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Comment Re:Better than red dye, apparently (Score 1) 324

Blue No. 1 is called "brilliant blue" and, as is typical of modern dyes, was originally derived from coal tar, although most manufacturers now make it from an oil base. Blue No. 2, or "indigotine," on the other hand, is a synthetic version of the plant-based indigo that has a long history as a textile dye. Indigo, which comes from the indigo plant (Indigofera), has been used for probably at least 4,000 years. There is a written recipe for dying wool with indigo on a Babylonian cuneiform tablet dated to the seventh century B.C. There is evidence that it was used in neolithic Europe and in pharaonic Egypt. It also comes from the woad plant (Isatis tinctoria), and was used by the Celts in Scotland to dye their faces.

Comment Motor City Online (Score 1) 1120

Probably the best game EA ever made. It was really quite sad that they didn't know what to do with it once it was done. It needed better marketing, more support, and a few bug fixes, but it had a fantastic community and game-play that they haven't matched since. You could really tell that they had no clue how to support an MMO. ( and I'm not sure that's changed)

Comment Re:off the top of my head (Score 1) 506

"But how many games does the low end actually buy?" Are you counting World of Warcraft? IMO, the lower barrier of entry is at least half the reason WOW outsold and continues to outsell its competitors. Even Maple Story has millions of users, and I'm guessing that has plenty to do with the fact it can be played on essentially anything (free doesn't hurt either).

Comment Re:dev perspective: MMOs not made to challenge pla (Score 1) 463

The point of MMO's isn't skillful play. MMO's are more like Snakes and Ladders, keep rolling the dice until you get to the top. And yet, Snakes and Ladders is still a successful game, you can still go out to a Toys R Us or Walmart and purchase it. The real draw of Snakes and Ladders, (like MMO's) is that everyone can win, and it's something you play socially.

Comment Re:You're in a lost cause (Score 1) 902

It's not an entirely lost cause, but there are some caveats. I work in an environment with a similar ratio. ~400 users and 6 IT people. 2 administrators, 2 techs, 1 on help desk, and 1 web guy. We inherited several kludgy systems when we came on the scene 10 years ago, and daily network interruptions were common and over a hundred trouble calls a day were the norm. We started by streamlining the networking services. We began replacing the desktop hardware with new equipment to take advantage of warranties and reduce our stockpile of obsolete replacement gear. We upgraded and standardized everything. We purchased tools so we could do a lot of things remotely. We locked down our users. No unauthorized software gets installed, ever. They use a standardized desktop and nothing gets saved to the desktop. Within 2 years we were down to less than a dozen calls per week. It's gone back up since then, but those are external factors. It was all possible because we had a budget, and really good management.

Comment Re:The Media companies have themselves to blame (Score 1) 708

Business can't adapt to that sort of culture change. It's like the industrial revolution is running headlong into Startrek. We know the future we want, except no-one knows how to make a sensible transition to it. The only people really investing any thought into it is people like the Venus Project (http://www.thevenusproject.com/). It would be supremely cool to see this sort of transition in my lifetime, but I can't see the amount of political will and co-operation necessary for such a thing ever happening.

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