Thursday Next

Soundshapes is brrrrrrrrilliant! Can't wait to spend hours making rubbish rubbish levels that sound terrible.

It's got a pretty simple story. Which is a good thing in this case as it drives the narrative forward. Otherwise I do think it would get bogged down. The world should be pretty familiar to anyone who has read any old PKD/Asimov sci-fi stuff while still having an identity of its own.

@Excel I found Henry Hatsworth bloody difficult. Hotel Dusk is a great game, you should look out for the sequel. The Last Window or something...

It's definitely not in my all time greatest list, but it's easy to read and if you are a child of the 80's (especially a gamer) then there's a lot to get nostalgic about. It's almost laid on too thick at times. I'm back on GoT now. It's much easier going second time around.

Best explanation I've heard so far to be honest.

Yes, there occurred a situation wherein I saw supporting the game as less important than making sure not to give money to people who were doing what CDPR at the time was doing. That is, however, not the same as aggressively trying to find a reason to not pirate it. If I again found an interest in The Witcher 2 (alas, I no longer have any intention of playing that game), I would purchase it because they have now ceased the practices I found highly morally objectionable. So let me get this right, cos I would *hate* to misquote you. 1. You pirated and played The Witcher 2 and did not like it. 2. After a patch you once again played your pirated copy and did like it, completing it. 3. You had every intention to then buy it to support the developer who made the game you enjoyed. 4. The Publisher did something bad so you took a moral stand not to support them. 5. The Publisher stopped doing the bad thing, but because you no longer have any use for the game you are going back on your intention to purchase. Is that about correct? You have accused me of being dishonest about my piracy habits in the past, and you have called pirates in general villains. And this is where I got it from. Two pages back. The word villainy was raised in the article being discussed at the time. I didn't choose to start using that word, some other guy did. But nice out-of-context quoting there. You may not have openly said it, but does not the idea that I would pirate and then come up with the slightest excuse to not buy it imply that I don't? I can't possibly both care about the industry and do just that. Besides, as I detailed in my previous post, it would be to me incredibly easy to justify if I felt like doing that. Here's another one: Nearly all AAA devs are blaming me - one of their customers - for everything bad in the industry. I do not want to support companies who personally attack me. See, at this point after all the namecalling and fingerpointing, you big publisher types are all dead to my eyes anyway, and I only pay money to you in the first place because there are developers whose companies you publish, who I like and want to support. If at some point you may become as irrelevant as the record companies are now I would be happy to cast you all aside. In fact, I'd hope for this to happen. Everything about the way you approach me and my attitudes seems like you don't think I care about anyone but myself. You call me selfish, childish, etc. regularly. Yet you claim to not think I don't care? This is completely inconsistent. Ahh the duality of man. I think that you do care about the Industry. I just think that you care more about getting what you want out of it, than supporting it. If that's what you believe then truly I can not believe you have been reading my posts the past year and a half I've been part of this debate. I find certain forms of piracy okay, not just because they are possible, but because they do not harm. If you were to pirate just to get out of paying for things, that you do like and could easily afford supporting, you are a dick. You keep implying that I'm only thinking about what affects me, which is so mind-blowingly far from the truth. I'm unemployed and I have a steam library of over 200 titles. Is that the game purchases of a pirate who just cares about himself and no-one else? I say it's not. I find it amazing that you're still unable to grasp that there are pirates who do give a shit about what happens to other people. So please, when you do discuss these things, do not assume based on your preconceptions about pirates. There now follows an ad hominem rant. Here's what I think about you. I think you con yourself that what you do doesn't harm anyone, that noone is losing a sale because of you. I think that plenty of sales have been lost because you don't pay for all the games you have played. I think that even though you have played and enjoyed a game you will still try to wriggle out of buying it at some point. I think you are self pitying and use your lack of income as a justification for piracy rather than doing what many other people on low to no income do and actually save up for or miss out on some luxuries that they can't afford instead of taking what they want. I think you are childish, entitled and greedy. Finally, I think that you do in fact pirate just to get out of paying for the things you like. I think if you saved your money and sacrificed some other luxuries you could easily afford the games you like and as such I totally agree with you. You are a dick.

Just finished "Ready Player One" by Ernest Cline. It's pretty good. Fairly light read. VERY heavy on the 80's films / music / game references.

Present: My sister upgraded her graphics card. She gets a BSOD when she uses certain DVI - VGA adapters (solved it by using a different adapter). Any ideas of why this might have happened? Dodgy adapter maybe? Or a particular type that is causing the card to crap out? I've never seen the like before.

I would love a text size option for the chat window. Editing files in notepad is not cool.

I agree, the challenge in puzzles should be in working out how to do it. Executing it should be cake. I've been playing Broken Sword on my Android. That game actually made you think. Translating substitution cyphers and stuff like that. Ohhh, nostalgia.

@Johnny: Having your cake and eating it works great for you. Paying the full price of the games you play when you play them works great for the people who make games. That's why I think having having your cake and eating it (playing when you want and paying when you want) is a "bad thing", because I'm not just thinking about how it affects you. I'm thinking about how it affects other people. s such I feel that your attitude is selfish. I didn't name call. I said your attitude towards acquiring games illegitimately because you lack the patience to wait for a price drop is childish. If you don't think you have a right (a moral not a legal right) to take the games without permission then why do you do it? Do you really act counter to your own morals? Do you think "I shouldn't do this, but I will anyway"? I believe that just because you can do something does not mean that you should. I could pirate every game, piece of music and film I wanted to watch, but I don't, largely because I can't abide hypocrisy. I'm genuinely pleased that you are cutting down on the amount you pirate. I hope there will come a time when you don't feel the need to pirate at all, either due to an improvement in your personal financial situation, or the decreasing cost of gaming. I'm glad that you want to support the industry and feel as passionately about it as I do. As for my last and most egregious comment, you have done exactly that in the past. http://forum.pressxordie.com/topic/425-piracy/page__st__820#entry70245 You pirated and played the Witcher 2, enjoyed it (eventually), planned to purchase it, and then when an opportunity emerged took a moral stand that conveniently excused you from paying up. All of this is fact. As for putting words in people's mouths, I did not call you a liar or a villain. I don't even know where you pulled the word villain from. I did not say that I don't think you care. As your primary form of entertainment, I'm sure you do care about games. What I did say is that I disagree with your views on your rights (moral ones) to access content just because you can. You seem to believe that because piracy is possible that there is no reason not to do it. I feel that when someone who creates something asks me not to use it without their permission that alone is enough reason not to do so.

Just so.

I think it is the right thing to do to wait until you can afford something, at that point you pay for it and you receive it . Therefore I think that taking, or using, or copying something without permission and then paying when you feel like it is wrong. This is not a furniture sale where you can pick it up now and pay nothing till next year. That's not the deal you are offered. We've had this discussion before. I think your attitude is childish and entitled in the most negative ways. You want something now, and since you can take it now, you will take it now (and maybe buy it at some later point assuming you can't conjure a reason not to buy it), content creator's wishes be damned. You act like the mere existence of an entertainment work gives you a moral right to consume it which is something that I fundamentally disagree with. But like I said, this is an old conversation and not one on which either of us are likely to change stance.

What planet are you from? I think developers would be extremely pissed if you told them "Hi I didn't pay a cent for that game you spent months coding, but it was a total blast. Thanks!" Developers make games to make money. That they enjoy what they make to make money is neither here nor there. Just because you want people to like the thing that you made doesn't mean that you don't want to be paid for it. Chefs want to make good food, lawyers want to write good contracts. Yes, it is nice when people say they like what you made, but nice words don't put food on the table. @Johnny Also, it's not about Ethan having more money. It's about him having patience. If there is something you cannot afford, then I think you should wait until you can afford it. Your reward for paying the higher price is that you get the game sooner. Getting the game on day one illegitimately and then buying it when it gets cheap enough is having your cake and eating it.

I loved Stacking. What took you 3 weeks? The only real let down was that the puzzles didn't get complex enough. It was only right at the end that they introduced mixing abilities. Also, one of my most memorable / loved things from Stacking: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLQ-6_OIds4

What I do find odd is Hong Kong having an Olympic team. Apparently "China" have something in the order of 4 or 5 teams. Including China, Chinese Olympic Comittee, Chinese Taipee, Hong Kong and I think another one who's name I can't recall.

For someone not from the UK & Ireland it's an understandable mistake I think. British Isles - Includes Republic of Ireland. United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland - Everything but Republic of Ireland. etc, etc, etc. It also adds to the confusion when some Scottish and Welsh participants act like they are not British (for example by refusing to sing the National Anthem for political reasons) it gives the impression that they are in the same political position as Republic of Ireland, but not quite as stubborn. Finally, this guy as I understand it is a comedian, so even more reason to forgive his ignorance on the matter. It's not like he's the UK politics editor for the Telegraph or something.

For Lack of a Better Name: FML kicks it off well, loses its way a bit around the 2 minute mark but it's back on track 30 seconds later. Much more driven than any track on the last album imho. In fact the whole album is more punchy.

Yeah, I prefer getting whole albums, sometimes you come across something that you like that noone else would consider for a single release. Felt like buying a couple of CD's today and (I know this is a weird way to choose music) I've been following Deamau5 on twitter recently and the guy talks a lot of sense. So yeah, picked up Random Album Title and For Lack of a Better Name for a tenner. You are right about I Remember. Highlight of the album thus far, only just got to it as I keep getting distracted with "work".

Trying on some Deadmau5 for size. Two tracks into "Random Album Title" I'm not exactly blown away. Hoping it kicks up a gear soon it's fairly plodding at the moment.

I really enjoyed it. Got it just before it went free on PS+ for about £6.50. Totally sold me on the sequel though. Can't wait to play as DEATH.

Are you biking in an Escher painting?

Yup, that seems fairly likely. Besides, coming up with a new name will give marketing something to do.

Not quite got to the point where I am gymming yet, but I have started jogging (or running not sure where the threshold is) 2miles to work and back every day. Monday was horrific. I was figuratively dying. This morning was much better. Settled into a sensible pace that I can maintain for the full distance with a little bit spare for a crowd-pleasing flourish at the end. Diet wise, I think I eat fairly sensibly most of the time. I tend to cook from scratch so fresh meat, veg and some taters / rice / pasta is the norm. With a pizza thrown in on days where I am feeling especially lazy, but I really don't consciously eat healthily. I eat what I want when I want.

Where are the pilotable vehicles? If it's just remotely piloted vehicles then boo and no-sale.