Monte Carlo

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/08/23/hands-on-company-of-heroes-2/ And I am rather excited.

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/08/24/bwah-interplay-boss-speaks-out-on-black-isle-plans/ A little bit more on the BIS story, with a quote from Herve Caen ("It's like putting the band back together" he says... yeah, like Simon and Garfunkel, right?).

A lot of people were complaining that the D3 system didn't allow for gimped / unusual builds. Although I am a fan of a more locked skill tree system, I've just spent two hours farming with a level 60 (1) Demon Hunter with... a melee build. Dude was armed with spear and shield and was totally badass. So I suppose it can be done.

Ha ha ha. Am reading Reamde by Neal Stephenson. Bizarre thriller about a virus in a WoW-style MMORPG. Cut a (very) long story short, the lack of a meaningful in-game narrative and C&C leads to the players forming into Lord of the Flies-style factions based on the colour palette available within the game to customise your toon. So a massive war kicks off between the minority (and old-skool) "Earth-Tone Alliance" and the brightly coloured, Diablo-esque hack and slashers. So my view is now screw C&C and make the choice of avatar colour more interesting.

Just played for half an hour. Whisper it *very* quietly but Inferno is a _bit_ easier. Pre-v1.04 I normally get my arse kicked every five minutes and incur literally 25K in repair fees to earn 5K in cash. My level 60 Barbarian is basically the Greek economy. Just did a quick Inferno run, the start 'til level 1 Cathedral / rescue Deckard Cain. I died once and earned more than I spent in repairs. The drops were a _bit_ more generous but not stoopid. Hopefully this is a sign of good things to come.

^ I think I enjoy it more than you, I hope that the patch +XP make this the game and can and should be.

Facebook hand-bags aside, the fact of the matter is that the guy was right and that there were some massive design issues with D3 that were a retrograde step from D2 (getting rid of the Horadric Cube and nerfing unique items for starters). However, OTOH, the design team are addressing them. I'm pretty excited about the patch although one hundred Paragon levels (cue Doctor Evil voice: One Hunnndddreeeedd Levels!) is just cruel crack-grinding torture for some of the fans. And they reference my pet hate --- that a lot of my Inferno-level adventuring is revenue-negative (yesterday I spent 12000 gp on repairs and earnt about 5000. That's just dull).

I'm sure you've already made your mind up, but here is the reasoned debate about Iran's stance towards Israel: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmoud_Ahmadinejad_and_Israel#.22Wiped_off_the_map.22_controversy I know Generation Hipster are ambivalent at best towards Israel, mainly because of the paucity of history teaching in schools. As a Briton of Jewish heritage even I can find Israeli and it's political recalcitrance rather tiresome sometimes. Then again, you have to remember that the tribal memory of having your entire kin subjected to industrialised murder in living memory can do that to people. But you choose a side in these things, and I've chosen mine. I have considered the issues carefully. Ahmadinejad is a religious, one-party state extremist. I believe that he might well choose to use nuclear weapons, both tactical and strategic. In the interim he will use them as a bargaining chip to change the balance of power in a volatile region, in of itself a profound security risk. I have nothing against the Iranian people (and as a Londoner I suspect I've met more Persians than many folks on this board). As a people, Persians tend to value knowledge and learning. They have a tendency towards graciousness. They also, like all of us, have some less flattering traits within sections of their society (but now isn't the time to dwell on them). Sadly, since 1979, they are under the boot-heel of extremist Shia Islamism. The positives are more difficult to flower. I am a Western Liberal (I use the term liberal in it's original, not modern Gramscian context). I believe in the values of the enlightenment and democracy. Agreed, they are filtered through the imperfections of modern post-industrial capitalism but again we play the hand we are dealt. I'd rather live in 21st Century Europe than the 21st Century Near-East. Which brings me to my (admittedly trite) comment about military action. I do not, in any way, think invading Iran is desirable or even feasible (I'm a keen student of these matters - even the USA right now would be utterly unable, even if the politics allowed for it) to invade a country like Iran. What I *do* think is achievable and desirable is immediate, focused air attacks on all Iranian nuclear infrastructure. Anything that buys more time before Ahmadinejad gets his nuclear weapons. And there we have it: you either think it's acceptable for the Iranian regime to have nukes or you do not. You can sit around a campfire singing Kumbaya but it won't stop them. Bombing will. Choose your side.

There's questionable, then there's WTF. WoW falls into the first, dating that zombie falls into the second.

That wasn't even in the foothills Morgie. Please try harder.

Didn't he date Mila Kunis?

This film has my seal of approval already.

* Yaaawwwwnnnn * You and Krezzie should form your own club.

Why? I'm too bored of you to even attempt a justification. Were it that people like you were in charge, we'd let every whacko regime have weapons of mass destruction.

I know your country still has certain... issues with us Jeuden and our prospects for survival, so I'll let that go.

Try not to get robbed downtown.

Srsly, someone has to attack Iran and I think that should be the United States.

Gimme a break I ain't finished it. On my e-reader its 308 pages long... so I guess not.

Diablo 2 of course.

When the folks who make Medal of Honor start making branded prosthetic limbs for the kids who get maimed by IEDs, to make the average player understand that war isn't a digital theme park, then I'll develop a bit of respect. Games should stay games. Making branded offensive weapons? Where next? An ARMA2 branded Predator Drone? FFS.

This movie is dull, lazy, insulting. Not for any political reason, you can demonise the North Koreans as much as you like but this is a country with no infrastructure or diplomatic muscle to lead a girl scout cookie sale, let alone a military coalition capable of threatening a super-power. The first premise of any fiction, especially incredible fiction, is to create suspension of disbelief. Was there some sort of natural disaster that led to NK becoming a credible threat to the US? Is there some sort of political instability that renders America less able to defend itself? These issues need to be addressed to create suspension of disbelief. IIRC, in the original (where, laughably, Cubans played a similar role) the movie starts with parachutes just falling out of the sky. The exposition, hazy as it is, comes later. In the 1980s Cold War environment you could (almost) get away with that. Now? It's just laugh-out-loud ridiculous. The people who made this movie need to be punished. Do not go and see it.

Am reading Reamde by Neal Stephenson, I wish I was as clever as this guy, even if he is a bit too clever for his own good now and then. I think a lot of the people here would dig it.

It's not an either / or call is it? And Romney's a rich boy. If he'd made the money himself I concede the point, but pa wasn't sort of a nickel or two, was he?

Yes, I saw the original. It was funny.

Just saw the Red Dawn trailer. Guard Dog will be upstate when the scary North Korean paratroopers land. He will dig a hole and drink heavily until they go home. xD