Apple

Yah, we have to face the fact that software companies (excluding id and epic games) don't want to make linux/mac compatible clients, so the only way to get those games on linux and mac is to use programs like wine and crossover to run windows-only programs without windows.

The virus problem is overrated. Yes, if you run Bootcamp and then go surf porn sites, download god-knows-what software, and generally muck around without knowing what you're doing, you could get a Virus. But it's not like viruses will come pouring in the minute you run bootcamp, especially, as Tijo suggests, you only run Bootcamp to play GW.

In other news, I got GW running on my mac using crossover earlier today. Runs like crap on my mac mini. I'll stick to my PC for now.

Works great via bootcamp / tiger / vista home premium. It's a 7300GT I think, in this MacPro, and I would love a better selection of graphics cards. It runs GW well, but I still dream of running GW at my 24" screen's native resolution.

With even more id games due for simultaneous release on Mac, I think video card manufacturers might finally bring more models to the system.

Still, I don't think video cards have actually made that much of a leap.

Sorry for off-topic chat.

Vista via Bootcamp will make you happy. Buy the 69$ edu home premium upgrade and that'll work.

Having the ability to dual boot when you absolutely need a native windows install is nice, but it's a huge drag having to reboot every time you want to play a game, then reboot again to go back to your preferred os. I actually managed to quit gaming altogether for 3 months until gw became playable on linux, since it was too much of a pain booting into windows every time I wanted to play gw, or oblivion or something.

The fact is, Apple are shit when it comes to games! Sorry, but that's it!

Primary reason: The mac market is not big enough to make a profit on. Mac is still less than 5% of the computer market. Perhaps when they reach 20% but right now, there is no money there.

GUild wars came out in 2004. I believe Mac's are more popular now and still going up, so i guess they will HAVE to have gw2 compatable for mac or they fail.

blizzard can make a mac client for world of warcraft because there's a continous monthly revenue stream. and if you can believe their numbers of 9 million accounts you can figure about 5% (and probably higher since the 2% figure includes all computers, not just average consumer) would be running a mac. that's almost 500k people with a monthly subscription service.

now compare that with guild wars, where there is no monthly revenue stream and the user base is considerably smaller. the official statement is 3 million units sold, so you can figure about 1 million unique accounts at most. with about 5% using macs, that's only 50k people with no continuous revenue stream.

so don't count a mac version anytime soon.

Its a valid point that allowing your game to be run on a Mac will continue to get more and more important, but to say that GW2 will fail without Mac support is overstating the facts at this point.

Extremely true. Even on Windows I rarely run any anti-virus or anti-spyware software. Some will call me stupid for it, but I've seriously had maybe one or two noticeable viruses in several years' time—which the trial version of McAfee dealt with quite easily—and no spy/adware I can recall. Further, I don't keep any sensitive data on my PC, and reformat a lot.

On the other hand, similarly overrated is the invulnerability of Macs to viruses. Its not 1995 anymore. Viruses for Mac OS exist in greater numbers than most users think. People are using Apple computers a lot more, and with the Unix backend, Intel architecture, and Bootcamp, its easier than ever to produce viruses that affect them. Some would argue that an average Mac is more vulnerable to infection than the average PC, simply because its owner listens to the bullshit Apple advertising too much and thinks they're invincible.

Erm.. 'Apple are shit when it comes to games'.. Right, thing is I'm no Apple fan either but - the only problem is.. Is that Macs use OpenGL, not DirectX - which is what most game designers, developers and programmers use... Which isn't really at the fault of Apple - it's just that game developers won't work with it or OpenGL...

Who gives a shit? Why do they HAVE to have Guild Wars 2 to be compatible for Macs or they will fail? I'm sorry but you are very un-informed or full of yourself. Making GW2 available to Mac users won't do anything but be a waste of resources, there isn't and never will be enough of them to request the game for it to compensate the amount of money, time and resources spent for it to be fully re-programmed from the ground up in OpenGL. You've got no chance.

Keep dreaming.

Just get a PC. Don't give me your Mac fanboyism, just read;

THIS...

oh yes, forgot about the opengl issue on macs. interestingly enough, the last bastion of opengl support, id software, is moving towards directx for graphics as well.

I'd say its absolutely the fault of Apple…and probably the fault of Microsoft as well. Game developers can't work with OpenGL the same way they can work with DirectX, it just doesn't offer the same feature set.

The underlying problem is that modern computer technology is so factioned and divided between Apple and "everything else," due to each side's die-hard dedication to proprietary software and to a lesser extent, hardware. The Macintosh operating system just doesn't have enough compatibility with Windows, and it probably never will. They're too different, and that can be traced back to nothing more complicated than corporate greed on both sides. That will never change and it will always necessitate separate versions of everything, and as long as they're so incompatible, game developers will likely have to pick and choose the more popular platform to develop for.

id has to compete with 2k Boston, Epic, Valve, and Sierra, not to mention Crytek. OpenGL doesn't offer the bleeding-edge rendering that DirectX does.

Assuming you're running OS X or greater, you're really running Linux, you just don't know it. Thus you should be able to use Linux-to-Windows compatibility solutions. I've heard that both Wine and Cedega are able to run GW.

not quite. if you're running mac os x, you're running darwin, not linux. 2 superficially similar, yet completely different beasts.

They may not make the current Guild Wars client for the Mac, but they more than likely will for GW2, where they will be selling the new game. But like you said, there is no monthly fee so they won't make much money off the current games since most people that would buy them, already did.

hmmm, sure they are.... no, its more of Microsoft moving toward Mac, i mean, look at Vista, its basically Microsoft's best (and failed) efforts to look like a Mac and work like a Mac.



Again, Its not Macs moving to Microsoft, its Microsoft Moving to Macs. All that Mac is doing is making their own versions of Microsoft programs so they are more easily compatible with the majority of businesses, schools, etc. for their customers. Microsoft has been adopting a bunch of features from Mac for Vista, and frankly, it really just looks like a bad copy of OS X. The main point of this whole thread, basically is that Macs are more user friendly, Windows is more "techy" friendly. No need to flame eachother about which is right or wrong bc neither one is... Its all determined on which Operating System is right for you. I personally like Macs a whole lot more. Theyr faster, more easy to use, and with the new Leopard OS X, even MORE user friendly.


-Dean


P.S: This thread can be closed I got the info i was looking for.

All Blizzard games now are compatible on macs, if it takes WAY more resources and Blizz is willing to spend them, i can guarantee they aren't losing anything by making their games mac compatible. Basically, Blizzard > Anet and Mac > Pc. You can close the thread now.

Fixed.
Blizzard is one of the richest game companies, Anet is not, thus making this processus alot easier for the first one.

Furthermore, I believe Anet has something more important than remaking their first game when its sequel is in development.

I believe blizzard makes their games with opengl, not directx, (correct me if I'm wrong. I know here are opengl versions of their games) so, while they do have basically unlimited resources, they just did it the smart way and started with a universally compatible program, rather than pouring in those resources to port their games. One of the few things I like about blizzard.

In short, if companies use opengl rather than directx, this is hardly an issue.