Show Posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.


Messages - ezknight.okceca

Pages: [1] 2 3 4 ... 7
1
General Chat / Re: Are you a potential developer?
« on: February 02, 2012, 02:29:10 pm »
Hey guys, I'm a little bit programmer, little bit designer, little bit writer/scripter. I graduated a couple years ago, but my schooling wound up being a bit...disappointing so I've been having to teach myself quite a bit. I know C# and ActionScript and am currently teaching myself XNA. I'm pretty good in Photoshop and had a class in Maya but since I don't have the program I haven't gotten to hone my skills and have probably forgotten quite a bit, and really, I'm best at inanimate objects. I'm also a pretty good mathematician, especially anything pre-trig.

Basically, I'm a great middle-man who can help just about anywhere.

If you have some experience with Maya, you might find Blender to be something that you can jump right into. Its free and is quite powerful. Give it a try if you want to hone your 3d art skills.

http://www.blender.org/

2
General Chat / Re: Driver issues in ubuntu 10.10?
« on: February 10, 2011, 01:21:44 pm »


meh 10.10 is still crazy with drivers, even with a gtx 460 i tried it wouldnt work correctly, everyone i know has basically come to the decision that 10.10 was crap, so we just moved back to 10.04, its working great now.

Glad you found a solution. I did find that they released version 11.1, but I was unable to find a Linux download for it. Odd search results.

3
General Chat / Re: Driver issues in ubuntu 10.10?
« on: February 10, 2011, 01:12:48 pm »
What version of the driver are you running?

If you are running the latest version, then it is a problem with the driver and not anything you are doing. At least that is the impression get when reading the results of my google search.

Personally, I use Nvidia cards in my PC, which in my experience has better driver support for Linux.

4
Thanks to everyone who signed the Petition. Yesterday the ECA submitted their Amicus Brief with the Supreme Court:

http://gamepolitics.com/2010/09/17/eca039s-amicus-brief-filed

There has also be a huge outpouring of support for the Games industry from 9 States (including Oklahoma), A large number of media related organizations and also a lot of Free Speech organizations.

We are confident that the Supreme Court will side with the Games Industry and all the court rulings that have come so far that state that games are protected speech.

5
Here is another opportunity to support video games and free speech.

The National Youth Rights Association (NYRA) is filing a brief in support of gaming. Feel free to support their efforts as well.

http://blog.youthrights.org/2010/08/11/schwarzenegger_v_gamers_help_us_fight_back/

Quote
NYRA isn’t going to let them get away with this. NYRA defends the rights of youth when they are challenged across the country. As gamers, we need to make it clear that video games are more than random violence and that no one should be denied access to them. NYRA is working on an Amicus Brief to submit to the Supreme Court, but we need your help.

Since we are one of the few organizations working on this actually made up of gamers, we need to work with the gaming community to strengthen our argument. The Supreme Court doesn’t realize the importance of video games. We need your testimonies about their social, artistic, and political value to help the justices understand just what they would be taking away if they let this law stand.

6
im not sure what travel insurance has to do with that chart or video games
That is just where I linked the image from. Not sure what they really have to do with the issue other than providing the graphic.
also lol at the 800 hours of violent content

nobody even plays any one game anywhere near that much

...right?

Yeah that one blows my mind. I know of games with 60 hours of content, if gameplay can be considered content. That is roughly 33 days of content or 2 hours a day for a year. So I can see kids playing that much in a year, but not for a single game to contain that much footage.

7
I meant to bump this a week ago, so I will now.

Here is another example of the work to violate our rights as gamers:


8
I have heard of it, but only because Jack Thompson spoke at the 2009 conference. Unfortunately, it left my mind after that until you posted this.

We will have to put it on the calendar for next year and makes sure we organize a caravan to go to it.

9
11 states are now putting their voices forward to violate the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States by supporting this bill.

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/29499/Eleven_States_Join_To_Support_California_Game_Legislation_In_Supreme_Court.php

Here is a quote from the Connecticut AG on the subject:

Quote
"Protecting children from digital danger requires proactive parents -- but they need and deserve help," Blumenthal said. "The video game industry should act responsibly -- play nice, not nasty -- and agree to sensible self-imposed restrictions that block children from buying the most violent games. I am calling on the video game industry to follow the leadership of the motion picture industry, which sensibly stops unattended children from viewing violent or graphic movies."

http://www.ct.gov/ag/cwp/view.asp?Q=463292&A=3869

Are you going to let these uninformed, possibly outright lying, people decide the fate of all gamers? I know I won't.

If you want to learn more about the case and read some of the filings, you can do so here:
http://mediacoalition.org/VSDA-v.-Schwarzenegger-

Common Sense media and the Eagle Forum have both submitted brief's in support of California. Both filings contain the same lies and misinformation as the one from the 11 states.

10
so what you are saying is, this law will let the government decide what actual developers can and cannot put into their games? or did i read it wrong?

The law itself would not give the government that power. What it does give the government power to do is decide what games are considered "violent" and thus subject to fining if they are sold to a minor.

This will lead to retailers being more cautious in what games they stock. That will lead to game developers making games that are sure to be stocked by retailers. Thus game developers will release fewer games like Halo and Red Dead Redemption.

Other issues is that if the Supreme Court rules in favor of this law, it will open the door for other state to follow suit. This will create a patchwork of laws that game developers have to follow in order to sell games in the US. Most developers would just not make games that require that work.

11
Recently, the Supreme Court of the United States took up a case from California. This Case involves a law that was passed in 2005 that would regulate the sale of violent video games to minors. The video game industry, represented by the ESA, has challenged this law in federal court. Twice it has been ruled unconstitutional. It is now up to the Supreme Court to decide once and for all.

The Entertainment Consumers Association has issued a petition that they want all people who play games to sign. This petition puts to voice of the people behind the defense of the game industry from this law. I have already put my name on it and I think you should as well.

Here are my thoughts on why.

First of all, you will be hard pressed to find anyone that honestly thinks that kids should be able to play any game they want regardless of content. So this does not factor in my decision to support the petition.

The main issue is that the government will be regulating speech, something that the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States says they cannot do. The is the #1 reason why the game industry and the ECA is fighting this law. There is no other reason that rises above this.

Reason #2 is that it is the parents’ responsibility to regulate their children’s gaming, not the government or retailers. They have been given all the tools they need to ensure their kids only play games they approve.

All game consoles have Parental controls so that parents can limit the types of games that their children play by rating. So if the parent doesn’t want their kid playing M rated games, they can set the controls to only allow T rated and under games.

Then there are the ESRB ratings which give the parents the ability to see what content the game contains and decide if their children should be allowed to play it.

Finally all game consoles have what we like to call the power button. If a parent finds their kid play a game they are not supposed to be playing they can turn off the console.

All these tools are available for parents to use when choosing games for their kids. If you get on a session of Gears of War or Modern Warfare 2 and hear 10 year olds playing, that is because the parents chose to let their kid play those games. They made that decision through any number of ways.

They either bought the game for the kid, didn’t set the parental controls, didn’t review the game the kid bought or do not monitor their child’s game playing.

How will this law compensate for that? If the kids are getting their parents to buy the game and the parents don’t care what the game is, what will this law accomplish aside from being a road block for game developers and retailers?

Reason #3, the games industry is already doing a great job at self regulation. Retailers have already put in place voluntary policies to not sell M rated games to minors. These are the exact same voluntary policies they have with movies that are rated R. To show how effective these voluntary policies are, the Federal Trade Commission regularly tests the effectiveness of the system.

The FTC’s 2008 Retail Secret Shopper survey found that 80% of children we being blocked from buying M rated games with Gamestop leading the pack at 94% compliency. This shows that game retailers are taking it seriously and doing so voluntarily.

Reason #4, there are no solid measurements of what constitutes a violent game. None. That decision is given to a handful of politicians to decide. So any game could be considered violent enough depending on who is reviewing the game. One city could find a game violent while another city would not. A city might think a game is violent while the Attorney General would not. All this confusion would make it difficult for a game retailer to decide which games they can sell to minors and which they can’t. Eventually they could decide that it is better to not carry certain games because the risk of fines and lawsuits would be too great. By doing that, they will be preventing some developers from marketing their games. If game developers cannot find retail space, they will decide to make “safe” games.

If you want to see this in action, look at games rated AO. Almost all retailers have chosen not to sell AO rated games. All 3 major consoles have decided not to license AO rated games. How many AO rated games have been made since those decisions? 24. That is all. Of all the 18,944 games rated by the ESRB only 24 are rated AO. All this because retailers and console manufacturers have decided they want nothing to do with them.

If you think that this will not happen if this law is passed, you are sadly mistaken.

For another example, you should research the Comics Code Authority and what it did to the comics industry. It is not a pretty picture and I would hate to see that happen to the games industry.

That is why I support this petition and you should as well

12
My latest toys:

A Game Cube Game Boy Player and a second PS2 Dual Shock Controller. I can finally play all my GBA and GB Color games on my TV and play Lego Batman with my son.

13
Twitter: http://twitter.com/ezknight
OKC ECA Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1325674091
OKC ECA Facebook Group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=27268810882
OKC ECA Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/okceca
Personal Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1385796879&ref=name

Does it bug anyone else that Facebook tacks on additional URLs to the links instead on creating new ones? AS in, you are looking at a profile and then click a group link. Instead of facebook.com/group.php?gid=.... you get facebook.com/profile.php?id=..../group.php?gid=...

14
General Chat / ECA Recruiting Contest: Ends June 30th
« on: April 13, 2009, 10:36:10 pm »
The ECA is holding a Chapter Recruiting contest between now and June 30th. The first three Chapter Presidents who submit the correct names, emails and date registered of all members between January 5th and June 30th this year will receive prize money and a mystery gift basket.

There are three prizes to be had. For the first President to submit 10 members gets $100 and a gift basket. 15 members gets $150 and the gift basket. 21 members gets $210 and a gift basket.

The contest rules state that you must be a new member, not a renewal. I must know your full name, email and date you registered. The person must also be living in Oklahoma to count for our numbers.

I am really excited for this contest. So far we already have 15 members signed up just this past Saturday at OEGE. Just 6 more and we have the biggest prize.

As an added incentive, everyone who has signed up since January 5th and those who sign up from now till June 30th, will have their name put in a drawing for their pick of something from the gift basket. Further, anyone who recruits a member and sends me their name email and date registered and I verify that you recruited them, will also have their name put in the drawing.

Don't know what will be in the basket, or how many items, but the ECA is known for their great prizes.

So get that information to me and we will win this contest.

15
General Chat / Re: Is satellite internet worth it?
« on: April 13, 2009, 04:48:06 pm »
Yeah, It is not bad for download speeds, leaps and bounds over dial up, but when it comes to upload speeds, it is only slightly to moderately faster than dial up.

It sucks when that is your only option.

I would also check to see if windstream http://www.windstream.com/ services your area.

Pages: [1] 2 3 4 ... 7