dommer2029 - Slashdot User

+ - Sony to Delete Virtual Goods -> 1

Submitted by

dommer2029

on Friday March 02, 2012 @01:59PM

dommer2029 writes "A few years back, Sony bought up a small company running an online collectible card game. Two days ago, they announced that the servers will be shutting down on March 29, 2012. All of our virtual collectible cards? Poof. It's not surprising — the user base is small and dwindling — but it's proof that any server-based digital goods you "own" can vanish on a corporation's whim."
Link to Original Source

Comment: Re:A shame I won't be playing it. (Score 1) 187

by dommer2029 on Sunday October 24, 2010 @03:41PM (#34005834) Attached to: Blizzard Announces Final Diablo 3 Class, PvP Arena Battles

I agree that by pirating software you weren't going to buy anyway you do not harm the company you pirate from.

However, you ignored my other point. "Even if you've decided that you would rather go without than pay for the game, the conclusion that piracy is then victimless is also false. If you want to play a Diablo-style game without DRM, then find a publisher who is making that and pay them for your entertainment. Or create a free software group and build it yourself."

Comment: Re:A shame I won't be playing it. (Score 1) 187

by dommer2029 on Saturday October 23, 2010 @01:59PM (#33997610) Attached to: Blizzard Announces Final Diablo 3 Class, PvP Arena Battles

No, that's not right either.

Given that they created the game, they have the right to choose the conditions under which they're willing to sell it. If I don't like those conditions, I have the right not to buy it.

Even if you've decided that you would rather go without than pay for the game, the conclusion that piracy is then victimless is also false. If you want to play a Diablo-style game without DRM, then find a publisher who is making that and pay them for your entertainment. Or create a free software group and build it yourself. But breaking the law doesn't show up on my list of valid choices.

Comment: Re:A shame I won't be playing it. (Score 1) 187

by dommer2029 on Friday October 22, 2010 @07:23PM (#33992006) Attached to: Blizzard Announces Final Diablo 3 Class, PvP Arena Battles

These are totally valid issues, but I guess it just comes down to how much I want it. Give up privacy to play games on Facebook? No, thanks. Requiring me to be connected and preventing me from reselling Diablo III? Sign me up. As long as it's a one-time fee for a game I expect to get many hours of enjoyment from, I'm only interested in the practical considerations. I have a network connection. I'm not planning on ever selling my copy of the game. That said, I was one of the people who stayed away from Spore a few years ago because they planned to do this kind of thing. The difference? Spore was something that looked "neat" but I didn't really see myself getting into it. Diablo III, I really want.

Motorcyclist Wins Taping Case Against State Police 485

Posted by Soulskill on Monday September 27, 2010 @07:20PM
from the development-on-camera-tasers-continues dept.

stevegee58 writes "Slashdot readers may recall the case of a Maryland motorcyclist (Anthony Graber) arrested and charged with wiretapping violations (a felony) when he recorded his interaction with a Maryland State Trooper. Today, Judge Emory A. Pitt threw out the wiretapping charges against Graber, leaving only his traffic violations to be decided on his October 12 trial date. 'The judge ruled that Maryland's wire tap law allows recording of both voice and sound in areas where privacy cannot be expected. He ruled that a police officer on a traffic stop has no expectation of privacy.' A happy day for freedom-loving Marylanders and Americans in general."

FEMA and DHS Fund Disaster Hero Game 68

Posted by Soulskill on Friday June 18, 2010 @03:38PM
from the fifty-bonus-points-for-each-liquor-store-you-loot dept.

eldavojohn writes "The United States government has decided that children need a video game to learn about what to do before, during, and after an emergency or hazardous event. Collect an emergency kit! Create an emergency plan! Be informed of what to do! Suffer from heat exhaustion inside the Superdome! ... Wait, what? Oh, I guess FEMA omitted that last one. Disaster Hero is coming in 2011 — plenty of time before 2012."

First Self-Replicating Creature Spawned In Conway's Game of Life 241

Posted by Soulskill on Thursday June 17, 2010 @12:27PM
from the emergent-gameplay dept.

Calopteryx writes "New Scientist has a story on a self-replicating entity which inhabits the mathematical universe known as the Game of Life. 'Dubbed Gemini, [Andrew Wade's] creature is made of two sets of identical structures, which sit at either end of the instruction tape. Each is a fraction of the size of the tape's length but, made up of two constructor arms and one "destructor," play a key role. Gemini's initial state contains three of these structures, plus a fourth that is incomplete. As the simulation progresses the incomplete structure begins to grow, while the structure at the start of the tape is demolished. The original Gemini continues to disassemble as the new one emerges, until after nearly 34 million generations, new life is born.'"

Comment: Re:I think I read this article already.... (Score 1) 315

by dommer2029 on Friday May 26, 2006 @05:08PM (#15412583) Attached to: Nintendo Learns from Mistakes with GameCube

Note here that I'm going to glom first and second party together, as I'm never sure which ones are first or second.

The second party is you. The first party is Nintendo, a third party is anyone else not in the original transaction. So there are no second-party games. (Unless you've been a very busy Slashdotter!)