I translate this as "we're losing money, no more freebies."

arnold wrote on Jan 11, 2012, 04:15:
stalker????? one of the most boring game i played.........

You missed the point of Stalker, entirely. Just because it wasn't a fast deathmatch-style game doesn't mean it was "boring." It simply wasn't your cup of tea.

Prez wrote on Jan 10, 2012, 23:20:
Why do these company layoff press releases have to come across so callous and impersonal? They sound like they are talking about emptying the cafeteria garbage bins. These are actual, real live people who are losing their jobs in a bad economy. Would it kill them to at least pretend they care?

Because companies seldom care. If you happen to find a company nowadays who truly values their employees... well, hold onto that one. They're rare. Most will not care if you've worked 5, 10 or 20 years... in fact, the longer you're on the payroll, the bigger a target you become. All those raises you've accrued over the years? They're a bullseye. When HR can get a zit-faced kid to do your work for $10+ less an hour, they'll dump you and get him. Occasionally, they'll even make you train your replacement.

You're doubly boned if you work in an employment-at-will state. This effectively allows the company to fire you for any reason, at any time, without warning -- if you think you've been mistreated, then the only thing you can do is litigate.

PropheT wrote on Jan 1, 2012, 03:04:

Doombringer wrote on Dec 31, 2011, 21:55:
Krahulik should have stayed out of it. He can spin it however he'd like, but it boils down to "I think I'm pretty important since I run PA and PAX, so I'm going to throw my weight into this bit of arm-flailing."

Between this ridiculousness and the Notch/Yogscast Twitter debacle a few weeks back, the "gaming community" is looking more and more like "kindergarten."

That's absolutely ridiculous.

It might also be worth noting that since PAX, the show the guy was touting that he'd be at, wouldn't exist without Krahulik...he doesn't have to think he's important, he is. If he doesn't want someone with that sort of behavior being on the floor at his show then I think it'd be irresponsible for him not to say something. It's part of why PA is as popular as it is, because they aren't just going to let it slide because someone is paying them money...they actually care about what's going on.

As much as I hate the gaming community in general, the actual event that people are talking about is one of the positive examples of it. The stupidity surrounding it and the juvenile actions of random people who aren't involved with the story sucks (including Kotaku here), but it's pretty silly to think that's a gaming community thing and not a general internet thing.

And further dragging this into the public eye accomplishes... what, exactly?

Krahulik was showboating as the "defender" here plain and simple. He could have easily put the kibosh on that nitwit's attendance without all the limelight. Nobody here was particularly gracious in their handling of it, and it really boils down to Nerd Wars. "Arm the Twitter Trebuchets, men!" and completely unprofessional behavior all around.

Krahulik should have stayed out of it. He can spin it however he'd like, but it boils down to "I think I'm pretty important since I run PA and PAX, so I'm going to throw my weight into this bit of arm-flailing."

Between this ridiculousness and the Notch/Yogscast Twitter debacle a few weeks back, the "gaming community" is looking more and more like "kindergarten."

Deger, while I'll agree that Blizzard is really a shadow of its former self... I wouldn't equate "time sink" with their current MMO (WoW). If anything, there are systems in place where I play the game less for more reward (Looking for Dungeon/Raid).

Now, I suppose if you're talking about the WoW of "olde" ... i.e. Classic or Burning Crusade ... then yes, there were a great many time sinks.

They're not banning them outright for the same reason Blizzard won't likely ban DREAM Paragon after their recent 4.3 LFR exploits.

They're subscribers. They're paying.

Veterator wrote on Nov 25, 2011, 23:52:
What bothers me about this beta weekend is that they got thousands of people downloading 20-30 gigs worth of data. Waiting upwards of a week for more info. And they let them in Saturday at 10AM and it ends Sunday at midnight. That's not even 48 hours of opportunity to login for all your time invested up to this point.

I mean Ive been in the beta for awhile, and that pisses me off. I have friends who I had to convince to get in and they didn't even give them the holiday and the weekend to mess around. Gave them a day and a half at best if there are no problems....and they are going to take the servers down (probably wipe the temp servers) so that means you have repeat yourself the next time they give you 36 hours to try to login.

And the game prior to this massive influx of people has been having huge lag spikes, whether it's due to code or server issues. I hate to see my friends just flat out waste their time for a bunch of downloading/sign-up/lag/other problems the chance to play won't even make up for. And both of them are star wars fans.

It's a stress test. The game launches in less than a month! Criminey. They're not going to give you weeks of beta access so you can burn out and not buy the retail product. If your friends are fans, and your experience with the beta has been relatively positive, then tell them to buy the game when it's out.

These kids nowadays... it's like "beta test" means "free game."

B-b-b-b-backpedalling!

I could see one or two words getting mixed up and lost in translation, but he went on about how a PC version wouldn't sell well, possibly only 50k units, and seemed convinced no PC user would buy it (they'd only pirate it).

I have a friend who works for Verizon Wireless doing similar work. Subpoenas, cell traces, etc. It's pretty surprising how accurately they can triangulate your position based on the cell towers you're using. Great field to get into -- a little techy, a little criminal-justice, and the pay isn't bad.

Played it in beta. Single player, I created a sprawling little 'fortress' for myself to stand against the zombies. Multiplayer, I joined a very popular, successful server and created a replica of a fictitious skyscraper... worked on it for two weeks... only to have the server completely change maps right around the time the 'powered rail' update came out. Lost all that work.

I got my money's worth out of Minecraft, and am done with it.

30 hours in and I've done so little! I say about 3/4ths of the realm is still unexplored. It boggles the mind.

Every day I play, I have some interesting story to tell -- a quest or two completed, and something random that occurred or something unexpected I discovered. Amazing.

If I were the Jeep owner, I'd have hit them with a per diem rate up front -- no freebies -- and I definitely would have required closed-container shipping.

There's one thing I've learned: freight carriers do not care about you or your item. I have seen everything from bathtubs to snowblowers be handled poorly by freight carriers, including the "loss" of a $1500 generator (because those can just go missing in warehouses!) and the insurance claims process is slow and wretched. Telltale FINALLY did what was right, which was pay out of pocket for the guy's jeep while they worry about the insurance claim on their own time.

I'm sad it took an internet smear campaign to get the TTG CEO to wake up and smell the java. Which are you, TTG? Small developer with a big heart or soulless big developer with a legal team to hide behind? Sounds like you wanted to be the latter, until the guy you're jerking around stopped putting up with it and called you out.

I wanted to give EA/Origin a fair shake... and I did... but this is BS.

I like Steam... though their recent compromise has shaken my faith in their security. Still, hackers are jerkoffs no one can fully prepare for. This Origin/EA ban business is a POLICY, or severe lack thereof. Ugh.

Horrible.

Showing the Corpsegrinder video was a dick move. Plain and simple. Raging man-child slinging profanity and cross-faction hatred... yeah, great choice for a convention where you want to bring fans together and have them enjoy their favorite franchises.

I don't need to be a CEO of Blizzard to tell that it would be a poor choice for ANY part of the convention, including the ending concert.

Less Felicia Day, please. I'm sorry, but it's getting to be too much. When I see her in something, I do not go "hey, wow, that's Felicia Day! This bit of entertainment has been immediately elevated!" I instead say "ugh, she's involved in *this* too?"

We get it, Felicia. You're pretty, and a little geeky, and you have a rabid fan base. That doesn't make you a stupendous actress who has to start "diversifying."

It looks fun. As fun as WoW, at least.

And I think that's what they're banking on.

Wow. This guy is a titan of the industry, and he basically took a dump on PC gamers everywhere. Nice. As if the buggy RAGE wasn't already a thumbed-nose.

Never forget your roots, John. They're what bought you those Ferraris and got you where you are today, after all.

If you don't want 'scripted' or 'highly scripted' then play Serious Sam. Most modern FPSes have some scripting or 'on rails' feel to them, because if they didn't then other players would be crying that there's no "story" or that the game is "too freeform and lacking direction."

I like that they're sticking to their guns, and making a game they want to. I would argue that they're 'dumbing it down' a bit for console gamers (easier control scheme, less complicated gameplay systems)... but it would be far, far worse as an MMO.