Humodour

MS also showed little interest in the internet as a platform until Mozilla popped up and started eating IE market share. In fact until then, Microsoft said no further development would occur for IE (IE6 at the time). Then it started developing IE 7 and 8 due to Mozilla/Firefox, but the damage had already been done - people ditch IE every day, and the same trend has been happening to Windows in the OS market for a while now, too (though obviously to a far lesser degree). One of Windows's few remaining 'killer apps' (gaming) is going cross-platform in a big way. In fact it may be the only remaining killer app. The office suite market is being squeezed something chronic by Mac, OO, and "the cloud". Oh, I remember the other one - Exchange. But it's being chipped away at by the Linux crowd. If I sound dramatic, it's only in the sense that "Microsoft is doomed, just like IBM". Microsoft will never fold, but it will become reasonably irrelevant, and its competitors will be just as strong as it (truth be told, that's already happened). Maybe when they remove the ugly "this post has been edited" message.

If you own the game (as I said - legitimate uses), then you already have copyright permission to own that game's files, so there is no copyright violation. It's a tenuous argument you have and I think it's noteworthy that the courts in Australia and America (I haven't paid attention to NZ) differentiate between DRM circumvention and copyright infringement. And, as I said, DRM circumvention for legit reasons is clearly legal in New Zealand. Since you seem to disagree, it's now time to cite sources: http://arstechnica.com/old/content/2008/04...on-fair-use.ars And just in case you think that's just an rumour or misinterpretation of the law, feel free to read the exact legislation the article refers to: http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/...ologies_noresel If only Australian copyright law were as progressive (although I am thankful it isn't as bad as America's).

I win. http://forums.obsidian.net/index.php?showtopic=54361 http://store.steampowered.com/news/3569/

Also, I imagine Steve Balmer is throwing quite a few chairs right now.

My bet is that Valve sees well over 1 million Mac Steam users this year (currently 25 million Windows Steam users). Steam adoption on the Mac will far outpace the rate of growth on PC because Mac gamers are richer yet have far fewer avenues for purchasing Mac games. Not to mention that Steam is now a mature platform on Windows so adoption should be smooth for Mac users. More info: "Mac versions of leading internal titles such as Left 4 Dead 2, Team Fortress 2, Counter-Strike, Portal and the Half-Life series will be available for purchase this coming April." Also, Mac and Windows users will play and join the same servers and games in multiplayer.

As far as I understand there has been cracked version of the game since day one, but ubi claims is not "legit" cracked version since it lacks some extra download content. What I keep hearing is that while it was cracked the first day, the cracked version hangs or crashed at several points. The first trip into the animus and some story mission. So, the open world can be played, and using some savegames can get around these points, it doesn't let you play all the way through without issue. Supposedly, the game downloads part of the story mission, thus the isues. But I've also heard everything from one end to the other on whether it's cracked or not, so I'm not really sure what to believe about it. Assuming that's true, I guess that means it won't be fully cracked until next Tuesday.

Somebody on Slashdot pointed out this tangent: "Just to let people know, Blizzard also allows for unlimited downloading of the Windows and OS X version of any game you have ever purchased. Even if you bought the game in a store you can still register the CD key online at battle.net and it will be available to download in the future."

Variety. Mana shield is a lvl 13 or higher spell, so you'll only get it in the Shadows of the Phoenix campaign I believe.

Valve has officially announced this today. It's better than we hoped. http://games.slashdot.org/story/10/03/08/1...ames?art_pos=12 - ALL Valve games that exist, as well as those being made will be ported to OSX. - If you already own a Valve game, you can now download the Mac version for free (once it is ported)! And this isn't a one-time offer. Games on Steam will be platform independent (assuming they run on multiple platforms). So you just buy a game, not a game that runs on Windows or a game that runs on OSX. - They are direct ports! I.e. Every Steam game, and Source in general, will have a full OpenGL implementation and run natively in OSX! - If a game is released on Steam, it is released for Windows and Mac at the same time, at least for Valve's games. - Due to the above, porting any Steam game to Linux will be trivial for Valve, and even if they never do it, all such games should run near flawlessly in Linux under WINE due to OpenGL (edit: although they run fine under WINE anyway so maybe a moot point). - Updates won't lag either - patches are deployed to Mac Steam games at the same time as they are Windows. - Another benefit to this is that Valve will have accurate stats of the number and nature of Mac gamers, which I imagine many publishers will be keen to buy (assuming Valve doesn't release the data freely as it may well do). - Portal 2 for Mac is at the same level as Portal 2 for Windows - i.e. we'll see Portal 2 for Mac this year. Also, here's a list of Steam games that could be immediately put on Steam Mac, since they've already got Mac ports: http://savygamer.co.uk/2010/03/03/here-is-...t-in-existence/

Interesting question, but I don't think you're as interested in a response from me given the disparities in our economies. And the fact that I'm still in the process of saving enough for it to be worth investing. Actually, you are 20 and a student at a University. Investing is probably the farthest thing from your mind right now. Five years from now that will be a different story. When I was your age a good investment is when I could get a case of cheap beer for the price of a 12 pack of premium beer. Ok, I'll admit it... it still is I had planned to have like $10,000 saved by now, but things keep popping up - rent, tax, superannuation, alcohol, a new bed (excellent for taking girls home to!), utilities bills, groceries, a new phone. So I've only got about $3,000 saved. And now I need a new computer and want to go to the Roskilde festival (or failing that, New Zealand). I've got the income to support all this all while my savings increase, but it's nowhere near as fast as I predicted. Still, if I have even $20,000 saved by the time I finish uni I'll be in a decent situation. The reason I am thinking about money now is because I'm 22. I should've finished uni when I was 19 or 20. And yet I'm back in my second year of a different degree. Mid-20's crisis? And it also doesn't seem to be a good time to buy USD/Pounds/Euros yet (with the intention of converting back to AUD once the AUD has fallen a chunk) since Australia's economy is doing too well. The AUD is at a 25 year high to the Pound!

Socialism in a heartbeat. Assuming it is democratic socialism. Otherwise anarchy, since it'd be easier to eventually form a government from an anarchy then it would be to regain democracy in a totalitarian state.

I've read this before, but I can't remember where. It's technically illegal though it's a copyright infringement matter rather than a criminal one (all IIRC, does not constitute a legal opinion etc.) Look, I'm sorry but that's incorrect. First, as I clearly pointed out, DRM circumvention law is DIFFERENT in New Zealand (i.e. legal for legitimate purposes), and secondarily, even in American law, DRM circumvention has NOTHING to do with copyright law - it has its own section of the law, and DRM circumvention is DRM circumvention under the law (DMCA). DRM circumvention is NOT copyright infringement in any jurisidictions that I know of. And no, IANAL.

Interesting question, but I don't think you're as interested in a response from me given the disparities in our economies. And the fact that I'm still in the process of saving enough for it to be worth investing.

Yeah, they would say that, because imagine if it wasn't? Still, it's immaterial - their servers should be distributed and hardened against this sort of thing. You don't think sites like Google, Microsoft aren't also the target of this stuff? When was the last time you saw them go down to a DDoS? Indeed, the fact things like these happen should have been one of the top 3 reasons not to go ahead with their blindingly stupid DRM scheme in the first place. Fact of the matter is, Ubisoft can't provide the quality level customers expect, so they should never have deployed their scheme in the first place.

I would tender it was far more valuable than your unjustified claim that the game was crap. Indeed, at least my post forced you to justify your (in my opinion) misguided stance. OK, completely subjective. Wasn't spectacular, but I enjoyed it. Again, completely subjective - I really enjoyed her, while I found April very annoying in Dreamfall compared to TLJ. I think the vast majority of people would enjoy Zoe. It was perfectly bearable, but I can understand how gameplay quirks can put people off an entire game - the control scheme for Indigo Prophecy did this to me. So from a purely gameplay perspective you disliked the game. I'm glad you finally specified.

I reckon it'd make a pretty good movie, mate.

Sums the situation up pretty succinctly.

Certainly, he was better than Obama is. Either of them are better than someone who has advocated nuking two different peoples in the past week or so for the crime of being Iranian or German. If your ultimate "point" is that Mahmoud cannot be trusted with nukes but "we" can then you haven't so much shot yourself in the foot as self amputated both legs. I said we should have nuked Germany during WWI, when we were at war with them, as I thought it would have been a better tactical decision than Hiroshima. I advocate nuking Iran because it has shown the intent to destroy Israel, an ally of the US in an area where it has no others. My point is not that Ahmadinejad has more or less of a right to have nukes than any other leader; my point is that Israel should attack first. Oh man you've got neoconitis pretty bad, doncha?

It's worth noting that Sega is raring for AP2, so assuming AP sells modestly well I think we'll see it.

What a load of rubbish.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA Good one mate.

Some of the best Mind Magic spells are: Meditate (instantly recharges mana - LOL!) Shock (damage based on intelligence - formidably later in the game with lots of casters) Shockwave (AOE Shock - same as the Ice, Fire, Earth versions) Chain Shock (Shock jumps to targets - same as the Ice, Fire, Earth versions) Mana Shield AOE confusion, hypnotise spells I've decided I am going to make a mind mage like so (I planned it so that they would be able to max both skill trees): 20 Mind Magic - 20 Defensive Mind (Mana Shield, Mana recharge spells) - 20 Offensive Mind (Shock, AOE hypnotise) 20 Elemental Magic - 20 Ice Magic (Ice elemental, Frostburst, AOE Frostburst, Freeze, AOE Freeze, Blizzard, Chain Frostburst, Iceshield - freezes attackers) Arguably Enchantment or an extra Elemental school would be better than Defensive Mind, but mana shield and instant mana recharge seem hard to pass up. Stats to max would be: Charisma, Wisdom, Intelligence. White Magic: Boons is also one of the best skill sets in the game (lots of undead) because of the powerful fighting buffs plus undead damage spells plus a god-mode spell. Similarly, Necromancy is very strong since your later-level minions cast high-dmg Death spells, and you have Lifetap for heal and dmg.

Oh god, I didn't think of that. Steam takes five minutes to open in New Zealand. Even if you start it Set Offline. It takes 30 seconds for it to respond to anything. Either the gaming industry installs fibreoptic networks in the country or they can screw this idiocy. I mean, does ETW have a legal way to not use Steam yet? Why would you *force* it? Huuuh? Why would a Sega game use Steamworks? Just because a game is on Steam doesn't mean it uses Steam in non-Steam copies... Anyway, you're safe. In New Zealand you're allowed to circumvent DRM if the use is legitimate, AFAIK. Similar in Australia (with stricter requirements), but I believe Americans are up faecal highway without a method of propulsion.

Besides the Ubisoft DRM already having been cracked, leaving legit consumers in the unfortunate position of having a worse copy of their game than illegal downloaders, the Ubisoft servers are currently down. This means nobody can play any Ubisoft DRM games, such as Assassin's Creed 2. http://games.slashdot.org/story/10/03/08/0...Servers-Go-Down And this looks like just a normal outage. Lovely. I wonder what happens when a pissed off individual (or group of individuals) decides to DDoS the servers for an extended period of time.

Rubbish. Spellforce 1 is awesome. I'm playing it now myself, as are my friends. I'm obsessing over the best build for my character. Tossing between * White Magic -> Boons & Heavy Combat Arts -> Large Blade or Blunt * Fire, Ice, Earth elementalist * Mind Magic -> Offence + Defence & some damage magic like Necromancy, Death, or Ice. RTS-wise I found the game a bit easy, but still fun and enthralling. I haven't finished the main campaign, though, and also have the two expansion campaigns to go.