(disclaimer: this turned into a general letting-off-of-steam rather than a direct focussed reply to your specific points)

What does it matter if there is cheating in singleplayer mode?

I backed this game to the tune of around a hundred quid on the basis that there would be a singleplayer mode; I bought Beta and Lifetime Expansion Pass. And there still will be a singleplayer mode, it's just that it will require an internet connection. That's fine for as long as the game remains profitable enough to keep the servers running (and for as long as I don't move back to the sticks or join the armed forces; the latter is unlikely, the former is possible).

The problem is that it was funded as a one-off-purchase game, not a subscription game, and therefore I'm having trouble identifying how they will keep the money coming in to fund the servers past the initial, say, 18-month sales peak. As I've mooted elsewhere, Frontier need to commit to releasing the server modules as freeware on or before the day the servers inevitably become unprofitable. I appreciate the servers are cloud-based with multiple interdependencies, but it's not like the Elite fanbase is short of technical skills - the community WILL be able to manage it, even with near-zero documentation.

As far as the "it was always obvious it was going to be an MMO" goes, I disagree strongly.

I backed this because it was Elite, and not because it was Eve Online Plus. If I'd wanted an Elite MMO, Eve Online already exists.

I have neither the patience to deal with the minority but significant number of griefers, spammers and general idiots that proliferate in online games, nor do I have the time required to grind my skills up to the level required to participate fairly against those who can put 20+ hours a week into the game. I used to be one of those 20+ hour/week gamers (what I don't know about TFC:Badlands isn't worth knowing), they're mostly lovely people, but now I have kids and a mortgage, which was my choice, and a choice which informed which Kickstarter games I backed and which I didn't.

I backed a singleplayer game with up-front paid lifetime pass.

Now it looks like "lifetime" means the lifetime of the game, and with that lifetime is looking pretty short.

(And while I'm having a moan, have I just forgotten how steep the original's learning curve was, or are all the available control systems in E:D really, really hard, or is this just another symptom of me not being a 20+H/week gamer any more?)

>When you have a "press" that is either owned outright by corporations or heavily subsidized by corporation

Um, this is a story about the BBC.

You do know they're a British government agency, right? Categorically prohibited from any involvement with private corporations or any kind of profitmaking in their onshore activities, and with a board of trustees appointed by democratically-elected ministers?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

It's worth noting why the French team in particular, so vehemently object to drones, in a way that other nationals might not, or at least might do so less outspokenly.

In France you have ownership of your own image. A photographer needs to have your permission if they want to take a photo that has you as the main subject.

Obviously they don't need permission if you're just an incidental bystander or a face in a crowd. But if you're one of the primary subjects, then in France, you have to give your permission.

This also applies to merchandising and the law is often used in a similar way to trademarking or endorsement.

Yeah, but then nobody would've had an excuse to plug his book. QED.

As plugs for your new book go, that was beyond subtle.

Good luck matey. And don't forget us coders back in Blighty's Midlands that you left behind for a new life in... ooh, look, it's actually not raining outside! What were we talking about again?

(Jono's new book is called "Dealing with Disrespect" and is available wherever your search engine takes you. No, I'm not affiliated.)

The answer to most of those questions is "...and that's why Charles Dickens' novels were so very, very long."

SPP has been tried with varying success, usually for works that are provided in installations. For example, Charles Dickens' novels were serialised in newspapers; a single newspaper paid the bounty for each chapter, but there was no way to enforce their exclusivity after they hit the press. Horror writer Stephen King tried it and gave up after only a few chapters.

The UK's Linux Voice magazine operates on a variant of SPP; it had a kickstarter for subscriptions and also offers a printed newsstand edition, but all content is released under free licence after 9 months.

You're right about it theoretically relying on reputation for repeat business.

BoomBoom wrote:
> So what's the incentive to create works? How is an author paid?

The author proposes a work. He finds customers who want it made. He sets a bounty level. The customers pay the bounty (if not, author revises his bounty or moves on to another idea). The bounty is held by an independent third party (escrow). The author makes the work. The author releases the work TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC and receives the bounty.

https://www.schneier.com/paper...

I'm not saying it's a perfect model (in particular there is controversy about non-paying users benefiting from other's payment), but unlike RMS, I am at least answering your exact question. ;-)

The UK has a problem with Islamic extremist gangs in prisons. Printed material from external well-wishers and visitors is a huge contributory factor. This problem is far, far worse than any right-ring white gangs in US jails.

For example at the high security prison near Evesham, there is a large gang who slash the faces of anyone who refuses to convert to their brand of Islam. This isn't widely acknowledged by the prisons service, but it leaks out through staff such as prison nurses, who have to deal with the end results.

I admit to only having visited New York for five days almost a decade ago, but the very clear impression that I got was that "highway speed" was unlikely to be achieved anywhere in New York at any time by any driver whatsoever.

Funniest thing about backdoors is that almost every mobile device in the world has an ARM chip, designed in Cambridge, UK. That's Cambridge as in MI5 open recruiting ground and MI6 clandestine recruiting ground.

Devices manufactured in China, using a British-designed chip, routed through British Telecom using Huawei equipment... as you said, what could possibly go wrong?

If I were the conspiratorial sort, I might have reason to suspect Cambridge-recruited personnel of working for the other side.

A navy chum of mine was saying that the latest revision of the SA-80 was pretty good. The early models, though, apparently disastrous.

>it seemed overkill

You've not met the IRA, have you?

It's more that an MP5 is standard issue for ordinary day-to-day duties by regular friendly bobbies on the beat, whereas an SA-80 or AR-15 indicates a specialist firearms officer who is only called in for extremely serious "incidents".

MP5 = friendly

SA-80 || AR-15 = Bugger off before you get caught in the crossfire

Quite.

It's a big mistake to think that the British police are unarmed. They're not.

They just don't bother with piddling little pistols.

If you're going to have a gun, have a BIG GUN.

Other than for plain-clothed detectives working undercover, pistols are pretty much laughed at by the British police. Compare the stopping power of a weeny little Colt or a Glock to that of an MP5 sub-machine gun, G36 assault rifle or (God help you if you see one of these - strongly suggest you change your plans for that day) an SA-80 or AR-15 assault rifle.

Although British police don't routinely carry sidearms, in high crime urban areas they will carry SMGs or assault rifles in a locked gun cabinet in the boot (trunk) of their car. In extremely difficult or vulnerable areas such as airports or tourist hotspots, they will carry MP5s around, mixing in with the crowd. The bobbies carrying MP5s are very nice blokes, feel free to strike up a conversation with them. Just back off the ones carrying SA-80s and AR-15s, there's a good chap.

Our largest island is only 700 miles long. Where on earth are you going to run to, that a radioed-ahead armed response unit can't get to first?

I can fully understand why lots of larger countries have routinely armed police - calling for backup could take hours. But it's extremely difficult to outrun the police radio on an island only 700 miles long with a heavily-armed SMG & assault rifle unit every 25 miles or so, and CCTV at every trunk road junction (interstate intersection).

(The police at Birmingham Airport used to have those truly lovely-looking P90 bullpup rifles for manoeuvrability in corridors & aeroplanes; from my recent visit it looks like they've swapped over to MP5s - a shame as the bullpups just looked like a wonderfully practical bit of design. I once saw West Midlands Police using one of those wacky Steyr Augs - again, lovely design - but seem to have standardised now on SA-80s and AR-15s. There seems to be a lot more standardisation across the various regional firearms units these days. Probably very practical from a co-ordinated response point of view, but a lot less showy from a nerd point of view.)