EA SWTOR Account Issue Support Chat

You are now ready to chat with Ruchin.

Ruchin: Thanks for contacting EA Help! My name is Ruchin how may I help you?

you: I am having a very odd issue with my account

you: I am able to log-in to the ea.com website, bioware, origin client, but not SW:TOR website

Ruchin: May I know what seems to be thwe iossue

you: I have had issues ever since the password rules and change was required on their website specifically

Ruchin: May I know what is he error that you are getting?

you: I requested the email to reset my password, but it never arrives

Ruchin: May I have your e-mail id please

you: I am able to reset it using the origin client or the EA website, but only when I try through swtor.com it fails

you: nabokovfan87@gmail.com

you: the email I am logged-in on right now

Ruchin: may I have the date of birth linked to this acount please

you: it should be 09/29/1987 but the last person I chatted with on the live support said that was wrong

Ruchin: Yes the date does not match

you: I tried to find a way to change it through the EA website to what it should be but I am unable to view or edit my profile information

Ruchin: Please provide a legitimate date of birth

you: I cannot seem to find where to do so

Ruchin: I’m sorry but you can not change the date of birth linked to your account

Ruchin: Can you verify the account?

you: ok, if I am logged in on EA .com where do I view the profile information

you: I clicked on the username to view the profile and it only lists the email

Ruchin: i’m sorry but you can not view your date of birth n your account

Ruchin: Please provide me a code registered with this account

you: one used on origin?

Ruchin: Yes

you: battlefield 3 alpha HWGG3LG5396LTY3BARCR

you: bf3 beta: HCRH2PXWY9PE7JJEHKY3

Ruchin: Okay thank you

Ruchin: Please give me some time to retrieve your account in our database.

you: mass effect 2 EZYGRZSZ7EA3ZR8Q3NR6

Ruchin: That is all, thank you please

Ruchin: Hold on

Ruchin: I have sent a password reset mail to this e-mail id (nabokovfan87@gmail.com)

Ruchin: Thank you for contacting EA. Is there anything else I can help you with today?

you: how can I change the birthday so I don’t have issues verifying the account

Ruchin: You can not do that

Ruchin: If you need help with anything else, please feel free to contact us anytime!

you: again

you: how can I verify my account if I am told I dont know the birthdate

you: if it was a typo or some error

you: I am trying to log-in to SWtor.com

you: same issue

you: LOGIN FAILED – We have modified our password policy. You may be affected. Click here for more information.

you: …….

you: What do I do now….

you: HELLLOOOOO

There may be a problem communicating with Ruchin. Please wait while your chat is transferred to another EA Expert.

You are now ready to chat with Shubha.

you: HELLO

you: ANYONE HERE!

Shubha: Thank you for contacting EA Help. My name is Shubha.

Shubha: Please allow me some time to check the previous conversation.

you: yes…

Shubha: Thank you.

you: …….

Shubha: I’m still looking into your issue. Thanks for your patience.

Shubha: Thank you for waiting.

Shubha: If I understand it correctly you have two issues.

Shubha: First of all you want to change the date of birth mentioned in the account.

you: yes

Shubha: Secondly you are getting the password error.

you: so that when I have issues I can verify the account correctly

Shubha: Okay

you: the password specifically for swtor.com

Shubha: Yes, I have found that.

Shubha: I would like to inform you that date of birth can be entered while making the account and then cannot be viewed later by the account holder, so, account holder cannot change them.

Shubha: And we do not have access to change the date of birth mentioned in the account.

you: I understand, but for some reason, be it a typo or another, the information is incorrect

Shubha: So date of birth once entered cannot be modified.

Shubha: I can understand the situation. I wish I could help, but we do not have any options to change the same as, it is always required for security verification.

Shubha: And to make sure that the person contacting us is the actual owner of the account we need to verify the account.

you: and even though you know this is my account, ea.com allows me to log-in and everything else is working except for swtor.com log-in there is nothing I can do, correct?

Shubha: In this concern, you have already received the password in your email address.

Shubha: May I know is that password not working for you?

you: even though my identity has been verified, why can’t I be told the birth date

you: the one reset earlier, correct?

Shubha: We ensure the best of the security for your account and follow strict guidelines so that no one misuses it. We have a verification procedure to protect your account from people with unscrupulous intentions that is why in any case date of birth cannot be revealed.

you: it was the same reset process as through the origin client. it does not allow me to log-in to swtor.com still

Shubha: Okay

you: So even though I verified the identity of my account, through the cd-key, you can’t tell me because why

you: I received emails saying the password has been changed, but it still doesn’t work on swtor.com

Shubha: In this concern please try some trouble shooting steps.

you: for instance?

Shubha: The steps will clear the cache of your browser.

you: the cache of my browser is cleared every time I close the window

you: the issue is on the swtor.com side, not my pc

Shubha: I would suggest you to please try them, as it worked for many players.

you: go ahead

you: browser is firefox

Shubha: Please allow me some time.

you: please respont quicker. I have been chatting with this issue for over 90 minutes

Shubha: I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused.

Shubha: Please allow me some time.

you: I have been, please continue

Shubha: Thank you for waiting.

Shubha: Please Click Tools from the main menu at the top of the Firefox window.
Select Options (the Options window will appear).
Select the Advanced tab on the top right of the window.
Click the Network tab.
In the Offline Storage section, click Clear Now.
Once the clearing is complete click OK at the bottom of the Options window.
Close all Firefox windows and restart.
Please be sure to clear your Java cache as well!

you: ok

you: let me try to log-in again

Shubha: Sure, take your time.

you: nope, same message. LOGIN FAILED – We have modified our password policy. You may be affected. Click here for more information.

Shubha: Okay

you: ….

Shubha: Please allow me one more minute.

Shubha: Thank you for waiting.

Shubha: Please    Click the ‘Login’ button on the top navigation bar.
Click on the ‘Forgot your SWTOR.com password?’ link.
Enter the email address you used to create your StarWarsTheOldRepublic.com account.
An email will be sent to that address. Follow the instructions in the email to reset your password.

you: the email is never received

you: or I would have

you: I will request it for the 5th time in this chat alone

Shubha: It may take few days for receiving the email.

you: I have been trying to fix this for over 6 months

you: it has been well over a few hours, the email has not received

you: for my other account it took 3-5 minutes

Shubha: If I understand it correctly you are trying it to be fixed for 6 months.

you: yes, I just re-said that

Shubha: http://www.swtor.com/news/news-article/20111107

Shubha: Please visit this site.

you: I have read that

you: I cannot log-in to reset and I do not receive the email, that is why I have been in this chat for the last 2 hours now

Shubha: It clearly states that password must be reset. You do not need to take any action prior to receiving an email.

you: I KNOW

you: I cannot reset it because I do not receive the email

you: I have said this many times

Shubha: I apologize for the inconvenience you experienced.

Shubha: Please be assured that you will get the email.

Shubha: May I know where you have purchased the game from?

you: It has not come the last month I have been trying, nor the month before, nor the month before that

you: the game is not released yet, it is still in beta

Shubha: Sorry, my mistake.

Shubha: Site strictly says that we will be sending out emails to everyone who created an account on or before October 21st, 2011 to notify them that their password must be reset. You do not need to take any action prior to receiving an email.

you: I understand

you: I DID NOT GET THE EMAIL

you: I CANNOT RESET MY PASSWORD BECAUSE I DONT RECEIVE AN EMAIL

you: can you help me fix this or not?

Shubha: I am really very sorry for that but you need to wait for some time.

Shubha: I apologize for the inconvenience you experienced. I understand the value of your time and appreciate
your patience and cooperation.

you: can you fix this or not

Shubha: I would like to inform you that it can’t be fixed from here. These emails got generated automatically and you will get one in some time.

Shubha: I appreciate your patience and cooperation.

you: then why didn’t you say that EA support cannot fix my EA account issue. I would be extremely less pissed off. Thank you for your time. Have a good night.

To prove I am the account holder, here is me logged in on the email, and many of EA’s websites.

Interesting Chat Between Sqwishy and Myself

Spent an hour or so messing around with sqwishy and just shootin’ the breeze.  Kind of went to some crazy places, comedic and what not.  Enjoy!

 

sqwishy: hey asshole
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: sup
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: DUDE
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: I HAVE A HUGE FUCKING REVELATION FOR YOU NEXT POD
sqwishy: The backplate on the cooler was fucking impossible to rip off
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: I FUCKING BLEW MY OWN MIND
sqwishy: lol
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: whcih backplate
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: which cooler
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: you talking about the plate on the back of the mobo
sqwishy: for the kuhler 920
sqwishy: yes
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: no
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: the casing on the pump/heatsink of the liquid shit shouldn’t come off
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: the plate on the mobo should
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: then you put some sticky pad shit
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: then you put the socket bracket
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: then screw it in
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: right?
sqwishy: Yeah, there is some adhesive on the thing
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: did it leak on you?
sqwishy: No.
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: oh
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: good
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: yeah,
sqwishy: But the adhesive is fucking impossible to separate
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: i heard some advice like 2 months ago (mind you my shit is been in for over a year), test it out of the case, first
sqwishy: I had to use a knife.
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: it is a bitch, but yeah
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: on minew
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: the adhesive is so fucking thick that it WARPED my board
sqwishy: lol
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: fucked up the holes on the mount and shit
sqwishy: so what is this revelation?
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: suprise
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: it involves you, your bro, and some fucking outtakes
sqwishy: okay
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: and ordering pizza
sqwishy: lol
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: and fuck you all for not liking fucknig hawaiian pizza
sqwishy: LOL
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: oblivion sale
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: fuck you bethesda
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: fucking 100 from yahoo
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: who gives a fuck
sqwishy: oblivion is bad
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: fuck them tho
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: no fucking skyrim
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: it is a fucking week after it got out
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: no one will pay full fucking price
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: fucking pirates pirate it and get it cheap why can’t I
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: fucking bitches
sqwishy: lol
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: http://www.amazon.com/Souls-Official-Guide-Future-Press/dp/3869930527/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1321413476&sr=8-6
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: be back
sqwishy: I want to play that game.
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: I would pay sony 200 bux to be able to play ps3 shit on my pc and not have to deal with their fucking console
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: ASSES
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: BRB
sqwishy is now Away.
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: dont be going “away”
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: -ass
sqwishy is now Online.
sqwishy: lol
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: so canada
sqwishy: so police state
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: when are you going to get serious sam 3
sqwishy: probably around the time that the price drops to -$50
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: negative
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: lol
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: mind you, 100% claimed
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: List Price: $34.99
Amazon’s Price: $34.98
Lightning Deal Discount:-$9.98
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: for a cheap controller that isn’t even half off
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/After-16-year-old-hockey-player-dies-safety-deb?urn=nhl-wp17481
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: bummer
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: that’s why you lead with your feet
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsybgFMrcTU&feature=related
sqwishy: lol
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: gpt flagged for “insulting other member”
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/showthread.php?p=591371#post591371
sqwishy: nabo stop being mean to handicapped people
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: lol
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: he was bitching AT ME for calling m$ fucking money grubbing assholes
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: read the whole thing
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: best line of fuck words and insults I have put together in a long time
sqwishy: lol
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/showpost.php?p=914472&postcount=119
sqwishy: fantasy football?
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: yeah
sqwishy: dnd for jocks?
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: just read it
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: lol
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: God I am a genius
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: Originally Posted by rein View Post
Didn’t you mean to type $hame?

I don’t understand someone using M$ but I also don’t understand someone getting their panties in a bunch over it either.
And it saves on me having to type… well lets see, 2 vs. microsoft…. 9 characters, that is a 400% savings!
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: last 2 lines are my reply
sqwishy: lol
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: what’d you think about the FF shit
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: or didn’t you read it
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRBDMMVctu8
sqwishy: I did, I didn’t get most of it.
sqwishy: Seems boring.
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: it’s just numbers yo
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRBDMMVctu8
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: watch that
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: its like a min long
sqwishy: I did.
sqwishy: kinda funny
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: you HAVE to watch this
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7GRabE9NNg
sqwishy: I SAW THAT YESTERDAY
sqwishy: Or something.
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: lol
sqwishy: The old lady.
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: I have slow internet
sqwishy: lol
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: watch to the end
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: HUGE payoff
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ypMJeOe3OY&feature=BFa&list=SP75EF4B538D021386&lf=list_related
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: ?
sqwishy: ohyeah
sqwishy: trying to play skyrim
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: no
sqwishy: can’t watch videos without food
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: this is better
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: hurry
sqwishy: gonna go get food first
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: going to bed in estimated 55 mins when this 10 mb file downloads
sqwishy: lool
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: Ok, seriously
sqwishy: watchingh
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: Dial-up HAS to be fucking faster at downloading shit then this pc
sqwishy: lol
sqwishy: kinda funny
sqwishy: they’re all staged
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: it just makes you fucking happy
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: no
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: that one isn’t for sure
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: the guy talked about it
sqwishy: YES IT IS
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: trust me
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: not staged
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: NOT AT ALL
sqwishy: 100 STAGED
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: that chick was totally fucking improving it
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: Sqiwshy
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: check it out
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: I found a glitch in the english language earlier
sqwishy: I am checking it out, all I see is one big stage nabo!
sqwishy: lol
sqwishy: a glitch
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: Improv-ing, improve-ing improvising improvement
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: ALL OF THOSE MEAN THE SAME FUCKING THING
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: but they dont
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: so when you improv, are you improve-ing or improv-ing comedy
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: which one
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: are you doing it without a script or making it better
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: OR BOTH!
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: is that why fucking they spelled the same
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: hmmmmmmmmm
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: fucking riddle
sqwishy: what?
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: I bed the joker came up with english
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: just scroll up and read it, it is better that way
sqwishy: I don’t get what you’re saying.
sqwishy: Why do they mean the same thing?
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: improving and improvising do, but improving = improve-ing = improving = improvement.
sqwishy: improv is short for improvise or improvised
sqwishy: improv does not mean improve.
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: improving
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: means improving
sqwishy: Improv, improvise, improvised, improvising.
sqwishy: … improve, improved, improving
sqwishy: Different words, improv is just short for improvise.
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: I FUCKING WIN
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/improving
sqwishy: Listen to it.
sqwishy: Imp proove
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: improv-ing
sqwishy: ‘Im prov’ is not a word.
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: ugh
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: fuck you
sqwishy: improv-ing is not a word.
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/improv
sqwishy: It’s ‘ing’ attached to an abreviation.
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: no
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: improv is a fucking work
sqwishy: oh, right, but improving is not improv with an ing
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: yes it is
sqwishy: It’s a word because we use it.
sqwishy: No.
sqwishy: Dude.
sqwishy: omg
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: im-pro-vise-ing is fucking not the same as im-prov-ing
sqwishy: It’s a word because we use it, but it’s informal.
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: different fucking syllables and EVERYTHING
sqwishy: It is not the same, correct, because im-prov-ing is not a word. Except as im-prove-ing or improving.
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: but it IS a fucking work
sqwishy: vent
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: no mic
sqwishy: fuck you
sqwishy: im-prov-ing, is not a word.
sqwishy: It is a an abrevation of improvising.
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: on m-w. improving comes up with im-prove but says im-proved and im-prov-ing
sqwishy: improv does not go to im-prov-ing
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: it does in my america
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: maybe not in canada
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: but in A-merica improving is a fucking word
sqwishy: Improv == improvise, im-prov-ing is not a word, the correct present participle of improv is improvising.
sqwishy: improving is a word, it is the present participle of improve.
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: improving: the mother fucker on the stage putting on a fucking show without doing the script, to improv a comedy act, scene, or bit.
sqwishy: nop
sqwishy: It’s made up.
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: now you are using “present participles”.  If you want to fucking fight we can fight, but don’t be all fucking mean and talk about my mom like that
sqwishy: lol
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: ok sqwishy, time for bed
sqwishy: bai
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: guess what…
sqwishy: you are going to buy me skyrim?
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: 146 hours and 10 minutes until Serious Sam 3.
sqwishy:
.TtS.Ldr.nabokovfan87: late
sqwishy: bai

 

My First Game!

Hello everyone,

As you may or may not have known, I am taking a game design class, this was our first “make a game” assignment and I tried to do more then what the assignment specified.

In order to play this you need to do a few things:

1.  Go to python.org and download and install 2.6.6 release:

http://python.org/download/releases/2.6.6/

2. Download my game files and save them to somewhere you can easily get to.

http://www.mediafire.com/?215alnc155xlyep

3.  In the python install, open up a program called IDLE.

4.  In IDLE, go to file, then open and open the two files you downloaded.

5.  Go to the window with RPSGame open and go to run, and then run module.

Note: If you are on a macintosh, there is likely a #! string that needs to be added to the initial line of text

Please be sure to let me know your thoughts on the game either to my email (nabokovfan87@gmail.com) or post a comment below!

Thanks for playing.

Impending Doom, Gloom, and Random Bits (not depressing)

Hey all,

So it is now end of tuesday when I am typing this, just wanted to reflect on the past few days and vent a little.

Saturday/Sunday:

I spend most of friday with the sentiment and mentality of complete horro at the time to come. I had just “finished” working the summer, now to be reduced to my lowly schedule of working fridays and having only enough to scrape together money for the “necessary necessities” of a college student who spends 4 days at grandmas house, over 4 hours a day traveling every day, and actually only being awake and at home for a few brief hours when not incompacitated by such things as “homework” and “food”. It is amazing how much you find yourself in a school full of teachers when you can’t afford books and have to bumm them off friends. Maybe it is just me with this situation, but who decided that students paying so much a year and schools getting kickbacks from publishers for selling certain books and a certain amount of new copies (because you need the damn guide or disk) was a good idea?

I found out my mom will be out all weekend, essentially working and going out for fun. I also found out she is leaving for a week and we have no food at the house, even after I wrote a list and she went to the store to get groceries. Anyways, life was stressful, I had to make sure I could manage to live out of a backpack and neck breaking duffel/duffle back. So I spent friday pestering my mom while she gets ready for work, and watching TV with the dog. Who knows, that could have been saturday, but I did nothing but look up 10 different school bus and train schedules for a good chunk of time.

I spend sunday discovering how convoluted CIV IV is compared to CIV REV and just how many hours I am willing to play before declaring war on the asshole who tells me I shouldn’t be friends with the french. I take a break for dinner and start getting together my backpack, binders, and sorting out what friends want books and just spending the entire weekend with a dread of not wanting to go through another semester of stupid teachers and classes with a 20-50% being the “highest”.

Needless to say, I hardly slept and spent the entire night battling an allergy attack and washing out the duffel/duffle bag that coincidently still contained the piss smell from the last day of last semester.

Monday:

I finally take my first train ride in months, actually buy a ticket from the machine, something I haven’t done in years, and make the long wait and bus ride to school. I arrive on campus with at least 3 people asking where the Art 113 room is, when I simply respond, “that hallway, the end on the left” like I had been here before or something. I shift the duffle/duffel bag to the other sholder that doesn’t feel like a screwdriver has been jammed down my scapula and the nerve pinched, and proceed to do a number of things with minutes before I arrive at class. I arrive to my children’s lit. class, take out my batman spirol and proceed to listen to a lecture about how Tom Sawyer isn’t racists and how where in the wild things are is a better book then some other one because it doesn’t require as many words.

I take a walk to the computer lab, ask Jimmy if he can open the door, shouting back “Yes” before I even get a word out. 30 minutes later a friend walks in and we proceed to talk about football as if the summer never existed. It is kind of funny how comforting bringing up the same thing and saying the same thing over and over can be to a someone. Happens a few more times, and I end up agreeing to get a ride from another friend, thankfully, because the foot is acting up and I needed some way to get a book for the children’s lit. class.

Off to the second class, (two minutes later) video game design. The professor is 5 minutes late and I spend it shouting to the friend 3 feet away and still not hearing a damn thing. Then the lady from the front desk walks in and starts taking role, explaining how the teacher “was on the wrong schedule” and trying to answer questions about nothing until he arrives. So the bike riding italian suit clad game dude walks in and proceeds to ask a bunch of CS students about how much they don’t understand robot languages and deciding that we get to use a brand new one because it doesn’t have a compiler. Following that with procedures on how to write an email and when, and when not to ask a question to him about a compiler error that has a different name.

A few jokes later we are all gigling and grinning because it is a class about fricking video games and we get to make some by the end of the year. I walk out to my circle of friends I see when walking out and say, “I know it is shocking, but I might actually be excited about a class that requires programming.” After they pick their jaws off the floor and say “No way, really?” a few times we walk our own ways and I proceed back to the electronic home that is the lab.

Third class is with the same guy I had last year who held up the book I hated and said aloud the first day “This thing is terrible, we won’t be using it.” Something the guy who cannot afford a 20 dollar book, let alone the 170 dollar one loves to hear when it is followed by, “Here is a printout of chapter 2 for next time.” He walks in, mind you, a professor about and designer of computer chips, and says to Jimmy while pointing at the profector, “Make t work.” I giggle to myself, and Jimmy struggles to find out why the optical mouse keeps turning off after 30 seconds and unplugs/plugs-in the stupid thing in order to hit play on the dvd software. After 5 minutes of that the movie starts and I get to watch chips being made again, while trying to combat the 3 hours of sleep I had before. I look at the sylabuss and note that it required EE310L, and the description says something about needing to know how to use CAD software. I practically shit myself at the thought that I need to sign up for a different class, when I spent the last 4 hours next to friends trying to find some of thier own and already being enrolled in two bullshit classes to fill the 12 unit requirement. After the movie finishes, the professor spends 10 minutes trying to discover how to turn the pc off when he turned the projector off first, eventually just holding the power button down.

A student behind me says aloud, “This is the wrong one”. I look at him in wonder, trying to find out what dude is talking about. Saying to myself moments later “OH THANK YOU!” because this was a syllabus for a different class. I head home, stop by the book store, and spend 30 minutes trying to get a gps to find “grandma’s house” without an address before calling home and getting one.

I arrive with grandma thrilled and excited at my arrival, and being overjoyed at the thought that I will be in the room with the cable box instead of the one with the 13 channel channel knob.

A sleep timer is a wonderful thing.

Tuesday:

I wake up, eat 3 month old stale cheerios for breakfast and watch attack of the show with Jessica Chobotnik on it with her man voice (sore throat?) and spend the morning trying to find something that is actually on and interesting. The time to leave has arrived, and after running upstairs to get my wallet and asking for some change for the bus, I spend 10 minutes trying to explain, “No you don’t need to cook for me when I get home, I just want to let you know what is going on.” (Maybe that was last night)

Anyways, I head to school with water in hand knowing from monday morning that is isn’t going to just be hot, but it will be “dangerously hot”. It was last night and is right now, right around 85-90 degrees out. The only fan available is louder then the one at home on high, even on low. So I sweat my ass to school, practically drenched by the time I get there (and am now), arriving up 3 flights of stairs and out of breath in front of the classroom putting away my PSP and piece of shit SHURE headphones.

I enter with the british version of my 4th grade teacher (one of my most memorable and favorites ones I have ever had) lecturing in front of me, laughing as if this was some sort of comedy to see how long I could last until shouting aloud, “I fucking love accents and your sir have a whopper.” The jackass behind me is rubbing his leg in front of my seat for 30 minutes, and I stare back 3 times with the dense dumbass still not taking the hint, to rush out and make the phonecall to my dad. I explain how it is haunting that I have 4 classes I actually want to attend, when it has been a weekend of triumphent chanting to myself that I would rather die then go to school again and suffer through another semester of fee hikes, boycotts, and Jetlag from a damn bus to the point where tuesday is saturday and I end up missing a final a day before it happens when I show up at the wrong one.

So I wrote to to bring up something entirely different, which I will share later, but for now it is an hour and a half later, and time to go relax in the 85 degree 10 o’clock heat.

Buying a Video Card: What to Look For

Buying a Video Card

I. Introduction – What is a video chip and where is it at?

Video processing or the Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), comes in two forms. One is located in the northbridge of a motherboard. The other is located in a dedicated video card typically plugged into the PCI-Express x16 slot of a motherboard.

a. Onboard Chipset

This form of GPU has historically been very poor at doing anything other than watching videos through a browser, DVD playback, or other light uses where something more powerful is not required. However, in recent years, these chips have become much more powerful, some can play back blu-ray movies and even games. This is due to modern GPUs being more powerful then ones in the past, and game engines being older then the GPUs available.

b. Dedicated Video Card

A dedicated video card has much more uses. In addition to everything an onboard chip can do, dedicated graphics cards can handle much more demanding games, HD streaming video, 3d modeling and drawing, rendering, video creation and editing, and blu-ray playback with all of its features.

II. Stream Processors

Video cards typically contain what is known as stream processors. They act as the “army” of the video card. The more “soldiers” you have the more powerful and quicker a video card can do things. In reality, stream processor act as the processor or CPU of the video card where each of them works together to calculate things and perform specific tasks that you require of them. This is what is called parallel computing or processing.

III. Memory

Typically video cards have much faster memory then what a normal motherboard contains, and acts in just the same way. It is a very fast way of storing and reading things that the card’s stream processors use. What memory mostly effects is textures, those being everything you see on the game. Each brick, tire, or piece of trash is part of a texture, the more ram you have the more textures you can load into the video cards ram, and the faster that ram is the quicker it can display it on the screen. In some cases, more memory allows you to display much larger textures resulting in a more detailed image.

IV. Limitations

Video cards can be limited by several factors. Certain things can limit the performance of a video card while others can drastically help a card last much longer then intended.

a. Slot Types

Video cards used to come in 2 older forms, PCI slots and AGP slots. Both of these have been replaces by PCI-Express Slots which operate at varying speeds, but typically the x16 speeds are reserved for dedicated video cards.

PCI-Express slots have different versions, those being:

• 1.0 – Initial release, contains a transfer speed of 2.5 billion data transfers per second (2.5 GT/s)
• 1.1 – Moderate fixes
• 2.0 – Double the bandwidth of its 2.0 counterpart (5 GT/s)
• 2.1 – Same bandwidth as v2.0 but has the power advantages of 3.0 slots3.0 – Bandwidth of 8 GT/s and removal of encoding overhead

Keep in mind that a 2.0 slot video card will work perfectly fine when used in a v1.0 slot or a v3.0 slot. All of them are compatible, but most modern motherboards only support v2.0, but older ones that have not been upgraded in a while will be v1.0. You cannot even buy a v3.0 card until late 2010 or early 2011, and there will not be a motherboard to support it until then.

Graphics chips come in different versions. Let’s suppose it is a year from now and you are buying a video card upgrade. If you buy a v3.0 card for your now v2.0 motherboard, when you later build a new machine, the old video card in the new slot will operate much better because it is no longer limited by the slot bandwidth. You may be surprised at how well it performs and get a few months of life to allow for that new release of video cards or price drop.

b. Bandwidth

Memory bandwidth is a 3 tiered system currently, and will eventually have more and more tiers as technology progresses. Right now the three tiers are 256-bit memory, 128-bit memory, and 64-bit memory. 256-bit has 2x the bandwidth of the 128-bit memory and 128-bit memory has 2x the bandwidth of 64-bit memory. These bits refer to the size of the data chunk capable of being sent and stored on the GPUs ram.

A video card developer will release their top tier card, containing all the bells and whistles, the highest amount and quickest memory, highest amount of stream processors, and highest memory bandwidth of that line of graphics cards. After those cards are released 2 things will happen, they take things out and lower the power requirements of newer video cards by releasing versions with slower and less memory, less stream processors, and lower memory bandwidth to allow those cards to sell for less money. They will also take chips from the top performing single GPU cards and place two of them on a single board, almost doubling the performance and the price.

c. Size

One thing that limits some users selection is the physical dimensions of a video card, in particular its length. Be sure to measure the room inside your case when considering your next video card purchase. The other size factor that limits your selection is the cooling heatsink and fan. These come in two forms, single slot and dual slot. This refers to the mounting bracket on the case that is required and used to supply extra room inside the case for the video cards expanded cooling. Most high performing video cards will be dual slot design.

V. Multiple GPUs – SLI / Crossfire

There are two ways to accomplish having multiple GPUs, the first is to buy a single card with two GPUs on one PCB or board and the second is to purchase multiples of the same card, typically same vendor, and connect them on the motherboard through SLI cables (nvidia) or Crossfire cables (AMD/ATI). In either case you will not get the same performance, but there are differences and advantages to each.

a. One Board Scenario

The main difference between one board and multiple boards is that the two GPUs are not limited to a connector speed. The two GPUs can talk to each other on the same board without bandwidth limitations. This results in slightly better performance when compared to two cards setup in SLI/Crossfire, but also has its own drawbacks. Heat is a much bigger issue when you have two high powered GPUs right next to each other as opposed to with dedicated coolers on each. This reduces or limits overclocking ability and may result in liquid cooling being necessary in some instances.

b. Multiple Card Scenario

In the second case, you have distance between each card, typically not very much, but each card still has its own heatsink and fan. The main advantage of SLI/Crossfire is that the limit to the number of GPUs you can use is double that of the single board method. You can go crazier by mixing the two methods and having two boards with multiple GPUs in SLI/Crossfire. Unfortunately there is a catch. Typically with most motherboard, when you use more than one card the bandwidth of the PCI-Express slots is limited. Typically a x16 single card scenario will become two x8 slots sharing the available bandwidth between each other. However, in high end motherboard, sever x16 slots are used and the full speed of a card can be utilized.

c. Mixed

Although not very common, it is possible to take several cards containing multiple GPUs on one board, and set them up in a multiple card scenario. This produces a lot of heat, and liquid cooling is the best option to keep components cool enough to operate.

VI. Power

Most middle and high end cards require a connector from the power supply to be directly connected to the video card. There are three varieties, but only two are now used, 6-pins and 8-pins.

When buying a power supply you will need to make sure you have these, and when buying a video card you will need to check what the power requirements of a particular graphics card is and compare it with your current systems power output and availability. If you do not have these connectors it does not mean you can use higher end graphics cards, simply that you will need to buy a 4-pin Molex to 8-pin/6-pin adapter.

Simply having available connectors does not mean that you can run any graphics card. You need to have the wattage as well. Going by modern PSUs, you typically need 650 watts or better to be able to have SLI/Crossfire capable setup. I have even found in some instances, 650 watt PSUs or better are the only ones that have enough of these connectors to allow for SLI/Crossfire.

Nabo’s Hardware School: The Processor/CPU

What to look for when buying A CPU/Processor

A CPU, centralized processing unit, or processor, is what does everything for a computer. All the calculations, and is the brain of everything. Needless to say this should be your best part, no matter what. There are very different design philosophies for pc builders. You have those who will spend money every six months because something was just released, whereas I prefer to build a PC that lasts several years. I am on a very tight budget, a college student, and I do a lot of other things with my PC. Having power is important, and both times I built my PC I did so by purchasing the best CPU available for the price.

So this starts us with different types of CPUs, and I am not talking AMD vs. Intel, but the number of cores, which is typically 2 or 4 (and now 6). What would be the advantage of having more cores? Well, certain games can utilize more cores, specifically strategy games or other games where a lot of physics is involved, Crysis perhaps. So, if you have a strategy game fix or if that is your genre, be sure to start with a quad core. Other applications can take advantage of this as well. Editing is a very specific way where having more cores can help. Be it video, audio, or photo, most modern editing programs have been written to take advantage of multiple threads.

This leads us to what makes a single core different from a quad core. This is because of how computers give a processor tasks. They do so in a list type format, each item on that list is referred to as a thread. So, a processor with more cores can do more tasks at once. This is only for things that are written to take advantage of multi-threaded environments, so not every program will see a benefit, but in today’s age most will.

With that out of the way, the next “thing” you need to look at is the speed of a processor. To do so, you need to understand something called a clock. Without getting too technical, the clock is what drives the CPU, the heartbeat. It “ticks” every allotted amount of time. So, it might take 3 ticks for something to look up and read a specific bit of the memory. It might take twice as long to write to that bit. So on and so on. What this means is the faster the speed, the smaller amount of time those ticks become. This does not mean that a 2.8 GHz processor is .2 GHz slower than its 3.0 counterpart at performing, but it means that the latter will be quicker. Some might not notice it, but others will when you get into situations where speed can be taken advantage of.

There is one other thing you should be aware of, and that is called cache. Cache is essentially a tiny hard drive for the processor to store things on. Why not just use the hard drive? Well, it is because cache, and ram/memory, has the advantage of being hundreds and thousands of times faster. Optical media and USB drives being the slowest, hard drives being quicker, then ram, then cache. What this allows the CPU to do is perform things on certain tasks that are done a lot very quickly. To complicate things there are different levels of cache. Each core has its own, then each pair of cores shares what is called the L2 or level 2 cache, and most processors have what is called L3 cache, level 3, for all the cores to share. This allows one core to pass data to another core so that if a core is waiting for that specific piece of data then it won’t have to wait for it to be written and then read by the other core. So, when buying a processor, trying to decide between several, you might want the one with more cache, and the one with L3 cache instead of just L1 and L2.

Now that you know the basics you might ask, what is the most important of these and what is a good processor? Well, I would not tell anyone building a computer today to go with anything other than a quad core or better. You can buy quad cores for a few dollars more than a good dual core. So what speed should you get? Well, most people doing any type of video watching, editing, or gaming would be smart to go with a fast processor. Since the spectrum of speed typically goes from 1.8 GHz up to right around 3.6/3.8 GHz, a fast processor to me would be 2.8 GHz or better. This will not only help you get things done faster, but extend the life of your computer for years. Most laptop owners wonder why things are so slow, the first thing I do is tell them to take a look at their processor speed, typically 2.2 GHz or less. These two things along with socket type and less so cache help to determine which you should choose, but these two are the most important. I will get into socket type when I discuss motherboards.

With that little bit of education you should be able to get yourself started. Find out what kind of a price you want to spend on your computer. Let’s say two scenarios, $500 or $1000 builds, I would spend 100-150 and 200-300 on each respectively. That is around one quarter of the budget. It might seem like a lot, but remember, and we will get into this more in-depth in motherboards, but replacing a CPU isn’t as simple as taking it out and putting in a new one, it usually involves new ram and a motherboard.

Just a note, I don’t have anyone to look over these before I post them, if you want the job PM me.

Chip Size and Speed

Some of you might be wondering what the chip size has to do with performance. What is the reason for having a 32 nm chip as opposed to a 45 nm chip? Well, the answer is twofold. First, the die that the chips are made from will yield more chips if they have a smaller area. The second is that when you have a smaller chip die, you have a smaller distance between components on those chips. This leads to much faster speeds because the electrons travel at a set speed and the only way to make the performance faster is to decrease the distance they have to travel. That is why in motherboard design things like the processor and memory are right next to each other, decreasing the travel distance and increasing the possible speed, therefore performance.

That leads to one question, what is the downside of a smaller chip? Well, the result of a smaller chip is that the pathways have much less of an ability to cool down, resulting in a hotter running chip. Sometimes this can be overcome through a cooling design, but in other cases it cannot. Another negative of a smaller chip is the risk of pathways crossing and electrons jumping from one path to another, essentially creating a short and damaging the chip. Shielding to prevent this takes space, which results in a larger die being required until the shielding can be perfected on the smaller die size.

Now, what does this mean when you select a processor, video card, or motherboard? Well, typically manufacturers release revisions of chips. One based off the previous, but having fixes and changes to improve performance. One of the most typical changes is a die shrink, resulting in faster performance on an already proven chip layout design. So be sure to look out for the newest revisions of chips, and find out what has changed between a newer revision and its older counterpart before you decide which to base your computer on.

Flipside #3: Dear EA Sports: See things from a new perspective (again)

The following is from my post over at colony of gamers, feel free to follow the link and post there or post in the comments below:

http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/showthread.php?t=17602

This whole thing started when someone asked about pc parts and I recommended some stuff. Later that day I got a pm with someone asking for a new cpu, mobo, ram, and video card for around 300 dollars. I pm-ed back with approximates, explaining that a motherboard is typically 100 dollars, a good quad core is 100 dollars, and ram is 100 dollars. I had asked if he/she would be open to spending a bit more to get a good video card.

Long story short, I ended up having to knock 100 dollars off and after looking up a cpu, mobo, and ram for 200 dollars I got this reply.

[QUOTE]That’s amazing, those components sound stunning for that price. I’m gonna purchase the mobo now and start hunting around for a case. With a little tight budgeting I might have this thing all together in under a month – I’ll let you know how it goes.

Thank you so much! [/QUOTE]

As you can see he/she was very happy with that quality of parts for that price. Essentially it was an 890G motherboard, a 3.0 GHz x4, and 2 gigs of ram, using the onboard video chipset to play TF2. Seeing this I was very glad I was able to help, and taken back at how much you can get these days for the price. I spent 750 dollars on a console and a game, 850 on a top of the line PC, and am still amazed at how I can get 5 games on steam for 10 dollars.

I went over this on a podcast, arguing with my co-host about how at e3 Microsoft needs to announce that Xbox live is now free, but that they will likely add TV features and raise the price. After 10 minutes of explaining that what Xbox live provides is perfectly fine if they wouldn’t charge for online play.

As you can see this is all about what you get for the money and what should be free and what should be charged for. Times have changed from the era where Rainbow Six 3 had 3 10 dollar expansions all with 10 or 15 single player missions, while in the latest Call of Duty you have to pay 15 dollars for 4 new maps and people will do it without thinking twice.

Now we have a company like EA following in Xbox live’s footsteps, trying to charge for online play. Granted, if you buy a new copy the online is free, and a rental gives you a week of online, but the point is to look at the used copy where 10 dollars unlocks half of the game. People bring up the scenario where a new copy is 65 (after tax) and a used copy is 55 with the 10 dollar online pass. Let us be fair though, it is more likely that a used copy is much cheaper, and will be closer to 40 dollars with a 10 dollar online pass, or even less.

I proposed to my co-host, why not just charge for roster updates, and if you buy the new copy of the game you get those updates for as long as you still have the disk. Considering most of madden is an excel sheet that has numbers according to “skill”, I cannot imagine that something like this would be too difficult for them to do. If you buy the game used and do not care you will simply have to play unranked and with the old rosters, but you still get to play online with friends. If you buy it new, you get the added benefit of being able to always keep you roster up to date, even when the servers are now down, sending a several mb file is something I think EA should not mind doing, when you consider there was a flat fee for doing so.

Is this perhaps the compromise where GameStop gets their hand slapped and EA’s customers don’t get robbed of content for buying used?

Flipside #2: Dear Valve: Tread Lightly

The following is from my post over at colony of gamers, feel free to follow the link and post there or post in the comments below:

http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/showthread.php?t=17398

Before I even get started, and judging by how the last one of these went, I want to say something initially. I never planned to release this on the day the Mac version of Steam, but since I have no class for 8 hours, I actually have time to write this up. This is not a PC vs. Mac topic, but intended to be more of a “Please don’t let this happen topic”.

For those who have not seen or been a part of what is going on, let me recap what Valve has done since the release of DOD:S. First, They released TF2, which was created by the DOD:S team and the features were updated back into DOD:S and KILLED that community. TF2 was a part of the orange box, which included several games that were already out on PC. When this was first out I had little to no interest in buying the episodes and portal, but did want to try out TF2. Unfortunately it was only available for over 30 dollars when CS:S and DOD:S both released for 15 dollars (10 at release). I also owned a PS3 at this time, and the PS3 version of the orange box was practically unplayable.

Valve’s Next Release was L4D and L4D2, both of which were much smaller packages then CS:S and DOD:S, including only 4 levels at the time of release and was later updated with more levels. This trend started with DOD:S which had 2 levels added along with a new gameplay type that was and is only implemented in those 2 levels. TF2 continued this trend, and boasts over 200 patches after its initial release, basically remaking every single character in the game to include new abilities, weapons, and rebalancing.

The point here is that now valve has split its development even further from a formerly only PC developer to now developing for PC, Xbox 360, Mac, and rumored Linux. With games becoming smaller and relying heavily on patches to become what once was a full title, it worries me that eventually I will be paying way more for a lot less (I would say I already am), and having to wait months before the game is fleshed out or until everything is added. For instance, I have waited until now to get into TF2 because it has taken this long for ALL of the classes to be patched, which should result in one class not having a dramatic advantage over another.

As the title suggests, and with the release of another beta for a game I enjoy, I take a moment to hold my breath and hope that nothing negative comes from this. I hope that valve actually listens to those playing the CS:S beta and implements the patch the way the users want it to be implemented. Thinking back to DOD:S beta, and how just the ability to walk through someone, and adding a kill cam turned off 75% of the players, it makes me very worried that this will happen to arguably one of the biggest PC mods/games multiplayer games out there. Already things like surf, minigames, and other mishmashes of custom settings have been found turned off, resulting in portions of the community without their game. Hopefully, things turn out for the better this time instead of resulting in the death of one of the greatest games out there.

Flipside #1: Piracy vs. Trade-In

The following is from my post over at colony of gamers, feel free to follow the link and post there or post in the comments below:

http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/showthread.php?t=16702

Let me start off by explaining how this all came about. A week (a few by now) or so ago, the Gamespot UK podcast was interviewing someone who had just released a game on console. They proceeded to talk about development, publishing, and eventually the talk lead to the developer’s thoughts on game trade-ins.

As I have hours with earplugs in my ear I listen to many podcasts, this probably wasn’t them, but two podcasts were particularly pissed at pc gamers for hacking Ubisoft’s DRM and causing legitimate customers the unfortunate position of being unable to play. Giantbomb’s Bombcast and most likely Kotaku’s podcast were at the forefront of this. Contrasting those two discussions, here is what happens when you listen to a discussion about how bad piracy is, followed by a discussion from the developer’s perspective about how bad game trade-ins are.

Both piracy and trade-ins end up with the makers of a game losing out on profit. Both piracy and trade-ins allow gamers to play more games. Piracy uses virtual means, and has become highly restrictive thanks to viruses, spyware, ISP blocks, and lawsuits on content providers. Game trade-ins have increased thanks to legality, ease, and are now flourishing online through websites like goozex, amazon, and toysrus. Which results in the real question, besides legality, and virtual vs. physical, what the hell is the difference between piracy and game trade-ins?

One way to look at this is from the perspective of the PC player, whose games are not reviewed or discussed on the scale of console games, is provided with game demos, and whose overall content can extremely limit whether or not someone can enjoy that content. Not to mention the fact that websites once fraught with pirates have now been turned into legitimate businesses thanks to overseas lawsuits and fear of prosecution.

The other way is to think of the console gamer, be it legitimate or pirate, who has the ability to rent games from places like gamefly.com, is provided with a demo of a large majority of their content, and knows exactly what is required to “run” a particular game. This person can also be “ripping off the developer” by solely legal means, while the content providers have done little to stop this, in fact, have began removing content and confusing the purchasing process with things like preorder bonus items, unlock codes, and free content for “new” purchasers (or simply new renters). The largest travesty here is that websites and stores are making money that would have gone to the developer.

Lastly, I would like to take one final glance at the PC owners. Things like steam have developed a more central system for content retrieval, but there is still a drastic lack of pre-sale content. From reviews, demos, videos, and just plain press, it seems like discussion the PC version of a game has become little more than a “yes or no” answer and that is all. What mystifies me, the simple fact that pirates are becoming far and few between while just about everyone who owns a console will eventually trade-in a game. It is a growing market, while on the PC, things are done at the gamers’ desire, and not to fill a certain company’s money pit, and provide said company with enough spare change to sponsor a race car.

http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&source=imghp&q=gamespot+nascar&gbv=2&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=

I think you get the Idea. Please post your thoughts, and feel free to share your own thoughts and experiences with this issue.

-nabokovfan87

Console Gamers: It Isn’t About Dedicated Servers (COD4:MW2)

It’s been a while, but i have to speak up about this.  I can send emails to podcast and ask others to speak my thoughts, but it doesn’t do much if i don’t speak up as well.  Here are the facts, the things that have been said, and the things that will happen.

1.  COD4:MW2 will come out on PC without dedicated server support, meaning it will make use of a peer-to-peer online system.

2.  It will be the first PC game in a while to cost 60 retail that isn’t a special edition.

3.  IWNet will be released, and won’t work on launch, leading to even more “news stories” and the extension of this argument.

You might read those and think to yourself, big deal, but you have to take a step back before you decide the fate of this one.  It isn’t as simple as valve releasing a new game by turning the lights on, but this is something that will have a massive effect on PC gaming as a whole.  For those who have no idea, let me explain what happens when things change on the PC.

EA in the past, with its sports titles all started out on the PC.  Including Madden and NHL everthing started on the PC.  There wouldn’t be NBA, and the rest of EA Sports’ games unless they all recieved life on the pc.  Whether you agree with me or not about that, here is how things went down.  Games went to console, things were taken out of the PC version, and eventually the pc became a testbed for the console games.  NHL games would have special versions on the pc which basically were perfected a year later and released on consoles.  Online modes were stripped out of the PC version resulting in backlash and people just getting fed up with the whole situation, leading to a world now where sports games do not exist on the PC. 

One of the biggest reasons why PC gamers demand dedicated servers is because it allows older games to remain being played.  Counter-Strike, released in 1999 has over 60 thousand gamers playing it today.  I’m sure battlefield 1942, quake, and other classic games are still being played as well.  How?  Because PC gamers pay out of thier own pocket to run their own servers.  Take a look at the CS:S server list, America’s Army, Rainbow Six, SWAT 4, Battlefield, and other online games, the majority if not all of those servers are run by gamers.  In 3 years when the MW2 servers are shut down to allow for the newest release, maybe you will get what I mean.  Heck, even Halo still has people playing it.

So when you take a look at this MW2 server removal, my immediate thought goes to that.  There will not be a call of duty game on the PC, which, fine.. there are better shooters anyways.  Then I get to thinking of those games, rainbow six, ghost recon, steam games, mods, and then it hit me.  Rainbow Six Vegas is a console version of Rainbow Six, Left for Dead is a console version of a half-life mod, and Ghost Recon needs to be radically revamped to even be playable for most.  A lot of the classic PC games, and classic ways for pc gamers to get new games have been either changed, or are now becoming consolized ports.

Games for windows isn’t helping either.  First off, Microsoft doesnt fix things they just want you to buy a 360.  Honestly, goes to the games for windows live site and try to find a support email address to or number to call.  It lists 100 different companies, and then when you have an issue that is GFW related, you have to use Xbox support.  Fallout 3 on the pc was a massive mess of bugs and issues, with each released dlc making and creating worse issues.  It would take 20 minutes for the patcher to load, and another few for the patch to actually install.  Don’t believe me?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=es9hPPk4Oek

The plot thickens though.  When you look at the 360 and the ps3 themselves, how much of their life came from the PC.  We all joke at the Wii, but when you really take a look at the situation, the Wii is the only real console.  The ps3 and 360 all have media playback, media streaming, patches, online play, voice, text, and video chat, downloadable games, twitter, Netflix, etc.  The real difference, the pc can use the consoles’ controllers, but it is too much to ask for a server to be made or an option to be created allowing pc gamers with consoles to use mouse and keyboards against other mouse and keyboards.  Not only are the ports terrible, mostly leading to controls not feeling or working correctly, but we get games months later.  Why?

Either way you look at it, this has become a big issue.  With numerous podcasts explaining that “they dont play pc games” and then asking “why is it that pc gamers demand so much” or “what is it about pc gamers that makes them so special”.  Fact of the matter is, nothing.  Pc gamers have been dealing with a steady decline in the quality of their gaming experience for several years now, a decade for some.  All we want is to be able to play games and not have to deal with the issues of lazy development or 3rd world country treatment.  This isn’t a respect thing for me anymore, I’ve accepted the fact that developers and console gamers just dont care about the world of pc, but the plain and simple truth is, things need to change.  Is it in the hands of the developer to treat their product with higher respect?  Do they want any gamer, no matter the platform to enjoy their gaming experience and become a repeat customer on expansions and sequels?  Do publishers want gamers to see them as “on their side”?  Will the PC gaming scene just become about WOW and flash games that get ported to the console?  Will solitaire be the only PC exclusive in the future.

I know many of you will just raise you hand a yell out “it’s because of piracy”, but let me be clear.  With the lawsuits overseas, the introduction of viruses and tracking into torrent sites, laws, and the simple difficulty in cracking a game, a lot of piracy on the pc has died off and will die off.  Where has it gone to?  The 360, the DS, and the PSP.

 

Want to hear more about how this will effect  PC gamers?  Hear it from one of our own.  The discussion starts at 43:25, be warned of explicit language. (and no it isnt F IW for 30 minutes)

[right click, save as]

http://ingamechat.net/audio/IGC20091022.mp3

-nabokovfan87