Wrath of Dagon

Puerto Rico is in the Pacific?

Very impressive. Aliens RPG would've been so cool. Really Obsidian needs to make a space/sci-fi RPG some day.

There's no disputing that god can't be disproven. At least, not the general one that shrinks away from all duties as other explanations come to be known. That is to say, Thor is no longer credited with lightning. But that's sort of the point. That which cannot be proven, that which is entirely in the realm of speculation with no measurable features, is completely indistinguishable from making **** up. It's Russell's Teapot. Yes, it's possible. It doesn't mean that all unproveable flights of imagination are therefore to go unquestioned. Russell's teapot, if it's what I think it is, has a subtle fallacy. The problem is it's supposed to exist in the physical world, which we're familiar with, and thus it's on its face preposterous. Also, if the universe is infinite, there should be a Russell's tea pot out there somewhere. As far as evidence of God, you can study history, and ask if these events are really random, and if so why are we still around? Or look at your own life and think whether stuff just happens at random or if there's some meaning behind it. Edit: As far the claim that religious belief is purely the result of indoctrination, well, lots of people believe in fate, but there's no particular indoctrination into that.

It would just be "physical" then, wouldn't it? Science is the study of nature, so by definition science can't study something that's supernatural. That's a realm of philosophy and theology.

But again the Atheist has the better position. It is logcial after all to demand proof of an on the face of it pretty outrageous claim. More logical certainly than to propose erecting an invisible wall between the imperical and the metaphysical and demanding that they not be allowed to affect one another. It's not a perfectly balanced dichotomy. One side is cheating by proposing that it need only supply anecdotal evidence of its existence. By requiring scientific proof one makes the implicit assumption that the physical world is all that exists. But why should one assume that?

So a sea slug is a conscious being in your opinion?

Funny, I noticed this article in your link http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/01/pl...ign=Interesting Didn't know our Air Force flew MIGs

Your probably and surely are contradictory. Be that as it may, do you really believe a computer that is programmed with an id and has sensors for its various parts is self-aware in the same way as a human? I think now is a good time to post this link: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/zombies/

What do you mean by self-awareness? My cat likely gets that the environment, I, and other cats are something different than she is. I doubt a worm manages even that. But I don't think my cat has a concept of self. She never thinks, "I am Fluffykins the cat. I exist," because that's a bit too abstract for her. That is, I think she has an awareness of self but not a conceptualization of self. Well, conceptualization of self as you define it seems to me "self awareness + abstract thought". So we still have the issue of whether animals can have abstract thought. Can a dolphin or a chimp? I don't know. Anyway, to me a more interesting question is whether a machine can be self aware.

For an ARPG the story/action balance was just right IMO. I was actually happy that for once I didn't have to babysit my moron companions or solve their mommy/daddy issues, and what was there established their personalities well enough. Sometimes less is more. I think the only big opportunity missed (and I understand there were budget constraints) was to begin with a really nice cut scene of Jane murdering the Legion, and thus establish her character from the beginning. She's attractive and charismatic enough so that the game would've benefitted greatly from meeting her at the start instead of half way through the game, so you'd know who you're up against.

The newer Bioware games I've played had lousy quality, that's all there's to it. And yes, at some point being formulaic becomes an unforgivable sin.

Krezack just can't post without venting his spleen or insulting someone, preferably both. Creationism doesn't conflict with evolution, it's just a question of what the method of creation was. Most major religions accept evolution so far as I know. I don't know, where in the evolutionary ladder do you account for the emergence of self-awareness?

Bethesda? You know, 10 million sold. Well, you had to reach 14 years back for that one. Sure, KOTOR2 is often brilliant because it's Obsidian, but it could've been so much better with a decent development schedule. You're right about having the assets and engine in place though, most games don't have that luxury.

No, anyone can't accept that, since 3-4 years is what it takes to make a great game. Of course 3-4 is unacceptable if you only goal is a quick cash grab, which was the case here.

Keeping the money supply stable isn't a big mystery, it simply needs to expand at the same rate as the economy. The tricky part is measuring the economic growth and the money supply itself, so you need data collection and an algorithm to analyze the data and calculate the correct amount of money to generate. You seem to claim the it is the proper role of a central bank to try to manage economic activity, while my assertion is that by trying to provide feedback to a system they don't fully understand and also with an unacceptably long delay they are in fact destabilizing the economy by turning what is supposed to be negative feedback into positive.

We don't need to model economics, the Fed isn't supposed to be doing Soviet style central planning, they're only supposed to keep the money supply stable, so that's all that needs to be modeled. It's the Fed attempting to do the former that gets us into trouble over and over. As far as all rules and no mercy, you'd have to have a provision to override in emergencies, say for 6 months, but the President would have to declare an emergency and Congress approve it, possibly by a super majority.

I've had a simple but brilliant idea, why don't we replace the morons on the Federal Reserve with a computer?

Best post ever. One of the other hilarious cases of electoral fraud was all the mental asylums (which still exist in Russia) voting 100% for United Russia (Putin's party). Nothing suss there hey. They're crazy. Not stupid. Protests appear to be swelling in strength. Whether these succeed or not I think there is cause to be cautiously optimistic about Russia in general. It is a fantastic country, and does not deserve its current status as kleptocracy. Unfortunately a kleptocracy is all it's ever been

Don't give them any ideas

It's low for selling 820K copies at whatever price they got

You're all acting like I said we should switch to the gold standard immediately. On the contrary, I said the gold standard isn't viable. The problem is the money supply has to expand at the same rate as the economy grows, which isn't possible with gold. Paper money is fine in theory, the problem is you're depending on spineless, cowardly politicians to make sure it doesn't lose value, which of course doesn't work. Paper money is great for the "eat the cake and have it too" mentality of believing you can get something for nothing, but this inevitably leads to disaster.

All that currency manipulation does is come back to bite you in the ass in the end, as we're seeing right now. It's too bad the gold standard isn't viable for a modern economy.

lol, truly, the ignorance of that woman is stunning. She either gets her info from conspiracy theorists or Deus Ex, much like Krezack does. I don't recall reading any conspiracy theories from Krez. And I tend to jump all over them, so you'd think I would if he had. I was referring to this: Considering Deus Ex is based on conspiracy theories about FEMA setting up concentration camps and so on (I assume he meant HR). Anyway, it was more of a joke, I didn't mean he acutally believes in conspiracy theories, just takes the worst case scenarios based on those a bit too seriously.

lol, truly, the ignorance of that woman is stunning. She either gets her info from conspiracy theorists or Deus Ex, much like Krezack does.

Clearly the sky is falling, you should join in the general panic immediately.