Aristes

I know I can leave the trade channel. Sadly, that's what I do most of the time. However, I'd really like to be able to count on the trade channel for... TRADE! I've gotten some good deals on it in the past, especially if I needed something in a hurry, but it's just so stupid it's not even worth it anymore. It's especially bad where the realm population is high. I don't begrudge folks their fun. I'm from the "that's what she said" generation myself. It's just that there are NO new anal jokes. They were pretty stupid to begin with and now they're completely played out and I'm stuck wading through them if I want to see anything in the trade channel. Much worse on my old server of Gilneas than my new one, though. Anyhow, I guess I'm ranted out for right now. Maybe I'll rant about it later.

Where are you that it's so hot, bro? I'm hoping to play some World of Warcraft with my sister later today if I get home in time. WoW is my $15 a month long distance plan where I play a game while I talk to family and friends out of state. Sadly, I'm beginning to detest WoW. I cancelled my LotRO subscription, which is a bummer since I much prefer that game. I never once saw an ANAL joke on LotRO.

Yeah, I tend to agree with Killian also. It's not really a matter of life or death, so go with the flow!

The only annoying part in Max Payne 1 was the dream sequences. The second one does most of the stuff better, but the first one isn't bad either. the third dream sequence is ANNOYING because it's so big and that bloody baby is crying so loud that you want to rip your ears off >.> That's okay, Calax. I can't hear the sounds anyhow. I think 2 will be better in this regard as it's a later game, but the music hardly ever plays and I virtually never get voice over work at all. So, for example, I was surprised when I actually heard Max give me a hint about where to find the ! in one of the rooms. Still, I'm having a good time playing. It's goofy, but it's really meant to be. It's supposed be an over the top film noir setting. Well, that and I keep envisioning the protagonist as Bruce Willis.

I just can't get past the whole elitist crap. Otherewise it's just a message board where folks discuss different ideas. It's a tad insular and the chest beating is a little frentic, but it's not as soul numbingly chauvinistic as some boards I've seen. OH, and I'm one of the ol' timers crowd too. I started playing DnD before there was a 'basic' set. I was too young to understand it properly, but I must have started playing at the first boxed set. Soon thereafter, the red boxed basic set came out. Looked by and large the same, but that led to Expert and... whatever the third one was in that set. By then, I think I had the players handbook, DMG, and Monster Manual. Good times! I must have been eight or nine when I first found DnD. Another OH: I'm sure most of these interviews are done by email. ...And everyone's style is different in speech than in writing.

I'm in the second part of Max Payne. It's a lot more goofy than I thought it would be, but not bad. Really over the top, but... *shrug* I'm enjoying it. I prefer a straight FPS to over the shoulder, but it's not particularly difficult.

A man lives with his wife and children in the manner of his ancestors. When he was a child, he had learned the ways of his ancestors, believing what he was told by his parents. His parents explained that they had learned from their mothers and fathers who in turn had been taught by their parents before them. The boy learned that the ways of his ancestors were ancient and true. As he grew older, those beliefs were tested, but he kept his faith and that faith grew stronger. He felt blessed by his ancestors and came to believe that he communed with them through the rites and prayers of his faith. One night, the man slept deeply next to his wife. In his sleep, a vision came to him. He saw years pass before him as he taught the ways of his ancestors to his children and he saw those children grow strong in love and faith as he had. Years passed and people came and went. The ways of his ancestors remained true with few changes. Decades passed and his children grew and had children. His children

Wow. Banned? Lifetime ban? For what, can you link? Pretty please? I'm sooo curious.

Wait, this was based on the old movie with... who? I thought maybe Richard Burton, but I didn't see it when I looked. I dunno, but I remember seeing a movie about Thermoplyae from the late 50-70s. Somewhere in there.

Yeah, but the fact remains that I never heard about the use of super glue as a substitute for stitches when I was growing up. ...And I had to have stitches on several wounds over the years. Some of them pretty ugly. I don't doubt you, I'm just sayin' it was news to me.

I really liked the Zelda games I've played. However, I don't think I'll buy the Wii. It's not that I'm a PC snob. I tried the original Xbox and I've played consoles at other folks houses. I can never get used to the controller for an FPS. I'm too spoiled. I don't think the controllers are as responsive as keyboard and mouse and I'm unused to the motions necessary to use them effectively. Heaven knows I've tried! I did enjoy KotOR 1n2 on the xbox, but ultimately I ended up using it as my DVD player for a while. If it hadn't been for the fact that MS and Sony couldn't get their acts together on a standard for storage, I would have bought the Xbox 360 as my next gen multimedia player, but it wasn't meant to be and I was unwilling to pay for either the 360 or a Playstation 3. First of all, I don't think Sony is somehow goodness and light while Microsoft is the evil empire. On the 360 side, the best games were coming out on PC. I didn't see enough PS3 only games to make it worth my while and the PS3 was considerably more expensive. The Wii is cheaper, but the only games I would probably play are the Zelda games and ones that you guys would convince me to try. That's all well and good, but it wasn't enough to warrant it. If I just had more space for these gadgets, I would probably get the Wii. By the way, it's maddening. Maria said that the chic in Hell Kitty's avatar reminded her of something someone said. Now I think Hell Kitty is Maria half the time. It's actually rather irritating because, since it happened the one way, it now works in reverse. I think Maria is Hell Kitty. Damn you all! I'm currently downloading the Max Payne bundle on Steam. *nods to Purkake*

I just finished watching 300 on blu ray. I expected it to be terrible. This is my secret weapon for enjoying virtually all forms of recreation. I expect it to suck and thus I am pleasantly surprised. As it is, I thought it was surprisingly good. Yeah, yeah. It had horribly excessive sex and violence. Yeah, it was simplistic. I especially like the parts where the other Greeks were downplayed. On the other hand, the narrative was in the voice of Delios, and so the Sparatan prejudice made sense. Yes, it forgot to mention that the Athenians were the ones who defeated the Persians at Marathon and that the Athenian navy was the means by which the Greeks managed to blunt the thrust of Xerxes invasion. Still, it was entertaining. This was definitely not a chic flick and I'm perfectly happy to see some blood and guts in my films every now and then. Also, having read Herodotus both in Greek and in translation, I have to say a lot of the lines and the basic story was pulled directly from what was clearly the source material for the movie. Not a bad experience, although something I clearly wouldn't take my wife to see. Hell, I can't even get her to go see the new Star Trek movie.

That looks like my kind of game, but I don't have a gamecube.

Hey, bro. Enjoy your stay in the madhouse. Beware the iron hand of Gorth.

I actually met some of the Biowarians a few years back. Maybe 5? It was right after KotOR. ...But, yeah, the only one I remember by name is David Gaider, whom I'm not sure I met when I met the KotOR folks.

I actually wouldn't mind another CoC run. As maddening as it was, I quite enjoyed it. The bugs and the never ending cutscenes were a big issue for me, but it really caught the feel of the Lovecraft universe and PnP game. The cutscenes were toooooooo long. There were too many of them, and there were some you couldn't bypass. Nevertheless, the game really left me wanting more Cthulhu.

Thanks for the info, Wrathie.

uh, not sure how to read this. I didn't know if you were dead set on his being atheist or if you just figured it wouldn't be an issue until he's older. I actually agree with your assessment. From the Catholic side, of course. This happened yesterday. I went to a friend's house for a big game of DnD. We all live in different areas, so three of us met at one friend's house and two others met at a friend's house in Texas and we got on Skype and played by video. So, after a delayed start, we got in a few hours of playing, drinking scotch and waters and having fun, enjoying some cognac on the side, when my wife calls on the cell phone and says that she's cut her finger trying to slice a baguette. I jetted and drove home from Riverside. I came in to look, and it was pretty bad, so I drove her to the emergency room. $100 copay. Damn, it was less just a year ago! So, five hours of waiting (Loma Linda is a big trauma center, so there were some folks coptered in.). It turned out that they can use dermabond, kind of like super glue, to close cuts nowadays. Back in the day, it was all about stitches. No more!

Seriously speaking, the sun will eventually destroy the earth. As far as destroying humanity, though, I think we're going to be here for a long, long time. I doubt we ever make it out of the solar system. Maybe we can, but I don't think we will. We won't even seriously try until we're certain we don't have a choice and by then it will be too late. But, hey, we'll have one hell of a BBQ before the sun engulfs the earth!

There will be Duke Nukem 4evar!

I might play it again. The only glitch that will make it hard to get the A rating is the one with the ships gun. Otherwise, it's just a matter of being willing to forgo saves and whatnot, which could be a pain, but most of the game is based on puzzles rather than reflexes. It's actually a lot like Blood Money in that respect.

Okay, so I finished Dark Corners of the Earth and unlocked the next setting. I had a 97% completion rate without completely pillaging any walkthroughs, but my score sucks. Apparently, your saves detract from your score. To be fair, I would be willing to play without any saves other than what they give me. That's how it is in Painkiller on the hardest setting. However, I was forced to save in order to do the whole shooting at the mages on the beach thing because of the Vista 64 glitch. Anyhow, I don't know if I had the extended ending. I saw the funky race that showed me the enemey from their great library. I also . If there's more I can get, I can try, although the ships gun bug is just horrible. GRRR Is there any more I should have seen other than what I did?

This is one contest where you wouldn't want to be proved right during your lifetime, huh? I mean, at the end of your lifetime.

Oh, I didn't think you were going out of your way to insulting. I have to admit, I read it and was mildly irritated. That's no new thing for me, I'm afraid. I don't rightly know how much work it would entail. I just figured the cycle is short enough they would want to save effort however they could.

Gaider creating his own company has very little interest for me, although it would be interesting to see it happen. He's produced some solid work over the years. Nothing phenomenal, but some really good work on a variety of games. I have yet to play Mass Effect, though, and some folks say it's a classic.