There is no definitive answer to the question without doing a study into it but it seems that a lot of americans seem to get bored quickly and want action, this is not an inherent part of plug-making and this could be a reason, they aslo seem to get frustrated quickly when things don't work, this could also be a factor as if this happened with a plug they would just forget about it.

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Actually, I think there's a relatively simple and compelling answer to this one, and it's to do with demographics of Mac ownership.

In the US (I am given to understand) Macs have a relatively high penetration in education and among general users, as well as by 'creatives', compared to the rest of the world, where Macs are primarily purchased by 'creatives' with a much lower proportion of general and educational users.

Now, go figure. In general the age range of non-USA Mac users is higher (because little educational use), and a high proportion are multi-media designers, desk-top-publishers, video-makers or other people in creative professions.

This will boil down a little differently when it comes to people who play EV or EVO, but the result is still likely to be that the average age of non-USA players will be higher, and that, typically, a higher proportion of them will already have been involved in some major creative projects.

Hence the apparent imbalance. But only apparent, because the USA has produced some good plugs (see other posts above), and, of course, EV itself.

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M A R T I N • T U R N E R

Personally, Kestrel had it in a nutshell:

Myself, I work 8am-5pm Sat-Wed. In addition to that, I have square dancing, jujitsu, and occasionally eating and sleeping.

Add my 31 second attention span and you understand why I have only released "Captain Canardley Ableson's Tech Guide (1144 DL's and counting) over the past 2 months. I still have MiranuSpace (a POV plug) and Darkest Hour (My most ambitious project).

Both of these plugs will mainly focus on plotline.

This is because I am rather limited in the graphics I can create. Also, me being overseas, my Intenet line is a joke. I can't upload 50MB worth of plug - it would take WEEKS!)

So maybe I am the exception to the rule - Ich bin ein Amerikaner, and I make decent plugs (methinks...)

Viva El Guapo

(And I try to take extra steps to ensure bug-free operation...)

ElG7

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KIRK: Very funny, Scotty - now beam down my clothes!
Captain Canardley Ableson's Technical Guide to the EV/O Universe
http://www.ambrosiasw.com/cgi-bin/vftp/dl-...=TechFolder.sit

US kids short attention span... let me point something out...

You're making fun of your own country when ya do that...

The U.S.A. is the mutt amoung the dogs of the world... It has a little from every country! I am an American in Texas and my family line is Scotch/Irish/French/Welsh, and I am a serious roleplayer who enjoys hefty and deep storylines.

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Very funny, now beam down my clothes. These ladies look rest-less..... uh-oh...
Alien's famous tongue...
"Vionions?? Voinioniommoins?? Viks? Veggies? Vegetables? Oh wait, that's a hewman plant...
AIM: StrikerDragon

Quote

Originally posted by Slav:
**Oh, we're getting more racist here. Don't you think guys that this topic is not really appropriate for this board.

**

I wouldn't really say racist......maybe....nationalityist?

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And so the problem remained; lots of people were mean, and most of them were miserable, even the ones with digital watches. Many were increasingly of the opinion that they had all made a big mistake in coming down from the trees in the first place. And some said that the trees had been a bad move and that no one should ever have left the oceans. - Douglass Adams

Test
Oh, BTW, do you Americans have shirts that say "American Girls Kick Ass"? We Canadians do and I must say they do look hot on our women!

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"Internet is so big, so powerful and pointless that for some people it is a complete substitute for life."
-Andrew Brown

"When unhappy, one doubts everything; when happy, one doubts nothing."

test2

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"Internet is so big, so powerful and pointless that for some people it is a complete substitute for life."
-Andrew Brown
Star Trek Escape Velocity
(url="http://"http://homepage.mac.com/startrekev/")http://homepage.mac.com/startrekev/(/url)

I must say, this topic actually made me laugh.... it's kinda pathetic. Is anyone else struck by it? Here we have people freely stating the stereotypes that they believe about Americans. No, not all americans are lazy. What's this I read about being inbred? This is a collection of crap. I believe it's pure coincidence that the most downloaded plugs are made by non-americans. Here's an even better question. Who was the ultimate plug of all, the original game, made by? (hence, Ambrosia staff, where are you all from?) I imagine you live in the US. But, does anyone take that into consideration? nope.

Moving on...

It seems that the sort of US kids who buy EV are looking for something different in EV than are people from other countries. The US kids seem to be more into the violence ("I can kill a Dreadnaught with a Shuttle!"), while others (both US and foreign, but mostly foreign, I think) seem to view the plot with much more reverance.

No offense, but this is the dumbest **** I have ever read. Where the hell did you pull this from? You poll all the freakin' americans that play the game? "So, do what do you enjoy more? KILL DEATH DIE DESTROY, or.... starting out as a trader, slowly moving up in power while beginning to ally yourself with specific governments?" Sheeeesh.

I'm gonna stop ranting now before I bust my spleen. This is really sad.

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"Do not try to bend the spoon, that is impossible.... instead... only try to realize the truth"
"The truth?"
"There is no spoon"
AiM: CrazyJ617

Quote

Originally posted by G-Dawgg:
**America is always termed the "land of just about darn near everything". You can get anything you want in America, and as a result, many Americans have very large imaginations about what they can see, get, etc.

As a result, could it not be that many American plug-developers come up with great idea's for plugs, involving massive amounts of graphics, ships, etc... that are simply too large to be actually created. (personally, I have thought about creating quite a few plugs in my time, but while my idea's are out of this world, my time isn't).**

That's rather stupid. I'm Swiss, and I initiated the Mille Terrae project. Nuff said.

Quote

Originally posted by G-Dawgg:
**Therefore, maybe because of American society, plug-makers who are 'yanks' have wild ideas that they can never really accomplish. Maybe foreign societies that are toned down are better enviornments for imagining what a plug can do.
**

I my experience, the average American has very little concept of foreign countries, cultures and languages, which results in a somewhat limited "mind horizon". (This doesn't directly pertain to the American audience of this board, which is probably more educated and interested than the average American.)

In Europe, on the other hand, many cultures live close to each other, which gives Europeans a feeling of being "world citizens". They learn to communicate with people from other countries and get to see more of their varied cultural distinctness. This might be responsible for a somewhat wider horizon, a basis for imagination and a more holistic realism-oriented mentality.

-- Cinga

PS: Another number I'd like to hear is what percentage of Americans and Europeans download cheat plugs.

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Actually, only american kids are lazy. The vast majority of working adults in the U.S. does not work the 40 hour work week, usually closer to 50-60 minimum. So calling us lazy is a bit on the ignorant side. The thirty second attention span is also something that teenagers posess, but that's normal anywhere you go, due to puberty being a global epidemic.

I think it has more to do with age than anything else, most people who play EV/O are in America, and are under the age of 21. They also tend to have more important things to do than make a plug in, which only worsens as you get older. In fact it probably has more to do with people from other countries having considerably more free time than Americans do.

As far as Americans preferring violence, well, that's historical as well. Perhaps people from the U.K, Germany, Japan, Italy, and several other countries remember how violent and bloodthirsty Americans are. I myself don't consider it to be a detriment to our society, but simply a trait began due to arrogant Europeans trying to screw us over. Read your history books if you disagree.

Without wishing to be contentious, I don't think I agree with anything in that last post.

Sorry.

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M A R T I N • T U R N E R

i couldn't help noticing that the list of plug-ins posted by Regulus are all TC's, with the exception of f-25 (i'm counting ev & evo as TC's). this inherently excludes such popular plugs as reign of the voinians and evoplus. furthermore, it cuts out mechanical and cosmetic plugs like evtg and magma.

i was surprised that the babylon 5 TC did not make the "list." i don't know what country the authors are from but i do know it was an excellent design, and a nice break from the linear plots that predominate among plugs (including frozen heart, which is otherwise the best plot line i've seen).

but getting to the point. i think to a degree Martin Turner is correct; non-US ev/evo players do seem to be older overall. i was shocked when i read the "how old does everyone have to be" thread and discovered how many posters were less than half my age. but there may be something more to it: it's possible that, because ambrosia/ev is an american invention, non-US citizens practice a form of self-censorship when posting plug-ins (a possible concern that they are intruding on someone else's turf, as it were). here's an open question for all you "furners"--how well-penetrated is the internet into general society? perhaps it's like the US in the late 80's; the internet was still the domain of the "privileged few," before it went mainstream.

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Natural Resources Defense Council - the Earth's Best Defense

Quote

Originally posted by Lazy American:
Bbut simply a trait began due to arrogant Europeans trying to screw us over. Read your history books if you disagree.

Would you care to mention the times this has happened and would anyone care to mention any time sthe US has tried to screw other countires over.

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Why don't we stop looking at the plug-designers' countries and look at
the actual people? In my opinion, this whole topic takes credit away from
the designers, who deserve the credit, and give it to their countries.
Nationality has nothing to do with it, it has to do with individual
persanalities. Let's just be thankful that we have any good plug-ins and
stop trying to explain everything.

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"Fellow citizens, we cannot escape history. We of this Congress and this administration will be remembered in spite of ourselves." Abraham Lincoln
web site-
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As far as i know which is far most foreign cultures stress education especially in Asia and in Israel and some of Europe. Also those cultures stress hard work while the American attiude is motly have fun not that i'm complaining, it's fun but not productive.

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"Veni, Vidi, Vici"
"I came, I saw, I conqeured."
Julius Caeser
The Delta Force webboard is:http://boards.gamers.com/messages/message_post.asp?name=deltaforceEVO

Hey there, all you lazy american kids! A little off-topic (but where exactly is this topic going these days? ;)), but check this out:

MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIF. 91109 TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011 (url="http://"http://www.jpl.nasa.gov")http://www.jpl.nasa.gov(/url)

Contact: Carolina Martinez (818) 354-9382

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 27, 2000
WANTED: STUDENTS TO BUILD ROBOTS

NASA is seeking future engineers with creative imaginations,
drive, energy or just plain curiosity to build their own robot.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., is
putting out the call to Southern California area high schools to
involve them in the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of
Science and Technology) program. The FIRST program is a robotics
competition aimed at inspiring students, providing hands-on
activities, fostering teamwork and giving students access to work
with engineers to help students build their own robot. Each
year, students get "a problem" or task that their robot must
perform and a kit with "nuts and bolts" to get them started.

The FIRST regional competition event, sponsored by JPL and
hosted by the University of Southern California, will be held
March 15ˆ17, 2001, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. NASA
will award 100 sponsorships and locally, JPL will award 20 teams
with sponsorships to help them compete in the Southern California
Regional. Each sponsorship will pay the $5,000 entry fee and
travel for one person to attend the January 2001 kickoff meeting
in Manchester, New Hampshire.

The deadline for submitting sponsorship applications is
November 3, 2000. However, schools can still register for the
2001 competition through December 8, 2000.

Schools interested in participating should call Kimberly
Lievense in JPL's Public Services Office at (818) 354-0112.
Information on team building, sponsorship requirements and
application is available at
(url="http://"http://technology.jpl.nasa.gov/education/education_index.html#FIRST")http://technology.jp...ndex.html#FIRST(/url)

"We want to get students excited about this competition,
which is a lot of fun," said Rob Steele, one of the JPL program
coordinators. "There is no monetary prize, but year after year,
schools participate and students do it for the sheer spirit of
competition. It's a sporting event about science; a science
teacher's dream."

As one of the two original Southern California teams to
enter the FIRST robotics competition, Chatsworth High School is
entering the competition for its fifth year with a team of nearly
70 students.

"This robotics program is, without a doubt, the most
exciting and motivating educational opportunity I have ever
seen," said Wendy Wooten, teacher and sponsor of the Chatsworth
High School Robotics Team. "Not only are the students applying
math and science knowledge in a problem-solving setting, but they
are, most importantly, becoming self learners."

Wooten, who has taught science for more than 22 years,
admits that she does not have the technical background to teach
engineering design, electronics, control systems or computer
animation. She thought her lack of knowledge and expertise would
be a drawback in starting a FIRST robotics team, but she soon
realized that it was a bonus within this program. Her students
have researched engineering design, learned computer animation
software applications, taken summer electronics courses, and
initiated independent projects in related application areas for
themselves.

"The enthusiasm and eagerness with which my students
approach these endeavors is truly amazing," she said. "When one
considers the current academic challenges educators face today,
the FIRST robotics program is as close to a 'cure all' as I can
imagine."

FIRST is a non-profit organization whose mission is to
generate an interest in science and technology. The FIRST
robotics competition is a national contest that immerses high
school students in the exciting world of robotics.

Managed for NASA by the California Institute of Technology
in Pasadena, JPL is the lead U.S. center for robotic exploration
of the solar system.

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Xopher
"I dreamt I was a butterfly, but when I awoke, I thought I might actually be a butterfly, dreaming that I was a man."
-- Chuang-tze (330 BCE)