metadigital

Chicobos are coprophagic.

Who, Volo? Nah, that's how he always types. "

So much for SMAC 2 <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Follow the Sid!

Check out the article when you have a spare ten minutes (it's only a couple of pages); Greg Costikyan posits a clear and cogent series of allegations against BIG BUSINESS and their attempts to "Hollywoodize" (my analogy) the games industry; also Part 2 gives a battle plan for us (all) to fix it. :D

News Half-Life 2: Lost Coast Update Released November 2, 2005, 4:00 pm

I read in the latest Scientific American that some researchers have found, in mice, embrionic brain cells in the mothers. This is significant because the embrionic cells have passed over the blood-brain barrier intact (possibly in response to a chemical distress call from the brain, as they have been found as various glial-type cells, as well as macrophages). It is already established that the cells from the natal infant can survive in the mother for up to 27 years. They are now trying to find evidence in humans, by looking for Y chromosomes in mothers' brain tissue. Possible applications may be to just inject stem cells into the blood stream for the "rescue raiders" to lend a pseudopod.

Hmm. Either you have a faulty memory or the prices in the US have had a very different evolution than the swedish ones. When I started playing games on my Commodore 128 (same as Commodore 64 but crappier) the games cost between 49 SEK and 149 SEK. Today they range from 299 SEK to 599 SEK. Console games are even worse with prices up and above 649 SEK. On average a normal game is THREE TIMES more expensive today than it was back in the eighties. I wouldn't blame that difference on inflation. I remember the post where Feargus said the prices have remained constant but the development costs have gone through the roof. I still don't understand what he meant, because the prices have also gone through the roof in Sweden at least, just as development costs have. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Escapist, "Death to the Gaming Industry, Part I", issue 8

However making short and or poor games is a sure fire way not to sell them. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Stolen, anyone ... Revenge of the Sith, anyone ...

True. There was a retrospective in the latest Custom PC issue, where the journalist compared todays technology with a decade ago: swapping Office 2003 on Windows XP for Office 95 on Windows 95 and installing it from FORTY 95mm (un)floppy disks; one big difference was the cost of computers: a 486DX2 66MHz CPU, 16MB RAM and Matrox 2MB graphics card cost (in todays money)

Relgion is the opiate of the people. Karl Marx

Kelvin. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I thought Kelvins was used for extreme temptures like the Sun. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Kelvin is just centigrade starting from absolute zero (i.e. Water freezes at 0

I agree that it would be tricky to implement....that is why I think you should have to burn a bunch of feat slots to wield such a weapon and also maintain it. Now, let us say you actually hit someone with that thing.....20% chance of vaporization....that could work. But come on, flame throwers? they are already in the game except only droids can use them. Same thing with cryogenic blasts. What about grenade throwers? Mortars? Plasma canons? Laser sniper rifles (as in the kind that actually kill)? Yes, I want these things. Balanced is obtained with mandatory feats and possibly taking an initiative penalty. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> What I always thought was barmy was the fact that any PC throwing a grenade would automatically hit their target, unless the target physically moved to a new location in between the throw and the impact of the munition. That might need a bit of tweakery ...

Me too! Create another droid like HK-47 but better and more psychotic. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I want the ability to affect players minds: made them become more psychotic (or even neurotic), either slowly in a conversation-based interaction, or with a blast of energy in a combat interaction, so that they become increasingly unstable: meglomaniacal: attack everyone to become the ruler of the galaxy psychotic: attack everyone because killing is fun multiple personality: attack everyone because the voices told them to neurotic: attack everyone with a large vat of industrial cleaning agents, to remove the dirt paranoid: attackeveryone, before they are attacked, or attack themselves, because life is too depressing to go on [*]etc Imagine giving an entire group of enemies acute suicidal depression? They would all immedaitely stop fighting because it was too much effort, and pointless anyway ...

Do not pollute ANOTHER thread with an inane holy war about console versus PC, or console versus console. The only time a console has been objectively better than a PC was when the original Playstation was released in 1995, and the spec was better than the 486DX66 mainstream CPUs out there. You keep buying

Sounds like the psycho-analytical method of GMing: GM: So, what do you expect to happen next? Players: um, ah, a skimpily clad, very beautiful woman magically appears in front of us ... yeah! But it's a Succubus! GM: ... And how does this make you feel ... "

Yeah. And Daque's changed her avatar! What happened to the Tank Girl idea ..?

I agree with all your ramblings there; I especially liked the analogy for the GM to a judge. I would underline the above sentiment, too. There has to be some buy in from the players, if they aren't intersted enough to ask about their surroundings, then don't automatically describe them as if they were playing Zork in verbose mode, and you are the talking book ... One camouflaged monster is all it takes to make the players take a healthy interest in their surroundings ...

Right, now Reveilled out of the way, send me your orders and I'll adjudicate ...

Winter has come and gone in 1906, the darling buds of May are ready to pounce on unsuspecting young sheep, to eviscerate them and dine on fine lamb chops.

Just one comment as I have other things to do. The sad fact is you don't even comprehend WHY I won't be conveniced by you and why you won't be convinced by me. I base my critcisms on logic, experience and faith. You have mad a decision OF FAITH, based on limited experience and understanding (how many religions have you STUDIED, before settling for the ONE TRUE FAITH? Excactly.) That's fine and dandy. Perhaps one day you might even decide to investigate this faith that you have put so much store into; then you will discover that the historical figure known as Jesus Christ and the fairy tale portrayed in the New Testament are well understood and accepted by senior clergy: those that have completed advanced degrees in theology. (They have come to terms with the human and supernatural lives of their christ. But yet they don't trust this information with the laity. Why is that?) Do you know why you don't? Let me save you some soul searching and tell you: you're scared. Scared of what you will find out. So I dare you: a challenge (that you will thank me for later): do some study in your religion: take a degree in divine studies, learn about it. You WILL be surprised at what you find, I cna tell you, from what you write right now. Good luck.

AYBABTU

It's the same thing the car industry did a few years back. The average age of the common car was measured in decades: in order to stimulate the market, the big guns dropped the price of all their new vehicles. Then, in order to recoup their sunk costs, they shortened the effective meantime between failure for all the parts and inflated the cost of spares and replacements, such that to build a car from said spares would cost anywhere from three to five-fold the cost of the new car. Great if you always trade your new car in every three years (like business lease programmes do) and never have an accident. Even Mercedes has taken a credibility hit in the last decade (although they are trying to rectify this now): their car reliablity used to be legendarily stratospheric (many instances of diesel taxis from the fifties that have clocked their odometers multiple times and still work with minimum servicing): now they are struggling to make their cars exit the bottom ten in surveys. So, back to Xbox: the net cost of the technology is clawed back in licence revenue from the developers (no pay, no licence to develop for the platform) and customers (exorbitant retail prices). PCs don't look so expensive anymore ...

No, but I'll bet you didn't see her in it: too much airbrushing in the way.

I know what I would spend $500 on, and it ain't a mincing costume ...

At least they do it in the privacy of the Oxford main street. Ms Hilton has to inflict her stupidity on the world through the megaphone of tabloid totem-builders, gnashing their teeth for the next expendable scapegoat ...