Tigranes

Go Hades! I'd rather download and play the module then talk about it, actually.

I think we agree, actually, and I probably should use the word 'animations' less broadly. The animations themselves were excellent, it was the context of their execution, the fluidity between them and the use of space between and around figures.

Volourn, I described exactly why and where I felt (in my opinion, of course) that NWN1 looked clunky, and NWN2 as well (somewhat differently). Especially since, at least in MCA interview's version, the 'waiting / on guard' animations are extremely static and the flow between them and action are not fluid enough, it does not look like a real battle. To me, I would be happy with 2D sprites as long as it looked realistic. Animations are much more important for that purpose than model / texture quality and whatnot, IMO, and that's where I lodge my criticism, not on the latter. Volourn, if you want to disagree (about nwn1, since it seems you agree on nwn2) and put out a counter-argument, kindly do so by addressing my argument then telling me what you think is wrong. If not, feel free to disagree in your private space instead of contributing to the international illogic factor. edit: the key point is that i felt both games were clunky, but for different reasons. I outlined the nwn1 reasons on page 6.

Volourn: The thing I didn't like about NWN1 was how it was very noticable that everyone was sort of gliding around, as if you had those little plastic figurines which are placed in a little slot, and you slide them left and right by about 2cm. It was clear that each character had his 'private space' in nwn1 and it was as if each figure was surrounded by a globe, and everyone's globes were bouncing / sliding off each other. However, NWN2 in some of the recent vids I've seen looks even worse on this account. I hold animations to be more important than graphics, so if this is the final version I will be disappointed in that account. (and really, the blood thing is stupid as well. You'd think the sword-point would upon impact release tiny bombs into the blood vessels, then explode.)

Looks good, but 1/ Why do people explode in a heap of blood like someone bombed their arteries every time they die due to a sword-thrust? 2/ battles still seem unnaturally static, similarly to nwn1 but in some ways even more so. The 'static' animations are clunky and not 'active' enough, and especially when the boars are being killed you can see that despite the fact there are numerous crittesr on the screen, it really doesn't feel like a concerted battle.

The first GITS movie was exactly a pretentious quasi-philosophical action flick with the typical robot stuff. But then, I feel a strong aversion to all roboty sci-fi-ish action flicky stuff. The seasons have some of that, but also some good thematic stuff. Didn't understand innocence when I saw it in a special big screen showing, it's not supposed to be understood at first viewing anyway. It's interesting, though I'm not sure if it's worth a buy. At best it's challenging and at worst it's pretentious and needlessly obscure. Just like all art!

Just a little note: It has often been suggested that crime rate in the US has recently gone DOWN, and this is one of the reasons Thompson is an idiot. While Thompson IS an idiot, this is a logical fallacy: As nobody claims that video games are the sole variable that controls crime rates, it is possible for video-game induced violence/crime to increase, and for the overall crime rate to fall (thanks to other variables). Therefore Thompson's argument can neither be supported nor debunked with such a statistic. Of course, one could simply say that the only way Thompson could accuse video games of increasing violence/crime levels is to calculate the number of incidents directly related in a causal fashion to video games, and that is a notoriously difficult thing to track, causality.

Let's not go into who won what 50 years ago, shall we? Manchester United are still doing well, their relative, small 'slump' in playing quality is due to the players on the pitch rather than anything else. And since they just paid a ludicrous sum for Carrick, money isn't the issue. Villa fans wanted a takeover for ages, there is nothing inherently bad about a takeover unless it leads to bad things for the club. And since Aston Villa isn't exactly suited for money-milking right now..

For some numerical perspective: Chelsea on average spends 3-4 times its rivals (Liverpool/Arsenal/Manchester United) on players, both in terms of buying them and paying them wages. They are famous for buying too many players for too much money, never playing half of them then releasing them, all for no consequences thanks to Abramovich. Anyway, yeah. It wouldn't be so bad if Chelsea were actually fun to watch, but they're not. I'm an Arsenal fan and I'd rather watch Tottenham (our perennial rivals), at least I wouldn't fall asleep.

I find it incredibly amusing that the worth of Aston Villa as a club is about as much as the amount of money Chelsea blows in the transfer market each season.

I'm not sure how great an idea it is to say "its okay / its not killing as long as they are not human yet". Let's say science derives a widely accepted date for when the mushy stuff becomes definable as 'human'; is it then alright / not murder to destroy that inhuman, yet living, thing that would have become human without interference? Just because it's not human, its future as a human can be taken away without remorse? One could argue that it's exactly the same as the decision to wear a condom or not have sex, though - and whether science can work out a definitive 'point' in which the fetus/embryo becomes human will have no bearing on this matter. Of course, I find all this entirely irrelevant as relating to the girl in question. I think somebody said she won't ever have a 'real' life, being either sheltered or without necessary faculties.. the life 'we' lead and the way / standard of life we see as acceptable are not universal standards, but merely social and epistemological. It would be extremely cruel and narrow-minded to say that just because she cannot have a life that seems 'acceptable' as life to us she should be 'put out of her misery'. The true misery would be if she and the people around her cannot discover a life unique to her existence that will bring a degree of happiness.

Indeed, every original IP Fergie is involved with will suffer the same cursed fate! O, the misery of one doomed at its inception!

Yeah, have fun boycotting everything from China, that's where half of your crap is made. In fact, do some individual boycotting and exercise your democratic, American right. Throw out everything that says Made in China. That's not to say that you're not right, though.

Bethesda has a better sense of humour than half the posters on this thread. Fer SHAME.

23 hours to go? You want me to jump up and down at midnight?

I love how the third character has a Korean name, and yet looks distinctly European. I mean, he couldn't be anything else.

Has anybody seen Gondry's Science of Sleep (Le science des reves) or The Valet (Veber, La Doublure)? It's film festival time in NZ and I'm wondering if I should bother with them. I like Gondry and The Closet was fun (Veber), but the reviews aren't so glittering for the latter and Gondry may be a little too avant for the people I"m watching with.

I am eagerly anticipating the imminent mention of the fallouts' mispresence in the OP.

No CL, Atreides, so their revenues will drop, yes.

But it's so hard to resist! Problem with EB is that combining rebalanced units with the same stupid RTW AI makes for some crazy situations. Although it's better than playing Greeks in vanilla, where I position my units, go for a coffee break, come back and see piles of Gauls dead en route to the phalanx, in front of the phalanx, running away from the phalanx. O_o

How the crap is England 5th? I'd put my money on the Czechs over England. Pretty amusing, even if I am Korean. It's not like we're a semi-final team yet anyway, but I hope we can be a regular knockout round-goer in the future. They didn't have to rank us right below Angola, though. I mean, hey, we did draw with France.

Shouldn't the question be that of funds and weapons, in which case they have plenty? This could either fizzle out with some frantic backstage lobbying or escalate badly.. certainly doesn't help the area.

You know who's the most royally screwed from the trials if they do get relegated? The Serie B/C teams. I mean, they don't have a hope in hell of being promoted for the next 2 years of the Juve Comeback.

I want the guy that voices the Fallout intro.

Once again Volourn delivers! And I mean that in the nicest way possible. Of course it might be perfectly ridiculous to you. After all, you're looking at it afterwards, from an outside view, with a different outlook, etc, etc. Just because the insult is trivial, or just because you think the insult isn't much of an insult, doesnt mean that Materazzi is excused. What you say appears perfectly plausible thanks to our cultural environment but doesn't actually hold up. Zidane needs thicker skin? Maybe he didn't want thicker skin. Maybe he didn't want to let it go. It was his choice, and as he said, he does not regret that choice. For unrelated strangers to harp on about his personality defects seems rather pointless. edit: besides, that was the single most entertaining moment of the entire WC, Zidane totally pwned everyone with the WTF factor.