Walsingham

You feelthy mages can have as many spells as you like, so long as I get to keep this here shank of foot long cold steel. ...And you still need to sleep.

That colour you see when someone hits you in the face unexpectedly.

I am not having a load of nekkid asian-looking guys on my tube train! What if they start dancing? EDIT: Why can't I stop laughing about this?

I updated the original post, but took too long. It IS a fedayeen helmet, not a czech one. It seems the ferocious fedayeen opted for putting on civvies and doing sniping attacks like the one that started this thread, rather than stand and fight in this clobber. EDIT: I mean Kaftan's helmet is Czech. The black one is a fedayeen hat. Oy vey.

I went looking for a pic of the czech helmet (it is one, btw. 1932 model). But I found THIS If we needed proof saddam was evil, doesn't dressing up his men as darth vader count? EDIT: This photo is of a "Saddam Fedayeen" helmet. The Fedayeen were put through a copy of SS training to get them worked up, then Uday put these silly fibreglass helmets on them. Apparently Uday was not only a fan of cocaine, gang rape, and gold kalashnikovs, but also Star Wars.

The brow ridge doesn't look right for a yank boiler. I'd say it was Czech. I have no ideas on the helmet. *b-dum TISH!*

Fair point, there Hildegarde. It is hard to think clearly in any kind of crisis, but not everyone loses the capacity to be rational. You may even find if it happens to you again you are perfectly fine. Coversely you can be fine on one occasion, then the next time it happens your mind goes kablooey. One way to cope with such things is to get it straight in your head before you start. Hence me advising people now to just do what they say. Don't forget the poor coppers are having a hard time staying calm if they think you're about to explode. So playing nice is conducive all round. I'm glad the guy turned out to be a bomber, though. My worry was that he could just be some random schizophrenic who got killed because he believed the cops were controlled by Martians or something. I'm not an advocate of killing terrorists for the hell of it, but a dead innocent would be worse. ..

making any product is also a question of playing to your strengths. If you've got smart creative people then angling for better stories may be more productive than trying to outdo the big math and money stables on graphics. It's like asymmetric warfare. And tacos.

See? It's just the equivalent of shouting 'Vegas, baby. Yeah!"

Of course! It makes sense.... Seriously, though. More chaps out and about today. Like gleeful homicidal elves tehy have been throwing themselves at trains and so on. One man shot dead after being chased by armed police. It's not clear if he was a bomber. Can I just remind you boys and girls that if the men in blue with the guns shout 'stop', it's not some wonderful light-hearted game, and you probably ought to do what they say?

I do know what you mean about people desperately trying to right other people's wrongs before righting their own, and all that jazz. But on the other hand if the only people who stood up for an offended minority was the minority itself they might have trouble getting their presence felt. Prime example is myself, who used to get very annoyed with people referring to 'gypsies'. It turns out they call themselves gypsies and worse!

_Maybe_ spammers should get warned then told to pod off?

Kaftan is bang on about the technical issue of simultaneity. The hard part is the social engineering required to get the bombs in place.

True, but I would argue that if you want THAT kind of great game, what the hell are are you buying an RPG for?

*bows* I'd like to thank this bottle of beer.

Thinking about what you boys have said since my last post, I would amend my stance slightly. There are some things that should not be stood for. I wouldn't want to have to draft a list of them, but they do exist. For comparison, consider that we cannot allude to sexual themes or what might be considered generally offensive sexual acts. But generally offensive political themes are somehow OK.

For the record, I dont understand why a sig picture is ever necessary. You have an avatar. If we wanted random pictures, why not just have a random pictures thread? As for objectionable people, I've always felt it was better to have nitiwits I don't like posting where I can keep an eye on them and refute their claims than elsewhere I can't get at 'em, and someone credulous might believe them! thinks: tangentialism ahoy!

I don't think you're way off base. But you aren't entirely accurate. Yes this wasn't conducted with Al Qaeda support like the last one. But it was intended to marry up with their campaigns, and support the same objectives. The simplistic planning, and faulty technical know-how just reveals how over-keen and underskilled they were, not who they were doing it for. Frankly I'm glad they went off half-****ed like this. This way we can get the people, and they have hurt fewer people. Hoping the person injured is OK.

*does the dance of no sig picture* thinks: I miss that show I too, would like to weigh in for Fionavar, even if I DO think that pic is a 1:1 scale pic of him/her, and thus not threatening. I'd rather have too many threads closed than too few. My only caveat would be that a degree of tangentialism is inherent in all social interaction. A little bit of off-topic banter is what keeps a thread alive, between people having meaty thoughts on the subject at hand. Thus perhaps small on-topic 'holidays' ought to be considered. In conclusion: Donkeys.

Couple of points to make, spared more arduous duty by Gromnir's good work. 1) I hate the 'average gamer' notion driving game development. Just like I hate the average filmgoer driving film development. No-one ever made a classic film that continues to sell, or generates a franchise by pandering. They did it by setting out to do something extra-ordinary. Viz the diff between the first Matrix film, and the later ones. 2) Gaming is fair bit about escapism. A good story helps you to escape. A lousy one actively hinders it. 3) My female friends who game love problem solving more than story telling. But story telling is still important. They really won't put up with truly lousy stories. 4) I feel the need to re-iterate that a good story isn't rocket science. BY which I mean something more complicated than 'go here and kill these guys' and involving charactesr with unexpected dimensions. BIG FINALE It may not count for much in the grand scheme of things, but I 'm not sure any of us would contribute as passionately to this board if Black Isle games hadn't possessed better than average stories/characters. And I know many many gamers who aren't here, but feel just as passionately. We're the poor frontswines who ensure no game you chaps release will totally bomb. ~ Thanks for listening.

*bows*

No. I'm not saying. ( actually I have said elsewhere on these fora if you are that interested. I just realised). I guess I would play a MMORPG, except I really keep weird hours online. And my hours aren't predictable. I'd rather have agme I can play at my own speed wherever I am, and however long I have. And yes, I am seriously concerned it could be habit forming.

Aye, maybe it is cause they are religious extremists. However I'd be annoyed they'd stolen a cool phrase. I mean it's easy to shout. Like 'Huzzah!'.

There are a lot of conflicting reports emerging at the moment. Frankly I hope we do't get to hear what went wrong with the bombs. If we know, it means the cell concerned can get it right next time. A la the Argentine bomb fuses during the Falklands.

I'm intrigued by the notion that there could be a shifty reason for my not owning a 3d card. Any ideas?