pmp10

Following GDC Sterling went on a rant regarding freemium naming practices. Don't get it myself. He is just arguing semantics.

Well yes. Some of those games listed have been actively hampered by their very own developers. Blizzard lawsuits over rights to Starcraft/Brood War TV transmissions in Korea or fighting tooth-and-nail for ownership of DotA are best examples.

The problem is that it's not entirely true. Starcraft 1 became a 'e-sport' by accident. The game was never meant to be played the way it would be by the competitive community. Point 2 and 3 are mods not sponsored by developers. 'E-sports' today is more of a result of accidents than conscious decision by any developer. That is has gotten a little more popular is purely due to internet finally allowing video streaming.

Nobody will accept Ukraine into EU in its current shape. It would take years of work before that state will be stable enough to be a candidate for EU or NATO. There is no way to know if it won't self-destruct, go bankrupt or swing back to Moscow within that time.

I wouldn't be so certain about that. Certainly there will be a lot of condemnations to start with but everyone knows that Crimea is a lost cause. New borders may be recognized as soon as media grow bored and find another topic.

I agree. Except that it is USB/PS2/COM/LPT/gender switch.

If there was a serious alternative to Russian gas then eastern Europe would jump on it long ago. The reality is that about half of Europe simply cannot uncouple itself from Russian energy exports without ruining their economies.

While the referendum is a forgone conclusion this would be too obvious even by Moscow standards.

That 'protect you' part was just for the sake of courtesy. No sane superpower would trust Ukraine with nuclear arsenal and especially not at the time. There was never any way for them to hold on to it.

You can't seriously think that anyone would hold a honest referendum on this issue? Neither side would accept unfavorable outcome anyway.

Depending on how far Russia moves it's troops Ukraine may have no choice. The government in Kiev should survive loosing Crimea but not a third of the country.

I've devised +1 field plate skepticism that wards off pronouncements about working nuclear fusion being "just around the corner". Sure. Whatever. It was just around the corner four decades ago. Now it's a physicist jobs program. Work on solar cell technology is making remarkable and steady progress, and it has the benefit of being useable now. That is the big misconception about fusion. The fusion funding allocated four decades ago was at so called 'fusion never' level and sadly that prediction has turned out to be true. That is also why fusion research doesn't even qualify as a jobs program.

There isn't really any ideological material for a new cold war. The difference between western liberalism and eastern conservatism is a simple matter of economics and population growth. Countries that can afford emigrants will gladly take them. Countries that cannot afford them will go back to the 'you shall procreate or else' conservatism.

Those attempts rarely end well but if you are determined here is a tip: start with the oldest titles first. If you can survive the shock of jumping into a game decades old your standards will adjust and things will get easier from there. Also add Blade of Destiny to that list. It's worth checking out just to see slightly another approach to RPGs.

Nice to see that NIF is not turning out to be a complete disaster. But please don't believe any of the breakthrough/break-even claims made.

Of course they were. That said the term eventually gets hopelessly confused even referring to playwrights like Shakespeare.

Yes there was. I don't want to get into the gender nonsense as denial runs too deep here but children were certainly treated differently according to law. Just keep in mind that coming of age would take place early in teenage years.

Isn't it funny how gender issues completely overshadow any other problems associated with the time period? Any realistic depiction of a medieval man or woman must come with a set of beliefs and behaviors that modern audience will find repulsive. That's why the end result of historical realism in games is usually something akin to Assassins Creed.

Best part of the whole game.

An update was posted regarding their search for publishers.

The idea is that you would climb the legs to reach that heart. It never works well tho. And for the love of god don't try to do the expansion with a melee class. Hybrid classes are player-only for a reason.

You didn't already have it? Okay, that's it. Show of hands, who does not already own this game? We aren't allowed to be friends. Hrm. Friends with Tale... not driven insane by the torture that is Dark Souls... I think I'm good on that choice. Too frustrating for me. I also have my doubts around if I can handle Dark Souls, I don't have patience with games that force repetition on you or don't allow reasonable save progress so if you get killed you don't have to go back too far. But I need to at least try the game before I'll comment properly I suggest using a trainer then. The amount of grind and memorization the game expects is enormous otherwise.

Soren Johnson founds Mohawk games. Their first project is a multiplayer economy focused RTS. Not sure what to think of that one. Love Civ4 and tycoon games but Stardock involvement worries me.

EA axes Command and Conquer along with it's developer. *Insert obligatory bioware-is-next image

A little off topic but that's most likely going to happen in the future. Whatever social tensions this new 'Greater Israel' will undergo it's the only way forward in the region. And this multiculturalism debate seems a bit pointless to me. You are wasting your time discussing the pretenses of tolerance when the real policies have always been about economics.