Escapist Podcast: 093: World of Warcraft and Cupcakes

[Eagi]

I havent played LoL for quite some time now, but I remember the hassle of people wanting to play the latest char in each match, but since only one on each team can have that chance. If you give some people every new char from the start, I would guess that would lower the amount of people buying them at release, since they will have even less of a chance to get to play it.

 

[Slycne]

I havent played LoL for quite some time now, but I remember the hassle of people wanting to play the latest char in each match, but since only one on each team can have that chance. If you give some people every new char from the start, I would guess that would lower the amount of people buying them at release, since they will have even less of a chance to get to play it.

I'm not so certain, and I think it would likely even out and stay much the same as it is. The majority of the people that would shell out some large amount to get every champion are likely the same who buy them all right now. Then there would also be some percentage of people who don't buy every time, but they see the value in buying at as a bundle and saving over time.

The dedicated buyers who want to always be on the cutting edge trying the latest champions will always be there, but it's that middle group who may or may not upset the balance. Some of them will certainly be more inclined to try out new champions they are receiving that they might normally not have bought, but I'd also see a case being made that if you're getting them all some would be less inclined to try each and every one of them. If you're not picking and choosing, you're going to be much less excited to try out that new character if it was a weekly thing than if it really caught your attention enough to purchase.

 

[Eleima]

On seeing the doctor... I feel your view is truly colored by the state of the US healthcare system. Having moved around and known both sides of the coin, I can already tell you that annual checkups are a very American thing. Not all yearly physicals are medically justified, and if you've had one check up when you were eighteen (which is pretty standard, before you're packed off to college) and everything checked out okay, there is no medical reason for you to get another physical for another 5 or even 10 years. Provided you don't have any other symptoms, of course. I can't stress this enough, especially in light of Eleuthera's sobering example. His is not a frequent case, but these things do happen.
Justin, however, is totally right when it comes to antibiotics. A lot of the winter sniffles are due to viruses, and handing out antibiotics like candy is not doing any good. The United States uses antibiotics intensely [http://www.cddep.org/tools/united_states_among_most_intensive_users_antibiotics_world] according to the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy.

Back to games! Really enjoyed the talk about MMOs. Once again, you guys raised the issue of subscription based versus free-to-play, but the business model Guild Wars uses. You pay once (I think I paid ~50? for my boxed copy of GW2) and that's it. You can play until the servers shut down. If you want to throw more money at them, there's the gem store with minis, town clothes, mining picks that never degrade, character change, etc. But you can have a great experience without spending extra cash. I think I already brought this up in the podcast when I asked about TESO [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/6.394136-Escapist-Podcast-068-The-Bell-Tolls-For-the-Twinkie?page=2#15959702], but the "pay once, spend extra if you want", seems like a great balance between the two. And the amount of content in GW2 is amaaaaazing. After almost 400 hours (and no extra money spent), I'm still not done with the game. The devs manage to keep me completely involved in the game, there's no multitasking (unless it's to check a map or event timers on a tablet), and there's always something I want to do: daily achievements, map completion, dive sites, dungeons, or just plain hanging out with my guildmates.
Still waiting on TESO, I'm hoping it'll be as great, but for the moment GW2 has captured 99% of my gaming time (which is a big thing for me, I was never an MMO player).

Great question on the cupcakes, but you guys shouldn't come crying later when your cholesterol shot through the roof! I'd definitely pick the one a day option, but I can't remember the last time I had a cupcake... Must've been years ago!

Star Trek - check. Cupcakes - check. Baldur's Gate - check. Yup, this one's legit!!

 

[Bryan Hinson]

I would totally go with 100 duck size horses, tame them all, paint them vibrant colors and give them "cutie marks" then sell them to the brony community for kick ass profit.

 

[Zerotwo]

So, just curious. Is there no official health care information service to call and ask whether or not your symptoms calls for medical attention in america?

And about this greed thing. I don't really get the moral debate angle on the issue. During the last console generation consumers of videogames have de facto been getting alot of content sold to them as DLC that would have previously been expected as part of a full price title (I still love you SF IV, but damn you are barren). Whatever the motivation or people behind those decision may be, the consumers are getting the short end of the stick. Being a corporation out to make money does not justify or change anything. We and they are all perfectly aware of what's going on, the scary thing is that people stop caring when it goes on long enough (most probably already have?). That's why we need you guys and gals in the gaming press to call it out. Bad is bad, talking about moral and greed vs laissez-faire values sometimes clouds the issue. Don't let them lower the standards, please! :<

Strayed more than a wee bit beyond the podcat topic there, sorry. But similar debates have been up on the pod previously and I felt I had to throw in my 2 cents.

 

[Azuaron]

The problem with horse-sized ducks is that animals are the size they are for very specific reasons (if you really want to get into it, read On Being the Right Size, I believe it's on Google Scholar). To summarize, while it's possible to pygmy animals with only a loss in survival effectiveness at worst (which hardly matters if they're under the protection of humans), increasing an animal's size necessitates a complete change in their body structure.

Basically, if you increased a duck to the size of a horse, it's legs would shatter under its own weight. Horse legs shatter under a horse's weight if they gallop with the legs at anything other than a very specific angle, and horses have four legs and are built for it. Duck legs wouldn't stand a chance.

 

[Strazdas]

Well if you run out of buttons then its a fault of shitty controller and nothing else. Not to mention that Metro is suposed to be played on PC to begin with.

and its not distracting yourself, its multitasking. theres only so much hours in a day and so much to do.

Also civilization + audiobook = heaven

Coprporations are greedy because their goal is to make money. Their goal should be to provide a service/product and profit should be a side-effect. However our economy is based on greed and therefore yes, ALL companies are greedy. This is nt to say that necessarily all companies are evil. Greed does not equal bad in itself. You were right to say that first of all we should ask a question "how?".