Andy McDandy Vent Page

For years, Windows was the ideal platform to make games for but over time things have changed, Mac and Linux both became better desktop operating systems.  As they progressed, more people and governments have moved away from Windows.  Some of the big gaming developers like Blizzard Entertainment and Valve followed suite by adding Mac as another supported operating system.  However, with more people moving to Linux over the past couple of years, only Valve have paid any attention and expanded to Linux.

Unfortunately the other big boys have been ignoring the Linux operating system and what is even more frustrating is their lack of caring about their current and potential customers in providing a statement on why they are ignoring the other operating system.

Anyone who knows Linux will agree it is a more stable and secured operating system, not to mention faster as well.  I just got my system back up and running after doing a test.  What I did was reformat my system with my copy of Windows 8 that I purchased a year ago to use in VirtualBox and after about 3 hours, Windows was still finalizing the first 100 updates just installed.  It was painful, so painful I didn’t even allow the finalizing to finish but instead rebooted with my Linux Mint 17 KDE DVD and started the install.  In just over 30 minutes, not only was the operating system installed but also the 500 required updates.

With benefits like speed, stability and security, should Linux gamers move back to Windows…I say HELL NO!  Linux gamers must remain strong and resist the temptation of going back to Windows and we must also refrain from using WINE to play our favourite Windows only games.  By refusing to play those games, the developers like Blizzard will see a huge drop in player numbers and hopefully will finally accept that they need to support our great operating system.

I stopped playing World of Warcraft at least 2 years ago.  I will admit that I do sometimes accept the 7 day free play that Blizzards sends me but it has pretty much been 2 years since I played full time.  I would also love to purchase Starcraft 2 but with no Linux support I will continue to give my money to Valve.

On November 13th, Blizzard Entertainment released the latest expansion to their most successful franchise, World of Warcraft but unfortunately the launch did not go as well as everyone had hoped.

Apparently when the expansion went live for North American, their servers started being attacked by a DDoS (Denial of Service).  Blizzard has been very good at providing updates over the past couple of days but it appears that is not enough to all the immature customers they have aka Windows gamers.

For those wondering why I am using the term Windows gamers, it is because Blizzard Entertainment, for whatever reason, is a Microsoft ass kisser by only really supporting Windows.  Sure they do have an installer for the Mac operating system but from what I have heard, it is nothing more than their Windows client wrapped in a Windows type of emulator.  I don’t use a Mac so I can not confirm it for myself.

So back to my claim of Windows gamers acting like children.  Although Blizzard is doing their best to not only address problems with the new expansion but also the massive DDoS attack, the gamers can not seem to do anything but act like a 2 year old, constantly complaining and swearing at Blizzard.

Some of them claim it is their right because they are paying customers but it makes me wonder how they would react if they were in the shoes of Linux gamers, a very large group whom have been requesting a Linux port of Blizzard games for the past 10 years.  10 years Linux gamers have been ignored and yet you don’t see them carrying on like a 2 year old.

Windows gamers, GROW UP!

For at least a decade now, gamers who use Linux as their primary operating system due to it’s awesome stability and security compared to Windows have requested over and over for Blizzard to release a Linux port of their games.

In the beginning, requests posted in the forums, which by the way is pretty much the only way of submitting requests, would instantly be locked or deleted by forum administrators. This of course made it very difficult for Linux gamers to get the word out to the actual decision makers at Blizzard.

Since the forums were redone some years back, the auto deletion and lock down of forum topics regarding Linux request have stopped but the message still gets lost if you will from all the Windows fan boys who have nothing better to do than bring negativity and stupidity to the topic.

One of the most common reply Windows gamers like to mention is on the various distributions of Linux. What makes this such a stupid reply is the fact that it does not matter what distribution a person uses since behind the graphical interface, most are pretty much the same.

Now I am no Linux guru by any means but many Linux programmers have stated that it would not be difficult to make the games work on all distrobutions by simply adding a command to verify any required packages are installed first and if any is missing, the installer auto downloads and installs it.

Another stupid comment is Linux gamers can use WINE and thus an official Linux port is not needed. Unfortunately, most Windows applications do not run the same as they would if there was an actual Linux port. Take Valve’s Left 4 Dead for example. Before it was released on Linux, a lot of gamers could not play it through WINE. Myself, the game could barely get through the opening movie. Now with the Linux release, I can play the game without any problems and in fact Valve found the game ran better than in Windows.

Another misconception is on something called “Market Share”. The problem with using Market Share is that you can not properly calculate what the current value is since Linux is a free operating system. You also cannot rely on values provided by websites since most of those sites are places a Linux user would not visit.

There have also been many gamers who have stated they only put up with Windows just so they can play their favourite Blizzard game(s).

So why does Blizzard hate Linux?  Well that is one question Linux gamers have been wondering for MANY years but which Blizzard has always refused to make a statement about.  Are they cowards, afraid they may receive backlash or is it something else?  No one knows for sure and we may never know.

Blizzcon 2014 is now over and once again fans were given a big FU, in fact you could say that Blizzard gave multiple FU’s to it’s fans.

The first instance was little to no Diablo news/coverage. There was plenty of WoW, SC and HS action and news but it appears as if the Diablo fans were ignored.

The second instance was Blizzard not showing the Virtual Ticket customers a preview of the Warcraft Movie. This is definately something that should have been made clear before the virtual tickets started being sold. What is even worse, not one person from Blizzard has come forward to address the many, many complaints that have flooded the Blizzcon forum.

Last may not be considered an FU by Windows and Mac fan boys. On January 6, 2013 it was announced on Phoronix.com that Blizzard was brin

Hello my readers, I discovered something disturbing this morning that I have
NEVER experienced before with any other bank that I have dealt with.

I am someone who keeps a fairly good eye on my account transactions around the
end and beginning of each month when my ODSP cheque is being deposited and
after paying my monthly bills including buying groceries.

On January 30th, 2014 I checked my balance before going to bed and everything
looked good. At 2am January 31st, I checked my balance again and still no
transactions on my account. Around 5am I woke again and like before I checked
my balance once more. This time two transactions were present, my cheque
deposit and a payment.

I thought this was great because having dealt with other banks, most recently
Scotia Bank, if a payment comes out before a deposit gets in, you usually have
until noon that day to prevent a bounce back and thus preventing any NSF
charges. This unfortunately appears not to be true with RBC.

Anyways back to the tampering.

After getting my grocery shopping completed I once more checked my account
transactions to make sure there were no other transactions which I did not do.
I use DEBIT which is why I check my account so often. At this point the
purchase that was listed during my 5am check was reversed.

Today, February 1st, when I awoke at 9am I once again checked my transactions
and notice that transactions have changed dates. The purchase withdrawl and
return is now showing Thursday, January 30th and a NSF charge that came through
sometime after my 2-3pm transaction check the day before.

I did march down to the Oshawa Main Branch and was given attitude by the male
employee who was called over to help with my situation. This guy just would
not believe what I was explaining and after some arguing with him, it was
finally decided to refund me the NSF charge, something that I feel should have
been offered at the start rather than arguing with the client.

Another thing I have always been concerned about is the fact that RBC does not
list transactions in the order that they happen unlike every other bank I have
dealt with. Is the lack of order done on purpose so they can tamper with a
clients account more easily or are they just lazy to keep up with everyone else?

Has any other RBC account holder noticed transactions moving around from one
day to another? If so I would love to read your story.

Right now I am currently considering maybe giving BMO another try since I
already have a Prepaid Travel Mastercard from them for making online purchases.

One year ago today, Mr. Michael Larabel who runs a Linux news site reported that a source from Blizzard had told him there would be a product release during the summer of 2013. With Blizzard being one of the most popular companies in the gaming community, naturally this new would raise a lot of hopes of Linux gamers who have been requesting for years now that Blizzard bring their games to Linux.

The day before the end of summer 2013, Mr. Larabel made a post that big news would be coming the following week. Having sent him numerous messages through Twitter asking for updates if the release of a Blizzard product on Linux was still going to happen, I decided to question him on his honesty. FINALLY Mr. Larabel replied stating that Blizzard hit a few snags. Fine, I completely understand that problems can occur with the development of anything but it was a little upsetting that it took the questioning of whether Mr. Larabel is honest or a lier.

Now, around 4 months later and one year since the initial announcement, there has not been one peep about Blizzard and the mystery product they plan to bring to Linux. As like I did back in the summer, I have message Mr. Larabel several times, both through his online contact form and through Twitter hoping that he would atleast post a new update today but as of this writing, and the day being almost over, there has not been any update on Phoronix.

It is pretty sad that someone like Mr. Larabel will only provide updates when you put his honesty in question.

Tonight is the WWE Night of Champions pay per view and here are my predictions.

Bryon will defeat Orton

RVD will defeat Del Rio

CM Punk will defeat Axle and Heyman

Brie will win the fatal four way for women’s belt.

Zigler will defeat Ambrose

Prime Time Players will defeat the Shield for the giant penny belts

So, here we are on our second week of 2013 and already a rumour has been launched by an employee from Blizzard Entertainment according to Michael at Phoronix.com.

The rumour is the come summer, Blizzard will be announcing one of their game titles as being available for the Linux operating system. Should anyone believe this, well I for one will not be getting my hopes up since I have seen how Linux users has been treated in the past by Blizzard.

In the past, Linux players have been both banned and their Linux client requests deleted or locked in the Blizzard forums. That being said, many Linux gamers do seem to be getting all hyped up about this rumour to the point of actually speculating what game Blizzard would release first.

If Blizzard was run by smart people, my money would be on World of Warcraft being released first. The reason why that make perfect sense is because, Blizzard suppose to have already a working Linux client used in house so naturally if that is indeed true, there isn’t much work to be done. Another reason is the fact that World of Warcraft is a subscription based game. Anyone, including myself, who stopped playing the game due to lack of Linux support would be back paying the monthly subscription fee which of course equals more monthly revenue for Blizzard.

Those who have followed my sporatic blog posts know that I have tried iPhone, Blackberry and recently Droid RAZR which first ran Android Ginger Bread then just the other month updated to Ice Cream Sandwhich.

Christmas eve I decided to venture to my local Virgin Mobile kiosk and upgraded to an official Virgin phone, the Samsung Galaxy S III (Model: SGH-I747M) and I must say that this phone is absolutely rocking.

This phone is a nice size for my somewhat large hands as well as my degrading eyesight. It is very thin and lightweight which almost feels flimsy but I plan to do the same steps I did for the RAZR which is purchase a nice sturdy plastic shell as well as applying Ghost Armour film to protect the screen from scratches and cracks.

Unlike the Droid RAZR, the S III has a removable back cover, providing access to the battery, SIM card and micro-SD slot but of course this means a much weaker plastic, making having to purchase a hard cover sturdy shell a must if you wish to have this phone last for a very long time.

The phone came with Android Jelly Bean already installed and I must say, I am really enjoying it BUT there still exist one negative that has plagued smart phones, no option to read and edit FTP stored .ics calendar files. I have been using ICSSync but unfortunately it always seem to screw up the ICS format when saving back up to the server or at least it did when using it on the RAZR. Have not yet tried the program on the new S III but I think it may work better based on something I noticed.

When researching ways to transfer saved network list from one Android phone to another, all results stated that is was as simple as transfering one file but when I did the transfer from RAZR to S III, the S III would no longer keep it’s Wi-Fi on. This leads me to believe that there was something wrong with the operating system on the RAZR which would explain why the copied wi-fi network list file caused problems and the problem with ICSSync messing up the calendar file.

The speed of the phone is lightening compared to the RAZR and I have already rooted it so I could use some apps that I require. Rooting did take me two attempts because I messed up the first time around causing certain features to disappear.

Internet speed through the Virgin network is faster then my own home Internet by almost double. This is weird since my home service is 16MB Down and 1MB Up.

When it comes to the actual hardware of the S III, I find the location of the volume buttons across from the power button a nuisance. I am always accidentally pressing the volume. If the button required more force then maybe it wouldn’t be so bad.

With no FTP .ics support and a very soft touch volume buttons, I am still extremely pleased with my decision to upgrade to the Galaxy S III. If the Samsung tablet runs as well as the S III then I will definately be saving up to purchase it. Might take me a long time to save up for the tablet being unemployed but hopefully one day it will become mine to own.

Will I be recommending the Galaxy S III, you bet I will. If you don’t have one then what are you waiting for, get to your mobile carrier and upgrade now. You will not be disappointed.

Several months ago Valve finally announced that they will be bringing Steam along with some Valve games like Left 4 Dead 2 to Linux.

Around 4 weeks ago Valve setup a survey for those to fill out who wish to be part of the initial closed beta. It has been reported that over 6000 submissions were completed and there are still many Linux users who are still finding out about the survey.

On November 12th I was added to the closed beta group and so far Valve has done an excellent job in making Steam work in Linux.

Now with all the excitement over the Steam Linux closed beta, will the assholes at Blizzard Entertainment finally bring World of Warcraft to Linux like their fans have been requesting for many years?

There is currently a new discussion recently created by a fan who goes by the name of Endafy. I am surprised that the topic is still active since in the past, the forum administrators have always done their best to make sure there were no mentions of Linux anywhere in the forums. As of this writing, the topic can be found at: http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/6759236775?page=1

Sixty two posts have been made so far and it’s easy to tell who are the Microsoft ass kissers and who are not. I always laugh at the responses ass kissers use to defend why a billion dollar company should not make their software available for all three operating systems.

The most common and laughable response is of course the ancient “Linux only has 1% market share” but of course there is no really way to know what the Linux market share is since Linux is a free operating system. Market share is usually based on sales but since Linux is free and most Linux users will usually purchase a Windows system only to reply it’s operating system with Linux, makes market share based on sales flawed.

The next common and still laughable reply is from Linux users who seem to believe that just because a game works perfect in Wine on their system, that it must also work perfect on every other Linux user system. This of course is way off from the actual truth. I myself have tried many games in Wine with only two successes, UT99 and Sid Meiers Railroads. World of Warcraft did run but the FPS averaged between 7 and 12 when not much action on the screen. The more things going on, the slower the game became, this is why relying on Wine is NOT acceptable.

Another laughable response is of course about cost. Now I know someone would have to be paid to do the port but the reason why I find it laughable is because companies who don’t even come close to the size of bank account companies like Blizzard have are able to make their software work on all three operating systems. Therefore, if the tiny guys can do it then so can the big guys.

Now Blizzard has setup the forums so only those with an active World of Warcraft account can post replies which means every player like myself who stopped playing the game until a Linux port arrives can not say so in any of the Linux conversations.