Fall (or Autumn) starts when Summer stops.

Lots avaiable here

Planning, what's that?

Besides, you're missing my point. I didn't specifically go to France to climb a mountain in a thunderstorm. It's just one of the many wonderful experiences I had there. And I've had exhilirating experiences in my home town too.

"Months and months of nothingness" I find tend to spring up when you do nothing but sit behind a computer expecting something to happen. Get outside, go walking at night with no lantern, lie out back and watch the stars - there's a wealth of possibilities, but always remember you get out what you put in.

Life serves the risk-taker

The storm didn't start until I was halfway up. My life consists of a great deal of self loathing and I have rarely accomplished anything, so I resolved to make it to the top regardless of risk.

I stopped short of Yelling "all gods are bastards" when I reached the top, but I did mutter "you can't stop me" under my breath after every thunderclap.

I recently went on holiday to France (Amelie-Les-Bains, in the Pyrenees). While there I climbed a mountain in a thunderstorm. IT was at once the most exhilirating, exciting and terrifying experience. I have played WoW in the past and got bored after a few months. I can assure you, mountains in thunderstorms are far from boring.

Perhaps you feel life is pointless because you're not actually playing it, just watching the teaser trailers?

320x200 if you can believe it, and it STILL holds up as one of the best games ever. I once had a dream when I was a teenager that aliens were invading and MI5 hired me and my friend becasue of our extensive knowledge of aliens through the X-Com games. I so wish that dream was real.

Ahh I retract my "concept of zero".

Let's see, Mathematics, the concept of zero, astronomy, agriculture.... Care to revise your statement?

Working in the games industry myself, I can tell you that you're right on the ball with the "petulant children" remark. Many of the people in control are exactly that - kids who never grew up. They want to live this rockstar lifestyle which they feel they're entitled to. I suggested in order to keep costs down we cap pay at a sensible level, develop smaller scale titles on a more frequent release schedule, reuse tech in different games instead of redesigning each time. I was laughed out the office, I believe primarily because of the pay suggestion. Working in the games industry has brought on clinical depression. Not a day passes where I don't think of taking my own life. I pray for collapse, and judging from the current environment, that may not be far off.

ahhh bringing Venture Capitalists into the picture suddently makes the risk-averse nature make sense.

I think the main problem is that everyone seems to set out to "beat WoW". Why? Why do you need to beat it? An MMO can be successful, profitable without being the MOST popular or the MOST profitable. Look at LOTRO or EVE for example - they're not eating into WoW's playerbase, but they're (presumably) still doing well.

I'm sure there are probably more examples of MMOs which may not be on everybody's lips, but still manage to turn a profit. Does anybody have data on small-time MMO projects like Vendetta or A Tale in the Desert? I've played Vendetta briefly though I have no real handle on their subscriber base.

That said however, both Vendetta and A Tale in the Desert "break the formula" so to speak, I'd imagine if they were small time WoW clones they would simply have sank without trace. In summary then: Break the mould, don't worry about "beating wow", just worry about making your own game a success (and that doesn't mean loads of money necessarily).

Crush the music industry? Or crush all creativity? There's nothing wrong with artists producing their own music. Automating the generation of music WILL crush the creative artists, the current industry publishers will simply start churning out vocaloid tracks and continuing to control the industry.

Creative commons licensing of music I think is a better way to "crush" the industry. It's more likely to usurp the industry than crush it. People are already doing it, and some are quite good.

Well technically, England, Scotland and Wales makes up Great Britain. Adding Northern Ireland makes the United Kingdom (or to give its full name, The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland).

I still prefer "Hyperborea" though.

"We are Veloxi the everyday. Now perhaps the information exchanging, by Jove?" Damn you for making me waste an evening digging out my copy.

Assuming grammar is lumped in with spelling, your parents now owe a hundred bucks.