I have played Eve off and on since shortly after it's launch, and yes most serious players do not spend a dime on the game. Eve has a mechanic where you can purchase Game Time Codes from other players using in game money.
If you have the time, knack, luck or combination of all three you can easily make enough in game money to pay for 2+ accounts.
I know a couple people that got lucky enough early on that have 4+ accounts that they have not paid for in over 4 years. Even as a relatively casual player I was able to pay for one of my two accounts with in game money after about 4 months of setting up my money making scheme in game.
I take issue with the argument that "all you have to do is make a good game and people will pay for it!"
Tell that to System Shock 2, Psychonauts, the Freedom Force games and any other numbers of critically and player acclaimed commercial failures over the years.
The thing is these two statements are not mutually exclusive. Many people did pay money for all the game mentioned, and that is exactly what the first statement says. Just because something is a commercial/financial failure does not mean there were not sales or that the product wasn't good.
What the first statement does not say is that your company will be a financial success because of the sales you have. That depends on a lot more then just sales. In particular the cost side of the equation. Just because you can create a great game does NOT mean that you know how to run a profitable company. There are dozens of examples of this over the past three decades.
One thing that very seldom gets brought into the discussion about having fun at work and happy employees being a good thing, is the fact that this only works with people that like working. There are plenty of people that don't like working at all, regardless of the job or workplace.
Personally I can't think of a single occupation that I would actually enjoy and have fun doing as a job. There are plenty of things that I like to do, but you can't really make a job out of doing them. As hobbies they are great because you can put things down and walk away any time you like. You can't do that with a job.
Are there workplaces with happy employees having fun doing their job? Sure there probably are some. But I would bet not every single employee at all these places are having fun and such places are the exception, not the rule.
Yes there are dozens of competitors to the AutoCAD software. SolidWorks, Solid Edge, Microstation, Pro/Engineer, etc. How much any of them suck is a matter of opinion. Depending on exactly what you do many of them are better/more powerful then AutoCAD.
I agree with this. There are definitely times when stealth mode is appropriate. Not for every startup and the stealth window should usually end fairly early.
Now if you are a master of PR you can use stealth or semi-stealth mode to your advantage, but you have to manage it very well. You usually only do this with a single product however, not your entire business. Such as Apple and the iPod and iPhone.
What I would like to see is a cost breakdown in addition to the revenue numbers. As has been shown many times here and elsewhere the amount of money a brought in by a record/movie/etc has little to do with what the artists(s) actually get. Thus it would be nice to see who worked on the various aspects of this project and what each of them got paid.
It would probably also be useful to other artists to have a description of the process it took to bring this project to fruition. That way up and comers can get some ideas about how to do things and how much they should cost. Such as studio time, vinyl pressing costs, t-shirt costs, shipping costs, etc. The lack of availability of this kind of information is why many musicians just sign the record deal with a label, because they just don't know what it takes to produce and distribute recordings.
Note I am a Dresden Dolls fan, not so much solo Amanda. I really like the dynamic that Brian brings to the stage.
I don't have a problem with there being caps on data plans. What I don't like is that they lie about plans being unlimited that do have caps, the fact that they change a plan sold as unlimited to capped and that they charge ridiculous prices for smaller cap levels.
If they want to cap things then cap them and admit it up front. If they want to charge by the byte then do that but don't make me pay 8 times more per byte because I only want to have a small plan.
They are doing exactly what their customer wants the product to do. The thing that most people don't realize is that the end user of cell phones is NOT the phone manufacturers customer in the US. The cell phone providers are their customers, and in this case I would bet that Verizon asked for this feature to be enabled and Motorola was glad to do it.
The real issue that started all of this between McFarlane and Gaiman was a dispute over what was said in a verbal agreement. Copyright law is just the tool that Neil used to get what he felt Todd owed him. They latter came to an agreement, several actually, that Todd mostly ignored. The whole thing has been bouncing around the courts for over a decade now.
The scary part about this is that the Border Patrol can stop you anywhere within 100 miles of the US border. So they could take your laptop from you in the middle of say Miami or New York or any other coastal city.
For me he biggest problem with ebook readers for text books and technical stuff is twofold.
First, you can't have multiple books open at the same time. There are many times when I have had to compare multiple sources to each other. While you can do this ok on a PC you can't display more then one source at a time on any of the ebook readers that I have seen.
Second, physical books are often faster to access. Many of my "go to" reference books sit within arms reach and have the most frequently used pages marked with Post-It notes. I can get to the page I need in a matter of seconds. Much faster then an ebook reader.
For things like novels I have no problem with ebook readers however.
It really comes down to random versus sequential access. Todays ebook readers just don't work well for random/semi-random access.
This could be even worse then you might think depending on how things are worded. The US Border Patrol can make stops and searches anywhere within 100 miles of the national border. This covers something like 70%+ of the US population. So in theory they could stop your car in the middle of New York city and search for this kind of stuff.
If he used knowledge of the rules about how SSNs are assigned then they weren't random numbers. Only part of the number was random. He specifically attempted to improve the odds of getting a real SSN. Thus with a 38% chance of success per number, he knew that after the second number he had a very high likelihood of guessing one or more real SSNs.
If he had only applied once, or maybe twice, I could see the argument being valid, but once you purposely increase your likelihood to near 100% you are knowingly using a real SSN.
If you're a Margaret Mitchell or a J.D. Salinger, you shouldn't be penalized because you don't have a prolific career.
Actually you should be penalized. If I, and most people, only work part of the time we don't get paid full wages. Why should an artist?
On the post: Oh Look, By Making LoTR Free Online, Revenue Shot Up
Re: Re: Eve
If you have the time, knack, luck or combination of all three you can easily make enough in game money to pay for 2+ accounts.
I know a couple people that got lucky enough early on that have 4+ accounts that they have not paid for in over 4 years. Even as a relatively casual player I was able to pay for one of my two accounts with in game money after about 4 months of setting up my money making scheme in game.
On the post: Minecraft's Developer Making
$350,000$100,000 Per Day [Updated]Re: Re: Re: Please
Tell that to System Shock 2, Psychonauts, the Freedom Force games and any other numbers of critically and player acclaimed commercial failures over the years.
The thing is these two statements are not mutually exclusive. Many people did pay money for all the game mentioned, and that is exactly what the first statement says. Just because something is a commercial/financial failure does not mean there were not sales or that the product wasn't good.
What the first statement does not say is that your company will be a financial success because of the sales you have. That depends on a lot more then just sales. In particular the cost side of the equation. Just because you can create a great game does NOT mean that you know how to run a profitable company. There are dozens of examples of this over the past three decades.
On the post: Is Fun No Longer Fun When It's Corporate Fun?
The Fun Things Only Works If You Like Working
Personally I can't think of a single occupation that I would actually enjoy and have fun doing as a job. There are plenty of things that I like to do, but you can't really make a job out of doing them. As hobbies they are great because you can put things down and walk away any time you like. You can't do that with a job.
Are there workplaces with happy employees having fun doing their job? Sure there probably are some. But I would bet not every single employee at all these places are having fun and such places are the exception, not the rule.
On the post: Lily Allen Said To Be Suing Apple Over Her Hacked Laptop... But Details Are Scarce And Hazy
Re: Re: Obviously...
On the post: Vandals' Bass Player Not A Fan Of The Public Domain, Thinks PD Recordings Will 'Destroy' Classical Music
Re:
On the post: Appeals Court Destroys First Sale; You Don't Own Your Software Anymore
Re: ignorant question
On the post: Stealth Mode = Miss The Boat Mode
Re: There is a legitimate reason
Now if you are a master of PR you can use stealth or semi-stealth mode to your advantage, but you have to manage it very well. You usually only do this with a single product however, not your entire business. Such as Apple and the iPod and iPhone.
On the post: The Car That's Driven 2.8 Million Miles
Re:
On the post: Amanda Palmer Sells $15,000 Worth Of Music & Merch In Three Minutes
What's the cost breakdown?
It would probably also be useful to other artists to have a description of the process it took to bring this project to fruition. That way up and comers can get some ideas about how to do things and how much they should cost. Such as studio time, vinyl pressing costs, t-shirt costs, shipping costs, etc. The lack of availability of this kind of information is why many musicians just sign the record deal with a label, because they just don't know what it takes to produce and distribute recordings.
Note I am a Dresden Dolls fan, not so much solo Amanda. I really like the dynamic that Brian brings to the stage.
On the post: Sprint Realizing That Data Caps Turn Customers Off
If they want to cap things then cap them and admit it up front. If they want to charge by the byte then do that but don't make me pay 8 times more per byte because I only want to have a small plan.
On the post: Motorola Does Openness Wrong; Bricks Your Droid X If You Tamper
Just Doing What Their Customer Wants
On the post: As Google Voice Opens For All... It's Hit With Patent Infringement Claims
Prior art seems to mean nothing
On the post: Neil Gaiman And Todd McFarlane Fight Over Whose Derivative Character Is Owned By Whom
This is really about contracts
On the post: As Hollywood Sues Over Copyright Infringement, Hollywood Celebrates Copyright Infringement In Glee
Re: Glee as evidence in the next trial?
On the post: Court Says Border Patrol Can Take Your Laptop For Off-Site Search If They Have Reasonable Suspicion
On the post: Students Overwhelmingly Don't Like Kindle As A Textbook Replacement Option
First, you can't have multiple books open at the same time. There are many times when I have had to compare multiple sources to each other. While you can do this ok on a PC you can't display more then one source at a time on any of the ebook readers that I have seen.
Second, physical books are often faster to access. Many of my "go to" reference books sit within arms reach and have the most frequently used pages marked with Post-It notes. I can get to the page I need in a matter of seconds. Much faster then an ebook reader.
For things like novels I have no problem with ebook readers however.
It really comes down to random versus sequential access. Todays ebook readers just don't work well for random/semi-random access.
On the post: Why Should Customs Officers Be Determining What Counts As A Copyright Circumvention Device?
On the post: The Mathematics Of Proving (Or Disproving) Identity Fraud
It Wasn't Random Then
If he had only applied once, or maybe twice, I could see the argument being valid, but once you purposely increase your likelihood to near 100% you are knowingly using a real SSN.
On the post: How Not To Win Fans: Game Maker Sues Fan Site
The Originals
I always figured the RIAA, MPAA, and such got the idea from Games Workshop.
On the post: The Economist On Why Copyright Needs To Return To Its Roots
Re: Re: Re: Net Present Value
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