BruceVC

Carefully tiptoeing around say the question of Saudi Arabia which still enjoys unconditional support even though it is undoubtedly, the absolute worst country in the world especially when considering the potential of its wealth, incomparable on any level to the aforementioned nations above. Sorry my friend but I disagree. Our company has a branch in Dubai and I travel to the Middle East regularly for work. I have also had to work on 3 one month contracts in Saudi Arabia and its most definitely not the worst country in the region. A couple of points about Saudi Arabia (for the record I would never live there but you can work there) Is it a Western Democracy? No and it does have several conservative laws that I think are wrong but almost all countries in the Middle East have laws and cultures that I disagree with but these are things we need to accept when we work in other countries Is it a friend to the West? Yes, the Saudi's have been instrumental in the War on Terror and helped expose several plots by Al-Qaeda. When you travel there as a Westerner you don't feel threatened at all and the companies I worked for treated me really well Are the citizens of Saudi Arabia happy? Yes in the sense that they didn't have the violent riots and uprisings that we saw in Libya, Egypt and Syria. The Saudi King allocated $30 Billion to uplifting his poorer citizens when the Arab Spring started and he avoided any serious violence Why do you think Saudi Arabia is such a terrible place compared to Zimbabwe or Iraq under Saddam Hussein? You're misrepresenting things or uninformed. I went to Abu Dhabi, and spoke to several US expatriates that lived and worked in SA. They hated the place, said it was absolute hell to work there for an extended period of time and very unsafe. They were glad to get out in one piece, lived in closed off compounds and had tight security all the while. By conservative laws you mean chopping people's hands off for stealing, decapitation as capital punishment and stoning to death for adultery? Or is it the political system, the uncontested rule of an absolute monarch and his free will to do whatever he feel like at all times? A friend of the west? The friend that funnels astronomical sums of money into fundamentalist wahabi proselytism and terrorists cells all over the world? As for the protests: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011%E2%80%9313_Saudi_Arabian_protests Seriously, I have no idea what you're talking about. Sorry Drowsy but you are the one who is misinformed. I am telling you I have lived in Riyadh for 3 months, its very safe. You can walk in the streets and the locals may be indifferent towards you but not once was I threatened. There are wealthy Saudi's who support terrorism and Al Qaeda but thats there own choice and not the policy of the Saudi government. As I mentioned the Saudi government has arrested hundreds of Al Qaeda members in the last few years, they didn't do this because they love the West but they did do this as they became targets of Al Qaeda themselves so they clamped down on fundamentalism, or rather they clamped down on the fundamentalism of the likes of Al Qaeda Now if you asked me " did you enjoy working there", the answer would be an emphatic "no". Its not a great place for a liberal like me. But thousands of ex-pats work there for years and make good money. But for me quality of life is more important than money. In Saudi it wasn't the fact that you can't get alcohol that bothered me but the reality that you just can't speak to any women. Its depressing as I enjoy the company of ladies. But once again these things don't make Saudi Arabia the worst country in the world, far from it. If you understand there cultural rules and respect them you will have no issues and a short work contract will be a profitable excursion

Carefully tiptoeing around say the question of Saudi Arabia which still enjoys unconditional support even though it is undoubtedly, the absolute worst country in the world especially when considering the potential of its wealth, incomparable on any level to the aforementioned nations above. Sorry my friend but I disagree. Our company has a branch in Dubai and I travel to the Middle East regularly for work. I have also had to work on 3 one month contracts in Saudi Arabia and its most definitely not the worst country in the region. A couple of points about Saudi Arabia (for the record I would never live there but you can work there) Is it a Western Democracy? No and it does have several conservative laws that I think are wrong but almost all countries in the Middle East have laws and cultures that I disagree with but these are things we need to accept when we work in other countries Is it a friend to the West? Yes, the Saudi's have been instrumental in the War on Terror and helped expose several plots by Al-Qaeda. When you travel there as a Westerner you don't feel threatened at all and the companies I worked for treated me really well Are the citizens of Saudi Arabia happy? Yes in the sense that they didn't have the violent riots and uprisings that we saw in Libya, Egypt and Syria. The Saudi King allocated $30 Billion to uplifting his poorer citizens when the Arab Spring started and he avoided any serious violence Why do you think Saudi Arabia is such a terrible place compared to Zimbabwe or Iraq under Saddam Hussein?

I can explain why your logic is flawed for you, but I can't understand it for you. No please explain to me why these both aren't forms of discrimination, I'll try to understand it.

Yes I do see it in the same light, sexism is a form of discrimination and so is anti-semitism No one is going stop you making crass or insensitive jokes about women but just be prepared for people to object to it. There are thousands of things we can joke about so why would you not joke about something that isn't offensive to women, is that such an issue? I fail to see how this is becoming sanctimonious, its not like I expect peoples behavior or the current rules of these forums to change. All I'm asking is for people to be aware of the current prevalence of sexism on the Internet and to object to it if you encounter it. And for the record I have several times disagreed with Oby's posts. But he also is a difficult person to understand, his motives aren't clear to me.

I don't think so, and that video made me chuckle

i actually thought that it was a way to avoid having the joker, since the plotline is early batman fighting off 8 assassins and the main villain is black mask, they may not need to use joker at all, sidestepping the mark hamill problem (problem as in, mark hamill wont do the joker voice anymore cause it is too hard on his throat now) thing is, i wonder which assassins they will use? deathstroke is announced deadshot is almost guaranteed lady shiva too the other five.... im sure bigger batman fans have already listed a dozen likely candidates, i give up at 3 lol I love the Batman universe, all the possible villains and stories. I use to collect Batman comics so obviously I am a huge fan of the games

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/04/09/decor-never-changes-metro-last-lights-world/#more-148844 Guys here is a good video about the upcoming Metro 2033 game, I think it looks great

You raise some good points, for me in an ideal world I would want any forum to represent the accurate demographics of gamers. So yes 50/50 would be great but there are several legitimate reasons why we don't see that on these forums and others. Thats fine and I think we all understand the reasons. I am much more concerned with the general level of sexism that exists throughout the Internet and that is something I will always make a point of making a stand against when I see it. Also just to be clear these forums don't have a culture of sexism as has been raised by our female members. But my post was never actually about these forums specifically but it was really more of a general question to get some understanding of the issue

"Gorthfucious" , you crack me up

I believe this is the thread you want - http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/135-location-no-age-or-sex-required-yet/ - albeit a decade out of date, apparently. Time for a new one? Thats is interesting. I only found Majek, Mkreku and Volourn who actively post nowadays Oi! Then you only read the first few pages; Meshugger, Purkake, Morgothm GhostOfAnakin, Samm (somtimes), Pidesco, Monte Carlo, Enoch. You get the picture. But that's like from the first week, some of us took a few months to arrive (can't belive it's been 9! years.. crazy) Now for old school demographic fun.. There's always the Dating Thread. You guys are right, I did only read the first few pages. I apologize, I also see Gorgon is an old member I chuckled when I read Monte's controversial and borderline insulting comments about not feeling European. I see somethings don't change

Thanks for the post, that really doesn't sound pleasant and highlights again the issue around sexism and discrimination that several people have raised that is prevalent in many area's of the Internet

I believe this is the thread you want - http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/135-location-no-age-or-sex-required-yet/ - albeit a decade out of date, apparently. Time for a new one? Thats is interesting. I only found Majek, Mkreku and Volourn who actively post nowadays

I should have posted something earlier but I was focused on my post about sexism. IMO she was an iconic stateswomen whose leadership style was necessary at the time to break the power of the Trade Unions and lift the UK out of the economic quagmire it found itself in during the 1980's. Its debatable what role she played in ending the Cold War but she was instrumental in reducing the power of the USSR along with other world leaders. She isn't very popular in certain political circles in South Africa as its felt she helped perpetuate Apartheid. I don't agree with that as her primary enemy during her reign was Communism, which I agree with, and since the ANC received funding by the Communists the ending of Apartheid wasn't a priority for her. Anyway I know she also destroyed certain economies in the UK so I can understand some of the animosity towards her, but you won't see that from me as I believe she did more good than bad. Iron Lady RIP

That trip does sound fun, I have never been to Russia. Are you going to look Oby up when you are there?

Yeah...you'd think they'd have realized that conceptually, it was a bust. yeah that was good

I have just finished Far Cry 3 and I give it a solid 80/100 I spent about 75 hours playing the game, seriously what can you do nowadays for that long that only costs $35. I thought the game was excellent, I enjoyed the hunting and exploring the island and I liked the way there was an important main quest but there was also the incentive to do other things. Ubisoft has obviously decided that the whole climbing up towers or tall buildings in order to see parts of a map should be a standard part of there games and I like that feature. To be honest I stopped climbing the radio masts when I got to the Privateer controlled part of the Island but that was near the end anyway I highly recommend this game to all lovers of open world FPS, you won't be disappointed

Good post

Yaaaaaaaay, I'm happy that this KS is successful I'm excited about this game. I have decided to buy Divine Divinity on GOG so I can start familiarizing myself with the game world

I know, and thats the type of marketing of games I am vociferously opposed to.

Good points raised, I wasn't aware of the Witcher 2 complaints he had . I loved that game so I must look into it

I don't think I'm a very good example for this sort of topic. I've always been more one of the boys then one of the girls, if that makes sense, so I'm used to a certain level of - for lack of a better term - boys night out hijinks/perspectives. From my view/lifestyle there's a lot of stuff on the internet/in gaming that is claimed as being sexist that I don't see in that light...thus, even if I'm not interested in it I'm not going to be offended or feel put upon when I encounter it. In terms of forums/'net specifically, it's been rare that I've felt truly uncomfortable or insulted by others simply because of my gender. Usually I'm aware it's meant inoffensively or as a joke, or it's cultural differences, or misplaced youthful aggression. True sexism via random social interaction on the 'net is something I've rarely experienced personally - probably because my interests typically mean I don't find/frequent places where it's likely to occur. As to a (perceived) lack of females on the forum - Maria had a good point about how the "official" forums for many of Obsidian's games are often located elsewhere, but I'm not sure that's specific to females. Certainly it's a reason for why these forums are often relatively quiet, especially between games/big announcements. More generally, there's also the transitory nature of the internet and people's interests, as well as why exactly any one person likes to spend time on the internet. There are long periods where I don't post much, here or elsewhere, even if I'm lurking a bit, simply because I'm not interested in most non-game topics or armchair politicking. Most of my 'net time is spent on the pursuit of specific game/entertainment discussion/help or light chit-chat/silliness and to be honest, at times this place can be too "serious" for me. Whether this is at all a male/female thing, I have no idea and don't pretend to know. I figured it's just my short attention span. Obviously I love it here regardless (as well as loving Obsidian). Still, sticking to one place for years and years, like I have here, isn't something that really happens a lot (but it's nice when it does). The internet is like an immense ocean full of millions of tiny islands and I'm sadly only equipped with a tiny rowboat. Only so many places I can put my full attention towards at one time. ...bah that got long, and I'm not sure I really said much of anything. Ramble-mouth.... I don't think I'm a very good example for this sort of topic. I've always been more one of the boys then one of the girls, if that makes sense, so I'm used to a certain level of - for lack of a better term - boys night out hijinks/perspectives. From my view/lifestyle there's a lot of stuff on the internet/in gaming that is claimed as being sexist that I don't see in that light...thus, even if I'm not interested in it I'm not going to be offended or feel put upon when I encounter it. In terms of forums/'net specifically, it's been rare that I've felt truly uncomfortable or insulted by others simply because of my gender. Usually I'm aware it's meant inoffensively or as a joke, or it's cultural differences, or misplaced youthful aggression. True sexism via random social interaction on the 'net is something I've rarely experienced personally - probably because my interests typically mean I don't find/frequent places where it's likely to occur. As to a (perceived) lack of females on the forum - Maria had a good point about how the "official" forums for many of Obsidian's games are often located elsewhere, but I'm not sure that's specific to females. Certainly it's a reason for why these forums are often relatively quiet, especially between games/big announcements. More generally, there's also the transitory nature of the internet and people's interests, as well as why exactly any one person likes to spend time on the internet. There are long periods where I don't post much, here or elsewhere, even if I'm lurking a bit, simply because I'm not interested in most non-game topics or armchair politicking. Most of my 'net time is spent on the pursuit of specific game/entertainment discussion/help or light chit-chat/silliness and to be honest, at times this place can be too "serious" for me. Whether this is at all a male/female thing, I have no idea and don't pretend to know. I figured it's just my short attention span. Obviously I love it here regardless (as well as loving Obsidian). Still, sticking to one place for years and years, like I have here, isn't something that really happens a lot (but it's nice when it does). The internet is like an immense ocean full of millions of tiny islands and I'm sadly only equipped with a tiny rowboat. Only so many places I can put my full attention towards at one time. ...bah that got long, and I'm not sure I really said much of anything. Ramble-mouth.... Thanks for the honest response. I appreciate it I was expecting a slightly more militant and emotive post from you so maybe I should word the question differently " how do you feel about the general treatment of cats on the Internet and forums, do you feel that people unfairly discriminate against them in comparisons to dogs" ?

I also want to play it. You can get it very cheap on GamersGate, the only issue I have with it is that I hate playing RPG where I know there won't ever be a sequel. Its like there is no future for the game world

Don't mean to offend you Zor but maybe you should look past your minor issues with RPS and see that John Walker is making an important stand about a relevant issue. There aren't many prominent gaming websites who are prepared to put themselves in the headlights around the issue of sexism. So maybe he can be a little inconsistent, but if you say you are a liberal then RPS should be a place where you can arguably find other like minded people who also feel strongly about this topic, like me. Lets not throw the baby out with the bath water around RPS