aeortar

Well I don't have much experience with building PCs (only fully built one from scratch), but here are the things I'll be focusing on when I build my next one: When purchasing the processer I'd keep an eye on the maximum heat it can cope with - I've found with one of my PCs (admittedly one that was mostly pre-built for me as opposed to being self built) that even after getting some decent fans the most common bottleneck is the temperature! Similarly make sure you've

I'll also vouch for M&B warband - a great game, if a little rough around the edges. My favourite thing about it is the combat. The story is non-existent - basically you make your own, although you do get some standard quests and plenty of scope to do things (i.e. become a lord/have your own kingdom). The graphics are decent enough for me to enjoy but aren't great compared to most modern games. The sound is decent (the quests aren't voiced though). The combat th

I seem to recall Brad saying (or people saying that Brad said) that even if stardock went under we would still be able to download games we'd paid for. I'm guessing that no longer applies?

The TQM philosophy is suited to manufacturing companies. Quite how it has such relevance for a software company which produces one product (for the games division) every couple of years I've no idea! In a similar vein, I'd like to suggest stardock considers implementing a Just-In-Time system. This has been shown to greatly reduce costs, increase efficiency, and improve the speed with which a company operates, and would make invaluable reading for Brad.

Has anyone tried this game yet? Been hearing quite a few reports of some major crashing issues but on the other hand steam has a sale on it at the moment...

Icewind dale lists windows 7 as one of the minimum operating system requirements, but Baldur's Gate only gives windows XP - does that mean the impulse version isn't compatible with windows 7 (or vista)?

For the last day I'd hoped they'd do something special. Instead it's just a repeat of some of the previous deals :(. Ah well I got a few cheap ones and didn't spend as much as I had on their previous sales so it's good news for my pocket I guess!

[quote] Lots of indie game studios did it and got a sound return on the investment [/quote] From the link: "The code was engineered to be cross-platform from the start, built on libraries like OpenGL" - I suspect had this not been the case it may not have provided a sound return on the investment.

Wish impulse could do sales like this, but the few times they have a good sale it's got a country restriction on it. Looking forward to what the rest of the sales bring (and hoping I don't spend too much money as a result!)

[quote] I dont care if by buying from from my favourite comapny I help in creating its monopoly - developers and publishers selling in that store still have to compete against each other for my money, so I dont see any danger to future prices, just because one shop might hold 70+% marketshare.. [/quote] Unfortunately there is a huge danger that you've missed - yes, developers will have to compete against each other in the monopoly's store, which should help prevent any one title b

Had an issue where when I ordered a game it placed the order twice, but they refunded me fairly quickly. Don't like the restrictions on use and activation though, so I only tend to use them if they're much cheaper than impulse/steam (which usually they aren't).

Yes they gain awareness, but for all the wrong reasons - it helps raise one of their biggest weaknesses, that is, if they go under you lose all the games you purchased (the fact that they're DRM free helps alleviate this somewhat, but not fully). It associates them with failure, and makes people reluctant to trust them. When you're a tiny company in comparison to something like steam that's a very dangerous route to take. It's conceivable the number of people who find out about it as

Unbelievable. What crazy person thought this would be a good PR stunt?!

Update posted on their website (from google cache since the website itself is down atm): UPDATE 20.09.2010 First of all, we apologize everyone for the whole situation and closing GOG .com. We do understand the timing for taking down the site caused confusion and many users didn't manage to download all their games. Unfortunately we had to close the service due to business and technical reasons.

:( Really disappointed to hear about this. Also means I'll probably lean more towards steam for digital purchases as it does underline a really big risk with a digital purchase, that the company you buy from fails (and at least steam is in a monopoly position making it unlikely it would fail in the near future). On the plus side I'm assuming that due to their lack of DRM I'll be able to copy the install files (which I kept as a backup) to a new machine, but still means no more 'new' o

Wait 2 years before buying games, be selective about the ones you buy, and focus on those with editors/mod tools with decent user reviews and you can get plenty of good strategy games without needing to fork out much money. Since you're two years behind you can get a fairly cheap computer which will play all the games very well as well. You don't need that expensive a computer to play the latest games either, providing you're ok with not running them at maxed settings with perfect framerates.

Dragon Age: Origins - a spiritual successor to the baldurs gate series with good graphics and storyline - if you want a good rpg that's also not very old (DA is 1-2 years old I think now) then I'd go with DA:O.

[quote] I don't know why everyone thinks government regulation is always bad, or do you miss the days of working in the factory being a leading cause of death, of children working their fingers literally off, you know, the little things that corporations didnt' care about, mainly the health of their workers. [/quote] Government usually doesn't manage to take the best option when looking for the solution, then implements it poorly, and ends up costing a fair amount too. Sometimes t

Tried contacting them but they don't answer the phones or emails (despite saying they respond within 12 hours, and have a 30 day guarantee!). Needless to say I'll be finding as many review sites I can to launch scathing reviews. Don't have enough spare time atm to take it further though :(

Yep definitely the power supply - replaced it with a decent quality one and computer's back to working fine now (hopefully it will last more than 3 hours this time!) Obviously I won't be using those IT 'professionals' again! I guess the silver lining is that I've at least learnt how to replace a power supply, so I'm 1 step closer to being able to build my own PC from scratch when I next look to upgrade

Phew, slightly relieved by the update issued: http://galaxynextdoor.com/post/919532908/update-dragon-age-ii-no-overhead-view-on-pc-no Still appears to confirm that the camera view will be more restricted, and the toolset may not be available on release, but also that the camera will still offer some form of top-down view (just not as good as the current one) and that there's a

I was fine with having 1 race as player character+liked the sound of it being voiced, but no arial view+no toolset mean this could be one of the few bioware games I either sit out or wait to get slashed to a bargain price. Then again I've got loads of stuff I can still do with the DA:O toolset (in part because it's so complicated/takes ages to use) and I don't like the sound or look of the new art style for DAO2 either.

Looks like I'll have to get a new power supply (hopefully this one will last more than 3 hours!). Thanks for the advice.

[quote] The Daily Mail and the Telegraph? What, was the National Enquirer was too busy with Lindsey Lohan to give this drivel coverage as well? [/quote] The daily mail may be a tabloid with a reputation for sensationalising stories (although if you read the article you'll note there doesn't appear to be any dispute or defence about the facts, the hospital in question appears to admit culpability) but the telegraph isn't and is seen as a much more reliable ne

Anyone here have experience of using a power tester for a computer? The power unit on my PC failed (fan failed+overheated the power) so I got a computer repairman to replace the power unit. The PC worked fine for about 3 hours before cutting out (although not because of overheating). I checked all cables/sockets were in place on it but it failed to start up again (the motherboard+graphics card fans would spin for about a second before stopping). Hoping that it was a problem with the p