BruceVC

I'm flying back to Johannesburg from Cape Town tomorrow night. I have enjoyed my week in Cape Town but I have to say I have really, really worked hard for this particular customer so they got there money worth. I finished work on Friday night at 3 am and worked on Saturday from 4 pm till 1 am Sunday morning. Its been a good project but lots of environmental issues that effected the software I was configuring and upgrading. I did get to have dinner with my sister and see some friends for drinks and breakfast so at least it wasn't all work

I was shocked to read this, as a nipper I spent a few years in Montclair in Durban, and my parents always told me that the crime rate was almost non existent. I can't really remember much except for walking along the beachfront and munching on ridiculously cheap fruit, so i'm left wondering whether this was hidden from foreign workers and their families, or whether the crime rates have actually changed so dramatically? To be honest since the end of Apartheid the crime statistics now incorporate all South Africans. Black South Africans represent 70 % of the population and they are the largest victims of crime. So its a combination of proper representative statistics and also in some cases the increase of crime But I don't want to paint a bad picture I think my country is a fantastic place to live and its people have many amazing qualities Its not like we see murders or know people that have been murdered. But the newspapers do report on the crime and police reports do have the data so we know it happens and is a concern.

A relevant point raised around the mindset of Norwegians after the Breivik massacre, in South Africa we have about 50 murders a day and other horrific crimes committed. Unfortunately this probably makes me in this discussion the person who is living in the most violent country. Despite this I still don't support the death penalty as I don't see any evidence that it would stop people committing these types of serious crimes and we know that many people commit crime in South Africa due to social reasons and other factors like a lack of respect for the rule of law.

Walsie my friend thats the beauty of debate on forums, we can agree to disagree. I like Monte so this isn't personal but as you mentioned I don't think he does care about people being rude to him. He typically posts what he wants and isn't concerned if he offends people, so I'm sure he is use to people doing the same thing in response to him?

Thats correct Monte we are the final judges of what constitutes Justice, you are learning to be a liberal. Its unexpected but its a refreshing change

Probably because you haven't seriously listened to their reasoning, and if you have, did so without bringing a pre-existing bias, conscious or not. Even under the ancient concept of "an eye for an eye," such a penalty is unjustifiable as the planned crime/s were not actually committed. If a community is given leave to kill anyone who offends their moral sensibilities, that effectively gives them leave to kill anyone legally. Atrocious plans without successful atrocious action do not warrant capital punishment. Going to the steps you're suggesting goes beyond the concept of "rule of law," and strays closer to the territory of thought crimes. Furthermore, there roughly a thousand examples of wrongfully convicted people exonerated by such things as DNA evidence which was not technologically possible at the time of conviction who were saved from death by said evidence. If even one innocent person is put to death because the criminal justice system, who is the criminal then? The simple fact of the matter is, given the numbers, it's inevitable that a significant number of people have been executed in the US for crimes they didn't commit. Some of them must have been career criminals, some of them must have been fully innocent. That's the most fundamental problem of capital punishment. The US criminal justice system is severely flawed to begin with. Roughly two thirds of African American males have been incarcerated, but the president is an African American male. There is no genetic predisposition among African American males toward deviant behavior and criminality, the US system ignores the socio-economic root causes of crime in the name of economic liberalism, choosing to punish rather than prevent crime. That said, back to my original point: Opponents of the death penalty are opposed to it on general moral grounds. The basis for opposition to the death penalty is that one person's crime/s, no matter how despicable, does not give anyone else the moral or legal right to commit a crime (murder.) To kill someone who is an imminent threat is a different matter to executing someone who has already committed a crime and has been caught and convicted. Some base it on religious grounds, others on pacifist, still others on humanist grounds. Ignoring all that, pedophiles aren't exactly the most popular denizens of prison environments, to say the least.The culprit here is 40 years old and never successfully acted out his plans. With a 27 year sentence, he'll be 67 when he gets out, if he doesn't die in prison. A convincing argument, a very convincing argument. I can't anything in your post that I dispute

Ya know, if you just continue ranting about me on and on, I will just stop responding to you completely. Hearing "you dont' understand my point, and are wrong" for the 50'th time is getting boring. Trashman personally I'm finding your interminable debates very entertaining so please don't stop this discussion, its anything but boring.

Except for the point that I don't think there is any evidence that the death penalty is a deterrent to people who plan to commit these heinous acts that can lead them to be executed

Why don't you make your own MMO that has features like open PVP, complex PVE and full loot penalties? It could be non-instanced and it should have several hundred end game options and\or raid challengers so that people don't get bored. I always get bored when I max my character level. I would support you with a subscription if you made this MMO?

I have a good idea, lets see how many pages we can reach discussing how many pages this topic can reach? I know, I know..I'm hilaaaaaarious

300 was a comic book movie; not a historical one. You wouldn't go to see Captain America for an accurate portrayal of WW2; why expect that from 300? Why wouldn't you use Captain America as a accurate historical view of WW2? Are you suggesting that Red Skull wasn't real?

Ouch, so can we assume its not going to get your vote for Best MMO of 2013?

The funny thing is I'm not sure I do believe in the conventional definition of "evil". I believe in mentally unbalanced people who commit reprehensible acts, but in many cases evil is relative. Of course in a fantasy RPG good\evil is more definitive

I'm also fortunate like that, I fall asleep in 3-5 minutes maximum I can recommend doing some exercise in the evening, that generally makes sleep much easier

I agree, the irony always makes me laugh when someone says a thread is boring but takes the time to post on that thread. No one forces anyone to contribute on any discussion or to even read the comments

I want Bikini armour due to the aesthetics, I also have no issue with full armour for ladies. It would be ideal to have the option of both. For me I don't over-analyze the whole "bikini armour isn't feasible, realistic or serious " point because its a fantasy world where magic and dragons exist and if we can have those things I fail to see why the game can't have other uncommon components like bikini-chainmail armour

It ended up being too slow for me, but what I watched, definitely had some moments. It's possible a 2nd season (which I think is forthcoming) could improve it. I ended up watching the whole first season of Hemlock Grove, I thought it was very entertaining. So once again thanks for the tip

I'm in Cape Town at the moment for about 8 days for work, it makes a nice change. Cape Town has beaches, wine farms and better restaurants than Johannesburg but I still prefer Joburg overall Anyway we had Justin Bieber and Bon Jovi playing on different nights this week and the traffic was nightmarish, but the concerts are finished now so things should return to normal

I'm very keen to play this NeverWinter with you guys. So keep us updated if you are playing as a group

Its a public holiday in South Africa and I'm going to a yearly festival called Lusito Land http://www.lusitoland.co.za/ Its really good fun, you get to move around different Beer Gardens sampling food like Sardines, Giblets, Prego Rolls and other delicious examples of Portuguese cuisine Yaaay, I am excited

Hi Alan Where have you been? I agree with you, I want to elaborate a little on my point Firstly I want to stress the fact I am not opposed to Publishers in general as there are many Publishers who add immense value and provide us with excellent games, But the era we are going into is like taking some of the best developers in the industry at the moment and saying " design a game like you want to with no external pressure except for recommendations from fans" So the potential doesn't get better than this

I am loving Vikings, I was wondering if our members from the Scandinavian peninsula can confirm the historical authenticity of the series? My friend was telling me that it was Ragnar Lodbrok who eventually sacked Paris and it was his brother, Rollo, who ruled in Normandy. Wikipedia seems to confirm this but other opinions are welcome as usual

Oh so he can't order people to be sent to the guillotine ? Borrrrrrrring

i think we're almost to the promised land, we can see it just up ahead. as soon as we start getting some truly awesome "indie" rpg's released then I'll agree that we've made it. im very much looking forward to wasteland 2, shadowrun returns, and project eternity. Yes of course I accept this sentiment, we are not quite there yet but its so close....so very close. As pointed out we need to see the finished products

Right. That must also explain why Fallout 3, Skyrim, CoD GTA etc. all sell so terrible. Oh wait. And these are all sophisticated, clever games that are beyond a teenagers ability to appreciate? The man is proposing making games precisely opposite to the type you name. That's why he's destined to fail. Skyrim, CoD, GTA are all updates of older games that sold well at some point. That's exactly the dominant way of thinking in the industry and the reason its not likely to go the place he's talking about. Drowsy I am very concerned by your apparent jaded view on the future of PC gaming, you seem to be missing some fundamental developments. 3 years ago we were cursed by this almost inexorable deluge of simplistic PC and Console hybrid games forced on us by various large companies. These games were generally lacking in depth and complexities. Now KS has changed all that, we are seeing the rebirth of PC games with gameplay and functionality we have all been waiting for. This is an era of PC inventiveness without the influence of publishers, I would argue we are about to enter the most exciting time for PC gaming. You should running down the streets singing and dancing....singing and dancing. The future looks good