Opinionated techie Comments - Brought to you by JoeUser

lgspence on IconPackager 4 sneak peak...

lgspence — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:39:18 -0400

When I updated,I went backwards instead of forward.What a mess.So I uninstalled and went back to the prior version.

PurrBall on IconPackager 4 sneak peak...

PurrBall — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:39:18 -0400

I too am getting activation crap with this new build, it's never happened before must be a bad build? It activated fine though so I'm alright

SGT Snuggles on IconPackager 4 sneak peak...

SGT Snuggles — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:39:18 -0400

Hi I tried entering my OD Serial Number and Email Address and Iget a Product Activation Error.

Anything else I can try to get the latest Iconpackager to work again

CobraA1 on Piracy & PC Gaming

CobraA1 — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:39:18 -0400

Linux laptop gamer to be exact.

What games do you have? Why not play the games in Windows?

the noCD cracks mean I don't need to cart around my game collection with me just because I fancy firing up on the train, plane or friends house.

This is why I like Stardock Central and Steam. I think they show where gaming is going in the future.

Look, I understand that console gamers are really impressed with 'uber l33t graphics' but personally I'm not.

Same here. I'm not impressed with the consoles' graphics. When I first saw a demo of a game on a 360 in a store, it had zero antialiasing and frankly it looked no better than Half-Life 2. I was getting better graphics with antialiasing with my GeForce 6800. Frankly, that's unacceptable. Maybe today's games look better and turn on AA, but it's too late now. I've been upgrading my computer fairly regularly, and my current computer is more powerful than any Xbox 360 by any standard you care to use. That's one of the largest disadvantages of consoles: Their technology is static, so they get outdated quickly. You can't just keep upgrading them with new technologies like you can a PC.

Unreal, dropping out the Vortex Rikers in to the open area, the birds squark and Shared Dig starts playing. Boom, the original 'look at me ma' upon which every other bloody FPS has copied to a degree.
Homeworld 2, the hyperspace core intro.

Never played Unreal single player, but I've played Homeworld 2, and it's very impressive. One of the things you get when playing either of the Homeworld games is an enormous sense of scale. Lots of things in Homeworld are aboslutely mind boggling. There are structures that are many AUs, perhaps even light hours, large. So large that it's part of the background texture - a background that wraps around the player.

Did you know I couldn't buy games locally? Not one single store in my area (including, ASDA, Tesco, GAME and so on) stock PC games. If you aren't selling it... how can I buy it?

Totally agreed. With the exception of Wal-Mart, I can't really find a PC game in the game stores anymore. Well, I've got news for them: If they won't sell me any PC games, I'm not buying anything from them. Period. I'll just buy games direct from the publisher, or through Steam or Stardock Central. They certainly are not going to get my money, no matter how convenient they are.

I GOT REALLY HACKED OFF BEING TREATED LIKE A GOD DAMN THIEF!

That's the problem with not just game DRM, but DRM in general: You're treated as a thief, unless you go to great lengths to prove otherwise. DRM completely ignores any exceptions in copyright law, and even enforces things that are not a part of any law anywhere. DVD regions come to mind: There are no laws anywhere giving companies the right to create artificial barriers between nations, yet they do it.

DRM is not enforcing any known laws: DRM is creating its own laws.

Sarah Hayes on Piracy & PC Gaming

Sarah Hayes — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:39:18 -0400

Personally, I am a video game pirate. I use noCD cracks, I install from ISO's, anyway you look at it I am a bad bad person. Of course, lets ignore the fact that all of those ISO's are for games I own. Regardless I'm doing something naughty that some people thing is wrong.

Why? Because installing from ISO's is faster (and quieter), the noCD cracks mean I don't need to cart around my game collection with me just because I fancy firing up on the train, plane or friends house. Yep, laptop gamer. Linux laptop gamer to be exact. Ohh and just a little thing, minor really (doesn't apply here but hey), but you know best mention it. I GOT REALLY HACKED OFF BEING TREATED LIKE A GOD DAMN THIEF! I BROUGHT THE SODDING THING SO WHY SHOULD I PUT UP WITH A SHODDIER EXPERIENCE THAN SOMEONE WHO RIPPED YOU OFF? HELL. NO.

I agree with the comments about it being the publishing houses killing off PC games. Look, I understand that console gamers are really impressed with 'uber l33t graphics' but personally I'm not. Here are the 'jaw drop' moments that spring to my mind:

Unreal, dropping out the Vortex Rikers in to the open area, the birds squark and Shared Dig starts playing. Boom, the original 'look at me ma' upon which every other bloody FPS has copied to a degree.
Homeworld 2, the hyperspace core intro.

That's IT. I've played Doom 3, HL2, Quake 4 and so on and so forth. They're in their boxes or sat on my steam list all uninstalled. Now STEEM (Atari emulator) and Deuteros have been on my system for a long time, so's Neverwinter Nights. Simple little games or games with plots and storyline keep me trucking, stock FPS's are throw away titles for me.

I'd also like to add that stores have a lot to answer for. Did you know I couldn't buy games locally? Not one single store in my area (including, ASDA, Tesco, GAME and so on) stock PC games. If you aren't selling it... how can I buy it?

But yeah, blame little old me for the death of the PC gaming industry, I just don't want MY game phoning home, spinning my laptops DVD drive needlessly or rampaging around my WINE install causing problems. But that's cool gaming industry, blame me, I'll just stop buying your crap (and consequently downloading a backup thereof obviously) and watch you burn.

Excalpius on The insecure CEO

Excalpius — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:39:18 -0400

I have mentioned this before, but it bears repeating.

Regardless of the merits of the argument, when Brad (as the head of Stardock) posts under multiple aliases, it always comes off as disingenuous and self-serving to me. I, for example, forgot that Draginol was Frogboy was Brad, so I thought the previous post was a LOT of effort to draw attention to something no one really gives a darn about. This post REALLY reinforces that position.

I, for one, would likely never have heard of "hyperdesk" if Draginol hadn't posted that...and now this subsequent huge monstrosity of a post.

I'm sure we would have seen more about it when the product was released. Welcome to capitalism.

But I don't remember the head of Adobe ever spending so much time publicly bashing the head of Corel Painter, for example. The end users are more than willing to take both of them to town, hehe.

This kind of flame war/pissing contest does nothing but diminish both parties, making them look less like corporate executives and more like garage coders lobbing yellow snowballs over their adjoining fence...while we're all stuck watching on a webcam. Entertaining, perhaps. Professional, no.

Why is this particularly problematic for Stardock?

Well, PR and marketing have always been Stardock's Achilles heel. You guys have GREAT products (I am paying for virtually everything you make these days), but Brad tends to do all the PR himself, via grass roots article posts on sites like Neowin.net, etc. Their limited effectiveness contributes to the pervading sense that Stardock will never rise above a niche player, but the REALLY big issue here is that Brad is doing the grass roots posts AND then engages in these childish "my tiny little software company is bigger than your even tinier little software company" flame threads. Having the same person covering both of these communication avenues really really makes both the company and its executive management look very small and unfortunately rather petty.

Now, as I've said before, I've seen this going on for years now and every year or so I state my opinion. Brad is free to keep ignoring it. I just like the company and its products enough to care about how it's being represented and how it's being perceived.

My one cent.

Noumenon72 on The insecure CEO

Noumenon72 — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:39:18 -0400

From reading your post before, I got the impression that to install Hyperdesk you had to 1) install it 2) go find mxstylethemes.dll, delete it, and copy over a new one. That seemed bad. If "patched in memory" means all you have to do is run Hyperdesk and click on a popup that says, "warning you are modifying a system file" one time, that wouldn't be a big deal to me. No, I am not saying this from a sysadmin's perspective, just my own.

Astyanax0 on IconPackager 4 sneak peak...

Astyanax0 — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:39:18 -0400

it asks me for email and serial to activate.

Happened to me too, enter your OD serial number and email and all should be fine.

sixshot on IconPackager 4 sneak peak...

sixshot — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:39:18 -0400

I wanted to test drive the new IconPackager 4 builds but when I try to launch the config window, it asks me for email and serial to activate. I'm an OD Ultimate user here. Anyone know what I'm supposed to do here or if this is a common issue that can be solved? Version currently installed is 3.99g(b).065 and I installed over 3.x. Should I have uninstalled it then install the v4 beta?

CobraA1 on Piracy & PC Gaming

CobraA1 — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:39:18 -0400

The reason many prefer the PC is that is has other uses as well, not just gaming, but it's basically a shiny tool box with a lot of different uses.

I'll have to agree with this - no matter what, I'll still need a PC for word processing, online banking, image editing, writing software, etc.

So no matter what, I have a PC, whether I decide to buy a console or not. The PC is much better suited for general purpose computing, while the console specializes in games. Since I already have a PC, why not just buy a graphics card and turn it into a gaming machine?

redwingdw28 on Piracy & PC Gaming

redwingdw28 — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:39:18 -0400

Just to add , I do have some sympathy for the likes of SD , but the practices of some of the bigger companies are doing you no favours and look when it comes down to it if a product is good, it will sell, you will make a profit and anything else is just greed and an attempt to back consumers who already have extorionate costs of living and dont all have the luxury of hig paid jobs into a corner.

redwingdw28 on Piracy & PC Gaming

redwingdw28 — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:39:18 -0400

As for desktop software and also when you think of the windows vista ultimate scam then Im sorry but the licenses are so expensive that many could never afford them, some may be students and need certain software for studying and many other reasons but the fact is until the industry has a reality check on the gross overpricing of software licenses then they only have themselves to blame.

In regards to PC gaming , so many companies are treating the end user like criminals where they have to phone big brother up every PC upgrade that for the most part I have little sympathy for the industry in general. This creates resentment which in turn breeds contempt which when you force consumers into a corner what exactly do you expect them to do? You can argue the ethics of it all day but some of us werent born yesterday and know that companies are some of the biggest offenders in breaches of ethics and down right privacy infringment but they have the money to finance expensive lawyers to appeal and appeal a decision if it goes against them until they win or bankrupt the people in question. (To me thats even more serious and its no wander less people are having sympathy for corporations who use money to get over any legal ethical hurdle that they infringe)

In many cases piracy is an easy place to attribute blame other than aknowleging that some software is just down right sub par and isnt worth the price tag

TonyWihlen on Piracy & PC Gaming

TonyWihlen — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:39:18 -0400

Sooo - basically consoles are crap and only aimed at children with all that it entails in dumb software, big shiny buttons and droolproof controllers - whereas pc's are all for big, mature grownups with big, meaty brains and complicated games that you need a degree to play - assuming you're smart enough to start it in the first place.

That about right?

Or did you just want to stir up some pc's vs consoles drama?

Jeskelech on Piracy & PC Gaming

Jeskelech — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:39:18 -0400

They release games that have ridiculously high system specs despite the fact that most people own mid to low range pcs.

Just an example that they are targeting that tiny fraction of the market which is the hardcore gamers section.

From original post:

Our games work on a very wide variety of hardware configurations.

This is what's called targeting the largest potential market, why do you think WoW was designed to run on a wide range of PC configurations.

In contrast, consoles are easy. Pop in the disk and off you go. Maybe some patching will happen, but you're not dealing with file directories and mucking around. the hardware is the hardware and it's all sight unseen. With what a mess a lot of games for PC are released in, is it any wonder people are fleeing PCs?

I don't agree here, consoles are junk (my personal opinion), not least the limited interface, and the singular purpose, gaming!

The reason many prefer the PC is that is has other uses as well, not just gaming, but it's basically a shiny tool box with a lot of different uses.

If you have a PC, you don't NEED a console!
If you have a console you MAY NEED a PC!

The reason consoles are becoming a huge potential market, is that a lot of people buy them for their kids, just buy the box, hook it to the TV and you know it's the thing the kid wanted, because they tried this "fantastic" game at a mates place.

Console releases tend to be many, stream lined, too much alike, and there is not really anything new in any of them except for better graphics, new special moves, or smashing effects. In short the games for consoles are all covering the same few themes just in different wrappings.

TonyWihlen on Piracy & PC Gaming

TonyWihlen — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:39:18 -0400

Draginol (Brad?), you're my new hero. Your arguments are exactly the same as mine when I'm fuming over moronic copy protections that *only* annoy the honest, paying customers. Pirates hardly see a trace of it. Why not make a game worth buying instead of spending tons of money on crappy protections that only piss people off?

I've been an ObjectDesktop (and other various stuff, I love Multiplicity hehe) subscriber for a while now and you guys will definitely get my hard earned coin when it comes to games too.

Keep it up - hopefully more developers will put down their rocklegend aspirations, remove their heads from their rear end and follow suit. I applaud you.

humorguy on Piracy & PC Gaming

humorguy — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:39:18 -0400

With the success of the Wii, DS, casual, independent and retro gaming, and the lower sales of AAA titles, a revolution is taking place in video gaming.

People want simpler games with simpler graphics that run on their current machine with no expensive upgrades needed. They have been 'wowed' enough, and graphics are of a standard that gamers have been happy with since Far Cry and Half Life 2.

We are destined to have a very different video gaming market in as little as two years. Especially given the fact that you just can't see a future X-Box 720 or PS4 ever appearing in a form similar to their previous incarnation. or even appearing at all!

Alfonse on The existence of for-pay stuff doesn't hurt you

Alfonse — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:39:18 -0400

Let's say you have 2 games. Both last 10 hours each, cost the same, are equally fun on the first playthrough but one is also fun to replay a second time while the other is not. Does not the game that is fun to replay offer twice the value of the one that is not?

I would say that the assumption offered by the question is ultimately specious. I don't know how you can have a game that has 0 replay value yet is equally fun as one playthrough of another.

Why exactly is Galaxy superior to GC2 if you play it less? What makes a game superior?

1: Personal preference. I like TBS's (and RTSs), but in my heart, I'm always an action gamer. I ultimately prefer a game that is about intimately controlling a thing.

2: Impeccable polish. GC2 is a pretty well put together game, but there's no contest in terms of the sheer magnitude of the polish on SMG compared to GC2. GC2's imperfect and bug-laden UI alone is enough to torpedo it in polish for SMG.

3: Unimpeachable design. GC2 had a lot of thought put into it. SMG clearly had more. It just doesn't compare. Brad Wardell is good, but Shigeru Miyamoto is a master of game design. And it shows.

Now, these are two very different kind of games, so I judge them on different criteria. GC2 is a rules-heavy game, while SMG is a content-heavy game. As a rules-heavy game, it's design is based on gamist principles. How well does the game promote playing it. And so forth. GC2 likes to hide important information about what the effects of a choice will be (among other things), so it is weaker on that.

As a content-heavy game, SMG is more about intimacy of interface, character, world, etc. But gameplay is still important, yet in a different way. It's about how you learn skills, when you learn them, how the game tests them and builds on them. And so forth. And SMG is about as perfect in its pacing as it gets, providing the player with new situations and circumstances that test skills and such.

GC2 is a nice game to play; it alleviates boredom and the AI provides some interesting threats (until the end-game shows up). But the rules itself are simply worn out by this point. They aren't as robust over time as Chess, Go, or StarCraft. And when it comes down to it, all GC2 has are its rules.

the "this game costs more than other games of its kind, so I will not pay for it" is a frighteningly common opinion.

Yes, but what's wrong with it? Movies on DVD generally cost no more than $25. Having an upper limit on the price of any form of content is reasonable. Certainly, you should at least look at something more expensive to see if it is worthwhile. But selling a product at 200% more than the average is pretty strong sticker-shock.

BTW, while people may say they won't spend $150 on a game, I didn't see Rock Band hurt too much by that. People are a lot more willing to do things when actually presented with the option than they say. Much like all those for-pay programs on-line. They wouldn't be there if they weren't making some money, despite the monkey's throwing feces.

By my estimation, GalCiv 2 is not worth $150, no matter how "infinitely replayable" it may be. Granted, once the bugs get worked out of TA, I'll probably plunk down $30 for it, bringing my total expenditure up to $100. So the totality of the game as it stands I would say is worth $100, but not the initial release.

MouseGoddess on IconPackager 4 sneak peak...

MouseGoddess — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:39:18 -0400

MouseGoddess, specifically which desktop icons are not being changed? can you possibly post a screen shot showing any issues you are having?

Sorry it took so long to get back here. Had some health issues to deal with.

Anyway, I can't give you a screenshot BUT I can tell you nothing changes but the recycle bin. Also, when I updated IP I lost 3/4 of my packages! I uninstalled it and went back to an older version, but they're still gone.

Desmond Destructo on The existence of for-pay stuff doesn't hurt you

Desmond Destructo — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:39:18 -0400

AG3, I am not seeing your point as it relates to modular content. In your example the game costs 150$ as opposed to 50$, and people shun it without regard to the enjoyment it brings. Yet this game has a clear pricing scheme (150$ up front) for a complete product. That is perfectly fine, if not a great example of what I would want. This is not to say that releasing a 100$ game and then releasing a 50$ expansion later would be unacceptable, I have nothing against expansion as evidenced by, well, purchase of Dark Avatar and Twilight of the Arnor, for example.

You say that the increased cost is worthwhile for equally increased quality, and I agree. You say that this theory applies to modular content pricing, which offers similarly higher costs and similarly higher quality. I disagree because, while modular content may lead to increased or more deceptive costs (something that your example almost exactly opposing), I do not see how it would lead to higher quality of content. Instead, the focus on shipping out new code as quickly as possible and avoiding the more extensive testing applied to an expansion or any other finished product would seem to be counter-productive to greater quality.

AG3 on The existence of for-pay stuff doesn't hurt you

AG3 — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:39:18 -0400

Maybe not, but if you've spent far more hours with GC2 than with Galaxy, it undoubtedly has more hours of enjoyable content than Galaxy per dollar you paid, unless you for some odd reason play GC2 despite not really liking it most of the time. Replay value actually has a significant bearing on what most people consider a good game and good value for their money. Let's say you have 2 games. Both last 10 hours each, cost the same, are equally fun on the first playthrough but one is also fun to replay a second time while the other is not. Does not the game that is fun to replay offer twice the value of the one that is not?

Why exactly is Galaxy superior to GC2 if you play it less? What makes a game superior? The graphics? Admittedly though, it's a hazy comparison to begin with due to the genre difference and wildly different systems they are released on, as well as the situations you are likely to play them in.

Second, no matter what the game is, some people will not like it. Would you be willing to pay $150 for a game you might not enjoy?

If a game costs 3 times as much as other games, I'd go to great lengths to find out why exactly it did, and see what other players and review sites felt about it. If the consensus was "this game has almost limitless fun and replayability", then heck yes, I'd take my chances.

Third, even if you enjoy the game, you may not enjoy it all the time. A game of GC2 is far more interesting to me in the beginning than the end.Just because you have one explanation for a behavior doesn't mean that it's the only valid one.

I did say in a post just below the first one that my example assumed that each hour of content was equally fun in both games. Also, I never said my example was the only valid one.

I've browsed enough internet forums in my years online to see how people react to various things in the world, and the "this game costs more than other games of its kind, so I will not pay for it" is a frighteningly common opinion. It is strange that people can be extremely price/value conscious when they buy some things, but not offer digital entertainment the same consideration. For the majority (well, the VOCAL majority), a game is a game and the production cost and hours of enjoyable content is more or less irrelevant when it comes to its retail cost.

The bottom line is that this behavior easily carries over to small addon packs, or "micro-transactions".

I'm not this is the only reason people have objections towards small addon packs and micro-transactions, but it is possibly the most common one.

winterstide on The insecure CEO

winterstide — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:39:18 -0400

Wow, that was like reading a book!

It's like in the movies, where you have that loser character who harrases the lead. Happy Gilmore comes to mind.

This guy sounds like he is just a lot of hot air. Eventually it will catch up with him.

XX on The insecure CEO

XX — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:39:18 -0400

Err oops

XX on The insecure CEO

XX — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:39:18 -0400

Well with certain game... apparently forever.

Alfonse on The existence of for-pay stuff doesn't hurt you

Alfonse — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:39:18 -0400

I've always thought it odd that next to no one would buy a game for $150 up front that had been proven to contain 1000 hours of pure fun, but happily shell out $50 for a game with 10 hours of fun, even though the latter has a "hours of fun per dollar" ratio that is abysmal compared to the more expensive game. Just because "a game shouldn't cost more than $50".

There's more to it than that.

First, units of content are not "hours". I've spent far more time with GC2 than with, say, Super Mario Galaxy, but Galaxy is the superior game. A 4 hour movie is not better than a 2 hour movie because it's 2 hours longer.

Second, no matter what the game is, some people will not like it. Would you be willing to pay $150 for a game you might not enjoy?

Third, even if you enjoy the game, you may not enjoy it all the time. A game of GC2 is far more interesting to me in the beginning than the end.

Just because you have one explanation for a behavior doesn't mean that it's the only valid one.

SlyDrivel on The insecure CEO

SlyDrivel — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:39:18 -0400

Well, it sounds like you have nothing to worry about. He seems like a sinking ship. How long can vaporware last?

1nsomn1ac on Some thoughts on Hyperdesk

1nsomn1ac — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:39:18 -0400

They're going to be selling the themes, and the .msstyles are only going to be a piece.

sony ericson will be free

Why on earth would they let them be converted and posted here for free?

no one said it will be posted here

SlyDrivel on Discipline on the floor

SlyDrivel — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:39:18 -0400

That's funny. It reminds me of the time that my sister was sent to in-school suspension and I let her borrow my "7 habits of highly effective people" to read. The teacher seemed to think it was hilarious.

Why is it hilarious? That sounds presumptuous. Maybe she really wanted to improve herself.

I always did my homework in suspension. Then I would read. Those were good times. They got me out of boring classes.

Zubaz on The existence of for-pay stuff doesn't hurt you

Zubaz — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:39:18 -0400

AG3: brilliant post. Thanks

AG3 on The existence of for-pay stuff doesn't hurt you

AG3 — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:39:18 -0400

"Whether the game contains 10 hours or 100 hours of playtime is of little consequence, nor does it matter whether it cost $5.000 or $5.000.000 to develop. People WILL react to a game that costs more than its peers, regardless of the number of hours of content it provides."

A clarification of what I wrote above (as I can't edit): This is assuming that both products are a "complete" experience, basically that both the 10 hour and 100 hour game feel complete and whole at what they tried to achieve, and that their are equally fun per hour while they last.

AG3 on The existence of for-pay stuff doesn't hurt you

AG3 — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:39:18 -0400

I'd pay for addon modules if they affected an area of the game I cared enough about in such a way that it would improve my enjoyment of the game as a whole. Provided it wasn't just a "bug-fix" or something that had been obviously left underdeveloped with the intention of earning money on "improving" it later. Not that I have any reason to believe Stardock would do that, previous track record considering .

I think part of the outcry against addon packs costing a set amount of money stems from people having an opinion of how much a product should cost, regardless of the amount of enjoyment the product contains for the customer in question or how much it actually costed the producer to develop. This is especially prevalent in the entertainment business, where people judge the validity of a game, movie or music CD retail price based on what the majority of these products sell for. For games, it seems people generally feel that no game should cost more $50-$60. Whether the game contains 10 hours or 100 hours of playtime is of little consequence, nor does it matter whether it cost $5.000 or $5.000.000 to develop. People WILL react to a game that costs more than its peers, regardless of the number of hours of content it provides. Heck, just look at the people who are principally against MMOs purely based on the notion that "I don't want to pay to play a game I've bought", all other aspects of MMOs aside.

Addon packs are like that. People (most often "whiners") will pay no heed to the amount of man hours that goes into an addon pack with planning, programming, testing and other work required before it is ready to be released, as well as the obvious need for any company to actually, you know, earn money so that the people working there can eat and live in something slightly more comfortable and rain proof than a cardboard box. Nor will they pay any heed to the fact that this addon has a development cost that is separate from the original game development, and thus isn't covered by the original purchase (provided, like I said earlier, that it's done the "right" way). It goes against their "a game shouldn't cost more than $xx and anything done to the game after retail should be free".

Anyway, this is just becoming a personal rant of mine Whiners will (un)happily ignore what they get for their money (if they choose to pay for it, which they don't have to, but...), all they see is "SOMEONE IS GOING AGAINST MY PRECONCEPTIONS OF THE WORLD, CURSE THEM!!".

Personally, I've always thought it odd that next to no one would buy a game for $150 up front that had been proven to contain 1000 hours of pure fun, but happily shell out $50 for a game with 10 hours of fun, even though the latter has a "hours of fun per dollar" ratio that is abysmal compared to the more expensive game. Just because "a game shouldn't cost more than $50".

People need to learn to gauge what they get for their money. Besides, unless you're stupid about it, a company can't trick you more than once.

ubernaught on The existence of for-pay stuff doesn't hurt you

ubernaught — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:39:18 -0400

Maybe that's what happened to the dinosaurs....it wasn't a meteor at all....they just woke up one day and thought "shit...there might be a meteor....we're all going to die" ...so they did...

When you make the UP add-on, can you please make this the description for Xeno Mysticism?

Desmond Destructo on The existence of for-pay stuff doesn't hurt you

Desmond Destructo — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:39:18 -0400

I noticed a reference to Oblivion micro-transactions earlier, and how people would be more accepting of microtransactions if Oblivion had handled downloadable content better. Oblivion did have two expansion, Knights of the Nine and Shivering Isles. They were good expansions. In the interest of fairness I will admit that I did not buy them myself, as my Oblivion disc had somehow become scratched to the point of unreadability, but I have tried them at a friend's house and read reviews. The expansions offered a better cost to price ratio, as they could actually have a significant amount of content. They were honest about their content, and they could be, because they had substance. The Nights of the Nine did not have a large amount, but it was, hey, here are some quest, it is not a new guild or anything, but this is a couple of hours of new content. The smaller one quest modules were fairly deceptive about their content, whether through the standard assumption that an "expansion" will have at least so much, something that the developers cannot really be faulted for, but still a disadvantage to the average customer, or through lack of advertising or awareness. Expansions are hyped, their features touted, while modules are placed on a menu with a well, you can buy it if you want, or not, mentality. Shivering Isles was advertised with screenshots of unique architecture and hands-on coverage of quests. The Orrery non-specifically promised new quests and abilities. It was one not very interesting ability and one new room which was intended to be in the game in the first place. The average customer does not know of this, and while it is reasonable to expect someone to read a review before purchasing a 40$ game, it is not reasonable to expect someone to do the same for a 5$ purchase, yet if the developer offers a crappy product in one case, they are fairly well protected from bad publicity or lost sales. People were annoyed over the idea of horse armor, but the poor quality of the Orrery is the more ominous business model. It enables shovelware, and even if shovelware does not result, it would be better if those dark gates were never opened.

Leaving your wallet unguarded is not a sign of trust, confidence, or individualism, it is a sign of a fool. A fool soon to become a poor fool.

XX on The insecure CEO

XX — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:39:18 -0400

Wowow Draginol, you were always famous for long posts, but this takes the cake.

But you know what? It was a worthy read. It's amazing how bad they are doing. I wonder if Skins Factory will even exist after a year.

Jafo on Some thoughts on Hyperdesk

Jafo — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:39:18 -0400

At a recent local VMware Users' Group meeting, made up of all corporate I.T. folks in charge of much of their companies' infrastructure, the question was asked "How many of you have Vista installed in your company?"... and out of 65 people in attendance, ZERO hands went up!

Opus....did anyone perchance ask "how many of you guys have Vista installed on your own machines....or, considering the 'group' - on a virtual machine at least?"

The reality is you can find 'Corporate' people still using Win98 or even 95 if you look hard. Probably Vista's arrival was their time to upgrade from 3x....

Jafo on The existence of for-pay stuff doesn't hurt you

Jafo — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:39:18 -0400

Going a tad off topic here, but Frogboy seems to hang out here more than the WinCustomize forums:

Several 'forum sections' cross-post to other SD sites. In this case this thread is accessible on Wincustomize.com....

Alfonse on The existence of for-pay stuff doesn't hurt you

Alfonse — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:39:18 -0400

People bitching about the pay-for-content model are hypoctriical if they subscribe to the pay-to-play model.

Well, there is an obvious difference.

MMOs are expensive to run; this is obvious. Therefore, there is some explicit justification for them needing a continuous influx of money. You're not buying the game; you're renting time and space on a server.

Micro-expansions, however, are another matter altogether. You're paying for content directly; you're paying for a programmer/artist/designer's time. So the question of cost vs. content is very important.

Wizard1956 on Some thoughts on Hyperdesk

Wizard1956 — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:39:18 -0400

I rarely use WMP and have never once used a Yahoo widget.

I used to use WMP all the time, then winamp,now I use a DX player. I found out the hard way that WMP11 is "glued" into the OS. That is,it can't be un-installed and re-installed to repair it.(This directly from MS)If you screw it up,and I did,you better know how to fix it yourself. A bad skin will cause it to stop responding,close itself and you know the rest. Guess where I got the skin? TSF I still have Jeff's address in my contact list. That was on 12/19/07, I'm still waiting for TSF "support" on it lol I was lucky and "only" lost 5 days worth of data, and got it working. I have since learned how to find the skin file, thanks to WC,not TSF. Yahoo! widgets? Since Yahoo was my home page, I saw them and tried them out. They crashed FF repeatedly, once so badly that I had to create a new profile. I finally uninstalled the whole mess,cleaned out the debris and forgot about them. No way am I putting that cr@p on my PC again. When I do use WMP it's either in full mode or corporate so WB will skin it.Widgets? DX is the only way to go.

Zubaz on Some thoughts on Hyperdesk

Zubaz — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:39:18 -0400

Hey Opus, I think the horse just twitched! Quick, hit it again!

Astyanax0 on Some thoughts on Hyperdesk

Astyanax0 — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:39:18 -0400

Hey Opus, I think the horse just twitched! Quick, hit it again!

OpusCroakus on Some thoughts on Hyperdesk

OpusCroakus — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:39:18 -0400

Vista now makes up roughly 25% of our traffic.

Wow... I can't believe it's that high. I'd say 95% of your traffic must come from home users, then - not corporate/business users. At a recent local VMware Users' Group meeting, made up of all corporate I.T. folks in charge of much of their companies' infrastructure, the question was asked "How many of you have Vista installed in your company?"... and out of 65 people in attendance, ZERO hands went up! I'm sorry but Microsoft has truly laid an egg on this one. Corporations - which is where MS makes a majority of their money - see absolutely NO benefit to upgrading to Vista. It is too flashy, way too bloated, extremely resource intensive, etc. I cannot believe that Stardock insists on travelling down the same doomed path alongside MS here - adding tons of flash but very little substance. I see many updates to skins, themes/suites/whatever they're calling them this month, and skinning apps; but little or no updates to the OBJECT side of ODNT - the useful utilities which made me purchase ODNT way back when it was first introduced on Windows. Please, Brad, don't forget WHY your company was created... and put more effort into the utilities which ENHANCE and IMPROVE the OS, instead of merely making it LOOK BETTER.

messiah1 on Some thoughts on Hyperdesk

messiah1 — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:39:18 -0400

Why on earth would they let them be converted and posted here for free?

I don't think he really meant that Brad would post them here...he was being funny.

Shelbygt_the_Car~! on Some thoughts on Hyperdesk

Shelbygt_the_Car~! — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:39:18 -0400

Actually it would be something to start with to make something competitive. That with the option of it being the authors true design with Stardock programs. This would be much better and could be sold to whom ever.
I always look at art as a means for improvement. There is always a better way.
Like Brad - he would use what he buys in his own way - with the images of his choosing.
That is why I like Stardock programs mainly. I have the choice...
If I want to change something - then I can. But this predefined stuff does not cut it for me all the time.
There is always this stuff that bugs me. [ I'm really a picky person with my PC ] So I got to find out how to change it. That or I will not use it. I'm just that way...

Plus I'm a bit with the ole boy thing. I stick close to the people that do the right things. Stuff I do not approve of ... well I'm out of there with whatever they got going. That is a rough subject and has applied to what has be said by Jeff thus far.

SGT

Philly0381 on Some thoughts on Hyperdesk

Philly0381 — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:39:18 -0400

[quote]Well what I was getting to was really being silly[/quot

Sorry, just my try at lighting up the mood.

Zoomba on Some thoughts on Hyperdesk

Zoomba — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:39:18 -0400

They're going to be selling the themes, and the .msstyles are only going to be a piece. Why on earth would they let them be converted and posted here for free?

Philly0381 on Some thoughts on Hyperdesk

Philly0381 — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:39:18 -0400

r u asking permission to change wheels for your car from bmw?

Well what I was getting to was really being silly, getting permission to convert them and load them up in WC Gallery Library. What each of us do on our own computers for personal use is different.

Shelbygt_the_Car~! on The insecure CEO

Shelbygt_the_Car~! — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:39:18 -0400

It's not Hyperdesk that bugs me. It's Jeff Schader's behavior that bugs me. He will post some of the most vile things on forums or in a post about me or others and then when others react, he'll delete what he wrote and play victim.

He truely is a victim! That of his own making...

It would be much better for him to be working and not brushing the public with such nonsense.

SGT

1nsomn1ac on Some thoughts on Hyperdesk

1nsomn1ac — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:39:18 -0400

If that is really the case then I wonder if they would give permission to say Brad to convert them.

Somehow after reading all of these posts here I don't think that is going to happen.

r u asking permission to change wheels for your car from bmw?

Philly0381 on Some thoughts on Hyperdesk

Philly0381 — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:39:18 -0400

hyperdesk = msstyles, it will take less than 5 minutes to convert it to wb & edit some files, it will take another 15 minutes if you add perpixel border & buttons.
for the icons, it will take 10 minutes to repack them to ip, it will take less than 5 mins if it only has 24 icons. so the answer is yes, you dont need to patch the dll, cuz you'll run them as wb & ip in less than 30 minutes. need help?

If that is really the case then I wonder if they would give permission to say Brad to convert them.

Somehow after reading all of these posts here I don't think that is going to happen.

TheD2JBug on The existence of for-pay stuff doesn't hurt you

TheD2JBug — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:39:18 -0400

Are you trying to be offensive?

People bitching about the pay-for-content model are hypoctriical if they subscribe to the pay-to-play model. If that makes me offensive , so be it. You'll still be a hypocrite if what I say is true.

1nsomn1ac on Some thoughts on Hyperdesk

1nsomn1ac — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:39:18 -0400

I don't know where I saw it asked. . and I should probaly ask it to TSF but . . I wonder how hypersesk will work with WB and IP. I understand that SKS5 could probably import the skin (not sure about SKS6) and apply it . . If I wanted to run each seperatly, could I? Can they co-exist on a single desktop?

Or . . more clearly, does patching the dll break WB or other SD apps?