Anyway, never been so happy to leave for the airport before. A real post on something less depressing tomorrow.]]>General Nonsensehttp://www.unfetteredblather.com/nucleus/index.php?itemid=112Thu, 22 Dec 2005 14:43:34 -0700<![CDATA[Why should we care about unions again?]]>
http://www.unfetteredblather.com/nucleus/index.php?itemid=111
Transit workers strike in New York, leaving millions stranded during the holidays.
Believe it or not, I am not going to address the transit strike directly, but rather talk about my own unpleasant experience with a union. You see, one week due to heavy rains and thunderstorms, the DFW Airport was closed for four hours. That means, essentially, that many flights had been delayed for four hours or more. I arrived at the airport two hours early, as usual, to make up for the inefficiencies of air travel. By the time my flight was officially delayed, I had already been waiting two hours, and we continued to wait for another three. Finally, we were given five minutes to board the flight because if we did not, then due to union rules the flight attendants would not be allowed to work. The flight was full, with around 200 people who were now being told they could not fly to their destination because of the rules concerning three workers.
Now, at what point is this supposed to foster sympathy for the unions? This happens to me time and again where something can't happen or is delayed because of union rules. We, the non-union folks, are supposed to believe that unions stand up for the working man. Of course, I have also watched a union reinstate a worker who was fired for incompetence, and rightfully so. Unions only care about unions. They don't care if their demands are economically feasible, they don't care if the customers end up paying for the union's demands. Labor unions were started with noble intentions, but anymore they remind me of some sort of legal extortion racket.
I continually hear calls for a technologists union. I am totally against this. If other unions are anything to go by, our field will shrink, people will be reluctant to hire anyone except for positions they absolutely need, customer service and satisfaction will drop like rocks, and the industries that rely on us the most will also struggle the most to be a success. Maybe I'm off base, but this is all I see produced by contemporary unions. If they want public support, maybe they should think about what the public perception of them is. ]]>Politicshttp://www.unfetteredblather.com/nucleus/index.php?itemid=111Tue, 20 Dec 2005 14:14:16 -0700<![CDATA[I am back]]>
http://www.unfetteredblather.com/nucleus/index.php?itemid=110
I was very disappointed to find upon my return 4 new comments that were all spam. I have a very strict procedure in regards to comment spam. I remove the comment completely so as to leave no record of its existence. I ban the IP. If the post is over a month old, I disable comments as well. As this is my blog and my personal space, I see no reason not to be prudent about its appearance and upkeep.
For the spammers, if you want to advertise then drop me a line and we'll talk. However, I take extreme exception to the notion that you feel you can advertise here free of charge. I am not above advertising, but I also don't need it so I don't pursue it. If you feel your product is so worthwhile that it should be peddled here or elsewhere, then we'll talk and I'll be more than happy to accept money if I feel you have something that is relevant to the site and fit the standards I have here. Considering the name of the blog, relevancy shouldn't be too hard. Standards is where it gets trickier since I have no intentions of peddling your on-line casino, dating service, or porn site of any kind. If you leave a comment that is spam, I will remove it. You can count on it. I also promise that it will not be up long enough to be any boost to your business. You are wasting your time. I am not wasting mine, as I see it as simple maintenance. I will not give up. If nothing else, it is a trivial matter for me to close comments and ban IPs.
As this is my space ran on my nickel alone, yes I do feel that I have a right to be compensated before you can peddle your wares.
Granted, I am not so new to the Internet that I actually think they read this blog. I am quite aware that they hit posts based on search engines and chose those as the place to put their spam. What is really egregious is the way they assume that putting "Nice site" or "Good points" as some kind of reply before their spam somehow makes it ok.
This ain't my first time to the rodeo, Ya'll.]]>General Nonsensehttp://www.unfetteredblather.com/nucleus/index.php?itemid=110Mon, 19 Dec 2005 13:14:50 -0700<![CDATA[I quit travel blogging, but...]]>
http://www.unfetteredblather.com/nucleus/index.php?itemid=109
Yet I just have this nagging feeling that when I take what I know about business and technology and then compare them to airline practices, something just does not add up. I'm thinking that there might be something to that as even the largest of the airlines are operating at a loss and desperate for cash.
I just don't have the energy to do it tonight. However, I just hit Platinum status with American Airlines, which means I have logged over 50,000 actual travel miles with them this year. I have completed over 40 flights in the span of less than 6 months. In my brief time reacquainting myself with air travel certain words are rarely used to describe my impression of the air travel industry. Words like "customer service", "quality", "efficiency", and "competency" rarely spring to mind. Oddly, it seems like it is not confined to American Airlines, but most of the industry. If an entire industry is doing poorly, at what point does someone step back and ask "what are we doing wrong"?]]>Biz and Techhttp://www.unfetteredblather.com/nucleus/index.php?itemid=109Fri, 09 Dec 2005 23:59:04 -0700<![CDATA[That is not how you send Corporate America "a message"]]>
http://www.unfetteredblather.com/nucleus/index.php?itemid=108
Yes, I am sure Microsoft hears your cries of rage, and they are laughing back as they count your money.
I still plan on getting an X-Box 360 just as soon as I have time for that kind of gaming again. Being on the road is not very conducive to console gaming, unless I want to leave it at the hotel. Something I'm not quite sure I trust the maid service to leave alone considering its rarity. As such, the idea of even getting one at launch wasn't much of a priority. Still, had I pre-ordered one I probably would have just asked for a refund upon hearing of the shortage and waited for the next batch. The fact is, anyone who wants one is going to be able to buy one eventually. There was certainly not one game that looked like a "killer app" at launch, so the lengths people are going to in order to acquire a system seem just silly to me. Not only that, but I just refuse to salivate when Corporate America rings a bell.
It is not that I hate corporations, not even Microsoft. They have their place in our society. The problem is that we the consumers routinely place far too much power in their hands. Naturally they are going to abuse that scenario every chance they get. We have successfully trained Corporate America to focus on short-term profits, even to their own detriment. Microsoft being an exception, since they seem to have an eye on the future. However, Microsoft did not get so big while having any focus on customer satisfaction or customer service. So giving in to them is especially heinous.
Spending 10 hours in line to quite likely not get a system you pre-ordered, or spending $1500 on a bundle pack is probably not going to send the message you would like. However, this is America, a land where people will spend thousands of dollars on entertainment and eat Ramen Noodles for every meal. When people complain about corporations behaving badly, it doesn't take much to see how they have gotten to the place where they think they can get away with it. ]]>Gaminghttp://www.unfetteredblather.com/nucleus/index.php?itemid=108Thu, 08 Dec 2005 13:40:49 -0700<![CDATA[Bioware's perpetual revenue stream]]>
http://www.unfetteredblather.com/nucleus/index.php?itemid=107
this post or this one that I might have something of an interest in perpetual revenue streams. That would be a correct assumption. In particular, I am interested in how publishers can make money on the same product almost indefinitely without being in the massively multiplayer market.
When you release a title like Neverwinter Nights, which is built upon the foundation of unlimited extensibility, the potential for creating more products based on that foundation should be apparent from the start. I am not going to pretend that someone in Bioware saw this potential from the start, though I would like to think so. Regardless of when it happened, Bioware has definitely seized the opportunity, and has used the power of the Internet to their advantage.
Since Neverwinter Nights was released in 2002, there have been two expansions released and many different versions of the game. Over time, Bioware began selling premium modules on their website. Right now you can buy Pirates of the Sword Coast, which has not seen retail release, for $9.99. Ten bucks is a small enough sum that I'd be willing to pay it, and enough money that Bioware doesn't even have to sell that many to make money. Add to the fact that this is for a download, and they have also eliminated packaging and distribution costs. Everybody wins, well except for the regular distribution channels.Even then, Bioware has managed to do seven retail releases involving Neverwinter Nights, keeping their title in the public eye. The latest, Neverwinter Nights Diamond Edition includes all the premium modules except for the very latest, both expansions, as well as previously released modules that were included on their website for free. All this for $30, it's practically a steal. The best part, all of the product included has been marketed and sold already, so most of what they are selling has already generated revenue, and possibly a profit.
The downside, as I mentioned yesterday, is that Neverwinter Nights was a title that needed time to mature. This revenue stream was largely dependent on a product that was going to rely on some consumer patience to be successful. Even so, I think that Bioware is demonstrating how you can offer a product, keep it on the market, and still retain a varied play experience by means of built-in extensibility. This may be one avenue of keeping the PC gaming market alive. ]]>Gaminghttp://www.unfetteredblather.com/nucleus/index.php?itemid=107Thu, 01 Dec 2005 09:10:55 -0700<![CDATA[Neverwinter Nights is the new Unlimited Adventures]]>
http://www.unfetteredblather.com/nucleus/index.php?itemid=106
This sounds like a great idea in theory, the problem was that this is 1993, before the Internet was really popular. The idea of creating an adventure and swapping it with others likely meant loading it onto a disc and transporting the physical media to another person. Which means you had to know someone else who actually knew what the Gold Box games were and also had their own copy of Unlimited Adventures. The other problem was that creating an adventure was a serious time investment, so even if people were going to create their own adventures it was going to take more than the usual 30 day shelf life that most games have with a gamer. Since there was nothing substantial to play with the actual game, except for a fairly hollow quest that was thrown together so it could be called a "game", it left little to do for people who were not interested in creating quests themselves. The title quickly tanked and faded into obscurity.
Fast forward to 1995. Windows 95 is being adopted at a rapid pace and the World Wide Web becomes relatively simple to connect to even for the average person with little technical exposure. All of a sudden, people who owned Unlimited Adventures had an audience via the Web! Modules were created and swapped, art was designed, people formed communities on who to create adventures. There were mailing lists and use groups established, quite a few websites popped up. I dusted off my copy and began playing other people's modules. The title finally became worth owning, but it took two years to really mature. Unlimited Adventures is a great example of what the consequences are for being ahead of your time.
How does this compare to Neverwinter Nights? Well, the Internet is in broad use now thanks to easy access to the World Wide Web, so it never had to jump that hurdle, right? The game was highly anticipated, and I believe it was also highly sold if memory serves. Yet there was a great deal of disappointment with the title. The included campaign was considered to be subpar compared to previous Bioware offerings and the creation tools turned out to be too complex for just anyone to start making an adventure. A lot of the promises that were made in regards to the game appeared to be unreachable, and many people, myself included, abandoned the game when it appeared to not live up to its promises.
Neverwinter Nights, released in 2002, is a great example of what can happen when you rely on users to provide the content. What the game really needed was time, and it has had that. Like Unlimited Adventures, Neverwinter Nights eventually enjoyed its own renaissance. The game matured, the community started offering content, and the publisher discovered a new revenue stream. (More on that in a following post). Unfortunately, how do you tell the public "Just wait, this will be a killer game in about a year or so." That is not going to sell a lot of copies. If I knew the game wasn't really going to be worthwhile for another year after I bought it, I would have just waited and picked it up cheap. You can't market a game like that, at least not in any current business model. The potential is there for a great game, but without time to discover its potential, it cannot succeed.
Unfortunately, this is not limited to simply the D&D franchise. Other games have tried this approach and failed. Relying on user content is a dodgy prospect at best, and failure is far more likely. The real down side is that titles like Neverwinter Nights are a great way to jump start community involvement and innovation. It could very well be a training tool for aspiring designers and developers. Without these games, we lose an important aspect of the gaming community. However, if you can't quantify this in a dollar amount, bankrolling such endeavors will be the greatest challenge any of these games will ever face.]]>Gaminghttp://www.unfetteredblather.com/nucleus/index.php?itemid=106Wed, 30 Nov 2005 09:33:33 -0700<![CDATA[Ch...ch...changes!]]>
http://www.unfetteredblather.com/nucleus/index.php?itemid=105
I had registered the domain lawcritic.com for a friend of mine in hopes of setting up a blog for him. Unfortunately, as much as I like my webhost, their installation for blog software on subdomains is subpar. (Swear there was no pun intended). Thus, despite registering the domain months ago, it has gone untouched. So once I get the conversion done here, setting his up ought to be a snap.
That also means I will be loosing my Technorati ranking, but oh well. Hopefully the new software and set-up will be worth it.
Regular blogging, such as it is, will resume tomorrow.]]>General Nonsensehttp://www.unfetteredblather.com/nucleus/index.php?itemid=105Mon, 28 Nov 2005 22:12:09 -0700<![CDATA[Black Friday in perspective]]>
http://www.unfetteredblather.com/nucleus/index.php?itemid=104
Schlock Mercenary had some excellent thoughts on this past Friday.
Sure, I can get 75% off on that gadget, but I may have to commit aggravated assault in order to close the deal. So I stay home.
I suppose I should be pleased to learn that this year's Black Friday was a commercial success, and that the retail pulse of our nation's economy has quickened. Another part of me worries, though, that we have become a nation of consumers rather than producers. I'm sure more educated and eloquent writers than myself can decry consumerism more effectively, and perhaps even put forth alternatives. Me, I'll just quietly worry about it. But remember, when you buy something at 40% off, you're not saving money. You're SPENDING money. Saving money is what happens when you put the money into a bank.
I've worked retail before but never Black Friday. There is a reason for this, mostly because I have a very strong survival instinct. I also think it's crazy what people will do for a deal. All the way up to Christmas we are going to see more sales. More than likely that item you covet so much is going to be at that same price before Christmas sometime again. This happens every year. The difference is that on that one momentous day, everything is on sale everywhere. Still, if you want to be a smarter consumer, just watch the ads in December. Also, I have noticed that holiday pricing is sometimes a predictor of what some items will cost after Christmas, especially for items that have been on the market for awhile. Retailers not only use Black Friday as a way to lure people into their stores and increase sales, but it is a great time of year to unload stock that hasn't been moving but maybe used to. That's why Target was offering the Lord of the Rings DVD's at something like $3.50 a pop.
I also worry, as does Howard, that we are becoming consumers and not producers. The problem with that is that a country of consumers is eventually going to fall. We're using our money to prop up other countries' economies rather than our own. Sure, the world economy is often tied into the US, but doesn't that just make the prospect scarier? When we demand lower and lower prices to the point we refuse to buy anything at a price where it could be profitable to make in the US, we are actually hurting ourselves. I don't necessarily insist everything I buy be made in the US, but I think that insisting on the cheapest price for everything brand new is a bit silly. The real irony is that there is stil so much angst over off-shoring jobs. Well, whose job couldn't be off-shored? Sure, it's a great arguement that you won't get the quality you would if it were done here, but if your concern is cost then quality is obviously not the focus.
40% off and spending yourself out of a job does not sound like a great plan for a viable long-term economy. How much of the money that was spent this weekend will actually end up in the hands of US citizens?
To be honest, I'm not going to obsess over it. Lately the US doesn't seem to learn any lessons until it is far too late anyway. I also don't think the situation is as dire as some, and I believe that the market will march on. Still, at some point are we going to wonder exactly what the US does for the world, besides make movies? I think it's wonderful that we bring so much technology and innovation to the world, but if we continue to off-shore that then what is left? After you off-shore labor, people go into the idea market. What happens after ideas? What's left? While everyone runs around like lemmings worried about 40% off, I think I'll focus on the fact that my time and sanity is worth more to me than getting cheaper Christmas presents.
If nothing else, like Howard, I'm not big on committing assault in order to get a deal. I deal with enough rude people on a weekly basis to get a concentrated dose on Black Friday.]]>Biz and Techhttp://www.unfetteredblather.com/nucleus/index.php?itemid=104Sun, 27 Nov 2005 16:24:10 -0700