BruceVC

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

Those who are the greatest victims of the U.S system can not. I have family in the U.S and they're certainly not capable of uprooting their entire families/lives and moving to another country. Where do you live Baro, I thought you did live in the USA?

Ouch, accidents are never pleasant. Do you have insurance?

Everything in USA healthcare is regulated. EVERYTHING. That's deliberate. It has been for most of the 20th century. The State gets more power over you and requires people to seek The State to access it. Corporations get anti-market practices that cartel service and prevent competition. I worked in healthcare for over 6 years--everything from clerical work, paramedic, nuclear diagnostics, and laboratory analytics. Even the BLANKET WARMERS have regulations about where they must be located. The stories I could share. State domination of healthcare is ultimately why I backed out of med school and became a welding engineer & inspector instead. Well if the corporations get cartel service (I assume you're referring to the inability of the government to negotiate the price of medications, which in effect is a gift to those companies) is state regulation to blame or the fact that corporations own the state and can dictate their terms? I don't see state regulation as a bad thing of itself if the state is truly the master of the house and acts in the interest of the majority, but allowing private interests to create those regulations while posing as the state is a disaster. Anyway, Serbia's health care is on a constant downward spiral, but even so everyone who has insurance (and everyone has it) can get almost everything for free or with relatively cheap participation (that can pile up for those that need handfuls of different meds). And that's in an essentially dead economy with something like 30% unemployment rate. So, its obviously a matter of political will in the US, not feasibility. Don't worry too much about the Serbian economy, it will improve I see your country is doing loads of marketing on CNN around "Invest in Serbia". This is a prudent move that demonstrates how Serbia is aligned to the West and they are even going to be joining the EU in the future Your future lies with the EU as your government has correctly stated, this is good news and bodes well for the overall economic prosperity of your country

I have never once suggested that women played a bigger role in history than men, I am rejecting the view that examples of women in history is the exception These are your words when you responded to Qistina But if what you meant is that women did in fact play a role in military history but not as large as men then I agree

Actually its not, there are many cases of women being involved on various levels historically in military conflicts. But there contribution was and is overlooked by narrators and some historians Sounds interesting, care to provide links? Because for the most part I'm certain that in trained forces women were kept out, irregular armies and special corps might be a different story. I'm glad you asked that, here is an informative link that debunks the incorrect view that women played a minimal role in history. And military conflicts are obviously part of that https://fozmeadows.wordpress.com/2012/12/08/psa-your-default-narrative-settings-are-not-apolitical/ @ Volo No need to try to marginalize the role that women played in history ( and yes military contribution is part of that ), I know this suits your idea of the gender role but my advice is try not to generalize. Its sexist and inaccurate

Actually its not, there are many cases of women being involved on various levels historically in military conflicts. But there contribution was and is overlooked by narrators and some historians

Indira you are a genius, do you know that

I really agree here. There is a movement to make the creative effort about the creator irregardless of the creation. Now I have no interest in Hatred (or most shooters in general) but if the game company wants to make it fine. If the game company is proven to be racist facists, the consumer can decide if they want to patronize them or not. Most historical creators could never survive the standards applied to today's creators. Lovecraft was a racist, for crying out loud. He was also a product of his time and place, as are we all. “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - Evelyn Beatrice Hall, illustrating her view of Voltaire's views in The Friends of Voltaire I really liked Keyrocks post and desperately wanted to give it the much respected " BruceVC this is a good post " award But then I realized where it was fundamentally spurious Western society in almost cases doesn't support or purchase from people that are considered to have nefarious or unethical motives. We don't support crime by financially supporting criminals. Its why companies like Nike make sure there factories in the Far East that produce there clothes are not sweatshops manned by underage teenagers, people would have boycotted there products if they thought Nike was guilty of human rights abuses So the point is the same, its just the fact that the developers are Neo-Nazis should be enough for you to not support them..why do you need more reason? We know they are a movement based on ignorance and hatred, isn't that enough? But if they aren't Neo-Nazis this point is irrelevant and will reduce the overall criticism directed towards them. Because this is a serious accusation

And I would think you would have the decency to respond to posts like this before attempting to leap to "easy targets," as is your habit: Bruce? Yet you continue to do so, even though I regularly chastise you for doing so and make a scene out of it. I made the above post fully expected this **** from you. You may be tired of me egging you on about dodging points. Onlookers may consider my methods of constantly harassing you about it to be a **** move on my part. But I couldn't give two ****s. I thoroughly believe that if you TRULY have an interest in moving forward and aren't just some idiot who likes the ego strokes one gets from being proven right - who hasn't yet learned to find value in being proven wrong - then you should be able to handle the difficult questions and address difficult points, not blatantly ignore them. Sorry for not responding earlier, I thought it was such a silly and irrelevant question no one really expected an answer. I'll gladly answer and I don't take your criticism personally at all, I know you mean well I do accept Valves decision, I already said that. But they made the wrong decision because its no longer about the game. Its become something symbolically political...and they shouldn't provide a mechanism for that. But I still have unwavering support for Steam and remain a committed fan

Since he says he's "40", the poster himself hasn't experienced at leaest one of the era he's referencing. It'd mean he was born in the 1970s; McCarthyism and the blacklisting of suspected communists was in the mid-1950s and would have been experienced by his parents and/or grandparents. He goes on and mentions freedom from the religious right, which is vague enough to be a reference to the big religon in school/school prayer decisions that were made in the early 60s (Engel v Vitale, 1962 and the Abington School District v Schimpp, 1963) which he wouldn't have been around for or the fights over rap music (like the furor over Ice T's "Cop Killer") or even video games (Jack Thompson's crusade, though, wasn't really "religious") which he would have been around for. This is a very good post and debunks much of what that guy was saying. This is another reason to question his credibility on the topic

Yes Longknife it has been a serious accusation for a while now that the developers are associated with Neo-Nazis Its another reason I dislike them, I am surprised this doesn't bother. I would think you would naturally distance yourself from anything related to Neo-Nazism

So you boys are telling me that if there was a hidden camera in your house that was filming surreptitiously everything you did, including intimacy with a partner, you would consider this the same type of invasion of your privacy as someone reading your emails ? Hold on, what? You just added a bunch of qualifiers that weren't in your original post. You just took your relatively simple example and made it a lot more complicated. That's not how it works. But I expect you to use your common sense when it comes to a probable outcome or what someone is alluding to If there is a hidden camera in your house that I mentioned is also invading your privacy surly the corollary of this is the camera is in your room and then obviously it would be filming everything you normally do in your room ? So how did I make the scenario more complicated? Where did you imagine the camera would be ?

Funny enough I played Mafia 2 and I really enjoyed it, I liked there interpretation of the game world and the fact it was an open world

I refuse to believe that you don't see the obvious issue with any game that targeted a specific demographic. So for example a game where you only killed African Americans? This would not be acceptable to many people and understandably so

Well I wouldn't like to play any game where you only target and kill a certain demographic, what would be the purpose of this? Why select only gamers...this is a form of discrimination and not something I would condone

He sounds like a fanatic who is exaggerating the intentions of SJW and people who share there concerns. Who is he again? Please explain what part of his post sounded "fanatical." No problem, the word fanatic can have various definitions. In the context of this debate I consider that person a fanatic because he is obviously embellishing and exaggerating the influence that SJW have. He uses words like "tyrant " and how the " left is a danger to the future of the country ". Its scare tactics and I encourage people to ignore this subjective view of the SJ agenda There are real issues in the world we should be concerned with, SJ ideas are not something that will threaten your lifestyle in respects to gaming. Unless you can give me just 3 examples of where SJW initiatives have fundamentally changed your gaming experience I would just ignore his post as propaganda

Is this a real post that you are being serious about ? So you are interested in exploring the darker side of humanity, not sure why you want to do this but its your choice, would you support a Hatred game where you get to kill only gay people or maybe black people? I have a real issue with people being able to be live out there bigoted murder fantasies in a game, I think it is abhorrent and I will very surprised if Valve would be associated with this type of game