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Everything posted by BruceVC
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What are you Playing Now? - Right Now at the moment edition
BruceVC replied to melkathi's topic in Computer and Console
I bought all the Gold Box SSI games on Steam and Im playing Eye of the Beholder 1 as my first game. Im going to spread out when I play these games I played it when it was first released back in 1992 and I still remember certain mechanics like the pressure plates The Gold Box games have the All-Seeing Eye automap built in which is a "must have " feature if you dont have the time for making maps manually which I dont And Im really enjoying it, its very simple but thats the fun of this type of classic dungeon crawler. And of course it uses the D&D ruleset and mechanics which is always a win for me -
Its interesting you raise " or that that they were dubbed "outside agitators" when this was not true" Now that hundreds of arrests have been made that view is demonstrably untrue https://abcnews.go.com/amp/US/live-updates/college-protests-israel-palestine-war/nearly-half-of-columbia-university-and-ccny-arrests-were-nonstudent-protestors-109886454?id=109734946 " Nearly half of Columbia University and CCNY arrests were non-student protesters Of the total arrests made at Columbia University and The City College of New York, many were affiliated with the university, though nearly half were identified as non-student protesters. At Columbia University, there were 112 total arrests with 80 of the arrests being individuals affiliated with the institution while 32 individuals were unaffiliated. The protests at CCNY saw 170 total arrests with 68 individuals arrested being affiliated with the public research university and 102 individuals being unaffiliated with the college" So why does 50% of the total numbers of people arrested not being students just at 2 universities matter? Two main reasons, the first one being that the allegation of outside agitation is true and the second one is it undermines completely the view that says " these protests are about well-meaning students who have an understandable concern about where there universities spend there campus endowments " I do think most of the students have a well-meaning and genuine belief they doing the right thing even if the demands are unrealistic and unachievable But you cant deny that there is a real element of protestors who have hijacked the protests for there own radical left agendas
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Mamie what is the historical connection between Moldova and Romania, did they use to be one country?
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Lets hope its not as unsuccessful as the French African military interventions But to be fair to France you cant defeat Islamic extremism in Africa without also changing the economic and social conditions in these African countries and only African governments can do that France cant do that for them
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Its easy to understand what is an illegal or legal protest and this is outside of criminal acts or violence being committed , it depends on things like where the protest is happening. You cant protest on private property and as far as I know certain Federal areas But you can protest in public areas. But the campus encampments and protests were largely on private sector University areas which is why much of the Universities protests have moved outside the private areas to the streets So its not a selective definition because the University can allow protests on there grounds but they have every right to call in the police to end illegal encampments on there private sector areas
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Come on Lexx, lets be fair There are literally dozens of examples in the US where you see protests that arent violent or illegal or the police dont respond because a particular mayor doesnt want to escalate tension so the police will ignore much of the criminality There have been numerous BLM protests, like the weeks of protests in Portland, where the police didn't intervene or try instigate violence so they can respond with just arresting people Despite what you seem to think the US police arent some fascist organisation that takes orders from an authoritarian government. Its not how it works and you can see the obvious differences in police response in different states and in different cities And these drones are just another mechanism to ensure violent protests can be subdued and contained. Its just an additional tool, its not a bad thing
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Freedom and human rights also have civilian responsibilities, the right to protest is enshrined in all Constitutional Democracies but thats the right for peaceful and legal protests Using drones is only a measure to be used when there is illegal and violent protests. It wont be necessary in any peaceful protest which is what most protests in the US are
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Random video game news... Games are Randomly News Worthy
BruceVC replied to Lexx's topic in Computer and Console
Yes I was, I reread my post and it wasnt written properly @Wormerine Wormie I hope this clears up any confusion because you absolutely right. We dont want anything to undermine the global influence of the " BruceVC game rating system " -
Lexx some of those protesting students have water bottles and flags ....those can become deadly weapons But on a serious note, if you watch some of the police arresting people it can take 2-3 cops to restrain and arrest one protestor. Sometimes protestors have to be carried out so you do need a fairly large and effective police contingent if you have to arrest dozens or hundreds of people and remember this was after the protestors had hijacked the building and barricaded the entrance so the police didnt know what to expect
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https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/columbia-university-pro-palestinian-protests-occupy-hamilton-hall/ Malc lets not be too cynical, here are some very convincing and reasonable words from Eric Adams about why the police needed to be deployed in NY. And as we know he is not some right-wing, neo-nazi, police fascist so his opinion should be credible and believable @Zoraptor its further evidence of outside influence in the protests "I have been saying for days, if not weeks now, that what should have been a peaceful protest, it has basically been coopted by professional, outside agitators," Adams said Tuesday. "We were well aware based on a series of observations that what should've been a peaceful protest that's part of a constitutional rights of Americans has clearly been coopted. A right that this administration supports and defends to support your concern." Adams urged everyone violating Columbia's policies to "leave the area, and leave the area now. And if you're a parent of a student, please call your child and urge them to leave the area before the situation escalates in any way. This is for their own safety, and the safety of others." "We are seeing professional, external actors getting involved in these protests, including in the occupation of a university building," Police Commissioner Edward Caban said. "These people are not Columbia students. They are not affiliated with the university and they are working to escalate the situation. We are seeing their tactics changing in a way that's endangering public safety. These once peaceful protests are being exploited by professional outside agitators and the safety of all students, faculty and staff are now a concern."
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The protests arent the same for the reasons I mentioned, the primary goal of " divest " from Israel cant be realistically implemented Apartheid sanctions were about companies leaving South Africa and then any company that still traded with South Africa you publicly vilify them and dont use there products, so you protest with your wallet which is effective . Obviously the Universities and the students themselves are not going to stop using the products of Microsoft, Google, FB or Twitter because all these companies trade with Israel or have an Israeli footprint. And this is just IT companies. So the entire " divest " from Israel is completely unrealistic if you serious about what BDS says they believe and thats where the students got the demand from. Its based on BDS Apartheid sanction activism https://bdsmovement.net/what-is-bds But we will see if all the protesters are all from the University, I doubt they are but lets wait now that hundreds of people have been arrested
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Random video game news... Games are Randomly News Worthy
BruceVC replied to Lexx's topic in Computer and Console
Some people may be aware of the fantastic news that a Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 has been announced This is my 6th favourite game of all time and its absolutely brilliant. Really good medieval action game, no wokeness just historical realism Here is an update video about KC:D2 And here is a summary of certain key features ( these arent my summary points but they seem accurate ) Savior Schnapps - The save system will be returning. Although Sir Tobi mentioned that they are aware that especially in the early game it was hard to afford to save often enough. They are making it more accessible in the early game. Blacksmithing - This is a confirmed mini-game similar to how alchemy worked in the first game. Lockpicking - Lockpicking will work much the same way as it does now in KCD1, however he said it was smoother and more accessible. Father Godwin - Everybody's favorite priest is confirmed to be back. Time passing - The start of the game picks up exactly where KCD1 ended. Sir Tobi refused to speculate at all about anything related to story. So whether or not time advances later was left unsaid. Story structure - Initially KCD was envisioned as a three part story. But the first game ballooned to be much bigger than they had planned back in 2014. KCD2 will "end the story" but exactly what that means is unclear. Current state of KCD2 - According to Sir Tobi, they are much farther along in development with KCD2 than KCD1 was at this stage. He says they are now working on bug fixing and localization. He said the team is very confident they can release in 2024, but acknowledged that outside factors may change that. Character progression - Sir Tobi said there is always a challenge in sequels about how much progression to reset so the player can grow the character again. He alluded to something happening to sort of soft-reset Henry's skills. But also said that since KCD2 takes place in a far larger and more powerful area of the world than KCD1, Henry is now up against bigger and more powerful foes - and therefore he might not be as skilled as we thought. Game areas - As we already knew, there are two separate game maps. Once the story advances to the point that Henry gets to the second, Sir Tobi confirmed that you can travel freely back and forth between the two. They are far apart, so there is a loading screen as Henry makes the journey. Returning characters - Sir Tobi was very vague about story points and who we can expect to see. However he said there were some familiar faces, but also many new characters. After all, Henry has traveled a long way to a much larger area. There will be many new characters. Battles - Sir Tobi confirmed that just like KCD1, there will be larger-scale battles. But just like the first game, these are restricted to story moments. Henry cannot just decide to siege a castle for fun. Mini games - Again Sir Tobi was very vague in his answer. He confirmed blacksmithing as the big new addition, and said Farkle is back with some minor additions. Miscellaneous - Beyond these things, Sir Tobi confirmed there will be no NPC children in KCD2. This is primary a time restraint. It doesn't add enough to the game for the team to devote the time it would take to do it properly. He also said there was no fishing to his knowledge. When asked if Henry could swim now, he said no. But the way he answered it made me wonder if that would be a skill Henry could learn, similar to how Henry could learn to read in the second game. Maybe I'm speculating there... Tobi confirmed in another interview that Henry will only swim in a cutscene. -
But these protests are not the same as anti-Apartheid, anti-Vietnam war or even many modern day protests like fracking on Native American land. These campus protests dont have achievable or realistic goals And then another difference is these other legitimate protests weren't in flagrant disregard of the Universities own recently created rules where all students have rights to " safe spaces " and an environment where they arent harassed or intimated. And many Jewish students are definitely feeling intimidated So most of these campus protests have ended up being both illegal and or violent like the taking over of the Columbia building And this is why the police are acting and they being asked by the Universities to intervene But the main point is the protestors demands are completely unrealistic and Columbia has spent days trying to negotiate Interestingly enough it appears many of the people arrested now at Columbia arent students so this is another example of a protest being hijacked by external groups with there own agendas to spread chaos and anarchy
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What You've Done Today - We do not remember days, we remember moments
BruceVC replied to ShadySands's topic in Way Off-Topic
What do you mean by house slipper? Do you mean like a shoe? -
What are you Playing Now? - Right Now at the moment edition
BruceVC replied to melkathi's topic in Computer and Console
But please tell me you are using the recommended and mandatory mods for FO3 like this overhaul mod, the Wanderers Edition. It incorporates over 50 mods and vastly improves the vanilla experience https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout3/mods/2761 Just please dont tell me you playing vanilla FO3? -
Gaza - War does not determine who is right - only who is left
BruceVC replied to Zoraptor's topic in Way Off-Topic
But you dont have to hate something or someone to satire it, thats not the right word or its too strong Most satire is about the ostensible absurdity or inconsistency of what people say or do. Its not about hate. But it is about ridiculing or mocking but thats the foundation of most comedy Think of almost every joke you know, they always about some kind of ridiculing? Thats what makes them funny -
Gaza - War does not determine who is right - only who is left
BruceVC replied to Zoraptor's topic in Way Off-Topic
This has got to be the most honest, cringe and hilarious reason for why many people are protesting at the various US universities. Openly admitting they dont really know what they protesting for around " what the University is doing wrong " I remember a time when people use to protest and express outrage because they believed and understood the cause, it mattered and it was about the principle and belief. Times have REALLY changed -
Gaza - conflict, war, land, water rights, bad colonional legacies...
BruceVC replied to BruceVC's topic in Way Off-Topic
But dont you find the SNL parodies on Trump hilarious? Or all the Sacha Baron Cohen imitations funny, I have mentioned this before but he is my favourite comedian What I have found is most of the criticism towards one type of comedy or another is because " my team is getting teased and mocked" And thats missing the point of comedy and parody -
Gaza - conflict, war, land, water rights, bad colonional legacies...
BruceVC replied to BruceVC's topic in Way Off-Topic
Not according to our government which often still says what an important friend and ally the US is But there are people in the ANC that use a lot of anti-US ideological rhetoric around certain developments but its very selective and they flip-flop So for example when Russia invaded Ukraine the ICC and ICJ were "biased US\Western controlled institutions that should be ignored " But when SA takes Israel to the ICJ and ICC these institutions become " very important and authoritative UN bodies and all Democracies must adhere to what they rule on " But the ANC and our foreign affairs says we neutral and non-aligned when it comes to Russia and the US and they say we friends with everyone The truth is it depends on who is speaking from the ANC and do they have lived experience from the Cold War and the struggle to end Apartheid because these ANC members always see Russia\USSR in a more favorable way than the US\West -
Gaza - conflict, war, land, water rights, bad colonional legacies...
BruceVC replied to BruceVC's topic in Way Off-Topic
Definitely your bias, that link is funny -
Gaza - conflict, war, land, water rights, bad colonional legacies...
BruceVC replied to BruceVC's topic in Way Off-Topic
Its used interchangeably for most of these Islamic extremist groups or protests about US involvement in the ME which is the point of the parody in the article There is almost always a " death to Zionists\Israel\USA " but its mostly from protesters outside the US In South Africa since 7 October its common for many anti-US activists on talk shows to refer to the US as a country controlled by a " crusader\Zionist " agenda which is about the destruction of the Islamic world by the US but you generally only hear this rhetoric during Israel vs Palestinian conflicts If that conflict is not ongoing then the US is normally referred to as a warmongering, Colonial and Imperialist power But this is anti-US activists, its not the majority of people in SA -
Gaza - conflict, war, land, water rights, bad colonional legacies...
BruceVC replied to BruceVC's topic in Way Off-Topic
So true this type of protest outrage -
What are you Playing Now? - Back to the Grind
BruceVC replied to majestic's topic in Computer and Console
I completed Sons of Forest after about 55 hours, it was an excellent survival game with somethings better than Forest 1 and some things worse What was worse than 1 is I found myself not having to build a single house or structure to survive, I just used the tent And then I love and appreciate no hand holding and having to explore to progress the narrative but this game forced me to consult game guides about what caves you suppose to explore first to find critical items like the spade, I find it almost impossible to believe that anyone can finish this game without dozens of hours of exploring just to work out what to do next? Its too "hard" around trying to work out where you suppose to go next Once you find laptops then its obvious where you must go but finding items like the pick axe and then the ancient armour werent clear to me and I randomly found them. Maybe I missed some papers or documents? But good game overall and it gets a 70/100 on the globally respected " BruceVC game rating system " and if you want an incredibly difficult survival game to play, without getting tips, this is for you