January 28, 2009
Toxic Themed?
Looks like my page was going for a blue theme and then was hit with radioactive vomit. The dark green areas are simply contaminated and the bright green are toxic. Hopefully your mouse doesn't mutate and end up with two balls. Or for the optical mice, two laser-eyes. Trackball mice are freaks and any mutation can only be for the better.
Icky Thump
I realize this song's been out for a couple years, but I love the riff-tastic goodness of it. White Stripes' Icky Thump, NIN's Metal, Ozzy's Perry Mason, and Incubus' Megalomaniac are, for whatever reason, my music picks at the moment. Apparently, I'm all over the place musically the past week or so.
Well, this is mostly just an update of the track to play on my page. Sorry, no linky to a free download this time. But, I think the Hustle Simmons song is still available for download; if you like rap you should check it out.
Well, this is mostly just an update of the track to play on my page. Sorry, no linky to a free download this time. But, I think the Hustle Simmons song is still available for download; if you like rap you should check it out.
January 20, 2009
Auto-Play
While I understand people really, really, really want to share their music with others via the internet; I have to say that it's extremely annoying when music starts playing once the page finishes loading. It's even worse when the player is hidden (whether actually not on the page, or difficult to find), cannot be paused, the volume cannot be modified, and/or the player is so shoddy that pausing doesn't work.
And, it's not just that it's annoying. If I'm listening to music on my computer ( whether streaming online or playing local content), my music now has to compete with yours. And, if I'm singing at the top of my lungs then this can ruin the whole pretending to be a rock star experience.
But, the biggest reason I plead with you to stop is because when I'm done being a rock star I don't always turn the volume down. So, let me paint the setting. I'm sitting at my desk surfing the internet. The only noise is the low hum of the computer, an ocassional click of the mouse, and the rare zipping sound of the scroll wheel as it clicks 3-4 times in rapid succession. Then I go to your page and a cacophony of sound erupts from the speakers causing me to jump and scaring the piss out of me.
So, please, please, I beg you, let me keep my piss until I'm ready release it. Just turn off the auto-play. That way, when should I decide to visit your site I have the option to listen to your music. Not only that, but if you blog about how awesome the song is (instead of forcing me to hear the first 30 seconds before I find a way to stop it playing), I might actually feel like giving it a listen.
I know, I'm a jerk. But, c'mon, I can't be the only person who feels this way. Can I? (Feel free to tell me off in the comments.)
And completely off-topic, do you know how hard it is to go from double-spacing at the end of a sentence to single-spacing at the end of a sentence?
And, it's not just that it's annoying. If I'm listening to music on my computer ( whether streaming online or playing local content), my music now has to compete with yours. And, if I'm singing at the top of my lungs then this can ruin the whole pretending to be a rock star experience.
But, the biggest reason I plead with you to stop is because when I'm done being a rock star I don't always turn the volume down. So, let me paint the setting. I'm sitting at my desk surfing the internet. The only noise is the low hum of the computer, an ocassional click of the mouse, and the rare zipping sound of the scroll wheel as it clicks 3-4 times in rapid succession. Then I go to your page and a cacophony of sound erupts from the speakers causing me to jump and scaring the piss out of me.
So, please, please, I beg you, let me keep my piss until I'm ready release it. Just turn off the auto-play. That way, when should I decide to visit your site I have the option to listen to your music. Not only that, but if you blog about how awesome the song is (instead of forcing me to hear the first 30 seconds before I find a way to stop it playing), I might actually feel like giving it a listen.
I know, I'm a jerk. But, c'mon, I can't be the only person who feels this way. Can I? (Feel free to tell me off in the comments.)
And completely off-topic, do you know how hard it is to go from double-spacing at the end of a sentence to single-spacing at the end of a sentence?
Game Publishing
As a gamer, one thing that always sucks is hearing about an awesome game that can't find a publisher. You read the interviews and watch the videos and the game sounds awesome. But, because there's risk involved no publisher will touch it and the game becomes the dreaded vaporware.
The Idea
There needs to be a publisher that's funded by gamers. I know, you're saying that all publishers are funded by the gamers because the gamers by the games. This is true, but I'm thinking of a system where the gamer ponies up the doe before the game is completed.
Essentially, the gamers would be "shareholders" in the game. They would pay $10 for a "share" in the game plus $5 for S&H. For each share, the shareholder would receive a copy of the game once development was completed. One possible benefit of this would be additional sales could be split between shareholders as credits to invest in new games. This would allow the gamer to obtain discounted or possibly free games from good investments.
A Safe Bet
Gamers wouldn't simply be throwing their money blindly. If only 50 people were interested and willing to pay for the game, it'd suck for that money to disappear because not enough funding was obtained. Instead, the money would sit in a pool (sans a 10-15% publisher fee) until either enough money to develop the game was obtained or a specified amount of time elapsed. So, if the goal of $500,000 for development was reached, development would proceed. If 6 months went buy and not enough money was received, the gamers would either be refunded their money (sans the 10-15%) or allowed to invest in another project.
Funding the Publisher
I know the inability to refund 10-15% seems a bit harsh, but there has to be people working to ensure the developers are meeting deadlines. Someone needs to be working with the developers so that there's a game to play when all is said an done. There would be no greater crime than for you to put your money into this system and receive nothing in return because the developer doesn't have the game in a completed state. Think of it as someone ensuring there's a return on your investment.
There's always the possibility of a worst case scenario where the game is incomplete and all that can be provided is the latest build. In these situations, I think it'd be great if the gamer was able to receive a free copy of any completed game. Essentially, it'd be doing what was within the publisher's means to ensure the customer remained happy. Since this kind of system would require gamers constantly funding new games, it would be in the best interest to keep them as happy as possible.
The Hard Part
When you consider it'd take about 60,000 gamers interested and willing to "pre-order" a game to fund a $500,000 project (remember the 10-15% to the publisher) there's a definite question about whether enough funds would ever be obtained. When you consider even the online petitions are lucky to receive that number and they're free, it'd be pretty hard to get the first game off the ground.
Once the publisher had two or three games under their belt, I think it'd really start to gain momentum. There'd be proof that the games will be developed. The games would be extremely cheap for the gamer, but there is the risk that they wouldn't be good. And, the gamer would have a say in what games they want to see. I think it'd provide known developers with a means to develop the riskier projects.
The Idea
There needs to be a publisher that's funded by gamers. I know, you're saying that all publishers are funded by the gamers because the gamers by the games. This is true, but I'm thinking of a system where the gamer ponies up the doe before the game is completed.
Essentially, the gamers would be "shareholders" in the game. They would pay $10 for a "share" in the game plus $5 for S&H. For each share, the shareholder would receive a copy of the game once development was completed. One possible benefit of this would be additional sales could be split between shareholders as credits to invest in new games. This would allow the gamer to obtain discounted or possibly free games from good investments.
A Safe Bet
Gamers wouldn't simply be throwing their money blindly. If only 50 people were interested and willing to pay for the game, it'd suck for that money to disappear because not enough funding was obtained. Instead, the money would sit in a pool (sans a 10-15% publisher fee) until either enough money to develop the game was obtained or a specified amount of time elapsed. So, if the goal of $500,000 for development was reached, development would proceed. If 6 months went buy and not enough money was received, the gamers would either be refunded their money (sans the 10-15%) or allowed to invest in another project.
Funding the Publisher
I know the inability to refund 10-15% seems a bit harsh, but there has to be people working to ensure the developers are meeting deadlines. Someone needs to be working with the developers so that there's a game to play when all is said an done. There would be no greater crime than for you to put your money into this system and receive nothing in return because the developer doesn't have the game in a completed state. Think of it as someone ensuring there's a return on your investment.
There's always the possibility of a worst case scenario where the game is incomplete and all that can be provided is the latest build. In these situations, I think it'd be great if the gamer was able to receive a free copy of any completed game. Essentially, it'd be doing what was within the publisher's means to ensure the customer remained happy. Since this kind of system would require gamers constantly funding new games, it would be in the best interest to keep them as happy as possible.
The Hard Part
When you consider it'd take about 60,000 gamers interested and willing to "pre-order" a game to fund a $500,000 project (remember the 10-15% to the publisher) there's a definite question about whether enough funds would ever be obtained. When you consider even the online petitions are lucky to receive that number and they're free, it'd be pretty hard to get the first game off the ground.
Once the publisher had two or three games under their belt, I think it'd really start to gain momentum. There'd be proof that the games will be developed. The games would be extremely cheap for the gamer, but there is the risk that they wouldn't be good. And, the gamer would have a say in what games they want to see. I think it'd provide known developers with a means to develop the riskier projects.
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