BruceVC

I hope you're joking. Bad joke if you are. If you're not, add your name, along with Tagaziel's and JadedWolf's in bold next to BruceVC's in my post, as what I said went way over your head. Add my name in bold? Look, what you 'nerds' don't seem to realise is that you do not want a world in which your official servants make up their own minds unilaterally about what can and cannot be shared with everyone else. The key thing is that I'm not anti-democratic. Democracy means no witch-burnings. It's rule of law. Not rule by the gun or the mob. What you fools seem to be in favour of is what I like to call the 'upskirt' version of democracy. It's the lazy, self-hating weirdo's idea of how government should work. democracy is hard work. You have to pay attention, not rely on white knights cantering around governmentg agencies feeding you what you need to know in the nick of time like a bloody fairy tale. Oh no Walsie ...you getting your name added in bold along with the other incorrigible reprobates like JadedWolf, Tagaziel and me. How will you able to live with yourself..the shame...the utter shame

Its just a joke, I wouldn't really let them pay and almost everyone seems to know its a joke and it makes everyone laugh Sorry, man. My temper's as short as my breath. And I can't breath properly. No I should be thanking you as I didn't explain properly and I would have also thought the idea of someone getting strangers to pay for there groceries when they can afford it is very questionable and dodgy behaviour

Strange people, I guess you got lucky and didn't get someone who would tell you to pound sand. People here are a right kind of mean, funniest instance had to be when this middle aged woman kicked a guy off a streetcar as he was standing on the step, keeping the doors open (the way it works). Guy had his rap blaring and was ignoring everyone, but was funny to see him eat asphalt as we went on and no one cared that much. Oh, sorry I didn't mention no one actually pays for my groceries, you guys might have thought I meant I was asking strangers to really pay for me. I didn't explain properly

Its just a joke, I wouldn't really let them pay and almost everyone seems to know its a joke and it makes everyone laugh

Once Snowden had leaked the story in Hong Kong the information went global. If the NSA had arrested American journalists it just would have made them look worse. Also they have no jurisdiction over the international newspapers who would have printed everything anyway

LOL I have very little doubt after this that you are an alt/caricature of someone else. Seriously, good job. Yet if you try to understand what I'm saying you'll realize I'm right...it just doesn't sound right but it is The generals\ringleaders didn't implement Prism to enrich themselves, they aren't using it for industrial espionage. Prism was design to capture large amounts of data and then enable the NSA to analyse that data in order to look for certain patterns and similarities in order to prevent attacks against the USA and its allies. What part of this don't you agree with?

Punishing criminals is a good thing. Revealing criminality is a good thing. What Snowden did was criminal. You work it out, sparky. AFAIK, there is very little room to argue that Snowden couldn't be tried for treason and espionage under US law. Whether he's a criminal or not would depend on the verdict. I have no idea how extenuating or aggravating circumstances (if any) would apply to the case, and maybe Enoch or Gromnir could share their expertise. Now, what happens if exposing criminality is also a criminal offense? I remember reading that, in the intelligence community, analysts and operators often cannot discuss certain matters with their immediate superiors because of how the mindboggling clearances game is set up. This madness reaches the highest levels of the hierarchy, with four-star officers not being allowed to know about the tools their subordinates use. So if you can't discuss stuff with someone whose job is to supervise and coordinate your work... is there any hope of revealing wrongdoing by a state actor without breaking the law? When was the last time Congress uncovered and acted against secret illegal government initiatives? Honest question, btw. They don't have Snowden so they can't try him. But they do have the NSA ringleaders, and nothing has been done about it. What is up with that? Snowden should be tried for treason, I'm not sure why this is even a debatable point? But I don't understand how you can possibly find some kind of similarity between the generals\ringleaders who implemented Prism for example and Snowden...it stupefies me The former did it to protect there country in a very strange period of time where the USA is at war with a nebulous and amorphous enemy, Islamic fundamentalism. This is not a conventional war and groups like Al-Qaeda have tactics and strategies that require using technology that can intercept what they are doing and then prevent them from doing it. Hence Prism, it was not designed to target Americans and if you dispute this please produce some links to show me how the evidence from Prism was used to prosecute American citizens. Prism is an important tool in the this modern age Snowden took as much confidential information about the security mechanisms that protect the USA and basically gave it to the Chinese and Russians. What he did could ,and probably has, have harmed the entire USA. His deed was reprehensible, cowardly and treacherous. You can't possible think the generals\ringleaders need to charged with anything.....they were protecting there country

Wow, so you really think that such a high profile person as Snowden when he is eventually captured will somehow just disappear? Tinfoil hats anyone.... And yes he did betray his country, I fail to see how you can see what he did in any other way

I dunno, I thought the good pacing of scary moments added a lot to the atmosphere. Actually being able to go around in a situation you know is totally messed up for quite some time without anything extraordinary happening builds up a lot of "Omg omg, it's been too long since **** went down"-pressure for me (Dead Space 1 also managed this fairly well). Most games just go overboard with rubbing it in your face (Dead Space 2 and FEAR2 both fail in my book in this respect, so don't get your hopes up too much about FEAR2, I'd say. The first one is the best one, by miles) I'm not sure how much you learn about Alma in the first one, I thought it was quite a bit if you were as OCD as me about finding all the telephones in the office buildings, and, of course, the mystery obviously also adds to the atmosphere... (btw, did you play the DLC? They're worth it imho, just keep in mind that most things that happen in the DLC get retconned in FEAR2) Personally still going strong in Diablo 3, added Adria to my list of bosses my Wizard took down on Torment 1 difficulty (so far Belial and Urzael were the hardest two by far, haven't tried Malthael yet though, putting that off for later, much later) You have raised some good points around F.E.A.R, don't get me wrong I did get scared in several situations and now that you mention it I agree that too many scary scenes would have made the impact less significant. I did listen to as many phone messages as I could but I still didn't enough information around Alma. But I have subsequently done some research on the story so now it all makes sense This is my first F.E.A.R game so I haven't played any DLC yet, I think I'll move onto it next when I'm ready for another F.E.A.R episode

PM me. I'll drag my consumptive butt down the pub and ask the regulars. I can just imagine you asking a bunch of drunk strangers "which would you prefer intergalactic heroes to fight, an intelligent virus or robots?" Would you believe me if I tell you that I have spent many years perfecting the art of asking very random questions to complete strangers and getting a response sometimes? I do it because I am a student of human behaviour and I am fascinated by how people respond to different questions and situations Yesterday in a supermarket I asked this lady in front of me in the line for the till if she minded paying for my groceries, well specifically I said "do you mind if I add a few items to your basket, its been a hard month" She responded really well and she ended up paying me a compliment saying how its nice to meet " friendly people that you don't know in supermarkets" ... And then you chain those people into a room with a saw. You understand the South African mentality well

I finished F.E.A.R last night and its a very simple but thoroughly enjoyable FPS. Its deserves nothing less than a very well deserved 68/100 on the much respected "BruceVC gaming barometer rating system" As mentioned previously the AI is very impressive. I would have preferred more scary moments and they didn't elaborate enough around Alma, the primary antagonist, but I imagine that will come in the sequels. I highly recommend it to people who enjoy there FPS

Please, please, point out to us uneducated peons the general legal principle that allows for the dismissal of the HoS outside of the legal procedures outlined to that end in the Constitution or ancillary legislation. "Bailing on the people" is not a reason or motive that you will find anywhere in the Ukrainian Constitution, among other things, because it makes no sense. The ****ing Head of State doesn't "bail" on the people unless the "people" (read: fascist militias) are out for his blood, which is exactly what happened. This is the very definition of a coup. The President does not "lose constitutional legitimacy" at your leisure, he is removed from office after he has been impeached, declared medically incompetent, or dies only. So what are these "higher provisions" you speak of? This is a really, really tired debate, especially because the point was already discussed to death in the other thread(s): No offense 2133 but that's not how I remember the debate you and Tagaziel had. I remember you guys discussed various interesting points for several days and despite the fact Tagaziel proved conclusively that he was right around the fact that Yanukovych wasn't removed from power illegally you refused to acknowledge this But you are right, this has been discussed to death. I would like us to focus on the current destabilization of eastern Ukraine by Russia. Is there any justification for it and what is the realistic outcome to the situation? Do you accept that Russia is playing a major part in the protests and occupation of Ukrainian government buildings?

PM me. I'll drag my consumptive butt down the pub and ask the regulars. I can just imagine you asking a bunch of drunk strangers "which would you prefer intergalactic heroes to fight, an intelligent virus or robots?" Would you believe me if I tell you that I have spent many years perfecting the art of asking very random questions to complete strangers and getting a response sometimes? I do it because I am a student of human behaviour and I am fascinated by how people respond to different questions and situations Yesterday in a supermarket I asked this lady in front of me in the line for the till if she minded paying for my groceries, well specifically I said "do you mind if I add a few items to your basket, its been a hard month" She responded really well and she ended up paying me a compliment saying how its nice to meet " friendly people that you don't know in supermarkets"

Malc have you ever cried watching a movie before?

I don't know but your post just seems to me some indirect way to get some kind of rape example into an RPG and have a way to justify it. Like when you say "that the girl having deliberately broken several taboos before the rape" I know RPG can contain mature topics but any example in any game where the developers try to position the rape as " the victim may have deserved it" I would find highly offensive and unacceptable. And the reality is no gaming studio would position rape in such a way You missed my point entirely. In order to have an interesting conflict, you have to both parties feeling justified for their actions. After all it, is all up to the player on what to do in that situation and the consequences those actions provide. In no way did i insinuate that the developers were pro-rape. It is all in your head. I never said you said that? But why would you want to have a subject like rape in an RPG where there is chance if not done properly, and since I know you don't place much credence in deep and meaningful writing in RPG as you mentioned around your view on Romance (well I think you said that ), it would lead to an unintentional trivializing of this serious social issue Well Alan brought up all those horrible stories that were even worse than my example, and consequently i thought how that could be repressented in an RPG in a serious manner...well atleast tried to. As for romance, i do not like it in an RPG since it is handled like a vapid romantic comedy, which i hate with a burning passion. Love however, would be great in an RPG though, think of the interaction that would be at par of "The Eternal Sunshine and the Spotless Mind", "Lost in Translation" or "Her". Okay thanks for explaining, I may be overreacting

If you do, mind the rapists in SA. Malc that is cheeky...very very cheeky I'm not going to let your parents know because I don't want you to get into trouble but all I will say is " you naughty naughty boy"

I don't know but your post just seems to me some indirect way to get some kind of rape example into an RPG and have a way to justify it. Like when you say "that the girl having deliberately broken several taboos before the rape" I know RPG can contain mature topics but any example in any game where the developers try to position the rape as " the victim may have deserved it" I would find highly offensive and unacceptable. And the reality is no gaming studio would position rape in such a way You missed my point entirely. In order to have an interesting conflict, you have to both parties feeling justified for their actions. After all it, is all up to the player on what to do in that situation and the consequences those actions provide. In no way did i insinuate that the developers were pro-rape. It is all in your head. I never said you said that? But why would you want to have a subject like rape in an RPG where there is chance if not done properly, and since I know you don't place much credence in deep and meaningful writing in RPG as you mentioned around your view on Romance (well I think you said that ), it would lead to an unintentional trivializing of this serious social issue

Orog, there are people in the feminist movement who are extremists IMO and I can understand your concern, but they don't represent what the feminist movement is suppose to stand for. It does much more good than bad

I thoroughly enjoyed season 1, it was easily the most emotional game I have ever played and the ending brought me to tears. It amazed me that a game could have such an impact on me

I don't know but your post just seems to me some indirect way to get some kind of rape example into an RPG and have a way to justify it. Like when you say "that the girl having deliberately broken several taboos before the rape" I know RPG can contain mature topics but any example in any game where the developers try to position the rape as " the victim may have deserved it" I would find highly offensive and unacceptable. And the reality is no gaming studio would position rape in such a way

I disagree that Yanukovich was removed illegally, but lets say you are correct for argument sakes. It is a strange justification for Russia to now use surreptitious methods to effectively annex parts of Ukraine. This is about the sovereignty of Ukraine and the fact that Russia wants to create a buffer zone between it and an EU friendly Ukraine. I want to ask you another question, lets say a country has an internal coup and particular government is overthrown. In your books does this now mean other countries can basically invade the country and challenge the new government. I am interested in your comment " take power by force you're fair game in international relations"

Why is it a fail in your opinion?

This is because you are playing the Australian version of the game and its much more restrictive and critical around your players actions

I'm looking at this from a Russian perspective because that perspective is lacking in this discussion but I'm not thrilled by anyone destabilizing a sovereign country that is already in dire straights (economically) because I know what this spells for the Ukrainian people. Don't worry there is a very vociferous Russian perspective on these forums. Members like Zora, 2133, Oby, Vals and Sarex all support the Russian perspective and have similar views to you. So the Russian view is heard clearly, its just that many of us disagree with the reasons given for Russian involvement in Ukraine

No Nep, I have never had this discussion before..ever You must be suffering from sort of cognisant hallucination, it must be stress related. Come to South Africa for a holiday, you can stay with me for free