Saturday, October 30, 2010

Celestian Diaries, Number 2 (Rant Included!)

At least I'm not the only blogger who's found it hard to balance blogging and Wizard101 lately. It seems that Friendly is yet again realizing that "less talkee, more playee" is quite important.

However, it's been a few days since Celestia's launch, and David and I aren't even Level 51 yet! Yep, that's right. We're taking it extremely slow - not even out of the Grotto!

I would have pictures for all of you... But I've been so immersed in game play that it's just not happening. Sorry, Print Screen...

Well, not necessarily Print Screen. Folks, it's time I broke it to you. Something has been seriously frustrating me... Besides the fact that KingsIsle took out two very excellent Solar Spells because of PvP imbalance rather than just banning them in PvP.

All right, let's face it: the Mac destroys the PC any day. The Mac has better software, better hardware, and is downright better than a PC. I KNOW, I know, the PC is "a better gaming computer". I must say, though, that the PC is only a better gaming computer right now because the industry makes it so.

Let's take Wizard101 (a game) and Livestream (a great tool for gamers and online communities) for example, here.

Wizard101 is only compatible on the PC currently. Why is this? Only the people at KingsIsle will really know why Wizard101 only runs on PC's. Now, I've gotten Wizard101 to run on my Mac through fairly expensive software. Even then, the game doesn't run the way I want it to. It glitches often, and is not compatible with software like...

Livestream. An excellent tool for gamers who want to share their experience in games without the toil of creating a blog or a podcast. All you have to do is press "Go Live", and you're broadcasting your game to the world... On a PC. On Mac, however, there is no version of Procaster (Livestream software) that allows the user to specifically broadcast a game they play. I would, then, after having to go through all the trouble of using pretty annoying third party software, be disappointed because Livestream for Mac will not recognize games. This means desktop broadcasting, which is entirely different than game broadcasting, because it usually takes much less to power. If you try to broadcast a game with desktop broadcasting software, you will not be as successful as you might have been otherwise.

Here is my point: Why do people not make PC and Mac equal on software and hardware? Honestly. Why won't Livestream recognize games on Mac, and why won't KingsIsle pull out a Mac version of Wizard101?

Think about it from a business perspective: You have several million PC user's playing your game... There's several million Mac users out there who would love your game, too, KingsIsle! They'd buy subscriptions and Crowns and Mega Snack Packs and with those Crowns and so it all unfolds and comes back down to-

Money. It's what makes the world go 'round, folks.

And that's my rant of the day! Enjoy Celestia! (Coming to your Mac soon? Oh, I wish.)

Oh, right, and before I sign off, I might as well notify everyone that my Livestream channel is up and running: The Dustin MoonCatcher Network. I know, I've got a gigantic ego and have been renaming it a bunch of crap names every other minute, but it's here to stay now just a channel. David and I might be broadcasting some Celestia on it later tonight. Check it out (click here) and STAY TUNED!

Keep on Casting,
D. MoonCatcher

4 comments:

  1. Don't feel too bad. I've been trying, key word here, trying to play Celestia since it came out. My wizard is just barely half way through level 51. Wizard freezes up constantly, and sometimes crashes due to the amount of players in the area. Even on perfect realms!

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  2. I can explain the whole Mac and PC thing to you if you shoot me an email.

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  3. You do realize that the only way to upgrade a mac is to replace it entirely, macs cost far more than the sum of their parts due to the brand name, and the Macs do not allow you to change any 'real' settings, which is the reason why there is such a bad software lock.

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  4. I understand your point, however without taking any sides ( PC v Mac ) the majority of Wizard101's target audience eg. Younger Childeren, Older People, etc. - are probably less likely to own Macs, therefore launching the game for PC means it is more accessible for the public. Infact PCs are much more common for recreational and gaming usage than Macs - most probably for the simple reason that more people have them, although Macs are highly used especially in the creative industry eg. Graphic Design.

    Regarding "Why do people not make PC and Mac equal on software and hardware?" I believe the PC and Mac are completely different. Like telling two different people to build a computer and a coding language- they would both do it differently.

    Making a Mac Compatible version if the game would undoubtably be beneficial, however how high it is on Kingsisles priorities is a different matter. On the otherhand, I don't know how much time, and/or money would be required to make a Mac version- this may be a factor in deciding where it is in the priorities list.

    I must admit saying "The Mac destroys the PC any day" does sound rather contreversial- and would prefer something more along the lines of "The PC and the Mac each have their own advantages". :)

    At the end of the day- The average PC is currently more widespread in the public, whether if this will change in future- I don't know! :)

    But to be honest, I'm no expert! Just a thought!

    Interesting Post! :)

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