Saturday, October 31, 2009

How About You Ask The Pirates?

Ars Technica is running a piece about Borderlands and the fact some players were able to snag a boxed copy of the PC version days before launch only to be greeted by failed authentication attempts preventing them from playing the game.
Borderlands was a highly anticipated release on the PC, but a one-week delay of the PC launch meant that console gamers were able to enjoy the gun-collecting goodness ahead of their PC gaming brethren. A few gamers were lucky enough to find stores that were willing to sell the boxed PC copy of the game before the street date, however, but when they installed the game and tried to play, they found that without the title being authenticated online, the disc and key were worthless.

The problem? They forgot that buying a PC game doesn't involve a product, but a license.
Gearbox big wig, Randy Pitchford, responded:
"I don't know if something can be done to unlock copies for people that somehow get a copy before the street date... I certainly can't do anything about it, but I understand and am sympathetic to the frustration,"
He doesn't know. The man responsible for the game doesn't know if it can be unlocked before its street date. Maybe he should have asked the pirates that were playing Borderlands DAYS before the official street date.

It constantly amazes me the things that Publishers and Developers push off on piracy. Pirates don't buy games. Stopping them does not generate any revenue. There is not a single developer that has proven that piracy hurts their game sales. In some cases it has proven to help sales just as a free copy of a ebook often spurs sales of the hard copy!

Yes, piracy does hurt the bottom line when pirated versions are allowed to negatively affect the community and service built around a game. However, rarely, if ever, does a pirated copy equal a lost sale. That is NOT my opinion, its proven fact. Unfortunately, few companies are willing to admit this.

One time, just one time, I would like to see these companies learn a lesson from piracy. Make the game easily accessible, with no restrictions, and allow players to play as soon as they have their hands on a copy. This makes for happy and repeat customers (an educated person may have noticed that pirates tend to come back again and again to the same hacking communities that put out the best product).

NOTE: I do not pirate games or endorse piracy.

Friday, October 30, 2009

Holonet Entry Reveals Jedi Knight Class for The Old Republic

BioWare has announced the next class in Star Wars: The Old Republic, the Jedi Knight, on the Holonet page of the SW:ToR official site:
Valiant, Determined, Guardian of Peace

A symbol of hope in dark times, the Jedi Knight stands for the legacy of the Jedi Order—more than twenty-thousand years of protecting the Republic and keeping the peace across the galaxy. Though Jedi Knights have served as generals, guerilla fighters, and warriors for generations, their legendary combat prowess faces its greatest test during this age.

Through years of disciplined training and meditation, the Jedi Knight hones body and mind into perfect harmony. Combining the foresight of the Force with unrivaled reflexes and practiced physical precision, the Knight turns combat into an art form, gracefully executing acrobatic feats in tandem with elegant lightsaber tactics.

A source of inspiration to allies and intimidation to adversaries, the Jedi Knight’s presence is welcome in any confrontation. The Order’s long history of fighting for justice has earned the trust of countless friends and the hate of innumerable enemies. Few, though, are foolish enough to challenge a seasoned Jedi Knight unless they have the skills and technology to even the odds.

Facing the Dark Side

The Jedi’s dark counterparts scored many victories during the war, expanding their Empire, and putting the Republic on the defensive. Since the Treaty of Coruscant, the Sith have consolidated their military might, even while the Jedi have withdrawn to Tython, a move that’s been looked at with suspicion by many of the Republic’s politicians. Nonetheless, the war is far from over, and the Jedi Knight’s resolve remains firm. With unwavering allegiance to the Republic and the light side of the Force, the Jedi Knight fights with valiant determination, wading into the thick of any battle to protect freedom and democracy and hold fast against those who oppose it.

No matter how dire circumstances may become, the Jedi Knight trusts the Force and keeps a cool head. Knowledge and self-control are the critical components of wise decisions, and emotional and mental clarity are an absolute necessity. Maintaining focus allows the Knight to rely on intuition; a right mind leads to right action.

For many, the Jedi Knight is the guardian of a precious dream; a dream of peace, a dream of justice, a dream of a brighter future. The fate of the galaxy depends upon the Knight’s ability to keep this dream alive.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

World of Warcraft Cross-Realm Dungeons

World of Warcrafthas decided that cross-realm PvP battlegrounds were not enough and have gone ahead and added cross-realm PvE dungeon groups.
In the upcoming content patch, a new dungeon system will be added that will take the place of the current Looking For Group system. This will offer great new benefits to both premade and randomly created groups, including:

* Cross-Realm Instances/Grouping
* Instance Teleporting
* Daily Random Dungeons
* Group Disenchanting
Personally, this is something I wanted in WoW a long time ago. The player group that will benefit the most from this change will be those behind the curve, who are still doing the dungeons the majority long ago left behind. As I joined late in the party on The Burning Crusade, I did very few dungeons in Outlands as there was never a group doing the ones I had quests in.

This is another sign that Blizzard knows what they are doing with WoW as a whole. They may have fallen down from time to time with class changes (they are fairly overzealous in that area), but overall Blizzard has managed the WoW juggernaut well.

Every announcement out of WoW entices me to go back. Unfortunately, I just don't have the time (maybe that is fortunate :P ).

Update: 31 Oct 2009 - Edited title (world was spelled wrong).

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

The Gathering Shipping

Greetings from Amazon.com.

We thought you'd like to know that we shipped your items, and that this completes your order. Your order is being shipped and cannot be changed by you or by our customer service department.

The following items have been shipped to you by Amazon.com:
------------------------------------------------------------
Qty Item Price Shipped Subtotal

------------------------------------------------------------

Amazon.com items (Sold by Amazon.com, LLC):

1 The Gathering Storm (Wheel... $14.00 1 $14.00

Shipped via USPS
FINALLY, the Wheel of Time series is concluding (this is book 1 of 3 of the last 3 that will be released). Yay, go fantasy!
Update: 30 Oct 2009 - It has arrived (now I need to catch up on books 4-11)

Monday, October 26, 2009

Olivia Munn Hates Flying

I once hated Twitter. I now love it. I get to find out cute little things like Olivia Munn (@oliviamunn) having a fear of flying:

United Death Flight 6876 out of State College, Pennsylvania is now departing. Dear mother of God... Hail Mary full of Grace... Fuck me.

Soleil Moon Frye aka Punky Brewster. RT@fedbizop Who do you want to play U in the story of your life?

If I dont make it, tell my mama not to cry. tell her i was happy, made fun of fat people, told lots of racist jokes and LIVED!

My last tweet will read "Is it cool if there arent wings?" RT @Mikey_Vega peggy sue, peggy sue. A pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty peggy sue..
Don't know who Olvia Munn is? Only the hottest geek gaming chick of them all and star of Attach of the Show on G4 TV.

The only thing that concerns me is that it is not a verified person on Twitter so could just be a twitter hoax :P Oh well, hot chick pic FTW!


UPDATE:
She lived.
oliviamunn In NY safe! Yeah bitches!!! Liv Munny in the hiz-ouse!... Fuck I just said "hiz-ouse" as a replacement for "house". Gotta kill myself. Damn.