Zoraptor

Yeah, Alpha Protocol had that as one of its main publicly stated philosophies, for example. It's probably better than BG2's "evil= chaotic stupid, get less quests and XP for free" approach at least if handled well. Do have to agree on Steve though, he's basically a one trait character which always annoys me. I really disliked that accident prone elf (? Lini ?) in NWN for much the same reason though I was less likely to like anyone in NWN anyway. On the other hand, Shep getting shot down by his assistant for being a bloke was something I liked a lot in how it was handled.

TARDIS Initial Public Offering? Offer Richard Branson the chance to go back and witness the miracle of his own birth, for a small and reasonable fee? Hire G4S and notBlackwater to fight the Time War? Possibilities are endless.

The situation is a bit different when you have a genuine terra nullius being settled, the point of contention being the lack of continuous inhabitance (~reversion to terra nullius) by the Spanio-Argic-Platinates vs the current British inhabitance. Plus, most ethnic english people are still far more genetically celt than latin/ north german/ scando/ scando-norman. But yeah, the claim is silly, flawed, has been fought over already, and is largely posturing for domestic benefit. Spain's a particularly interesting case, as they complain about Gibraltar while keeping an enclave opposite in North Africa (Ceuta) which really ought to be Moroccan by their own logic.

They reuse actors pretty frequently- 2/3 of the Torchwood emplyees, even excluding Jack, were previously on Who playing different (or later retconned) people, Martha was, Amy was too (non speaking though, iirc). It's certainly not my favourite aspect of their casting though. I preferred Smith to either of the two modern doctors (albeit Eccleston got little chance with the short time and frequently dreadful scripts), and Moffatt as a show runner to Davies. I got heartily sick of 'love conquers all' endings and schmaltz, and lots of set up for no delivery. Plus many of the best Davies era episodes were written by Moffatt. Moffatt only really failed with the second part of the latest season and that largely because he clearly did not have much defined character for Clara (whose actor is perfectly fine) so relied on "she's mysterious!" as a hook, which wasn't enough. Should have made it Victorian Clara or Ep1 Clara or any other Clara other than Modern Clara, having the companions nearly all be women from contemporary UK is getting noticeably stale. My immediate thought on Capaldi was that he was fairly close to John Hurt in general appearance- both older, and quite thin and gaunt in appearance.

Personally, I've always found the 'human fighter' archetype most games are saddled with utterly boring as they're usually the RPG equivalent of playing Doom marine. If there's an option to avoid it I almost always take it. The race and starting vignettes from DAO were one of the things I liked most about it. But even though the levels were mostly recycled into the main plot at some point they were still pretty obviously prone to be cut if cutting were to be done as it's still a lot of work for something many will not see.

No need to apologise, it's just a problem I have. I've been giving myself pedantry aversion therapy by watching U571 and any film featuring the English and Mel Gibson on continual loop. (Amphipolis and Potidaea says wiki, so Xena and Gabs are Greek enough for government work. Though given Xena's historical sense was, uh, not always the best there'd have to be some question)

For whoever it was that was waiting for La Mulana on the steam sale it's 60% off at GOG at the moment.

Why do I feel compelled to point out that Venus is Italian, not Greek, and that having just fought down the urge to point out that Odessa and Yalta are Ukrainian not Russian? It's the pedant version of elbows too pointy (well, except Venus) syndrome.

DAO was 10-20% too long in just about every respect and rather too generic, but it was a good framework and basis for an improved sequel. Hopefully with the increased time DA3 (do I have to call it DAI now?) will be a bit more well balanced towards keeping the good bits and improving the poorer bits than DA2 though.

Dear sir, May I suggest investing in a good quality irony sarcasm detector? (last point is distinctly questionable since the Red Army always had problems with supplying long term mobile offensives and Bagration had already taken them forward hundreds of km over six weeks. It was convenient, sure, but the reasons were militarily legitimate too; nobody blames the western allies for their supplies choking their offence 6 weeks after the Normandy break out).

Not really sure that wanting to be sent to the front front was particularly a sign of maturity though- he sounded more like he wanted the opportunity to shoot people in the interview I heard. But he seems a decent enough chap overall, and I don't think a citizen of a country that was an actual part of Nazi Germany in, like, actual actuality has much room to criticise someone for merely dressing up as a teenager.

Those concepts look very Witcheresque. Witcher castle from 1, and the elven ruins/ monastery from 2. Not complaining mind, TW2 is a pretty good thing to get inspiration from (and the settings described are hardly unique to TW anyway).

It isn't. It means you have to go ask permission to access the stuff. It's not an unlocked door, it's a locked door where you have to go ask the custodian for a keycard. And if anyone doesn't think they'll keep a list of who swiped which keycard when and to access what then they've been asleep for the past two months. That it can be bypassed or that you an beg permission to have it lifted is irrelevant, as you shouldn't have to. Unfortunately, it won't be a waste of money either. Some people will ask it to be lifted, some people will get around it (well, "circumvention tools" are a target of the filter too...) but many won't even know about it, or buy into the "for the children!" rhetoric without knowing that it's actually a thoughtcrime filter straight out of 1984 aimed at anything Uncle Dave thinks unpalatable.

So no, it isn't just porn, and it isn't just enforcing existing laws. It's basically, well, anything and everything they want. To protect the innocence of children though, so anyone against it is advocating children losing their innocence! And as such their views would be blackballed under this regimen, no doubt.

Downvote is stupid certainly, almost exclusively used by feebs who cannot cope with contrary opinions; or bullies. Upvote is fine, generally. People should not need a virtual pat on the back to prove that their views have merit, but it isn't destructive unless it's used for "upvote this if you hate [forum member/ game/ whatever]". Which can be done without an upvote system anyway. An awful lot of people bought WarZ, and that was pretty much exactly what they were (allegedly) doing. In that case there was a certain amount of deliberately caused confusion with an actually legitimate product to counter any negativity, but it was bad enough to be one of the reasons it got pulled from steam temporarily.

Gamasutra and Forbes (whose specialist games journos are actually bloggers, iirc) are pretty well respected, but they also unashamedly do not target the general gamer but are orientated towards industry insiders. A fair few others still offer quality as well. The problem arises from shock horror page view baiting tabloid equivalents, often using free labour from interns looking to break in and inextricably interwoven in an alternating parasitic/ symbiotic relationship with the people they're supposed to be reviewing. They're lazy, frequently ill informed and often looking solely for what will get the most attention- or is easiest. There's a huge amount of recursive writing too, either by regurgitating press statements or slightly rewriting someone else's article. It's rather difficult to imagine a situation where people have access to IGN/ Kotaku/ Gamespot etc but not to forums. I know we are all here after a thorough vetting process having received a coded invite via a trusted intermediary and personally signed by your sponsor, but that is not generally how forums work. Unless you live in the UK six months in the future you can access them without special permission.

Yep, true enough- though in the UK's case it's more like me describing someone else as having terminal cancer rather than myself, since I don't live there any more. I guess since I am participating in the debate rather more actively here I'm not in the accepting it as inevitable/ resistance is futile camp quite yet.

Not really. There's just a limited amount of point doing something that you know absolutely will have no effect because it's already been decided. It might make you feel better about things and give you the ability to honestly say that "you never asked for this" but doesn't fundamentally change anything. It's like referring to 'terminal' cancer- the terminal part does not mean that it isn't serious, quite the reverse. It's so serious nothing practical can be done about it.

Who exactly are you going to vote for in the UK to get any message across? The Tories and Lib Dems, in the current government pushing the legislation? Labour who started the whole thing off? Move to Birmingham (?) and vote Gorgeous George Galloway? Establishing a new party yourself is... not a trivial undertaking. No point complaining direct or marching or whatever*, it didn't work with millions marching against the Iraq War (justified by outright lying too, so some others would no doubt have been upset were the truth about the forty minute claims etc known) or austerity, they'll just use parliamentary dictatorship to ram it through anyway. Same here, just with special deals like no contest elections for certain independent MPs who vote the 'right' way, and threats to expel anyone voting against the government on a conscience vote. Because you're asking your MP to vote for Principles, and principles on politicians are like teeth on hens. Principles end careers. *I'd actually have gone to the demonstration held in Auckland on Sat, but only found out about it too late. One of the drawbacks of (ironically) avoiding facebook...

I don't think this view is accurate. If gaming journalists were irrelevant why would Publishers ensure that certain gaming review websites and there gaming correspondents have early access to games and interviews? The reality is that there are still many people that place credibility in what gaming journalists say and what they think so they still play an important function I think that's more due to the free advertising/exposure those gaming sites give the games, rather than because the actual "journalism" aspect is seen as necessary or respected. Exactly. It's not just games though, games journalists impart crucial information like which carbonated beverage or compressed quasi mexican corn wafer makes me good at Halo! Interviews and the like are pure quid pro quo/ goodwill/ exposure propositions, this whole Fez2 debacle indicates that pretty conclusively. What, you thought all our interviews were freely done and without obligation? Nope, we expect something back...

By the stated definition of excusable homicide included it is not applicable. It's an irrelevant objection though. 1) Manslaughter is specifically stated as being the lesser crime for 2nd degree murder by the judge and as a crime that should be considered in this case. 2) The SYG defence is mentioned directly as part of the instructions on what is defined as and to be considered self defence and thus justifiable homicide. It's clearly relevant and something expected to be considered considering everyone accepts Zim used a self defence, er, defence. "JUSTIFIABLE USE OF DEADLY FORCE An issue in this case is whether George Zimmerman acted in self-defense. It is a defense to the crime of Second Degree Murder, and the lesser included offense of Manslaughter, if the death of Trayvon Martin resulted from the justifiable use of deadly force. “Deadly force” means force likely to cause death or great bodily harm. A person is justified in using deadly force if he reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself. In deciding whether George Zimmerman was justified in the use of deadly force, you must judge him by the circumstances by which he was surrounded at the time the force was used. The danger facing George Zimmerman need not have been actual; however, to justify the use of deadly force, the appearance of danger must have been so real that a reasonably cautious and prudent person under the same circumstances would have believed that the danger could be avoided only through the use of that force. Based upon appearances, George Zimmerman must have actually believed that the danger was real. If George Zimmerman was not engaged in an unlawful activity and was attacked in any place where he had a right to be, he had no duty to retreat and had the right to stand his ground and meet force with force, including deadly force if he reasonably believed that it was necessary to do so to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or another or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony. In considering the issue of self-defense, you may take into account the relative physical abilities and capacities of George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin. If in your consideration of the issue of self-defense you have a reasonable doubt on the question of whether George Zimmerman was justified in the use of deadly force, you should find George Zimmerman not guilty" And, "George Zimmerman is not required to present evidence or prove anything." It's pretty conclusive first hand evidence. (Meh, the sizing on the copy paste job seems to be going berserk despite seeming OK in the WYSIWYG editor)

That's a problem with a lot of games though. You can think to yourself "waterchip? fetch it yourself you sanctimonious git" then "supermutants? Not my problem" in Fallout for example. Fundamentally it is a game and you have to play within its limitations, all a designer can do is give you reasons to follow the story and not everyone will think the reasons are good/ sufficient.

I have to admit that every time I hear some shonky reasoning from a politicos I find myself imagining a Francis Urquhart soliloquy to go with it- or a running commentary from Sir Humphrey Appleby if it's merely poorly thought out self serving nonsense.

Even WoD agrees that it does- not to the extent I do though, of course. It's simple fact, not having a burden to retreat if practicable makes it easier to justify killing someone as you have an extra defence for the act, and if they're dead then they cannot contradict it. It's got nothing to do with sympathy, it's probable that both Martin and Zimmerman were idiots to greater or smaller degrees. And that's why you don't think SYG makes it worse. But it's an opinion rooted in, er, opinion, not in fact.

Begins? In Britain? They're already a surveillance entity with an ancillary country attached. It's all to protect the children and stop terrorism (and Iceland) though! It cannot be abused because it's Britain, and we fought nazis, For Freedom!