Got home today from having lunch and doing shopping at Costco. While bringing the groceries in my dad picked up a box from Amazon; it was a book I had ordered along with Tabula Rasa ($30 vs $40 at most retailers or $50 from NCSoft's store). Groceries are put away, box opened, and I sit down. Logging onto my PlayNC account and adding Tabula Rasa's serial code was simple and easy just like everything else I've ever encountered from NCSoft. The account gets (re)activated, I get my free month, and life is good.

Inside is the usually stuff I've come to expect; a decent looking full-color manual, quick reference card, NCSoft's current catalog (all games minus Exteel, what the hell?), trial codes for Guild Wars, COH and Lineage II, their PlaySmart stuff, and a "planetary atlas," or in normal speak, a map/poster. Its far more utilitarian than the map that comes with COH; almost like they intend for you to use it!

Is installation easy? Don't know. I went ahead and pre-loaded the 2g client (the only reason I had that option is because I was in the beta and had the "download client" option available). But, to be honest, I haven't had a painful PC game install in eons, so I'm sure installing off disc (its a DVD) would be fine.

I fire off a PM to one of my friends who wants a referral so we can try this together, schedules permitting. Things seem good, but it struck me as odd that neither myself or another player friend of mine, upon not only announcing out interest in the game but flat out stating we bought the game were ever offered a referral to TR. Not even a "sorry, used all mine but I would if I could." This struck me as a bit odd; most WOW players I know in real life and COH/COV players I know will offer referrals, trial keys, and re-invites to former players at the drop of a hat. Now, the fact that TR's referral only gives a 5-day trial period might have something to do with that, but again it was odd not to be surrounded by hungry wolves saying "Try it out, my free mont...er... friend!"

As soon as I get some quality time in the game I'll start posting about that. As the title states, I am a City of Heroes player; COH is my game of choice over World of Warcraft, Guild Wars, Dungeon Runners and others. So keep in mind if something that is a MMO standard sends me running aghast; it might not be in my game of choice. This is the second time I've done this - I originally posted a thread like this a while ago concerning the Matrix Online. Feel free to ask any questions, but keep in mind I'm going to be new at this game, so anything in-depth will have to wait, and even then only if it enters my field of interest. I'll probably post here for a while; if a new blog comes up I'll just make a new blog with the update.

His blog is here, but I'm going to repost it here anyhow. It pretty much stands on its own as far as I'm concerned. If you don't know who he is, do a search for Stardock. He's someone I quote and refer to quite often especially when talking about DRM, Piracy, and doing things right.

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I read a news announcement about a new freeware program that does some cool stuff. I check it out and it is vastly superior to an existing freeware program. Yet when I read the comments, the new, superior freeware program is being flamed. Why? Because the guy making it also offers a for-pay version that has more features.

I check out the forums of a game I enjoy playing. Normally people are singing the praises of this game. Now, the forum is full of flaming and angst. Why? Because the developer started offering optional premium content for players if they want.

Let me tell the whiners a truth about life: Money is exchanged for goods and services.

Before the current generation of l33t-speaking parasites became the norm on the net, we had a concept called shareware. Someone would make something cool and offer a version of it to try. This version might time out or it might have fewer features or it might just work on the honor system. If users liked it, they bought it. End of story.

Nowadays, we have it better. People make free stuff and release it. No nags. No missing features when compared to other "free" competitors. No time outs. But the developers will also release an even better version. And the whiners get vocal.

What annoys me is that if the whiners are attempting to bully people from making stuff that many people like me want. I don't live with my mom in her basement. I don't begrudge paying a few dollars to someone who made something I want. I recognize that I already pay $80 a month for my cell phone and $60 a month for cable so **** about paying $9 to $20 for something I want is pretty ridiculous.

And I certainly recognize that the mere existence of premium stuff doesn't hurt me. If I want it, I'll pay for it. If I don't, I won't.

Let me give you two examples:

The program ObjectDock is the best dock out there. We make it so I'm biased but it has far more features than any dock out there. It's also free. You want a cool dock on Windows, this is what you get. But there is also ObjectDock Plus. It's $20 but adds a ton of features like tabbed docks. And so what do people say? They'll say that ObjectDock is "payware" or "crippleware". Why? Because a non-free improved version exists.

My second example is from today. MyColors is a terrific program that lets people change the Windows experience by applying a MyColors theme. It's free. It comes with a Windows Vista-like theme that lets XP users have the Vista look on XP. Icons, the GUI, the works. Totally free. No nags. There are other free MyColors themes available too such as Quest which is really cool.

So MyColors, at a minimum, gives you a free way to make XP look like Vista. There's a free program that does the same thing except it works by patching up your system files. A big support headache. But people praise it everywhere. MyColors with the Diamond theme (all free) is a much better solution.

So what's the response? Flaming. People calling MyColors "garbage" simply because users can buy additional themes. They don't have to. It doesn't nag you. You simply have the option to buy other themes if you want.

The people who whine and flame need to get a grip. Stuff costs money to make. Someone has to pay for that cost. Having a pulse doesn't entitle you to free luxury software programs and content. These programs aren't food, clothing or shelter. They're video games, desktop toys, and utilities.

The worst part about it is that if the jerkocracy gets its way, we'll all miss out on cool stuff. I know a lot of people who like the idea of having their desktop match their college theme. I went to WMU, I like the idea of having a complete WMU desktop. But that wasn't ever going to happen for free.

Similarly, I love Team Fortress 2. It is a great game. And you know what? If Valve created a new character I could play as for say $10 I'd buy it in an instant. I want more characters in TF2 to play as. But you know the reaction they'd get. They'd probably get flamed because the parasite-****would argue that they should get that for free because buying something once to them means that the developers are perpetual slaves to them after.

Hopefully the entitlement ****of consumers will either grow up or shut the hell up when it comes to **** about the existence of stuff that isn't free. I understand that we all want to keep from getting nickled and dimed but one assumes that we can make our own judgments as to whether something is worth it or not and allow others to make the same judgment.

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Yay Brad! Thank you for introducing me to the work "Jerkocracy," I might add

Story here.

Oh come on; you're kidding me, right?

The very reason one of my PC and 360 owning friends refused to buy Bioshock for his PC, one of the black marks against the PC version of Assassin's Creed, and one of the reasons *legitimate* owners of games go looking for cracks, hacks, and even download pirated versions of games they own is coming to the PC version of Mass Effect. And in order to ensure future problems, Spore will be including this consumer unfriendly "feature."

I *really* wish Stardock could buy EA right now. Brad Wardell, EA CEO sounds pretty good right now.

What am I talking about? Read the article. And know that one of the reasons why PC gaming is considered to be "dying" is self-inflicted. Apparently it makes more sense to drive me to the 360 version of the game, especially since I can buy Mass Effect later, cheaper and probably used which rakes in very little for EA period (even less if I rent or borrow it!). Nevermind I considered upgrading my video card because of this game. Nevermind I might've even bought a 360 pad. Nevermind I'm really not in the market for a console at this point in time, nor will I be for another two years in all likelihood.

-UPDATE-

http://kotaku.com/5008452/bioware-backs-down-from-draconian-mass-effect-authentication

They're backing down on the worst part of the DRM scheme by getting rid of the "every 10 days" authentication. On top of that? No disc will be required in your CD/DVD tray, either.

Q: Why are BioWare and EA implementing this new authentication process?

A: This serves to protect our software from piracy. It has the added benefit of allowing consumers to activate the game on multiple machines without needing the DVD in the drive when playing the game.

Q: Did BioWare and EA change their mind on requiring that the game be re-authorized every 10 days?

A: BioWare has always listened very closely to its fans and we made this decision to ensure we are delivering the best possible experience to them. To all the fans including our many friends in the armed services and internationally who expressed concerns that they would not be able re-authenticate as often as required, EA and BioWare want you to know that your feedback is important to us.

Authenticates on install and if you install new content. I can live with that. But let this day not be forgotten!

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2008/5/9/

Yes, terribly original, I know.

Feel free to ask whatever you want; if I don't feel like answering, however, I won't

An interesting opinion piece on Gamasutra.

Give it a read and then discuss. I'll chime in after a bit. Its an interesting way of looking at things, I must say.

NCSoft gets a new VP of marketing. Story here.

Good. A quick look at what David Reid has done?

- Former VP of marketing for Gametap.

- Did global platform marketing, leading global marketing and product planning for Xbox 360 while at Microsoft.

Good on both counts for me. I'm really hoping he starts promoting NCSoft games a bit more aggressively than they are now. TV ads would be good, more web ads, etc. Hell, even movie theaters are ad-hungry now, so seeing Guild Wars 2 advertised before a fantasy/action movie isn't too far fetched.

Welcome to NCSoft Mr. Reid, hope you like it.