The Extraordinary Tourist
Computer Games - The Power Leveling Business
Thursday, February 07, 2008
 I happened to catch the final episode of the documentary Gamer Revolution on ABC2 last night and I was totally blown away with just how much the computer game industry has progressed. If you're interested to read a more detailed summary of the topics covered in the documentary there is a good article on CBC-TV's web site.
Although I knew the computer gaming industry is worth millions more than the Hollywood movie industry and I've heard about online games/worlds like World of Warcraft and Second Life it's an area of computing that has largely passed me by. I'm just not interested in spending hours upon hours playing computer games (though I am partial to the occasional game of Tomb Raider).
What gob smacked me the most about this episode was the story about a man who runs an online business to 'power level' a player's character in various online gaming worlds.
Here's how this works...
Say you're playing an online game where the top power level for a player character is 60. Unfortunately you're crap at the game and languishing around level 15 whilst all your friends, whom you game with, are at level 40. Such a power difference makes you more of a liability to the team in battles than a help.
One solution might be to practice, practice, practice...right? Isn't that what the game is all about, building up your characters experience and power yourself? Learning how to be a better player? Apparently that's not what it's about for everyone.
In the new world of computer gaming you can pay someone, who can play the game well, to play your character until they reach the desired power level you've requested and paid for. Say level 40 - like your friends. The catch? Whilst this person is powering up your character you have no access to the character or the game. Depending on how much of a boost you want this can take up to ten or more days.
When you get your character back your power level is much like your friends and, hey presto, you're no longer a liability. Well, assuming your not just blatantly crap at the game and fair no better at level 40 than what you did at level 15.
The unbelievable part - if that wasn't enough - is that the man who started this business of power leveling player's characters has had to out source the actual playing of the games part of his business. i.e. he no longer plays the games himself.
It gets better.
His business is based in the US but he's hired a manager in Romania to run a Romanian centre of about 30 computers where his players work on a shift basis to power up characters. Let that sink in just a bit.
This practice is so popular that he hired at least 30 players (probably more since they work on a rotational basis on 30 computers) in a developing country (read low paid workforce) to work around the clock power leveling people's characters in online games. Not only that but he's gone off shore to be competitive i.e. there are other people/businesses earning a living power leveling characters in online computer games.
Are you following this?
It's probably not new to you online gamer freaks out there but this is a whole online industry that I never imagined. I knew that Second Life has virtual money that can be turned into real money. I also knew that there's plenty of money to be made in other similar online games that have monetary systems but I never imagined there was this side industry in power leveling online player characters.
To me, it just smacks of people who want all the glory without the work.
If you're a gamer who's worked really hard to build up your character's level and experience then I just know you're not going to be all that impressed by these pretenders with money to burn.
If you want to know more about Power Leveling, BOG is one such service. I have no idea if it is the same service mentioned in the documentary however reading their about page I'm guessing not. This operation, with 700 computers and more than one thousand 'professional technicians', is much larger. Totally mind blowing!Labels: computers, internet
Gonna Get my Picture on the Cover of Rolling Stone.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
 Okay, so it's not Rolling Stone Magazine and it's not really Wired Magazine either but one can dream can't they?
Wired Magazine is to the IT industry what Rolling Stone Magazine is to the music industry. i.e. Wired is the 'cool' technology magazine that is as famous for its page design and overall look as it is for its in depth articles. If you make the cover of Wired then there's a good chance some of its coolness may reflect kindly on you.
Xerox is running a promotion where you too can dream about being on the cover of Wired with their Wired Magazine Cover Creator. Thanks to Nalts at Will Video for Food for posting about this little bit of fun.Labels: computers, design, people, writing
3D Desktop Printers.
Friday, July 13, 2007
I'd heard of the concept of a 3D printer but I never knew they'd become a reality. You may say, "Oh that's old news, they've been around since..." well I don't know when since I've just discovered them.
For the uninitiated a 3D printer works like your average inkjet printer except it sprays microscopic bits of melted plastic in a process that gradually builds a solid, hold in your hand 3D object. That's right not an image on paper of a 3D object but the actual object 'printed' in 3 dimensional form.
The SolidScape T66 3D printer, sits on your desktop and will set you back about US$30,000. Presently it's used for printing designed 3D objects, such as jewelry, from CAD software but the future potential is mind blowing.
Imagine when the price of these things comes right down so that every home could afford one. Imagine shopping in a virtual toy store and then 'printing' out your purchases as physical 3D toys. Cool or what?
Can't wait for the next generation of 3D printers when you'll be able to 'print' out ready to eat, piping hot pizza!Labels: computers, design, toys
Ebooks, battery life, and the humble stack of paper.
Monday, August 07, 2006
The ebook, or electronic book, has not quite caught on as a cool, mass consumer product largely because of the medium used to deliver it. Namely the computer. Even the smallest of laptop computers don't quite have the convenience of that humble stack of paper, glued or stitched down one side, more commonly referred to as a regular 'book'.
Regular books come in all shapes and sizes, the most convenient of which is known as the 'paperback'. Paperbacks are just the right size to read without straining the eyes and are just small enough to take up hardly any room in a bag, briefcase or maybe even a large coat pocket. Not with standing their use as 'brain food' their durability knows no bounds. They are still readable even after being used to prop up a wobbly table or having been thrown at an annoying colleagues head (not that this happens often but it happens).
Laptops have the annoying habit of being bulky and not very hard wearing at all. Even if your laptop computer is easy to get out on the bus there is still the issues of battery life and finding room to read standing because there are no seats left at rush hour. For those without laptops well, need I mention how unportable the humble desktop computer is. Has power cord, doesn't travel more than a few feet.
Rumor has it that Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, is banking that people will want to read ebooks on their next generation video ipods. This could make ebooks cool but seriously, even on an ipod with a larger screen size they're missing the point. You can't go too far away from a power source for too long with an ipod. Even with the one or two dedicated ebook readers that do exist you can bet your life the battery will be flat as you struggle to prioritise charging your mobile phone, laptop, ipod, psp or ebook reader.
An ebook can't emulate the satisfaction of completing a lengthy tome like 'War and Peace'. You know that book is heavy going - literally. You can see how much you've read and that you're making real progress if you're still reading a third of the way into it. There is no better feeling than the visual satisfaction of knowing you've read a book that thick from first to last page.
The problem with ebooks is, unlike music and film, words on paper is the one medium that isn't improved by being reproduced in digital format. Granted you can enhance the text with hyperlinks and search functions and even make parts interactive but once you do that...well...it's no longer a book really. It's more like a web site.
The book is the one form of communication that doesn't require any additional hardware to enjoy. You don't need to be shown how to make a book work and you don't need to remember a password to open it. A book isn't limited to one operating system. You can read a book any way you want, at any speed. You can skip words, pages or even start at the end. You can just look at the pictures or flip through the pages to get a general feel for what's inside.
Most importantly...books are affordable. Even if you don't buy new books there are hundreds of interesting books in second hand stores, garage sales and flee markets. Even the homeless can afford to read books. No power points required. No reader device needed.
It's simple and easy to understand how a book works and the content can be as simple or as complex as your tastes desire. Nothing is nearly quite so impressive as a collection of books in your own personal library. Books do not get more impressive when you can fit 50,000 of them onto a machine the size of a matchbox. Books hold fond memories for people. Many people describe their perfect day as settling down with a good book.
Perhaps I'm beginning to ramble but there is a reason why people don't read long tracts of text on a web site. Reading on a screen is not fun or easy on the eye. Screens require movement and colour to hold our attention. That's what we're accustomed to. Ebooks require you to look at a static screen for extended periods. Much longer than it takes to read a web site.
Clearly ebooks have quite a way to go before they catch on.Labels: computers, observation
Superman Verses the Super Computer.
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Watching ‘Superman III’ on the television the other night, two things stood out during the course of the film.
One was the superb effort of its star, Christopher Reeve, to maintain Superman’s credibility despite an appallingly constructed script that played more for laughs than action adventure. (It’s not hard to see why the franchise died soon after this).
The other was how dated the computer technology in the film is.
Superman III was released in 1982, at a time when computers were still gaining momentum. People knew about them but really didn’t know how they worked. Computer networks in the workplace took up whole rooms. Computers in the home were limited mostly to gaming consoles, and perhaps your classic early consumer computers like the VIC 20.
The Star Villain of Superman III is a Super Computer that can do ‘anything you tell it to do’. Having just been built, this machine first appears in the final half hour. It is huge. Several stories high, completely filling an entire subterranean cavern with wires, buttons, lights, power cables and all manner of electronic gadgets.
In today’s world, I couldn’t help but think, “if they built that now you could probably wear it on your wrist.”Labels: computers, movies, observation
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