Zeusthecat

Pretty interesting how Radiohead's strategy with In Rainbows worked out well for them. They let fans pay whatever price they wanted for the album with no DRM and actually ended up making a lot of money. Yeah, this probably won't always work and Radiohead is fucking Radiohead but I think it at least builds a case that a transparent, customer friendly approach is recognized by a lot of consumers.

Thank you for saying that. A lot of people here in the states opposed to it tend to have the perception that it would encourage use, corrupt our children, is a gateway drug, causes schizophrenia, etc. I think it's just a thing that some people like and some people don't just like alcohol or cigarettes (although ironically much less damaging to your body than those two and illegal here). I suspect things will change a lot within the next 10 years especially after seeing more and more states that have adopted less stringent laws in the last few election cycles. But, whatever happens happens. I'm hoping for a certain outcome but I'll be cool either way. And I would say there is quite a variety. Maybe not as diverse as beer but you would be surprised.

It's funny, none of the online requirements or used game/rental issues would likely ever be a problem for me. Once in a while I might borrow a game from a friend to try it out but it happens infrequently enough that this really wouldn't have that big of an impact on my gaming experience. But for some reason I still have a problem with it as a matter of principle. I know there are a lot of people out there that do buy used games, do rent games, and don't have internet and I have a hard time justifying putting my money behind something that will alienate those people. It is probably inevitable that this model will take over eventually anyways but as long as I can speak with my dollars I will put those dollars behind systems that don't implement these kinds of measures. It will be interesting to see what requirements Sony puts in place. If they do the same thing then I guess I'll just have to accept it and move on. But then again there's always the WiiU which is bound to gain some momentum and could win me over. In the end, me playing video games trumps everything.

I had a very surreal moment recently that I haven't really been able to share with anybody. So I'm gonna post it here. I went to lunch with my boss not too long ago. He is an engineer and project manager with 15 years experience and is in a fairly prominent role in our company. At one point in the conversation, the topic of the legalization of marijuana in Colorado and Washington came up. Turns out he's a fan. He proceeds to tell me that he did it through college, how great he thinks it is, and how much he preferred it over alcohol. Then he sarcastically said "But I don't do that anymore of course" as he was grinning ear to ear. I then made a similarly vague admission as I grinned ear to ear. People in the company I work for are all pretty straight edge so this kind of blows my mind. I have found out about a few others over the years and it's just fucking crazy. I never expected it to be as common as it is in the type of company I work for. Fucking crazy.

I was running a fever once when I was 6 or 7 years old, went to sleep still running a fever, and when I woke up and went to the bathroom a full solid turd fell out of my pajamas. It was probably at least 6 inches long. I remember being very confused at how a turd got into my pants and finally realized it was my turd and I had somehow taken a full shit in my pants while I was sleeping. I can only assume I had had some kind of a wetting the bed dream but a poop version and just slept through the whole thing because I was delirious. Luckily I've never pooped my pants since then, except for the occasional squirt of diarrhea.

I wonder if they sell baby games at Babies 'R Us.

When I grow up I will probably also have 20-inch blades on my Impala. Hopefully I'll also hit the highway so I can make money the fly way.

I want to be a baller. Maybe a shot caller.

Here's my argument against always on: If Black and Decker released a sweet toaster that was able to connect to the internet and gather all kinds of data to make the perfect toast every time, that would be sweet and I would buy one. However, if later on they decided to make all of their toasters online only to "ensure that people are getting the best possible toast experience" I would be all like "What the fuck? People have been making toast for a pretty fucking long time and I'm pretty sure they can get a good toast experience without the internet." I would then go buy a better toaster that a competitor made that allows both online and off because maybe there will be times when that internet connectivity is an inconvenience or an impossibility. Man, I want some fucking toast right now.

My favorite line of this entire podcast that perfectly sums up how I feel about Xdog: "You're doing a bunch of crazy stuff that I do think is probably the pinnacle of home entertainment technology... Fuck off." -Jake

That sounds like some amazing emergent gameplay!

Well... you never win and you never lose but you keep on trying to chase that purple fucking dragon.

In Gauntlet Legends (which I still have on the N64) I always chose wizard or archer. The special moves were just so badass.

A challenge? I fucking love challenges! So yeah, I took the challenge and see your point. I cannot argue against what you're saying based on a few of those posts (despite the fact that I agree with a number of his other points). Arguing is fucking fun when it's civil. They should make a video game out of that!

I think I remember hearing at some point that around the age of 28 the rate at which new cells are produced becomes lower than the rate at which they die. If that's true then I start dying next year.

Wonderful post Argobot. *slow clap*

That may be true but I really don't see anyone implying that other people shouldn't like it. That is a distraction from the actual argument, I think there's a word for that . The actual disagreement is in the implementation of the system and the intent behind it. Just because someone doesn't like McDonald's advertising methods doesn't automatically mean they don't think anyone should like McDonald's food. That is a false assumption.

I feel the same way but I have to say there was some chemistry on this episode. I think everyone played well off each other and Ryan brought some good shit to the table.

I have to assume you are counting me as one of these people but please correct me if I'm wrong. If that is the case please re-read my post and some of the other posts here. I think most of us are taking the stance that we don't like it for various reasons and see some potential for abuse and that it is not for us. I'm not really seeing what you call "a textbook case of "STOP LIKING WHAT I DON'T LIKE.""

Life is good here too.

That's fine to have a different opinion. But a few of us clearly aren't fans of the implementation and have given reasons. That statement at the end is a little condescending to those that don't share your viewpoint.

Thanks for the thoughtful insight Ben. I guess I haven't been around here long enough to see some of the previous discussions on this topic and wow, it is surprising how nasty it got. I agree that people should totally read up those threads to see how these conversations should and shouldn't work. I can't argue with what you're saying about people thinking that right=good and wrong=bad. It's just too bad that people tend to have such a rigid, binary viewpoint. As far as this thread goes, it actually seemed like there was a consensus where everyone recognized that there is a fundamental problem with how women are portrayed in society but then got caught up trying to argue the gray area. I think the fact that some people find this funny or at least not a big deal (women included) and some people find it offensive (men included) shows that there are many ways to look at it and there is not necessarily a "right" or "wrong" associated with an artist deciding to portray characters in this fashion. To re-state my stance, I am not a fan of this design and I do think it has the potential to be sexist depending on how the rest of the subject matter is handled. However, it could also have something smart or super sarcastic to say about its own design (which I honestly don't think will be the case) and if that were the case my stance would change. And again, if they had taken it to ultimate levels of absurd with the proportions I would have just laughed because I think there is a point where something gets so absurd that almost anyone can laugh.

It's so weird though. Of all of the intelligent conversation I've seen (not including all the stupid shit I post) I just don't get why people revert to fallacies on these topics when they are already making good arguments. Why are people so desperate to be "right"? I understand this is a much more personal subject and it is easy to let emotions take over but damn, if there were people out there that were actually right about everything then all of the world's problems would be solved. Can't we all just agree to disagree on agreeing to disagree?

Man, this thread has taken a tragic turn. I went back and read through all of the posts and I have to say there was a good amount of ad hominem and a few red herrings that poisoned this discussion fairly early on and honestly both "sides", if there even are sides, are guilty of this. I think this is a good discussion to have in general but this has devolved to a point that there isn't even a coherent argument anymore. Hearing people with different opinions share why they feel a certain way makes us all better people. Instead of holding some notion that our opinions are somehow more correct than others I think it is more productive to just put your opinion out there, acknowledge that it is just an opinion, and respectfully listen to opinions that differ from yours. Seriously, people here are fucking smart and emotionally intelligent and I find it very rewarding to read what others have to say. However, the second people start saying things like "I can't believe you think this" or "I can't argue your point so let me bring up another point as a diversionary tactic" the intelligent conversation takes a backseat to monkeys throwing poop at each other. When poo flinging starts, it is probably a good time for a topic to be dropped. As a random closing thought, I think a debate thread(s) would be kind of cool. Pick a hot topic and have some intelligent conversation about it. Basically the opposite of CNN forums.

Yeah, I was embarrassed by my initial post on the first page of this thread because it was very conspiracy theory-y. So I shut up to prevent further embarrassing myself. So naturally, I'm going to embarrass myself again and sound like a nut. It has been interesting reading through this thread as people are experiencing this. My opinion pretty much hasn't improved. It really just seems like a giant distraction from experiencing actual good games and is a good way to nickel and dime certain types of people by playing on their addictive nature. I think at some level it was intentionally designed this way. I mean, every corporation out there uses whatever marketing tricks they can to get people to buy crap that they don't actually want or need. On the other hand, I can see intelligent people who can see through the gamification of games having a good time with this and having an enhanced experience. I guess what I'm trying to say is I don't see it as a bad thing necessarily but I do think there may be some slightly nefarious intentions behind how it is implemented. Go ahead people, rip into me. I know I sound pretty fucking loony. I don't feel my point of view has a very strong logical basis anyways but eh, why not fucking throw it into the internet. Edit: Oh, and to make my argument even weaker, I love getting achievements on Xbox 360 (hypocritical right?). That is pretty much where I draw the line though. I do think there is a difference between an overarching score that can purely be built by only playing good games and going after fun achievements and a system this intricate that may give a much stronger incentive for doing retarded shit.