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A system and method are disclosed for handling devices that assert a wake-up signal in an improper fashion. It is observed that any wake-up signals that remain asserted as the computer system enters a low-power mode are likely produced by non-compliant cards, and to assure proper functioning of the system, it is desirable for the computer system to selectively block assertion of asserted signals from non-compliant cards. In one embodiment the computer system includes an expansion bus coupled to a bus bridge, and a signal gate. The expansion bus includes a wake-up signal that the signal gate can be configured to isolate from the bus bridge. The signal gate is preferably controlled by the power management controller. The power management controller sets the signal gate to isolate the signal from the bus bridge if the controller determines that wake-up signal is being driven in a non-standard manner. The non-compliance may be determined by: (a) detecting a transition of the computer to a reduced power state; (b) pausing for a predetermined delay; and (c) sampling the wake-up signal to identify any asserted wake-up signals. In the presence of non-compliant expansion cards, the disclosed embodiments may advantageously assure correct operation of the system with minimal additional cost.
1. A computer system that comprises:
a user input device;
a computer chassis that contains at least:
a system memory configured to store an operating system;
a central processor coupled to the memory and configured to execute the operating system;
an expansion bus that couples the user input device to the central processor; and
a bus bridge coupled to the expansion bus, wherein the bus bridge includes:
a power management controller coupled to the expansion bus and configured to receive a wake-up signal from a device resident on the expansion bus, wherein the power management controller isolates the wake-up signal from the bus bridge device if the device drives the wake-up signal in a non-compliant manner, wherein the wake-up signal is a power management event (PME#) signal, and wherein the controller isolates the PME# signal from the bus bridge if the PME# signal is low following a predetermined delay after a Power Good signal is de-asserted; and
a signal gate that couples the wake-up signal to the bus bridge, wherein the signal gate is set to a �pass� state by the controller if the PME# signal is high after a predetermined delay following the de-assertion of the Power Good signal, and wherein the signal gate is set by the controller to a �no-pass� state otherwise.
The present invention relates generally to systems having an expansion bus configured to handle expansion cards designed to different versions of the expansion bus standard. More particularly, the it relates to a technique for selectively isolating �reserved� signals from expansion cards that treat those signals incorrectly.
Generally stated, the term �power management� refers to the ability of a computer system to conserve or otherwise manage the power that it consumes. Many personal computer systems conserve energy by operating in special low-power modes when the user is not actively using the system. Although used in desktop and portable systems alike, these reduced-power modes particularly benefit laptop and notebook computers by extending the battery life of these systems. Some computer systems automatically enter low-power mode when a user has not performed a certain action within a given period of time. The computer might power down the monitor if the video display has not recently changed, for example, or may power down the hard drive if the user has not recently opened or saved any files onto the hard disk. If the computer detects a period of inactivity, the computer may enter a �deep sleep� mode in which power is completely cut off to all but a few devices within the computer. In addition, the user often can initiate the sleep mode through a menu in the operating system (OS) or by pressing a power button on the computer. Typically the memory contents are preserved so that the computer returns to the same state that it was in when the sleep mode began.
There are many ways that have been used to implement an energy-conserving reduced-power mode. Examples include hard off (power is disconnected), soft off (power is supplied only to components which monitor activity external to the system), hibernated power state (contents of memory are stored on disk and current state of computer is preserved while power consumption is reduced to a minimum level), suspend mode (all central processor activities are halted, but power to memory is maintained and dynamic RAM is refreshed), and sleep mode (the clock signal is reduced or halted to some or all of the system components during periods of inactivity). The sleep and suspend modes may each be invoked at various levels, depending on the particular implementation of these modes, and recovery from these modes is implementation specific.
Although these reduced-power modes may render the computer temporarily or partially inoperable, the user can generally restore full-power, or �wake up� the computer, at any time. For example, the computer may automatically restore video power if the user moves the mouse or presses a key on the keyboard, or might power up the hard disk if the user attempts to open or save a file. The source of the triggering activity may come from a local mechanism (i.e. a switch or sensor of any kind such as a power switch, a reset switch, a pressable key, a pressure sensor, a mouse, a joystick, a touch pad, a microphone, or a motion sensor), or the trigger source may be remote. For example, some computers have the capability to wake automatically in response to incoming phone calls detected by a modem or to wakeup messages received over a local area network (LAN). Sleep mode is often an attractive alternative to completely shutting the computer down, because the computer consumes little power during sleep mode and because waking up from sleep mode typically is much faster than rebooting the system. Also, the ability to remotely awaken a computer increases its usability and maintainability. For example, a user can remotely retrieve files even when the computer was powered down, and a system administrator can perform system maintenance after hours without needing to physically visit each computer.
Early implementations of the various power modes required the computer hardware itself to monitor user activity and determine the proper power state for each device in the computer system. These early computer systems included a read only memory (ROM) device that stored a set of instructions for the computer to follow in order to carry out power management functions. The set of instructions formed part of the Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) of the computer, which also included instructions for procedures such as accessing data on a hard or floppy disk drive and controlling the graphics display. The ROM device containing the BIOS is referred to as the �BIOS ROM�. Because hardware-based power management instructions usually are included in BIOS, such a management scheme is commonly known as �BIOS power management�. Under BIOS power management, conditions within the computer system that initiate power state transitions, such as button presses and periods of inactivity explained above, generate system management interrupt (SMI) signals to the central processing unit (CPU). Upon receiving an SMI, the CPU executes the BIOS power management instructions stored in ROM to change the power state.
More recently, the Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) specification, written collaboratively by Intel, Microsoft, and Toshiba, has introduced the concept of managing power functions using the computer' operating system software (e.g., Windows� 98 and Windows� NT). Centralizing power management within the operating system, in contrast with earlier hardware-based power management techniques, allows computer manufacturers to make simpler, less expensive hardware components that do not have to manage their own power states. Instead, these devices need only to respond to power management commands from the operating system. In general, operating system-based power management enables the computer system to implement relatively complex power management procedures that may have been difficult, if not impossible, to realize using a more decentralized, hardware-based approach. In fact, implementing power control through ACPI, instead of through traditional hardware methods, can significantly reduce the power consumption of some computer systems. Operating system-based power management also provides the user with some level of power management control.
Under ACPI, a computer system can be placed in one of six graduated reduced-power system states, which do not necessarily correspond (in functionality or in name) to the power down modes recited above. The six system power states, S0, S1, S2, S3, S4, and S5, which encompass varying levels of system activity ranging from fully operational (S0) to �soft off� (S5). Power states S1-S5 represent sleeping states, in which the computer system is neither fully operational nor completely powered off. The sleep states generally encompass varying levels of system activity (or �context�) and require different lengths of time (or �wakeup latencies�) to return to fill power. Because sleep state S5 represents the deepest sleep state, it may also be referred to equivalently as the �off� state or as the lowest-power state.
Transitioning between the system power states generally requires cooperation between the operating system and the computer hardware. The computer provides a set of ACPI registers which the operating system can access. To transition to one of the sleep modes from full-power mode (S0), the operating system stores special sleep codes into a pair of ACPI control registers. The sleep code includes a sleep enable bit and three sleep-type bits. The sleep-type bits generally identify one of the power states S1-S5. Upon detecting that the operating system has set (or �asserted�) the sleep enable bit, the computer places itself into a sleep mode as defined by the sleep-type bits.
As stated above, the operating system may direct the hardware to place itself into a sleep mode for a variety of reasons. For example, the computer hardware may provide a timer that expires after a predetermined time of inactivity within the system, prompting the operating system to place a sleep request into the sleep-type and sleep enable bits of the control register. Alternatively, the operating system may write a sleep request to the control register after detecting that the user has initiated a sleep mode through the software interface, pressed sleep button on the computer chassis, or simply closed the computer screen (e.g., on a laptop computer). When the sleep enable bit of the control register is asserted, the computer system places itself into the low-power mode indicated by the value of the sleep-type bits.
The ACPI protocol also includes a status register to enable system wakeup. The status register includes a wake status bit. The wake status bit typically is set if the user presses a wakeup button or power button on the computer. Certain devices in the computer system, such as the modem or network interface card (NIC), also may cause the wake status bit to be set in response to incoming messages (e.g., phone rings or network �wakeup� messages). When the operating system detects that the wake status bit has been set, the operating system transitions computer operation to the S0 mode.
To accommodate the evolving power management technology, the Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus specification has been revised to designate one of the previously reserved card connector pins as a Power Management Event (PME#) signal. Asserting the PME# signal (by driving it low) sets the wake status bit in the ACPI status register (in ACPI-compliant systems) or otherwise initiates the wake-up process of the computer.
Although the correct way to treat a reserved pin is to leave it as a no-connection (NC) pin, many manufacturers have grounded the reserved pins as a matter of course. With the revision to the specification, the PCI devices made by such manufacturers cause the PME# signal to be constantly asserted. In some systems, these non-compliant devices prevent the system from shutting down when the power management functions are enabled. In other systems the conflict between the shutdown and wake-up commands may cause the system to cycle between states or get caught in an intermediate state (i.e. �lock-up�).
The problems described above are at least in part addressed by a system and method for handling devices that assert a wake-up signal in an improper fashion. It is observed that any wake-up signals that remain asserted as the computer system enters a low-power mode are likely produced by non-compliant cards, and to assure proper functioning of the system, it is desirable for the computer system to selectively block assertion of asserted signals from non-compliant cards. In one embodiment the computer system includes an expansion bus coupled to a bus bridge, and a signal gate. The expansion bus includes a wake-up signal that the signal gate can be configured to isolate from the bus bridge. The signal gate is preferably controlled by the power management controller. The power management controller sets the signal gate to isolate the signal from the bus bridge if the controller determines that wake-up signal is being driven in a non-standard manner. The non-compliance may be determined by: (a) detecting a transition of the computer to a reduced power state; (b) pausing for a predetermined delay; and (c) sampling the wake-up signal to identify any asserted wake-up signals. In the presence of non-compliant expansion cards, the disclosed embodiments may advantageously assure correct operation of the system with minimal additional cost.
A better understanding of the present invention can be obtained when the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment is considered in conjunct ion with the following drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a representative computer system;
FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the representative computer system;
FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of a first embodiment of the wake-up signal gate;
FIG. 4 is a graph illustrating the method for detecting non-compliant devices;
FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram of a second embodiment of the wake-up signal gate; and
FIG. 6 is a function block diagram of a third embodiment of the wake-up signal gate.
While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the drawings and detailed description thereto are not intended to limit the invention to the particular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.
FIGS. 1 and 2 show a representative computer system 100 configured to handle non-compliant expansion cards. Computer system 100 comprises a chassis 102 connected to a display 104. A keyboard 106 or other user input device is provided to allow the user to control the computer system once it has been turned on or awakened by actuation of a power button 108. Internally, the computer 100 generally includes a central processor unit (CPU) 202, a main memory array 204, and a bridge logic device 206 coupling the CPU 202 to the main memory 204. The bridge logic device is sometimes referred to as a �North bridge� for no other reason than it often is depicted at the upper end of a computer system drawing. The North bridge 206 couples the CPU 202 and memory 204 to various peripheral devices in the system through a primary expansion bus (Bus A) such as a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus, an Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) bus, or some other suitable bus. For clarity in the ensuing discussion, it will be assumed that primary expansion bus is a PCI bus, but no such limitation to the scope of the claims is implied. Publications that describe the PCI bus include the PCI Specification, Rev. 2.2, and Power Management Specification 1.1, all published by the PCI Special Interest Group. The principles taught in these documents are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art and are herein incorporated by reference.
The North bridge logic also may provide an interface to an Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) that supports a graphics controller 208 for driving the video display 104. If the computer system 100 does not include an AGP, the graphics controller 208 may reside on the primary expansion bus.
Various peripheral devices that implement the Bus A protocol may reside on Bus A. For example, an audio card 214, a modem 216, and network interface card (NIC) 218 are shown coupled to Bus A in FIG. 2. The audio card 214 allows for the generation of sounds via speakers (not shown), the modem 216 generally allows the computer to communicate with other computers over a telephone line, an Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN), or a cable television connection, and the NIC 218 permits communication between computers over a local area network (LAN) (e.g., an Ethernet network). These components may be integrated into the motherboard or they may be plugged into expansion slots 210 that are connected to Bus A.
If other, secondary expansion buses are provided in the computer system, as is typically the case, each secondary expansion bus (Bus B) is coupled to the primary expansion bus (Bus A) by another bridge logic device 212. This bridge logic 212 is sometimes referred to as a �South bridge,� reflecting its location vis-�-vis the North bridge 206 in a typical computer system drawing. An example of such bridge logic is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,634,073, assigned to Compaq Computer Corporation. Various components that understand the bus protocol of Bus B may reside on this bus, such as hard disk controller 222, Flash ROM 224, and Super I/O controller 226. Slots 220 may also be provided for plug-in components that comply with the protocol of Bus B.
Flash ROM 224 stores the system BIOS that is executed by CPU 202 during system initialization. The Super Input/Output (Super I/O) controller 226 typically interfaces to input/output devices such as a keyboard 106, a mouse 232, a floppy disk drive 228, a parallel port, and a serial port. Super I/O controller 226 also includes a battery-backed real time clock (RTC) and configuration memory (CMOS).
South bridge 212 often includes additional logic such as an interrupt controller, timers, and a power management controller 230 (shown separately). The counter/timer may be used to track the activities of certain components such as the hard disk 222 and traffic on the primary expansion bus, and induce a sleep mode or reduced power mode after a predetermined time of inactivity. The power management controller handles the power management functions, e.g., reducing or terminating power to various system components such as the disk drives 222, 228, and blocking the clock signals that drive components such as the CPU 202 and the bridge devices 206, 212 thereby inducing a sleep mode in the expansion buses. Depending on the implementation of the power management functionality, the South bridge 212 may assert a System Management Interrupt (SMI) to cause the operating system to initiate a power mode transition or simply to alert the operating system of an impending transition. The user can trigger the power mode transition by pressing a power button 108 or a suspend switch 109.
Particular to the present invention is a signal gate 231 controlled by power management controller 230. In many systems, various devices such as modem 216 or NIC 218 can awaken the computer system 100 in response to a ring signal or a wake-up packet, for example. Upon detecting any such trigger, the device asserts a wake-up signal (such as the PME# signal on the PCI bus) to the South bridge 212. Power management controller 230 can operate the gate to prevent the assertion of the wake-up signal from reaching the South bridge and causing the South bridge to initiate a system wake-up. The signal gate 231 can be used to selectively or collectively disable the ability of wake-up enabled devices to initiate a system wake-up. This gate is particularly useful for preventing non-compliant devices from interfering with the operation of the system.
FIG. 3 illustrates the operation of one embodiment of signal gate 231. Slots 210A through 210C are coupled via the primary expansion bus to South bridge 212. One of the primary expansion bus signals is a wake-up signal that is coupled to the power management controller 230 and is coupled to the South bridge 212 via signal gate 231. The power management controller 230 controls the signal gate 231 collectively isolate the wake-up signals from devices in slots 210A through 210C if a non-compliant device is detected. One of skill in the art will recognize that there are a multitude number of ways in which the signal gate 231 can be implemented, so long as it can be set to block or pass the received signal, and it can be in effect �fixed� in a selected state that persists even when power is removed from the system.
FIG. 4 illustrates the method used by the power management controller 230 to detect a non-compliant device. Nearly all modem computer systems today have a �Power Good� signal that indicates to the various computer components when it is safe to begin operating after power is applied. The Power Good signal is asserted (high) once all the power rails in the system have stabilized at their nominal voltages. As a system is powered off or transitioned into a �deep sleep� mode, power is shut off to various portions of the system and the Power Good signal falls to ground. Those devices that are not true wake-up devices will lose power, and their output signals will fall to ground at the same time as or shortly after the Power Good signal. Thus, if a device is driving the wake-up signal in a non-compliant fashion, the wake-up signal will be become or remain low (the PME# signal is asserted when low) no later than some predetermined delay T after the Power Good signal becomes de-asserted. On the other hand, if the wake-up signal remains high, then at the very least no device is continually asserting the wake-up signal due to non-compliance with the standard.
The power management controller 230 monitors the relationship between the Power Good signal and the wake-up signal, and sets signal gate 231 to block the wake-up signal if non-compliance is detected. The signal gate 231 is non-volatile and retains its setting. In a preferred embodiment, the signal gate can be reset by the power management controller 230. The power management controller may reset the signal gate if it detects the wake-up signal is high at the predetermined delay T after the Power Good signal falls. To monitor the relationship between the signals, the power management controller 230 may simply wait for the predetermined delay after the Power Good signal falls, and then sample the wake-up signal. The power management controller then sets the signal gate 231 accordingly.
Depending on the delay T, one false wake-up event may occur before the signal gate is set appropriately. It is expected that the natural reaction of users will be to �try again� rather than seek the assistance of technical support. Since the subsequent attempt to power down will occur correctly, it is expected that this solution will be effective, and will not deprive users of the use of the non-compliant card.
While effective, the embodiment of FIG. 3 will deprive users of the correct operation of compliant wake-up devices when a non-compliant device is present in the system. The embodiment of FIG. 5 resolves this problem by providing a dedicated signal gate 231A-C for each slot 210A-C. The power management controller 230 samples each wake-up signal after the power good signal falls and sets the corresponding signal gates appropriately.
Yet another embodiment is shown in FIG. 6. Whenever the Power Good signal is low in this embodiment, the power management controller 230 constantly monitors the individual wake-up signals from the slots 210A-C and responsively generates the wake-up signal. In addition to isolating only the non-compliant wake-up signals, this implementation advantageously avoids the possibility of that first false wake-up event.
It is noted that the present invention may be used with a laptop computer, desktop system, computer workstation, server, handheld computer, or any other device having power management functions that may be inadvertently invoked by a non-compliant component. In addition to the bus architectures disclosed, the present invention may be used with other bus architectures (e.g. IEEE 1394, Universal Serial Bus (USB), IDE) as desired.
The above discussion is meant to be illustrative of the principles of the present invention. Numerous variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully appreciated. It is intended that the following claims be interpreted to embrace all such variations and modifications.
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Thursday night's game in Boston was certainly not for the faint of heart. The Boston Bruins dropped game one of their Eastern Conference Semi-Final series against the Montreal Canadiens in double overtime, 4-3.
From the third period on, the Bruins dominated the ice and were able to move the puck with seamless effort. Boston was down 2-0 heading into that period, and wound up tying the game twice, after Montreal scored another go-ahead goal later in the period.
Overtime in playoff hockey can be pretty stressful to watch, especially if you are emotionally invested in one of the teams playing, but die-hard fans live for this time of year. No shootouts, both teams will skate until the back of the net is found one more time.
On this particular night, it took 64 minutes and 17 seconds of overtime before a player was able to score. It would be P.K. Subban of the Canadiens on a power play blast from the blue line that sealed the deal.
"I got the puck in the slot, Marky [Markov] made a good pass. Let's be honest, faceoffs are key. When you win a big faceoff like that – I think it was Davey [Desharnais] who won it. He was great all game" said Subban following his game-winner.
The Canadiens had their second power play in overtime as a result of Matt Bartkowski getting called for a holding penalty. It was the right call, and Matt was feeling down about it following the result:
"I'm not going to comment on whether or not it was a penalty. The result sucks, afterwards. So, I think it could have been prevented before the call was made."
The Canadiens won the faceoff in the Bruins' zone, and Subban had a chance to make a quick shot on net. On the penalty kill, there's not a whole lot you can do to prevent a fast shot right off the faceoff, either make a block or hope that you're goaltender gets a good look at it. Tuukka Rask had made some key save during overtime to keep the Bruins in it, but the B's goalie was not too impressed with his overall performance:
"I don't know. We played overall a good five-on-five—pretty much dominated, had a lot of chances, couldn't score. But I was [expletive] today. Got to be better."
One fact remains, it's only one game. The good thing about the Stanley Cup Playoffs is the chance to redeem yourself. The Bruins may have played a good game overall, but you can't expect to win a series when you're not finishing on the chances they were getting at key moments in the game.
The Bruins will get their chance to redeem themselves on Saturday afternoon, as they host the Canadiens for game two at 12:30.
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subset: commoncrawl


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Find the names of everyone who completed the 2014 Challenge and view a video starring these ABC3 hosts.
Read the Premier's closing message for the 2014 Premiers' Reading Challenge
Learn more about our loveable mascot Lachlan and discover some fun activities the whole class can enjoy.
Watch this super cute video of our Challenge mascot Lachlan the Reading Dog listening to stories at Diamond Valley Library.
To join us on Facebook, see: Victorian Premiers' Reading Challenge Facebook
Email: email@example.com: (03) 9637 3624


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Yes, that's correct — right NOW you will gain instant download access (link to website given inside the book) to 21 additional great books (erotica and romance, 10 of them not available for purchase anywhere) so with the purchase of this book you will actually get 22 Books for the Price of One — with plenty more to come! (The number of downloadable free books has risen since publication, hence the lower figure quoted inside the book.) (Update 05 March 2013, due to an incorrect review the link to the free books has been double-checked and it DOES indeed work. Also, the small mistake with an incorrect character name at one place has been corrected.) "Lifting his mouth from hers, he leaned over to taste the pinkness of her nipples, moving his tongue around the hardened tip thereof, licking and nibbling on it until he could feel her body quivering with desire." - Book Synopsis - James Benet has been involved with the love of his life, Alicia Stanford, for the last 5 years. He has never been more in love and would do anything to keep his woman happy. Though a dark cloud hangs over their happiness as Alicia has started losing interest in the relationship, become too stagnated, feeling as if her sexual needs was no longer met. Her eyes started wandering around and started flirting with a new guy at her place of work. James finds out about this through a friend and becomes determined to save their relationship. Thinking back on how their relationship used to be, he starts working out a foolproof plan to seduce her and recapture her attention. 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Trick or treat or trash your house
Halloween is approaching again — one of my most and least favorite holidays. But before we go further, let me make one thing clear: no matter what your teenager says he or she did on Halloween, they're lying.
I'm not trying to cast aspersions on your particular kid but after nearly four decades in a very Halloween-centric neighborhood (we get around 400 Trick or Treaters every year), I can attest that this is a night when kids who would normally never commit major vandalism are happily sucked into the vortex of group stupidity.
The first part of the Halloween evening is always pure fun: non-stop gremlins, princesses, and whoever the iconic figure of the moment is. We just stand on the front porch shoveling candy into pillow cases and plastic pumpkins as fast as we can and basically trying to act as traffic cops as one horde moves out and another moves in.
A friend who didn't grow up in the U.S. visited us one year and asked why I wasn't spending more time chatting up the kids' costumes with them. Well, for one, you can't really do that if you're servicing 20 kids a minute. But more importantly, I told him, he needs to understand that from an American kid's point of view, Halloween is a business: maximum candy accrued in minimum time. More talk, less candy.
Inga: "Great Red Ranger Samurai costume!"
Kid: (already half way down the steps): "Whatever."
But after 8 p.m., the fun stops when the little kids go home and the teenagers come out. The police would usually get called to our block at least six times when the egg and paint and shaving cream wars got out of control. Finally the police got the message and just moved in en masse at 5 p.m. and set up a counter-offensive.
Seriously, we've had such a major police presence in our neighborhood on Halloween for the last several years that if Mitt Romney drove by on the way to his La Jolla digs, he'd wonder why he doesn't get that kind of attention.
But in the 30-some years before that, it was pretty insane.
One year, a group of local teens thought it would be wildly good fun to break into a neighbor's house being remodeled and spray paint the new custom kitchen cabinets with black graffiti. Vandalizing cars, knocking over brick retaining walls, dumping trash cans out into the street, and breaking the occasional car window were all part of the merriment.
Another year the police barely saved the lives of five high schoolers who were being beaten to a pulp by a bunch of drunk college kids who caught them defacing their cars. And yet another year, some irate teens retaliated against some egg-throwing counterparts by using two-by-fours to smash in the windshield of the pelters' car — with them in it. But hey, it's Halloween! It's just kids being vandals, er, kids!
The police would invariably round up a group of miscreants, some of whom I would recognize since they were either neighborhood kids or classmates of my sons. (And let me make no insinuations that my kids were saints.) The officer would admonish the assembled reprobates that if he saw them again that evening, they were going to the substation. I guess you can't blame the police for not wanting to do the paperwork. But the second the police were gone, the barbarian invasions began anew.


text:
The semi-automatic FN SCAR 17S, which chambers 7.62x51mm NATO, was supposed to be on sale this year, but FN-USA have announced that it won't go on sale until 2010 …
Released for 2010 is the highly anticipated SCAR 17S now available for civilian purchase. Chambered in 7.62x51mm NATO (308 Win.) and slightly heavier than the SCAR 16S, this unique carbine offers long-range accuracy, exceptional reliability and match winning versatility.
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Win the new Springfield Armory XD-9 Mod.2 TFB's first ever gun giveaway.


text:
In my group of friends/family, I'm usually the go-to guy for anything that people deem tech-related, from cell phones to the Internet. When people ask me for help, I try to explain things and empower them, but I don't always get the impression that they understand the fundamental issues at play or even care to find out once they are able to get the device to do what they want it to (or in one-time cases like setting up a network, once I do it for them). At that point, no clever analogy or metaphor is going to educate them.
The problem with this is that when their network has "limited or no connectivity" or Windows doesn't boot, they need me to help them again.
Luckily for me, being a programmer, this sort of thing isn't my job, but I was wondering how you sysadmins and IT professionals deal with the tricky issue of explaining things to laypeople.


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You are in... Forums > Discuss This > MotoGP > Andrea Dovizioso: Ducati going nowhere without understeer solution
Matthew Birt says:
It blunted Casey Stoner's blistering speed, shattered Valentino Rossi's confidence, and now Ducati's long-standing understeer issue is the bane of Andrea Dovizioso's life.
Huge pre-race optimism that Dovizioso could spring a surprise in last night's season opening MotoGP clash in Qatar failed to materialise as the Italian struggled with understeer and excessive rear tyre wear.
He'd started fourth after qualifying just 0.009s...
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May 09
Posts: 270
JustBe says:
Dovi sucks, been in Moto GP for years and years now and has gone nowhere. He'll never be a match for Lorenzo, Ped or Marc and even the aging Rossi.
Jul 10
Posts: 1394
carcleanerboy says:
Your very brave chipping at others for their inaccurate prodictions but what of yours? hahahha BE A MAN AND TAKE THE BET YOU COWARD, DONT HIDE. if you believe the crap you have posted, man up and stand by it.This isnt going away. Every round it will be here. Others have earnt respect by admitting they got it wrong. Do you have the balls???
Apr 09
Posts: 478
1986vfr750 says:
Just read bbc report and crutchlow quote..." I should have finished 2nd if i could have passed the hondas"...im really trying to like the guy but really? You dont deserve 2nd; you take it...just ask rossi. He also went on to say that he could have stayed with lorenzo"a long time" if he had of gotten away with him...wow. Ya didnt pass the hondas or get away with lorenzo now did you? You finished exactly where you should have...a resectable 5th. Cal is no alien and he is not a factory rider nor does he deserve to be. Another stupid comment was lorenzo could win on cals bike but not rossi. Rossi gave him a lesson in racecraft in quatar...closing down a 4 second gap and passing on the brakes...cal foolishly thought he could outbrake rossi into turn 1...silly boy. And as for anyone pointing out a speed difference; its negligable compared to 07....and all the rossi haters pretended it was nothing then so yall cant use it as an excuse now. Crutchlow is a good rider who feels he should share the limelight with the aliens...he will never be an alien and his backhanded, continuous insults to rossi are going to bite him in the ass...rossi on a shit bike with cal on a great bike is much different than rossi and cal on great bikes...the gulf in their abilities are now seen in the proper perspective
Apr 11
Posts: 3615
Bultoboy says:
you're becoming predictably biased with every comment now emphasising the greatness of Rossi and denigrating the rest.
The difference between Crutchlow and the 4 works riders is neglible, not the gulf you claim. In case you hadn't noticed he was on the same pace as two Repsol Hondas until he ran wide. He was way ahead of the two satellite Hondas, one of which is factory spec. Rossi didn't pass him on the brakes, he was already past him before they went onto the brakes. I don't know what Crutchlow was trying to in the moments that followed that but it sure didn't look like he was trying to take him back, not with the line he was on. He made a mistake - did you miss the mistake Rossi made on lap 2 when he could have taken himself, Dovi and Pedrosa out with him. I guess that's ok because it was an example of his racecraft, not a desperate lunge from someone who was likely spewing inside his helmet as he'd just lost a place to a Ducati of all things.
After that Rossi rode an excellent race but to denigrate the other riders in the manner you and others do is just ignorance and another example of the cheaper side of Rossi fans who can't accept anyone can be his equal or better.
Crutchlow has done a fantastic job so far on the Tech3 bike and is a whisker away from podiums. Yes, he can act like a tit at times and I wish he'd control his mouth, shut up for a while and just get his head down and work on passing the faster bikes in front of him. But to say there is a gulf between him and the factory riders is typical of ungracious Rossi fan diatribe.
Rossi passed cal on the straight...then cal tried to outbrake him into turn one ane got schooled...rossis "mistake" was that he was too awesome and was about to pass dovi and pedrosa...he wasnt expected to pass pedrosa and so unselfishly and with great skill avoided pedrosa by standing the bike up...a selfless act that took great skill...he actually touched pedrosas tire with his brake protector....he would have been chasing lorenzo but for that. Cal is a good rider not a great rider...he is fast over 1 lap not the race...dani was slow, marquz was carefull, cal was on the absolute limit; rossi closed down a 4 second gap and blew by all three. Those are the facts. I will try in future though to not harp so much on rossis greatness, but come on...its been a hard 2 years and there is much to be excited about. Cheers, mate i do enjoy your posts...i am a rossi fan but also a racing fan
Apr 13
Posts: 193
BennytheRev says:
... is a monster - you can't really blame anyone for getting it wrong at some point, particularly on full fuel load. The bikes fly towards the corner at well over 210 mph, before slamming on the Brembo's to slow down to less than 70 mph taking just 5 seconds to scrub-off more than 140 mph - it's just like hitting a brick wall (or a Repsol Honda if your name is Rossi). Oh dear.
[This Reply has been modified by the Author]
Jan 12
Posts: 1935
doohanfan says:
if Cal could have finished second by passing the Hondas he should have passed them then, which Valentino managed to do.I am trying to stay away from the 2007 thing, but arguably it cuts both ways; it does seem strange for some who are happy to attribute the 2007 championship to bike advantage to be aghast at the suggestion that a satellite Yamaha might be inferior to a factory Yamaha. I agree if there is a difference it is likely not to be much at this time of year though, and somehow doubt Cal would have beaten Valentino or Jorge if he had swapped bikes with them.One thing I have never disputed is that a straightline advantage is much easier to employ for passing than a cornering/braking advantage is, the latter something (at the risk of being accused of sneakiness) at which Rossi is obviously masterful but Cal less so. If Cal wants to prosper on a yamaha he will need to address that, since this is where any yamaha advantage either at a particular track or in general is going to lie. Either that or look for a factory honda ride.
I'll revise my earlier comment, which you've just confirmed with your latest comment, not only are you becoming predictably biased you're becoming increasingly ridiculous
then cal tried to outbrake him into turn one ane got schooled...rossis "mistake" was that he was too awesome and was about to pass dovi and pedrosa...he wasnt expected to pass pedrosa and so unselfishly and with great skill avoided pedrosa by standing the bike up...a selfless act that took great skill..
What sort of garbage is that? Rossi makes a mistake and he's called "awseome" for making it - what would be called a novice error should anyone else have done it. Crutchlow tried to outbrake Rossi (your opinion) and got "schooled". Rossi tried to outbrake Dovi but didn't get "schooled" he was "awseome" - for nearly ending another rider's race.
And from the camera shots I saw you don't actually see what Crutchlow was trying to do. So unless you saw a different angle and clearly see he tried to outbrake Rossi, it's just your opinion, not a fact.
And your opinion is becoming increasingly skewed. Get off your yellow soapbox.
Jan 13
Posts: 204
DogBert says:
Thought I heard on Eurosport that Jorge had looked at Cal's telemetry, and had said how amazing he was on the brakes.
But I guess doing it in practice and qualifying is a fair bit easier than when you are in the heat of battle. If he's letting all his vocal complaints run through his head while racing, it's not a surprise the odd mistake creeps in.
Jul 11
Posts: 1918
CHRainmaker says:
..he was pushed a little wide by Rossi into turn one, he was on the paint and couldn't brake as hard as he would have liked and ran on. It was a mistake, but they all make them! Keep your knickers on girls, this is racing...
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A Decade in Post-Cataclysm Norrath November 11, 2014Posted by Wilhelm Arcturus in entertainment, EverQuest II.
Tags: Altar of Malice, Because SOE, Meaningless Milestones, MMO Expansions, MMO Nostalgia
4 comments
We are in the midst of a few different EverQuest II moments, and I am going to mash them together into one post as they are all mildly related.
The first is that today EverQuest II is launching a new expansion, the Altar of Malice.
The expansion is only launching for All Access subscribers. You can literally buy the expansion but be unable to play it until November 25th while subscribers can play today. This seems at best a transparent "subscribe dammit!" move and at worst just dumb, another round of SOE being SOE. But what are you going to do? I suspect that there is considerable overlap between people invested enough in the game to buy the expansion and subscribers, so this will probably just annoy a few corner cases.
The expansion is either the 10th or the 14th… or maybe the 11th… EverQuest II expansion. At this point I am not sure how to count the three adventure packs… Bloodline Chronicles felt tiny, the Splitpaw Saga was huge, while Fallen Dynasty was just strange… and then there was the expansion (but not really an expansion) that was the so-called Age of Discovery.
Anyway, over the years SOE has kept EQII alive and expanding, and the Altar of Malice expansion builds on all of that with its feature list (and patch notes), including a boost in the level cap to 100. It is landing at that number as a level cap just two days before World of Warcraft hits the same number. Say what you will about SOE and its game, but they have kept it evolving over the years. Not always in directions in which I have approved, but not everything has to be about me.
So congrats to SOE and the EverQuest II team for keeping it going for however many expansions we're talking about.
Ignore those smug bastards on the EverQuest team (who also pushed an expansion today) when they start in on however many expansions they have shipped.
The second is the 10 year anniversary of the launch of EverQuest II. That was either November 4th or November 9th, depending on which source I look at. Did SOE do a head start or something? Anyway, it has been a decade at this point.
A decade in and launching a new expansion! That is getting along in gaming years. There have been a lot of games that have come and gone while things have been cranking along in Norrath, both new and old.
The third item, which rambles on, is after the cut.
SOE Live – The Norrathian Front August 19, 2014Posted by Wilhelm Arcturus in entertainment, EverQuest, EverQuest II, EverQuest Next, Sony Online Entertainment.
Tags: Altar of Malice, Because SOE, SOE Live, The Darkened Sea
11 comments
SOE Live went off this past weekend in Las Vegas and, in my typical hope in the face of reality sort of way, I tuned in to watch several of the live streams with the idea that SOE might have some magic potion that would tempt me back to one of their games… or would tell me something about the one I was looking forward to.
So the keynotes for EverQuest, EverQuest II, and EverQuest Next were on my list, as well as a couple of the follow up panels and the main keynote. Norrath is clearly what draws me to SOE.
However, the one thing I did not do was take notes while watching the streams. Why would I? Any normal company doing big announcements for various products which they had been working on for weeks, and which obviously had time to get press briefing packs complete with graphics and what not together, surely would have all of that information posted on their web site shortly after the respective keynotes. Right? I mean Blizzard had everything from their Thursday morning live stream up for the world to see on their main page by early afternoon the same day. SOE had all the information together. It should have been tee'd up so that after each keynote, somebody pressed a button to update the respective site so that all of your user facing media is delivering the same message.
But no, this is SOE.
As of my writing this, there is none of the information from SOE Live on the respective sites or forums as though none of this had happened. So I had to thrash around looking for what other people wrote to get details that I would have written down had I not forgotten yet again how SOE runs their railroad.
EverQuest – A Return to Pirates
The EverQuest announcement focused on the upcoming expansion, as one would expect. This time around SOE is returning to the nautical theme last visited with The Buried Sea expansion. This time it is The Darkened Sea, which will launch on October 26 for All Access Pass members and on November 11 for the unwashed free to play masses.
The level cap goes up from 100 to 105 with this expansion. There are more zones, access to the bazaar from outside of the bazaar, and a few other goodies. As essentially an outsider to EverQuest content after… well… The Planes of Power really, though I have gone back for a couple of runs since… it is tough to find something to get excited about here. Even Bhagpuss seems relatively calm in his words, tucked in at the end of a long post about SOE Live. EverQuest is catering to the installed base, we have long known that. But even then, I don't recall The Buried Sea being a fan favorite back in the day. The blog review of it over at the past version of Mobhunter, when Loral was writing it (internet archive for the win, I miss Loral) seemed to be lukewarm at best.
But there it is.
EverQuest II – And Malice Towards None
Is EverQuest II the current standard bearer for Norrath? I cannot tell if it is more popular than EverQuest or not.
Anyway, there was a small disturbance in the community force a few weeks back as the EQII forum dwellers started getting a bit testy about SOE's trend towards social media and streaming and what not, to the point that information that would normally be in the forums first was falling all over the place. I have long complained that SOE has favored their forums and used them as their primary method of information distribution as opposed to the web site they allegedly maintain for that purpose, and which is the first point of contact for any new player. But at least with their forum bias they were concentrating in one spot, so at a minimum I knew I had to dive into the forums if I wanted current information. Now I am not sure where to find things.
Or I wouldn't be if it wasn't for Feldon over at EQ2 Wire. He keeps on top of that game like no other. So it was a bit disappointing to see that SOE left him off the list of sites to be fed information in advance of Altar of Malice expansion announcement at SOE Live. The embargo on that news dropped five hours before the EverQuest II keynote, so anybody paying attention knew all the details before the presentation.
So, yes, a new expansion, the Altar of Malice.
The expansion brings in a new race… the Aerakyn, another one with built-in wings that can fly, though unlike that vampire race from a few years back, you won't have to pay $80 to unlock all of its abilities… new dungeons, new raids, new overland zones, and a boost to 100 for most flavors of levels. (adventure, trade skill, guild)
The interesting bit for me are the level agnostic dungeons. These run from level 20 to 89 and are suppose to make the process of leveling up to the more recent content… and the main mass of the player base… more fulfilling or some such. I think the phrase was "not wasted." Currently, with the the state of abilities, both alternate advancement related and otherwise, jumping up through the first 60 or so levels tends to be challenging mostly in the form of figuring out what some of the outdated quest text really means. So I gather that this is suppose to be more of a challenge so as to make game play fun.
Sounds good to me. A pity that our past run in with EverQuest II with the instance group ended up with it on the banned list, as that sounds kind of like what we needed back then.
And, on the sea theme from EverQuest, there are also some islands involved, including the long lost Isle of Refuge, where we all used to start back in the day via the shipwrecked survivor video game trope. There is also an island with dinosaurs.
Then there are all the other details. Rabbit mounts. A revamp of the extraneous deity system. Another rank or two for spell/skill quality. And a cross-server dungeon finder. I am curious as to how dungeon finder works for EverQuest II, though not curious enough to actually go ruin somebody elses' day by logging in a queuing up myself.
This all goes live on November 11, which is going to make for a busy week. The EverQuest expansion above goes live for everybody that same day and just two days later, Warlords of Draenor launches. (And then Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire come out less than two weeks after that. Where will I find the time?)
As noted, all the details, live blog of the keynote, slides from the game mechanics presentation, and more are over at EQ2 Wire. Check it out.
EverQuest Next – Dark Elf Disco
EverQuest Next is where my hopes truly lie. The idea that SOE could miracle their way into something that would tempt me back to the two remaining members of the Norrathian franchise (out of what, a dozen total EverQuest games according to Georgeons?) has always been a forlorn hope.
But EverQuest Next is the future. The lack of news on that front has banked the flames of passion for that title, they remain aglow, waiting for the day when we get something tangible. This was the keynote to which I paid the most attention, and which was both the most interesting and the least satisfying at the same time.
We got a look at some architecture, especially some of the dark elf stuff in its moody, pointed glory, some of which came from the fan base via Landmark. SOE's crowdsourcing/exploitation pays off. They also showed some examples of the dark elf character models. Dark elves are apparently the most popular race in both EverQuest and EverQuest II at this point, so it is important to get them right. (Screen grabs from the stream.)
The art all looked very good and very much made me want to go there… wherever "there" was… and explore.
Then the devs introduced the wizard, warrior, and cleric classes and went through some combat situations with them. This was by far the most impressive bit. Each was a quick run through of some combat encounters, followed by a step by step replay where he described what was going on at each point. The combat looked fluid and dynamic and exciting. Various moves flashed or blurred or exploded in very satisfying ways and there were no little damage numbers popping up, which helped with the visceral feel of the combat. The little kid inside of me was shouting, "Oooh! Oooh! Let me try that! I want to do that!"
I recommend watching the replay of the keynote, which is available on YouTube. The combat segment picks up at about the 29 minute mark and runs for about 20 minutes.
Of course, the downside to all of this was that there is no date in sight for EverQuest Next. Speculation is that a launch is at least two years away. Certainly they have to get all of Landmark nailed down first, as it represents the foundation on which EverQuest Next will be built. So until Landmark is solid and stable and fully featured and live there can be no EverQuest Next.
David Georgeson invited us all to go read the ebooks that are being used to build up the lore for the game to tide us over… which I was honestly tempted to do after the combat stuff… but publicly SOE still seems most focused on Landmark and likely will remain so for some time.
Return to Norrath?
So while I found bits and pieces of all of the presentations interesting, is there anything that would make me focus on EverQuest or EverQuest II as my primary game?
Probably not.
I am in the odd duck position of having been away too long for both titles at this point, so the new stuff being piled on top of the level curve is so far away as to be effectively unreachable given my reserve of patience, but the old stuff I would have to work through… well, it didn't interested me enough when it was new stuff to work through it. The 20-89 level agnostic dungeons in EverQuest II are interesting, though I probably wouldn't bother with them until level 40 or so, as the 1-40 game is the heart of my nostalgia for the game.
But who knows.
With the autumn I always seem to be hit with a bout of video game nostalgia. Maybe I will heed Norrath's call yet again? Though unless Warlords of Draenor slips, it seems unlikely.
How about you? Is Norrath in your future?
Landmark and the Price of a Badly Defined Beta July 28, 2014Posted by Wilhelm Arcturus in entertainment, EverQuest Next.
Tags: Because SOE, Landmark
10 comments
There has been an argument over what "beta" means when it comes to software for as long as I have been part of the industry, which is pushing on 25 years now.
The baseline definition for me has always been that your software is feature complete and you feel it is ready to ship, but now you are going to take some time to get people outside the development group to look at things. This can be surprisingly important and an eye opening experience, as when you have worked with a piece of software for months at a stretch, your brain becomes adjusted to the way it works. You stop seeing the flaws and you become invested in the project vision.
And then you hand it to some fresh eyes who will, often almost immediately, tell if what you have been slaving over makes a lick of sense. It can be a sobering moment when somebody, after five minutes with your product, makes a suggestion for a fundamental change that, upon reflection, seems obvious. Plus they tend to catch all those quirks that the team has simply learned to work around to the point of developing a blind spot, those bugs that "everybody" knows about yet somehow never quite made it to the bug tracking database.
That is the idea in my book. I have fought for that ideal now and then. But I have been through the wringer enough times to know that fight can be futile. So I have been through internal betas (where we learn how little the rest of the company cares) schedule betas (the schedule says we're beta as of today so we are) political betas (we're going beta today because if we don't, somebody in senior management will look bad) survival betas (we're going beta because if we don't they'll cancel the project and lay us all off) and the occasional investor beta (I gave your company money so install your product on my son's laptop… and put more RAM in there as well… I don't care, strip your lab machines if you have to).
But in all of that there is still a certain level feature availability before we hand the software over to fresh eyes, if for no other reason that a fresh perspective is a perishable commodity and you don't want to waste it on things you should have caught yourself. Once people have been in your beta a bit they will become fixated on things that are important to them and tend to not notice anything else. Long betas introduce beta fatigue, as I am going to guess SOE is finding out with Landmark.
Landmark was in alpha for a stretch and then went into "closed beta" a few months back, which meant "paid beta" so far as I could tell. I was invited in for a couple of seven day runs at the product and, as the joke goes, there wasn't much "there" there. I suspect that SOE is feeling interest wain as the software goes on and on with small but important changes but no real end in sight. So while they
fleeced convinced some people to pay money to get into the software early, I am going to guess that even the most hard core fan has some limit and really need more people online and active to test.
Which is why I suspect we got this sale today over at Steam.
Yes, Landmark has been marked down to Steam Summer Sale levels of discount. That is the basic Settler Pack, but the other tiers are available too, including upgrades if you are already invested.
I was a tad miffed that people were getting Planetary Annihilation for three bucks less than my Kickstarter pledge back during the Steam Summer Sale. How would I feel if I was in for a hundred for the top tier Trailblazer Pack and then, still during closed beta, they offered up the same deal for $33.99? I wonder if any of those early adopters will pipe up?
And given the caveats, I am not sure that $33.99 is a good deal from where I sit. The warning on Steam as part of their Early Access disclaimer:
ATTENTION: Landmark is in Closed Beta. That means we are still adding core feature sets and that updates are happening weekly. Everything in the game is currently subject to change, which includes the possibility of wipes.
Please make sure to read the Landmark Blueprint, which provides a list of planned feature updates and timing estimates.
We are using an Open Development process to create this game, which means that you are encouraged to interact directly with the development team via the Steam Community, Twitter, Reddit, Twitch and our Forums. If you are interested in helping to create a game from the ground up, Landmark offers that opportunity.
For more information on the Landmark development process, click here.
The Landmark blueprint forum thread shows a list of features and says that they will be unveiling some new things at SOE Live in a couple of weeks. But there is a long list of features, including almost everything that might turn Landmark into a game as opposed to a wanna-be Minecraft prototype, waiting to be implemented. (But they got the Station Cash store running muy pronto!) There is certainly no obvious "okay, it is worth my time" point on their blueprint as yet.
While I am sure that for the devs actually working on the project, these changes are coming as fast as they can manage them, from the outside the pace can feel very different. If you've been playing around with Landmark for six months or more at this point there is probably a good chance that your interest has faded somewhat, or that your focus has narrowed to a few things. There certainly haven't been a lot of blog posts about Landmark lately, and bloggers as a group tend to be more enthusiastic about their games than the average play. SOE has gotten a mention here and there due to handing out seven day passes, but people who were on fire early on have been pretty quiet these days.
So, while I am not ready to claim that Landmark is DOA, it could be easily inferred that SOE needs some more people actually coming in to play, to start from scratch, to get involved, and to be enthusiastic about the game. And for just under seven bucks I am slightly tempted. But there still doesn't seem to be enough there yet, and the game is going to be free to play eventually anyway. So I will probably pass.
SOE has a chance to revive interest at SOE Live, though that can be a double edged sword as well. They got a lot of people interested in EverQuest Next at the last SOE Live but haven't said much about it since, and SOE has something of a history of sporadically building up enthusiasm with their customer base only to go silent for long stretches.
If It Can Go Wrong, It Will Go Wrong… At SOE July 15, 2014Posted by Wilhelm Arcturus in entertainment, EverQuest, Sony Online Entertainment.
Tags: Because SOE
8 comments
I was actually trying to get to the EverQuest forums this morning. There was a rumor going around about the Fippy Darkpaw Progression Server. It was possible that one of the raiding guilds was going to down-vote the unlock of the next expansion, Underfoot, because they wanted a couple more weeks to farm gear from the current expansion live on the server, Seeds of Destruction. There hasn't been a down vote since the Gates of Discord fiasco back in mid-2012, when that expansion was voted down three times running before finally going live in June.
Pure rumor, with likely nothing behind it, but it is so rare to hear anything about the server that I thought I would follow it up and see it anybody mentioned on the results on forums. Only I couldn't get to the forums.
Sony Online Entertainment appeared to be down.
A quick run through the usual sources turned up a post by the ever vigilant Feldon at EQ2 Wire, who noted that SOE had somehow forgotten to renew one of its underlying domains, sonyonline.net, and that, after a considerable grace period, fell off the internet. Since SOE uses that domain for its own name resolution for its sites and games, that pretty much kicked the company offline.
It is Tuesday, we were expecting downtime in any case, right?
Word is that SOE has reclaimed the domain and that it should be propagating across the net even as we speak. If you are in a hurry to get to an SOE site, Feldon has some tips over at EQ2 Wire on how to speed things up.
The question remains though, how did this happen? The rumor is that the email address receiving such notices from Network Solutions had gone unattended. That is speculation, of course, but I have enough experience to know that if you lay enough people off, something important like that will get missed. And, hey presto, your domain resolves to a site offering EverQuest and WoW gold!
Interesting that EverQuest gold (which should be platinum) is still a thing. I thought inflation, F2P, and general old age issues had killed the currency market for EQ.
Anyway, not exactly in the same league as the 12+ days of downtime SOE experienced back in 2011, but it is still an SOE thing.
Addendum: Smed speaks
I want to give him the benefit of the doubt, but who gave Network Solutions the "wrong email?"
Addendum: TechDirt sums it all up.
You Don't Have ProSiebenSat.1 to Kick Around Anymore June 18, 2014Posted by Wilhelm Arcturus in entertainment, EverQuest II, Sony Online Entertainment.
Tags: Because SOE, ProSiebenSat.1
7 comments
Well, that de-escalated quickly.
Sony Online Entertainment announced today that European players of DC Universe Online, PlanetSide 2, and EverQuest II will have their accounts merged back into the SOE fold and become direct customer of SOE, which is what they were two years ago when this whole PR disaster started. (The sordid history is over at EQ2 Wire.)
Since those three titles do not represent all of SOE's games, I am not sure what this means to European EverQuest players (Did that ever get migrated? It was promised/threatened at one point.) but it seems to be a move in the right direction.
Never a popular proposition, the whole thing was summed up early on by a cartoon that depicted SOE selling off their European customers, represented by a protesting child, to a dubious looking man in a van. A child molester as the metaphor for your plans is never a good thing. Once that image took hold, there was probably no hope of a happy ending.
There is, of course, a FAQ about the transition up on the SOE forums. The official cut off between the two is July 1, but it appears that the two year old region locking has been turned off as of today players can now play on any server they so desire. The rest of it… changing launchers, updating accounts, conversion of SevenCash to StationCash, and the "you know it is going to happen" complaint from somebody who prefers ProSiebenSat.1 to SOE.. will transition over the coming weeks. Read the FAQ for a vague guess at how this will roll out.
Anyway, put this on the list with the NGE and the Station Launcher as another SOE scheme that did not quite work out as planned.
Authenticators… Are They Still a Thing? June 2, 2014Posted by Wilhelm Arcturus in entertainment, World of Warcraft.
Tags: Because SOE, Blizzard Authenticator, EA, SOE Authenticator, SWTOR Authenticator
31 comments
In which I demonstrate I am clearly running out of things to write about.
There was a point in time, a few years back, when account authenticators were very much a thing. Back when WoW accounts seemed to be getting hacked almost constantly and people were even phishing for EverQuest II account data, authenticators were news. I, my daughter, and my mother all have authenticator fobs for our respective WoW accounts.
I also have an authenticator fobs for SOE games, although I stopped using it. Blizzard managed to streamline the authenticator process, requiring it only weekly so long as my IP address/login computer doesn't change. SOE's "append your token to the end of your password" method, which was always a bit awkward, is also resistant to any streamlining. (And they show a freakin' SOE mini-splash screen for two seconds when you hit the button? WTF?) So I decided a long password would suffice for them Plus, who steals SOE accounts these days? Is there any money in that?
Other companies offered them as well. Square Enix had them for their Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy XIV MMOs. EA offered up an authenticator fob for Star Wars: The Old Republic as part of the collector's edition.
If I recall right, CCP even gave out an authenticator fob, or at least talked about one, for EVE Online at FanFest a couple years back, though they have not to my knowledge, implemented multi-factor authentication with it so far… which seems odd, given the meta game there.
All of these are branded versions of the VASCO Digipass Go 6 device. The trend seemed to be to go that route, no doubt because VASCO has a package that made integration manageable and ability to supply a company like Blizzard, which has millions of customer accounts. This also allowed companies to go with a "mobile authenticator" option, giving players access to authenticator functionality on their smart phones. Some companies, such as Trion, have opted to go solely with such an options. Others, like SOE, only have the authenticator fob option, but promise to get smart phone functionality in the near future. (But not soon. We know what SOE means when they say "Soon™".)
Not that the SOE approach bothers me. I do not actually own a smart phone, and while I have an iPad, it tends to be a device I only use when away from my computer. So the authenticator fob works out well for me. It is a small, single purpose device that sits right where I need it, next to my keyboard.
But, aside from SOE and Blizzard, not many companies seem to be pursuing the who authenticator fob idea. Square Enix was perpetually out of st0ck on fobs, while I am not even sure you could buy one independently from EA. And even Blizzard seems to go hot and cold on the idea. For a while they were giving them away if you knew where to look, while at other times they haven't been available for love or money. That was most recently the case when they split the Blizzard Store into the Battle.net Shop and the Gear Store. (Hint: It is in the Gear Store.)
Then again, WoW is the only game where accounts getting hacked seemed to reach epidemic proportions, with nearly everybody in our little guild who didn't have an authenticator having their account hacked or otherwise compromised at one point a couple of years back. So I am not sure I really need to bother with an authenticator for other games. Somebody tried to access my GuildWars 2 account last month… I got three email messages that were in response to a request for a password reset… but there isn't anything there to steal. I am not sure I would even notice if somebody got in and did something. But I changed the password on that email account ahead of schedule, just in case.
So where do people stand on the whole authenticator thing these days? I wouldn't remove mine from my WoW account given past history, and I might like the option for EVE Online, given its meta-game tone. But I feel comfortable enough with decent, unique passwords on other accounts.
How about you and authenticators, fob or mobile based?
H1Z1… Because… Zombies? April 10, 2014Posted by Wilhelm Arcturus in entertainment, Sony Online Entertainment.
Tags: Because SOE, H1Z1, PlanetSide 2, Zombie Apocalypse
7 comments
SOE has announced their previously hinted at zombie apocalypse (I get a twofer on that word today, because lasers) horror survival "dedicated to Star Wars Galaxies players" game yesterday.
I think it is just that sort of dedication that brought about the NGE, no? I guess if SOE can figure out that Landmark isn't an EverQuest game, maybe they can eventually sort out who H1Z1 is really for as well.
So far all we have for official word is a web site with a moonrise, some spooky music, and a link to the H1Z1 subreddit, Smed's current favorite venue. I guess Reddit is the demographic he wants to reach.
The H1Z1 subreddit has a "what we have learned so far" thread that attempts to summarize what is known. The state of affairs as it currently stands:
Gameplay Details
- First Person or Third Person shooter
- Zombie Survival
- Night is dark and full of terrors
- Player versus Player at it's core.
- More than just zombies in the world
- Base Building, Town building, Fortress creation
- Can burn down things others build.
- Lots of crafting. Probably the biggest thing about the game.
- Vehicles are already in. Possibility of aircraft in the future.
- Based off the United States.
- If you die, you lose your gear. It stays on your corpse.
- "No skills or levels".
- "Thousands of players". I'm willing to bet this will be larger, playercount wise, than planetside 2.
- There will be Hunting.
Tech Details
- PC first, PS4 later. "Well, we are Sony" when asked about the PS4 version.
- In terms of cross-platform play, Planetside 2 will not be doing cross platform due to the logistics of updating the game on the PS4 vs the PC. I expect that this has not changed so I don't see cross-platform play happening. SOE has made no comment on this point however, so I could be talking out of my ass.
- "If you can run Planetside 2, you can run H1Z1 better".
- "Orders of magnitude larger than Planetside 2″.
- Based of Planetside 2. Shares no tech with Everquest Next (so no Voxels).
- Built in voice chat options.
Monetization Details
- Free to play
- Part of the All-Access subscription that SOE is launching this month. $15/mo for premium sub in all SOE games.
- "you seriously don't need to spend a dime. We're still figuring out the monetization but we will telegraph our plans early and let people comment and we'll listen if they don't like something and come to a place where people feel good about it." -Smed, in this thread
- Early Access ($20ish, on steam) in 4-6 weeks.
I'll just leave that there as a baseline to compare against as things move forward.
For those hoping that this will be a Landmark or EverQuest Next based zombie game, disappointment is already in the cards. The cynic in me sees this as PlanetSide 2 tech re-purposed as a zombie game with some PvE and building elements.
Which isn't necessarily a bad thing. There could be a market for this, so long as it doesn't degenerate into the aimbot hack hell that PlanetSide 2 became. It doesn't thrill me at the moment, but a shooter with more to it could have a draw.
Of course, the cynic in me also wants to know how it will work in a world where you already have a lot of choices on the zombie front?
How will SOE differentiate H1Z1 from the pack?
I suppose we shall see.
Others talking about H1Z1:
Insta-Levels Come to EverQuest March 10, 2014Posted by Wilhelm Arcturus in entertainment, EverQuest, Sony Online Entertainment.
Tags: Because SOE, Cash Shop, Insta Levels
5 comments
Paid boosts to higher levels were pretty much a given for EverQuest at some point. The only real question I have is why it took this long. After all, EverQuest II got its own insta-level scheme… erm, "heroic character" plan… way back in October of last year.
My guess is that they wanted to wait for the game's 15th anniversary to roll this out.
So here we are. The anniversary is this coming Sunday, and starting Wednesday of this week you can get a level boosted character. Per SOE:
Players should find it much easier to begin their adventures in Norrath when they start at level 85 with a full complement of gear, Alternative Advancement Abilities, and a unique mount. Regardless if you're a veteran player that wants to try a new class, a new player that wants to get caught up to your friends, or a player that hasn't visited Norrath in a long time, Heroic Characters are a great way for you to get in the game!
And, from this Wednesday through to Wednesday, March 26th, the first one is free. The second, or the first after March 26th, will run you 3,500 Station Cash, which translates into $35 if you leave aside any possible discounts or stipends. You can apply this boost to a new or existing character.
$35 is the same price as EverQuest II charges for their version of the boost, which was somewhere near the possible price range for Lord of the Rings Online's experiment with insta-levels (depending on how you value Turbine Points), but is considerably less than what Blizzard is planning to charge for a level 90 character in World of Warcraft.
That last bit makes you think. After all, the prices of other services… realm transfers or race/faction/name changes… even expansions… for these games run about the same. But a boost to a high level character? $35 vs. $60.
What ever your particular market can bear I guess. Or maybe it depends on the target audience for the offer.
Otherwise, the deals are similar enough. You get a boost up into what the company considers the current/best/optimum/most up to date content. You get some good gear and whatever else goes along with the being at that level. In the case of EQ that means Alternate Advancement points, one of those things that went from a way to keep people busy after they hit level cap to "you must have n AA points to join our very serious guild." And there is even a special mount for you.
I remain somewhat indifferent to insta-levels. They are still something I would only pay money for under very specific, and pretty rare, circumstances. But I get the appeal. And in the case of EverQuest, the idea probably makes as much sense as it ever will.
After all, the content in EverQuest has evolved a lot in the last 15 years. And the bits and pieces of Norrath that I think I "know" represent a tiny fraction of that content. What I might call "my" EverQuest adds up to the original content, much of Ruins of Kunark, the areas around Crescent Reach up to about level 50, the tutorial, the Plane of Knowledge, and a few lower level locations scattered around the game. Anything above level 60 or that was added after, say, Planes of Power, is pretty much unknown to me and likely to remain that way. I mean, I didn't even find a "lost" dungeon (2003 content) until about two years ago.
If I want to see anything new in Norrath, an insta-85 is probably the best way, as I have long since lost my ability to level up over time in the game, even with reductions in the level curve, mercenaries, and some attempts at directed content. And I suspect I am not alone in that.
And then there is the cash shop in EverQuest. SOE was extremely sensitive to what they put in the cash shop in EverQuest II. In EverQuest though, the felt much less constrained. Things that would make people's collective heads explode in EQII… like actual gear or trade skill supplies… are readily available for Station Cash in EQ.
But in EverQuest gear acquisition, and the constant flow of gear upgrades, is not as obvious or ingrained as it is in EverQuest II, where you have to pretty much change out everything every 10 levels.
And then there is the whole "this game is 15 years old with a lot of uneven content between character creation and level 85″ aspect. It might make sense to just put people into the newer content and leave West Karana and Butcher Block to those with a yen for nostalgia. Of course, you might ask why they chose level 85. That puts you into the House of Thule content. If I recall right, that is about the peak before you have to start buying expansions again, so perhaps that is the right point to put people.
So I will likely go and get my free boost to level 85 later this week, and maybe even run around to see what there is to be seen these days. If nothing else, having a character at that level will make touring the world a little easier.
Actually, I will probably boost a level 85 on both of my accounts. One curious little tidbit:
For accounts created before Nov 8, 2013, the free Heroic Character option is available one time per account.
For accounts created on or after Nov 8, 2013, the free Heroic Character option is available one time per household.
I seem to recall this "one time per household" thing coming up with the free boost EverQuest II. I suspect that people were angered… SOE has a knack for angering customers that boggles the mind some days… and now they have spelled it out in a very specific way while grandfathering older accounts into past rules in order to limit the rage level.
Meanwhile, I am wondering who will offer character level boosts next? Which games have enough content for this sort of thing to make sense.
Quote of the Day – Hearthstone, SOE, and Historical Inevitability January 29, 2014Posted by Wilhelm Arcturus in Blizzard, entertainment, Quote of the Day, Sony Online Entertainment.
Tags: Battle.net Desktop App, Because SOE, Hearthstone, John Smedley, Legends of Norrath, Station Launcher, Unfair Characterizations
5 comments
Actually after seeing what Blizzard did with Hearthstone it's given us some other ideas…. LoN is an awesome card game. We can take that to the next level.
John Smedley, Reddit AMA on plans for Legends of Norrath
Okay, that is actually a quote from a few days back, but the Reddit Ask Me Anything that John Smedley did last Friday is a gold mine of quotes. I have to salute Feldon at EQ2 Wire for picking out some of the prime samples for his post.
And I have to hand it to Smed for not flinching from some tough question and answering things the way he did. He laid out a lot things there, and not all of them were flattering to SOE. He also left a lot of meat on the table to discuss, from SOE operating Vanguard at a loss for "a long time" to consolidation of IPs plan (again, is DC Universe Online safe with that going on?) to EverQuest Next being headed for the PlayStation 4 (not good news in my book, at least when it comes to a ship date… or user interface choices). You could get a month's worth of blog posts out of that AMA. I am sure bloggers will be feeding on this all week.
But the item quoted at the top… I think speaks volumes in just two sentences.
The online collectible card game Legends of Norrath was launched back in late 2007, when it was integrated with EverQuest and EverQuest II, giving players a game to play within a game. No mixed message in that. Later it got its own stand-alone client, but the integration with the EverQuest games was still prime. Legends of Norrath borrowed the stories and metaphors of the EverQuest games for theme and mechanics, and offered up in-game goodies for players of the two MMOs along with throwing out the occasional reward to the community by including somebody on a card.
And, as far as I know, the game has been a success. It survived the great purge of the Denver and Tuscon studios that seemed to spell the end of online card games being anything like a focus at SOE. (There are some good historical Smed quotes on the old SOE Blog, and some interesting posts from others about company plans. I am surprised it hasn't all been sent down the memory hole yet.) Legends of Norrath survived along with Magic The Gathering: Tactics, though the latter is slated to be shut down at the end of March. Another aspect of the recent blood bath I guess.
And then along came Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft.
Actually, it hasn't really come along yet. It just got out of closed beta and is now downloadable by anybody who wants to be in the open beta (Europe too now) and who has a Battle.net account.
Hearthstone compares directly to Legends of Norrath. It is an online collectable card game based on the lore of a popular MMO, it is free to play with its own client, you can buy cards, play against other online, and so on.
However, unlike Legends of Norrath, Hearthstone isn't integrated into World of Warcraft. For now the linkage is only in lore and sharing a Battle.net login with WoW and your other current Blizzard games. Also unlike Legends of Norrath, Hearthstone has gotten a lot of praise from both inside and out of the MMO player community.
Not that I have heard people slam Legends of Norrath, but it never seemed like a big deal either, not the way Hearthstone has been hailed. Part of that is no doubt the fact that Blizzard games are much more visible, popular, and highly rated than games from SOE. A lot of people will try anything Blizzard ships. Simple truth: Blizzard has a lot more fans than SOE.
And part of that is no doubt the application of Blizzard magic to the Legends of Norrath idea, which made Hearthstone shinier, easier to get into, and more appealing to players for whom collectible card games were never really a thing to do. Plus there is the promise of an iOS and Android version of the game. The iPad will likely be the Hearthstone platform for me.
This is, of course, pretty much a parallel to EverQuest and World of Warcraft. SOE got out there first and succeeded, but then Blizzard took what they saw SOE doing and created something an order of magnitude more successful. And so I suspect will be the case with Hearthstone.
Of course, not everybody loves Hearthstone. As the hardcore early EverQuest players derided World of Warcraft (even as EverQuest tried to become more and more like WoW ), so some serious CCG players have declared that Hearthstone is a shallow game only fit for casual scrubs, bitter that people are not playing "more deserving" games. And so it goes.
But the generally favorable reviews of the game got even me to download the Hearthstone open beta, and I am well into the "CCGs are not for me" camp. (I tried the Pokemon CCG a few times, but never enjoyed it.) I haven't actually played it yet… or even launched the app… but I have it downloaded. And that brings me to yet another SOE vs. Blizzard parallel.
In downloading and installing Hearthstone, I found out that to use it required the still-in-beta Battle.net launcher… erm, excuse me… the Battle.net Desktop App. Oh, and that replaced the launcher for all of the current Blizzard games, including World of Warcraft and Diablo III.
The Hearthstone install did not warn me about that and I was PISSED!
I was pissed because I have been through the single, unified launcher/updater wringer before. Of course, that was with SOE which was trying to push their version of that sort of thing quite a while back.
The fact that Station Launcher never quite worked right was compounded by the fact that the SOE website kept telling people to use it after they had stopped supporting and it had ceased to function. I had to open a support ticket to get the response of "don't use that" from SOE. So my anger was entirely based on having problems with this sort of thing before. I would have avoided downloading Hearthstone had I known what it meant.
Only, in the ongoing parallel between SOE and Blizzard, the new Battle.net launcher… Desktop App… just works. I log into Battle.net through it and can kick off World of Warcraft just fine. It shows me all the news tidbits that the WoW launcher did and, in addition, shows which of my Battle Tag friends are online and in which game. No problems at all.
My anger was thus short lived, which brings me back around to the quote at the top of this post. SOE deciding to copy Blizzard, who copied SOE in the first place seems to be the natural order of things. I am sure somebody can make quite a list of the things that SOE copied back from Blizzard. So it is no surprise to me that, upon seeing what Blizzard has done with Hearthstone, that SOE has been moved to action. Because, when left to their own devices, SOE can come up with some clunkers. (Not to mention being a bit tone deaf at times.)
I suppose the only thing wrong with Station Launcher was that SOE didn't leaving hanging around long enough for the Blizzard version to appear so that they would know what to do.
Bloodbath at SOE – Four Titles Closing Down, PlanetSide Goes F2P January 24, 2014Posted by Wilhelm Arcturus in entertainment, Sony Online Entertainment, Vanguard SOH.
Tags: Because SOE, Free Realms, Planetside, Wizardry Online
12 comments
In one of those "Good news, bad news, more bad news, even more bad news, how about a tiny bit of good news, now can I bring up some more bad news" scenarios, Sony Online Entertainment announced that they had finalized their plans for their change over of all subscriptions types to the full boat SOE All Access plan, which they fumbled on earlier in the month, but which will now be just $14.99 a month and which will still come with a 500 Station Cash monthly stipend.
There is a new FAQ up in the official SOE forums describing the plan., which will be put in place "on or about" April 2, 2014. (No April Fools Jokes for SOE!)
Down in the FAQ there are a few rather less-than-minor details, like the fact that SOE will be closing down four of their games. Those on the list:
- Free Realms – Closing March 31, 2014
- Star Wars: Clone War Adventures – Closing March 31, 2014
- Wizardry Online - Closing July 31, 2014
- Vanguard: Saga of Heroes – Closing July 31, 2014
So SOE is going to expand their "all the MMOs you can eat" plan while at the same time cutting back on the number of MMOs on the menu.
I always say, there will be plenty of time for recriminations later. I expect a lot to bubble up after this. I await the SynCaine post on the F2P business model for openers.
As for the games themselves, I never really played any of them for any long duration, so my feelings on the closures are pretty subdued.
Clone Wars Adventures was an adjunct to a TV show that is no longer on the air, plus EA snagged the rights to all Star Wars video games in May of last year, so this one closing isn't a real surprise. It will just stand as a lesson in not investing in virtual hats.
Free Realms was never a thing for me. My daughter played it for a bit until they broke the Mac OSX client one too many times, which weaned her from the game. She had a lifetime membership, which I am sure means nothing. This was SOE's first game designed to be free to play, one Smed wanted to play with his kids. I guess the kids grew up in the last five years.
Wizardry Online was awful in my opinion, but I came in saying I am not big on Asian imported MMOs. I won't miss this one at all. I am surprised it made it this long. I am, however, counting it towards my prediction that more than half a dozen crap Asian F2P MMOs will fold up shop this year in the US market.
And then there is Vanguard. There is a bit of strange timing here, with Brad McQuaid launching a Kickstarter for a new game just as his last one is finally getting the axe. I was comparing him to Mark Jacobs and Lord British in that their first MMOs were good and their second MMOs got the axe… except for Vanagurd. Well, now the comparison is complete.
Surprisingly, the original PlanetSide did NOT get the axe. I have no idea why. I would have put it on that list first thing. But it is a Smed favorite I guess.
In fact, they are going to make it a free to play title. They are actually expending some effort on that ghost town. Did they learn nothing when they converted Vanguard?
So, in the end, the shiny SOE All Access subscription plan to be introduced "on or about" April 2 will buy you gold memberships to:
- EverQuest
- EverQuest II
- PlanetSide
- PlanetSide 2
- DC Universe Online
And I think with this move, SOE has stolen the crown from NCSOFT for the most closed MMOs. Because SOE.
Addendum: Oh, and I apparently forgot about the completely forgettable Dragon's Prophet in the SOE lineup. When did Asian imports become a thing for SOE? Anyway, it just opened late last year, so it was probably too soon to shut it down contractually. But it looks like it ranks with Wizardry Online when it comes to potential.
More comments from other sources:
- Bio Break – The SOEpocalypse is upon us
- MMO Fallout – SOE Shutting Down Four MMOs
- MMO Fallout – John Smedley Reddit AMA Highlights
- Harbinger Zero – Gutted
- Leo's Life – Start of the Dominoes
- MMO Quests – My Favorite Vanguard Memories
- EQ2 Wire – John Smedley Takes to Reddit
- Inventory Full – Six Months: Vanguard
- Gaming SF – SOE: MMO Killing Spree
- I Have Touched The Sky – Of Ends and Beginnings
- ECTMMO – SOE Sunsets
- Hardcore Casual – SOE: Still a One-Hit Wonder
- Ardwulf's Lair – A Requiem for Vanguard
- ECTMMO – Archiving Vanguard, A little At A Time
- Inventory Full – Against the Fall of Night: Vanguard