Aristes

Actually, high school wasn't nearly so bad. College can be bad depending on the professor.

Well then, we can all rejoice that you work in video games (right?) and not legislation. The best scenario is that they put KB in a cage and only let him out to make awesome games because he's insane otherwise. Good Lord, Kaftan, I'm glad you're not running for office right now. ...Are you?

I hate to say this, super Cal, but I'd try to think of something reasonable to do that will get you through the course. I'm with Walsh on that one. I agree with Allan, and it would piss me off to no end, but I've taken on professors and you can certainly do it, but for someone like this professor, you have to be ready to hit the mattresses. I mean, this is an ordeal and I couldn't advise doing it. However, if you do, I would certainly follow Allan's advice about writing an excellent paper with even better research than if you'd just done it her way. Then, get a faculty advisor to review your paper before you turn it in, maybe even the head of the department. Incorporate his suggestions and tighten it up. Have at least one peer review from a friend. Make sure that you have taken the explicit instructions from the professor, preferably written, and hit every requirement. Then, ask yourself, "Do I want to die on this hill?" If it's a fight worth having, then charge it! Maybe you'll even see make out my corpse when you get to the top. You might actually win, although as likely not. I'm fool enough to have done this, but there is no slave or servitude in just passing the class and washing your hands of this professor. Today, I'm catching up with some stuff that I need to finish and then it's Dragon Age for the win.

Yeah, but she's still over the top. I'm not talking accent. I'm talking delivery. ...And, I think that's taste, which is to say that she doesn't give a bad performance, just not my cup of tea performance.

You're a right swinehearted wretch, Gaurd Dog. I bought a 40 pound bag of rice at Costco yesterday. No one asked me if I had any dogs.

Thanks, MC, you bastard, for forcing me to look up plaudits. Anyhow, the voice over work is excellent. Sure, they went heavy on the English accent thing, but that's not a question of performance. That was a production decision. I think Morrigan is a bit over the top, but overall they're excellent in their delivery. There have only been a couple of American accents I've heard so far. Morrigan's mother is one of them and I can't remember the other. Maybe when I get to other areas? I haven't had a lot of chances to play, so I've only just met Sten. I'm eager to see what the hubbub is all about, though. BTW: The flash game is pretty damned sleek also. Have played that even less, tho.

You know I don't understand DI's hostility to my statement anyhow. I mean, on the substance of representation, it appears as though we're not completely at odds. His offense seems to be that I complimented the United Kingdom. ...And I genuinely meant what I said to be a compliment. I've visited England and Scotland. I have both family and friends who live there. I'm not trying to steal your history, but I like to take a long view of these things. After all, one of my degrees is in history and I think most folks who enjoy history tend to like it across the board. I truly didn't mean offense. You know, I referred to Britain as "crazy" and "wacky" but I also called myself Chauvinistic (and if that's an insult on this board then a lot of folks should be pretty insulted) and I called my outlook as an American "evil" for crying out loud. Baffling. As to the question of freedom? I hear alarm bells when I hear something akin to "the common folk are too ignorant and reactionary to govern themselves properly." That

I think the biggest problem with the prevalent views on racism is the perspective. Racism is simply another form of folks rejecting something different from themselves. That rush to fear and dislike or even outright hate something alien is most readily apparent in racism, but it's not confined to it. By separating racism and keeping it foremost in our minds, we're ensuring that the issue will never go away. We can't make race a non issue when we constantly ask ourselves how to combat racism.

I tried to get him to lower his prices and when he didn't I told him to leave if he didn't want to play fair. So he told me to piss off and left town. Frankly, I think the local authorities would probably have stepped in and told him to moderate his prices because they couldn't afford to let him leave with vital goods. On the other hand, I don't know how high his prices were. If he were being completely crazy, folks wouldn't be able to buy his good anyhow. He didn't have any muscle with him, otherwise he wouldn't have offered to pay me to save his sorry ass. So, all things considered, I think the whole scenario fits into a 'fantasy' game very well. Far more likely, since the local authorities weren't even able to see this situation escalating, is that some armed faction would have taken his stuff and then gouged the citizens. If that were the case, then they would be brigands and I could have stepped into intimidate or dispatch them without any qualms. As it was, it's the typical sort of simplistic nonsense. To be fair, it's probably quite hard to treat these situations properly within the confines of a computer game.

Yeah, that's a good point. I was focusing more on Al than the blue hand thing, but it did strike me that folks wouldn't go so nuts just because they figured they were goners. I turned to my wife and made the same observation you just did about folks being diagnosed with terminal illnesses. On the balance, I think the fact that we had such similar thoughts should scare the hell out of you.

I haven't had as much time to play as I'd like, but I did finally get to a merchant. Of course, that one ended up leaving town. The rat bastard. He could have let me pawn my loot first. Anyhow, I found the other merchant. At first I was irritated that they did the typical "anyone making money is terrible" routine. It was a bit more nuanced than that, but still pretty basic. Still, there are war profiteers in war ravaged areas. I think it would be interesting to see a game show some poor merchant trying to work with folks and having an angry mob loot and pillage, which is also what happens in war ravaged areas. What Dragon Age did was show that driving off the merchant probably didn't serve the interests of the refugees. Maybe not as well as I'd like, but at least it wasn't the typical "all profit is evil" line that we get in so many games. Frankly, the best thing that can happen for everyone is to destroy the blight. I'm not much of an ends justifying the means sort of guy, but I think getting involved in these sorts of disputes really would not serve to help the situation at all. I mean, this wasn't a clear cut case of banditry or some other obvious crime. Unfortunately, you screw yourself out of a lot of content if you don't go sticking your nose into other folks business in these games.

Soooooo Anyone else still watching this? I was quite happy with the latest episode. I guess I better spoilerize it. I'm looking forward to next episode. I hope they wipe that stinking hung dog look off of Benford's face and give him a stiffer upper lip. Geez, we get it, but stop acting like an idiot already. That and I just couldn't care less about his melodramatic relationship with his wife. I've got my own melodramatic realationships with my family and friends. I watch shows like Flash Forward for the action and mystery, not as an excuse to cry in my damned beer.

I'll consider the source and be happy to oblige.

So, Insidious, you are the embodiment of British culture? You are the gatekeeper of heritage? Funny. America does have a shared heritage with Britain, and by that I mean the whole of Great Britain, until the time that we broke away from you politically and formed our own nation. At some point we were as British as any Britain. The British today did not invent a heritage that they inherited. After all, that's the basic meaning of heritage, right? We have a shared heritage, and most of us have some admiration for you, even when it is clear that some of you are undeserving of the sentiment. That's fine. Still, as someone who not only has family in England, Wiltshire County to be specific, at the very least I can claim some English heritage after all. I'll gladly hear your angry rejoinder. Nevertheless, let me be clear. I don't need to hearken back to British Heritage. We share a history up to the point of our political departure and we very quickly planted the seeds of a government that would eventually over-shadow yours. You should be glad that some Americans hold your people and history in such high regard. The alternative is to forget about you. Yes, we sometimes treat you as the junior partner. I mean no hostility when I say, that's what you are. You have a grand and noble history even after our break, and I'll give you credit for that in much the same way I credit every nation for its due. However, that doesn't mean that much of your influence is not borrowed from the United States. If you bristle at the insult to your ego.... well.... there's not much I can do. Reality bruised your ego. Not the United States. ...And, although I would be sad to think that the special relationship (which both the United States and the United Kingdom have cited for years http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Relationship ) would end, I've also said that there are no permanent allies. If you really think you're better off without us than with us, go ahead and feel that way. Convince your government to feel that way also, because it seems they haven't wanted to cut off the cord just yet. *shrug* I've been thinking of your post, my numbered friend. I'm just waiting to respond until I've thought about it more. Some posts require more thought than others, after all.

So, does Morrigan hate the dog or what? Anyhow, I don't really care about becomeing a shapeshifter and blood magic looks like a massive pain in the ass, but the other two aren't so bad. If I can get them all, I will probably get all of them except the Blood Magic.

I don't concede the point but, as I mull over your post, I offer my other cheek.

Nationalism is not an evil. It's merely a reflection of the reality that people naturally combine into groups that look to the interests or perceived interests of the members. These work themselves into larger groups that tie together the interests of the smaller groups. At some point the interests of perceived interests of the individual constituent groups leaves someone out in the cold. The idea of a 'global citizenry' is not only stupid. It's dangerous. I mean, it's stupid and dangerous for the vast majority of people who post here since it would pave the way for their wealth to be taken and given to some other group that has less. That sounds noble and good until you find yourself enjoying a substantially lower standard of living and realize that the world is still just as screwed up as it was before anyhow. In answer to you, Walsh, I can only speak as an American. I know I know, that paints me eeevviiiiiil from the outset, but I prefer to talk about these things as an adult. If I answer you with candor, maybe we can have a frank discussion. As an American, the idea of Europe becoming truly unified is frightening as hell. After all, while the military balance would probably still favor the United States as it stands now, I believe the unified economic and political clout of the union would probably be equal to or greater than the United States. Don't get me wrong, I don't suggest that a true European Union would equate to an enemy a la the Soviet Union, or even an uneasy adversay in the manner of the PRC. We'd probably continue to have good relations, even though we'd have increased polarization over global matters. Nevertheless, adding another global contender is not in American interests. That's the simple truth. Better to have a number of smaller allies whose interests are more or less aligned with your own than a single large ally who can work independently towards the same goals and who is better able to oppose your interests in favor of his own. Of course, the reality is that European countries already work towards their own interest, but those countries would be in a much better position to do so as part of a real union. My worries are somewhat calmed by the fact that I don't think the Europeans are truly unified. They don't have a true desire to relinquish national interests for the sake of the union. They talk like they do, but I don't believe that's the case. They don't have the drive to face global problems alone. They have a Russian neighbor to the east with a considerable chip on his shoulder. They have a Chinese neighbor to the far east who, by sheer population, is scary as hell. While the Europeans are more than willing to work with either the Russians or Chinese, and even though they speak to global matters in all areas of the world, by and large the United States is the best choice in terms of alignment. Yep, the bad ol' unstable US. The Europeans are too provincial in their parts and not willing enough to throw their considerable power behind a unified government. As a chauvinistic American, I love our Brit heritage and I want the crazy old UK to maintain its special relationship with the United States. There are neither permanent allies nor permanent enemies, but I do hope that we keep our British friends. As a human being, trying to look past my own nationalism, I have to say that I like those wacky democracies. If I weren't Catholic, I'd claim republicanism as my faith. I believe that all people yearn to be free. In their hearts, they want to be the masters of their own fates and they chafe at slavery. I'm too much of a realist to think that everyone would think of things in these terms, but I do believe that most people, given the choice, would rather be able to choose what they do than to have it dictated to them. We are chained by our bodies to a world in which we cannot ever be truly free, but we all yearn for freedom. A bit preachy, perhaps, but that's exactly how I feel. I want democracy to thrive not because I want to spread 'American Imperialism.' I want democracy to thrive because I believe all people should be free and that the government of countries should be ruled by institutions that sustain freedom to perpetuity. A European Union run by bureaucrats not beholden to their constituency is, therefore, evil.

There really is a DA thread creation mania, not that I really care. Just an observation. I actually like the graphics. On the other hand, I would generally not give out a score for graphics. As long as they reach a certain standard, I don't think about them much. Only really terrible or really great graphics warrant a lot of attention. Most of the time I don't think of the graphics in DA, which I take as a good sign. They're pretty enough overall that I'm happy.

Actually, I tend to think that NPC casters are fairly weak in recent games. Unless the design team gives the caster access to different abilities than the PC, a player should always be able to create at least as powerful a caster as the NPC, but the design teams do seem to have nerfed some of these NPC casters for some reason. If they're doing it to stroke player caster ego, they're nuts, but it could definitely be the case.

Fireball is pretty damned nice. I mean, good aoe damage with knockdown? I feel like I'm in a bowling sim sometimes.

Well, it depends. I think Oblivion had some really good graphics in a lot of areas. Dragon Age is later, but the graphics aren't a huge improvement. I think they are prettier, but I'm not a slave to graphics anyhow, so what do I know? Folks constantly tell me I don't like the graphics for this game or that as much as I think I do. Must be a failing on my part. I don't think the story is bad. In fact, I think central story is solid. It's pretty standard, but the individual elements do give it a shine, particularly in the care the design team put into the codex. I still skim, but the fact that I even bother reading it at all is remarkable. I'm not going to run out to buy the Dragon Age novel, but I'm interested enough to want to know what's going to happen next.

Actually, the only real beef I have with the game so far is the blood. I'm not being squeemish. I don't find it repulsive or frightening. Quite the opposite. It's so overdone it's comical. Otherwise, I think they did the things they needed to do to make a solid game and some areas are truly excellent. The dialogue is well done, but there's too much of it sometimes. Still, the voice acting is better than any I've seen in a game. I'm with MO on that one. In fact, beats out even Blizzard in that regard. I think my character looks better than I've seen in any other game also. Much better than the Bethsoft games. The controls are quite similar to World of Warcraft. Sometimes identical. Of course, some folks will see "World of Warcraft" and immediately assume that's a bad thing, but it's not. World of Warcraft has a good control scheme and it works well for Dragon Age also. I did find the quest in the Wilds finding hidden signs irritating. Same with the Rigby quest in the same area. My suggestion? Just run around with TAB pressed. Yeah, it can feel like cheating, but unless you pride yourself on meaningless effort, it makes some things so much easier. I'm now a Grey Warden. I thought that scene was well done. There's only one *twist* so far, and that was in the Fade. I don't count something that was twistesque that happened in the tower because I didn't think they meant it to be a twist and it was fairly well telegraphed. I do think the game could be more... nuanced? But it's been great fun so far. Perfectly wonderful tonight since I haven't been able to sleep anyhow. Take this as a good or bad thing as you so desire, but the game was easy enough for me to play while hopped up on narcotics. (legal narcotics, just to be clear) I don't care about bragging rights, so the auto-regen and normal difficulty work just fine for me. I'm with MC. I don't see how folks can complain about the game difficulty, but I notice Bio made the easy setting even easier, so no biggie on that end.

Okay, sorry for the double post, but this is irritating as hell. I did take those two vicodin. To put it in perspective, I didn't really need it after the operation, so I have a lot of the pills left. My leg has hurt since the operation, but not much. More of an annoyance, so I thought to myself, "weellll, I don't really need it, but I my leg has that twinge and maybe it will help me sleep." ****ing pills, man. No. I took them over an hour and a half ago and now I'm more wide awake than I was. What the hell? I thought Vicodin made you sleepy. ****. Now I'm wide awake and I have to get up early tomorrow morning. ****ing story of my life. I should have researched them instead of making an assumption. So, here I am considering taking Advil PM or Nyquil in the hopes that I can get some sleep tonight. There's this voice in the back of my head saying I might be stupid to take a sleep aid on top of narcotics, though. Next time the doctor offers me any, I'm going to decline. Bull****. ...And I never do crap like this. I used to abuse the hell out of alcohol when I was younger, but I don't even drink hardly anymore. I'm going to end my rant, but only because there's no point in ranting anymore, not because I any less irritated.

I could take a couple of Vicodin and post high. I tend not to do this, but it's there. Didn't take the stuff for my pain, now I take it for minor aches. See, real life is like video games. You save those potions until the end game because you're saving them for the 'big' fights and then you end up never using them at all. If I start posting goofy later, you'll know I tested the theory.

Dude, you're going to have a friend working in the cruiseline industry? Stop complaining and keep in good contact with him and have that friendship start working for you! The LURVE boat! Damn, now that tune will be in my head the rest of the day. Arrrghghhhh