Cyphax - Slashdot User

Comment Now I know! (Score 1) 288

by Cyphax on Thursday June 25, 2009 @02:52AM (#28463495) Attached to: Need a Favor? Talk To My Right Ear

So basically the surgeons, after taking out most of my inner ear due to a nasty inner ear infection, turned me into a jerk seeing as how I have hardly any hearing left in my right ear. Thanks for this article, now I can sue them, seeing as how it's their fault I have no friends.

Comment Average user? (Score 1) 542

by Cyphax on Monday June 22, 2009 @03:57AM (#28418169) Attached to: Does the Linux Desktop Innovate Too Much?

If the average user is, say, one of my parents, the answer is probably "no, they are not waiting for innovation". They'll likely appreciate it, but if they are left with a working desktop that doesn't limit them in doing what they want to do, they are happy. Windows XP still suffices for most people, that pretty much sums that up I'd say. The bigger problem is, I think, that those innovations distract from improving existing features to stability, and oftentimes new features are shipped before being mature. Ubuntu, for example, has been pretty bad at this, shipping PulseAudio before it was complete enough to be included in an operating system. The result is that my sound didn't work well at all in the first release PA was included in so I'm left with a desktop that has advanced features and nice innovations... on paper. In reality I have to fiddle around with it to make it work - if I can get it to work at all. Hooking up a monitor to my laptop also doesn't work quite as smoothly as it should (although with Ubuntu 9.04 it does actually work for the first time).

It takes time to get your software stable, mature. Innovating is nice but if you focus on one, you're probably going to spend no time on the other. Besides, the target audience for innovations isn't quite as large as the target audience that want a stable, working desktop.

Comment Re:Can anybody see ... (Score 1) 358

by Cyphax on Sunday April 19, 2009 @05:25AM (#27634789) Attached to: Pirate Bay Court Loss Won't Stop the Flow of Files

Other than ironic, it's a particularly dumb move imo: Brein - the organisation that hunts down anything P2P as much as they can - have managed to take down sites similar to TPB before. Quite a few times before, in fact. It is only a matter of time before they find out, and they'll manage to take it down, unfortunately.

I don't see why they would move it to the Netherlands because of the above, instead, they should move it to a country where these organisations such as Brain aren't prevalent or otherwise succesful. As much as I hate to admit, Brein has proved to be a real menace.

Building a Successful "Open" Game World 104

Posted by Soulskill on Wednesday March 04, 2009 @05:39AM from the invited-to-return dept.

M3rk sends an excerpt from an opinion piece on Gametopius discussing what it takes for an open game world to be successful. Interesting stories and characters are important, but they must be balanced by varied and entertaining gameplay. The lack of either will be a limiting factor in how many people return to play once the primary plot is completed. Quoting: "A game like GTA IV takes itself and its fiction very seriously. It spends a lot of time, effort, and gameplay resources convincing you that the world you are traveling through is the same world that the story and cutscenes take place in. It may not be a game that allows you to own or control property to the degree seen in Burnout Paradise or Saints Row II, but it wants its world to be cohesive, not divided. ... While GTA IV's game systems almost serve its plot, Saints Row II and Burnout Paradise live for their game mechanics. Sure, these worlds are fun to look at and explore, but any exploration and discovery that the player enjoys merely drives them to these games' raison d'être: fun systems to play with."

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