Jonathon

Compare this to any video of EQ1, and remember that it's only been 10 short years between that and this.

You can say "Oh, that's just one model - how will it run with 50 avatars on the screen!?!?!"

Just fine, thanks. Not in 2010, but bloody well soon enough for me!

Vanguard's crafting system sticks out to me. The actual *crafting* of real items depended somewhat on the quality of material you put in (like SWG in the olden days), but it didn't require you to crank out a zillion useless items while levelling your skill (unlike SWG, and...every other crafting game out there).
Instead, you filled orders from townsfolk for things useful to them, made of materials provided by them. No actual materials or goods entered or exited the economy in the process - you just built skill points, and got better at the 'gambling' angle of crafting (How far can I push this to get the best possible item, without being unable to finish it?)

The Knave Abides.

http://www.runleiarun.com/lebowski/

...is my comment.

Considering Moore's Law yields faster computing at decreasing prices, I'd expect better games to require roughly the same subscription rate growth into the future, increasing roughly at double the rate of inflation.
1995-1999: $9.99
2000-2004: $12.95
2005-2009: $14.95
2010-2014: $20.95
2016-2019: $29.95

Non-Minimum Wage wages will rise over that 10-year period of time, as well.
If you're making $10/hr now, that will rise (3.5% per year) to $14.11
If you're making $20/hr now, that will rise (3.5% per year) to $28.81

Overall, though, the traditional subscription model would appear to trend toward taking a larger percentage of your income due to the apparent historical disparity between the 3-4% rise in inflation/wages, and the 7% increase in pricing over time.

And then there was the Black Swan.

Grab Bag? =)

Windows 7 has the same "broken" (and by 'broken', I mean 'fixed', as in 'dog') Windowing manager that won't allow you to span multiple monitors as a single desktop.
Yes, you can have many monitors, but many software titles that can only deal with one (very large) desktop without taking a serious performance hit (various CAD programs, racing games, and even Microsoft's own Flight Simulator) are restricted to being used on one monitor.

I, for one, look forward to being able to purchase a new PC (or motherboard and OS combination, more likely), and buy an XP Pro/64 license with it.

One of my favorites: When a lowbie asks my wife for some money, she tends to say "sure, but you've got to earn it...you have to help me summon my friend first..."
She invites them, and sure enough, there I am, in the group...

*Opens portal to Darnassus*

I have Draenei alt on Maelstrom who WALKED to Sunstrider Isle to get a Dragonhawk the minute she hit level 10.
Boat to Auberdine -> Boat to Menethil -> Wetlands -> Arathi -> Hillsbrad -> Tirisfal -> The Bulwark -> Western Plaguelands -> Eastern Plaguelands -> Stratholme (oops, wrong turn) -> Eastern Plaguelands -> Ghostlands -> Sunstrider Isle -> Tame -> Hearth.
That was a VERY long day. I managed to not die much in the WPL because I swam lots of it, but in the EPL, I could get about 10 steps before I was dead and corpserunning again. It took about 5 hours and a dozen gankings in addition to the MobDeaths, and was an epic journey told in Guild Chat....but it was SO worth it. My next stop was Booty Bay with my main, to get a (matching) red dragonhawk hatchling. They're named "Cat" and "Kitten", respectively. It's been 9 months now, and I've only ever seen 2-3 other Alliance Characters with a Dragonhawk at all, and never another with a big one and a little one. =)
Being able to solo a mob 4 levels above me is kinda handy, too. =)