RPGCast - Episode 188: "That's Some Shoddy Journalism"

[sabin1001]

RPGCast - Episode 188: "That's Some Shoddy Journalism"

Bethesda tries to tempt people with a paper map and plastic dragon. In the meantime, Blizzard tries to appease very angry Diablo fans by pointing out it raised $1.9 million for charity with a virtual pet. Sitting back and laughing, however, are the PC players waiting to have tons of fun with Bastion and Torchlight II.

You can find the links to all our stories on delicious: http://delicious.com/rpgamer/188

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[LegendaryZoltan]

Yeah... I think I agree with Manuel. We probably should have been more patient in letting him finish his point in the Diablo 3 argument.

I wonder if Torchlight 2 will come to PS3.

I think you guys told me before but I forgot. What is DRM?

No no no! I totally agree that a beautiful world map on a durable scroll of sorts is a very desirable thing to me as well. I'm tempted to get the Two Worlds II Velvet edition because of the world map. But alas it's too expensive for me and I'm not SURE that I'm going to love that game. But I have pretty high hopes.

Catherine sounds awesome. I'm playing that soon.

[Rosestorm]

I think you guys told me before but I forgot. What is DRM?.

DRM stands for Digital Rights Management, namely it is the software built into games mostly PC games to prevent people from stealing them.

[Just Doug]

Edit: beaten!

I think you guys told me before but I forgot. What is DRM?

It stands for "Digital rights management" and as far as I know, when people use the term "DRM," it usually refers to any of the measures taken by electronic media publishers (often videogames when people talk about it) to try and prevent or dissuade against piracy. Wiki defines it as "a term for access control technologies that are used by hardware manufacturers, publishers, copyright holders and individuals to limit the use of digital content and devices."

By the way, Zoltan, keep up the good work. ¡Me PFFFFa!

[Paws]

I wonder if Torchlight 2 will come to PS3.

Unlikely for two reasons:
1. TL was offered to both PS3 and XBLA. Only Microsoft was interested.
2. Purportedly (I can't confirm this myself) it's infinitely easier to port the engine they use to the 360 (which is essentially a computer at its core) than to the PS3 (where considerable infrastructure would need to be added to support it).

[Whoomp]

"You must have retail release for games on demand"

Really? How about the upcoming Resident Evil Revival Selections? They are getting a physical release only in Japan and only on PS3 while it's getting the games on demand treatment everywhere else so wouldn't the rules be awfully contrived if that were the case?

[INFYE]

I won't be getting Diablo 3 with all their changes they've made. The constant internet connection isn't that important to me as I'd play in parties anyways, but four people for a party was the deciding factor. As a game, I can see how it can be more fun by limiting the number of players to make things more strategic. I just think having more people is fun as well.

[Paws]

"You must have retail release for games on demand"

Really? How about the upcoming Resident Evil Revival Selections? They are getting a physical release only in Japan and only on PS3 while it's getting the games on demand treatment everywhere else so wouldn't the rules be awfully contrived if that were the case?

Translation: They're getting a physical release, then going GOD in a different region.

[MasterChief]

The always-on thing is an immediate turnoff for me, and why I never buy Ubisoft PC games anymore, unless of course they're on GoG.

You see, I'm in South Florida, and as you know, we're the crap weather capital of the American Southeast. As such, we get storms every so often that will interrupt many basic services. Now, obviously you need electricity for video games, but it's not as big a deal if you have a generator, or a family member of yours has a generator. There is, however, nothing you can do to independently run an internet connection - your lines go, you're screwed until they can get fixed. As a result, online-only games and games that require digital authentications can be a problem here, not often, but at times.

It brings me to the broader issue I have with online authentication and the general trend in PC gaming toward reliance on outside factors, mainly the internet. There are many people, including Anna and Chris, who are really taking their high-speed connection for granted. Now I'm not sure how it is in Canada, but here in the states, internet service isn't treated like a utility, and companies like Comcast are fighting tooth-and-nail to prevent any legislation that might move the internet toward utility status. There's another issue - are you unable to play your game if you run up against your Comcrap bandwidth cap? If the economy hits you and you have to go down to dialup? The internet isn't anywhere near a point yet where it can legitimately be taken for granted the way phone, light and water services can. Until we get there, I can never get behind an online-requirement model.

[Paws]

I can shed some light on that. It is quickly becoming an arguably necessary service, and the government has started to legislate requirements for companies offering (stable) high speed in lower populated areas. It probably helps that the phone companies offering internet are, or were, crown corporations. This isn't a point I agree with, just devil's advocate: If you can't afford high speed internet why would you drop 60$+ on a video game?

[LegendaryZoltan]

Master Chief, move to Japan with me! I used to think that our internet and power depended on the weather but not in Japan. It doesn't matter how big a typhoon it is. I've only had a SINGLE power outage in 6 years of living here and NOT EVEN ONE time has the internet gone down on me. It's amazing. Now all of you know something new about Japan.

At Paws: Because if you buy a game a month, you are spending $50 a month. If you want internet, that's $50 a month. You are basically doubling your entertainment budget. (Assuming that you've only got about $50 a month.) I believe there are plenty of people out there who can afford one but not the other. It goes back to what Manuel was saying on the podcast about the "position" of Chris and Anna. Not everyone makes as much as they do. I'm not trying to make them sound like rich stiffs or anything, by the way.

[MasterChief]

@Paws - Well, I don't know how we can call the internet a necessity along the lines of power, water and phone service, at least for the individual (for businesses, certainly, but we're clearly not talking about that). Also, while the government is trying to get companies to offer better options in lower-population areas, you're never going to see the sort of subsidy for internet service that you see in South Korea or Japan. It's going to take a while for the government to get over the communist bogeyman enough to make its own investments in infrastructure to rural parts of the country, which you'll never see private organizations do on their own because they don't see the profit in it.

@Zoltan - Damn, that sounds pretty awesome. FPL down here is actually pretty crappy about that. As to the internet question you've raised, for people who aren't obsessed on online multiplayer, what value-add is there in tethering your games to a persistent connection? Even someone who's loaded may not see the value in a high-speed connection if they don't do much that demands the speed and the prices it demands - you don't need 5 trillion gigabit speeds to check forums and email or do IMing. Really, all this looks like is a cynical attempt to remove ownership of something that you're expected to pay $50+ for, and until there's actually value in making it impossible to play in the various offline situations people will have (whether the digital crusaders admit it or not), there's going to be a large segment of people who don't bite. There has to be value in this system that can't be achieved by segregating online and offline characters, and right now, I just don't see it.

[Paws]

Wait, what? I'm not not even sure I'd count myself as well off (until recently, I was working two jobs to get my debt down) and even I can still afford good internet, that isn't 50$ / month. In Canada you can get decent, stable internet for as little as 20$ / month (and that's before bundling it for a better price).

In regards to subsidies, they're already in place for specific rural areas -- notably, all three territories.

[MasterChief]

Wait, what? I'm not not even sure I'd count myself as well off (until recently, I was working two jobs to get my debt down) and even I can still afford good internet, that isn't 50$ / month. In Canada you can get decent, stable internet for as little as 20$ / month (and that's before bundling it for a better price).

In regards to subsidies, they're already in place for specific rural areas -- notably, all three territories.

Notice how I said previously "I don't know about Canada." I was clearly talking about the US, which has substantially more people and a government with its head up its *** about capitalism vs socialism/communism. And you're still not explaining to me the value-add of an always-on connection here. Regular internet worth anything is usually $45-50US/month, at least down here in the southeast.

[Paws]

I'm not trying to convince you it's a good thing. Just elaborating on why, personally, I don't care -- and giving some perspective on why others wouldn't think it is a big deal.

[MasterChief]

I'm not trying to convince you it's a good thing. Just elaborating on why, personally, I don't care -- and giving some perspective on why others wouldn't think it is a big deal.

Hehe, don't get me wrong, if it doesn't bother you, it doesn't bother you, and that's fine by me. I just was concerned by how unsympathetic you seemed toward other viewpoints. There are enough places where people don't want to see the other side, this doesn't need to be one of them.

[Ocelot]

And Canada is pretty big... if you guys aren't running up against bandwidth caps in BC, the situation is pretty different from how it is in Ontario. The major telecom companies are trying to institute bandwidth caps as low as 25 gigs a month over here, AND they were trying to force the issue by requiring all third-party ISPs to enforce those caps as well. Only major public pressure on the federal government stopped that from becoming policy (and my wonderful small ISP actually raised my monthly cap to 300 gigs a month, which I will never use, in celebration). Because the government stepped in and said, "no, you can't keep the competition from offering a better deal than you do" I'm pretty sure Bell and Rodgers haven't put in super-low caps yet, but they're still pushing the issue. I'm sure that stuff like always-on internet requirements for single player games will become much more of an issue if the big companies decide to go ahead with punative monthly bandwidth caps and people have to start choosing between gaming and Netflix...

[MasterChief]

The major telecom companies are trying to institute bandwidth caps as low as 25 gigs a month over here, AND they were trying to force the issue by requiring all third-party ISPs to enforce those caps as well.

Damn, even Comcast isn't that evil. And considering how crappy Comcast is, that is saying something.

[LegendaryZoltan]

You know, this is actually part of the reason I like RPGcast. Everyone knows a different amount about different topics regarding games. They take that knowledge and form opinions and then tell each other how they think it is. And they all have they're unique characteristics. Chris is all indifferent sounding like, "Yeah, well, until Nintendo decides to include a cloth world map, I'm not buying it." And Anna busts out her loaded questions like, "Do you know how much time and resources it would take to port that game to consoles?" And Manuel is the sensitive one like, "I played it and despite all the bad reviews, you could easily enjoy this game if you're crazy enough." And Quin is just too busy being an otaku and doesn't jump in until the argument is over and says, "So yeah, I've been playing Tales of Vesperia and Super Robot Taisen. They're good games. You guys should play them."

(good sigh) Yeah. RPGcast is good. I'm gonna miss it next week.

[KisakiProject]

Zoltan can you upload that Atelier Rorona review up to youtube? It was pretty fabulous.

In regards to Diablo 3 I'm pretty put off by this real money auction house. Its pretty clear this is a Kotick commanded monetization of the game. Between this and the silly art style I think I'll just stick with Torchlight 2.

But I've been a Blizzard hater since WoW came into being. Its to bad cause I loved the old stuff. I dunno I think they just lost something when they switched from isometric sprite art to their 3D renderings.

Also you guys think wanting more than 10 characters is not a serious issue I must object. When I played Diablo 2 when is was HS and College we would create and run new characters all the time. I've probably played like a million characters. The 10 limit ruins the timeless nature of the game which is why people like Blizzard's stuff in the first place.