Saracen

My, My, That comments section is one hell of an anti EALA venting forum right now. So, we're back to buying tickets to board this boat again. Unrest amongst the staff, complaints about management, and dirty mouth comments? There are so many ways to look at this, and so many ways to imagine the scenarios. The question begs.... are the EA guys actually happy with their jobs? or was all this original unhappy stuff just swept under the rug? Could it be a pretence on many a behalf to something greater? Or do we just have a few upset developers who are struggling to come to terms with the heat in this cut-throat industry? Such words here, given the right media attention can do some serious damage. On all levels this could send another shockwave through the industry. If this was a smaller company, no one would really take note, or batter an eye-lid. But being EA, as big as they are, this could mean a little trouble. I believe somewhere between the main EA CEO and the peons known as the developers, there's a Hierarchical rift. The main CEO is probably a genuine guy who believes everything is running smoothly. He carries one huge axe, but it sits in a case on the wall, because he tells his executives what he wants and such, and is generally very happy with his company that's entertaining the world. He appreciates the work of every person from his right hand team all the way down to Aaron Kaufman and beyond, and even the cleaning lady who mops the floors. They all do an excellent job, and he values that fact. But of course, those underneath him have large axes too, and they're not there for show... Big Boss is a happy guy, but since he has the biggest axe of all, then you've gotta make/keep big boss happy. Somewhere down the line is a boss who sharpens his axe more than he brushes his own teeth, and he/she is the rift that causes problems for all below him. Cos this guy wants a bigger axe, his greed is not enough, he needs big Boss's axe! In order to get that, everyone below him will suffer. It's the same in any major company. It's all about the Hierarchy and the capitalist gain, the targets and the push to keep Big Boss happy. So axes will be used... things get chopped! Jobs, projects, funding... it happens, it's business. But the one thing I believe EA don't have is Employee prosperity and morale. And I think if decisions were made within the company on a more respectful basis rather than grabbing its employees by the throat and making demands, then EA would prosper internally, and you wouldn't get stuff like these comments come out. But no, something tells me that back when employees were complaining about hours and pay... they were told to shut up or get out... the problem swept under the rug, and everything sugar coated to the outside world to make things appear better. Such comments from this article do give me the impression that not much was really resolved. A few kicks up the backside instead dealt with the voices crying for help.

Red Alert (1996) But seriously, I'm not gonna post the same old rant stating how much I dislike the app. It would be nice to have a dumbed down, yet still powerful version where anyone can get their hands dirty. Until that day happens, I won't be touching Worldbuilder, not even with somebody else's barge pole!

I'm with the others on this.... if you think about it, the old Westwood C&C 3 screens and such are such priceless images when you look back at them. We've got the Renegade 2 ones as well, and even though they're not much to look at, it's good to see all manners of development projects, failed or released.

That is the key thing to look at really. I like to believe EA have taken a strong stance in listening to community affairs. Maybe the team just didn't "get it"... Or maybe since it's a new title, the dev cycle was up with no real immediate end in sight. We'll never know... It's a grave misfortune, and while some say it's not shocking, I myself am stunned. This was my most anticipated game for some time, even ahead of RA3! I was quite looking forward to digging into this game and giving it my whole attention for the site and the community... it's quite a painful end in some respects. I would have loved this... I mean I love FPS games like crazy! Well, Renegade X has centre stage, and I think community interest is going to rise a lot more with this cancellation. Fobby and his team has his work cut out now! Anyway, let's just hope RA3 puts on a good show, and that the next title is even better, whatever it may be.

Those in the know about early film-making will know Charlie Chaplin, he's considered one of the greats. Another great in the same Era was Buster Keaton, and I thought I'd show one of his best short films here now. This great work of Early 1920's Comedy is called "Hard Luck":

I'm gonna be frank here. And t his applies to all RTS games in general and not just RA3 here. But I'm really finding myself increasingly ticked off with the 3 faction system. It's become as cliche as Good Vs Evil or Light Vs Dark. Since, really has there been a written rule that 3 factions should be the norm? Just because Blizzard made Starcraft, that's why. I think Act of War got it right. There were 3 factions, but still only 2 sides in the War. On one side you had the US Army, and then an advanced technology faction and then on the other side you had the Consortium which mixed Traditional Russian weaponry with advanced technology. It was actually very well balanced. In fact, if you wondered where the sattelite drop in RA3 came from, just look at the consortium's superweapon

Pirates eh? It must have been DRM protected?

lol, it's funny Mina. You oppose anarchy, and are scared of Anarchists. But you've ranted about half the things there that Anarchists oppose anyway. There's a Bittersweet irony about that. I'm not getting one. The Government can shove it up their ass! I don't care if I get arrested for refusing to get one. The ID card system is a conformist capitalist lie created to control the population. It's an invasion of our privacy! It's the fear of Terrorism that's making the idiotic population accept these cards with open arms! If you've ever watched the heavily conspiracy theorist movie Zeitgeist... this explains my beliefs behind the ID card system. Below is the clip I refer to, and the results of this chipped ID card could bring. Scary eh? Who says we're not losing our rights, our freedom, our democracy?

It depends on what type of mad you should happen to refer to. Let's take a look shall we? American Kids don't get angry mad, they just shoot people instead. Usually best done in schools before turning it on themselves. American Adults don't get angry mad, they just sue everyone and anything they don't like. American Kids Don't get loony mad, it's just their parents that tell them to believe it's God's will. American Adults don't go loony mad, it's just their fault for believing in their Amendment rights. All American's don't believe their mad. Hey, if George Bush can manage it then anyone can! American Companies don't get mad, they just slap a DRM on it and claim full ownership!

Thank you. And on the subject of the DRM, I'll actually be buying Tiberium for my PS3 rather than the PC. That is, providing they don't pull the plug on the PS3 version. I have the Orange Box for my PS3 since I find Steam a Nuisance.. so if DRM is heavily inflicted onto any further C&C or C&C related games, I'll be buying for the PS3 instead. Sure Blu-Ray discs are heavily DRM protected. But at least I can delete and reinstall the data on/off my console's Hard Disc as much as I like. Plus, if I don't want the game any more at least I can still sell it on rather than having to keep hold of it. At least then, someone else is able to benefit from my game rather than just me. Anyway, back to topic... I need a new Avatar!

I back him up! I'll let this thread run under watchful eye, because this is just on the line of the forums rules. So let's keep this Generic as possible. Any religious Bias and it closes. The Church of England holds the belief that Jesus is God. I see it on many said church's boards. But if you think of it this way. Many parents like to refer to their children as "their own flesh and blood" which is to mean that "they are me"..... It's very much the same concept... Jesus was once a part of God in a flesh and blood manner, so thus, Jesus is God. It's never really meant in a literal sense.

As one Developer of Stardock put in a blog of his: Proof really... Sins Of A Solar Empire has been one of the biggest selling PC games this year, and also one of the least Pirated... Then look at Spore.... Enough said! The great thing is though, the system does work... not perfectly because people will still put those patches, maps etc on torrents. But the freedom is there, and so is the incentives. It's consumer respect in the end that matters.

If it wasn't for Linux, a lot of Windows own features, bells and whistles wouldn't exist. Windows Aero on Vista is a prime example. Such a flashy thing was done in Linux many years before Vista hit the market.

A new sig!!! EDIT: Oh crap! I've used up all my signature installations!

Or to summarise that video in one image: http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/6595/antidrm34ro0.jpg (Click the link to view) I might change my sig to represent an anti-DRM message...

Oh it does. EA have not changed the fundamentals of the system. Their "concession" is just more proof of the problems with DRM -- the ability of EA to arbitrarily decide how a user can use software on their own computer, and to make a part of their own computer off-limits so that it can spy on them in order to make sure that people abide by their restrictions. Requiring online activation on installation at all means that once the activation servers are shut down (as has been threatened all too often lately with music services like MSN and Yahoo), users are out of luck. Activation also doesn't mean what you might think -- the Amazon reviews of Spore are full of horror stories about failed activations after adding new components like video cards and disk drives to an existing computer. The system is a farce.

The only way this will affect RA3 is that it'll probably be the 2nd biggest illegally downloaded title... right behind spore! In fact that's a little harsh. Given the popularity of the Franchise... I mean 1st, ahead of Spore! The issue of Digital Rights Management Dominant Retarded Media is being censored at official boards now eh? Whatever happened to free speech? If EA ever try to make us impose a DRM rule in these forums, I'd tell them where to shove it! Free speech is a part of democracy. That's EA's problem if their precious Spore got illegally downloaded more times than purchased!

If you arrange the letters of Skynet, you can spell Microsoft! I dunno how but it's true. The Supercomputer actually runs on the new Windows 7 (Server edition) Operating System that they're developing right now! We're doomed! But maybe the AI is so advanced it self-maintains its own core. My machine has only crashed once in 18 months after all, so it's not hard to look after these things. In fact I guarentee the backup systems run on Linux, which is why Microsoft Skynet manages to destroy most of the human race. It's a metaphor for real life because Windows is effectively a Linux clone in so many ways.

I know that, don't play me like I'm dumb here.

Make sure they hold that thought.. Every person I know (including myself) have found it an utter mistake to go on meds after they've got over their condition. Doctors still know so little about the brain, so why on earth prescribe drugs to manipulate it? Even if the meds do work for the person, they'll end up becoming reliant on it. The result is a sub-conscious addiction. The truth being, you end up not knowing when you're getting better because such drugs put you in a fixed state of mind. Even though it's tougher, it's best the person recover naturally.

Difference is, I wield a Ban-Hammer There's a reason there's a in the left corner of each post. Since no one has ever used it yet, there's never been any need for the Ban-Hammer.

You can't blame it on that. In my opinion the Westwood games were easier to mod. The coding wasn't so complex and the engines were easier to dig at than the modern day SAGE Engine. And then there's WorldBuilder, being the piece of non-user friendly crap that it is, maps aren't exactly easy to make any more... The Average Joe can't exactly just use it as a "pick up and go" app without reading through tonnes of documentation. Sure some people pick it up pretty quick. But these aren't the days where anyone can just create something on the fly, and have a skirmish map put completed in less than a couple of hours. As the modding Roundtable saw, modders really slammed Apoc about this issue, and these are guys who have a clue what they're doing! The best map and mission editor I've ever used was the JTF - Joint Task Force editor. For a small Hungarian company, the devs really nailed that on the head! In fact it was so easy to use, it makes World Builder look like a course in advanced Quantum Physics!

Crikey that was quick! You see Sonic, a week is enough. Our community Webmasters should take note That was quite an enjoyable read though. It's a great perspective, and I think it's done more than it's set out to achieve. It's spoken by the people for the people... who says communist quotes suck

meh... I'm over it already. It's all good.

I dunno if you guys saw the Superted cartoons... but this epic!