BruceVC

Are you asking me why I like Romance or are you telling me why I like Romance The reality is I have explained why I like Romance many times, but I'm happy to explain again Simply put an RPG for me should be as realistic as possible in a fantasy context. Since most RPG offer interaction with party members it is completely reasonable that physical relationships would also develop. Also I can really imagine my character on this hectic quest to save the world, face death on a daily basis but also have a Romantic interest with someone in the party who my character is attracted to and is prepared to die for me. I can't think of a closer emotional bond, someone who is prepared to die for you on some epic quest. So Romance is just the expected outcome on your typical RPG journey and Romance adds to the immersive factor of the overall RPG experience Hope this clears up why I like Romance

I imagine various things make a debate exciting and its subjective as we all have different interests But I know what doesn't make a debate exciting...anything related to GG ( I couldn't resist, sorry )

This is an excellent and logical post, if most societies were going to legalize drugs this would have to be way the process and implementation would work

(From the pretty ladies thread) ...But if we have fake people on the forum, how are the arguments real? Good point but I suppose you can still make a valid argument but lie about who you really are? A point a person makes doesn't necessarily need the person making the point to be who they say they are?

Many of the liberals on MSNBC want to see the Drug War end. Libertarians on Fox News like John Stossel want to see the drug war end. This video only addresses the gang side of the Drug War, but heck I'll find more evidence later if you insist. I find looking for evidence online tedious. I know about this issue on a more personal basis. Remember, the area I live in is mostly black people, but at the same time I don't any drugs of any kind. It gives me a decent amount of clarity on the matter. That's an excellent video and very hard to dispute the message, I like the comparison to prohibition and how it actually increased organised crime and homicide. We can see the same parallels in the modern war on drugs throughout the world

So? Why is that important to you? Why does it matter to you that you remember them? Are you just saying you have really enjoyed romance in the context of roleplaying so much that it has been extremely memorable for you? Thats cool, now WHY did you enjoy romance in these RPGs? Emotions? What emotions did it cause in you? Butterflys in your stomach? Or what? What are the good emotions and what exactly is it about romance in RPGs that emulates real romance so well that gives you those good emotions? Yes in a way when I think of BG2 I think of Viconia, I really enjoyed the Romance arc with her I don't think its emotions, not in the real sense because an RPG doesn't really have that type of significant real world impact on me. Its just a form of entertainment, like reading a book or watching a movie. Its not life changing, but in the context of gaming it is significant?

Yes I agree 100 % that Romance makes your RPG experience more memorable and for me more immersive Also I find I remember the people I have Romanced in the various RPG I have played through the years almost immediately....but I can barley recall the other party members

There are many ways to end the drug war; here is what I feel is the most realistic: 1) Officially declare the campaign over. This won't do much practically speaking, but I feel it will help Americans understand why things got better. 2) Remove the financial incentives for law enforcement to make drug arrests. This will change the way law enforcement deals with drugs. Instead of looking for people to arrest for drug offences; they will arrest people when their drug abuse is actually causing some one a problem. 3) Change the focus of trying to scare people away from drugs with harsh punishments for using them (this approach simply does not work). Instead they should be sent to a rehabilitation center where they can be treated and receive help to get off drugs. Also, there should be no crime added to their criminal record IF they cooperate with their rehabilitation. 4) Simply legalize weed. It's basically harmless; heck, junk food is a bigger risk to society. Keeping this one illegal is a bigger problem then the drug itself by a lot. That would pretty much do it. Without the financial incentives arrest people for no good reason police won't be scouring black neighborhoods looking for black people who are easily convicted. Instead; they'll only show up when there's actually a problem. This will do wonders in mending the relationship between law enforcement and the black community. Cops won't be seen as predators looking to arrest them with any excuse they can muster, but friends who keep the peace. With the focus on treatment; black kids who are arrested won't come out a hardened criminal, but rather a rehabilitated citizen; heck his/her family will probably be grateful for the assistance helping their family member readjust to society. Also, arrests will be easier since the cops sending you to rehab isn't as scary as cop letting you get raped in prison; only for you to come out branded for life as a criminal. Legalizing weed would just be good economics, and a good PR move. I like the logic behind this idea of the insidious nature of this drug war but I have one major problem with how valid it is I haven't seen a single commentator on any news channel say that is the reason why minorities are targeted by the police, or even that its a major contributing factor. I'm not saying you wrong but I've seen some very pro-Brown supporters and analysts and not one of them have brought this whole drug war campaign into the debate? Not sure if you have some links to support this idea ?

More importantly is that he doesn't tell them what they can do about it. He doesn't say; the relationship between the black community and law enforcement could be mended if the drug war were ended. He just says, "Well, use this anger for something positive." - Not a direct quote, but the jist of what he said. He needs to be more bold and actually name things that should change. Obama is a politician. As such he is far more interested in exploiting problems than fixing them. Politically they need black community to be in a constant state of rage and mistrust. That way they can run ads that say it's all the Republicans fault during the election cycles. Demagoguery does not work when folks are reasonably happy. That's the worst part of this I think. They whip these folks into a rage and then set them loose for very cynical and selfish reasons. If all racism, real or perceived, were to end tomorrow do you know who would be out of a job? Al Sharpton & Co. Makes you think every time you see him show up at a place where he can cry "racism". To be fair to Obama he has been publically criticising the damage to property that the protestors have done, he has said it is criminal and doesn't help to destroy areas you live in. I don't see how this exploiting the situation?

And about this "statistics aren't rocket science", there is a reason why sensible sociologists, historians and political scientists are often wary about drawing immediate conclusions from statistics. Think about it — is the fact that more blacks are convicted a consequence of blacks actually committing more crimes, or is the statistic of crimes committed by blacks higher due to more blacks being convicted? edit: beaten to the punch This is an interesting point raised. I did bring this up earlier, Rudy Giuliani alluded to the fact that police officers arrest more black people in the USA because crime is more prevalent in there communities. So in other words the police go where the crime is But now I'm not so sure, Namutree's idea of the whole drug war also makes me question these statistics but I also read this link which basically debunks what Giuliani was saying http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/11/24/what-rudy-giuliani-gets-wrong-about-the-deaths-of-young-black-men/

The reason to involve race is the fact that when the police shoot and kill an unarmed man in the USA that person is disproportionately black. Like 21 times more than whites. Ok, I should just make a funny comment about person being disproportionately black and leave it at that. Instead I just ask: was those shootings unjustified? Because if they were not then the race doesn't matter and the police should answer for unjustified shooting. And if they were justified then sorry, but you are defending criminals. Also, according to statistics black people commit crimes 21 times more than whites, so the proportion of shooting white crimnals to black criminals is anything but disproportionate. Looking at isolated cases is very different from looking at patterns. Each case might look OK in isolation, but when taken in context there definitely is a problem. You're insistence that race shouldn't be an issue is ignoring the pattern. I can understand that you think there is no problem, i can't understand that you think there isn't even anything to discuss. Defending criminals is a totally OK thing to, they are people too. It's crime and criminal behaviour which is the problem. There is no pattern. If more black people commit crime then more black people get shot during police intervention. If it was other way around then we could say about pattern or intentional shooting of black people. Right now the police is simply doing their job. What do you propose, they shouldn't catch black criminals? - There is a shooting on Elm Street - Copy that, we are on our way - No, sorry false alarm. The criminal is black we passed the limit on black people, we need to catch 2 more white criminals before we catch another black. This is what you advocating for? Also, defending criminals from police is ok? Really? From the statistics I've seen it appears that there is more black on black violence in the USA that other groups, so this should also be a consideration around the question " are the Police only targeting black people " They aren't, they are going where the crime is and it can be more severe in some minority communities

Yeah, if you've got a chemical imbalance in your brain. ...Or if your grasp of the English language is really that limited. What you are describing is a crush. But that's not what we've been discussing for the past 28 pages of this thread. Sure, but can't a crush lead to deeper feelings? So its quite possible in a RPG perspective that you meet someone in the party who you immediately are attracted to and within a short amount of time you have a physical relationship and then the feelings develop to something deeper, like love? Hell that happens to me in RL so I can't see why that's not possible in a fantasy RPG? No it doesn happen in RL like that. That was not real love. It was just a deeper crush or affection. If you want to feel like getting a crush on vrtiual characters thats fine though I think. I personally dont however since I dont find crushes very exciting or meaningful at all. Okay but who said we need to achieve true love in your RPG journey, maybe deep feelings and a crush is fine? And considering the fact we are talking about a fantasy world with magic and dragons this is probably realistic ? So once again the whole implementation of Romance in your RPG journey makes sense because we aren't trying to necessarily achieve true love just a deep and satisfying emotional and physical bond

Why not? But i am not sure my computer can handle it... My computer is AMD Athlon x2 260 processor 3.20 Ghz, 4 GB gaming RAM, ATI radeon HD 5450, ASUS motherboard, Win 7 32 bit... Can't even run it right? Probably not

I agree that part of this is a symptomatic problem created by mistrust and perception from certain sectors within minority communities But I don't get the whole drug war aspect and why its so relevant ? You mentioned this before, can you explain what you mean when you say " end the drug war" ? The Drug War is a government campaign to eliminate recreational drug use in America through law enforcement. It has several problems. 1) It includes laws that give local law enforcement more funding if they achieve more drug abuse convictions. This means that cops WANT to arrest people. Because of this they scour black neighborhoods looking to arrest people for even the smallest offence. The reason that black neighborhoods are targeted is because they are more poor than other communities, and thus can't afford decent legal representation. This is why even though white and black people use drugs at the same rate; blacks are 4 times more likely to be arrested for drug possession. 2) The drug war allows law enforcement to confiscate any property that was used in a given drug offence. If you drive a nice car and are caught with pot in the vehicle; they can steal your car. This is something they like to do. Again, convicting black people is usually easier than other citizens; so once again law enforcement will give special attention to black people for convictions. This creates an incredibly hostile relationship between the police and the black community. If the campaign were dropped; law enforcement's incentives to harass the black community (thus sabotaging it) would diminish greatly. EDIT: This is not even close to describing how bad the Drug War is, but these are the elements that are especially bad for blacks. This is a very interesting post, I didn't know much about what you saying As someone who smokes weed myself I think it is preposterous that a person can get incarcerated or there property seized for having weed on them. That's why I am very supportive of the legalization of certain drugs, like Marijuana, as it will seem to reduce this type of tension between law enforcement and minority groups But I don't think you can legalize all drugs like Heroine and Crystal Meth

What is there to play if there is no stats? Even Skyrim have stats, although it being simplified, at least the perks are okay...and at least i can hide and shoot Frost Trolls at lower level... I watched the videos, both from fans and the ones who pissed off with the game. i want to know before i decide. I was actually buying a game based on it's cover, and game company logo, turn out to be bad and not of my taste before. Since then i will watch game plays and reviews, both pro and contra before actually buying a game. oh, i don't play BG and Neverwinter Nights...the first Bioware game i play is KotOR If Volo buys you a copy of DA:I to convince you its a good game would you play it then ?

Yeah, if you've got a chemical imbalance in your brain. ...Or if your grasp of the English language is really that limited. What you are describing is a crush. But that's not what we've been discussing for the past 28 pages of this thread. Sure, but can't a crush lead to deeper feelings? So its quite possible in a RPG perspective that you meet someone in the party who you immediately are attracted to and within a short amount of time you have a physical relationship and then the feelings develop to something deeper, like love? Hell that happens to me in RL so I can't see why that's not possible in a fantasy RPG?

I agree that part of this is a symptomatic problem created by mistrust and perception from certain sectors within minority communities But I don't get the whole drug war aspect and why its so relevant ? You mentioned this before, can you explain what you mean when you say " end the drug war" ?

I am also of the overall opinion that Officer Wilson acted within his rights, apparently there is a law in Missouri where a Police officer can use deadly force if his life is threatened and that doesn't mean the person has to be armed. So for me its obvious he acted within his rights as he was definitely attacked by Brown This seems to have become a racial issue where the general accusation is that the police in the USA are fundamentally racist and they selectively target African Americans but I was watching an interview by Rudy Giuliani who said that 80 % of homicides in NY are committed by African Americans and they are mostly black on black murders. So his argument is not that the Police are targeting African American communities but that is where the most crime is committed so that is where the Police are most active and make the most arrests?

http://news.yahoo.com/grand-jury-ferguson-officer-darren-wilson-michael-brown-shooting-death-225723458.html;_ylt=AwrBT0eBg3VUJDMAxVRXNyoA So most of us should be aware of this development. In summary a grand jury found that Officer Wilson would not face criminal charges for the shooting of Michael Brown and there have now been riots throughout several cities in the USA as people claim this was the wrong decision and this highlights how there is unfair treatment when it comes to African Americans in the US legal system I have been following several discussions around this and I'm not convinced that the grand jury came to the wrong decision. A few points from my perspective The various witnesses that said Officer Wilson acted unlawfully were inconsistent with there testimonies around the sequence of events that lead to the shooting There were 2 shots that were fired within the police car so this supports Officer Wilsons version that Brown reached for his gun There was visible physical harm to Officer Wilsons face so that supports his story he was attacked by Brown Anyway what do you guys think about this whole furore. Apparently the prosecutor didn't do a very good job at challenging Officer Wilson during the grand jury deliberations...but I'm not sure this is justified as was there irrefutable evidence that Officer Wilson did act unlawfully? Also why do people who riot feel that damaging properties is justified? We see this in South Africa during service delivery protests in impoverished communities where protestors burn schools and public buildings to the grounds. Apparently this is the only way to get governments to listen, I question this logic because all it does it negatively impact the communities even more Anyway any opinions on this matter will be interesting and appreciated

No I really enjoy Bioware games, that's why I play them There's nothing preposterous about that. Again, you're describing standard video game NPC structure. The problem with plugging romances into that template is that the reaction itself never seems to feel right or organic. More to the point: It is not unusual to do a good deed for someone (or a few good deeds) and then they react by becoming your friend. But it DOES feel odd to do that same good deed(s) and suddenly they react by falling in love with you. You are operating under the false notion that "love" or "romance" is no different from any other kind of interpersonal bonding. But the fact of the matter is that it's TONS different. Especially in a video game. If a romance in a video game is to feel anything other than 'tacked on', it must advance past the superficial flirting and friendship level. There has to be much, much more.... More time to develop, more situations, more discussion, more emotion, more focus on the '1 + 1 = Us' theme, etc. And not even Bioware has the budget for all that. Nor can an RPG do all this and remain an RPG. Otherwise, it's best that they save money and time and just implement decent casual sex that is based on implied physical attraction, like the Witcher games do, because at least those can succeed based on both human nature and logic. Not to mention eye-candy appeal <ahem>. Funny enough Stun I was reading an interesting article that discusses how attraction and love are just pheromones. So in other words you can literally " just fall in love with someone on day 1 " with the right pheromone combination So just because Romance\Love happens "quickly" in a RPG it doesn't necessarily mean its unrealistic

http://www.msn.com/en-my/money/other/russia-losing-dollar140-billion-a-year-as-sanctions-and-falling-oil-prices-hit-moscow/ar-BBfAPPv So Russia is set to lose $140 Billion a year, this is due to the falling oil price and Western sanctions and there is a real risk of a recession I feel sorry for the Russian people but Putin's aggression and interference in Ukraine has brought this on himself. Hopefully he will stop with his ambitions of this grand Russian hegemony in Eastern Europe?

Why do you hate being around people who drink alcohol ? Bad experiences I assume You should hang around with me when I drink, we will have loads of fun

http://www.pcgamer.com/sex-and-bioware/ Here is a good read around Romance in Bioware games, it also discusses the importance of same sex relationships and why Bioware should continue to provide them. The article makes loads of sense

http://www.pcgamer.com/sex-and-bioware/ Here is a good read about the relevance and importance of Romance in Bioware games I'll post this in the Romance thread as well

I support the idea of you investing in a whiskey business, its Tennessee after all. I imagine you guys were drinking whiskey when you came out the womb?