I didn't need to hook up any special equipment or have anyone install anything on my TV. The diaries showed up in an envelope with $40 cash (two $20 bills) and I was requested to start writing my viewing habits on a certain date, then return the diaries when the week was up. It accounted for DVR watching, you just listed what channel you had DVR'd, the show's name, and when it was originally broadcast. You also noted if anyone watched it with you (there were lines for each member of the household, as well as spaces for guests). It was all very low-tech, but I found the process interesting to document what I actually watched on TV for a week or so. It pretty much 100% relied on someone's honesty to fill it out properly and accurately. I was actually really surprised to see how often I had the TV on, but I wasn't watching it (was playing World of Warcraft a lot with the TV on, but not paying attention it). I did the TV diary thing two years in a row, and it was really easy. If you're ever called about it, I recommend going for it - it wasn't hard at all. And it's an easy $40 cash.

I play WoW a lot because I think it's fun, and it's an amazing entertainment deal at $16 per month, for all of the hours I spend at it. I have friends who live nearby, and we hang out in person, and we also hang out in the game doing stuff together. What is the essence of designing a game that is addiction-based? Replay value and a desire in the player to be an achiever. With a subscription-based game, you have to keep people playing and wanting to play, to keep their account active. You also need to provide ample opportunities for someone to achieve something, and then keep further achievements available to them to accomplish. My friend who has 2 kids didn't have the time to level from 70 to 80, so he stopped playing WoW because the rewards and achievements weren't catered well enough to make him feel rewarded for his time. World of Warcraft literally inserted an Achievement system in the game - for example, if you complete a dungeon, you get an achievement stating that you completed it. When this system was released, although there were no specific awards for some achievements, a LOT of players just started accomplishing these achievements because it was just "something to do." People like to feel like they accomplished something, and this achievement system gave them that chance. Expansive content, the ability to set new goals at any time and accomplish them, sliding reward systems that are consistently extended to make you want to seek them out (but tantalizingly close enough to actually achieve them without too much frustration), these just a couple of things that will keep a subscription going and make a game addicting.

If I orbiting in space, and had a free day, I wouldn't want to stare at a laptop screen to watch a movie - I'd spend hours staring at the Earth, because I could!

Yeah, you're right. Oh well. Sorry Mr. Kodak and Ms. Polaroid, or something.

This digital stuff is just not the same as physically possessing something that only you have access to. There are no permissions to set on an album, no internet required, and it's easily hid in a shoebox far from parents prying eyes when you, for example, take a goofy picture of your friend pretending to drink one of his Dad's beers with a cigarette in his hand.

is Stepan Company of Maywood, New Jersey. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coca

You can take a picture of whatever you like. Use your imagination....

A piece of instant film could be handed directly over to a friend or relative without further hassle. Digital cameras still require you to take the time to get to a computer and do something with the picture via the memory card or the camera itself. Instant sharing isn't as simple or direct as snapping the picture and handing it to someone, like with a Polaroid. Although being able to see if it was a "bad picture" was also handy, I think the coolest thing was the instant gratification factor that digital cameras still don't quite possess.

Although the trend is toward easy digital transferring of images, they're usually not that great if taken with cell phones, and digital cameras require an intermediate step to get it to a computer. I remember the days of taking Polaroids of friends, and snapping several so everyone got one. I'm not even sure that most younger folks these days would have even seen a Polaroid "insta-matic" but I bet they'd get a real kick out of them if they did. It was kind of special that you got to shoot the picture and develop it and instantly pass it along/share it with others. I hope they can figure out the chemical process necessary to recreate the film, but maybe Kodak could be persuaded to license the formula to the new manufacturer?

"There's even rumors of LucasArts being so angry about the changes that they may cancel SOE's contract."

The formatting of this in italics makes it seem like it's mentioned in the story, which it's not...so that's a bit misleading or confusing.

If you read the article, in fact, the vice president of development at SOE said, "'It was a tough decision we had to make,' he said. 'We knew we were going to sacrifice some players . . . [but] as a Star Wars license, we should do a lot better than we have been doing.'"

So, in effect, it seems that SOE was probably lambasted by LucasArts and the NGE was the result. It was likely a joint effort between the two companies to kick start the game again. If LucasArts is still unhappy with it, then it is a situation they were well aware of, and it's doubtful they would suddenly become angry and cancel SOE's contract when they were part of the effort to "save" the game.

That said, I played this game for 2 years with multiple accounts. It used to be fun, and with the new way of things it just wasn't. Animations before the first overhaul of the game (Combat Upgrade) were fluid and fun to watch, especially the Darth Maul-esque double bladed lightsaber moves. The Combat Upgrade filled the game with flashy particle effects and magical auras everywhere - VERY unlike any Star Wars movie I've seen. That was lame. With the New Game Enhancements they just recently did, now they sped up everything so that characters run around like they're on crystal meth. It looks ridiculous. It was plagued with bugs and only had quests through level 30 out of the 90 levels in combat - that was just a stupid decision. The game needs more content and always has.

The game also needs a development team that can actually handle the workload required of the game - it's more than apparent that no matter what the configuration of the game, the Dev team isn't up to the task. Even as "cut down" as the game currently is, which it really isn't - many professions just got rolled up into "classes" so no significant work was really saved - the Devs still don't seem to have any significant effort being put toward finally getting this game polished and functioning.

In the end, the NGE basically achieved the purging of the veteran playerbase who were pissed that nothing good had come out of the potential the game had, and instead it overhauled everything to bring in a new crop of players willing to fork over cash and wait for the potential of the game to be realized. In other words, they have a whole new population of willing subscribers who will take another 2 years to really get mad that they've wasted their time to get nothing significant in return. The question is - will the new players have the staying power of the previous veteran players? Doubtful, in my opinion. They are flash in the pan Episode III-hyped players. The fans who were in it for the long haul have by and far given up by now.

Eventually this game will be abandoned in droves and it will fall apart. Too bad, because all I wanted was to actually be a musician in the Star Wars universe and entertain folks - and the Devs have no interest apparently in developing that "iconic class" as they call it. In addition, I got sick of playing a Jedi (which launched with the NGE with no armor - frickin' brilliant) which is a melee class in a ranged shoot-em-up game. If they can't get the game to work right with Jedi, what the hell kind of Star Wars game is it, anyways? And who the hell calls themselves a Dev for a Star Wars game when they can't even make Jedi fit into the game properly?