BruceVC

Meshugger, question Would you say you are offended by some of the derogatory comments on Codex? And if you aren't can you tell me why ? But please think carefully about my question and your answer because I'll be asking you another question after that

Wow, very scary Its always very sobering when we realize how close we are sometimes to life threatening developments

The Codex is moderated, juuust not in the style that you're used to. I like it how it is. If it was moderately or overmoderated I wouldn't visit there very often. Fair enough, if you don't mind me asking I'm interested in what type of moderation style is used on the Codex ? http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/rules-of-the-codex-enhanced-edition-directors-cut-2013.87048/ Thanks, I'll go through this

The Codex is moderated, juuust not in the style that you're used to. I like it how it is. If it was moderately or overmoderated I wouldn't visit there very often. Fair enough, if you don't mind me asking I'm interested in what type of moderation style is used on the Codex ?

you funny Gromnir

Why would they want to do that? One of the fundations of the Codex is that lax of moderation. If your sensibilities can't take it, then don't read it, simple as that. 100 % I get that and thats why I don't frequent Codex, But we always seem to talk about the lack of moderation so I'm just interested in the Codex's history if anyone who runs the website has tried to implement moderation? Because surely it must have come up where people say " okay its time we tried to enforce certain standards" I may be completely wrong and maybe it has never been raised ?

I appreciate your honesty but yes you obviously "can't see the wood for the trees " if you think the some of the comments on the Codex are normal and acceptable I didn't say they were acceptable or normal Bruce. Please refrain from putting words in my mouth. Didn't mean to put you on the spot KP, but the truth most people would only find certain insults " mild " because they are not the victims of a particular verbal attack or they don't belong to a certain demographic so its much harder to relate to a particular invective if you aren't personally targeted So I assume you aren't a gay, african-american jew? Therefore you may think some of the comments are "mild" ....but you aren't on the receiving end.

I preferred IWD's gameplay to BG2's. Gosh, I couldn't disagree more. Ok. I dislike being forced to do such a harsh comparison between the IE games because it's sorta like a mother having to choose between her kids. But here goes. First off, being able to create your entire party is not a talking point. You can do that in BG2 as well. The only thing IWD has over BG2 is that its dungeons are cooler looking and better designed. No surprise there. IWD is a Dungeon Crawler. If it didn't do its dungeons better, the entire game would have been an epic failure. Also, one could argue that another thing IWD has over BG2 is that it starts you at level 1. A lot of people prefer this. I'm one of them. So we'll go ahead and add that. But BG2 has: 1) Better build freedom. You can dual-wield in BG2. There are more classes. There are more spells (Arcane and divine). There are more weapon choices. There are more weapon styles. 2) The Bestiary is larger. by a factor of about a thousand 3) It's not as linear. BG2 hits that sweet spot between the sandbox and the rails. Icewind dale just embraces the rails. 4) Encounter design is better. Yeah, I said it. Icewind Dale tries to make its combat more complex by just flooding the battlefield with more enemies. BG2 takes a more creative route....with variety 5) The Combat Mechanics are better. There's no way around this....and it's not even close. There's no Time Stop in Icewind dale. There's no Project image and mislead. There's no mindflayers that suck your intelligence; there's no undead that level drain you etc. 6) Loot itemization is better. Both games do a pretty good job (the creativity and labor of love is definitely there for both) but lets face the facts. Crom Faeyr is more memorable than the War Hammer of greater phasing. Carsomyr is more memorable than Pale Justice. And Celestial fury is more memorable than the long sword of greater action. 7) The Story is Better. Don't get me wrong, I'm one of those people who will vehemently defend both of the Icewind dales' stories from the numerous fools out there who consistently dismiss them away as non existent. But honestly, are you going to argue that Belhifet is a more compelling villain than Irenicus? Plus there's the whole companion banter and backstory thing, which I personally don't value as much as other people do. But Bg2 has it while Icewind dale doesn't bother. So there you go. 8.)There's better role playing Options. I suppose you'd disagree with this (as you already have on this thread), but go ahead and do 2 playthroughs of Icewind dale. One with an evil thief mage, and the other with a Paladin. Then come back and tell us how different those two playthroughs were in terms of role playing. lol ^this is how I define gameplay. Bg2 simply does it better. It's a bigger game. Bigger Scope. It just has *more* of everything. I played IWD recently and I agree with almost everything you said Also, and I'm not talking about Romance, but there is no party interaction in IWD. You never get to know your party members or what motivates them..its like they are just paperdoll figures and exist only for combat. I didn't care who lived or died. As long as they were effective in combat. And yes I know its because you create your party in the beginning but that doesn't change the fact that there is palpable lack of believability around who was in your party as you couldn't relate to them in any way

I appreciate your honesty but yes you obviously "can't see the wood for the trees " if you think the some of the comments on the Codex are normal and acceptable

Indifferent, no. But years of playing games online have taught me a righteous crusade on people typing mean things is a waste of time and is the intention 80% of the time. Mark the person as being of suspect contribution to things after a point and then move on. I suppose it may slide back down in background noise in a post. Hardly akin to ignoring someone being beaten or suffering any real harm. I was expecting a lot worse than I saw when I registered there, it's not an amazing forum but nowhere is and reading some posts and analysis of games (I read other than RPG forum, mainly) is sometimes interesting. Also they have some funny emoticons. I like the Inclooooo-sive one best. ah. the crux of it. bigotry is not doing any "real harm," yes? is a shame. our job is to protect first amendment rights, and if we do say so our self, we is quite good at it. that being said, we is also not so blind as to ignore the harms o' bigotry. we would surely never patronize any group that fostered an environment that encouraged such. "Where does your Codex q_q come from Gromnir," HA! at least you are consistent. first you pull out the "gay friend" defense, and now we is treated to qq? is you a 13-year-old mmo nerd arguing over pvp? qq? *chuckle* is, "i know you are, but what am i," your next option? perhaps a mom joke? surely you is not scaling to our level with such nonsense. we woulds needs devolve substantially to equal such responses. codex is in even worse shape than when we last posted if this is the kinda scaling we is to now expect. tragic. HA! Good Fun! edit: does anybody know why posts might auto-change fonts? is annoying. I also find it funny when bigots try to hide their views when they say things like " hey...you cant call me a racist\homophobic.... I have gay or black friends " I understand the support the Codex receives, apart from the fact it does have some interesting articles, objective reviews and highly informed and old-school gamers I think it has also symbolically become "the last place on the Internet free from SJ influence ". So people are fanatically loyal to its "moderator- free policies ". In some ways with all these understandable changes that have been sweeping the Internet the last few years where people have learnt to become politically correct it has become a bastion for those who don't want to care what they say. Its misplaced IMO, because you can still have a highly informed and relevant gaming website without offending people or being derogatory.I remember what put me off RPCodex, it was during the Zoe Quinn incident in the beginning and I went to the Codex to read some views and there were several comments similar to " I know what will sort her out ....a good raping " I'm sorry but for me I can't justify participating on a website where people are allowed to use rape as joke and not get warned by moderators I do have a question for those who are regulars on the Codex, has anyone ever seriously tried to implement proper moderation on the forums and explained why they are doing it ?

Passports these days. When concrete is pulverized, these papers come out unscathed. Amazing quality. There's no blood or recoil when the police office is shot either; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P853PYcw90Q I'm no forensics expert, but I'd like to believe there would be some blood when a man gets his head blown off at point blank range. Anyway, I suppose we should stop asking questions. It's so passe. .. I'm glad at least one person on this forum understood the reference. If only a majority did; the world might be on it's way to being a better place. You not seriously suggesting that the 3 attackers weren't Islamic extremists who received training and funding, we now know, in Yemen? Nope. And I'm not sure how you extrapolated that out of what I said. My bad, I apologize

Passports these days. When concrete is pulverized, these papers come out unscathed. Amazing quality. There's no blood or recoil when the police office is shot either; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P853PYcw90Q I'm no forensics expert, but I'd like to believe there would be some blood when a man gets his head blown off at point blank range. Anyway, I suppose we should stop asking questions. It's so passe. .. I'm glad at least one person on this forum understood the reference. If only a majority did; the world might be on it's way to being a better place. You not seriously suggesting that the 3 attackers weren't Islamic extremists who received training and funding, we now know, in Yemen?

Yes they have romances and sex. Good Lord it's like talking to a gibbon, I think i've had enough of trying to do so. Now, now Nonek try to be a little magnanimous in your victory, you know I'm just not as clever as you

Trust me initially I tried to avoid the label as its actually meant as an insult...but I was told I was one so many times I gave up and started accepting it

Yes Nonek but Bioware did something much more profound and revolutionary than Ultima VII, they implemented optional gay Romance. This was always a very controversial issue ..so we need to salute them for the risk they took. I'm glad it paid off Are you losing the ability to read Bruce, or just comprehend? Ultima did this twenty plus years ago, I can't explain that any more simply. It was not a controversial issue or deemed worthy of saluting then, somebody copying them twenty years later is hardly worthy of comment. Oh, are you saying Ulitma VII has Romance? I thought you were saying you could just choose to be gay ?

Yes Nonek but Bioware did something much more profound and revolutionary than Ultima VII, they implemented optional gay Romance. This was always a very controversial issue ..so we need to salute them for the risk they took. I'm glad it paid off

I approve of this thread, whats interesting is that I have only played BG2 and IWD once so I don't have anywhere near the knowledge in these games most of you guys have. But I was a DM for about 12 years in the Forgotten Realms so I can recognise almost everything you guys are discussing, like the spells. So the tactics and ideas make sense to me.....but if you didn't understand the D&D ruleset I reckon you would be confused

You are funny...would you say you are threatened by the nobility and virtue of us SJW ? I wonder what Volo will think of this thread...he'll probably be disappointed in you

I don't often dispute the erudition and omnipotence of the fabled and great Gorthfucius but this may be one of those times But I get your reasons, I just don't completely agree with them. For me inspiration can be so subjective, it would be very difficult to agree on what really makes a game inspiring ?

Wowzers she is hot, She is the possibly the only centauress I would consider a little Romantic interlude with

The state-of-the-art RPG romance already has you having sex with a bull. A horse is only the logical next step. As a heterosexual, homosexual romances appeal to me no more than zoophiliac romances would, and games these days are full of those. So it's not really that odd. Er....you not seriously comparing homosexual relationships to a relationship with a horse are you? We try to keep bigotry at a minimum on this forum, its not cool

No I contribute on other forums like BSN and RPS but I probably am most active here I enjoyed this post of yours, nice one. I'll still raise SJ issues so no need to worry about that. But I want to raise valid issues...and not just something for the sake of raising something and getting people all riled up Its got to be meaningful

Thats why I love these forums, we can often set the record straight. I did find the article hard to believe because in South Africa we have much more crime than Sweden and a high homicide rate yet there is no such thing as a "no-go" area for authorities. Yes police have to be careful in some areas but thats not the same thing as criminal gangs running a particular area Yes this whole article just seemed to paint a very harsh picture of Sweden and the impact and control that immigrants have. It did seem like right-wing propaganda.

I clearly stated the anti-GG side is also guilty of this...thats why I said this whole debate has just become toxic Great, tell the anti GG that they're being toxic and have them take responsibility for their harassers and hold their figureheads accountable when they mess up. You know damn well how toxic the SJWs where well before this, now they're getting some opposition which of course is going to escalate the situation. But there's an imperative to purge the toxic elements from gaming. Yes I would raise issues on toxicity if there was anti-GG thread on a forum that I was active on But I want to say something else. I have been thinking about why on this thread I have been accused of debating in bad faith, trolling and not answering questions. Normally I wouldn't take these accusations seriously as I would write them off as people getting defensive and resorting to personal attacks on my opinion But since these accusations are made by people who I consider reasonable I have tried to understand the criticisms better, especially if I say I believe in the importance of mature and constructive debate. Also I have had and do have many other discussions on other threads where I engage with people on topics where I don't seem to get lambasted as much and I find myself enjoying and understanding opposing views The reality is I just don't care about this this whole GG debate as much as the active members on this thread, I don't see it as a big or relevant issue to my life or in RL for that matter. For me there are much more important issues I would prefer to discuss like ISIS and the machinations of the USA political machinery And I know how seriously you guys take this topic or rather how much time you do spend on this topic, so I have decided its unfair and disingenuous of me to start discussions in this thread if I'm not going to give them the attention they deserve. In other words by not responding to all questions and reading all links presented. Because the reality is I don't read all the information presented because its not that important to me So I'm not just going to stop commenting regularly on this thread because I think its toxic but I'm going to rather let people engage who want to have these long debates like TN and Longknife. You are entitled to have these discussions even if I personally don't think they are really that important. I know it would annoy me if someone kept commenting on one my debates who didn't seem to be taking it seriously So I'll occasionally comment and of course I'll raise other SJ issue outside of this thread. I wanted to explain this because I don't want you guys to think I'm not commenting anymore just because its "toxic" ..that word is relative after all. Its more because I find myself just more willing to engage in other topics. I hope this makes sense and you don't see this as personal attack in anyway

This is a reasonably safe assumption, given that gutlessness is the rule of the day in the West. I read this link and its very worrying But its also 4 years old, I know there have been attempts in parts of the UK to turn areas into some sort of " Sharia law zone " but these attempts have always been criticised and dismissed by UK authorities. So I doubt this article is really accurate ? http://dailycaller.com/2014/11/02/swedish-police-release-extensive-report-detailing-control-of-55-no-go-zones-by-muslim-criminal-gangs/ This is a very concerning article, it represents the worst possible outcome IMO for multiculturalism where you have a country that has " no-go " areas due to the influence of criminal gangs who happen to be immigrants who ostensibly came to the country looking for economic opportunities I would love someone from Sweden to comment on this article, is it really that bad as this article says ? Are there really these "no-go " areas ?