alanschu

Well, who did you pick in those boxes?

Both are excellent games. The setting and environments of Deus Ex are more to my liking, so I picked it.

Never mind little things like how many attacks per turn a player gets, or how many turns a spell effect has. The combat most definitely is a sequence of turns.

If I can get financial savings, and it's a game I know I'm going to get, then I may preorder (since there's a tangible benefit to it). Other things that may have me preorder were DVD (compared to CD), assuming I could only get it via preorder. I don't find many places opting on giving me discounts for preorders though. Most of the time it's collectables or something, which I don't particularly value.

DNA evidence is overrated, overstated, and not infallible. I guess I should thank CSI. It actually didn't work at disuading people from committing capital crimes. http://www-tech.mit.edu/V113/N53/morrison.53o.html http://www.truthinjustice.org/922death.htm http://www.indiatogether.org/combatlaw/vol...2/deathmyth.htm http://www.aclu.org/capital/general/10441pub19971231.html

I'm an AMD fanboy and I'll acknowledge Intel's performance advantage.

That of course assumes that a lightsaber is made up purely of light energy. And that the physics of a fictional universe in any way coincide with ours.

I'm guessing not too big of a difference. You'll usually get some extra collectables or something if you preorder. With NWN2, I believe you get access to the toolset. I typically don't preorder games, because I generally don't believe in giving a company money without me getting something in return. I don't typically have a hard time getting games in the first week, so it's a moot issue. If I think there will be a hard time getting a game, I may put in a "preorder" about a week in advance, just to ensure I get a copy. Naturally these are games that I want to play at release and don't want to wait, like Half-Life 2 and whatnot.

Haha the top ones are always quite hard. I'd definitely go with one of Thornton/Jagr in the top one. Probably Thornton, as he seems to have more support around him and excellent chemistry with Cheechoo. #2 would be Crosby. I wouldn't be surprised to see him improve upon his point totals, especially if Gonchar plays like he did at the end of last season, and if Malkin isn't out for too long (they may get PP time together, as well as Malkin will provide an additional scoring threat for opponents to key on, rather than just Crosby). #5 has the homer in me wanting to pick Horcoff. Zetterburg may be good, but at the same time Detroit's lineup seems less offensive than last year. Excellent player though. Though I'd probably pick Marleau. He'll face weaker competition because of Thornton's presence, and will still get his fair share of icetime both at ES and on the PP. #10 well, he probably will get hurt, but if he doesn't, Forsberg is a steal. Plays well with Knuble and Gagne. I don't know if I cannot pick Forsberg. If you get lucky and he plays most of the season, he should destroy everyone else in that box. Otherwise, I think Sedin is a darkhorse. Plays well with his brother, and the word on the street is that they'll see lots of time with Naslund this year (and probably both on the PP and at ES). #13 Well, Iggy is good, but he's on a defensive team. But he has a new linemate in Tanguay. I don't know if it will be enough to get him back to his Art Ross winning numbers. McCabe might be a better bet, as he seems to be the go to offensive defensemen in Toronto, and has a good partner in Kaberle. On the other hand, Visnovsky seems to be getting better. This is a hard box. I think Iginla stands the best chance of breaking away from the rest. While his career has put him usually in the 60-70 point range, he has shown he can put up huge numbers. If things click for him and he gets going with Tanguay, I'd say he stands the best chance to breakout. Otherwise, it's probably a safer box as most players will score around each other. #14 is probably Gaborik. As far as I know, he does not have a contract discussion, and he'll be playing with Demitra as well. He'll get the big minutes and will probably score quite a bit, even in defensive minnesota. #15 if Forsberg is healthy, Knuble will probably score a lot. Vyborny would probably be a good one as well, as he has some offensive talent around him. This one was a tough one. #16 I'd go with Demitra. I have a good (bad) feeling that he and Gaborik are going to play really well.

If you want a hand, give me some boxes

Rolston over Lidstrom? Interesting. I guess Detroit has some question marks. Yours is just points based right? He with most goals/assists wins? With perhaps extra weighting on goals?

If you think you can get +/- elsewhere, it should probably work. I think I'm a bit lacking in goal scoring, as well as goaltending (it sounds like Niittymaki will play, but he's going to get 3 cortisone shots during the season, and then get surgery in the offseason. So that could come back and kick me in the butt.

You get one minute, 30 seconds. I don't disagree with Alfreddson probably being above McCabe, but in my roommate's experience, people that favour offensive defensemen tend to do better, as the number of points defensemen get drop rapidly compared to forwards. You're also allowed a limited number of "games" at each position. You can only have 164 LW/C/RW/G games, and 328 Defensemen games. This is because you have two active LW/C/RW/G slots, and 4 active D slots. So you can sub guys in and out depending on whether they play a game that day, but if you're too aggressive with your substitutions, you might not be able to play a position later on in the season. This is why there's a healthy mix in the draft, since you can't just draft the top point getters, since you won't be able to play them all the time. So with McCabe, if the way he ended up drafting would have had him taking a defensemen with say 40 points (~30 less than McCabe) if he had taken Alfredsson, then he wouldn't have really gotten much of a net gain (assuming the rest of his players) with respect to points. McCabe also gets PP points, and PIM, which are two other categories you are rated in. Having said that, Alfredsson is probably an elite enough of a player that it's probably best to go with him over McCabe. I went for Lidstrom because he'll get huge minutes as always, and ample opportunity to get points. Fernandez was because I wanted a goalie that will play a lot, and put up impressive numbers. This is my first time in a hockey pool so I just sort of played it by ear.

Here's the entire draft: Round 1 1. A. Ovechkin Scorcher 2. J. Thornton wha wha? 3. M. Kiprusoff Chris' Warriors 4. C. Pronger drinkinbone 5. J. Jagr Rink Rats 6. D. Heatley flyfisher 7. N. Lidstrom Allan's Team 8. S. Crosby Skillet 9. J. Cheechoo Da Dynasty 10. S. Gagne Rolo 11. S. Niedermayer nighthawk 12. T. Vokoun stonyjoe1 Round 2 1. P. Elias stonyjoe1 2. M. Brodeur nighthawk 3. B. McCabe Rolo 4. R. Nash Da Dynasty 5. D. Alfredsson Skillet 6. M. Fernandez Allan's Team 7. I. Kovalchuk flyfisher 8. M. Naslund Rink Rats 9. M. Sundin drinkinbone 10. D. Phaneuf Chris' Warriors 11. J. Spezza wha wha? 12. M. Hossa Scorcher Round 3 1. R. Miller Scorcher 2. R. Luongo wha wha? 3. M. Turco Chris' Warriors 4. J. Iginla drinkinbone 5. E. Staal Rink Rats 6. O. Jokinen flyfisher 7. S. Zubov Allan's Team 8. H. Zetterberg Skillet 9. C. Ward Da Dynasty 10. D. Roloson Rolo 11. P. Kariya nighthawk 12. W. Redden stonyjoe1 Round 4 1. P. Forsberg stonyjoe1 2. B. Richards nighthawk 3. T. Kaberle Rolo 4. P. Datsyuk Da Dynasty 5. M. Gaborik Skillet 6. B. Gionta Allan's Team 7. S. Gonchar flyfisher 8. H. Lundqvist Rink Rats 9. D. Boyle drinkinbone 10. Z. Chara Chris' Warriors 11. B. Morrow wha wha? 12. P. Marleau Scorcher Round 5 1. M. Gerber Scorcher 2. M. Schneider wha wha? 3. T. Selanne Chris' Warriors 4. D. Hasek drinkinbone 5. P. Demitra Rink Rats 6. T. Bertuzzi flyfisher 7. D. Briere Allan's Team 8. B. Shanahan Skillet 9. R. Blake Da Dynasty 10. M. Savard Rolo 11. L. Visnovsky nighthawk 12. J. Pitkanen stonyjoe1 Round 6 1. J. Giguere stonyjoe1 2. J. Lehtinen nighthawk 3. A. Tanguay Rolo 4. V. Lecavalier Da Dynasty 5. M. Richards Skillet 6. A. Hemsky Allan's Team 7. A. Kovalev flyfisher 8. E. Cole Rink Rats 9. D. Tucker drinkinbone 10. J. Arnott Chris' Warriors 11. L. Nagy wha wha? 12. M. Svatos Scorcher Round 7 1. M. Zidlicky Scorcher 2. K. Lehtonen wha wha? 3. R. Smyth Chris' Warriors 4. C. Stillman drinkinbone 5. M. Malik Rink Rats 6. V. Toskala flyfisher 7. S. Gomez Allan's Team 8. M. Legace Skillet 9. P. Boucher Da Dynasty 10. I. Bryzgalov Rolo 11. C. Huet nighthawk 12. M. Hejduk stonyjoe1 Round 8 1. M. Sturm stonyjoe1 2. B. Stuart nighthawk 3. M. Afinogenov Rolo 4. S. Doan Da Dynasty 5. C. Joseph Skillet 6. A. Niittymaki Allan's Team 7. R. Esche flyfisher 8. J. Sakic Rink Rats 9. M. Commodore drinkinbone 10. J. Liles Chris' Warriors 11. M. Knuble wha wha? 12. A. McDonald Scorcher Round 9 1. A. Markov Scorcher 2. S. Sullivan wha wha? 3. M. Modano Chris' Warriors 4. R. Brind'Amour drinkinbone 5. A. Meszaros Rink Rats 6. D. Cloutier flyfisher 7. D. Sedin Allan's Team 8. M. Rozsival Skillet 9. M. Bell Da Dynasty 10. J. Spacek Rolo 11. K. Timonen nighthawk 12. K. Tkachuk stonyjoe1 Round 10 1. M. St. Louis stonyjoe1 2. P. Bergeron nighthawk 3. M. Straka Rolo 4. P. Kubina Da Dynasty 5. J. Corvo Skillet 6. J. Theodore Allan's Team 7. H. Sedin flyfisher 8. E. Jovanovski Rink Rats 9. M. Ryder drinkinbone 10. S. Hartnell Chris' Warriors 11. M. Van Ryn wha wha? 12. E. Malkin Scorcher Round 11 1. T. Preissing Scorcher 2. A. Sutton wha wha? 3. A. Raycroft Chris' Warriors 4. M. Denis drinkinbone 5. M. Garon Rink Rats 6. M. Ohlund flyfisher 7. M. Havlat Allan's Team 8. F. Kaberle Skillet 9. R. DiPietro Da Dynasty 10. T. Holmstrom Rolo 11. A. Frolov nighthawk 12. M. Bergeron stonyjoe1 Round 12 1. S. Horcoff stonyjoe1 2. P. Prucha nighthawk 3. J. Lupul Rolo 4. R. Lang Da Dynasty 5. B. Rafalski Skillet 6. B. Rolston Allan's Team 7. A. Lilja flyfisher 8. B. Campbell Rink Rats 9. R. Hamrlik drinkinbone 10. B. Guerin Chris' Warriors 11. B. Pothier wha wha? 12. S. Kozlov Scorcher Round 13 1. M. Satan Scorcher 2. M. Nylander wha wha? 3. K. Johnsson Chris' Warriors 4. K. Wellwood drinkinbone 5. D. Zubrus Rink Rats 6. W. Mitchell flyfisher 7. J. Bouwmeester Allan's Team 8. D. Langkow Skillet 9. J. Modry Da Dynasty 10. J. Stoll Rolo 11. R. Emery nighthawk 12. C. Osgood stonyjoe1 Round 14 1. C. Ehrhoff stonyjoe1 2. A. Kotalik nighthawk 3. Ju. Williams Rolo 4. B. Morrison Da Dynasty 5. A. Carter Skillet 6. S. Salo Allan's Team 7. B. Boyes flyfisher 8. A. Auld Rink Rats 9. F. Beauchemin drinkinbone 10. P. Sykora Chris' Warriors 11. D. Vyborny wha wha? 12. G. de Vries Scorcher Round 15 1. E. Belfour Scorcher 2. M. Rucinsky wha wha? 3. S. Samsonov Chris' Warriors 4. M. Biron drinkinbone 5. M. Samuelsson Rink Rats 6. J. Jokinen flyfisher 7. R. Torres Allan's Team 8. A. Brunette Skillet 9. N. Zherdev Da Dynasty 10. T. Poti Rolo 11. M. York nighthawk 12. P. Eaves stonyjoe1 Round 16 1. C. Neil stonyjoe1 2. H. Tallinder nighthawk 3. F. Pisani Rolo 4. F. Modin Da Dynasty 5. J. Grahame Skillet 6. B. Seabrook Allan's Team 7. G. Murray flyfisher 8. S. Souray Rink Rats 9. K. Huselius drinkinbone 10. Ro. Regehr Chris' Warriors 11. D. Aebischer wha wha? 12. E. Nabokov Scorcher

I get ranked in every stat, and then my score is based on that ranking. So things like +/- will come into play as well.

I know. That's why I picked him over Gonchar

I picked Theodore because he's going to play. I also didn't realize Niittymaki hurt himself recently either, because I am dumb. Theodore was my sleeper pick though. Last year was a bad year, but outside of that he's been a very solid goalie. If he bounces back then that'd be nice. Naturally, when I said Subov I meant Zubov Here's my draft order: 1. (7) N. Lidstrom D 2. (18) M. Fernandez G 3. (31) S. Zubov D 4. (42) B. Gionta RW 5. (55) D. Briere C 6. (66) A. Hemsky RW 7. (79) S. Gomez C 8. (90) A. Niittymaki G 9. (103) D. Sedin LW 10. (114) J. Theodore G 11. (127) M. Havlat LW 12. (138) B. Rolston C 13. (151) J. Bouwmeester D 14. (162) S. Salo D 15. (175) R. Torres LW 16. (186) B. Seabrook D

I was 7th out of 12, with a snake draft order, not that that would affect a guy like me in the middle. My picks were: Briere Gomez D. Sedin Havlat Gionta Hemsky Lidstrom Subov Bouwmeester S. Salo Rolston Torres Seabrook Fernandez Niittymaki Theodore.

I'm currently involved in my Yahoo draft. Have Lidstrom, Fernandez, Zubov, Gionta, Briere, and Hemsky so far.

well have you ever seen your average Console gamer with a cracked ps2 or Xbox? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Half the high school kids I worked with at Boston Pizza had their XBOX modded, and the other half were being pressured into doing it. My cousin did as well. I don't know many people that had a PS2. The thing I noticed is all it takes is one person to get "free games." The effect cascades a bit among friends.

I actually think his PP Faceoff % was better than the other situations, as Samsonov and Hemsky gave him additional support. He's certainly better than he was during the 2003-04 experiment though.

I bit if you looked at it game by game, most of Smyth's draws came on the PP, as Edmonton did have the most PP (141) during the post season, and he centered between Samsonov and Hemsky. The other ones would have been when Horcoff was out of the circle, or on the PK when all sorts of wierd things happen.

No, not at all. I was being dead serious, my computer area was on the floor beside the rest of my game consoles when growing up. The monitor was on the coffee table, with the keyboard coming in from underneath. The mouse was beside the monitor on a mousepad, and the computer was beside the coffee table. Our basement was rather cluttered with boxes for many years, and it was the most convenient spot for it, especially when it got swapped in and out frequently. That was my computer area for probably 8 years or so. We moved it down from my bedroom because it was easier for my friends and I to use it. After we had some company stay at our house for a bit while they looked for housing, I had to move it back up to my room, at which point I was finally playing on a desk with a chair again. It was a particularly useful setup whenever I went to a LAN with some friends, as all I needed was a short table to put my monitor on. In hindsight, it was probably crap for my posture, but it worked for me. Could easily watch TV while playing as well, which was a nice perk.

Psi is great for one person in MP.

No you don't. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> If you want to get rid of it, it seems like a long quest. I need to get 5 empty soul gems, of which I have found 2 (I have found others, but they weren't empty) in the 30 or so hours of gameplay.