Walsingham

Im about as English as you can get and I object to my nation being called England. England would never have achieved half of what she did without the brains and brawn of the other kingdoms. So when people talk about us, which is because we achieved and affected so much, I think they deserve a mention. Azarkon, you make a good point about drawing a state in a overnment office, and a state formed around a map table somewhere. My response would be that whatever your definition of a state, there should be some minimum cut-off of people in a given area. not sure what that should be, but we all know it's true. Tim McVeigh and his white-supremacist fethwit buddies claimed to represent the whole of the US, much as Osama MacLaden claims to represent all Islam. Neither can claim that right. Their only rational is overweening personal arrogance. Ender, you keep referring to Arabs dancing about in the street after bombings. this does happen. But according to all three of the foreign correspondents I know, as well as Fieldings, this is behaviour that you have to go hunting for, and generally only gets properly going when the cameras show up. The Arab world reacted in pretty similar ways to the West, when it saw the real footage of the victims and events, which it didn't always get to see. I might also point out that in more hardline parts of the Islamic world, a good bombing is the only excuse you have to get out in the street and boogie.

I agree. As a free thinking human being I already play computer games in the same style I go hunting. i.e. not wash for hree or four days, drink beer, and eat poorly cooked food. I've relaxed in copmuter games. i used to drive out to the beach in GTA4, just to listen to the surf. Music i would say is a moot point in any decent crpg. There is no way they could produce enough music that would not be dul after three or four hours. You ought to be playing the game for ten times that long. Just get rid of it! PS Am playing Morrowwind for the first time. Mix of the Gladiator soundtrack, the Tigerlillies, and the Prodigy.

This is all the fault of you gruddanged peaceniks. Every time some tinpot poorhole starts building a bomb, we reach for the chequebooks and send a few hundred million. They immediately call off their two and a hald PhD students, and spend the cash. Funds running low? Start the program again and get a big payoff! Genius.

I may be comppletely wrong on this, so enjoy shooting me down if it's the case, but... 1) The UN has passed resolutions condemning Israeli occupation of both areas. 2) If it can pass a resolution that says 'get the hell out' surely it can make coffee mugs which say the same.

Well, I wanted to read my way up to speed, but you mahunchas are writing faster than I can read. An event I have never before witnessed in any medium. Congratulations. But apologies if I miss any points as a consequence. 1) Removing the settlers This entire business is partly a fantastic mess because everyone is wheeling out their history books and banging on about what a tough time they have had. Doing this gives both sides the feeling that they have right on their side, leading them to want a complete victory or nothing. I hate to say it but it is simply childish. Total war is the only way a solution can be arranged with that attitude. If you want to see something resembling peace in that area, without ethnic cleansing, then I'm afraid things like narking off a couple thousand colonists becomes necessary. It is an important step because firstly it reduces the cost and strain on the IDF significantly, and secondly it puts the onus firmly on the PA to come up with something equally shiny. So, basically I don't agree with Ender on the fact this was a bad thing. 2) This is giving in to terrorism Hamas are making big potatos out of this, and trying desperately to take the credit. The truth is, from people I have spoken to in the IDF, that it was the regular disturbances that made up the intifada, not the terrorist attacks that made the situation unbearable. The IDF are not monsters, and working in the territories was appallingly bad for morale, training, and sense of purpose. 3) Your terrorist is my mother Theresa You know my feelings on terrorism. Or should do. Laozi said "innocent people are dying any differently just because one guy had a uniform and the latest equipment of death, and another had a bomb". This would be true, except it actually does make a difference if someone is a uniformed combatant, acting under the orders of a recognised state, and within the framework of some kind of code. A pilot acting under a condition of war who kills you is in fact different from some pimply teenager doing it because they listened too much to their uncle as a child. Just like a policeman who arrests you is not guilty of kidnapping. You can be all faux intellectual and say 'yeah well there's two sides', but I really don't see that there are. If a private citizen decides they are above the political authority and go out and kill people to get their way, er... wrong in my book. More importantly this certainly qualifies as a crime, that the state can hardly be blamed for trying to counter. 4) Hiroshima and Nagasaki and Dresden, oh my! All three bombings were intended to achieve the same things. To shorten the war and thereby shorten the total numbers of dead. Dresden didn't work. Hiroshima and Nagasaki did. I do not know how to describe the mix of feelings I have on these issues. However, it is my experience that people who condemn the bombings unreservedly have rarely borne the weight of such decisions.

AND woman. I'll thank you to be even-handed slanderous. Gruddanged bear-hugger.

Speaking of evil, and enchanted daemon weapons. I think PNJ should include a satanic moustache.

"If i go there will be trouble. If i stay there will be double." This is a man who desperately needs to clarify his objectives. All he needs to tell me is whether he wants to maximise or minimise trouble.

I became embittered, sulky, then I remembered a lesson I learned way back in school: if you want something done your way, do it yourself. I still up for a political discussion, just feel a bit more keen on doing over talking. The other thing is we all know each other's views down to the bedrock. And arguing when you know your first principles differ is a waste of time.

At a secure location somewhere in the Southeast of Great Britain. My home is wherever I hang my holster.

Cool quote ""There is less danger in fearing too much than too little""

I do see what you all mean, especially about the shoe-horning. And I think it stands as an excellent example of how badly graphics can skew a review. I mean they ARE on a par with Fallout 2. I don't care, of course, but many would. I would say tere's probably some w8nky minimum standard. Anyway, I also see hwat you mean about it feeling more constrained than it is. I am playing trhough again and finding tonnes of stuff I missed the first time. It really feels more like having a new adventure. The crates and so forth also contain a minor amount of variation which is neat.

Any idea how much that would set me back. Roughly?

How about a fantasy Insurgency game? I get to pick and buy units or something.

I am considering upgrading, and transferring the old 'Hammer of Bastards' to second echelon status. Am I to take it that i should notattempt to build my own PC? And if not, what should I buy instead. My budget will be about a grand.

Surely the POINT of a good education is to recognise that there is a whacking great profit to be had? Agree with earlier poster tho that would have been smarter to hand them on to key students.

By the Two Nice Girls When I was a young girl like normal girls do I looked to a woman's love to help get me through I never needed any more than a feminine touch I hated the thought of kissing a man it really was too much I did not drink, I did not smoke I did not say "goddamn" I was polite I was sensitive before I loved a man My family, they were proud of me were proud of what I am But then along came Lester and my tale of woe began I spent my last ten dollars on birth control and beer My life was so much simpler when I was sober and queer But the love of a strong hairy man has turned my head I fear And made me spend my last ten bucks on birth control and beer It was June 1983 when Mary Lou and I did part She said she loved another dyke my god, it broke my heart I was bitter and disillusioned to lose another girlfriend Lester came to work at Papa's store and decided to ease on in Before my last heartbreak nothing made me more sick Than a hairy-chested, cheap double-breasted suited man with a hard d*ck I guess that I was curious I guess that I was young I guess it was that rum and coke I guess that I was dumb I spent my last ten dollars on birth control and beer My life was so much simpler when I was sober and queer But the love of a strong hairy man has turned my head I fear And made me spend my last ten bucks on birth control and beer For of course, for a woman to love a man she must also love to booze If a woman don't drink beside her man then she will surely lose him As I sit in this hetero honky-tonk and reflect upon my past I think about those girlfriends and why they didn't last For there's certain thrills that lesbian love simply cannot supply Like paying for abortions from sperm gone awry And so I say to you my friends without this man I'd die So listen to my tell of woe and hang your head and cry I spent my last ten dollars on birth control and beer My life was so much simpler when I was sober and queer But the love of a strong hairy man has turned my head I fear And made me spend my last ten bucks on birth control and beer ~~ Of course, set to classical country and western music it is even better.

...So maybe we could explain why Arcanum did so badly at the stores? Anyone who says bad graphics will get hit with a folding chair until they wee themselves.

People = not universally bright and shiny. Remove the rule of law and they start wetting themselves and hitting people with folding chairs. OBEY THE JUDGES. RETURN TO YOUR HOMES. :D

Am I the only person who likes noisy computers? IMO they should all go whumwhumwhumwhum ominously.

I used to put the emphasis on survival. Realistic challenges that could easily kill the PCs if they weren't paying 100% attention. Bit of a niche market. Now I put the emphasis on plot, deep characters, and convoluted jokes about platypi.

Any chance of being a human? Or would he get toasted?

The question was about immersion, not about control, wasn't it?

Soloing could be fun, now you mention it. Especially with the various mechanical manservants you can construct. My one complaint is indeed that there is precious little variety. Ditto on the elves. I wanted a group of marksmen handing out good 'ole Kipling style thrashings with Martini Henrys. I eventually wound up having to do most of this myself. With the right weapons some bits of the game are little more than a glorious safari! :D Also: whether technologist or not, make sure to pick equipment chaches at strategic places in the gameworld. This frees up equipment space and makes for a homelike atmosphere when you are at certain destinations. Note, however, that rubbish bins get emptied every day. :">

i tried to translate the poet Pablo Neruda once. Similar effect.