Annoying Questions I'd Like Answered...

fectin · Post by **fectin** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 5:39 pm

(double post because of responses while I was writing the first one)

FrankTrollman wrote:
Fuchs wrote:I worked in billing, booking "Frank Trollmann, paid USD 100" in the right account is the same work, no matter if the money arrived electronically or by check.
Yeah. But it's less work for the person sending the money, since they only have to fill out one thing and don't need any special codes or a separate statement to alert the bank and the creditor.

-Username17

Let's make that even easier: I can just as easily get my bank to send checks every month to an arbitrary payee as use any other kind of automatic payment service. Not all banks will do that, true, but most will, and there's cheap online services for the rest. Besides that, I can pay by check just fine without sending anything through the mail. My utilities all take that information right through their automated phone systems, and try to convince me to set up automatic check payments with them.

Ted the Flayer · Post by **Ted the Flayer** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 6:41 pm

I have a random question after playing Kingdom of Amalur. Why do so many games require you to constantly repair yous gear, why would anyone think that was a good idea, and how do we make game designers stop that shit?

It's not THAT bad in Amalur, after hitting the blacksmith trainers I can repair for cheap with repair kits. But it IS obnoxious.

Kaelik · Post by **Kaelik** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 7:03 pm

fectin wrote:With that reasoning, why the fuck would they need a late check to screw you?

Because they can't charge you a late fee if you aren't late, and most contracts don't have provisions for Fuck you fees. It's not like they hate you, they just have a fee for late payments, and they charge those fees.

Blicero · Post by **Blicero** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 7:06 pm

Ted the Flayer asking about weapon degradation in vidjagegms.

It adds more "realism," which stupid gamers have a hardon for. I'd imagine that more TTRPG games would also include some sort of durability mechanic if the designers could somehow justify the additional cost in complexity and required time.

Personally, I'm totally okay with durability mechanics in basically two types of game: survivalhorror and posttype affairs. It's thematically appropriate in Dark Souls, or STALKER, or System Shock 2, or Fallout, etc... for you to have to worry about your shit falling apart. In those games you are wandering through a damaged and decaying world that does not like you.

But Morrowind's inclusion of durability was completely pointless. Skyrim's removal of it was a totally positive decision. Durability is less prevalent in Diable II, but it's still probably not a good idea.

DSMatticus · Post by **DSMatticus** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 8:21 pm

There is pretty much no game I have seen with durability that felt like it mattered at all. Either it was an unfun annoyance or trivial bullshittery you ignored. My friend has a massive hard-on for durability mechanics, and I seriously have to ask fucking why, especially since he runs mods for Fallout that add cross-repairing and you basically just fix everything with leather straps, glue, and scrap metal, which is super abundant and makes the entire thing pointless. Of course, without that you can only repair with what? The exact same item? Which is just dumb, because it encourages you to shoot at everyone with whatever they're shooting at you with.

I have never seen a good durability mechanic anywhere. It's usually just a tax on your trips to town and does a super-shitty job of representing post-apocalyptic/survival horror scavenging.

name_here · Post by **name_here** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 9:40 pm

In practical terms, a company can charge you whatever the hell they want, if at some point you paid them some amount of money. Comcast is infamous for charging you for the highest price you paid at any point while only providing the services you asked for.

The only instance of good weapon durability I can recall was in Shadow Of Rome as LP'd by JadeStar, where instead of forcing you to run around fixing weapons it required you to insure a steady stream of new weapons by killing people in ludicrous manners, such as cutting off their arms and beating them with their own severed limbs before throwing them into the crowd (You actually do this). But in Amalur it is pointless time-wasting bullshit.

Doom · Post by **Doom** » Tue Mar 13, 2012 12:22 am

Durability never seems to work right...it's a holdover from Diablo. It only matters if weapons can reasonably break during combat; the only game that's come close to doing it right is Mount and Blade.

Amalur also copies the idiotic "set item" idea from Diablo. By the time you find a whole set, it's way below your level, and useless. In Diablo, you could put it on your next character, but it's particularly stupid here, since you're only going to play one character.

fectin · Post by **fectin** » Tue Mar 13, 2012 1:38 am

Durability is way older than Diablo. If repair is difficult/impossible, it's a reason to not use your best weapon all the time. That means you have stops to pull out, which feels pretty cool. If repair is easy, it's just an annoyance tax.

Maj · Post by **Maj** » Tue Mar 13, 2012 2:47 am

Why aren't there multiple cable providers in the same area?

DSMatticus · Post by **DSMatticus** » Tue Mar 13, 2012 3:19 am

Maj wrote:Why aren't there multiple cable providers in the same area?

Because there are entry costs involved in setting up service distribution to an area, and with an established competitor you're just splitting market share. Given that there are parts of the country that still don't have up-to-date cable infrastructure, there's more money to be made going somewhere you'll have a total monopoly by virtue of being the first there and owning the lines. The Supreme Court and the FCC have also taken the stance of "fuck you, cable companies don't have to share their lines, and in the instances they do you'll just have to pay prohibitively out of your ass for them anyway"

Until there is complete and total fucking market saturation (which also requires that the rate we lay lines down outpaces the rate they become technologically outdated) or we start treating those lines as effective public property, our information infrastructure is never going to be anything more than a series of regional monopolies who royally fuck local consumers over.

tl;dr because our government fellates cable and media companies.

Maj · Post by **Maj** » Tue Mar 13, 2012 4:27 am

That was a good explanation. Thank you.

Fuchs · Post by **Fuchs** » Tue Mar 13, 2012 10:04 am

FrankTrollman wrote:
Fuchs wrote:I worked in billing, booking "Frank Trollmann, paid USD 100" in the right account is the same work, no matter if the money arrived electronically or by check.
Yeah. But it's less work for the person sending the money, since they only have to fill out one thing and don't need any special codes or a separate statement to alert the bank and the creditor.

-Username17

Again, I only fill out one thing, the order for the bank (actually, in just about every case I only scan the bill I got and all the data the bank and all the data the receiver need are automatically entered).

I really do not know why you think I need to inform the creditor in person, he gets the info from the bank.

Fuchs · Post by **Fuchs** » Tue Mar 13, 2012 10:08 am

Durability is usually an (attempt at) a money sink/death penalty in MMOGs. I don't know why single-player games use it.

Doom · Post by **Doom** » Tue Mar 13, 2012 4:30 pm

Weird...I have multiple cable providers. It's neat, it seems like I pay less than my friends in monopoly areas. Past that, would only create a pointless argument.

DSMatticus · Post by **DSMatticus** » Tue Mar 13, 2012 5:25 pm

Doom wrote:Weird...I have multiple cable providers. It's neat, it seems like I pay less than my friends in monopoly areas.

It is weird that you have multiple cable providers. That puts you in 3% of all U.S. cable subscribers. And yes, I'm sure it is very nice to have competition, which is why the other 97% of us would like it.

sabs · Post by **sabs** » Tue Mar 13, 2012 5:35 pm

We either have Comcast or Verizion Fios
But FIoS.. is kind of bad for television service.

Maj · Post by **Maj** » Tue Mar 13, 2012 8:04 pm

For cable, there's Comcast here. There are lots of other companies that provide DSL, but all of them require an additional charge be paid to Qwest/Century Link for using their lines. So while they promise great rates, they end up tacking on an additional $20.

TarkisFlux · Post by **TarkisFlux** » Tue Mar 13, 2012 9:10 pm

sabs wrote:FIoS.. is kind of bad for television service.

How so? Everyone I know who has it loves it and cries when they have to move where it's not rolled out.

sabs · Post by **sabs** » Tue Mar 13, 2012 9:12 pm

their movie selection with on demand is pretty bad.
their UI sucks.

TarkisFlux · Post by **TarkisFlux** » Tue Mar 13, 2012 9:20 pm

I'll take your word about the on-demand, it's not something that matters to me. But the UI complaint... are there any TV provider UIs that aren't obtuse piles of shit?

sabs · Post by **sabs** » Tue Mar 13, 2012 9:24 pm

my 6 year old can navigate comcast.
FIOS gives him fits.

Maj · Post by **Maj** » Tue Mar 13, 2012 9:42 pm

sabs wrote:my 6 year old can navigate comcast.
FIOS gives him fits.

Supposedly, my step-sister's son racked up a very hefty Comcast bill on the porn channels when he was three-ish. Having been a cable TV customer at that time, I still fail to see how that was managed "accidentally," but it was her notch against the ease of the company's navigation.

sabs · Post by **sabs** » Wed Mar 14, 2012 3:08 am

well, if you don't have parental codes, it's pretty easy to buy movies.

Maj · Post by **Maj** » Wed Mar 14, 2012 3:23 am

More than $1000 worth?

Red Archon · Post by **Red Archon** » Wed Mar 14, 2012 8:53 am

Checks are so complicated. While using obsolete tools for financial transactions, the US should go all the way and have someone on horseback deliver gold coins between parties.