Bad Ideas Reinvented: Opera Unite is the new Kazaa?
Why is Opera trying to launch a file-sharing service in their browser? I like Opera; I'm using it right now. I just don't understand how this won't devolve in to massive networked illegal activity withot active moderation. And then, if the service is actively moderated, aren't we still at the mercy of some stranger middlemen? So either they want to start a war with a variety of IP holders or they're wasting their time with a gimmick that won't catch on. The only way to truly get away from middlemen is wire everyone up on the same base router and call it a day. Suffice to say, that's a horrible plan vastly inferior to the working situation. What's so wrong with servers? I don't see how they're controlling anything but their own content. The real issue is if the government decides to start filtering/censoring various content (much like China). My problem is, I feel like I understand their "vision" but I think they're just idiots. What say ye? Am I just not getting it? Have I been jaded by Mozilla's Aurora concept and expect a too high a standard from browser companies?
Side Note: Opera 10.5b is some sort of hotness (get it with the custom Aero Glass skin).
Addendum: Opera went crazy on me for a second and I almost lost this post. It clearly doesn't like Wordpress. Probably some non-standard CSS/JS/HTML in this complex monstrosity that is one of the best blogging engines around. However, Wordpress had a copy of the draft so it's all good.
FFXI Lesson #2: Why you were kicked from the PT
Because you suck.
It's actually that simple. I'm not saying you didn't do your job, maybe you did your job excellently. The primary reason I've seen people kicked from a party was that they decided to talk instead of play. That includes arguing with the party leader and spamming the party with foolishness. This also includes, not playing your job how the party leader has told you to play it. Everyone respects your desire to play a ninja that maximizes damage with shurikens or adds some extra nuking ability by subbing /BLM; please exercise your freedom in another party because right now we need a ninja that will shadow tank because we don't have a paladin.
That said, I don't think people get dropped from parties nearly as much as they did before. In the early days, a party leader would look at your equipment and drop you for not having +1 gear or demand you grab some food and if you didn't you could go find another party. That said, if you get kicked from a PT these days, you were most-likely a dick, deserved it, and need to reconsider your approach next time. FFXI is a cooperative game in every way, when people stop working together nothing gets done.
I met a guy once that simply said: "that's the way I am." In that case, you should go buy World of Warcraft or wait for FFXIV to come out so you can have some soloing options. FFXI is probably not the game for you.
FFXI Lessons #1: How to be a Good Leader
NOTE: I noticed people have run across my blog while searching for this topic so I went ahead and let them know what's up. Since I'm only level 53, I can really only speak for running an experience party.
Playing FFXI is all about partying. In fact, for your first 30 levels, you would be hard pressed to level without partying. The corner-stone of every party is a leader. Unfortunately, most people either don't know how to be a good leader or choose not to. In fact, I knew a guy who always made amazing parties yet never wanted to be the leader. I'm going to go over a few key things you can do so that my friend never has to step up and fix your horrible party.
- Make decisions and be consistent about it
No one is always right, but consistency helps build confidence. Don't let an annoying party member make decisions and undermine your authority. People who feel they know what's best regardless of whether or not the current plan is working or not. Not to say you need to rule with an iron fist, in fact that usually calls for a mutiny. It's best to make firm decisions about the group's direction but remain open to everyone's input. Everyone needs to be on the same page but you can't possibly know everything or sometimes you forget something. One way to make sure the decisions you're making for the group are right is to..
- Be informed!
Use the internet to know how to tackle your chosen campsite, what sites are good for your level range and what party setups work for what situations. Good decisions often make rational sense. It's irrational leadership that gives those annoying wannabes a chance to nitpick and undermine you. However, a good leader is a good player so...
- Know your job
This is general advice for anyone playing. Know the standards of what people expect of you. For example: if your a ninja, have Utsusemi and be ready to shadow-tank. Now one of the benefits of making your own PT is that you can play however you want but make sure you know how to do your job in the PT and create a PT so that everyone can do their job effectively.
- Prepare for a shitstorm
Parties wipe, it's part of the game. Try to be ready for it. If you're in a Fields of Valor zone, have everyone get Reraise. There's a good chance people will leave the PT before it's over. Make sure the members know they should give notice and agree on how replacements will be handled. Regardless if they agree to find a rep, you should probably be looking for replacements yourself just in case.
- Be ready to offer Skillchain + Magic Burst combinations
This one is extremely optional, skillchains have greatly fallen out of style in FFXI since leveling is a lot easier. Nevertheless, it doesn't hurt to find out if your melees wouldn't mind SCing for some extra damage. Again, it's not really necessary, and most people aren't macro'd properly for skillchains anyway. Remember, as the party leader you should be doing everything to attempt to maximize the party's efficiency.
- Know when it's time to close shop
A lot of PT leaders don't know when to call it a day. Eventually whole party will level a couple times and the experience take a hit. At that time, you need to get a count of the members that are ready to move to a new camp and see about possible reforming. I usually don't stay at a camp if I'm on the upper end of the level limit (being level 28 of a level 26-28 camp) and will start arranging a new plan around the time that level is hit.
---
The most important things to take out of this are to: be informed, make decisions confidently, and maximize the party's efficiency. The biggest problem that most PTs have are leaders that don't know the camp so they form bad party job combinations. The best PTs have little downtime (adequate healing and timely replacements coupled with effective damage-over-time). Usually when everyone is involved, no one talks too much which means no one has a chance to be annoyed with someone else's personality.
What are you ideas for being a good party leader?
The start of the decade is just another year: 2010 Resolutions
- Image via Wikipedia
I don't like making resolutions because they're so often broken. However, I have a few things I really need to do so I went ahead and made a few. I ended up with a lot of resolutions (well to me at least, usually it's like no more than three). I'm going to go ahead and post them here, and help fulfill my final resolution.
- Produce six games
- Learn the top 1000 kanji
- Read my Japanese textbooks (JSL/JWL series and Genki I)
- Achieve Navy PRT standard
- Cook and bake more
- Manage a post every week
The first resolution is pretty obvious for me. I've been delaying Project Silver for the longest time (which will hopefully have some announcable progress soon). So I decided to set a deadline but it and some other game ideas I've had. Ideally, I'd like to get around to more than 6 games but as it stands, I only have about two to three ideas (including this mysterious Project Silver) that I see being done solo. I have some recruiting and brainstorming to do once those ideas are completed.
Learning kanji and finishing my textbooks are a continuation of my plans to pass JLPT 1 and spend some time living in Japan. There are a number of reasons for this that I'm not really going to get in to. Needless to say, if I get in to JET, the ability to speak and read Japanese will come in handy.
I managed to get down to about 187 pounds last summer and now I'm back to being over 200. I want to get in shape just so I can manage to live past 47. Active military personnel seem to be in pretty good shape (at least my friend Terrell does) so their requirements seem to be a good place to start.
It's easier to eat healthy, women like it, I'll save money, and House is good at it. There are a lot of reasons to get good at cooking. Baking is just added on for the extra savings. I buy a lot of Druid Circles so I'm going to try my hand at making my own cookies and what not. I've also wanted to make some bread ever since I saw Yakitake. I'm pretty sexist and I honestly think baking is a woman's thing but I guess, I'm going to go ahead and violate my owns rules until I find a woman willing to make me some cookies. I'm sure it'll be almost as much fun as cooking...maybe....
Finally, managing to post every week has proven to be difficult. The real goal is 52 posts within the year but ideally, I'd prefer to make 1 post a week. We'll see how it goes. I don't know where I'm going to find time for all of this, especially if I find a job. I guess this is one of those times where I must exceed what I think I'm capable of to achieve greatness...or something like that...
I thank whatever gods may be / For my unconquerable soul. / I am the master of my fate / I am the captain of my soul. - Nelson Mandela (Invictus)
Old News is Old: Google Voice + Gizmo5
So I was looking in to ways to keep in touch in case I get accepted to JET and had be pretty much betting on using Skype. Now I find out Google Voice had acquired the internet service people were using as an intermediary to connect their Google Voice number with Skype. Basically Gizmo5 can forward any calls they receive to Skype and they link with Google Voice. Now in the near future we can pretty much bet there won't be a second step, just drop your Skype account in to Google Voice.
What does this mean? Provided I can get Wifi access, I'll have the equivalent of a free cell phone. That doesn't really mean much if you're in rural Japan but anytime I'm home or maybe in the city areas, I should be good to go. Definitely something I'm going to test out if when I get my hands on an N900.
Oh yeah, Merry Christmas blouses. I hope everyone got a pair of Space Jam Jordans. I know I didn't...
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If I’m Lucky, The End is Near…
- Image via Wikipedia
So I took my last final of the semester on Friday. With any luck, it'll be my last final forever. I don't think I find out what grades are for quite some time. They do graduating senior grades early but I'm not sure how early. Regardless, I should now have time for that blank projects page and regular posts on this blog. Interestingly enough, I have no idea what I want to post about.
I saw Avatar in IMAX 3D, so maybe we'll talk about that. Also, the AutoCast (tentatively titled BlackGear) team is in town. Provided the recent snow clears up, we'll talked about getting together for a live broadcast. I guess in there are a lot of things to discuss.
While you're waiting for me to post again, hit up one of my friends' blogs on the sidebar. I don't know why I'm plugging them in a post, I don't get anything for it. If you're in to Japanese living/culture/stuff: I just started reading "The Hopeless Romantic" thanks to Danny Choo. Hopefully you won't realize how horrible my blog is after seeing all these others and never come back. I really need to plan these posts out because obviously my stream-of-consciousness rantings don't lead anywhere positive when it's late and I have nothing to say.
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Who runs these lyric sites?
I know I haven't been posting regularly, bite me.
Now this is what's running around most of the web for This Boy's Fire by Jennifer Lopez (I have the Ultimate Santana collection -- don't judge):
That's why I fly [Incomprehensible]
Sky fly high, "suavecito" (okay so this is actually incomprehensible)
Or that deuce deuce chrome el Camino
Hope the world is really ready for some fly Latinos
We the chief like Babe Ruth and The Great Bambino
We the truth like Babe Ruth and The Great BambinoNow we didn't really come here to burn nobody
All I wanna do is drink and dance with shawty
There's a legend in the house, here to rock the party
You can toss, drink, blaze and like there's no tamariOops, I'm in my Maria with Carlos Santana
Oops, I mean manyana with Carlos Satana
Oops, It's Ronnie Ray all day with J hot as sauna
We in the building and we feelin' like a 100 degrees
I got a fly chicanita and she's stuntin' with me, so right here
Granted, rap can be really hard at times but really? This bad? C'mon people. The sad thing is, this song is over three years old and the lyric sites are still like this.
What was that? You wanted a real post? This was a real post; don't you see the pic of Jennifer Lopez? I finish school in less than a month then I really won't have any excuses left.
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SEGA’s new Sonic: I really want to have faith…
Sega is trying to make another come back. This time, they're annoucing a 2D HD reintroduction of Sonic. This of course, sends a spetacular tingle up my spine but then I quickly yank myself down to reality. When was the last time they actually pulled off a good Sonic title? Haven't they done enough damage? I feel that they came so close with Sonic Unleashed but they proved that they can't resist the urge to throw in a nice pile of crap with everything good they make. If you play the Sonic Unleashed demo it doesn't feel too bad. It's fast and fun like Sonic Adventure -- play the game and you get smacked with the awful Were-hedgehog garbage. Who came up with that? Have they been properly shot? Hopefully, you buried their body next to the person who gave Shadow guns.
What about the other Sega franchises, why don't we give those another go before we start ripping Sonic to shreds again? I think we're due for another Shinobi game. What happened to finishing up Shemue? A proper Phantasy Star Online title? I want to say lets bring on another Panzer Dragoon but no, lets not. Panzer Dragoon Orta was brilliant -- please don't go screwing that up.
Forget suggesting that Sega actually sit down and bring to the table quality new IP. I doubt they could really at this point. When it seems like they're kept afloat by a bevy of collection releases on every system possible and hitting whatever popular platform they can -- I don't think they have more than two ounces of creativity left. Or if they do, they're keeping everyone locked away in a closet. It's a shame quality fighting games aren't popular. Virtua Fighter is always a solid bet -- it's just when you suck at that game, you know you suck and it takes actual skill to get anywhere decent. The tried and true button mashing tactics that save you in Street Fighter and Guilty Gear don't help much in Virtua Fighter.
Why am I filling the air with such negativity. Let us let 2010 speak for itself and see if Sega still employs a few designers and not just a bunch of marketing executives and representatives.
For the record, I only care to write so much because I actually care if they get it right. I really like Sega and the IPs they created. Even growing up with a Super Nintendo, I was a huge fan of my first Genesis titles: Sonic 2 and Columns. A lot of my better gaming experiences happened on a SEGA system: NBA Jam, Madden 94, Sonic (duh), Comix Zone, X-Men, Virtua Fighter, Street Figher Alpha, Shenmue, and many more. I just really want to see Sega make something right other than Virtua Tennis.
Source: Sega making 'all new' 2D, hi-def Sonic game for 2010
Getting Paid to Be a Billboard: iwearyourshirt.com
I know I'm super-late on this one. I just found out. Apparently, this guy rents out his warddrobe to advertise for businesses. We all know it's a great idea. Frankly, I think someone needs to scale this up and get people in all the major cities doing this. Run the (very) rough numbers:
- 365 days in a year at a price ranging from $1-365
- He has sold 360ish days
My Horrible Assumptions
- He nets an average of $140/day
- He has to cut out about 25% to Uncle Sam
- He shelled out around $5,000 in site development and advertising
- Let's go ahead and take another $5,000 in legal fees
Some horrible math then gives us about $30,000 in "free" income. It's free because all he had to do was wear a bloody shirt and a great many independent professions can spend that time hanging out in public places sneaking a few hours to code, write, draw, etc.
I'm not trying to stomp on his idea or anything. Jason has clearly put a lot of work in to this advertising medium. I really like it, I'm just pointing out how nice of a sidejob this is. It's not a little bit of extra cash, it's a full extra entry-level salary.
I need to find me a gig like this. If he's running days for 2010, I might have to jump on that...
EDIT: He changed the logo for 2010 so the image broke. I permanently fixed it, the new image is now on my server.
SNK drops the ball on KOFXII, no one suprised…
First up, I haven't actually played KOFXII yet. I've been itching to but I'm sorry, I'm too poor. I've just got through reading the Engadget review and I must say, I'm throughly disappointed. I'd say check it out but here are the highlights:
- Missing Characters: King, Yuri, Geese Howard...
- Online Play Lag
- Nothing really new
Okay, lets address this one-by-one shall we? No King?! It's the only character I can actually play well and they get nix her. There's also no Vanessa, one of the newer characters I wanted to learn. I love that they cut down the roster, I just don't approve of the final selection so much.
I was worried about online play not using GGPO, seems that my worries were well founded.
The fact that nothing has really changed in KOFXII is a blessing and a curse. I feel that KOFXI brought a little too much and I didn't really like it. KOFXII was supposed to drop back to '94 roots IIRC but the idea that they reeled back too hard and it's not really fun bothers me.
Hopefully, I'll get a hands on sometime soon and I can give my real impressions but there's no way I'm dropping cash without some serious time with the game.
UPDATE: Looking at the review on ArsTechnica isn't too promising either but it restores some faith that the actual offline gameplay is solid despite missing some favorites. A solid sit-down still to come.
