BruceVC

Can I be QA for you guys? Are you a writer Wafflebum? I imagine writing for Romance must be hard because the easy to please people like me aren't the ones who will complain....and there will always be that view from some " this Romance is juvenile" I know Namutree has created Mods before and he was talking about possibly creating Mods ?

@ Zora You are a very smart guy and despite your annoying assumptions that I am a troll I enjoy seeing you debate with people But dude, you are on the wrong side and this debate with Gromnir highlights it. Gromnir is correct but I think you guys are getting far too technical and most people wouldn't be following this debate or maybe they may not understand it Of course the Russian economy is suffering and the insidious effects are still coming but we can't claim some kind of Western ideological victory in this regard, no the Russians are completely responsible for the slowdown in there economy as they didn't diversify enough from there reliance on oil and natural gas to ensure a varied economy...we all know this and yes technically you cannot blame Putin for this But countries in a global world also need to operate in international financial circles and ensure they encourage foreign investment. Russia has become a very risky investment destination for all but the brave fund managers. The West could increase the level of sanctions but they don't want to be seen to be provoking Russia But my point is really it makes a person sound either blinded by fanatic loyalty or very uninformed to say " The Russian economy isn't suffering at the moment " and I don't consider you either of these so there is no need for you to argue about it ?

! I hope not! I need my liver! 6_u That was very funny, but I'm stoned..but I'm sure its still funny

I really like The Newsroom. Wish they hadn't changed the intro tune in season 2. Season 1s was way better. ACN would be the news I'd watch. As I mentioned I love The Newsroom but if you asked me what I found unrealistic is the way that they are all so witty and clever, no one is that clever all the time

No never I have only played F03 and F:NV

Huh. Well alright. Yeah it has sentimental value for me, I took a 15 year break from gaming and only started in 2007 again. So Fallout 3 was the first post-apocalyptic game I had ever played, I had never played Fallout 1&2 so for me it was ground breaking

Is it a RPG like a journey based RPG like BG?

Okay I am about to snack on something utterly decadent and delicious...3 year old Cheddar cheese. It taste heavenly, its has a very nutty rich taste that permeates even small pieces. The real question is " what do you eat it with" and even though ideas like Hamburgers or toasted cheese may sound delectable the best way to eat it is plain on a good biscuit that complements the taste and a little onion marmalade that you spread on the biscuit. The only thing that would taste better is 4, 5 year or even older Cheddar. But I have only ever eaten 3 year old Cheddar. So I can only imagine what older Cheddars must taste like

Okay, guys .....Hurlshot "didn't say FO3 was an excellent game " !!! ( Happy ) But I think it was an excellent game, lots of side quests and an exciting world to explore , 80/100 for me

Yes, well good for Obsidian and their bank account and all but this whole "they saved FO!" argument for gratitude to Bethesda is old and seems to be based on this being necessary for the good of the gaming community or something grander than that. As people have said, the games weren't 'dead' in the some way some abandonware titles are or something like that In what way were they alive? Interplay owned the rights, they aren't exactly developing real games anymore. The franchise was going nowhere. I'm not actually a huge fan of Bethesda. I don't finish most of their games and I don't think they can write their way out of a wet paper bag. They are just another game company with good and bad qualities. I only spoke up here because people were bashing them for bizarre stuff, like ESO and Fallout 3. It is so trendy to hate on all these companies and it it super repetitive. You are kidding yourself if you don't think that is the case. But hey, enjoy having every thread turn into a rant against the big bad publishers and wistful memories of the glory days. I agree with Hurlshot on this one, FO3 was an excellent game. In fact I have enjoyed every single one of there games but especially the Elder Scrolls. I have yet to play ESO but I am still very keen to play it

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but GG is about to become even more reviled by the general public You guys made it into a 2 minute slot on CNN International on the Kristie Lu Stout show this afternoon. I am no fan of GG but the hyperbole and bias shown towards GG made me cringe, its was very one-sided and myopic Comments like " GG is this realm of hate " and Wu was interviewed where she said " dozens of women now live in fear and can't leave their homes and are considering leaving the gaming industry because of the hatred and misogyny directed towards them from GG " ( or something similar ) Thanks goodness they didn't go on for too long because I was literally waiting for someone to say " GG is the anti-christ "!!!! You guys needs to realize what an utter, irrefutable and horrible disadvantage you are at because you just don't have the media behind you....its a real problem when only one side controls the message that most of the mainstream public see and are influenced by

I have to admire your dogged determination Bruce. However it is more likely I will win the 12 million dollar lottery than Sawyer and Co put romance in Eternity. I don't even think they will do it in Eternity 2 to be honest, no one involved in the project likes romance in RPG's I am the eternal optimist my friend, the eternal optimist

I wasn't worried about quality of an expansion in a least until you said that. Now I am. Darn. Fear not; Bruce is just (jokingly) pushing his pet project. Almost everything that has been said by the devs on the matter of the expansion is in my post. Yeah I'm just joking, no promancer expects Romance in any expansion of PoE 1 Realistically the best we can hope for is Romance in PoE 2

I have said this before and I'll say it again, you have a real ability to describe a game in a way that is objective, sincere and yet still very exciting. I read your reviews of a game and if they are positive you have generally convinced me to purchase it ..you make me want to play a game and thats a rare talent Yes you should be doing reviews on a professional basis

My understanding is that the expansion is going to offer Romance ...which we know will be missing from the main game

My company is 60% women (most are programmers or in marketing). I didn't notice any difference in how everyone is treated or paid or anything. Heck, half the women in my company have a better salary than me. As to how you are percieved. Various studies have shown that women are far more easily offended than men. they are quicker to take offense and generally have a thinner skin. Which is why as more women come to the internet and join social media, they start feeling as if people are unnecessarily crucial, condesending or whatever because they are women. Nah. It's just that women really haven't gotten used to being treated exactly like men (and many don't want to, despite all the cries for equality). This is a good example where in your experience you don't see any gender bias in your workplace. Of course this will vary but your feedback is important when we look at the overall degree of how pervasive gender bias is or isn't. At which point does gender bias becomes justified, do we accept that both gender are equal despite clear cultural and biological differences? and why do we assume bias when it could be a bad workplace that bears down on both men and women? If women have it worse in such workplace then it should be able to be measured and demonstrated, yet all I've seen are confessionals and anecdotes from a personal perspective that could be eschewed by perspective. For all we know there is a man blending into the background that has had it ten times worse, while these women speak about their tribulations. It just seems to me that exposure to these issues will just becomes self reinforcing as women become convinced that they are being harassed or exploited over what could just be the workplace culture. I question the necessity of making this a gendered issue when harassment and abuse on the workplace are not. These issues are distorted by politics and political correctness which bring a whole other set of dynamics and problems to them. It becomes hard or near impossible to resolve them in a fair manner or without any backlash. You have raised some thought provoking points. How do we know that gender bias exists in the workplace? Well IMO it definitely doesn't exist in all workplaces and I firmly believe that most corporations are committed to addressing any perceptions or institutionalized cases of gender bias But if we want to have this discussion in a reasonable way we can't say " gender bias doesn't exist ". The question I would think is how prevalent or real it really is? For example as mentioned by others maybe mainstream large corporations are just harsh places where personal feelings don't matter and maybe people are over sensitive around how they are treated. For example when I went on this training in the UK at the end of every session there were 120 of us in a room and we were encouraged to ask questions to the developers. It was generally the same people, myself and 6-8 others, who asked questions in the public forum. There were maybe 8-10 ladies in the room and not once did they ask questions but neither did the majority of men. So I fail to see how this is an example of how women are being marginalised because in this case most people were happy with other people asking questions and raising complaints around the functionality of the product But if we take that link I provided there are clear cases of women raising issues or suggestions and their comments being dismissed or seen in a critical light instead of being constructive. So I would also argue that this type of gender bias does still exist in business. Personally I haven't been exposed to it, except for my work in the Middle East but thats a symptom of the culture and religious dogma, but thats not to say I don't believe it exists. And as for self-enforcing, maybe. But I would like to think that people would raise concerns on real personal exposure to gender bias and not on others peoples views. So for example lady x working at company y is not going to say she feels she is being treated unfairly just because of her gender unless she feels there is real evidence of this ?

Don't confuse someone who knows what they are talking about with a know-it-all. There's plenty I don't know. Unlike many others though, I generally don't converse or opine about things I don't know (on rare occasion I will make this mistake, but if I do, I'll openly acknowledge it). Rather, I listen (or read), and/or go research whatever it is if it's something I think is worthy of spending time learning about (note this doesn't mean just reading a wiki entry, which seems to be the extent what oh so many consider research around here). Of the things I do know about, I tend to know more than most as I generally spend a lot more time than most learning about whatever. There is no persona here. I don't ever pretend to be someone or something I am not, unless the very purpose of the conversation is to pretend. While it's hard to know for certain with any given individual you meet on an internet forum, I like to think that most of the people here are not as deluded as Gromnir (the only person in my history of interwebbing that I've ever found cause enough to set to ignore). If I thought otherwise, I wouldn't spend time on this forum. Vals both you and Gromnir offer good insights on topics. My advice is don't ignore\block his comments because he often has pertinent things to say, that doesn't mean you have to agree with him. So you may be denying yourself an interesting and valid perspective if you ignore\block his views?

My company is 60% women (most are programmers or in marketing). I didn't notice any difference in how everyone is treated or paid or anything. Heck, half the women in my company have a better salary than me. As to how you are percieved. Various studies have shown that women are far more easily offended than men. they are quicker to take offense and generally have a thinner skin. Which is why as more women come to the internet and join social media, they start feeling as if people are unnecessarily crucial, condesending or whatever because they are women. Nah. It's just that women really haven't gotten used to being treated exactly like men (and many don't want to, despite all the cries for equality). This is a good example where in your experience you don't see any gender bias in your workplace. Of course this will vary but your feedback is important when we look at the overall degree of how pervasive gender bias is or isn't.

I posted that link to my family and friends to get their feedback, my dad responded. He made some good points, see below "I agree with the argument – that there is a degree of gender bias. I think it stems from the fact that since humans evolved the world has been organised by men to cope with male dynamics – not just physically but mentally. I’m actually surprised that there are no books on the subject. Men originally set up the social systems to cope with male needs and wants, understandably in a time when physical survival was everything, and as society evolved they set up business systems following the same lines. And I also think that, fundamentally, men achieve their goals by fulfilling objectives whilst women achieve their goals through relationship building. So, I can understand women’s frustration. But I often think they approach equality the wrong way; they do it within the male paradigm instead of through a female paradigm. Easier said that done I suppose"

Men are competitive and that drives them to be aggressive against each other and that drives many industries. Unless you're capable of directing aggression and beating someone on an interpersonal level you're not going to do well in a competitive environment. It seems that the women on your article chose to submit rather than to challenge and fight, and now they passive aggressively vent their failure to excel. Yes, when you don't speak up for yourself because you're afraid of the backlash that is your failure. But as usual, we wouldn't be having this conversation if the roles were reversed. Does feminism gets tired of coddling women and telling them all their failings are men's fault? Interesting points raised, yes I agree men tend to be more aggressive in a competitive environment and that probably applies to how we treat other men as well. But I wonder if there is an additional bias around how we can treat women in the workplace? Women tend to be more conciliatory so this may work against them in certain environments But I don't want to bring the feminists element into this discussion, lets keep focus on just how women are perceived to be treated in the workplace. And there is no judgement here, if for example in your experience men and women are given the same "airtime " in the workplace then I want to hear about it In my experience whenever we have large meetings where we have to ask questions its generally the men who provide the most feedback in the public arena, and its normally the same people, but this just may be about the fact some people don't mind asking questions in a public space. So in other words there are also some men who never ask questions or add new ideas because they prefer to give ideas through emails or one on one meetings?

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/11/opinion/sunday/speaking-while-female.html?_r=0 Guys here is a good read that highlights the gender bias at many companies and how women are not allowed the same time to speak as men or are not given the same respect or recognition when it comes to ideas and creativity. I suppose we should all ask ourselves some important questions, how are you personally with women at your work? Do you see them and their contribution in the same way as men, sometimes we subconsciously may be a little dismissive? Also how are you with any female acquaintances in your life, so for example your mom, sister, g-friend, wife or any other women. Do you consider their feedback in the same way as for example a male friend may give you advice I tend to talk a lot and like to say my piece so I have been accused of being a little condescending at times by my lady friends. So its something I personally feel the need to work on but I do like to think I have a good relationship with all the women in my life?

Thats some impressive commitment my friend, well played

This is an relevant post Gromnir but I am concerned with your comment " we bet they lie all the time", do you really believe that or are you just being diplomatic? yeah, we bet they do lie all the time, but is largely petty and irrelevant stuff that they is most frequent gonna lie about. some journalist says he saw "bodies" floating in the water outside the hotel. lie? probably. he knows bodies is floating around all over new orleans. at night he happens to see something float by in the shallow flooding in the french quarter where his hotel is at. how does he know it is a body? did he check? he don't know for certain it is a body, but the detail make his story better, and it could possibly have been a body. is a lie, but a small one and one that ain't gonna get him in trouble. *shrug* is not the story that is gonna be fabricated, but stuff such as williams claims that he could personally see dead bodies from his hotel in new orleans? how many reporters is lax 'bout checking their sources? these guys is under great pressure to get news out First. so, they get a story that sounds dramatic and they do what checking they can in the time they got and they get story on internet or on tv asap. is a lie to present a story as factual when all you got is crappy eye-witness account from an admitted biased israeli soldier or hamas member? probable. all the time? yeah, but not in the way you is worried 'bout? HA! Good Fun! That makes perfect sense, good post

This is an relevant post Gromnir but I am concerned with your comment " we bet they lie all the time", do you really believe that or are you just being diplomatic? Have you ever watched the The Newsroom on HBO? Now before people say " thats just a TV series, you can't believe thats accurate ", its based on how a real newsroom operates and the producer spent time in a newsroom getting real exposure. Anyway that is exactly how I imagine a media house operates. Highly intelligent people who have a real desire to break the news and keep people informed. But the veracity of stories is important and so is the importance of journalistic integrity. Do cover ups happen...sure, do reporters sometimes lie .....yes they do. But end of the day they try to give the public stories that are real and breaking news that is confirmed by multiple sources. And they don't lie all the time, I would say mendaciousness is the exception.. not the norm

And just like the U.S the state that "sponsors" this propaganda is commanded by and serves the interests of its own ruling oligarchy. And just like the U.S the state that "sponsors" this propaganda is commanded by and serves the interests of its own ruling oligarchy. This is my view as well. They are bought and paid for. I wouldn't trust them much (if any) more than state media. I really like both of you because we do agree on many things and both of you have taught me things but you can't seriously be saying that you think the objectivity of the RT is the same as CNN or Sky or AL-Jazeera.....or any other Western media house ? I don't think you guys understand just how restrictive life is in Russia under Putins new order...and RT is the mouthpiece of his ideological crusade. Its much more biased than any other media house...you must realize this ?