Posts by MagusUnion

  • Random rants about aspects of game Balance and democracy

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    bottom line: it is common practice in game development to use the community as testers in order to find bugs and balance the game.


    Actually, no. Big named corporations use dedicated alpha/beta testers in order to test the functionality and enjoy-ability of a game. Those testers are employed (as it is, in fact, a paid profession) to accurately discern and coherently analyze a game for its play value before it hits open market. They have their own inside systems and tests to determine what factors could make the game better, and what factors should remain as part of the core mechanics of said video game...


    These mods are NO WHERE close to that level of complexity. In fact, the Steam Workshop is a better example as to how the quality of these mod should be treated. The biggest issue with IC2 and the mod community is the over-arching Modpack meta-game that likes to creep into every influencing decision of how a mod 'should be designed'. It's almost to the point of 'conform or die' philosophy in which every mod should fulfill the niche roles that modpacks assign it, and not doing so is regarded as such a blasphemous action that results in flames, short-tempers, and bullshit arguments...


    IC2 has taken a new path, that has ultimately decided that they don't give a flying fuck about said modpacks or the meta-game surrounding them. In which case, there are many who 'wish to voice their disdain' (a.k.a. bitch their little heads off) about the changes that have occurred. The changes go against the grain of the modpack meta-game (don't lie and say that this isn't the real issue you are having), and thus they feel that it's 'necessary' to come here and demand that it should be changed back...


    At that point, it's up to IC2 to see if there is any real value in actually changing to something more modpack friendly. Considering that modpacks don't give any additional benefit beyond 'more users' (hurting your average user IQ amount), I don't think the dev team has any true incentive to change their content for any other purpose that the one they have already set...

  • Bored? Random IC2/Forum chat

    Quote from LinusPhoenix

    .....Origin has sales?


    ROTFLMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!


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    I usually really wanted to play it, but EA just pisses me off so much I am not buying their games anymore (also, I really would have liked ME3 on Steam)


    Well, since they went DRM happy and have tried to desperately clone Steam, I don't trust anything for EA anymore. Course, I haven't seen anything that I really like coming out of their studio as of late, so, meh....

  • Bored? Random IC2/Forum chat

    I just now looked up the 1.8 update to see what it was about and they are adding more rock species to the game. If they are actually going to upgrade the world gen. to reflect geological accuracy, then it sounds pretty damn cool. But more than likely, they won't :S

  • Ic 1.6.4

    Quote from SirusKing


    WRONG
    YOU LIVE IN SOVIET RUSSIA NOW
    FREE SPEECH IS HARMFUL ACCORDING TO GLORIOUS TRUTHFUL KBG


    You mean corporate funded NSA says Free Speech is Harmful because it hurts their bottom line and they want the population to "buy into" "compliance?"

  • Ic 1.6.4

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    So if you are just saying "deal with it" then that is fine. But please understand that I personally object to the direction.


  • Random rants about aspects of game Balance and democracy

    Quote from Two

    MagusUnion: you are vastly over-estimating the importance of IC2 in my life.


    You are the one doing the bitching, thinking it's going to get you somewhere...


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    I actually didn't even play it for over a year, just thought: why not give it another try, just to learn that some people massively and (imo) very badly changed it. So I am giving advice, but all I face is a single developer, who not only seems to be the only one left, but as well thinks of himself way too high, plus his fanboys. This is pretty close to the state IC2 was in about a year ago, just that there is no Alblaka left to fix it this time.


    I think you fail to realize that RichardG kept IC2 afloat for quite a long stretch of time. Alba has been gone for MONTHS now, and probably doesn't have much intention on coming back. If I had to guess why, it's probably because of what you are doing now: believing that "you" know what's best for the mod, and that the dev. team should take your advice "or else". To be honest, this isn't a business venture, nor are you a stock broker or an analyst. As much as you want to believe that you helping, the truth of the matter is that you aren't.


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    Just seeing how many people actually participated in this discussion, tells me in which state the mod is: claimed by someone who just stepped into way too big shoes, but fails to admit it, yet has a bunch of people, ready to bark at anyone who disagrees. It will effectively kill IC2 eventually, if that false illusion of everything being just fine isn't corrected soon. Currently the mod is lacking development, it lacks a concept and it lacks a vision, and the details are designed for a very small minority, which effectively excludes many players who previously enjoyed IC2. And without an audience, the interest to continue this mod will as well fade away eventually, causing it to die from the very same path, that caused death to many other projects before, and most likely many projects in the future.


    Just because we don't adopt your vision of mod design does not mean that other people do not like what is currently in place. For example, that dreaded mod Better Than Wolves is still somewhat maintained, and its following is mostly confined within their forums. Does that mean that BTW is dead? Not necessary. It only means that it has a very small (and habitual ass-kissing) crowd that still plays the mod. Now, if you believe that a mod is "dead" or "alive" based on its stature of popularity, then yes, I'm sure IC2 would be dead in that case. But honestly, since NO ONE makes money off IC2 development (or at least, anymore), that's a rather moot point, and the mod has returned to being what all mods originally start as: a fun programming project for a video game that other people can also enjoy. No drama, no meta-game, no bullshit. Just a simple mod that you can add to Minecraft, clean and simple...


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    The problem with life-experience however is that everyone needs to make his own, so no matter what I say or how much of it, you'll either listen in the first place, because you have learned the lesson to listen already, or you never will. As we are on page 6 with no relevant progress, I assume it will be the later. So go forth, do your thing, and either prove me wrong, or - should I be right - learn from it.


    Again, you HONESTLY think you can berate us to side with you. Seriously! That behavior is the EXACT reason why we AREN'T taking your advice. This mod doesn't have to "prove" anything to you. This mod doesn't "need" to be popular. Only YOU think it has to be. For what? For Modpacks? For Let's Plays? If you have some business where you "needed" IC2 to be famous or user friendly in order to make a profit, then it's your own damn fault for depending on something as volatile as a community creation for money. And if that's not the case, then what the hell is it? To feel "right'? To "get your way"?

  • Random rants about aspects of game Balance and democracy

    Quote from GregoriusT

    Wait, so the MINUTES you would need to smelt Iron into refined Iron for Machine Blocks, which were needed before, are irrelevant to you?


    Because when you overclock a Electric Furnace, it doesn't ramp up the EU cost nearly as high as the Metal Former does. Plus, people circumvented this with the Induction Furnace anyway, so it wasn't a "big deal" as Iron Plates are now. (Basically, they are bitching about mechanics that they can't "cheese" around anymore, lol)...

  • Random rants about aspects of game Balance and democracy

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    I am not going to die from bad changes to the mod, but the mod will.


    No, it won't. There is no "need" for people to play this mod, only for people to maintain it. Mods "die" when people stop doing updates, not when they stop being "popular".


    Such a notion is a flawed concept from modpack creators in order to ensure players use their packs on servers and thru their sponsored launchers. To them, mods are a (foolish) business exercise, not some minor addition to a video game. If they don't have players picking up their packs, then they lose in on the revenue. So of course they are going to attack the mod authors for creating mechanics that players 'don't like'.


    So don't delude yourself with the notion that your opinion will help determine if IC2 "lives" or "dies". Unless you are like Player or Greg and are actively updating the code to IC2, then you have no power in determining its longevity. Besides, if you are that disgruntled with the changes, then you always have the option to exchange this mod with something else that bears similar functionality to it...

  • Bored? Random IC2/Forum chat

    Quote from MatLaPatate

    My definition of God is "what human mind can't understand". And that clearly don't follow any logic, TO US. If it used to be ununderstandable but if we can now understand it with progress and Science, then it's no longer a "god" but a phenomenom, a law, or something defined by physics.


    That happens to be my idea as well. If String Theory holds any validity, then I would almost bet that God isn't a 'being', but the highest dimension of all things. From that higher dimension, lower states of existence can come to be. Hence, "God" would be the Source of all that exists, since these dimensional attributes would permeate into all of the lower levels of existence. As such, this would still give God the ability to have omnipotence, but at the same time show that he/she/it is no more special than the rest of us. The Great Cosmic Initiator in which all other forms of existence flows from, as we are but star dust it the vast cosmic stage that is the Universe...


    Which in some ways is quite spiritual and humbling. Some may say it's a bit ironic or juxtapose for me to do so, but it does give me a great sense of reverence towards that deity when I think of it this way. I never was a fan of the "old traditional" model of the gods who sat and judged the living with extreme prejudice. Instead, I prefer to see God as something much more interconnected with the fabric of the Universe: something that is just as intertwined with the laws and flow of the Universe as we are, seeing as this is how the Universe is made, and he/she/it allegedly created it this way...