You know, if you look at the top of the monitor, it'll blow up. MADE YOU LOOK!
You know, if you look at the top of the monitor, it'll blow up. MADE YOU LOOK!
Arran "ACE" Yarwood Rants On....
The first of the non PA page170 features this. Arran's pissed, and he's pissed about Microsoft..... There is a place so far up, that there is no down.The words of Terry Prachett.
Very Apt.
For, I feel this way about on-line gaming. The pleasue has no limits, but the phone bill just keeps going up.
Anyone on the IGZ will know it has been re-designed.
WHY???????
It was quite fast, pretty, functional, and actually worked BEFORE. Now, it is NONE of these things...
So, why redesign it? Simple, the MS web design staff thought "oh dear, we have got nothing to do anymore... Ho-hum..." Then the dreaded message comes from Mr. Bill "Is everyone working hard and making lots of stuff? I WANT MORE MONEY!!!"
Web design team look at each other... "Hmmm... Guess we better find a project to keep us in employment. Any ideas?"
"What about making the web page much faster and More reliable?" "Nah, would get us out of a job even quicker..." "What about fixing some of the bugs in the web page?" "Nah, not much chance of a bonus... (Besides, we don't want to draw attention to any bugs after the Windows 98 fiasco)" "What about making an entirely new web page using all of the most up-to-date (And resource intensice) gadgets at our disposal?"
"Great Idea! God, writing the Faq and trouble shooting guide alone will keep us in expensive clothes for the rest of our lives!!!"
"Brilliant!!!"
"Hell, we don't even have to make any real improvements, just jiggle the pictures around, swap a few with new images, and stuff in a load of activeX stuff that no-one wants to (Or can) run!!!"
"Ok, Lets get to work!!!"
So far, I have not been able to get the new style Zone to work, despite searching hours for the pooly located Faq, and then another weeek trying to find the relevant section. Hell, by the time I find the correct modifications, the Zone will probably have been redisgned again (Or just put back to its original style, with the web team hoping no-one notices...)
So, what alternative is there to the Zone?
Well, one is BT's Wireplay. Faster, equally reliable, but MUCH more expensive.
£9.99 a month with Lo-call phone prices, OR 2.5p a mintue cheap-rate phone calls.
I have been playing on Wireplay quite a bit, and have come to the conclusion that the "Free Games" Such as Mud2 and Air Attack are great.
The downside is that My phone bill is being computed by the same machines that are being used to calculate Pi...
This brings me onto a new subject: On-line Quake A game for T3 Connections and sado-masochists?
Even on the most recommended and fastest servers, I STILL get a ping of about 600 with just 4 players in it!!!
And as for the servers... ALWAYS THE SAME OLD MAPS... I wouldn't mind if they were GOOD maps, but they never are...
And now for somethign completely different... Clans (As in the Ku-Klux.) What a sucky name for what is esssentially a "gang" Any suggestions for a new name?
In my experience of Quake Clans (And Clans in general,) they are always really lame. The players are good, but they NEVER have proper Clan Vs Clan, matches. And when they do, hardly anyone turns up (Which is a good thing, because more than two a side slows the game to un-bearability).
By and Copyright of Arran Ace Yarwood. Email at arran@globalnet.co.uk. Now stop pulling my tights. Dated 17/5/98.
LOOK SUPER EXTRA THING! "Wass our Darthy Up to?"
