commitment
Latest
Get Disney+ for $4 per month, if you buy three years upfront
For a limited time, Disney is offering a steep discount on its Disney+ streaming service. When it launches on November 12th, Disney+ is set to cost $6.99 per month, with an option to pay $69.99 for the year. But if users are willing to sign up for the D23 Official Disney Fan Club, Disney has another offer: a three-year commitment for just $140.97. That's $46.99 per year, or $3.92 per month. Demand for the offer was reportedly so high that it temporarily crashed the D23 website.
Google will spend $150 million this year to diversify its workforce
Last year, Google released internal data revealing that almost all of its workforce was male, and nearly all of them were from either white or Asian backgrounds. In an attempt to make itself more diverse, the company is putting $150 million into programs to help increase the number of female, Black and Hispanic employees. In the run up to having this year's figures released, Google's Nancy Lee sat down with USA Today to talk about what the search engine is aiming for.
Microsoft quietly drops subsidized $99 Xbox 360
Microsoft discontinued its subsidized $99 Xbox 360 with Kinect bundle in July 2013, the console manufacturer confirmed with the Wall Street Journal. The low-cost console was introduced in May 2012 and required a two-year Xbox Live commitment of buyers at a rate of $14.99 per month. The bundle worked out to be roughly $60 more than the closest option, a $299 4GB Xbox 360 console paired with two years of Xbox Live Gold as separate purchases. "This program was intended to be a pilot experiment from the start, and Microsoft routinely adjusts the mix of offers available to its customers and this change was simply standard business practice," Microsoft spokesman David Dennis said. He added that the subsidized Xbox 360 option was for "squeezing the last 10 to 15 percent out of the potential market." [Image: Microsoft]
The Daily Grind: How long have you played your current game?
It really doesn't mean much for someone to have played a game since launch. The game has likely changed a great deal since then, and what was true at launch is no longer true. But there's still that spectre of being committed. A player who's been on board for two years commands a certain amount of respect compared to someone who's been playing for just over a month. And when a game like Star Wars: The Old Republic or World of Warcraft or Fallen Earth celebrates another anniversary, there's a certain pleasure in being able to say you've been there the whole time. So today's question is very simple: How long have you played your current game? If you have just one MMO, tell us about that one; if you have several, tell us about all of them. We're just curious how long you've been in your games of choice. A month? A year? Five years? Let us know! Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
The Soapbox: Commitment issues
I have friends who have a hard time settling down into just one game. This is not inherently a problem; if you want to jump into many games a month at a time, more power to you. But that's not the case with these folks. They want to be in one place, to stick to just one or two games. These friends look to me, not because my friends assume I am a font of all wisdom as it pertains to MMOs but because I'm pretty stable in games. Barring my participation in things like Choose My Adventure, the games I play are staples. I've been playing Final Fantasy XIV and Star Wars: The Old Republic since launch, the only thing that stopped me from playing City of Heroes was a shutdown, and even my briefer incursions last four months or more. So how do I do it? The answer is the same as the answer to how you make a long-term relationship work: You commit.
The Daily Grind: How many games have you committed to in your gaming history?
Committing to an MMO isn't like committing to beating a single-player game. With the latter, you push through to the end, and barring the odd bit of DLC here and there, you'll be done. No, marrying yourself to an MMO means you're in for the long haul, a year or more. It's the time when a six-month subscription starts to look like a great deal because of course you're still going to be playing in another six months, and hey, less money overall. But today we're not wondering whether right now you're committed to Star Wars: The Old Republic or RIFT or whether you're waiting for your next long-term flame. No, today we want to know how many long-term flames you've had in the time you've played MMOs. Have you committed to several games for a year, then drifted into the next one? Have you never really settled down beyond a month or two hither and yon? Or have you been playing Ultima Online since launch and never really had reason to move to newer pastures? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
The Daily Grind: How do you get the energy back?
No matter how much you love a game, there comes a point where it gets... tedious. It's as true for single-player games as it is for MMOs. But in a game with no defined endpoint, it's even easier to find yourself staring at the character screen and dreading taking a step into the world, because there's just no point to all of it. But we're committed to these games, for better or worse, and so the usual reaction isn't to just stop but to try doing something different. To go for a different approach, level a different character, take on a new set of challenges. And while it takes some time to hit that perfect combination of elements, there's something for most of us that usually reignites that spark that you had when you first started the game. It went from interesting to boring and then back to interesting again. How do you get yourself back into a game that you're finding yourself more lukewarm toward? Do you play a class that's outside of your normal range? Try setting some arbitrary challenge for yourself? Go to areas you usually don't? What gives you back the energy to log in to the game?
Contemporary raiding and real-life obligations
An unidentified reader wrote to WoW Insider explaning that while he is in a raiding guild, his life schedule does not allow him to raid. He feels he's being left behind as groups ask for higher DPS.What practical advice is there for progressing in the game while being a player with RL obligations? First off, I'd like to tell you that you're not an outlier, there are many of players in similar situations. Nearly all WoW players have real life obligations including work, school, and families. The two most important things to work on are balance and realistic expectations.It's easy to get suckered into playing too much WoW. To balance WoW with life, you need to determine how much time you can spend in game, while leaving plenty to meet your other responsibilities. If you can, try to schedule WoW at regular times, that way you build relationships with folks you play with often.
Study expects 32 million LTE subscribers in three years after launch
With Planet Earth's wireless juggernauts jumping on the LTE train while there's still room, we suppose the latest report from ABI Research isn't all that shocking. According to it, there will be some 32 million LTE network subscribers by 2013, and with the commercial launch not expected to go down before 2010, our abacus suggests that we're talking about 32 million over just 3 years. The firm asserts that the Asia-Pacific region will account for most of those folks (around 12 million), while the rest get split 60% / 40% between Western Europe and North America. You think we're just going to let you make this outlandish claim and then fuhgetaboutit, don't you ABI? Nah, we're creating a Google Calendar reminder for this day in 2013 right now to check back and see just how accurate you really were.[Via SlashPhone]
