Software isn't like other second hand goods because the quality of the product stays exactly the same no matter how many people sell on. People don't realise that they never actually own a computer game, because a computer game is just a $#@!load of code which you don't have access to, you are really buying a licence to run that code. So I see no reason why people think they have the right to on-sell, gamers really think they are an entitled bunch.
I disagree with a whole lot of that. Second hand games like PS3 for example have built in obsolescence like the console life cycle so the original doesn't need to deteriorate. Furthermore other copyright material like say music albums on vinyl can last for 100 years in perfect condition and it's still legal to sell it. Also (in the US at least) you are allowed to copy your original to prevent damage and wear to it. Just because it may last longer or be less tangible than other consumer goods doesn't automatically grant exemption from consumer law. There were never degrees of applicability to the right of second sale before for goods that lasted longer or were less tangible than others. This is basic common sense and one reason why consumers prefer to buy goods that last longer. You simply price your goods on demand, with the used market affecting that price accordingly. There is no need to go rewriting the law books to accommodate their greed.
A EULA might tell you that you are buying a licence to run the code only but that is a lie. If you don't sign a contract before making a purchase, right of first sale is assumed to apply. Therefore you do own your copy and are entitled to sell it, and the EULA is invalid, whether it's a digital download or not. Also it is easy to defeat any accusation based on a EULA because they are so called boilerplate contracts that are often seen as unethical and in law they are usually unconscionable (but again the MPAA has had success in some cases in the US against this). Breaking a EULA is simple breach of contract, and not illegal. Breaking copyright law however is illegal. http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/07/top-eu-court-upholds-right-to-resell-downloaded-software/
What if you buy and download a $1,500 commercial software product to support a contract you have and then 2 weeks later you lose the contract? In recognition of this some publishers already provide a function so within the program, or online, you can release the licence (serial key) and on-sell the software. What if you buy Resident Evil 6 Premium Edition which was US $1,338 then lose an arm a week later and can't play anymore? Are these examples of entitlement? Why should delivery method (download vs. physical) affect your consumer rights? At any rate either way you buy the right to install from the same 0's and 1's, be they online or in your drive, why should it even matter where the installer was?
Steam are currently in court in Europe for barring users from selling used Steam games. This may be why it appears that Steam are going to launch sharing, to appease users. What about users who have $5,000 invested in software in a company which could go tits up any day, or change their terms and conditions preventing access to their library, or changes those terms such that the owner does not want to accept them? That, justifiably is entitlement. http://www.pcgamer.com/2013/02/01/valve-sued-by-german-consumer-group-because-steam-users-cant-resell-games/
I think the problem here is that as we are told of the piracy cost, of companies going out of business, we start to believe invalid EULAs and their invalid terms, etc. and it all becomes the new norm. If the right to second sale is to be forfeit then this should be reflected in a discount in retail pricing, but that would never happen and even if it did prices would soon be back up again. Here in NZ, and in Oz, UK, and S America we should be particularly concerned about all this as we are gouged for double the retail cost that the rest of the world are paying.
there are a lot of haters when it comes to expansion packs. I don't see why, you don't have to buy them, but you especially don't need to harp on about how you aren't buying them.
They split the community. Splitting the community is bad for the game. Also they increasingly include content that should have been in the original release. Final Fantasy IIIX or whatever you had to pay to DLC an ending for the game, lol.
When Bad Company was released there was a complete change of direction, functionality, and scope of the game. New bugs were introduced like the cursor menu offset problem, the windowed menu box problem, joystick third axis issue etc., etc. All are common to all DICE Frostbite Battlefield games. At the same time there was a lot of feature changes. Removal of Commander, removal of VOIP, mini map / map, essentially the whole UI was new and alien to the game. DICE and EA passed off these changes as being justified somehow, it was artistic direction, or players didn't want it etc. Patrick Bach even said players didn't want the commander role even when polls on Dices own site were 80% in favour of retaining the Commander role. Similar lies on other issues were tweeted by Daniel Matros who even claimed these decisions had been based on research which he couldn't provide when asked. Anyway, long story short, all of this is bullshit. The real actual reason for the dramatic overhaul of the UI, including maps, squads, VOIP, Commander, etc. is because River couldn't do it. River are simply Autodesk Scaleform developers. The entire UI, and more importantly all of the features within it, were at the mercy of what River were, or weren't capable of doing. So the real logic was that DICE weren't implementing these features, River were doing the entire UI, and if River couldn't do it they made up bullshit PR reasons to explain the changes. The amount of bullshit that has surrounded this franchise post BF2 is simply astounding.
proximity voip should be in there as well, then again id happily settle for no ingame voip at all if dice could cut the heads off these responsible for bf3s voip and stick them on stakes outside their offices for all to see :welcoming:
BF3 is a BC2 mod. If it wasn't in BC2, or was broken, it wasn't in BF3. They chose to remove the broken VOIP, but many other BC2 bugs remain in BF3.
I don't see any mention of fixes for the two reasons I gave up on DayZ. One was the hacking, being teleported, killed, rinse and repeat. The other one was the survivor / bandit mechanics. Last time I played some guy was desperate for food injured and dying. I told him where to meet me and I'll fix him up. Two minutes later I'm under fire from him as he's figured he'll just take what he wants off my corpse. For a lot of ppl that's probably fine, maybe that's how everyone wants to roll in DayZ. But to me it's totally lame. There seems to be a lot of players who see PVP as the only way to play the game, but I can't see how that can work long term without changes. I've played DDO which is almost purely PVE and it can be great fun and challenging. Sure the AI of the game is going to limit the challenge of PVE but unless the bandit / survivor mechanic is overhauled it's not gonna work, in my opinion.
Bought a bunch of new games to try. Tried installing Rage last night. turns out it's a Steam title. With DVD 2 in the drive I went out to walk the dog. I get home and DVD 3 and god only knows what else has been downloaded from Steam using 1/3rd of our monthly cap. It was still downloading (I don't know what) so I killed the installer.
So today I start installing another game, 1 DVD, what could possibly happen? And then...
The concept is now crazy old and done a dozen times over and better. It actually is too late...
No, a game like Senet, now that's crazy old having been played for nearly ca. 6,000 years now. It's also an overflowing genre with copycat variants such as Backgammon being a mere ca. 5,000 years old. The inventor of Backgammon probably sat there thinking this is gonna be an epic fail, the board game genre is already overflowing.
Anyone who remembers the classic game Elite from the old skool 8 bit computing days might like to know that Kickstarter have a development page up for a remake of the game...
For the uninitiated, at Kickstarter you pledge money but don't pay unless the project is completed (EDIT: you pay on Friday Jan 4 2012 if the target sum for the project is reached). In this case a £20 pledge not only goes to the development fund, but entitles you to a full version download on completion of the game. So there's nothing to lose.
For those who don't know about the game, it'll be something like a mix of Privateer and Eve Online, but with a very heavy emphasis on combat and infinite re-playability (unlike those other games). All support appreciated.
Here's a real conspiracy to consider. Did Gen. Barry McCaffrey (USA) conspire to break the ceasefire (GW1) culminating in the Battle of Rumaila slaughter? I believe he did and that his words "find a way for me to kill all of those bastards" sadly sums up the maniacal attitude the USA has to war. If the conspiracy itself doesn't spin your wheels, the other atrocities (brought out by the investigation into the Battle of Rumaila) that were commited by the USA in this war "should" alarm us all. Especially given that when the USA fight these wars they claim to represent us too (bundled among the "western democracies"). Some background here...
It's the pricks who ask the smart arsed questions that they already know the answer to that pissed me off. Wasting the classes time just to try and impress the class, sorta like Jordy does here.
Was looking through my photos looking for stuff or the "Post Yourself" thread and I found these chumps. They deserve to be on the internets just for doing it. Photos are from a film star themed party I went to. They went around with the food for supper, but I didn't want pubes in my savories so I got my own.
Lucky my mum wasn't there Ghost. She fookin hates sunglasses in photos and would have had you over her knee quick smart.
Anyway here's a montage thing I made of me, my partner Michelle, and our girl Jessica. They are...
Michelle, me, and daughter (Jessica). Me and my sister. Michelle and me. My abominable snowman halloween party cossie. A coven of bitches, err I mean witches. Student ball. University graduation. Jessica getting me ready for a pirates theme party. Some wallpapers I made starring my sexy partner (I'm artsy/crafty). Partner Michelle in what looks like her Marcel Marceau costume.
