Guild Cafe Wants Your DNA

Guild Cafe, a website I was not registered for before today, but often used to browse for quality player-specific content, screen shots, and gaming stories, has been moving towards a redesign of GuildCafe.com and turning into GamerDNA.com.

Normally, I try to stick with a "I like this site" blurb and link in a post, but I think GamerDNA is worthy of a bit more than just that. Why? Because they are moving forward on a lot of fronts that really highlight their focus on gamers, games, and gamers sharing their stories about those games.

I've never been shy about stating that I would rather read a biased blog post from an actual gamer than a carefully crafted article from any of the major gaming news sites. I've never been shy about stating that I believe game reviews from real gamers are almost always more truthful than anything found on an official review website. However, I've also always felt that there was no common thread to connect these ideas together.

One of the problems is that some gaming websites, that build a gamer community, usually focus to heavily on a single game and therefore the entire site becomes a bit biased. It is fine when a single blogger, who plays a single game heavily, comments just about that game. That blogger's motivation is easy to see. However, when a bunch of those bloggers, playing the same game, get together on one site, it gets very frustrating for anyone outside of that circle because it feels as though the community is not on board.

This is a tough order for a new site to overcome, especially with World of Warcraft dominating most of the revenue streams for gaming websites. Plus, eight million online players ensures that the majority of conversations will be about World of Warcraft on an online site devoted to gamers. It just goes hand in hand.

So, hopefully GamerDNA can avoid this curse, and so far the features I've heard about are aimed squarely at hitting a wide spectrum of games and gamers. GamerDNA is entering beta and I hope to help give them some valuable feedback to make the site one of the premium gaming community sites out there.

Now to drum up a bit of support for GamerDNA's current website, Guild Cafe, I would like to link to their new contest.

You can be Horde, Alliance, radically geared or barely clad. A simple screenshot of your character in World of Warcraft is enough to be the lucky winner of a Frostmourne replica made by Epic Weapons.

GIVE AWAY: Age of Conan Beta Tester Cloak Code

Funcom seems to have appreciated my beta testing and feedback for Age of Conan.

Greetings!

You have been a long and thrustworthy participant in our community, and as such we would like to thank you for helping us form Age of Conan into the marvelous product it is today. The last weeks has seen some serious enhancment to the game, and with the release we will be opening several new areas and neverbefore seen content in the launch version of the game. What and where it is? You have to find out for yourself!

As a sign of gratitude for your aid, we are pleased to offer you the in-game item used by those loyal to King Conan: The Drinking Cape. This item will allow your characters (one game account only) to free of charge demand the very sought after alcholic drink of "Ambrosia" - free and in unlimited supplies for life! After having claimed your cape, merely find one of the kegs in the finer Inns of Hyboria and click it whilst wearing your cape to receive your drink.

However, since I am not playing this game, this gift item is going to go to waste. That is where you come in. Leave a comment with your e-mail address explaining why you deserve to receive it and in a couple days I'll select a winner and e-mail them the code.

UPDATE: Congrats to Genda from The Grouchy Gamer on a fine win.

Linux is in Bed with Mom

Linux may not be steamrolling the desktop operating system market so far this year, but Linux is definitely making strides in other areas. Linux is quickly proving to be an adaptable platform, useful in many non-standard applications.

Since I started with Linux I have never felt it was ready for the average home user. Not because Linux is complicated or overbearing, but because Microsoft already dominates the home user and the way they think. The one thing Linux does not want to be, is Microsoft. Until that mentality fades, Microsoft will hold their market dominance. Even with bad review after bad review of Windows Vista, it is still a lot more likely to actually work for the average computer user than Linux.

Also, I am starting to believe that Linux doesn't fit the role of a Windows replacement, no matter how many Steve Ballmer jokes the Linux crowd can think up. Linux, due to it's open nature, will never be consistent enough across the board to please hardware and software vendors, along with the average user. Linux, as a day-to-day operating system works only under the careful watch of professional IT staff. Linux is a great business solution.

So, where does this leave Linux in the home? The answer: embedded. Linux is already dominating the wireless device market. Plus, it is creeping into living rooms via video game consoles and various entertainment devices. Most importantly, its invisible to the end user.

Linux is at its best when the user doesn't even know they are using it.

To illustrate the power of Linux as an embedded platform, I present: Splashtop. Soon to be pre-installed on all Asus motherboards. But what is Splashtop?

Simply put, Splashtop, is a highly customized version of Linux, embedded via flash memory on the motherboard and acts as a quasi-bootloader. Instead of booting directly into the BIOS setup or a desktop operating system, the computer boots into Splashtop, a miniature-sized operating system. Splashtop gives access to various programs, such as Firefox for Internet surfing, BIOS/CMOS setup tools, and e-mail.

The best part? Splashtop takes approximately five seconds to boot up. This means that users no longer need to leave their computers logged in, powered up, and in sleep mode if they just use it for basic access. Also of note, no hard drive access is required, pushing the energy efficiency of short, quick boot-ups even further.

Also, with no hard drives in use, there is nothing being accessed on the main system and nothing to be compromised while surfing or checking e-mail. Not to mention, hard drives are notoriously power hungry.

Plus, being built into the motherboard, it pretty much ensures that Splashtop will work with whatever hardware the computer uses.

Embedded Linux is not the only place Linux is starting to appear. Linux is also starting to show up in tandem of Windows, and in more forms than just virtualization through VMWare or Xen. Ulteo, a Linux-based desktop product, fits right on top of various Windows installs and allows Linux to be seamlessly used in conjunction with Windows. From Slashdot:

Ulteo today unveiled their Virtual Desktop which is a free, full Linux desktop that runs seamlessly on Windows. It's interesting because it's not running under Xen or VMWare, but instead uses the coLinux patch, which they claim allows the system to achieve 'great performance, close to a native installation on the PC.' No need to reboot the system anymore to switch from Windows to Linux."

Some might question the value of such a program. Why install one operating system to just install another on top of it? It is a valid point, and one I can't really answer. However, I can state that Windows is not going anywhere soon and it will remain a fact of life for the computer industry for some time. As stated, Linux just is not in a position to take over the market. The current open, Linux distribution system can not support the number of users that Microsoft currently has without some form of compensation outside of donations. At some point, Linux has to adjust.

That does not mean Linux won't remain a viable desktop and server operating system, but the focus may start to shift away from those two applications. I don't have numbers currently on the number of Linux installs worldwide, but if Splashtop starts shipping on one million+ motherboards a month, it is only a matter of time before embedded Linux, outside of the portable device market, far outweighs that of the full-featured Linux distributions.

Ten years from now we may all wonder how we got by without a Splashtop-type startup operating system and while Linux may not be sleeping with our mothers quite yet, Linux is everywhere. Users just may not know it and thats a good thing. The only question that remains; can it run World of Warcraft?

Age of Conan Miracle Patch?

I played the Age of Conan (AoC) technical beta tests. They sucked. I lost all faith in the game. I understand that technical beta tests are not for my enjoyment. I understand beta testing. I submitted the information they requested for feedback. I still lost all interest in the game. There wasn't even a sliver of hope that the game would be enjoyable in the long run and would most likely crash horribly at launch.

The game hasn't officially launched, but open beta ended successfully from all accounts, aside from obvious FFA PvP server rules. Now, the early access period is in full swing and going well. Supposedly a Miracle Patch occurred between the late stages of beta and the live version of AoC.

Of course, I'm not playing and didn't play in open beta, so I can't really confirm or deny it. However, over a decade of online gaming has taught me that Mircale Patches do not exist. If Funcom pulled something off that fixed the majority of crashes that plagued beta, all while adding the entirety of their high level content in a bug-free way, and without so much as a bleep as to why it took so long, then I will simply eat crow and silence myself.

But I'll wait for the "real" launch and subsequent launch reviews to occur before I make any official calls. Regardless, I'm not starting at level one again for the promise of end-game PvP anytime soon. Either a game gives me what I want from the start or I'm voting a big zero dollars down.

Failure To Understand DRM

Digital rights management (DRM) is an umbrella term that refers to access control technologies used by publishers and copyright holders to limit usage of digital media or devices.

A World of Warcraft account is NOT DRM. Tobold argues otherwise, but fails to use harsh language. An account to an online game is simply a means of accessing a service. When a player decides to play an MMO they do so fully understanding they are purchasing access to a service. If they don't, they should quickly learn.

An MMO, without DRM, can be pirated. Illegal servers can be brought up to provide the service portion "for free". Someone, who has stolen the game, could then easily log onto the illegal server and play. Requiring an account for the official service does not in any way stop piracy of an MMO and therefore the account CAN NOT be considered a form of DRM.

DRM, if it exists for an MMO, would be placed on top of the requirement to have an account to access the official service. For example: the game requires having the physical media in a drive while playing, or non-account-related authentication of the files installed on the computer. This is why I've commented before that online, subscription-based games somewhat defeat piracy in the first place by selling a SERVICE, not a "pile of code".

It is not a lack of understanding about DRM. It is an unwillingness to spend money, in essence voting, for a "pile of code" that is reliant upon a remote source for local authentication before it will run. It is complete bullshit and I will continue the harsh language and posture towards it until I see fit that it is not a detriment to LEGITIMATE purchasers.

In the case of Spore, where access to online content is a feature, the tried and true system of having an account to access the online service is the perfect solution. One purchase = one access key = money earned by EA/Maxis. I don't see how they would even think of using another system, especially with their plans to rank content and allow players to vote for their favorites. Mark my words: there will be some sort of control, outside of the DRM, to access online content. Therefore, the DRM is serving a POINTLESS role while accessing online content.

The accounts system is not perfect. Accounts can be shared, stolen, etc. etc. However, it ensures at some point that a copy was purchased and that players looking to play legitimately. Plus, with current technology, it is not difficult to sniff out and stomp out shared accounts. Sure, it takes effort, but so does maintaining an authentication server for years. Not to mention the ass whooping customer service will receive if that authentication server goes tits up on launch day.

This leaves only the initial installation DRM, which will be cracked within days of release. Personally, I have no problem with installation DRM that authenticates remotely or does some magic to ensure I have purchased a legitimate copy. Steam is a great example of properly implemented and friendly DRM, coupled with an account system to manage access to the digital distribution service.

DRM can exist peacefully, but it is obvious that is not the goal for EA. EA is trying very hard to present a show of force against the evil pirates. Unfortunately, it is resulting in further alienation of an already alienated PC gaming playerbase.

NOTES for Tobold: I do not play MMOs all the time. I play games all the time, MMOs some of that time. I just talk about MMOs more.

Spore can be installed three times total. Good luck having it installed on multiple machines for any length of time.