09-11-2003, 02:38 AM
Quote:Blizzard is a company that has the rare ability to cater to the mass market as well as hardcore players. That's why they do good in my opinion. If you want to see a purely money making idea, see the Sims and their 4536348957938475 expansions.
I should have taken Nico's advice about running that game under my car sooner.
Note I said, sooner.
After living with the game for about two hours, I realized all I wanted to do was to build a house to my own specifications after living in a house where the rooms constantly changed form and shape. First, I took the existing bathroom in my little Sim house, and turned it into a bedroom. I put the toilet outside. I even went wallpaper-crazy. After another hour of that, I browsed the Internet looking for patches and information.
Get this. I have to register with Maxis to get the patch. Not just the registry that comes with the game, but a special online registry that signs my email address up with every spam company in existence. Then I went surfing to try and download items and clothing and whatnot, and people charge for these things! I visited 20 sites, and 18 of them had their items for sale only. (Fortunately, 14 of those sites had "freebie" galleries made from the ugliest crap on Earth.) Hmm, let's see, pay $2 for clean blue jeans or a bit of code for a game that will allow my character to wear a hot pink bathing suit with little flamingoes on it?
Blizzard ain't the best, but it ain't the worst. At least you don't have to sell your soul for the patch.
(PS: The best way to run over a game: stuff contents back into box and back over it in reverse, not forwards. Took me a couple times to get maximum squashage.)
UPDATE: Spamblaster.