Twenty Sided

By Shamus Posted Thursday May 29, 2008

A couple of days ago I posted to the Greenhouse forums, soliciting their thoughts on when we might get a standalone version of RSPOD. All I managed to do was re-light the dormant debate on the issue without getting any response out of PA / Hothouse Games. I nudged them again the next day. The thread has since fallen off the front page and I’m pretty sure the Hothouse guys are just ignoring it. Ah well. It was worth a try.

I was really, really hoping they were going to take the path forged by Telltale Games. Telltale has set the standard for how episodic gaming should be done, and it’s a shame to see Hothead stagger onto the field with so little idea of what they’re doing.

I really enjoyed the demo for the Penny Arcade game, and as I’ve said before – the $20 price point is irresistible to me. But I still expect to own games that I buy, and after waffling a bit I’ve decided their activation requirement is a deal-breaker for me. I really wanted to support them, but after a lot of fuss and attention for the fans at launch they seem to have wandered off. That initial wave of attention filled me with the delusion that we might be able to get them to re-think their policy of requiring the game to authenticate on install, forever.

Serves me right for abandoning my default stance of bitter cynicism I’ve cultivated over the last few years.

It’s just as well. Instead of worrying about RSPOD, I think I really, really need to get on the Sam & Max bandwagon. I played the Free Episode and it was fantastic. My next purchase will either be the Galactic Civ expansion or a season of Sam & Max. Decisions, decisions.

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.

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The Truth About Piracy

By Shamus Posted Thursday May 29, 2008

Filed under: Video Games 145 comments

 Authorization ServersPrevious Post

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If you don’t get it, this might help explain the joke.

Yesterday’s scourging of ~~BioWare’s~~ EA’s clumsy falsehoods led us back to the old discussion about software piracy being “theft”.

I think the closest analogy of piracy is the one Bruce offered in the comments: It’s like sneaking into a movie. Sure, it’s not “hurting” anyone – nobody becomes poorer by virtue of your viewing of the movie – and you are not depriving anyone else of the product. (We must assume the theater is infinite in size and all the seats offer the same view for this analogy to work.) But most people recognize that sneaking in is still wrong.

In the case we’re dealing with, so many people are sneaking in the fire exit that there is a certain herd comfort to the act. After all, “everyone else is doing it and we’re not hurting anyone.” The sense of scandal is gone.

To combat this, the theater owner first began hassling everyone as they came into the theater to make sure they had tickets. This was a mild annoyance, but had no impact on people coming in through the fire exit. When that plan failed, they began frisking customers as they came in. This was very annoying and insulting, and many people wouldn’t stand for it.

Some people have quit going to the movies outright.

Some people buy tickets, run outside, and come in the back way along with all of the leeches to avoid the invasion of their privacy.

Some people sneak in and claim they will pay for a ticket on the way out if they liked the movie. Some of them even mean it and occasionally do so.

Some people sneak in, but rarely stay to the end. They usually leave halfway through, often to sneak into some other movie. They enjoy the thrill of jumping the fence and getting in more than they enjoy movies. If the movie was free, they wouldn’t bother seeing it at all.

Some of the people sneaking in do so because they are broke and can’t afford to buy a ticket. (Some of these would very probably find a way to pay for a ticket if they found they could no longer use the fire door.)
Since realizing the great influx of people into the theater through the fire door, the theater managers have gone nuts. Continue reading ⟩⟩ “The Truth About Piracy”

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.

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I’m Expressing My Discontent

By Shamus Posted Thursday May 29, 2008

Filed under: Movies 61 comments

 RSPODPrevious Post

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My face still hurts from the cruel touch of my dentist’s dread implements. Spore, Mass Effect, and RSPOD are all coming out encumbered by digital chicanery, and I will have no part in them. I’m miserable and angry at the world. My discontent has caused me to lash out and hurt those closest at hand. This process begins, dear reader, with you.

My desire to share my pain with the world is so strong that I will now afflict you with the following, an agonizing solicitation for a popular videogame. Behold, the Herald of Woe, the Murderer of Joy. The risible, eyeliner-wearing mockery of all that is Rock and Roll. I give you: The Guy Who Sings About Guitar Hero for the DS:

Play the video! Play it now, and know the meaning of tribulation!

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.

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Site Theme Updated

By Shamus Posted Wednesday May 28, 2008

Filed under: Random 23 comments

 Oops.Previous Post

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Fixed issue where the main content would be off-center in Opera.
Inserted a bit of a gap between comments.
Moved the comment dice a little closer to their related comment.
Chaotic Evil text is now slightly darker so it isn’t pure white on black.
The gradient in True Neutral is taller, which may fix the slowdowns some people were reporting. I have no way of testing this myself, but I trust you’ll enlighten me if things are still wonky.

Also: I know that Wavatars look goofy on IE6 and the transparent images don’t display properly. The first is way too hard to test and fix, and the second is insurmountable. Sorry IE6 users. The site should work properly, it just won’t look its best.

Drop a comment if you see anything amiss.

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.

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23 comments

Mass Effect:
Greg Zeschuk WIRED Interview

By Shamus Posted Wednesday May 28, 2008

Filed under: Game Reviews 95 comments

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Wired magazine talks to Bioware’s Greg Zeschuk about the PC version of Mass Effect. They touch on the DRM issue:

WIRED: Recently, a lot of focus has fallen on the use of DRM in the PC version of Mass Effect, specifically the much-maligned SecuROM technology. Developers often cite such measures as a necessary step to curtail piracy, but obviously it upsets many paying customers as well. It has recently been revealed that Mass Effect will no longer use the SecuROM technology to protect itself from pirates — was that change a direct response to the outcry of fans across the internet?

Zeschuk: BioWare is always committed to its fans and we always listen to them. There was certainly a lot of speculation and rumors about what was planned for Mass Effect in terms of DRM but we hadn’t officially given any word about the DRM plan until we made the one official statement in our community and overall the response was very positive. We really appreciate our loyal fans that buy our games and keep us in business, but frankly we’re appalled by piracy and its advocates — those people aren’t part of our community.

Was he following the same story we were? Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Mass Effect:
Greg Zeschuk WIRED Interview”

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.

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Oral Excavations

By Shamus Posted Wednesday May 28, 2008

Filed under: Personal 54 comments

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Last year I broke a tooth a few hours after coming home from surgery, an ordeal which I cataloged here. The remaining tooth was little more than a fragment, and to attempt repair it was to stretch the definition of tooth “filling”. This would be the third such reconstruction. Each time it’s attempted, that last remaining sliver of enamel is an increasingly small and precarious place upon which a filling must attain purchase.

Since I was still weakened from the harvesting of my organs, I was in no shape to endure a lengthy proceedure to rebuild a tooth which was probably doomed to shatter yet again, if it didn’t simply die outright. My dentist proposed an alternative: He would seal the tooth up with a temporary filling, thus entombing the crucial innards in a nominally protective shell, but otherwise leaving off the nicer outer layer of whatever it is they use to make fillings the right shape and color. If the tooth survived for a couple of weeks, we could conclude that the last vestiges of tooth were still a suitable foundation on which to build. If not, well… at least I wouldn’t have wasted money and precious painful hours on the thing. His offer was something with which I was down.

The repair work was not attractive. It was the color of dirty concrete, a small malformed lump that hunched shamefully between its peers. But it was a back tooth – a molar in your fancy-pants Dentist parlance – and thus I never saw it. Which led to a serious bit of foolishness on my part.

My Dentist fell ill. (And, as I found out later, died. He was a nice enough fellow and already semi-retired. His office was often closed, but when he was working he had a battalion of doting assistants to make his paths straight.) His office contacted me to refer me to another dentist, but I assured them I’d handle it myself.

Which I didn’t. Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Oral Excavations”

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.

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Authorization Servers

By Shamus Posted Tuesday May 27, 2008

Filed under: Video Games 63 comments

 RSPOD: DRM DistinctionsPrevious Post

Next PostThe Truth About Piracy 

Last night I posted the following to the Hothead Games forums in regard to the recently-released Penny Arcade game. I apologize for some of the colorful language it contains. (Warning: The following contains colorful language.) Earlier in that same thread one of the Hothead guys assured fans that they “were not trying to be dicks” with their DRM scheme, and I used the same language in my reply. At any rate, the requirement for online activation is still a sore spot with me, and I was hoping to tease some information out of them about their intentions. My post:

Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Authorization Servers”

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.

 RSPOD: DRM DistinctionsPrevious Post

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