Author: Zubon

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Промоакции для игроков не только в шутерах — воспользуйся промокодом Vavada от наших партнеров и получи бонусы, которые подарят азарт и атмосферу, сравнимую с игровыми победами.

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Kindle 2

Since I had a review request: I like it. It does a few things well and a few others well enough.

I do not intend to make much use of the Kindle store. I have review and library copies of recent books. I will use this for the many free and public domain books around, many of which folks are converting to the Kindle format. I hope that prevents unfortunate line breaks, which are distracting.

I have not yet had a long reading session with it, but it seems as easy on the eyes as advertised. I have found it uncomfortable for reading things that I am used to seeing on a larger page or screen, but it is the right size for a paperback. It is light, thin, and small, and the button layout is good. Like a real book, you still need light; unlike a real book, you need not hold it open, which allows for more comfortable and flexible reading positions.

Continue reading Kindle 2

Unlockables versus Items

How many mounts do you have or have you had? My Hobbit seems to be collecting ponies, and she does not get rid of them when a new one comes along. She has a Bree pony (low-level, slower), a blonde sorrel (first real mount), a chestnut (faction mount that survives more hits), a gray pony (white horse reward for finishing Volume One), and however many seasonal event ponies she has (plus tokens for more). These will soon be replaced with a Nimble Goat, which can be used in Moria.

I could sell a pony every time I get a better one, but they are ponies. My wife might never forgive me, and maybe today I want to ride a different pretty pony. What I would prefer, rather than having an inventory item for every possible mount, is to have a single mount item or power. When I get a new mount, I get a new option for that single mount. Give me a drop-down menu on my character to set my mount choice. (I am aware that I just asked for a pony menu on my paper doll. You cannot have my man card.) If the mount color is not considered PvP-relevant, I should be able to set the appearance to any mount I have unlocked — separate functionality improvements from appearance options, and leave me all my appearance options.

That is a general principle. As with most appearance issues, City of Heroes does it right. You start with a variety of options for what your sword looks like, and when you get a new option, you get a new sword appearance option on your list rather than a new sword to carry around. You unlock costume pieces through badges, task forces, microtransactions, and veteran rewards.

If you have item sets for each class, make that a deed, accomplishment, badge or whatever you call it. Once you finish the set, you permanently unlock that set appearance. You already have a cosmetic equipment tab, don’t you? Have another option on it: pick a completed item set from this drop-down menu.

Or better yet, everyone start using a system like the City of Heroes costume designer. I am looking forward to what Champions delivers. I still need to see The Chronicles of Spellborn’s version, once my addiction to The Lord of the Rings Onlineâ„¢ Volume Two: Mines of Moriaâ„¢ fades.

: Zubon

Hunters as Crowd Control

Yesterday was all about DPS, but Hunters have a secondary function in crowd control. They are a tertiary CC class, but let us look at the toolbox anyway. Hunters have the best rooting options around. They have decent fear, several slows, and minimal mez. Their abilities also require extra planning, setup, communication, or expense.

Rain of Thorns is hard to beat. There is not a lot of area effect crowd control available, and Rain of Thorns is an instant-cast, 30-second AE root at maximum range. It does, however, require a legendary trait and six focus. Continue reading Hunters as Crowd Control

DPS Balance

The Lord of the Rings Onlineâ„¢ Volume Two, Book Seven patch is on test. There is much to discuss, and my heart goes out to Captains, but right now I want to talk about Hunters. Because my main character is a Hunter, and everything is about me me me.

Ranged DPS classes are hard to balance. Turbine has it easier because there is no ranged AE class, but consider the problem. High DPS and long range are both things that get your defenses cut, so the plan is to burn something down before it gets to you. Once it gets to you, your primary defense is a robe, and nothing slows your casting times like being smacked in the face. The ranged DPS class fares relatively poorly against ambushes and unexpected respawns. Your primary defense is to kill it before it can kill you, ideally before it can hit you.

Based on that threshold value, “kill it before it gets to you,” a ranged DPS class is a god or a weakling. Continue reading DPS Balance

Infringement Meme

A comment at The Volokh Conspiracy, pointed me to “Infringement Nation,” a paper discussing the gap between copyright law and our social norms. The part you should go read is IV.A. “Infringement Nation,” which starts on page 8. Due to extensive footnotes, the 1000 words are spread across six pages.

The shorter version is that common activities are technically illegal, and the only things stopping billion of dollars of lawsuits (per person, per year) are good will and the difficulty of enforcement. If you include the text of an e-mail in a reply, that is an illegal reproduction of someone’s original work. If your game or music volume is too loud, that could be an illegal public performance of a copyrighted work.

On one hand, hey, can we track down those jerks who copy others’ blogs to generate faux content around a bunch of ads? Every single post on there is a potential $150,000 offense. How about those jerks who play their car radios loudly enough to rattle your windows? Illegal public performance, clear infringement.

On another hand, how many gaming blogs are posting their sixth screenshots? Did you contact the publisher for permission to reproduce artwork from their game? You are also making a derivative work, and your chat box may show infringement of other players’ copyright in their (short) textual creations. You are also distributing said illegal works, and engaging in contributory infringement by linking to other infringing blogs. Given the web of sites participating, there may be grounds for conspiracy or racketeering charges. That the developers want your free publicity right now does not mean that they have granted you legal permission to violate their copyrights.

Many people take the high ground on not stealing music or engaging in file sharing. Have you considered how you might be “a little pregnant” on violating copyright law?

: Zubon

If you read this post aloud, you created an unapproved derivative work. If someone else was around, you also conducted a public exhibition. Where is my royalties check?

Okay, 6 Makes Sense

I have commented several times that, if you want to fill your deed log, The Lord of the Rings Onlineâ„¢ expects you to run each instance six times. You can tell this by comparing the deed amounts to the number of enemies in the instance.

This is reasonable given that you have a team of six, with one drop at the end. If your team runs one of the hard mode instances six times, everyone has the radiance piece. Surprise, you also get the associated slayer deed. It is a reason to stick around and help others, although it does mean you are committing a solid day of your life to some instances.

This is less reasonable for the three-person instances, but old habits die hard, and they are pretty quick anyway.

: Zubon

Irony

Epic quest 2.3.9, “We Cannot Get Out,” is one of the most fun session play instances: you play a dwarf champion with ridiculous stats, and you slaughter many orcs. The quest also has a recurring bug: the NPCs you click to advance/leave the instance break. You cannot get out.

: Zubon