BruceVC

You'd be posting from Folsom Prison if you did! Thanks Gromnir,I'll have that song stuck in my head all day now because of you! That also worried me initially but then Gromnir says later he didn't really shoot a man

Thats funny

I just watched something quite emotional, Candy Crowley is leaving CNN after 27 years. She is an amazing news commentator, I respect her immensely. She also helped and guided many younger women so they could establish successful careers in the news industry She said something very profound which some of you probably already believe, she spoke about some of the criticism she received being a prominent news presenter She said " I want to thank the public for their support through the years and opinions. Some of it I didn't believe and some of it I disagreed with. But I always respected the right of people to speak there mind "

If the Austrian chancellor truly thinks that the intentions of sanctions are to destroy the Russian economy then yes I do

She's done this multiple times? I didn't know that. That changes things. One time I can pass off as a supremely stupid mistake, lesson learned, never do that again. If she's dyed the dog again and again and again then she clearly does not have empathy for her animal and, in my opinion, this crosses the line from simple stupidity to animal cruelty. The reality is we don't know if anyone ever said to her " this is cruel to do this to an animal" . People might have said how cute her dog was and respected how close she was to it. So its quite possible she was unaware what she was really doing My point is just because she did something multiple times there is no evidence to believe she knew she was abusing her dog It reminds of people who use fireworks during events, like Guy Fawkes. In South Africa this always upsets and terrifies pets yet despite this every single year people use fireworks. If you have to ask these people " are you aware that you are contributing towards abuse of animals " they will deny it or be surprised because there usage of fireworks is often cultural, like the Indian festival of Diwali, so they won't believe its abuse of animals So at times the words " abuse of animals " can be subjective Yeah... This sounds like you're grasping at straws in her defense. While what you suggest isn't completely implausible, sorry, I'm not giving her the benefit of the doubt. If she made that mistake once, I'd give her the benefit of the doubt. If she's done it multiple times, then sorry, she doesn't get the benefit of the doubt from me, I'm making the assumption that she's an animal abuser. In either case, the correct course of action seems the same to me. The dog should be taken away from her and she should not be allowed to own a pet. Whether it's through willful abuse or an astonishing level of ignorance, she's abused this animal, multiple times, which suggests she'll do it again. The animal shouldn't be subjected to further abuse, it's inhumane. Wow keyrock you really seem like you want her to suffer, its Xmas....where is your Xmas spirit, forgiveness and all that

Common sense really. At least someone in the EU has it. It would be common sense if it was true but its not so its moot No one is trying to crash the Russian economy, this suits no one. The sanctions are punitive measures to get Russia to rethink its interference in Ukraine. Thats all Russia needs to do, stop getting involved in Ukraine and supporting the separatists. And then we can discuss Crimea

Thats interesting, I'll keep that in mind You said you were waiting for a patch didn't you? There have been a couple already and it seems reasonably stable now, there are a couple of things like a few collectables not showing up or conversations very occasionally not working properly without revisiting an area but for the most part the game is ready to be played. Yes I was waiting for the first "official " patch, so its good to know the game is relatively stable

So, by your own admission, the main cause of the Russian crisis is the oil prices drop. But six months ago, you were able to secretly predict that the Russian economy would be devastated by sanctions... and an oil price crash which hadn't happened yet. Let me guess: you are a wsj subscriber. No I have no real powers of prognostication but it should have been obvious to everyone that sanctions would hurt any economy, the Russian one included But I didn't think the economic impact to Russia would happen this quick but thats because no one predicted the oil price crash and the impact that would have on certain countries around there questionable internal economic structures I obviously reject conspiracy theories but if I did believe in them I would say the falling oil price has directly hurt countries like Russia, Venezuela and Iran the most and those are countries that have the most tension on various levels with the West So you could almost believe that the West was involved in the falling oil price as it suits their political agenda. But of course this isn't true

Interesting so you feel our positive nostalgic memories about Bioware are possibly biased because of BG2 , you may be right. But I have generally enjoyed all the early Bioware games I have played. So my view is based on a more holistic perspective than just BG2

Yes you guys are right, Romance can really enhance the overall RPG experience and make it more memorable When I think about all the RPG I have played over the last 10 years and all the characters in my party its always the people I have Romanced that I remember first

What truth, your sexist generalization that as women get older they become worthless? You expect people to think that is the truth?

Thats interesting, I'll keep that in mind

I probably didn't explain properly, I don't expect Bioware to start making isometric, 3D RPG again But can they get back to the respect and admiration they use to have. So compare your view of them now compared to your view of them after DA2 ?

Well that statement can easily be seen as dismissive and rude to women I find that comment offensive and I'm glad you were reported, you won't be so rude next time

I was going to ask about that, whats better to play the PC version....Xbox Controller or M\KB. I have both

Yeah I can understand your point that Bioware hasn't captured that special place in your heart, for me I am just looking for immersive and entertaining games. So I guess I'm not expecting more than that so I am very satisfied with the feedback from DA:I

Thats a really good post Gromnir, I appreciate the brutal honesty. I generally don't like to embellish recognition when it comes to forum members but I do think you have lived a very interesting, varied, difficult yet ultimately enlightened and I imagine satisfying life. You have a plethora of life experiences to share with people. That doesn't mean people should automatically agree with you but they should at least consider where your input comes from

ridiculous and utterly myopic. how on earth can you even suggest such a thing with any degree o' seriousness? as to your nonsense about "pure necessity..." HA! hell, the same reasoning can be used by folks in the west regarding sanctions. same reasoning has been used, badly, to explain US involvement or non-involvement in any number of foreign debacles. call something "necessary" absolves you o' all sins or stupidity, eh? am understanding why zor is afraid to do so, but drowsy should go back to july and august in this thread. it will be useful to you to see just how utterly predictable this situation were even to a bunch o' geeks posting on a game development board. btw, Gromnir were never a fan o' sanctions as the means to respond to russian actions. we noted that there likely no better option available to the west in 2014, but we didn't like sanctions. the food sanctions imposed by russia were laughable as they were seeming designed to hurt russia more than the west (wacky) but we has always been concerned that the russian economy is too freaking fragile. petroleum is the russian economy. to make matters worse, russian entrepreneurs and investors are notoriously fickle-- they will yank out their money and invest in foreign ventures at the first sign o' trouble. etc. western sanctions were designed to hurt russia, but you got sanctions aimed at a complete bass ackwards economy that were already on the brink o' recession... with a moron at the helm o' the country. the food sanctions were just sorta so over-the-top idiotic that it were near impossible to laugh away putin nonsense any further. but again, the biggest and most obvious fail is 15 years o' allowing the russian economy to be complete driven by a single volatile commodity. in spite o' various booms and busts during putin reign in russia, no genuine attempt has been made to develop the russian economy beyond its singular dependence on petroleum. how you can look at the current russian financial crisis and Not blame much o' the problems on russian stupidity is actual a bit mind-boggling. HA! Good Fun! You have made some good points and offered some valid insights on this matter Gromnir. I differ from you in the sense I have always maintained that sanctions are the most realistic, necessary and appropriate punitive measures that the West can implement. I agree that Putin created this achilles heel for the Russian economy over the fact they base 60 % -70 % (? ) of their economy on exports and particularly energy exports. When the oil price dropped this would have understandably dragged down the Ruble and the economy. This is the main reason for the current Russian economic crisis and this has NOTHING to do with the West, this was bad planning by Putin and his economic advisors for not diversifying the Russian economy But the Western sanctions exacerbated the conditions because Russian businesses now battle to raised foreign investment and capital and there is an alarming outflow from Russia from prominent and influential global fund managers who will rather take their clients money to less riskier climates. You also have this panic situation in Russia because Russian people are dumping the Ruble for Dollars Its funny but when I mentioned months ago that the sanctions would impact the Russian economy people like 2133 and Zora told me I didn't know what I was talking about and I had a false sense of reality I wonder what they now think about sanctions

She's done this multiple times? I didn't know that. That changes things. One time I can pass off as a supremely stupid mistake, lesson learned, never do that again. If she's dyed the dog again and again and again then she clearly does not have empathy for her animal and, in my opinion, this crosses the line from simple stupidity to animal cruelty. The reality is we don't know if anyone ever said to her " this is cruel to do this to an animal" . People might have said how cute her dog was and respected how close she was to it. So its quite possible she was unaware what she was really doing My point is just because she did something multiple times there is no evidence to believe she knew she was abusing her dog It reminds of people who use fireworks during events, like Guy Fawkes. In South Africa this always upsets and terrifies pets yet despite this every single year people use fireworks. If you have to ask these people " are you aware that you are contributing towards abuse of animals " they will deny it or be surprised because there usage of fireworks is often cultural, like the Indian festival of Diwali, so they won't believe its abuse of animals So at times the words " abuse of animals " can be subjective

Many of us had our introduction to fantasy RPG through the early games of Bioware. My greatest RPG of all time was BG2, Throne of Bhaal Over the last few years there have been mixed support for Bioware with many people believing that Bioware had betrayed the principles and glory of previous RPG that they had created and the company had declined in its ability to deliver quality and engaging games . DA2 was arguably the pinnacle of this failure ( I enjoyed DA2 but I understand the criticism ) And now we have DA:I , I have always maintained that this was there last realistic chance to deliver a quality RPG to fans. The feedback seems mostly positive. So what do you guys think this means for Bioware? Has your faith been restored? Do you support Bioware again and look forward to future games? Lets hear your overall constructive feedback both positive and negative

Every year I say to myself " Bruce, don't leave your Xmas shopping to the last minute "....and every year I do that exact thing I went shopping now at a good mall. It was early though, 9:30 am, so the crowds were still manageable. I finished about 65% of the shopping I needed to do, I'll do the rest when I go to the coast on Tuesday

Ignorance is a choice. I cannot fathom a single environment within this world where one could grow up thinking that trying to dye your dog is a good or wise idea. She is truly, truly ****ing special and I actually HOPE she has zero friends in real life, and not out of malice, but because again I cannot fathom a scenario where not a single friend says "hey dumb****, don't dye your dog. Idiot." The only situation where that level of ignorance seems acceptable is if she literally lives on the moon with a mentally challenged mother and/or father and doesn't have enough human contact to learn these things...which in itself doesn't seem plausible because there's no hair dye on the moon. You seem to be missing point, we all should agree it was stupid thing to do But she dyed her dog out of a misplaced sense of affection. She wanted her dog to look like her, she wanted them to be even closer It wasn't malicious so I question the level of abuse you can sincerely level at her ?

It would be overdone if I used Farnsworth saying he doesn't want to live on this planet anymore, so here's a fun alternative to express my anger: Yeah it is shameful to do that to any animal but its a case of abuse done in ignorance, in other words she didn't mean to intentionally abuse her dog . So she shouldn't be judged too harshly

Thats a good point, people are exaggerating how significant this movie is. " creative achievement " ... I

I just watched an interview with the SONY CEO and he was quite clear that the main reason they decided not to screen the movie on the 25 was because of the decision of the various theatres to not want to show it He also said they have not given up as there are other forms of distribution and are still want people to see the movie