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How is that even possible? It usually only takes a couple of hours to realize a game stinks, if that. If you spent 50 hours in a game, then it must have done something right.

Yeah, wow, the Wild pulled some big names there. Considering they were a pretty decent team last year, just faded at the end, this lkely makes them a contender. Backstrom is a good goalie, Koivu should enjoy setting up Parise. Definitely a shift in power for the Wild.

I plan on picking up Crusader Kings 2 when it goes on sale.

That quote is brilliant. I am also clearly a person who is positively suggestible.

I would have been worried about this 10 years ago, but Jagr today isn't going to make Dallas a playoff team. Still, he's probably going to get 50 points or so, which is decent for that contract. I'm surprised if the Stars were the only ones willing to spend that.

Funnily enough, I just read this from a coworker: edit: The starred out word starts with a pen and ends with an is.

mkreku wrote: I know it sounds a little crazy to be skeptical about giving the consumer more rights, but I do worry about a backlash. I'm very happy with the fact that games are cheap, and a few months after release they become dirt cheap. I don't want that to stop. I just see this all as a fantastic excuse for IP holders to charge way more for new products. edit: Or maybe Steam will simply offer pennies for these keys.

We've got a separate thread for this now, so I will explain why I think it is bad there.

Every single credentialed teacher takes multiple courses on cognitive theory. Showing bias and identifying poor judgement is actually built into my curriculum. I do agree it is a major failure that many students do not come away from public school with this education, but it is not for lack of trying on many teacher's part. You can lead a horse to water, as the saying goes.

If Steam is forced to implement this, is anyone concerned that this will lead to the end of those great sales they run? Maybe I'm being paranoid, but if Steam ends up having to buy back keys, that seems like it will change quite a bit about their business model.

In theory I have no problem with a second hand market, but in this digital age it has become extremely complicated. Games are no longer just a disc that goes into the computer, they are tied directly to your personal accounts. So say you want to sell your product key back to a retailer, the one that is tied to your account. How do they deactivate the key for you? Why would a retailer even want your digital key? Can you imagine Steam paying you for your keys? They already offer games at dirt cheap prices, I don't see how they benefit from a secondhand market. As for selling your key without a retailer, how is that going to work? Who is going to make sure that the key is deactivated for you and works for the buyer?

Seriel keys/product ID, if I had to guess. Ok, so you sell your key to someone else, how is it going to be deactivated for you? Also, isn't this just going to lead to even more online DRM checks? It's about the principle of reselling a 'license' to a game. So in theory you could legally sell your steam/origin account with games attached to it. Again, it sounds like a terrible idea.

Yep. Bit surprised actually. Funcom went to f2p fairly quickly with Age of Conan, and that sold better out of the gates. Given that TSW is fairly niche, I would think they would just stick to having the online store. Although they do already have the store working, so I guess they will go that way eventually. My guess is a year, the lifetime sub folks don't want to feel ripped off.

Seriel keys/product ID, if I had to guess. Ok, so you sell your key to someone else, how is it going to be deactivated for you? Also, isn't this just going to lead to even more online DRM checks?

How does reselling downloaded games even work? It seems like a terrible idea, to be honest.

Maybe not steep, so much as different for the genre. In order to solve some quests, you have to actually research outside of the game. I just did a quest with a sleeping monster that you had to sneak by, he was unbeatable. There was another quest that I needed to die and go to an area as a ghost for. It has a lot of adventure game quest elements. You also have a huge amount of skills available, and you need to pay attention to how you construct your skill deck.

I didn't notice this thread earlier, but here are my initial impressions: This is a refreshing change from all the other MMO's on the market. It has quite a few major differences that, once you wrap your head around, are great. 1. The characters do not gain levels. The gain points to spend, and you can build towards a ability deck. It reminds me a bit of the original Guild Wars, although the modern combat stuff is cool. My crusader is mostly about his pistols, but he also has a warhammer to pull out and smash someone on occasion. 2. There are your basic quests, but there are also investigation and subterfuge ones. The investigation quests are awesome, they usually require some research outside of the game. Funcom has done a great job of implementing an in game browser, so you can google in game. It's like having a real smart phone, which fits the modern day setting well. 3. The learning curve is tough. I need to find guides and stumble through stuff regularly. This is a nice change from the very simplw nature of most current MMO's. It's complicated and doesn't apologize for it. It reminds me of old school games like Asheron's Call. 4. Combat is fast paced and reminds me a lot of Guild Wars 2. You should keep moving and dodge to really be effective. So mostly positive at this point.

I assume you mean taught. I agree somewhat, in that it is ultimately up to the student to utilize their brains. But as a teacher, I can put them in situations where it is in their best interests to think critically. For example, taking the textbook and comparing it to other contradictory texts online or in other books is a great way to get students to question what they are reading, to not just accept authority. That's really the ultimate lesson I strive for in my classroom. Question everything. I also teach them how to question respectfully, so it doesn't get messy

Yikes, the joys of home ownership! At least your insurance should cover it without a problem.

Yeah, I was confused about what Brodeur was doing too with the whole free agency thing. He has spent his whole career in NJ, and it's not like they have a backup in the system that has been NHL tested. He is as entrenched as anyone. Definitely some movement so far.

Hey! I use hulu too! Unfortunately the wife still likes her cable...something about PBS and kids... I'm still trying to convince her that we don't need cable or satellite. My kids can totally survive off Netflix, which has a ton of kids programming. My wife is the stick in the mud that won't let me cut the cord. I bought a Roku also, which streams from the internet and has a lot of free channels, including a few good kids shows.

Ok, I mentioned I grabbed The Secret World the other day. Now that I've played it for a bit longer, I have to say, this is a refreshing change from all the other MMO's on the market. It has quite a few major differences that, once you wrap your head around, are great. 1. The characters do not gain levels. The gain points to spend, and you can build towards a ability deck. It reminds me a bit of the original Guild Wars, although the modern combat stuff is cool. My crusader is mostly about his pistols, but he also has a warhammer to pull out and smash someone on occasion. 2. There are your basic quests, but there are also investigation and subterfuge ones. The investigation quests are awesome, they usually require some research outside of the game. Funcom has done a great job of implementing an in game browser, so you can google in game. It's like having a real smart phone, which fits the modern day setting well. 3. The learning curve is tough. I need to find guides and stumble through stuff regularly. This is a nice change from the very simplw nature of most current MMO's. It's complicated and doesn't apologize for it. It reminds me of old school games like Asheron's Call.

The Secret World - Different than most of the MMO's coming out today. It has some really nice things, but also some rough edges. I will give it a month and see how it goes. Man, I'm really addicted to MMO's.

Gromnir seems really hung up on this on topic deal. Many of us have been talking to each other on this board for years. When you start a conversation with someone, it is going to drift into other areas. There is nothing rude about it. Typically it can either peter out and go back to the original topic, or if it gets really good then we can start a new thread. This little spat hardly deserves a new thread, but the term 'rude' is an odd choice, particularly when it was a rude comment by Gromnir that set it off course. The mods typically let us know if it is getting too heated, which is why I took the time to apologize, so that we could move on. Moving on, I hope they open up the transfers a bit more, I still have a trooper on an East Coast server that I would like to move to my home on the West Coast server.

The biggest problem in public education is the parents. The government may do some ridiculous stuff to try and create accountability and improve test scores, but the parents are the ones who either actively undermine the whole process, or are simply uninterested in making sure their child gets a good education. It's also ridiculous to state that all public schools are broken. It's a generalization that doesn't hold up. Every school is different, as is every school district. For example, I teach at one of the best schools in California. People move from all over to get in our district, our property prices are outrageous, and I have former students attending all sorts of top universities. Guess what? It has little to do with my teaching, the curriculum we cover, or the way the school is run. We are blessed with an insanely supportive parent community, and they make sure their children come to school prepared to be the best in the state. It makes my job easy. On the other spectrum, my wife works at a school that has gang problems, low test scores, teenage pregnancies, the works. The teachers at her school are really no different than the staff at mine, the curriculum put into place is the same, the administration is the same, in fact the government even gives them more money than my school. They've got great technology and everything a good school could ask for. The difference is the parents. The parent community is terrible. They don't hold their kids accountable, they don't teach their children respect, they don't put any emphasis on education. In summation, I understand the government needs to be more efficient when it comes to education funding. But they aren't the real problem with education. The only reason private schools seem more successful is because you are paying for it, and parents who are putting up thousands for their children's education tend to be a lot more involved in every aspect.