Re: [SWCollect] Best copy protection?
On Jun 14, 2004, at 2:57 PM, Jim Leonard wrote: Pedro Quaresma wrote: Shadow of the Comet by Infogrames (back from the days when Infogrames was likeable -- ah that would start a whole new discussion! Anyone else following the end of Interplay?). I heard Interplay's offices were shut down for a few days because they couldn't come up with worker's comp insurance. :-( I sincerely hope Brian Fargo will be able to create a new startup... He was already gone: http://www.inxile-entertainment.com/ -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Time to blend topics
On Jun 11, 2004, at 11:02 AM, Jim Leonard wrote: Edward Franks wrote: I have done this for some music -- download music illegally, listen to it, buy the CD. Nowadays I just listen to streaming radio and/or download it for later listening. The golden-goose questions are how many people download illegally/buy later and just what percentage of what they download do they buy honestly buy later? Given the packrat mentality of so many people into pirating I would be surprised if either of those figures was more than 10%. Just look at the usage figures for BitTorrent. I don't think that many people are sharing Linux ISOs. ;-) True. But at least I'm honest about it ;-) Indeed. :-) What I find an interesting observation of human nature in action is the fact so many folks that download stuff illegally turn the whole business into some noble moral imperative. But that's a whole 'nother topic. -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Time to blend topics
On Jun 9, 2004, at 4:00 PM, Jim Leonard wrote: [Snip] I have done this for some music -- download music illegally, listen to it, buy the CD. Nowadays I just listen to streaming radio and/or download it for later listening. The golden-goose questions are how many people download illegally/buy later and just what percentage of what they download do they buy honestly buy later? Given the packrat mentality of so many people into pirating I would be surprised if either of those figures was more than 10%. Just look at the usage figures for BitTorrent. I don't think that many people are sharing Linux ISOs. ;-) -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Another one?!
On Jun 8, 2004, at 4:42 PM, Jim Leonard wrote: [Snip] I was going for expensive/old :-) Okay, replace Starcross with Michael Berlyn's Cyborg ($150+ last I checked). Anyway, I'm sure people got the idea. Oh, sure, but I couldn't help making the comment. It's the classic 'Oops, I picked the wrong game' mistake I think everyone makes one time or another. :) [Snip] Agreed, but some people don't understand this. When I pirate a 20+ year old game to try it out, people sometimes tell me that I'm short-changing the author -- what, like buying a 2nd-hand copy on ebay gives the author money? Very true. After awhile it gets to be amusing to see people on *both* sides using the same argument to buttress their position. Most of the piracy arguments have practically fossilized. It's like watching a ritualized exchange with the vast bulk of the arguments falling into a few groupings. -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Another one?!
On Jun 8, 2004, at 12:00 PM, Jim Leonard wrote: [Snip] I can see a morality issue coming, so I'm going to head it off: For older games that you are curious about, do you download a copy to try, or do you spend $150 or more to collect a copy you can open and play? For example, I have never played Starcross and would like to give it a try. Should I spend crazy amounts of money for a Starcross collectable, knowing that any money I spend will never get back to the people who made it (and the collectable itself will go down in value when I open it to get at the disk), or should I just download a copy and try it out? Hopefully you agree the latter is the more practical choice. I just want to point out you used a couple of bad examples. ;-) You can get a legal, playable copy of Starcross very cheaply. As little as $5, even. If you want to play a particular _release_ of Starcross (too experience the original bugs, I guess) you can grab the diffs and patch your existing legit version to whichever release you heart desires. Also, in the US, the First Sale Doctrine establishes that once you sell something (as the maker) that's all the money you're going to get. A maker has no right to get more money on the sale of used items. That's like saying it would be wrong to buy a used or out of print book because the author wouldn't get any money. -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Fm Towns Origin Stuff
On Jun 8, 2004, at 3:50 PM, Freddie Bingham wrote: Yes, you can find FM Towns machines on eBay occasionally but I can always get them from Japan but s/h may be high. There are versions that look like desktops, mini towers, and there is a version that looks more like your typical console. That version would be the lightest and cheapest to ship. I don't know which versions have which processors though as I am not all that up on the actual hardware. I can fill you in on the difference that exist in the Fm Towns Lucasarts games, which can get rather expensive. I also think there is a box called Marty that will play the FM-Towns games. -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] The Warp Factor from SSI
On May 31, 2004, at 7:07 PM, Per-Olof Karlsson wrote: [Snip] It seems to be riddled in mystery. First of all, the box art it has (a pic of the USS Enterprise from Star Trek) has to my knowledge never been pictured in any SSI catalogs. That's the first question, the box art as shown in the catalogs, does it *really* exist? Yes. :-) I have both versions of the box art. SSI changed the art after Paramount threatened a lawsuit. -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] June 22, 1979
On May 31, 2004, at 9:29 PM, Marco Thorek wrote: The 25th anniversary is coming up :-) I'll have to light my brass lantern that day. ;-) (I have several genuine caving lanterns.) -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Nit-picking at its finest
On May 21, 2004, at 4:31 PM, Dan Chisarick wrote: [Snip] On a slightly different topic, don't you think it'd be pretty hard to fight with both a sword AND a trident at the same time? A trident is typically a two-handed weapon. So is a sword for that matter. No, a sword is typically a one-handed weapon. It is just gamers tend to go for the big-phallic-substitute two-handers. ;-) Besides, that's more a rapier/epee on the Akalabeth label, which *is* a one-handed weapon. -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] TES: Arena
On Apr 6, 2004, at 7:26 PM, Jim Leonard wrote: Edward Franks wrote: Bethesda is making Arena available as a free download http://www.elderscrolls.com/downloads/downloads_games.htm. What's even more cool to me is the fact they have a link to (an older version of) DosBox as the emulator to run it with. Now if only more game companies would follow suit. Hope this doesn't make my copy worth less ;-) Make sure you get the collector's download with the bonus electrons. ;-) -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Esoteric Question #274
On Apr 8, 2004, at 2:34 PM, Jim Leonard wrote: In your opinion, which is worth more? Consider three nearly identical items in terms of content and quality, except: #1 has a registration card #2 has a registration card but it is filled out with the previous owners details (he just never sent it in) #3 has no registration card (BTW, there's no need to take this seriously. :) But still, you have to wonder, eh? I ranked the above in what I consider most to least worth, but I'm curious if anyone disagrees. I agree with #1, but for me 2 and 3 are equivalent. It is the fact the registration (warranty) card is there and pristine that gives the edge over the other two. Otherwise if I can't theoretically use it it has no value to me. For _me_ looking for the registration card would be at the fussy nitpicking stage of choosing from several equally good options. The lack of the registration card (or catalog/other sales literature) don't make a game non-complete in my mind. It is the stuff that goes with the actual game that makes it complete (HHGtG's no tea being an exception :-)). If you want that just-opened-time-capsule feel, though, I can see why people would want the extras. -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Anyone seen this Zork poster before?
On Apr 5, 2004, at 10:23 PM, Marco Thorek wrote: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ViewItemitem=3715995961category=28009 It sure is news to me. I have one. It's a nifty poster from the Zork User Group. -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Personal Software Zork
On Mar 31, 2004, at 6:11 PM, C.E. Forman wrote: Yep, that's definitely the Apple II manual. I saw one auction a long time ago that had it in an open-faced box. Scan is attached, I saved it. I recognize that pic. :-) That is one of my most prized collectibles. -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] And then one day, the Holy Grail is found
On Mar 30, 2004, at 7:02 AM, Pedro Quaresma wrote: [Snip] And one day, it does. Shrinkwrapped. Brand new. I open it up (what an heresy!) and discover it to be as good as I imagined it. Is the search over? No. One isn't enough. In the following period of time (weeks? months?) I got my hands on three more from the same source. Not one, not two, but three more. All brand new and shrinkwrapped. http://www.dcc.online.pt/~c9707061/images/collection4.jpg The quest is now complete. Congratulations! That's one sweet find. :) -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] I'll be the first to say..
On Mar 23, 2004, at 9:53 PM, Dan Chisarick wrote: Wow, I'd have thought it'd be more than that [final value fee for Drash]. This is off the top of my head as I haven't sat down and crunched the numbers, but on eBay I think you are better off selling _one_ item for a big price than selling lots of items for that same (total) big price. eBay's costs should be roughly the same whether your item goes for $0.99 or for $5,000.00. I'm sure they make money off of every auction so once an item 'goes big' they can have a smaller cut of the total and still do well. ;-) -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] I'll be the first to say..
On Mar 22, 2004, at 8:08 PM, Dan Chisarick wrote: [Snip] I'm hoping the higher-than-expected sale price of Drash will allow you to keep some of your prizes that you were planning to sell. Though the final value fee from ebay will probably be painful. The fee is $67.20 which is minor given the final price. I'll be selling some other stuff I have extras of or don't want, but nothing that is highly wanted by collectors (for example, I have an extra Quest For Glory collection). I've also mentioned the email list to Mr. Olafson and invited him to join. -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] I'll be the first to say..
On Mar 21, 2004, at 9:38 PM, Per-Olof Karlsson wrote: 3605! I'm stunned. I'm happy for Edward of course, but I couldn't dream of it getting that high! Yeah, I'm quite stunned by that price. That was more than I had dreamt possible. I figured it would hit $1,000, and maybe $1,500, but 3,605 is a godsend. I'm glad I wasn't watching the auction go, I would have been a nervous wreck! -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] I'll be the first to say..
On Mar 21, 2004, at 10:09 PM, Stephane Racle wrote: Edward - Putting insurance on that shipment? ;-) That and signature confirmation. ;-) -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
U4 Part II was Re: [SWCollect] Announcing the CGW Museum
On Mar 20, 2004, at 4:05 AM, Stephen Emond wrote: [Snip] Do you know anything more about Ultima IV Part II? If you have the article Id love to read it. Subtitled: The Avatar Kicks Back and Has A Cold One? ;-) -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Announcing the CGW Museum
On Mar 20, 2004, at 3:25 AM, John Romero wrote: Another funny thing about that little Ultima article was the talk about Ultima V shipping in September. Heh. At Applefest 87 the big posters said Arriving October 31st: Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny. The game didnt ship until March 31, 1987. Even back then, dates slipped.. For Ultima V I can easily see that. How many games, or even apps, came close to what U5 tried to do? (On an 8-bit micro that is.) I know Time Zone came on more disks, but it was a simpler game. -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Here we go.....
On Mar 15, 2004, at 1:43 AM, Josh Lulewicz wrote: Edward what are earth are you thinking!?!?!?!? That I'd like to keep my house. Seriously, the seasonal job I have covers most of my bills, but not all. If Drash goes for what I think it will go then I've made a house payment. That buys me just that much more time to find a full time job. I didn't do this lightly, but in the end I know what is more important to me. The three year journey of finding Drash was as important to me as actually holding it in my hands. That's something I'll never lose. Now it is time to allow someone else to have their journey with Drash. Oh, if I sound a bit loopy, it is because I just got off work (graveyard shift) and I'm pretty tired. The funny thing for me is I'll be at work when this auction ends and I won't know what happens for hours. ;-) Later, Edward -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Here we go.....
On Mar 15, 2004, at 1:54 AM, Stephane Racle wrote: Indeed... why selling? Are you truly selling off your entire Ultima collection? No, I've kept the stuff that truly means something to me. I've still got some of the fun Ultima stuff (CPC/Progame Japanese version of Ultima, CPC Akalabet with the castle coversheet, FM-Towns U6, U6 with RG Denis Loubet signatures, the Sierra Ultima I, the Drash-sized black Ultima II, etc.). So I guess I can continue to claim membership in the Ultima rarities club. ;-) Anyway, off to sleep... -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Here we go.....
On Mar 15, 2004, at 1:13 PM, Feldhamer, Stuart wrote: Don't take this the wrong way, but I have an image in my head of the vultures circling the Franks house, eagerly awaiting the Drash and whatever else might be in there. And then they all swoop down at exactly the same time and SNIPE! ESnipe. :-D I recently had one person very politely lecture me about listing stuff at inconvenient (for European bidders) times. I apologized, but explained that most of my buyers are from the US so I set my auctions accordingly. After the US I seem to sell equally to Europe and the Pacific Rim. Selling worldwide means someone is going to have to get up in the middle of the night to bid. -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Here we go.....
On Mar 15, 2004, at 1:03 PM, C.E. Forman wrote: Also let me just say (and I'm sure TomMage agrees), VERY wise choice not to take PayPal on this auction, Edward. B-) If I did have a brain cramp and go the PayPal route I wouldn't ship internationally. I bet you would really hear the howls for that one. :-) I wouldn't be have surprised to see someone email me asking if I would take a personal check... -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Here we go.....
On Mar 15, 2004, at 1:18 PM, Jukka Eronen wrote: [Snip] What's the current PayPal procentual fee for a seller or does it vary? Is it straight or linear? (meaning; the higher bid, same procent or the higher procent) I believe it is a percentage amount of the total (standard credit card processing fee). And the open auction (i.e. not private) is nice too. I actually screwed up on that. I had meant to have the bidding be private and had initially written some text in the auction indicating that. I was half way to work when I realized that I hadn't made the bidding private and I couldn't remember if I had left the private bidding text in or not. After sleeping on it I'm ok with leaving everything as is. -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Here we go.....
On Mar 15, 2004, at 5:02 AM, Vincent Joguin wrote: [Snip] Before actually sending the game to the high bidder, do you think you could completely preserve it? I could, but I won't. At this point because of the high price I think this game will command I'm not going to touch it more than necessary (well, maybe one last fondle before I pack it ^_^) because I just don't want to screw anything up. The last thing I need to have happen is a damaged tape or torn box. This is going to be someone else's high dollar property and I plan on treating it with the respect I would like them to treat it if the roles were reversed. -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Preserving original games
On Mar 15, 2004, at 3:19 PM, Josh Lulewicz wrote: Jim Leonard wrote: WinImage only makes images of unprotected disks. If you have used it to make any images of protected disks (any game made before 1990), your images are useless. Wow! Interesting, I didn't know that! Great... :( Copy protection bites in many ways. :sigh: -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Here we go.....
On Mar 15, 2004, at 2:02 PM, Stephane Racle wrote: I guess we'll have to see if CNET (I think that's who it was) was right when they stated that a complete Drash could sell for up to $2000! That was Hugh Falk. I could have strangled him for that statement as he made it before I had my Drash. :-P If Drash does hit that figure then Hugh can be our Prophet of Crazy Game Prices. -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] California Pacific sales figures
On Mar 11, 2004, at 10:20 AM, Per-Olof Karlsson wrote: [Snip] One thing got me quite puzzled though: he is leaving me with the impression that CPC sold no less than 30,000 copies of Akalabeth, and a mighty 50,000 copies of Ultima!? Can this really be true? Am I misinterpreting what he wrote perhaps? No, those are the figures I've generally seen. Pretty damn good sales for the time period. If this is really true, I cannot for the life in me understand the prices on these games. Surely there cant be tens of thousands of hardcore Ultima collectors willing to pay several hundred bucks for these? Most of them probably didn't survive or didn't survive intact. I think I have several CPC Ultima disks. Not so many people kept the cover sheet and/or the manual. The lack of surviving copies is what makes these rare, not the size of the production run. Also, remember this the the start of Ultima getting big. People weren't so into collecting Ultima and Akalabeth when ziploc bags were the main packaging medium. On another note, Im sure you all have noticed that there is a CPC Akalabeth on eBay right now.. Nobodys mentioned it though, so I thought Id just say it, hehe. That's my other one, if you don't recognize the seller. ;-) -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Weird Ultima auction on eBay
On Feb 1, 2004, at 8:20 PM, Stephane Racle wrote: Perhaps someone who worked at Origin in some fashion? Location is Austin, TX... Good catch on the location. I wouldn't necessarily suspect they worked at Origin, but I imagine Origin's games would be easier to find there than most places. -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Rarity Scale
On Jan 29, 2004, at 10:12 PM, BL wrote: Well, I've thought of that, but there's a lot of factors involved, like condition etc that will effect prices. If we pioneered an ebay title posting format, then well, it would be pretty easy. Or alternatively, we could only use those entries that have certain information in the title, or yet another possibility - just use all found auction data, and make that the middle of the road average. I'd be interested in something like this, and could code the DB and app. Good luck parsing this auction correctly http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ViewItemitem=3074939557category=3561. ;-) Between the typos and the combined auction you're in trouble. Also, you are going to *have* to deal with the auction descriptions, if only to separate out all the permutations of game and parts. A listing for Ultima IV that pegs an auction of just the disks with an auction with everything will royally mess up your rarity scale. Even if there is an app scraping eBay for the basic info, I can still see people spending a lot of time making judgment calls about where each auction fits. I'm not saying it can't be done, but I think you'll spend more time hand massaging the data than you might realize. -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Rarity Scale
On Jan 28, 2004, at 2:47 PM, Jim Leonard wrote: [Snip] When I tackled the grading scale along with Chris, Hugh, Tom, et al, it was because we were all using *different* terms for the *same* things. It was an effort to define logical/sane grades, what made something fall into each grade, and assign them terms that were consistent. All of those elements were never under debate; only their terms (and how to arrange them) were. But a rarity scale would be constantly debated: Are production run numbers the only factor to consider? Or is it the demand for that item compared to its availability? If the latter, how can you determine demand and availability accurately enough for an official rarity list? (hint: you can't) Even worse is that production numbers are really being used as a rough indicator of surviving copies. _That's_ the number you need and the one you'll never really know. -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Bah, ebay/paypal
On Jan 21, 2004, at 10:14 PM, Stefan Lindblom wrote: Yeah, I got the same mail.. or rather it was info on the side in a mail another person sent to me through Ebay. Here is what it said: Never respond to an unsolicited email that includes incentives to buy or sell an item off the eBay Marketplace. If you get such an email, please report it to eBay. Never pay for your item with an instant cash transfer service such as MoneyGram or Western Union. These services are like sending cash to a stranger - they are an extremely unsafe way to pay. For more safe trading tips, please visit the eBay Security Center. I have no idea how that will look in your mailclients, I simply copy/pasted it. If it looks awful, my apologies. And yes, I agree with Tom, it really is a shitty thing to do, Western Union should sue them. Well, the first question that pops into my mind is does the instant cash transfer service at Western Union work the same way as Auction Payments? If you are effectively wiring cash to someone without any type of audit trail, then yeah, you are taking a risk. I sent J. Random eBaySeller $x.xx as a cash transfer is different from I sent J. Random eBaySeller an Auction Payment money order for $x.xx for auction #1234567890. I don't think eBay is being terrible in this case. They are trying to protect the newbies and the clueless. If they don't try they'll run afoul of the various state consumer protection agencies again. eBay is kind of damned either way they go. -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] 5.25s vs. 3.5s
On Jan 20, 2004, at 11:19 PM, Lee K. Seitz wrote: [Snip] I have yet to make serious use of my CD-R drive, sad to say. (However, I actually went through all my unlabeled 3.5 disks the other day and made some quick notes on most of them as to what they had on them. Now I just gotta doe the 5.25 ones. So I that might change soon.) Which CD-Rs are high quality and which are best avoided? And does it really matter that much? I used to buy Kodak's Gold Ultima ;-) CD-Rs. They had the best life span of any of the then existing CD-Rs. I seem to remember they were actual archival quality. These days I just buy a name brand (right now I'm using Fujifilm CD-Rs and DVD-Rs with good luck). You might also check out want media brands your CD-R drive recommends, if any. I use Plextor for my drives and they have lists of recommend and compatible media that have been factory tested. In some cases they've updated the drive firmware to handle that particular brand. No name generics have spotty quality. I've seen some fail in less than a year. That said, even CD-Rs won't last as long as the factory press CD-ROMs games come on these days. Multiple duplicate backups and periodic testing of the backup is still a good idea. It's just incredible handy to stuff gobs of 5.25 or 3.5 inch backups on a CD-R or DVD-R. -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] DOSBox: Getting DOS games to run easily
On Jan 15, 2004, at 10:19 AM, Pedro Quaresma wrote: That is excellent news indeed! But what do you mean by not perfectly? With slowdowns/choppy? I just tried the newest MT-32 'enabled' version [1] of DosBox. After having to snag a newer version of the SDL dll [2], I can now here the speech and music for Black Gate and Serpent Isle. It still isn't perfect as the music sounds off to my ears, but it is working better than before. The only problem is that you need an MT-32 ROM and that's not freely distributable. I own an MT-32 which puts me in a legal grey area. All in all this is damn cool. :-D [1] http://www.artworxinn.com/alex/downloads.htm [2] SDL 1.2.6 for Win32 at http://www.libsdl.org/download-1.2.php -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] 5.25s vs. 3.5s
On Jan 20, 2004, at 10:31 PM, Jim Leonard wrote: [Snip] Or am I the only one who executed a round of attacks in an RPG and sat with baited breath while the disk drive paused, whirred, taunting me with the result until finally the results were printed? I can remember playing Ultima III and trying to beat the disk drive if my party died. It was a bad habit to get into though.I used to restart the game when a whirlpool nailed my ship I agree that playing on the original equipment is the most fun. No emulator matches hearing the disk drives do their start up pattern on an Apple II. I also have a Mockingboard in mine so I can hear the music. Hmm. I was just about to whine ;-) that only ApplePC supported the Mockingboard, but a quick google and I see a couple of new emulators say they support it. I'll have to try them out. -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] 5.25s vs. 3.5s
On Jan 21, 2004, at 5:24 PM, C.E. Forman wrote: - The CDROM version of Return to Zork was produced in greater numbers than the floppy-disk version, so theoretically the diskette version is worth more. Rarer, but not necessarily worth more, except maybe to a few collectors or RTZ fanatics. Who wants to actually play the floppy version, installing from 12 disks? P'shah. A measly 12 disks? Why that's nothing after SysGenning Netware 2.15. :-D Seriously, I do seem to remember there was a difference between the CD version and the floppy version. Though given RTZ's lack of appeal I would agree that the floppy version is of interest to collectors and RTZ fanatics. Which is a bit of a shame. I liked the way they did the user interface. You had actual choices in what you did. I like that even if it did lead to the infamous bonding plant puzzle. -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] ZorkQuest #2
On Jan 19, 2004, at 11:21 PM, Jim Leonard wrote: Just saw http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ViewItemitem=3072836862ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:US:1 on ebay if anyone is interested. This pertains to our you mean InfoComic #4 is rare? discussion we had recently. Shhh! I was hoping to keep that one secret! ;-) (Like that's going to happen with this group of eagle-eyed collectors...) -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
[SWCollect] Only opened slightly for pictures...
Even I cringed when I read this description:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?
ViewItemitem=3069631145category=11030
Given the seller's handle, I was amused by the graded mint scale ('gem
mint'), too. Perhaps MobyScale 2.0 could add precious stones as
qualifiers for each grade. Diamond Mint. Emerald Good. Cubic
Zirconium Poor. ^_^
--
Edward Franks
--
This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to
the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to
[EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect'
Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] 5.25s vs. 3.5s
On Jan 20, 2004, at 2:48 PM, Lee K. Seitz wrote: [Snip] On this list or in the general population? 8) I think you'll find most of this list has some older hardware tucked away for just such occasions. I was mainly thinking of the average gamer. For people like us I take it as a given we have multiple machines. However, you have me wondering now if my current computer supports a B: drive. I wanted to move my 5.25/3.5 combo drive (footnote) to my new computer, but both 5.25 bays are filled (one CD-R, one DVD-ROM), so I never tried it. I've got one of those Gateway combo drives. I never could get it to work after I got rid of my P5-90 (o, Pentium power). I'm curious, though. How many people here with older hardware keep it set up all the time, network it with their current systems, and/or use KVM switches to reduce the clutter? I keep a platinum Apple //e setup all the time. I also have my main gaming PC and my retro gaming PC (DOS 6.22/Win98SE dual boot, 3dfx Voodoo2 with a whopping 12 MB RAM :-D) on a KVM switch. Both are networked to make it easier to transfer files or snag the MS security update de jour. -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Software Collecting Expo?
On Jan 18, 2004, at 11:39 AM, Brian the Fist wrote: Like I said, I was at CGExpo and there were maybe 200 people tops (excluding exhibitors). Remember, these people have to come from halfway across the country in many cases, and that is a big barrier. Not everyone lives in southern California :) Plan small for a first time conference, or there won't be a second.. You can always limit attendance if you get too many applicants, but you can't do the reverse.. In fact limited seats could encourage people to sign up and pay early.. Another reason to go small is that packed rooms give off the impression of a busy, successful convention. Whereas large rooms partially filled give off the impression of a dying or dead convention. (Savvy grassroots political groups use this concept all the time. ;-)) -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Modern classics
On Jan 15, 2004, at 11:15 AM, Feldhamer, Stuart wrote: It doesn't seem odd to me...Legend has abandoned its core competency - adventure games. If the rumors are true (Legend has been shutdown) they paid the price. :-/ -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] DOSBox: Getting DOS games to run easily
On Jan 15, 2004, at 3:29 AM, Pedro Quaresma wrote: Thanks for the report Jim, looking forward to check that one out too. Nevertheless, the important question remains: will it run Ultima 7 with its Voodoo Memory System? ;) Yes, though not perfectly. -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] DOSBox: Getting DOS games to run easily
On Jan 15, 2004, at 10:19 AM, Pedro Quaresma wrote: That is excellent news indeed! But what do you mean by not perfectly? With slowdowns/choppy? The sound and music were messed up. I got some of the opening music, but none of the Guardian's speech. I haven't played into the game yet, but being able to get started is a big test. I also tested out the MT-32 emulator version of DosBox, but that crashes and burns on my PC. My gaming PC has one of the Intel Hyperthreading CPUs which might be causing the problem. I may try compiling the source and see what happens. I've compiled DosBox itself on OS X. It runs, but I haven't gotten Ultima IV to run correctly. It will load the game, but the graphics are horribly garbled. There is also a new public beta version of VDMSound at http://vogons.zetafleet.com/viewtopic.php?t=2071 which I'm playing with. -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Modern classics
On Jan 15, 2004, at 4:13 AM, Pedro Quaresma wrote: [Snip] Oh yes, no doubt. The problem is you never get all the things you want in the same game! :) True, but what would we collect if we had the perfect game? ;-) [Snip] Ah yes the Atronach sign. 85% of Morrowind's players, spellcasters or not, pick that sign! That's interesting. I picked the Warrior for my character's sign. [Snip] I agree with you that ADD 3 (and ADD 3.5) is extraordinarily flexible. Nevertheless, you originally said it was very simple, and that's where I disagreed. Compared to 1st edition -- which Jim mentioned -- it is. For a newcomer to DD and role-playing you are right, it is harder because you have to make a series of choices without really understanding the interplay of the options. -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Need advice regarding a Wasteland purchase
On Jan 15, 2004, at 3:31 PM, Jim Leonard wrote:
[Snip]
Hey, I'm in total agreement with you there. In fact, I routinely
crack the wrap on my software if I want to play the game (instead of
downloading a badly-cracked copy, or running a different version in an
emulator, etc.). Of course, this gives die-hards like CEForman and
Tom H. the shivers whenever I tell them I removed the wrap from a
piece in my collection, but hey, I want to play (or preserve) the damn
thing ;-)
I'm the same. If it is a game for me the shrinkwrap goes (if it is
for resale I'll leave it alone). I want all the goodies at hand when I
play the game because that's the most fun for me. Leaving a game in
the shrinkwrap is like buying a valuable painting and then locking it
away never to look at it or like having a girlfriend and never kissing
her. ;-)
I'm not saying the sealed = more $$ formula is fair and just, but it
is extremely accurate in determining how much something will fetch on
ebay or in trade. I think it's unanimous that, in terms of dollar
value, sealed non-sealed. So the scale was built with that in mind.
I agree that weighting a sealed game higher is the way to go in the
scale. People ('the market') values virginal items higher in general.
--
Edward Franks
--
This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to
the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to
[EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect'
Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Modern classics
On Jan 14, 2004, at 9:40 AM, Pedro Quaresma wrote: [Snip] Morrowind is a superb game, highly moddable (I run about 30 mods on my game, mostly visual effects and items) and with a very nice and original setting. On the other hand it does have two major flaws (for me): it has arcade-like combat (it's first person and you have to swing your mouse left and right to do a similar sword movement, for example), and it has no party. There is an option to always select the best type of attack with the weapon you are wielding. I use that. The other is a hold over from Arena and Daggerfall when Bethesda tried to model various types of attacks with various mouse movements. [Snip] I can't agree there. A wrong choice of a Feat or a starting stat and your character can go from uber to weakling ;) Bad choices are a _player_ problem, not a system problem. ;-) For example, you can put armor on your mage if you want, but your casting failure rate is going to be pretty high... -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Paranoid seller and tax evasion
On Jan 14, 2004, at 9:27 AM, Stefan Lindblom wrote: [Snip] As if I didnt know they would be flagged, that was why I wrote it, pure annoyance factor ;) And no, he is not the least paranoid.. sure.. I imagine this guy wears a tinfoil hat. He's a bit overzealous about email monitoring. All in all, I would say that whiny people have increased on eBay in the last year or so. It is something you just have to deal with. I would suggest remembering that all your emails to this guy could end up in eBay's hands in case of a dispute. I would be careful in what you wrote. [Snip] Just thought I should share this with you. Has any of you guys had any trouble with people reacting hostile when you want them to ship it discrete in order to try to avoid unnecessary involvement by the customs? Guy has zero feedback btw, although he claims to have another user as well. I'll do it if people ask, but if it goes wrong it is their worry. I've also found that it is pretty useless to try to dodge customs unless you go to more effort (such as putting in a birthday card or a letter). I know Canadian customs generally seems to take a dim view of items marked as gifts. I guess too much stuff was coming in from the US marked as gift. In sure other countries are starting to notice this as well. Given the voracious tax appetite governments have I figure that in a few years even gifts will get hit with the additional fees. :-/ I've also been informed by my local post office that the USPS is now starting to open packages sent via media rate. Too many eBayers were trying to get around postal costs by falsifying the package to get a cheap rate. -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Modern classics
On Jan 14, 2004, at 11:07 AM, Pedro Quaresma wrote: [Snip] Me too, but it's still too arcade-ish. It didn't seem that way to me, but then I play a fair amount first person shooters. Combat seemed reasonably fluid. It is a good thing we have some variety in the genre. :-D Another flaw is the complete inbalance between magic users and melee-types. Spellcasters really get the shaft in this game. That depends on how you build your character. My wife played the mage-type where you need to be attacked by magic to 'recharge' your own magic. She did quite well in the game that way. She did play through Arena with the same type of character so that may have made the difference. [Snip] Yes, but if I put an armor on the mage, I can take it off and my problems are solved. Now if I start a Weaponmaster wannabe with 10 int, or if I give my archer-type Fighter the knockdown feat... I guess I'm not understanding your point. Are you saying that the system should be rigid enough to stop you from making that choice? If you are then you're really wanted 1st or 2nd edition (A)DD where you can't do quite a bit. If you want a system flexible enough to allow lots of player options then you have to let the player make these types of mistakes. -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Mt. Drash cassette and market value
On Jan 12, 2004, at 9:38 AM, Jim Leonard wrote: Edward Franks wrote: I've got the C64 version. Did Pavlish work on that port? I did a bit of Googling on Wasteland, but didn't see a clear answer. SMACK Infidel! Use mobygames.com and you'll have the answer in seconds. I did. ;-) It is ambiguous. The Apple ][ and Commodore 64 pages don't list any names that I can see. I see info on the DOS version which would lead me to think that Alan Pavlish wrote the DOS version and Michael Quaries did the ports to the Apple ][ and/or Commodore 64. That's opposite from what people have said here. Am I having a brain cramp about how to use Moby? -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Modern classics
On Jan 12, 2004, at 11:58 AM, Jim Leonard wrote: Pedro Quaresma wrote: Please don't get me started on Planeboring: Torment. That game should never have been a RPG. Ah yes, Pedro, our resident RPG snob. ;-) If Planescape: Torment is a bad RPG by your standards, could you explain why? Is it all the dialog, or bad structure, or what? More importantly: If I wanted a decent story wrapped in decent RPG gameplay that isn't unreasonably hard, what RPGs over the last 20 years would you recommend? If you like Star Wars, Knights of the Old Republic by Bioware is pretty good. Without spoiling anything, I did like how they used one of the key plot elements. Besides, where else can you force choke insolents fools? About Planescape, to me one of the strengths of any genre is its diversity. RPGs do better when there is a variety of games to tempt people. All, say, Ultima clones or Diablo clones will kill the market. Just look at how Adventure games have struggled to move beyond Myst. Even Cyan had problems doing that. I want my hack-n-slash RPGs. I want my goodie-two-shoe RPGs. I want my magic-n-guns RPGs. I want my eat-hot-photons-mutant! RPGs. I want my pot-boiler DD RPGs. I want my quirky character driven RPG games. :-D -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Modern classics
On Jan 12, 2004, at 12:04 PM, Feldhamer, Stuart wrote: I'm not much of an RPG gamer but I loved the original Pool of Radiance and sequels. I'd say try some of the early Ultima games; they are strong on characters, setting, and gameplay (in general). I've played and finished Ultimas 3 and 5. My only complaint is they get way too difficult towards the end (especially 5). I would also recommend the Baldur's Gate series. If you have the hard drive space and inclination there is a utility called BG1Tutu (Baldur's Gate 1 to 2) that allows you to play BG1 using the BG2 engine. I'm playing through BG1 right now using this way. The benefit is that you get the extras from BG2 (character kits, higher screen resolution, full screen mode, etc.). The downside is that you need to have both BG1 and BG2 installed at the same time. That's around 5 to 6 gigs of hard drive space. Not much when you can now buy external *terabyte* drives, but if you have an older machine or use a laptop it can be a problem. Interestingly enough there is also a Mac version of the same utility if you want to play BG1 in OS X. -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Mt. Drash cassette and market value
On Jan 12, 2004, at 1:36 PM, Marco Thorek wrote: [Snip] Is it an audio tape, as Jim hints? At first I thought it may be a video and the same that came as mpg with the Ultima collection. It is an audio tape. You can listen to a RealAudio version here http://www.netassoc.net/ultima/u6cass.htm. -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Modern classics
On Jan 12, 2004, at 8:38 PM, Lee K. Seitz wrote: [Snip] Nope, that's not it, but thanks for mentioning it. The name sounds familiar, but that's about it. (And tell us how you really feel, C.E. 8) ) If it helps, I remember a little bit more about the game. You could schedule attacks to be launched against your opponent(s) when you weren't even online. (They might not go as well then, though.) Uh, I thought I could remember more, but that seems to be it. For all I know it was never released in the end. Planetside? -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Mt. Drash cassette and market value
On Jan 8, 2004, at 2:16 AM, John Romero wrote: [Snip] I have an interesting question for you guys Would you consigder a classic game more valuable if it was signed by the author? Yes I would. I don't care if it added a penny to the market value, it would be more valuable to me. One of my favorite Ultimas is the Ultima VI signed by both Richard Garriott and Denis Loubet. If so, and you'd like your classic Apple II games signed, I might know where the author is and could persuade him to sign em. :) Thanks John for the offer. It is appreciated. I have a number of games that would be neat to have signed, but I think what I would like most to would be to have Werdna and Trebor sign one of my copies of Wizardry. :-D Take a step, fight, fight, fight, graph, repeat. -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Modern classics
On Jan 10, 2004, at 9:13 PM, Marco Thorek wrote: I'm not sure if we had this topic before, but what modern games, say, developed after 1994, would you consider collectible? There's only a very few that come to my mind: - The Dragon Edition of Ultima IX. Although it was the worst Ultima IMHO, people seem to look for this edition. - Planescape: Torment. Due to the lack of sales back then, hence comparably small quantities are available, and the legendary status it is gaining ever since, many people now seem to try to get a hold of it. Personally I consider it the greatest RPG I played so far. It is a lovely game. Lots of good, intelligent dialog. It reminded me of the good days of text adventures. - Independence War (or I-War). Another game that was largely overlooked and is now being sought for its status as the most realistic space simulation. And that's already where my list ends. There may be other games; the above are only those I personally own and who I follow losely via their fanbase and on ebay. Collector's editions may also come to mind, but as I saw a Baldur's Gate II collector's edition go on ebay for about $25 just recently, that may not be a decisive criteria. Definitely the Wing Commander III Premiere Edition in the film can. The Roberta Williams Anthology. The Ultima Online Charter Edition. The Neverwinter Nights Collector's Edition just because of how much stuff you get with the game. I would also watch any over-sized box collector's editions that had more than just a cloth map. Maybe the Diablo 2 Collector's Edition just because Diablo 2 was a monster hit. A number of the collector's/limited editions are ok (for example, Baldur's Gate II, Icewind Dale II, Morrowind, or Pool of Radiance), but they don't elicit that I must always have this feeling that the above collector's editions do. Also, while these aren't collector's editions per se, I do like the tins that Return to Castle Wolfenstein came in. I was so-so about the Quake III tin -- probably because I was so-so about the game -- but the RtCW tin just seem to fit the game. -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Don't you hate it when...
On Jan 5, 2004, at 3:29 PM, Lee K. Seitz wrote:
[Snip]
I've probably discussed this before, but don't you hate it when you
find a game manual (or other piece) and there's no sign of the rest of
it? I went by a thrift store today ('tis the season to clean out
attics, basements, and garages for the new year) and found a box full
of Apple II bits and pieces. There were manuals for Apple Adventure
(Colossal Cave ported(?) and published by Apple), The Mouth (MUSE),
and Microsoft Decathalon, but no disks in site. In fact, almost all
of the dozens of disks in the box were copies and data disks, only one
or two originals.
I don't mind that. Sometimes it is the only way you can make a
complete game.
So, do you guys have boxes full of pieces of games waiting to be
reassembled into a whole? (I did pick up a copy of Star Trek:
Judgement Rites because the previous used copy I bought lacked the
manual.) Should I go back and get those manuals?
I would. At worst you'll never use them, but sometimes you can toss a
part in for free to sweeten a deal or help someone out.
Here's a question I know I haven't asked before. How do you store
those extra pieces? Cardboard boxes? Plastic boxes (to avoid the
acidic cardboard)? Filing cabinets? What?
Unless it is an important part, say the Sorcerer Infotater, I just
stick it in my 'parts' box.
--
Edward Franks
--
This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to
the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to
[EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect'
Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] A new member to the Origin Museum Family!
On Jan 7, 2004, at 8:12 PM, Origin Museum wrote: [Snip] Edward, Tom--hope ya don't mind a guy like me as a member of the 'DRASH CLUB'...If you DO mind, I'll just start acting like Rodney Dangerfield from Caddyshack! (Hey--who stepped on the DUCK?!) ;) The more the better. I like to see these games end up in the hands of people that love 'em rather than in the trash or in a 'hoard', forgotten and unappreciated. -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Mt. Drash cassette and market value
On Jan 5, 2004, at 9:59 PM, Dan Chisarick wrote: [Snip] I've done some downright stupid things (once I bought an Ultima II box just for the 1st edition manual w/the typo + the card that says this is one of the first copies... The disks were copies (didn't care, had a set), there was no map (I already have one), the box was beat (see above), the card was good but THE MANUAL WAS A PHOTOCOPY. I couldn't tell from the auction because the original was BW. But I badly wanted that card, and the seller would get back to me (never did). So, I was an idiot there and that was pretty much the end of variants for me (and yes I see the shiny 1st edition manual up right now). Just a quick note -- the one that is up is mine. ;-) The good thing is that you reminded me to look at the auction again. I realized that I had forgotten to include a description of the condition of the box. I like to let people know if there are any broken parts, marks, or tape on things. The rest I don't worry about describing. After all, these are old games and they are going to have wear-and-tear. -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Mt. Drash cassette and market value
On Jan 5, 2004, at 8:25 PM, C.E. Forman wrote: Aagh. Classic mistake. Searching on Drash but not Ultima for the VIC. I'm modifying my automated searches right now. Don't feel bad. I've been doing the same mistake for years! -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Mt. Drash cassette and market value
On Jan 5, 2004, at 8:23 PM, C.E. Forman wrote: Here's what Brian told me when I asked: There was no map. It was a cheap-looking 5 1/2 x 11 folded booklet, printed by some instant press outfit, with a typewriter typeface on maybe 12 white pages, and a light blue cover. It bears the original Faneuil Hall company address. Probably less than 50 were ever sold. The map he mentions refers to a large fold-out map I'd seen in a German collector's stash, which I've never seen since. I had assumed this was from the original version of Zork but I guess not, so there's another early version of some sort. I remember the map was professional quality, not some self-done job. We took it to a print shop and made me a full-size Xerox of it, I just have to find the darn thing. That reminds me, I have the Zork 1 poster from the Zork Users Group. I need to get a copy made so that I can hang in on my wall. I even had one guy offer me a shrinkwrapped Fooblitzsky for a copy of the poster. I didn't know the guy (can't remember who it was) and I was worried about more 'posters' appearing on eBay if I made a copy so I politely demurred. Say, was that the only poster they made? I have some vague memory of a Zork 2 poster mentioned. -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Mt. Drash cassette and market value
On Jan 6, 2004, at 1:41 AM, Jim Leonard wrote: [Snip] I agree with you about demand. I've said it before, so forgive the repeat, but I have in my possession several pieces of software that are arguably rarer than Akalabeth simply because I know some of their history and have never seen them crop up anywhere else -- but because nobody WANTS them, they have no VALUE. So, rare != value. At least in my wacko collection :) That reminds me of the old economic chestnut: While not everything scarce is valuable, everything valuable is scarce. -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Mt. Drash cassette and market value
On Jan 6, 2004, at 8:41 PM, Brian the Fist wrote: few of the early Synergistic releases. Interestingly enough, I have a manual for Odyssey: The Compleat Apventure, but no diskette... I have never seen one. http://deep.mshri.on.ca/people/feldman/vgmuseum/miscgame/ odysseycompleat-disk.jpg Interesting. My copy has a different label. It has the logo (the SS and the words Synergestic Software) from here http://deep.mshri.on.ca/people/feldman/vgmuseum/miscgame/ apventureatlantis-disk.jpg only it is black letters on White. Above the logo it just says ODYSSEY: The Compleat Apventure. -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] A new member to the Origin Museum Family!
On Jan 8, 2004, at 2:40 PM, Feldhamer, Stuart wrote: [Snip] Any other thoughts on why people are willing to pay so much money for games that suck? For Akalabeth that is easy. Ultima. From there you get a fan base that wants all of his stuff. Garriott's career also nicely spans the gamut of era of microcomputer games from the beginning to today. -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Mt. Drash cassette and market value
On Jan 8, 2004, at 2:58 PM, Stephane Racle wrote: I also noticed just a couple of days ago that my Odyssey manual was actually very different from his. Mine is essentially black and white, almost newspaperish, while his has a full colour cover. I wonder if your disk goes with the one I have? Or do you have the same book as Howard too? I have the version as Howard. -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Mt. Drash cassette and market value
On Jan 8, 2004, at 5:12 PM, Stephane Racle wrote: This is what mine looks like... There must have been a few variations. Given the do-it-in-your-Mom's-kitchen standards of the day I would suspect your copy is one of the first editions. Anyone know for sure? -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
[SWCollect] Mt. Drash cassette and market value
Urgle. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ViewItemitem=3068542018category=3545rd=1 Now we have a whopping two data points ;-) for just the cassette. $865 and $765. Trying to estimate or guesstimate the price of the complete game is making my head hurt. I'm still stuck in the mindset that $250 for a complete game is an insane amount. So, to revisit a discussion, how do the rest of you try to estimate the market value of these types of games? What would, say, the first release of Zork -- the PDP-11 version -- be worth? This is really the hard part of being a dealer of collectibles. What is your thought process in determining the market value of a collectible? -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
[SWCollect] Is it just me...
or has there been an upsurge of deadbeat bidders this holiday on eBay? I've had a number of people in the US (and only the US ;-)) back out of auctions. I don't like it, but I can understand buyer's remorse or a maxed out credit card at this time of year. rant One guy went so far as to blame me for Western Union turning him down. I had simply asked him if he was still interested in the game after getting the denial email from Western Union. He decided to flame me and stated I'm no longer interested at this price and with unknown price, shipping, and delivery terms and conditions.Given that he *had* to have the first two bits of information to even use Western Union and the last two bits are in the auction listing and in email to him, I just wonder what he thought he was trying to pull? He did try to wiggle out of getting a neg on eBay by stating that he wouldn't neg me, but I went ahead and negged him (as I stated I do in my auction). I imagine I'll get a retaliatory neg as a result. It just amuses me that people think they can throw their weight around like that. When you are just barely in the double digits you shouldn't blame folks in the hundreds. I can take the heat of another neg. ;-) If he had been polite and given me a reason I wouldn't have negged him. It is the holidays, I know how money can be tight and I'm in a forgiving mode. /rant -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] When did you discover ebay?
On Dec 28, 2003, at 6:32 PM, Jim Leonard wrote: [Snip] Pretty early; I'm not sure what my sign-on date is (how do you determine that?) but my first feedback given to me was Apr-02-98. Click on your feedback number. Right below where it says eBay ID card there should be a line saying Member since:. -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] When did you discover ebay?
On Dec 27, 2003, at 3:25 PM, Stephen Emond wrote: I beat all of you - Apr 5, 1997 :) I think I signed up to bid on a complete Ultima VI. Oct 12, 1996. Back when it was called AuctionWeb. ;-) -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] 'Tis the season to be stingy?
On Dec 22, 2003, at 7:12 PM, Dan Chisarick wrote: I wish ebay charged by the exclamation point... It must work since a new eBayer bought that budget TES:Arena now for $70... -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] 'Tis the season to be stingy?
On Dec 18, 2003, at 2:09 PM, Jim Leonard wrote: [Snip] Is this particular time not the best time to be listing stuff for auction? Or is it just a fluke? I don't want to go through all this trouble only to sell 30 titles at $1 a piece... or should I just accept that the only items that will make any money at all are the Daggerfalls, Ultimas, etc.? Maybe you should give this guy's http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemitem=3067006420 strategy a whirl. ;-) If I'm not mistaken that's the budget re-release of Arena. -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] [Fwd: Re: 5.25 disks?]
On Dec 5, 2003, at 5:58 PM, Marco Thorek wrote: [Snip] I doubt that it made much of a difference. A good enough coder can quickly identify any subroutine depending on the protection. From the article it apparently did. Enough that the dev team decided it was worth the effort then and in the future. IMHO the best copy protection still is a neat box, a nice and sufficient manual and some props to go along. If all you get is a DVD case and a PDF manual on the CD, most people don't see enough physical evidence of the game's worth, compared to what is readily available on the net. I pretty much agree with that. People have gotten used to the idea that cheaper is always better -- zero cost being the cheapest -- without understanding or giving a damn about the eventual long term consequences. But, I'll save the economics rant for another day. ;-) -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] [Fwd: Re: 5.25 disks?]
On Dec 3, 2003, at 7:07 PM, Dan Chisarick wrote: [Snip] http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2002/jul02/ 0724palladiumwp.asp Anyway, I remember reading about how hard the emulator guys were working on emulating brutal encryption on certain standup arcade titles. That seemed effective. My guess is, if a console had 100% encrypted content on their distribution media, and all decryption was done on-chip (no decrypted data ever went over the pins on the chips), that would be pretty effective :) I'm waiting for some form of online activation system for consoles myself (for non-networked games). The problem is, trying to match wits with someone with detailed knowledge of a system and trying to keep you out is fun. Sometimes more fun than the game they're protecting. Hmm. I need to think through this. I wonder if the NSA would freak if there wasn't a backdoor. -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Vintage games w/fatal flaws
On Dec 4, 2003, at 8:13 AM, Dan Chisarick wrote: [Snip] Third would have to be needless player frustration: Jumping puzzles, tedious movement puzzles (Sierra 3D games are notorious for this), and I'd have to throw in my entering the words of Truth, Love and Courage in the wrong order after spending 2.5 hours getting to the bottom of a certain 8-level dungeon to get the Codex of Infinite Wisdom just to be kicked back to the surface. Augh! (Its corveramo , no veramocor :) I always hated the Final Fantasy games for having save points (how damn stupid) and the invisible encounters. Gee, my life doesn't run according to when I can save a game, nor do I always want to fight every battle. :sigh: I still haven't finished one yet. Last, and somewhat humorously, ever type in a game in Basic or assembly from a magazine, and it didn't work? Seems the feature title ALWAYS had some little typo in it that would require you to buy next month's issue to resolve? :) You mean, besides the typos *I* introduced? ;-) Oh for the days of typing in code from a poorly done magazine copy of a faint line-printer copy of a program... -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] How to protect against theft of big-money items?
On Nov 30, 2003, at 1:39 PM, Jim Leonard wrote: [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hehe, you weren't paying attention to my ranting and ravings about paypal? I did, but because I'm selling a physical item I wasn't worried about it as much. I'm not sure eBay would let you get away with stating this, but it might be worth making a note in the auction description that anyone using PayPal must adhere to the terms of Paypal's (Seller) Protection Policy. I don't know quite how to phrase such a statement or even if it would be any help, but it might be worth considering. -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Hello!
On Monday, September 29, 2003, at 05:46 AM, Alexander Zller wrote: Well, I hope this doesnt bring out hundreds of themL Not likely... although I'm sure there *are* several dozen more copies out there, if not hundreds, soI guess one or two other Drashsmight appear on eBay soon, remember what happened after that first Atari U1 fetched $860? ;-) How prophetic a price. ;-) I see the Drash cassette went for $865. -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Hello!
On Tuesday, September 23, 2003, at 08:26 PM, C.E. Forman wrote: [Snip] Fortran, feel free to chime in, we all know you've got one too. B-) As others have said, that is a fold over card. In fact when I had my pictures up I didn't show the back of the card because I wanted to hide a tiny bit of verbiage. That was to keep potential scammers -- I had been felt out many times over the three years I was searching for a Drash -- from knowing everything about Drash. It wouldn't have helped with at least one guy that had to have seen an actual one, but it would have kept most at bay. Well, I was hoping it would. ;-) That particular Drash looks to be in better shape than mine. The box has more gloss, plus it has the registration card which I don't have. -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Drash in Droves
On Friday, September 26, 2003, at 07:32 AM, C.E. Forman wrote: You guys catch this? http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/ eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemitem=3048427968category=3544 rd=1 Am I missing a photo? Since the one with the auction only shows four cassettes I'd be leery about bidding on it. Unfortunately it looks like a few too many would-be bidders wised the seller up on the game's rarity, as he first added some information lifted from Underworld Dragon's pages, then ended the listing early when someone made him an offer he couldn't refuse (error in the bid amount, pshyeah RIGHT!) If the buyer is on this list, I'd love to hear how much you paid him off. B-) What is it with Drash? Dormant for years, now we have two within a week of each other! Rarities seem to pull each other out of hiding, especially if the first gets a high bid on eBay. :-D -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
[SWCollect] Ultima 11
Gotta love auctions -- http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/ eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemitem=2750965793category=4610 -- with text descriptions like ULTIMA 11 IS THE SEQUWL TO THE BEST-SELLINH FANTASY-ROLE PLAYING GAME ULTIMA! :-D -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Ultima 11
On Tuesday, September 2, 2003, at 09:13 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Whoa. I had JUST marked this very auction to watch, like 10 seconds ago. Cosmic. B-) Great minds think alike? ^_^ -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Ebay trader experiences
On Sunday, August 31, 2003, at 09:23 AM, Stefan Lindblom wrote: Ahoy mates! Just curious about a certain trader on Ebay who seems to be alot into vintage games, with over a 1000 feedbacks. The traders Ebay name and mailadress is [EMAIL PROTECTED] And I was just wondering if any of you have had any experiences with him/her/them.. and if so, what they are? The reason I ask.. well, I won a few of their auctions, including a high prized SSI one. I was outbid on one however, but was approached later by them asking if I wanted to pay my highest bid for another copy they had. My highest bid was more than double the listed starting price so I asked if we could come an agreement with would mean a 7$(from 32$ to 25$) cut in my offer. Listing price was 15$ so I thought that was a fair offer. No risks for them, no time waiting, and no ebay fees. I got a very short and rude reply. Surely more than one of you guys have dealt with them before.. what have your experiences been? I've dealt with them (Software and More) on eBay and before that on their (very basic) website http://members.aol.com/swmoretp/AP.html. I've never had a complaint or a problem with them. However, they do know that their stuff is worth some money so I imagine cutting a deal with them isn't an option. Also, as a psychological matter, when a buyer has indicated how high they would go with a bid it becomes very difficult to retreat from that monetary amount. I've personally only been able to do it once (IIRC) and that was in eBay's early days. The seller has the advantage over the buyer in this situation. There is just no incentive for the seller to retreat from that high bid -- the buyer has gone so far as to place a bid for that amount! The whole 'can I get more money now or later?' line of thought seems to just go down the drain, which kind of screws the buyer looking for an after-auction deal. I'd basically just let the whole thing go just as you would for a lost auction. It gets too easy to get yourself upset at the situation and/or seller when you'll probably want to buy something from them in the future. (Being in California they seem to get a small, but steady supply of some rare items.) I'm sorry I can't give you a better answer. Good luck with the next auctions! -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: FW: Re: [SWCollect] (OT) Kids games
On Tuesday, August 5, 2003, at 05:26 PM, Jim Leonard wrote: Some mail clients don't honor the Reply-To: field, unfortunately. Except that John's email is showing *two* reply to headers. Does the list software just append a reply to or override/append the reply to? Or should we just tease John? ;-) -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Value of Apple ][ Goldfinger
On Thursday, July 24, 2003, at 08:59 PM, Lee K. Seitz wrote: [Snip] That's what the Apple //c is for, silly. 8) Speaking of which, I just got one from a friend. It's just the bare system (computer power supply). I asked him to keep an eye out for software, but I'm not expecting much. He's not into computers. He's apparently had this one since college (which is when we met), but never got a monitor for it, so never used it. So now I've got a //e, //c, and IIgs. Just need a II+ and II (yeah, right), and I'll have a complete collection. 8) Sell someone's kidney ;-) and you might be able to afford one of the (honestly) rare Apple *I*s I've seen up for sale -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Platform
On Friday, February 21, 2003, at 11:48 PM, Dan Chisarick wrote: Guess what platform its really for: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/ eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemcategory=3561item=3008682923rd=1 Apple made other computers than the Mac? ;-) -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [SWCollect] Using MobyGames Info
On Thursday, February 13, 2003, at 01:59 AM, Jim Leonard wrote: No feedback on this -- is this information helpful/useful? If not, let me know. We aim to please. I'm not doing enough to need the info at the moment. By the way, is this auction http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/ eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemitem=3008172904category=11050 legitimately using Moby Games images? -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/
Re: [SWCollect] RPG moved to main genre list
On Thursday, February 13, 2003, at 05:56 PM, Dan Chisarick wrote: Sidebar... who's got the best manuals? (SSI, Origin and EA, but if I had to pick one, I'd say SSI.) How about Rowan? I remember one of their WW1 flight sims (Flying Corp?) included an authentic 1919-vintage how-to-fly paperback. Then again, most of the flight sims have had excellent manuals (ie, Falcon 4.0). -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/
Re: [SWCollect] The first? -- Thread was King's Quest 1
On Tuesday, February 4, 2003, at 02:53 PM, Jim Leonard wrote: Hugh Falk wrote: I don't even know what the first commercial game would have been. The first game you had to pay for for a personal computer. For the Apple ][ [A] it looks like Rocket Pilot by Bob Bishop (of Apple-Vision fame ;-)) was possibly the first commercial game. The question is if Softape was asking money for the game. Scott Adams's Adventureland would also be a decent candidate for the first successful commercial game (that is, it sold enough to keep him in business for a number of years). [A] I believe the Apple ][ actually shipped before the Commodore PET, and both of these were announced before the TRS-80. -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/
Re: [SWCollect] The first? -- Thread was King's Quest 1
On Monday, February 10, 2003, at 11:56 PM, Jim Leonard wrote: Weren't there any games you were obligated to pay for for the Altair? Because that would pretty much take the crown. Here's photos of MicroChess and Peter Jennings. http://www.digibarn.com/collections/systems/kim-1/peter-jennings/ page_01.htm -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/
Re: [SWCollect] Greetings
On Friday, February 7, 2003, at 01:41 AM, John Romero wrote: Speaking of Zork, y'all might not care (or you might think it's neat), but I co-created Infocom's InfoDOS that was the OS for Zork Zero, Arthur 2 other Infocom titles. Back in the 80's. :O I love the old Infocom games. Zork is one of my favorite series and I was glad to see the games were available on the Apple II to the very end. Was it difficult to fit that version of the ZCode interpreter onto an Apple II? Did you have to make any compromises from the other versions? How was it working with Infocom (Activision?) at that time? On an unrelated note, there's something I'm curious about. I remember reading in an old issue of CGW that when you guys came to name Wolf3D you did a search for the then-current owner of Silas Marner's Castle Wolfenstein. CGW claimed that the copyright had somehow lapsed in the many changes of hands CW went through (someone was supposedly still selling copies from their garage). Is that story true or did you just buy the existing CW copyright? -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/
Re: [SWCollect] Greetings
On Friday, February 7, 2003, at 07:15 PM, John Romero wrote: [Snip] The ZCode stuff was external to the OS - I just did the OS part. Ah, my fault. I forgot some of my Apple ][ history. I had forgotten how easy it for people to write their own OSes for the A2. Did you do anything different for the IIGS or was InfoDOS just targeted to the II+/e/c Apples? I never worked with the IIGS so I'm curious if much game development was done for or on the IIGS itself. [Snip] Wolf3D-wise, yes the copyright had lapsed on Castle Wolfenstein. Muse Software went out of business in 1985 so seven years later when we were looking for the owner of the copyright it ended up that someone bought their inventory and was selling that from their house, but didn't keep up any of the copyrights so we just registered it and got it. Thanks for the info. Given the current climate of hanging onto any and all intellectual property I just wondered if the CGW story was accurate. -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/
Re: [SWCollect] Software collecting videos
On Tuesday, February 4, 2003, at 02:51 PM, Jim Leonard wrote: [Snip] I wasn't planning to charge for the DVD so I didn't think there would be legal issues. It doesn't matter if you charge for it or not. EA might not be able to get punitive damages, but their lawyers could kill your pocketbook. :-/ There's always the option of a bootleg where I don't charge for it and don't put any names on it... In any case I'll certainly ask. I also have another Origin promotional tape, that was distributed to software stores circa 1989. They are cheaply made advertisements for old Origin games like Windwalker, Knights of Legend, 2400 AD, and another (no Ultima tho.) They were obviously made 'in-house', and they are not the best-produced commercials that I've ever seen, but they are an interesting look at the birth of computer game advertising. Again, if you get the permissions, I'd be glad to contribute! :) Who would I talk to about that? EA or someone else? EA hadn't purchased Origin by that time. If the tapes were Origin property -- I don't see why they wouldn't be -- I imagine they all became EA's property when EA bought Origin. Other than Akalabeth and Lord British I can't think of anything that was negotiated as a separate property. -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/
Re: [SWCollect] Software collecting videos
On Wednesday, February 5, 2003, at 11:45 AM, Jim Leonard wrote: [Snip] You are correct. Well, then here's my current plan: Master the entire disc with as much material as possible (so that I have a list of material to ask permission for), then if permission is not granted, remove the material before distribution. In other words, I don't want fear of not getting permission to hamper the product. That sounds like the best way to go. I know that some companies, or rather some people in some companies are supportive of these things. Laird Malamed (sp) at Activision comes to mind. [Snip] Getting a response back from EA's legal department is like pulling teeth. Ugh. They sound like Sierra/Vivendi's legal department. I tried to see if I could get Mt. Drash redistributed for historical curiousity purposes, but I might as well have tried to get a message out of a black hole. -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/
Re: [SWCollect] New topic--Collectors UNITE!
On Monday, February 3, 2003, at 09:44 PM, Karl Kuras wrote: [Snip] You know that brings up a good question. It would be interesting to see what systems each of us mainly collect for. I'm guessing it'll reflect our age. I'm mainly (virtually only) C64 and Amiga stuff. How about the rest of you? For me it is mostly the Apple ][, IBM PC, and a few Macintosh games. I really don't collect for a particular hardware platform, though. I tend to pick up the games I'm interested and if they span platforms I'll follow (for example, the Might and Magic series). -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/
Re: [SWCollect] New topic--Collectors UNITE!
On Monday, February 3, 2003, at 09:45 PM, Dan Chisarick wrote: [Snip] As an aside, first Apple game I played was Castle Wolfenstein. There was a mainframe at the school as well (I think it was an HP of some variation). It had a game whose name escapes me (Mystery Mansion?). Haunt? -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/
Re: [SWCollect] King's Quest 1
On Wednesday, January 29, 2003, at 06:14 PM, Jim Leonard wrote: Edward Franks wrote: 1. Adventure was the first computer game, yes? Nope. :) Space War was (circa 1960). MIT students meet the PDP-1 and the cathode-ray tube. I meant PERSONAL computer. Adventure was playable on CPM machines if memory serves; it was certainly the first game I ever played (on an Osborne) in 1979. There was also a CP/M game called Ladder (platform jumping). If you include any BASIC games (Star Trek, Wumpus, etc.), then it would be difficult determining just what the first game was. The first commercial game would probably easier to figure out. BTW, it is 90% certain RPG will join the main list of genres at MobyGames, so I thank all of you for taking time to illustrate your viewpoints. Cool. :-D (But I am not budging on King's Quest being primarily IF+G, because honestly that is what it is. The input is all text (moving your character can be done with joystick but that is all a joystick can do in that game) and the output is text and graphics, so that pretty much clinches it.) I'm not fussed either way when it comes to King's Quest. -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/
Re: [SWCollect] WC3: Premiere Edition
On Saturday, February 1, 2003, at 05:34 AM, Alexander Zöller wrote: I was surprised to see two shrinkwrapped copies on eBay within as little as two weeks: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemitem=3000847934 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemitem=3002417968 I know we've been discussing this before - production run significantly lower than that of the Kilrathi Saga, Premiere Edition's value *should* be higher than the Saga's in view of its availability, etc. I remember that someone on this list gave the Saga's production figure as 22,000 copies and the Premiere Ed's as 1,500. Wondering if anyone is able to confirm this, especially if the discrepancy really is that big. I remember seeing 50 or 60 of the WC3: Premiere Editions at our local Sam's Club (warehouse-style bulk-purchase members-only store -- it is owned by Wal-Mart). I could be wrong, but I can't see a limited-edition game getting into Sam's Club. They just don't deal with such small runs of things. That was the first time I saw one. I didn't buy my copy there, but from EA directly when a friend tipped me off that EA was selling off their remaining stock. All that money just for the damn soundtrack CD. ;-) -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/
Re: [SWCollect] Ebay Gets Crazier and Crazier
On Saturday, February 1, 2003, at 07:34 PM, Stefan Lindblom wrote: Appearantly since I am a non US Ebaydealer I can't view mature stuff. Enlighten us please? The title of the auction is: I need help for college Here's the description: Hi...I'm 18 Years Old...and well, it looks like I have to resort to this to pay for tuition and books and things...I don't have any family to help me so..I got my friend's password for this e-bay thingy and now I am going to take pictures of myself and try and sell them here I have a couple of pics already, I'm still very shy as you can see from the picture, but if you help me out - I will send you bunches more- you can also request some things for me to do cause, I like don't know what to do... Please help!!! Tuition is coming up soon and I don't want to miss my second semester.. Thanks Heather ps...I will give you my e-mail for requests - but nothing to strange ok? ok...bye... oh and one of my friends Beth wants to take some picture with me...I mean if you want... There's also a photograph that suggests a topless young lady, -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/
Re: [SWCollect] Ebay Gets Crazier and Crazier
On Saturday, February 1, 2003, at 06:06 PM, Stuart Feldhamer wrote: OK, look at this. I found this auction on ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/ eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemcategory=11047item=3004366043 I was thinking, this is weird. It says 125 games, but only a few are listed. And the feedback rating is only 3. So I figured, let's see what else this guy has to offer. And look what came up! http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/ eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemcategory=323item=2909591867 Here's one that's truly annoying: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/ eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemitem=2303780307category=189. There's so much verbiage (note the False Negative Feedback section) that you just want to pass on by. -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/
Re: [SWCollect] Ebay Gets Crazier and Crazier
On Saturday, February 1, 2003, at 11:23 PM, Jim Leonard wrote: Edward Franks wrote: Here's one that's truly annoying: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/ eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemitem=2303780307category=189. There's so much verbiage (note the False Negative Feedback section) that you just want to pass on by. Now that is scary. And I Automatically Don't Trust Anyone Who Inexplicably Uses Mixed Caps Throughout The Entire Sentence. I'm leery of anyone that whines about getting negative feedback. Rightly or wrongly I tend to suspect someone that has to justify their policy. No one likes negative feedback, but you are bound to run across someone that you can't square things with at some point. You just take the hit and move on. This person's policy comes across as feedback extortion: Don't leave me negative feedback I don't like or I'll get you!. I wonder what eBay would do if someone reported him? -- Edward Franks -- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/
