Messages

8476

Living Room / Re: Would anyone want a free DonationCoder.com bumper sticker?

« on: February 28, 2008, 04:51 PM »

But try to make it cool, and not clashy with all colors, Pastel would be goodor tribal even better! 

-karlyRana (February 22, 2008, 01:49 PM)

I hope that was a joke because that sounded contradictory. 

8477

Living Room / Re: Would anyone want a free DonationCoder.com bumper sticker?

« on: February 28, 2008, 04:50 PM »

OT - OK, who just added a funky image or link in their sig?  For some reason some of the DC forum pages are taking a long time to fully load. Last time this happened it was a new graphic sig someone added that was not completely resolving.   

Jim

-J-Mac (February 16, 2008, 01:50 AM)

I think it was mine. Somehow my old signature got broken even though I didn't change anything. So I changed my sig.

8478

General Software Discussion / Re: Monkey Dash: Play test my game!

« on: February 28, 2008, 04:33 PM »

I'm in. Does it use a lot of color? My tricolor ink cartridge is empty and it will probably cost $15-$20 to get a new one.

8479

Living Room / Re: Kodak (Complaint)

« on: February 28, 2008, 04:30 PM »

And what does it say about the town you live in if there's not even a Wal-Mart there?

-Deozaan (February 28, 2008, 12:48 AM)

That the residents have critical discrimination?

-cranioscopical (February 28, 2008, 03:13 PM)

  I thought I might receive a comment like this after saying that.

8480

Living Room / Re: Kodak (Complaint)

« on: February 28, 2008, 04:28 PM »

Have to agree with Chris on this one (about walking away) but would add that you can walk away with a lesson (that we should all take note of): always record the serial number of the equipment that you send off for repair. Prefereably a photograph. I don't know if this would have made a difference in this case or not, but it would bring peace of mind...

FWIW, I think that it is ridiculous to send you an item that has clearly been heavily used and soiled. If you decide to smear Kodak over this, they've brought it on themselves!

-Darwin (February 28, 2008, 04:19 PM)

I did record the serial number. It was required as part of the RMA process. That's why I became suspicious of receiving a refurbished product when I noticed the serial number sticker looked as though it had been peeled away. It has the same serial number, but it looks as though it may have been removed from my original camera and placed on a refurbished one. I'm also suspicious because of the work order saying what the problem was and what the solution was, it doesn't sound like what the problem was at all!

Of course, I can't prove that it's a refurbished model, but it is highly suspect.

8481

Living Room / Re: The Best Games You've Never Played

« on: February 28, 2008, 04:23 PM »

OMG!  I want more Descent!  I loved that game!  I don't really like flight sims... but that's pretty much what descent is when you think about it...  Now I have to go find a copy of D3 again...

-wraith808 (February 28, 2008, 04:18 PM)

The difference between Descent and flight sims is that Flight sims require atmospheric reality, such as going a certain speed to maintain lift, going only forward (no reverse or vertical or sideways movement).

In Descent you're in space, you can go any direction at any time, at any speed.

Then they had to screw it up with Descent Freespace and go back to stupid atmospheric flight (minus the required speed to maintain lift) even though you're in space...

8482

Living Room / Re: The Best Games You've Never Played

« on: February 28, 2008, 02:46 PM »

The deformable geometry in Red Faction was really cool, but it's a darn shame they imposed such a low limit on the amount of deformations you can do

-f0dder (February 28, 2008, 08:07 AM)

Heh heh. I remember playing multiplayer with my friend and he would always blast a long, deep cave for himself to hide in. I'd simply pull out the rail driver and shoot him through the walls. Ah! Good times.

Yeah it was a shame. I only played Red Faction 1 on PS2, so I think it was more a limit of the hardware. I heard Red Faction 3 is in production so maybe they'll improve that limit.

EDIT: Oh, and maybe they'll also undo all the crap they did in Red Faction 2 to ruin the game. Man that game sucked!

8483

Living Room / Re: Kodak (Complaint)

« on: February 28, 2008, 01:05 PM »

If you didn't already realise, it looks like you've just been sent a repaired model from someone else.

-justice (February 28, 2008, 05:59 AM)

Yeah in my e-mail to them I said that if it was refurbished it was very misleading and unethical.

The rest of this post is how I understand things to be in the UK. Here in the UK, as within two months a fault developed with the camera, you can argue that the fault was a production fault and you should get a brand new replacement, not a repaired one. Also because of the manufacturing error you shouldn't be out of pocket to return the camera. Finally, you are only dealing either with Bestbuy where you got the camera, or with Kodak. It probably would have been best to take the camera back to bestbuy and let them handle it, in retrospect.

-justice (February 28, 2008, 05:59 AM)

In the US, typically retail stores have a 30 day warranty where if a product fails within 30 days you take it back to the retail store you got it from. After those thirty days, most products have a 1 year manufacturers warranty, so you need to call the manufacturer for a replacement.

However you have nothing to do with the repair company so Kodak should be chasing it up and you could sent them the receipts for the phone calls and shipping / handling. They could argue that the period between the fault occuring and sending the camera away was substantial which would weaken your case a little and add frustration for you so be prepared for that.

-justice (February 28, 2008, 05:59 AM)

Yeah, they could argue a lot of things, but even still the camera is within the 1 year warranty period. That's why I didn't have to pay for the repairs. But I did have to pay shipping, which involved insurance.

Then there's the issue of any pictures that were on the camera that you sent off..

-justice (February 28, 2008, 05:59 AM)

There were no pictures on the camera when we sent it to them. We removed all accessories, such as the SD card, the battery, the wrist strap, etc. All we sent was the camera, and we hadn't taken any photos on the internal memory. I didn't even know it had internal memory until we got it back and snapped a few photos and videos testing it and realized it was out of space already.. And the camera hadn't even been in a Wal-Mart, especially not behind some counter snapping photos of nothing. It was like someone was just playing with it and took a couple shots like what you'd do with a camera that was on display out of box somewhere.

8484

Living Room / Re: What annoys you to no end?

« on: February 28, 2008, 12:55 PM »

Okay something that really annoys me that may get me in trouble because it involves some controversial topics.

When I disagree with what may be widely accepted as fact and instead of people trying logic and reason to convert me over, they just revert to name calling and totally shut me out or try to defame me simply because I have a different opinion. They make no attempt to hear my side.

I have to admit it hasn't happened to me personally, but it happens all the time to people who share my beliefs on topics such as:

Global Warming: I don't believe man has caused it and I don't believe it's really such a catastrophe that everyone is worried about. Yet people who share these beliefs are often ridiculed as hating the planet, being wasteful, harming the environment, and some Kennedy dude recently even said to someone with these beliefs that they should be tried for treason.

Gay marriage: People like me who don't believe gay marriage should be legally allowed are often called homophobic, and hateful. I have my reasons for thinking this is a bad idea, but these sorts of topics are kind of off limits to the forum. I just want to say that I'm not homophobic or hateful toward homosexuals. I have friends who are gay, have met gay people in the workplace and school, and I enjoy their friendship.

Illegal Immigration: People like me who want to stop (or at least minimize) illegal immigration are often called racist and hateful. I don't hate immigrants. I welcome them to come through the proper methods and channels. But I've had a Mexican room mate who was here illegally, who had about 5 fake ideas showing him at the ages of 19-30 years old. He was getting assistance to pay for school and living, and everything was taken care of for him. Meanwhile I married a Romanian who came to this country legally as a student and has struggled just to survive because she couldn't work except for a few hours a week for the school, which certainly wouldn't pay tuition and rent. She was fortunate enough to have a sponsor family here in the US who paid for her first year of school and then she established a 4.0 GPA and got scholarships to pay for the rest of her schooling. But anyway, my point is that it's terribly wrong to penalize the people who come here legally while completely ignoring and even helping the people who don't have respect for the laws.

So to summarize: I'm really annoyed when people can't seem to argue their point and instead just aim to discredit or defame those with opposing beliefs.

8485

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / Re: Scanahand RC1 Released

« on: February 28, 2008, 02:16 AM »

Any idea when version 1.0 will be released?

I just remembered this thread and wanted a couple days to try out the trial version before making a decision and am hoping to be able to get the super discounted version if I decide I really want it.

8486

Developer's Corner / Re: It's time for NANY and GOE mug pictures!

« on: February 28, 2008, 02:00 AM »

This whole thing has been nothing short of a religious experience for me. (see attachment in previous post)

-tinjaw (February 12, 2008, 04:59 PM)

Your jaw doesn't look like it's made of tin to me! But perhaps if your skull icon is accurate, it's underneath that skin... No wonder you didn't show any teeth in your smile! 

8487

Developer's Corner / Re: The DC Coders' Breakfast Club

« on: February 28, 2008, 01:57 AM »

Today I'm going to go to bed at a decent hour.  Oops! Too late! (nearly 1AM as I write this). Well maybe in 20 hours I'll go to sleep at a decent hour.

8488

Living Room / Re: Speaking of U3 Flash drives ...

« on: February 28, 2008, 01:54 AM »

Speaking of Flash drives .. has anyone worked with teh U3 models?
I picked one up that and it wants to be 2 drives, one read only and the other read/write.  the default position is to be drives E & F on a XP machine.  My problem is that my devices are C: (HD),  D: (CD/DVD) E: (empty) F: (Floppy), G:,H: different format Flash connectors (direct for camera and built into teh Floppy drive unit), then I: & J: (HD # 2, & 3). 

So the device see the first open drive .. E:, but the F: is taken, does anyone know how to convince this silly thing (Windows XP) to use K: & L:, rather than E: & F: ???

ADV-thanks-ANCE

-Josef508 (February 26, 2008, 03:03 PM)

I don't really see what the problem is. If it takes up two drive letters, and chooses E: but F: is taken, won't it just find the next available drive letter for the second partition? According to your description, that sounds like it would take up E: and K:

Am I wrong about that?

I believe the Read Only drive is the actual U3 files that launch when you plug it in. It's Read Only so you don't delete that crap off the drive. Also I read somewhere that you can hold Shift when you insert the U3 drive to disable U3 functionality. I'm not sure if that will help, but it would be easier to test than going into Disk Management and changing thing around.

8489

Living Room / Re: look at the size of my recycle bin !!!

« on: February 28, 2008, 01:43 AM »

Will this program work on Windows XP?  I didn't find anything on their site that showed requirements for the OS.   

-techidave (February 27, 2008, 10:15 PM)

I'm pretty sure the screen shot in the original post is in XP.

8490

General Software Discussion / Re: Raxco - Amazing customer service

« on: February 28, 2008, 01:15 AM »

That's a great anecdote! I wish more were like it in the customer support industry!

8491

Living Room / Re: Kodak (Complaint)

« on: February 28, 2008, 01:09 AM »

And thanks for the "few" donation credits, cranioscopical! I can't tell you how surprised and delighted I am by your gift! It's actually pretty amazing what crazy things can happen if you complain to the right people!

For Christmas 2006, my mother had ordered some gifts from a catalog that were guaranteed to arrive by Christmas. For some reason they didn't make it and all the company would say is "Sorry, it will be there in a couple weeks." I don't know what reason, if any, they gave her for the order not arriving on time, but it wasn't something understandable like terrible snow storms delaying shipments. So my mother called another company that had the same or similar products. By this time Christmas was just a couple days away so they couldn't guarantee Christmas delivery, but when my mother told them what happened with the OTHER company, they felt so bad for her that they offered her all kinds of benefits, like free expedited shipping, gift certificates, coupons, etc., even though they did no wrong!

She called the first company back to cancel her order and told them about what company #2 did for her for company #1's mistake and they tried to offer her something but it wasn't even up to what the second company offered. Not that it mattered! They didn't even offer to make amends until she told them she was canceling because she ordered it from their competitor. I doubt she would have accepted it anyway even if it was better than what company #2 offered.

8492

Living Room / Re: Kodak (Complaint)

« on: February 28, 2008, 12:48 AM »

Do you have any consumer advocacy bodies available in your area?
Any computer or photography magazines with a columnist who will take up the cudgel on behalf of their readers?

-cranioscopical (February 27, 2008, 11:09 PM)

Not that I'm aware of. I live in a small city in Idaho. The only thing interesting around here is Boise, and that's about 130 miles away. Or if you travel the other direction you could reach the armpit of Idaho, Pocatello. I don't know much about Pocatello from personal experience, but everyone I've talked to who lived there or traveled there frequently says they hate it. And what does it say about the town you live in if there's not even a Wal-Mart there?

Anyway, I might be able to find a "news on your side" but I'm not really sure if there is something like that in this area since I don't watch the news. Any tips on how I could find some consumer advocacy group in my area?

What you do depends on how much of your life you're willing to devote to more of this frustrating journey.
Once I would have chased down the issue to the bitter end.
Now, certainly older, and (maybe) a tad wiser, I'd walk away from it as I have better things to do with my time.
I'd never buy another Kodak product, and I'd make damned sure none of my friends did either.

-cranioscopical (February 27, 2008, 11:09 PM)

I've worked both in customer service and technical support positions so I know that people who chase down the issue to the bitter end often get what they want. But I'm also of the opinion that it's called the "bitter end" for a reason. Nobody's really a winner in those situations. The customer spends so much time and energy yelling at people to get what they want and the company just tries to get the customer to stop calling. They take silence as total compliance.

I suppose on principle alone, that cutting my losses would be allowing them to continue in these poor practices and perhaps even believing that the issue was resolved and I'm a happy customer. Then again, some battles aren't worth the effort. The camera works fine. The functionality is all there, and in the end that's what really matters. Even if it's distracting to see the carp under the glass or annoying that it has a deep scratch on it, it still takes pictures and videos, and that's what we bought the camera for. In a few years when we've got kids, they'll probably get a hold of it and it will most likely get scratched and scuffed before they finally destroy it completely.

It's just aggravating because I'm so anal about keeping my things in pristine condition, and when I sent it in to fix a manufacturing error, it comes out looking much worse.

I might fire off a few more e-mails to test the waters of how helpful they'll be (like if I demand they contact Teleplan for me), but ultimately I see myself walking away from this without much nice to say about Kodak.

8493

Living Room / Re: What annoys you to no end?

« on: February 27, 2008, 09:27 PM »

Or Bad Customer Service!   

8494

Living Room / Re: What annoys you to no end?

« on: February 27, 2008, 09:24 PM »

or when the cat pukes on your important papers

-Dell[a] (February 27, 2008, 08:39 PM)

Or when the dog pukes. On/in your shoes. While you're wearing them. In the car. On the way to go hiking in the mountains. A good hour away from any place or any thing to clean them up with.

8495

Living Room / Kodak (Complaint)

« on: February 27, 2008, 09:20 PM »

Last June my wife and I bought a digital camera. A Kodak EasyShare. Relative to our income, it was very expensive. In July I used the camera to record a video of the local fireworks show. (Naturally the battery died just before the finale!) Sometime in August we realized that the video recording mode didn't work anymore. The camera uses a wheel to select which mode to go in, and I noticed a correlation that the mode on the opposite end of the wheel didn't work either.

As it got nearer to the holidays and we knew we'd want to take pictures when visiting family, I began to contact technical support. I went to the website, navigated the interactive troubleshooting guide (ITG), found and followed the troubleshooting steps that best matched my problem (i.e. didn't really match my problem at all), then finally, at the suggestion of the ITG, filled out an e-mail form asking for more assistance.

I got an automated response saying they'd try to get back to me in 24 hours. Well, eight days (192 hours) later I got a response telling me to go to the website and use the ITG to isolate my problem, and if it needed to be sent in for repairs the ITG would allow me to fill out a form for that. This was upsetting not only because I'd already tried that over a week ago, but also because there was no way for me to use the e-mail form without first using the interactive troubleshooting guide first! As part of the e-mail they received when my form was sent in, it said "Troubleshooting Guide: Yes" indicating that I'd e-mailed them through the ITG!

So I e-mailed back reminding them about the aforementioned facts and telling them that there was no troubleshooting steps that matched my problem and there was no option to fill out a form for repair. I also began to complain about it taking 8 days only to receive a worthless response and explained my problem in more detail. Furthermore I "firmly requested" that if they suggest once again to me that I use the ITG that they take 30 seconds and help me find something that matched my problem because I was seemingly incapable of doing it myself.

This time they did get back to me within a more reasonable time frame, apologized for the delay, and unhelpfully told me that I should call customer service for more assistance. I dreaded what that would be like so I put it off for about a month.

Finally I called and they told me to take the same stupid troubleshooting steps I did 1.5 months prior using the ITG. Thankfully they were short, and simple, but unfortunately still ineffective. When that didn't work they gave me an RMA # and transferred me to a recorded message with instructions on where and how to send the package. The recorded message was long winded and at times difficult to hear. And the company I was sending the camera to in order to be repaired was not called Kodak. It was called Teleplan International. But I couldn't make out what the voice was saying so I pressed a button to get it to repeat the message 3-4 times to try and hear the company name (which was near the end of the instructions, and after several attempts I still didn't get it right)! Trying to understand the recording alone probably took 20 minutes! Finally I gave up out of frustration and hung up the phone, only to go to my computer and realize they sent me an e-mail with all that information! ARGH! Why didn't they just smurfing tell me they were going to e-mail me all the smurfing information!

Once again I put off actually sending the camera off because it said it could take about two weeks and it was nearly Christmas.

Christmas with the family was quite enjoyable but we couldn't record any videos! 

We got back from the trip and mailed the camera (on our dime!) to the repair center. After over 3 weeks it came back. I opened the box to test it out and immediately noticed a few things:

1. It's got really dirty, dirty fingerprints/smudges all over it.
2. There's a really big, deep scratch on the camera.
3. There appears to be a large speck of dust on the screen. I figure it's a piece of cardboard and try to blow it off. It sticks. I try to wipe it off. It sticks. To my great dismay, I realize that it is under the glass! There's no getting rid of it!

Despite my increasing anger I decide to make sure that all the camera modes work. Well, hey! At least they got something right! Video mode now works and records. I snap a few short videos, watch them, go to delete them, and I see some other pictures on the camera.

There are two photos taken at Wal-Mart of nothing in particular. "That's strange," I thought, "I don't remember taking these pictures." The more I thought about it and looked at the photos the more I realized that 1) the photos are taken from behind a counter where only employees would go, and 2) I've never taken the camera to Wal-Mart (it was purchased brand new at Best Buy), as the nearest one is about 25 minutes away in another town. I begin wondering what part of the repair process involves taking the camera to Wal-Mart to snap photos and simultaneously thinking of what I'm going to say when I e-mail Kodak to let them know about the sorry state the camera has been returned in.

I ended up writing this:

Hello,

I received my camera back today. As promised, the functionality been repaired. Thank you for that!

Now the bad news:

The camera has dirty smudges all over the casing, which is also scratched, it has specks of dust and dirt behind the glass (meaning they cannot be wiped away because they are on the inside of the glass!) and there are even pictures on the internal memory that were taken behind a counter at Wal-Mart, where only employees would be. (This camera was purchased at Best Buy and has never entered a Wal-Mart under our care.)

Does the repair process somehow involve taking the camera to Wal-Mart to snap photos of nothing in particular?

It also looks like someone tried (and perhaps succeeded) in peeling back the sticker with the serial number on it.

The Service Report says the failure was "Pwr-No power" and the fix was to "Replace Part." I have to admit my ignorance in the matters of repairing cameras, but that doesn't sound like what the problem was to me. If this is a refurbished model and the sticker was placed on it to give us the impression that it is indeed the very camera we purchased, I feel that is very misleading and unethical.

The smudges can be cleaned and the pictures erased, but I have to express my displeasure in the state the camera was returned in. We bought this brand new for over $200 and took excellent care of it. We didn't even remove the clear sticker that covers the screen so that it would stay clean and unscratched. We always kept it in a protective case when not in use.

But within two months it malfunctioned and our only choice was to ship it for repairs, which shipping we had to pay for, and now it has been returned in this state! I am very unhappy that after the great care we took with our camera, it looks like it's been handled for two weeks by a 10 year old child.

The next day I received a "reply" to my complaint. I put reply in quotes because it was a blank message, aside from my original complaint and a standard signature saying if I want to reply to be sure to include any previous e-mail history. I thought perhaps there was a mistake and I'd receive a real reply soon. That did not happen. So 4 days later as I was becoming even more angry, I replied to their "reply" and said "A blank message is not a very good response!" and e-mailed that off.

I got a reply about how they understand my concern and know that "this can be very frustrating" on my part. The stressed the importance of feedback to Kodak and thanked me for taking the time to share my "comments" about the status of my camera, and encouraged me to let them know if I had any other suggestions or comment. They assured me that my comments were "going to be seen by the right people" and that I "can be rest assured" that my voice has been heard.

Then they basically said "Whoa! That's not our fault!" by telling me to contact Teleplan International repair center directly by phone. Personally I think that's THEIR job, since they are the ones who subcontract the repair work to the shoddy repair center. They also politely reminded me that if I wanted to send my camera back to the repair center, and if it was within 45 days from when I received my camera back, I would need to send it back to the place that mistreated my camera for repeat repair! I would not be charged for the repair cost, but shipping and insurance would probably be my responsibility again! Then they told me to go to that stupid ITG again to use the form I could never find to set up the process of repairing my camera again.

That was February 2nd and by that time I was just so frustrated and angry that I came to the conclusion that I should just cut my losses and accept the scratch and the crap under the glass just to be rid of their ineptness. I can't imagine how it would be worth it to send it back and get more Wal-Mart photos, more dirty fingerprints/smudges over it, and more scratches just in the hope of getting that stuff out from behind the glass.

So what do you think? Should I cut my losses or complain some more to them and demand a camera in exquisite condition like the one I paid for and sent in?

8496

Living Room / Re: What annoys you to no end?

« on: February 27, 2008, 08:14 PM »

Okay I've got one. It's not the most annoying thing in the world to me. In fact, I have no idea why this annoys me so much.

Someone living in my apartment complex owns a Dodge Dakota. That's not what annoys me. What annoys me is that he has some text on his front windshield, at the top that says "MY Dakota" in big bold letters across nearly the entire width of the windshield.

Anytime I see that it just starts a chain of thoughts much like: "Well DUH! Of course it's your Dakota! Why on earth do you feel the need to point out to everyone that this Dakota belongs to you? You could at least write your name on it so people know who YOU are. I mean, if I stole it and was driving it around, everyone would think it was MY Dakota and not yours! What kind of idiot puts 'MY Dakota' on their windshield?" And the thoughts continue with many more negative assumptions about the intelligence and inferiority of the owner.

What's really sad, though, is that I don't even know the owner. He could be the greatest person on the planet, but that stupid text on his truck leads me to think all sorts of bad things about him.

8497

Living Room / Re: What annoys you to no end?

« on: February 27, 2008, 08:02 PM »

and who is it that takes a shower and puts the wet towel on the bed???? Grrrrrrrrrr

-Dell[a] (February 27, 2008, 06:10 PM)

Ha ha! I'm guessing it's either you or Gothi[c]. It's funny because my wife did the same thing until I suggested that it isn't really a good idea. Maybe it's a European thing?

8498

Living Room / Re: look at the size of my recycle bin !!!

« on: February 27, 2008, 07:06 PM »

128x128 is the default size if you have a high-res monitor, otherwise you get like 100x100 (something in that range, maybe 96x96?)

-wreckedcarzz (February 27, 2008, 06:04 PM)

Yeah, and those numbers translate to: SMURFIN' HUGE! Even on a 1280x1024 resolution!

One of the first things I did when I installed Vista was find out how to make the icons small again...
Then how to turn off UAC...
Then how to revert back to XP.


Okay, so I'm exaggerating on the icon size by a little. And I liked Vista but I didn't like some of my programs not working with it. The thing that broke the camel's back to get me to revert back to XP was actually a false impression: I thought something was wrong with the video drivers because sirens would go off when I was playing games. Turns out my CPU fan was dying and the sirens were telling me that either the temperature was too high or the CPU fan was spinning too slowly.

But I reverted nearly a year ago and I just realized about the failing CPU fan within the past couple months. Imagine my displeasure of going through a format, then waiting so I could take my computer to my parents (who live about 150 miles away) so I could plug in a stupid, arcane, obsolete floppy drive to the system to get it to recognize my SATA drivers to do the XP install, only to find out that the sirens weren't going away. (Though they didn't show up immediately.)

8499

Living Room / Re: The Best Games You've Never Played

« on: February 27, 2008, 06:42 PM »

Half Life II -- it's practically legendary, in terms of popularity. I even own it on the Orange Box collection.  But just haven't been able to simultaneously have time and interest in it.  Anyone care to say anything to motivate me to get into it?

-allen (February 26, 2008, 07:39 AM)

Okay here's my attempt:

Half-Life 1 was incredible to me because it was the first FPS game (I know of) that actually had a real story about why you were going around killing things. It was the total opposite of the macho FPS "Bad Dude" games of the day like Doom, Quake, or Duke Nukem 3D. You weren't there because you were a tough mofo and the world/universe relied on you for its survival. You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time and you're just trying to get out alive. You don't even start out with a weapon. When you first encounter the enemies, you've got to RUN! Plus, the way it loaded sections of the game kept you interested in the story because you were always trying to survive one disaster after another. There was no transition between levels where you could look at your statistics and save and rest and relax. It would have made a great sci-fi book (or dare I say movie?) if properly adapted.

(By the way, Red Faction shared many similar traits, and I really enjoyed it! (But Red Faction 2 sucked big time.))

Sadly I never finished Half-Life 1 so I don't know how it ended.

All I know is that Half-Life 2 starts up sometime after the end of Half-Life 1 when the aliens have kind of enslaved humanity. Even though your motive is different for this game (you're trying to end the conspiracy and free the humans from Combine control, IIRC), the story-telling is just as good. Once again, you don't start off with a weapon. You're just trying to blend in with everyone else who is being assimilated into the new society when your cover is blown and, again with no weapon, you've just got to run for your life. What's fun is that throughout the story there are announcements made on the speakers and video screens about how word is spreading of what you're doing, and how it's causing civil conflict (making the freedom fighting rebels more happy/brave, etc.) and you become a legendary hero of someone who is fighting the system and sticking it to the man/alien, so to speak.

It's what all of the great "Savior" stories are made of, Star Wars had Luke Skywalker, The Matrix had Neo, and Half-Life has Gordon Freeman. They all come from simple/humble beginnings and end up the savior of mankind/society. But the really cool thing about Gordon is that he really is just an ordinary man. You don't have the Force or the ability to control the Matrix. You're just a Regular Joe in the wrong place at the wrong time. Or in the right place at the right time, depending on how you look at it.

One thing I've heard is people complaining about playing the "Silent Hero" role. Gordon never says a word, but people talk to him all the time. I understand that complaint, as it does become kind of annoying in some games. You're just thinking, "Stand up for yourself!" or "Show some personality!" But I think the Silent Hero is especially fitting in Half-Life because it allows me to project my thoughts onto Gordon. Gordon and I become one, so to speak. After all, I'm the puppet master controlling Gordon's strings. And yes, I've actually gotten enough into the role that I speak to the characters as if Gordon was talking back. I think that Half-Life is, in the literal sense, a Role-Playing Game. You don't gain experience, levels, stats, or skills, but the game plays out and the story is told in a way that makes it very easy to play the role of Gordon.

All in all, it's incredible storytelling, a logical justification for going around killing people/things, it's intriguing, and it's mysterious. I have no idea who the G-Man is (the guy with the suitcase) but he's becoming more prominent in the story with EP2.

Tangential remarks added after writing and then previewing this post

An interesting thing to observe is that the basic premise of the original Half-Life was very much like Doom. Some portal/gate opened and demons/monsters/aliens started coming out and you've got to shoot your way to the end to close the portal/gate. The difference is that Doom still felt like pointless violence; A shooter with a bad story tacked on as a sort of half-baked motivation or explanation. Whereas Half-Life is executed in a way that it's not difficult to suspend your belief in the same way you would a sci-fi movie or book, but still have the story be believable. Not only that, but it seemed to me that my actions of killing were not just necessary to reach the goal, but even morally justifiable.

I might be out of the norm, but this is a great distinction for people like me who enjoy a variety of games but are tired of killing just for the sake of killing. But that may just have more to do with my personal values: I am a pacifist by nature, but I do believe there are times when violence is necessary to defend liberty and life.

And now that I think of it, I never played EP1. When they released it I thought it was just a section of the Half-Life 2 story I already played, but for a cheaper price. Like buying the chapters individually.

Allen, I know that any time a new Legend of Zelda or Metroid game comes out you will snatch it up in a heartbeat. The Half-Life series has proved itself to also be deserving of this same treatment. And that's not even taking into consideration how great Portal is! Find the time and play it. Seriously.

8500

Living Room / Re: look at the size of my recycle bin !!!

« on: February 27, 2008, 05:44 PM »

Isn't that the standard size of icons on Vista?