BruceVC

Killing people is wrong in my mind because it crosses a line that I do not think should be crossed. Like I said, it is a principle thing. On the other hand, locking someone up is fine with me. Even if the criminal himself might prefer death. I see no contradiction. The contradiction comes in the form of hte question WHY? Why do you lock poeple up in jail? waht is hte purpose of jail and judicial system? Vengance? Punishmnet? In that case waht is correct would depend on what you consider a bigger punishment - death or imprisoment. Rehabiliation? People who are serving life won't rehabilitate. Why do you refrain from death penalty? Mercy? Or a matter of principle? If it's mercy, then it again depends on what you consider more mercifull - death or life in prison. If it's a matter of principle then again it's a question of why. Hypotheticly speaking - you see a man butcher children with your own eyes. He is remorsless and thinks nothing of it, in fact he's been doing it for a while and not just children. Looks forward to prison. His guilt is 100% factual. No possibility of error. You are judge and jury - what do you do? The man that kills children and thinks nothing of it would end up the rest of his life in a mental Institution, he would clearly be mentally unbalanced and wouldn't go to normal prison or face the death penalty in any Western country. I refrain from the death penalty from a moral perspective because I don't believe you have a right to take someones life under any legal circumstances. As you mentioned a life behind bars is probably worse than a death sentence so he would face the relevant justice in my eyes

I'm not sure about your point around DA:O doing the combat gameplay better than BG2. Firstly I enjoyed both games and I will say that BG2 took more thinking in complex combat but it wasn't confusing? You pause the game and plan your strategies and you need to be aware of the status of your party. I preferred the combat in BG2 because it was more unforgiving and you did have to consider your characters next move more, for example no auto-resurrection and if you got turned to stone you stayed that way until Stone to Flesh was cast.

Yep. Now it's about 300, and all the hidden significance within movies, and the effects of human psychological tendencies upon storytelling and historical accuracy. I love these forums for many reasons, one of them being our ability to go off topic and still discuss interesting things

I didn't. I forgot I had it, it just shows how neglected my Steam game list is

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaay, that is awesome news !!! But how do you know this? http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/04/25/skyrim-legendary-edition-outed-by-retailer OMG, that sounds awesome

Yes he did, well spotted. Not to worry then

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaay, that is awesome news !!! But how do you know this?

I would love that Thx

I see Skyrim is only $30 on Steam, do you guys think it means that the GOTY edition is coming out now or should I buy it? I wanted to wait for the GOTY so I'm not sure what to do as $30 is a good price?

DA:O spoilers: In DA:O, if you play a male Warden, Morrigan beds you with little effort on your behalf. That is just attraction, desire and sex. And, as the player discovers later, perhaps, it is part of a plan. But to her own surprise, she might fall in love with the Warden. But the story won't end "happily ever after" anyway. There's a romantic arc here, but again, there's no tragedy. There's a woman who has a goal which she for selfish or unselfish reasons puts above her newly discovered feelings. And a Player Character who eventually may or may not travel with her through the Looking Glass into the unknown. It's a great romance, because it ambiguous. Perhaps that is the keyword in how to write a great romance. This is exactly what happened to me In DA:O, Morrigan fell in love with me but she had a more important life objective and she left at the end. I found this Romance story very interesting and realistic as something that could happen under the circumstances of DA:O

Probably, but at the same time it more than once attack the Athenians for being gay, whereas the Spartans are depicted as the prime example on the All American core family. I don't profess to be an expert in Ancient Greece but I thought homosexuality was common and encouraged amongst the Spartans? Didn't the Sacred Band practice sodomy as rule Yes, homosexual relationships were encouraged in Sparta to make soldiers to bound with each other. Sacred Band was made of 150 pairs of male lovers. At least so say experts of Ancient Greece. Now I'm going to derail this otherwise entertaining discussion once more: The Sacred Band were not Spartans. They were Thebans. They were first recorded as an elite unit during the Boeotian War, where Thebes and Athens where allied against Sparta. That is relevant and interesting, but I guess the main point on this particular part of this discussion is that Homosexuality wasn't uncommon in Ancient Greece and was encouraged to a certain degree

I'm really excited about this game, I loved Metro. I'm glad it seems good Edit : Nice review on Gamespot http://www.gamespot.com/metro-last-light/reviews/metro-last-light-review-6408240/?tag=Topslot;Slot1

We call that a Weber braai\barbeque in South Africa, they are the primary choice for most people. I also assembled my one. It took me a while but I'm not very good at DIY. They are so versatile you can cook almost anything in them. Good call

Cat companion? Why would you want that, do you like Cats by any chance in RL?

thats a good review of this thread and quite funny. Both of them have loads of patience, you almost wait for one of them to just accept they are wrong but neither seems to, I admire there tenacity

Okay I need to share this. I'm in the departure lounge at the airport and your comment, even though it may not seem funny, has just caused me to burst into laughter. In fact I found myself laughing out loud for about 30 seconds. People were staring at me and obviously wondering " whats the joke"..but I couldn't help myself Its the way you say things sometimes that I find hilarious, so thanks for the laugh Anyway back to your post, you know we have a way of derailing topics. Its in our genetic nature.

That's pretty good and accurate. You are good at this

Interesting, where would you rate the following games in the food scale Skyrim BG2 Gothic 1&2 Far Cry 3

Probably, but at the same time it more than once attack the Athenians for being gay, whereas the Spartans are depicted as the prime example on the All American core family. I don't profess to be an expert in Ancient Greece but I thought homosexuality was common and encouraged amongst the Spartans? Didn't the Sacred Band practice sodomy as rule Yes, homosexual relationships were encouraged in Sparta to make soldiers to bound with each other. Sacred Band was made of 150 pairs of male lovers. At least so say experts of Ancient Greece. Thanks, thats what I thought and it makes sense. You would fight more for someone you actually loved than someone who was just a close comrade I imagine?

Well, I'd hope those convicted of really heinous crimes end up without privileges like that (if not, well probably should off them then). What are the Canadian prisons like, I imagine they are similar to 3 or 4 star hotels where prisoners get massages and have there own rooms with full cable, Internet access, a space for there pet Moose and can choose there meals from a French inspired menu? In fact does Canada even have prisons ?

And how does that matter? Something being very entertaining to many people does not mean it is super creative. If you want a (somewhat) better comparison for the phenomenon I'm talking about, look at culinary art. Lots of people like McDonald's, or fast food in general. Because these are products made for the biggest possible consumer base, they aren't exactly comparable to self-made dishes you'd get in a restaurant. And *at least*? Creativity is something rather difficult. So, no I don't expect the Mass Effect series to be super creative. In most cases I'm satisfied already in people trying to be creative. Good point about the McDonalds analogy, but I am not sure if its the same things as a game that people would play for dozens of hours and spend hundreds of hours discussing? But I do see the point you are making.

Lol. I has banned even in 4chan because Western censorship, and never banned on Russian imageboards. Westlings don't known what really freedom is. USA, choise without choice. Try create own Religion, or try ressurect authentic pagan cults. Constitutions protect rigths of rich people everywhere. Facepalm. Foreigners want to immigrate to this country because job, not because happy life. Oby you are just bitter because you live in a country that doesn't respect the rights of it citizens. Do you know how many Journalists have been murdered in Russia because they are trying to expose the corruption of government ministers and oligarchs ? Its a disgrace http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_journalists_killed_in_Russia

Probably, but at the same time it more than once attack the Athenians for being gay, whereas the Spartans are depicted as the prime example on the All American core family. I don't profess to be an expert in Ancient Greece but I thought homosexuality was common and encouraged amongst the Spartans? Didn't the Sacred Band practice sodomy as rule

Yes, it appeals. But,... Creativity isn't THAT subjective. Especially if you use it in a comparison to sales numbers or in a profit driven industry like AAA video games. For the simple reason that you are out to appeal to the biggest possible consumer base. Which ALSO means to the lowest common determinator. To achieve that, sacrificing complexity and creativity is a process that happens automatically. But surly we need to give the masses of "uninformed fans" some credit that they do expect at least creativity from the likes of the ME series. Millions of people support this series, are you suggesting that these games lack creativity? I may be misunderstanding your point but surly the high sales figures and fandom tell us these games are very entertaining to many people

I hear what you are saying but for me Romance\Sex should be part of the overall game design. This becomes very subjective because for some the RPG experience is really about questing, exploring and being able to make certain choices. I understand thats what they want and expect but me I want deeper party interaction