Monte Carlo

I don't know.

I have installed it. The game is rubbish. Am exploring whether to uninstall it, but now Empires TW looks tempting.

Not in Sweden, it doesnt. Sending unsolicited flowers or a gift of any kind to a girl you're not intimately familiar with, is not socially acceptable. Unless you're Alexander Skarsg

This falls outside of my remit of advice-orientated qualifications, Orogun01. Motherly love is a powerful elemental force with which we meddle at great risk.

The answer is = roughly the size of Wales.

As it happens the young Monty, circa 1987, faced an identical dilemma. A very beautiful girl worked in a store. I sent her flowers with a not-very-cryptic clue as to who I was. Her female co-workers cooed and fussed over the floral tribute. I got a date and went out with her for a couple of very pleasant months. You can have that one for free. It actually works.

If you folks don't stop discussing freaking Twilight this thread might self destruct.

Tomorrow is experimental Steam day... I will let you all know what happens. I am wearing special protective clothing and Kevlar mittens for the occasion.

Green Zone. Matt Damon has two facial features (stoically baffled and slightly less baffled) but this is a solid action movie with a gritty and convincing Neocons-are-bastards subplot and some interesting camerawork. I give it 7.5/10, not least for the main bad guy's (mysterious US special forces dude) 1970's p0rno moustache.

I was berating the moron tendency in this case and bemoaning the general moral degeneration of the country (etc). Then my wife, quite astutely, pointed out that the halfwits have always been with us but now have Facebook to share their stupidity with the rest of us. So I blame teh intaweb.

The violence is amusing because it cannot harm you. Purchase a Bengal tiger and re-run the exercise. You will realise that video games have de-sensitized you to nothing.

Good to see Dave give the wierdos on the Bio forums a well-deserved slap-down.

Dave indulges in the usual passive / aggressive Bio style. They really are thin-skinned. I'm not exactly a graphics whore but those screenies are embarrassing.

I don't understand why, when their distribution model is so lean and there is no physical content... why are their games so expensive on Steam?

The concept art stinks, I mean it's really bad. The DA concept art was good, and generally I liked DAs art direction for what it was. @ Vol, yes lots of folks will buy it anyway. I'm not sure this time, however, I will. DA:Awakenings will probably be the end of the road for me. As CRPGs have turned a page I've found myself playing more RTS and strategy games. I don't even miss CRPGs that much, TBH. If I feel the need I re-boot an old BG2 game or give NWN2 another spin. It's not all bad news, as the wheel will turn and old-skool gaming models, more sand-boxy and free-form will return and gamers will be freed from the yoke of Fantasy Novel tyranny once more Am looking forward, a great deal, to Diablo 2 (looking forward to seeing y'all on battle.net) and even Dungeon Siege 3... the cup is definitely half-full! Cheers MC

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Heresy like this needs to be expunged with sword and flame.

I think you miss my point, Grom. Like I say, they need to get off the pot. If story-focussed, linear, pre-defined character driven games is their schtick then declare it. Don't bang on about choice and reactivity because we ain't buying it. Balance depends on where you're standing on the see-saw I suppose... but you can try. It's difficult to make a perfect souffle, write an elegant short story, find a partner with whom you can dance a classic tango... all of these things are tough and people succeed. Given the success and talent at Bioware I'm sure they can do it but they need to tame David Gaider and remind him he's writing for a game, they ain't building a game for his writing. I quite like the man, from what I've seen and on the few occasions I've conversed with him, but he seems to forget his place in the fermament now and then. Like on a movie, 'he's just the writer.'

Do I try Steam? The copy of the Sniper game is sitting there. Looking forlorn. Do I dare go there? Open this scary Pandora's Box of digital scariness? I am scared and alone in this. Help.

Bio keep on trying to do new things with the CRPG genre and I applaud them for it. But they need to crap or get off the pot: do they want to make games that allow the player to enjoy themselves the way they want or do they want to lock them into Gaider's narrative with a few decisions centred on what equipment you buy or NPC girlfriend you choose? It doesn't have to be a sandbox game. It doesn't have to be an interactive electronic novel. A bit like the porridge in the fairy tale, it is possible to get it just right.

I got 51 wpm on that test, I'm quite pleased.

I think the legalisation of marijuana is a plot by snack food companies.

I am fond of both the Cloggies and the Spanish for reasons too numerous to post here. So who do I support? Am genuinely struggling. Obviously, my country has fought bitter wars (and won, naturally) against both but it was a long time ago and they were perfectly logical conflicts over which it is difficult to bear a grudge. Phil the psychic octopus favours Spain so I might have to go against this smug mind-flayer and support the Netherlands. But it's difficult to get passionate about it, like I say I really am fond of both nations.

Alternatively, we could go Chinese and execute dealers. Personally, a sliding scale depending on the narcotic works for me. A kilo of Coke - firing squad. A 1/4 kilo of Crack. Ditto. Anything more than five kilos of puff. Hang 'em. Then you legalize personal use, y'know, a plant or two on the balcony of your apartment. Anything else = death. Sorry to be all wishy-washy about it but you must admit it's a point of view.

Or, even worse, drooling fanbois.