tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3249541406364691686.post1119124078346983557..comments2023-09-15T05:54:48.691-07:00Comments on SERIAL GANKER: Macros: Taking the plunge into dark waters...sid67http://www.blogger.com/profile/16656756657483499337noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3249541406364691686.post-52014958200677030092010-03-16T08:53:42.540-07:002010-03-16T08:53:42.540-07:00@Tarik
What I find condemning is that threads disc...@Tarik<br />What I find condemning is that threads discussing the "legal" nature of macroing are locked on the official forums. Meanwhile threads discussing how to use tools which easily can be setup by novices to macro are open and popular threads.<br /><br />This tells me that Aventurine doesn't want to be forced to take a stand on the topic. They want some ambiguity because they can't prevent it at this point.<br /><br />The problem for Aventurine is that it's a fairly difficult problem to enforce. It's even hard for Blizzard which has a lot more resources to through at the problem.<br /><br />Now combine the lack of detection with the design problem of "on use" skill ups which encourage people to make otherwise unneeded actions. The result is a playerbase which more and more widely accepts the usage as normal.<br /><br />That, in turn, leaves a problem for Aventurine who might not like the macroing result but doesn't want to piss off the now huge part of the playerbase that has come to accept such usage as normal.sid67https://www.blogger.com/profile/16656756657483499337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3249541406364691686.post-36616088363342824622010-03-16T01:02:46.781-07:002010-03-16T01:02:46.781-07:00@Sid
Sorry. I meant to say, and was a bit chagri...@Sid<br /><br />Sorry. I meant to say, and was a bit chagrined to see when I read through after posting that I hadn't, "to the extent you seem to want to believe ...." Meaning that I detected a small glimmer of hope in there that this was all a big misunderstanding. My bad. You don't come off as particularly credulous.<br /><br />What I still find rather staggering about this whole saga is the underlying notion that "this is hard to max out, ergo it is intended to be leveled via automation." As an amateur games writer and avid gamer, you'd think he'd understand the design philosophy behind time sinks in a subscription-based game.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06621479454236011547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3249541406364691686.post-59838110353987245952010-03-15T18:29:24.353-07:002010-03-15T18:29:24.353-07:00@Tarik
We don't disagee. I think that's e...@Tarik<br />We don't disagee. I think that's exactly what Aventurine is doing. It's vague enough wording to frown upon it, but muddled enough so that people will interpet that it is OK to do what they can't prevent. And likewise muddled enough that people like myself can interpet it as wrong to do such things.sid67https://www.blogger.com/profile/16656756657483499337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3249541406364691686.post-53716768619123308322010-03-15T17:24:34.501-07:002010-03-15T17:24:34.501-07:00Good article as usual.
Point of order, Syncaine&#...Good article as usual.<br /><br />Point of order, Syncaine's not struggling with his choice to bot in Darkfall. He's wriggling around the nonsense inherent in his moralistic finger wagging at gold buyers with one hand, and his use of macros to skillup difficult skills on the other. He got called on it, so he's trying to carve a way out. I think very few people are really falling for it.<br /><br />As someone who has both bought gold and macroed in at least one game each, I think, if anything, macroing is often worse. If you buy gold and load up on gems or a better hammer I lack, I suppose it may have some modest impact on my playtime if I meet you in a dark alley. If you skill up your resists while you work or play your iPhone and I don't, then again, it's likely to have some modest on my playtime. <br /><br />But if you're using your macro to autotarget or track me through mountains (you bastard) well, hell, that's just plain irritating, and likely to totally ruin my night.<br /><br />Lastly, I disagree with you to the extent you believe the Aventurine rule can't possibly be intended to be read as Syncaine reads it. I think that's just what they meant. They had to appear to be doing something about botters while tolerating their loyal botters. So they came up with a typically muddled and dumb Aventurine rule to "resolve" the problem.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06621479454236011547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3249541406364691686.post-8624447437144822892010-03-15T14:46:30.253-07:002010-03-15T14:46:30.253-07:00I think part of the problem is player perception: ...I think part of the problem is player perception: I can't be competitive without x, and y, and it has to be at least as good as so-and-so's. Playing casually in DF it has become clear to me that I will not be able to compete head to head against the big kids without accepting that my advancement curve will be longer than theirs. Macro or not, the skills cap, you can only use so many at once, and if you focus on what's fun for you (which might be swimming into walls ofr that .1 str/hour) rather than a number whose significance is debatable, you will probably continue to enjoy the game. <br /><br />Macroing in DF has a little more impact than in WoW say, but ultimately is of little importance.<br /><br />If you focus on those aspects of the game where the real power is to be had. Tactics, organization, friends, support networks, all of the aspects that make DF more a world than a traditional mmo can't be effectively macro'ed. <br /><br />Truth is that I didn't really appreciate Darkfall, or EVE until i stopped gaming them and started playing them.Quietsidehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16754088913614207786noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3249541406364691686.post-51636309460836111062010-03-15T14:26:00.253-07:002010-03-15T14:26:00.253-07:00Arrgh! It's not an MT post :) LOL.
I have t...Arrgh! It's not an MT post :) LOL. <br /><br />I have to tell you I'm really laughing here because I wrote about it at length a few weeks ago and promised myself to quite writing about it.<br /><br />I was even tempted to leave that paragraph out, but decided against it.<br /><br />Oh well... :)<br /><br />Anyways, regarding the whole MT thing since that cat is out of the bag, I'll point you to my more detailed thoughts about it.<br /><br />The pay to skip content thing is a common theme in all three posts.<br /><br /><a href="http://serialganker.blogspot.com/2010/02/microtransactions-not-only-unfair-but.html" rel="nofollow">MT: Not only unfair, but foolish</a><br /><a href="http://serialganker.blogspot.com/2010/02/microtransactions-why-you-need-to-hate.html" rel="nofollow">MT: Why YOU need to hate them like I do</a><br /><a href="http://serialganker.blogspot.com/2010/02/microtransactions-follow-up-to-todays.html" rel="nofollow">MT: Follow-up to Today's post</a>sid67https://www.blogger.com/profile/16656756657483499337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3249541406364691686.post-31268245006503343972010-03-15T14:15:11.286-07:002010-03-15T14:15:11.286-07:00Um, ok where does one use a microtransaction to &q...Um, ok where does one use a microtransaction to "skip content?" You must be playing some seriously obscure and dodgy F2P games.<br /><br />I've still yet to spend a dime on F2P, though I'm not opposed to it provided I like the game enough and think that I would stick around long enough to get an equivalent amount of enjoyment out of it. (Coincidentally, which is why I've yet to spend anything in an F2P yet...) But with statements like that, it's sooooo easy to play Devil's Advocate.Talynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17848472705380445923noreply@blogger.com