I don’t really have anything to rail against or complain about today, but a couple of things caught my interest.
First, I think I made the right call not playing Age of Conan:
Former Producer and Game Director Gaute Godager has chosen to resign from Funcom after working on Age of Conan since the initial conception, and he leaves the company after 16 years. Godager was one of the original founders of Funcom, and leaves a large legacy, having contributed to making Funcom the largest MMO company in Europe. “I have done my very best making this fabulous game, but I have concluded there are elements which I am dissatisfied with. I have decided to act on this, and as a result I have chosen to leave Funcom.
When your lead producer jumps ship this close to the release of an MMO you know you’ve got problems. Not to mention he, Guate Godager (what a name!), had been with the company 16 years before this and it got so bad with AoC he left the company over it. Funcom is probably not the most fun place to work at this point.
Second, it turns out Lum may be a whiner. I say we examine the facts to determine said grouser status.
Exhibit A:
Well, Warhammer Online makes you do it EVERY TIME YOU CONNECT.
Get knocked off the server for whatever reason? You get to read the EULA again!
Oh, and there’s two. A EULA *AND* a Code of Conduct. So the installing this game means you actually own my computer is in the first dialog, and the forbidding you to have children until you get realm rank 17 is in the second dialog. And you have to scroll down, then click accept *every time you log in*.
That IS really annoying…but lets hear the counter argument just to be fair.
Exhibit B:
The EULA/CoC should require you to hire legal representation to fully understand your rights. I am not kidding. The document is written for courts by lawyers and doesn’t contain much in terms for the layman. In documents such as that, a simple misuse of the word “the” can crumble the legitimacy of it. End users are not supposed to understand it – they are only supposed to sign off on it. Be thankful that you don’t have to check a box at the end of each line. Be thankful that you do not have to hire legal counsel to review it before agreeing to it – because eventually one of these big companies are going to lose a big law suit and then you will have to – or some other drastic, stupid measure. Take the 5 seconds, powerscroll down, click a check box, click accept, and go play.
The argument is…you have no idea what you’re clicking, so shut the fuck up and click it over and over, asshat. That is a compelling argument if you’re really dumb (check the name of the guys site).
I love it. Lum is a malcontent because Warhammer makes you do something completely unnecessary every single time you want to play the game. Beyond logging, checking for a patch, selecting a server (potentially) and selecting a character, you also have to dilly-fucking-dally with their stupid EULA…multiple times. God damn it Lum, why won’t you shush it already!
I could go over the entire diatribe that Chris F goes into, but it really breaks down to justifying stupid decisions. No other MMO requires it, no other MMO has to do it for legal reasons. And suggesting we should consider ourselves lucky because, "Be thankful that you do not have to hire legal counsel to review it before agreeing to it". Wow. Not WoW, Wow. That’s an incredibly ridiculous argument. But I hear Rove’s people are trying to reach Chris F for help with their facade of a campaign for McCain…oh, and how to best present the idiotic policies of the current administration.
Remember, friends, it’s all right to call a spade a spade. Even if you’re fanboi. As a matter of fact, it’s perfectly all right to call out dumb features AND to still like the game. Crazy.
What Would Matt Do: Well, first, I’d probably try to have some level headness about the whole thing. Then again, this is the internet and no one likes sane or rational around these parts.
P.S. – An honorable mention goes to lamethrower’s Bill and his late review of Mass Effect. It’s decently funny, but it has the best little graphic to describe the reality of ME’s conversation trees. And while that might be the truth of the matter, I think they did a pretty good job with the illusion of choice. Even if ME is just a SeXBOX game.
I may have touched on a button or two (see Update #2) with our good friend over at I Has PC. Other than the name of his site and his apparent tendency to jump overboard on things, I see no reason for us to get into a tif. Why can’t we all just get along?
Also, this is an awesome way to consider the extra clicks. Nice, Zubon.
The irony of it all is that I was jumping overboard on the users jumping overboard on the EULA minor inconvenience – it wasn’t intended to be read as a jump on the people recognizing it was only minor (but worthwhile to chat about). My beef was with the ~40% of people linked in the WHA poll that said the EULA iteration would impact whether they would buy, or play, the game. That is pretty silly, I’m sure you can admit that. If a 5 second EULA delay impacts your decision to purchase the game then you have bigger issues.
I jumped overboard on you in update #2 as you jumped overboard with me on your specific paragraph rant while excluding the rest if the article (and key pieces of the same paragraph) – either way, while I do see how that paragraph could be misunderstood (most people didn’t) I’ll chalk it up as a blog-learning experience for future clarity.
You are right – we can get along (/hugs) after all, with all this “overboard” it seems we are all treading water together while there is a perfectly nice boat (stocked with a lot of beer, I hope) nearby that we should to take a ride in.
As for names, surely you can be much more creative! Last I checked “Matt the Mad” AND “AMIRITE?” are both still available.
The internet, it’s full of drama and misunderstandings.
I do like idea of your boat filled with beer.
As for my site name, touche.