Like many when I heard the alternate endings of Mass Effect 3 and found that none of them appealed to how I would play the character, I decided to not purchase the game. As well I chose to pass up on Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning because it is another EA title. I thought nothing more of it after that. Generally there is no better way to protest a video game. It seems others went above and beyond in protesting the endings however. In what hast to be one of the most positive protests that has to have been seen in years.
Yes, they are talking with their money but not in a traditional sense. They are doing so by giving money to charity. How cool is that. As I said I see it as the most productive protest in a long, long time. It shows that these people are not trying to come from a position of entitlement that often they are disparaged as doing, but a true dissatisfaction with the state of the game.
Now you might ask how can you get involved? The best place is to start here. The community has been keeping on top of this and Bachuck's opening post is kept up to date with really great information.
Addational Links(warning some containt spoilers):
Game Front: 5 Reasons Fans Are Right
Showing posts with label Video Game. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Video Game. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Friday, March 16, 2012
In responce
With the announcement of the Enhanced Edition of Baldur's Gate 1 & 2 I became aware again of Trent Oster's (of BioWare Fame) blog. Reading down I was faced with a post he made to an issue that as far as I'm aware still isn't dead yet(though I haven't found anything more current than that). That being Lodsys and their attempt to collect on what they claimed was license fees due from Apple App Developers. Which brings me back to his post. While I can agree with where his comments came from I can't agree with what I read as a knee jerk reaction.
Below is what my response to his post would be. Since the post is over 10 months old I didn't post this to his comments. It would be pointless to start a discussion on something he posted that long ago. However since I have a blog where I can post my thoughts no matter their source I'm going to post what my response would be any way.
I just found your blog again after having not read it for over a year and I read this old post about the situation with Lodsys. While what you said at the time would be good in theory it didn't look at the other side of the coin. Those people that have the ideas, but are unable to produce them. In your example since a patent is public a company that can produce "it" need only wait the 5 years. They then profit off that persons work without which they may never have been able to create the item.
In many fields the 20 year(at maximum I believe) exclusivity rule works because the item will be either worth the money to buy right to produce it now, be improved to the point waiting to the end of the patent term is worth the money, or be obsolete and therefor not worth anyone's time to produce now or maybe ever. The length of time is generally dependent on those very facts and the impact the type of patent could have for the good.
I'm not saying that any of that stands in this case nor do I agree with what is happening as I know it. I find, by what I've read is happening, their actions totally abhorrent. And as much as I can agree we have major issues with our system and how much it promotes greed/stupidity the core is to protect those that do not have the ability to protect themselves. Sadly on the flip side of what is happening here is the people who do get cheated out of their hard work. Many is the well known that died poorer because of their invention which was then lost to those able to take advantage.
I guess that was all just a long winded way of say it works both ways.
Below is what my response to his post would be. Since the post is over 10 months old I didn't post this to his comments. It would be pointless to start a discussion on something he posted that long ago. However since I have a blog where I can post my thoughts no matter their source I'm going to post what my response would be any way.
I just found your blog again after having not read it for over a year and I read this old post about the situation with Lodsys. While what you said at the time would be good in theory it didn't look at the other side of the coin. Those people that have the ideas, but are unable to produce them. In your example since a patent is public a company that can produce "it" need only wait the 5 years. They then profit off that persons work without which they may never have been able to create the item.
In many fields the 20 year(at maximum I believe) exclusivity rule works because the item will be either worth the money to buy right to produce it now, be improved to the point waiting to the end of the patent term is worth the money, or be obsolete and therefor not worth anyone's time to produce now or maybe ever. The length of time is generally dependent on those very facts and the impact the type of patent could have for the good.
I'm not saying that any of that stands in this case nor do I agree with what is happening as I know it. I find, by what I've read is happening, their actions totally abhorrent. And as much as I can agree we have major issues with our system and how much it promotes greed/stupidity the core is to protect those that do not have the ability to protect themselves. Sadly on the flip side of what is happening here is the people who do get cheated out of their hard work. Many is the well known that died poorer because of their invention which was then lost to those able to take advantage.
I guess that was all just a long winded way of say it works both ways.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
MMO Round 1x, FIGHT!
Likely it is more like round 1 hundred something as last year alone I tried at least twenty different MMOs (this year has been slow). What all this means is I have a tendency to get bored with most MMOs quickly and try as many as I can looking for the right one. The problem is all of them in the end seem to be the same. They may start out trying to be "revolutionary" then digress into just being the same thing as people voice there negative opinions and game play is changed. There is absolutely nothing wrong with doing so, but often it turns into nothing more than an attempt to make it more like WoW. If you really want WoW please go play WoW. I on the other hand quit the game because I got tired of the whole thing. The graphics were always a disappointment and the game play mediocre. Like every other MMO it is like every other MMO.
WoW disgust aside I still end up trying different MMOs constantly in the attempt to find the one that continues to fulfill some gaming need that even I don't know what that need is. My first new attempt was Champions Online in spite of the fact that Statesman’s (aka Jack Emmert) involvement. I had not kept up with it as I normally would and had not realized that Bill Roper had take over the reins quite a while ago. I knew he was working for Cryptic, just not the fact he was in charge of the project. Would I have still purchased it if I had? Yes. Mainly because during Open Beta it could be fun at times and a few friends enjoyed it. I paid for the lifetime, along with them; in the hopes it wouldn't follow my Hellgate London's lifetime example and have a coronary after about a year.
I think I hoped too soon. While there is nothing to say it will not last a long time they are making some similar mistakes as both Hellgate London and Tabula Rasa. The first similarity was a drastic game play change. TR's game play change was right before release so at least it got some beta time. Which was enough time for a lot of people to get very disgusted (me included) as it totally changed the game we were enjoying to that point. However that is a different disgusting, I mean discussion. CO being revolutionary took it a step forward and release an untested patch that made major changes to how the game played day 1. The second problem was the amount of bugs a release. While most MMOs start with bugs (this shouldn't be the excuse that it is) where all 3 games failed was with the combination of major game play changes and major bugs at the same time.
They fixed that right? Actually no. What they have done is continued to nerf various aspects of the game without fixing the core problem of the fact the game no longer plays as it originally did. This is most evident in how mob agro is handled. Defenses where one of the major changes in the Day 1 patch, never mind fixing the actual bugs that were still in the game as a very few people leveling too fast is more important. While there are exceptions to the Defense nerf most are about half as effective as before. This would not be a problem, a disappointment but not a problem, except the fact that mob dichotomy and density was unchanged. To use CoH terms (with their CO equivalents) a normal fight would be 1 to 2 lieutenants(Villains) with 3 to 4 standard mobs(henchmen), 2 to 3 Bosses(Master Villains), or 1 Elite Boss(Super villain). Add to that anything under a Super villain may feel that they need help so they could get a villain pickup group easily since the mob density is so high. Generally a villain pickup group (VPuG?) will consist of 1 villain and 3 henchmen.
Yet you were a SUPERhero, well before Day 1 you were, and this is was to be expected. A "day in the life of" if you will. Then they gave Superman a Kryptonite wedgie. Thankfully they have the most forgiving death penalty, you lose a star. Basically a star is a bonus effectiveness you character has. You can easily regain them by completing quests and defeating mobs (sometimes what was left of the ones that just killed you). Does this mean CO will fail? I sincerely hope not as I have another lifetime account and that would mean Bill owes me for two. Still along with a lot of other problems this can lead to frustration. When the Sith in me tries to come out, rather than strike anything down, I turn to another MMO to appease the MMO side.
(Tomorrow I'll talk about my current "turn to" MMOs Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine Online http://megaten.aeriagames.com/ and Aion Online http://na.aiononline.com/.)
Edit: Decided to name the blog 1x to signify the first post rather than 2x as an inaccurate guess as to how many MMOs I've played. 2x will be tomorrow.
WoW disgust aside I still end up trying different MMOs constantly in the attempt to find the one that continues to fulfill some gaming need that even I don't know what that need is. My first new attempt was Champions Online in spite of the fact that Statesman’s (aka Jack Emmert) involvement. I had not kept up with it as I normally would and had not realized that Bill Roper had take over the reins quite a while ago. I knew he was working for Cryptic, just not the fact he was in charge of the project. Would I have still purchased it if I had? Yes. Mainly because during Open Beta it could be fun at times and a few friends enjoyed it. I paid for the lifetime, along with them; in the hopes it wouldn't follow my Hellgate London's lifetime example and have a coronary after about a year.
I think I hoped too soon. While there is nothing to say it will not last a long time they are making some similar mistakes as both Hellgate London and Tabula Rasa. The first similarity was a drastic game play change. TR's game play change was right before release so at least it got some beta time. Which was enough time for a lot of people to get very disgusted (me included) as it totally changed the game we were enjoying to that point. However that is a different disgusting, I mean discussion. CO being revolutionary took it a step forward and release an untested patch that made major changes to how the game played day 1. The second problem was the amount of bugs a release. While most MMOs start with bugs (this shouldn't be the excuse that it is) where all 3 games failed was with the combination of major game play changes and major bugs at the same time.
They fixed that right? Actually no. What they have done is continued to nerf various aspects of the game without fixing the core problem of the fact the game no longer plays as it originally did. This is most evident in how mob agro is handled. Defenses where one of the major changes in the Day 1 patch, never mind fixing the actual bugs that were still in the game as a very few people leveling too fast is more important. While there are exceptions to the Defense nerf most are about half as effective as before. This would not be a problem, a disappointment but not a problem, except the fact that mob dichotomy and density was unchanged. To use CoH terms (with their CO equivalents) a normal fight would be 1 to 2 lieutenants(Villains) with 3 to 4 standard mobs(henchmen), 2 to 3 Bosses(Master Villains), or 1 Elite Boss(Super villain). Add to that anything under a Super villain may feel that they need help so they could get a villain pickup group easily since the mob density is so high. Generally a villain pickup group (VPuG?) will consist of 1 villain and 3 henchmen.
Yet you were a SUPERhero, well before Day 1 you were, and this is was to be expected. A "day in the life of" if you will. Then they gave Superman a Kryptonite wedgie. Thankfully they have the most forgiving death penalty, you lose a star. Basically a star is a bonus effectiveness you character has. You can easily regain them by completing quests and defeating mobs (sometimes what was left of the ones that just killed you). Does this mean CO will fail? I sincerely hope not as I have another lifetime account and that would mean Bill owes me for two. Still along with a lot of other problems this can lead to frustration. When the Sith in me tries to come out, rather than strike anything down, I turn to another MMO to appease the MMO side.
(Tomorrow I'll talk about my current "turn to" MMOs Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine Online http://megaten.aeriagames.com/ and Aion Online http://na.aiononline.com/.)
Edit: Decided to name the blog 1x to signify the first post rather than 2x as an inaccurate guess as to how many MMOs I've played. 2x will be tomorrow.
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