and nobody could stop him? Oh am I'm drawing on my kid empathy here (which by its very nature is only approximate), but by my reckoning that's pretty ****in' sweet to a 10 year old kid who's fence sitting about science. Done dilly.
As a side note, I didn't mean for it to come across as criticism... but it never fails to amaze me how journalists always manage to focus on tangential issues and blow them out of proportion, in order to draw attention. They gotta eat too, I suppose.
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Nah. Just politics...Doom doom doom! -
Yeah, yeah. What's all this "PC gaming is dying" nonsense, anyway?
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I hate when a game is designed to favor a particular playstyle over others significantly and for no reason... on purpose.
The example that comes to mind is how absurdly the Tekken games favor juggling as materialized by the insane amount of guaranteed damage they deal. A pretty complex fighting engine which ultimately boils down to learning premade juggles, and how to best deliver the launcher.
The opposite example is, of course, Deus Ex.
Oh, and movereading (the AI reacting to what you input as opposed to what your in-game avatar does) is total bollocks.
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Yeah, so you just want a Democrat president alongside a Democrat-dominated Congress... because you like the way you believe they think better. In other words, you don't care about reasons, and might as well flip a coin and vote based on that, for all the reasons behind your carefully woven discourse. I mean, even impossible logic isn't good enough anymore!If there is a Democrat majority in Congress, even the slightest of margin, then whatever the Democrats seek to put into law is sent over to a Democrat president and he or she would be more incline to sign it. Also, during his reign as president, the Democrat president could appoint liberal minded justices of the Supreme Court which would be backed by the Democrat majority Congress. In this set up, government would be progressing towards a more liberal way of thinking.Good or ill, the government would actually be doing something instead of being stagnate.
The joy of democracy.
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What, you mean worse for science than, um, splitting the atom? If you say so...*yeah, it's serious "formulation" or possibility or whatever you want to call it. Of course the mere idea of some solipstic "brain" screwing up reality and propably annihilating us in the process is more than little bit harmful for science so astronomers have tried to dispell it by making claims that universe won't "live" long enough for these anomalies to happen
They were called Bolzam's or Boltzman's or Bohnman's or something like that Brains
Anyway, it never fails to amaze me when this kind of highly speculative (and for the most part, poorly understood) cutting-edge science is turned into a modern-day bogeyman. Especially in the mainstream media. I mean, it's obvious that being erased from existance by a false vacuum system destabilizing at an unspecified time in the future is a much more credible and serious threat than coronary disease. How can anyone not see this?!
Also, I don't understand how this is related to the (misleading) idea that "observing" the system may reset its quantum state clock. Is any of that what you were referring to, or...?
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Nonsense. The administrative functions of the govt are affected in no way by a permanent stalemate at Congress. It's the legislative prerogatives (if any) that are blocked. Reforms and other initiatives are stopped. Running the country proper is not. Surely you are familiar with the concept of separation of powers?That is another reason to vote in a Democrat president, so that something can be done instead of the usual political roadblocks. Nothing is more worthless than a government that doesn't govern.But yeah, any reason's good to vote Democrat if you apply impossible logic to false premises.
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Has Clear Sky been pirated already? I haven't heard anything about that.Well obviously the reason stores decide to release games early is because they are cleverly attempting to combat piracy by releasing legit copies of games that have been pirated and are available for download on the internet.I'd have it by now, but stores over here are crap and they won't be getting copies until friday... when they were supposed to have it by the 5th.
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A full five days before official release?
Take that, thepiratebay!
EA Sticking With SecuROM
in Computer and Console
Posted