JadedWolf

Whenever I think I've seen it all, something comes along to make my jaw drop. 'TOKYO — An outspoken nationalist mayor said the Japanese military’s forced prostitution of Asian women before and during World War II was necessary to “maintain discipline” in the ranks and provide rest for soldiers who risked their lives in battle. The comments made Monday are already raising ire in neighboring countries that bore the brunt of Japan’s wartime aggression and that have long complained that Japan has failed to fully atone for wartime atrocities. Toru Hashimoto, the young, brash mayor of Osaka who is also co-leader of an emerging conservative political party, also told reporters that there wasn’t clear evidence that the Japanese military coerced women to become what are euphemistically called “comfort women.”' http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/osaka-mayor-says-wartime-sex-slaves-were-needed-to-maintain-discipline-in-japanese-military/2013/05/13/4151bac4-bc43-11e2-b537-ab47f0325f7c_story.html This sort of news makes me do a double take. "Did that just happen? ..."

I think we can pretty much forget about Obsidian making a KotOR III now.

There are many ways to make two people in the same armour distinguishable. In the BG series of games, there were black armors, gold armors, red armors... All with a different look and colour to them. Granted, these were only the magical variety, but if you would give such choices at the basic level, I am sure you could distinguish two characters from each other while keeping armour unisex.

Thanks for that, I picked it up as well. Already had all of them on disc, except for IWD2, but to have them all digitally and for pretty much peanuts... It's a steal. Going to give IWD2 a try now. Only took me eleven years to pick it up... SpiritofPower, if you want install some mods for PST, here is a nice guide:http://gamedrone.net/2010/09/29/installing-planescape-torment-with-fixes-and-mods/

So Planescape and ID2 for the 'best of both worlds' as it were? I'm mainly trying to get a decent picture of what the Infinity Engine games were like in both story and gameplay so I know what to expect from PE, and Icewind Dale 2 looks to be pretty fun. Thanks for the suggestion! It really depends on where your preference lies. If you prefer story over everything else, Planescape Torment is your thing. Now, I can't say anything about IWD2 because I haven't played it myself, but I have played the first IWD and that felt to me like they had just almost removed all the story elements in favour of improved combat and game mechanics. If you want a mixture of both good story and good combat and game mechanics, try BG2. Personally my list would be 1) PST 2) BG2 3) IWD in that order.

What an idiot. He got what was coming to him afterwards, looks like.

Communist-Industrial-Socialists? From urban dictionary Short for "cisgender" (opposite of "transgender"), used to describe someone whose gender identity matches their anatomical gender at birth. How does that equal being a scum? Have I missed a subculture somewhere? I think he is being sarcastic. As for the topic, while I do agree that sometimes political correctness can go to far, I find that often the people who complain about political correctness are the ones who start telling offensive jokes immediately afterwards. I don't know if any of you have any interest in darts, but a certain darts announcer by the name of Martin Fitzmaurice was fired this week for making some racist jokes during a lull in a livestream darts event. He started off complaining about how the British Darts Organisation had told him to keep politically correct, and he then made it perfectly clear he wasn't having any of that with such jokes as "What's black and eats bananas? Half of London!" Oh, yes, hilarious stuff. He must not have realized he was still live. Of course, after he was fired people started to complain on forums about political correctness gone mad: http://www.ukdebate.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=29745 <Sarcasm>Oh yeah, you can't even compare black people to monkeys anymore, some people are just being such oversensitive liberals...</Sarcasm>

It is quite well known that she felt little compulsion to fight for women's rights. While I agree that she has become a role model, it's not because she had any desire to be one (not one for women, anyway). Here's a piece from a BBC article: "And Patricia Hewitt, a minister Tony Blair's Cabinet, told the BBC News website: "Margaret Thatcher broke through the glass ceiling in politics. But it is a tragedy that, having become the UK's first women prime minister, she did so much to undermine the position of women in society. " "Margaret Thatcher damaged women's place in the workplace, undermined families and communities, and did nothing for women in public life. It was a wasted opportunity on a gargantuan scale." But the mere fact that Mrs Thatcher was a woman and reached the peak of political power had an impact. Lady Williams says: "Her own achievement of course changed the whole attitude of people to what women could achieve but it was very much a personal achievement... "She didn't see herself as a leader of the women's movement but little girls begin to think they could be prime minister."

Concerning their credibility as an investment country, I think that ship already sailed, and is already halfway around the world.

It was a deal Obsidian agreed to, was it not? Yeah, they did. Not sure what your point is. My point is that there is nothing wrong with paying or not paying according to a contract that was agreed by both sides and has very specific terms (most of which are unknown to the general public). I don't know what the all the rage is about. Yes, it was close, but I doubt "getting close" is often taken into consideration when making a deal. Metacritics is a terrible site, yes, but the same thing could happen if the condition was "sell this many copies in that many months". I think you completely miss what my post is about. I am not "raging" about the deal; not at least to the extent that I am saying that Bethesda not paying was wrong. It was legally valid and a very, very good deal indeed for Bethesda Softworks. They made a lot of money out of it indeed. I just think in retrospect it was a very bad deal for Obsidian and if making another Fallout would depend on another such deal I would rather have them spend their time and energy on something else.

It was a deal Obsidian agreed to, was it not? Yeah, they did. Not sure what your point is. Well, we don't know how much Obsidian actually earned from NV, and the metacritic thing was just a bonus. Obsidian got what they were promised, whatever that was, and it is known that NV opened a lot of doors/led to a lot more opportunities for the company. And pretty much every public face at Obsidian has said they'd love to work on another Fallout game if Bethesda came to them about it. They obviously benefited much more both financially and in terms of publicity from NV than from, say, Dungeon Siege III or KotOR II. From both a business and a creative perspective, there's no logical reason for Obsidian to refuse another Fallout project from Bethesda. Well, maybe you are right and it was a good deal in the end for Obsidian's reputation. And honestly, I can't look into the financial side for Obsidian; maybe they did make some money out of it. But considering how many copies were sold, it just seems downright wrong to me that they didn't get more out of it. Especially since Obsidian had to cancel a project and lay people off in the same time. So if Obsidian can get a better deal with something else, maybe even something they can develop themselves from the ground up like Alpha Protocol or a new kickstarter (though I honestly don't know how profitable that would be), I would vastly prefer that. Don't get me wrong, I loved FO;NV, and if they can get a better deal than last time I would be all for it.

Pretty unbelievable stuff this. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21768668 TL:DR version: Nixon told the South Vietnamese delegation at the Paris peace talks not to negotiate a peace until Nixon would be in power, promising them a better deal. Lyndon Johnson knew of this because the South-Vietnamese embassy was wiretapped, but didn't want to disclose the wiretap. Democratic rival in the presidential elections Humphrey was notified, but decided he would win anyway. What a mistake to make. Now, I have no idea whether the Vietnam war could have ended sooner (and under better terms for the Americans) had this not happened, but just the thought of it... Wow.

I'd think so, I know that the community for NWN is still active and, even though it was smaller, a fair number of people who worked with NWN did things for NWN2 as well. In fact, there's a group of people that have been hard at work to make a Baldurs Gate module for NWN2, and they've been at it for years, and it's still not finished yet. They should be finished this year, though. http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/167/index/3120312/42 I'm really curious to see how it will turn out.

I haven't read all the official / political documents as a common person that I am, but there are at least 3 claims that are really common here: 1 - 2) Historic and legal rights: Based on a) the legacy from Spain, b) resettlement from Argentina while the isles were abandoned and the c) expulsion/problems that came later when the British arrived again. 3) Geographical rights: The islands are not only near Argentina but in fact they are part from its continental shelf, so they are literally in Argentinian territory by most treaty's. (+ its has given many complicated problems with the sea regulations) Ofc they are far more complicated and detailed than that but that's the reason why the conflict still exists. The fun thing about this all is that I don't like nationalism, it blinds people and makes people feel superior to others. But if a give my opinion in this kind of debates its cause this is greater than Argentina or The United Kingdom, its about law and justice: how we make our relations with other country's / people and respect them. Don't be mistaken, if tomorrow I see some kind of convincing proof of ownership I would totally defend the British. Its just, that this time I don't think they have the upper legal (*) and moral ground. (*) PS: I feel this needs to be made clearer: Falklands are occupied with UK people from 1833, its only logical to conclude that people who was born in British ambient, culture, with British parents, grandparents etc... and are having a good way of live wont feel like suddenly having a strange urge to be from Argentina. The referendum is just a political propaganda so the people don't think about what was really wrong at the beginning. PS2: Yes, I play lawfull good characters xD Good post But don't you think the interest that Argentina has in reclaiming these island has anything to do with the oil that has been discovered there? Of course it is about the resources. Even so, I suspect the actual motive of the Argentinian government to stir this up is to deflect attention from a poor record at home. When you're having trouble at home, stir up something abroad to make people look the other way. The average Argentinian can't care less about a rocky outcrop far out sea with a few sheep on it. As for "PS: I feel this needs to be made clearer: Falklands are occupied with UK people from 1833, its only logical to conclude that people who was born in British ambient, culture, with British parents, grandparents etc... and are having a good way of live wont feel like suddenly having a strange urge to be from Argentina. The referendum is just a political propaganda so the people don't think about what was really wrong at the beginning." What was wrong at the beginning? Are you saying people shouldn't have a right to want to belong to what country they feel they belong to? Or is it because the British are supposedly colonial? All the states in South-America have a history in colonialism. Now, if you're saying we should hand the whole lot back to the native population, that's something else...

I'm not saying it's right, it's just how it is. No one ever backs down from a territorial dispute. In any event that would make the question whether the Falklands are part of Britan and what the islanders think is once again irrelevant. What you are saying is not true, though. Example; the Dutch had a colony called the Dutch Indies, now Indonesia. During WW II, Indonesia claimed its independence. After WW II, the Dutch returned to Indonesia in force. What happened next is a complicated chain of events, but it came down to the Dutch winning the war on the militairy side, but losing it on the public relations side as Dutch misdoings in the war made news headlights. Under pressure from the UN and especially the US, they were forced to recognise Indonesia's independence. Now, I am not saying the Falkland isles are in any way similar to Indonesia, I am just saying that public opinion counts for a whole lot. And in that regard the actual inhabitants of the Falkland islands voting to be British means public opinion outside of Argentina tends to favour Britain. Imagine that Argentina would actually land on the Falklands, what would they do with the inhabitants? It could be that we could see news reports about Argentinian soldiers killing innocent British inhabitants of the Falkland isles. Such an issue could inflame the situation in such a way that Argentina would sorely regret its actions.

Yes, like WoD said! If Argentina can have the Falkland Isles 'back', can we, the Dutch, have New York back? It belonged to us before the English and Americans after all... Just uhm.... Ignore how we stole it from the native Americans. We'll take good care of it. Wooden shoes for everyone! "The problem for the Falklanders? is that they don't posess the military strength to protect their sovereignty. One could argue that the minimum prerequisite for a country is some ability to do just that." Didn't the British, which they are part of, you know, win the Falkland war? In any case, with your reasoning, a country with a large enough army would have the right to conquer pretty much the whole world. After all, they didn't have the strength to defend themselves, right, so they didn't deserve to be sovereign. So we can just conquer them, yay!

After what happened with FO:NV (the metacritic thing) I honestly would rather see Obsidian put their time and energy into things that would offer the company a better deal.

If history would only have been a little different... Apparently a lot more people would be speaking Swedish. >_>

Just chiming in to say that I, too, would say that lady nr. 2 is the better looker. Painfully slim is not my cup of tea. Also, yes, the time that Western civilization rules the roost is going to end sometime. And not because we've fallen into some sort of decadent wasteful era akin to the last years of ancient Rome, but simply because other countries are catching up. We're not that special anymore, deal with it.

A belated congratulations to Mr. Rorie on his new job, may it work out great for him. Edit: also, some of the discussion on this thread made me think of: http://dgaider.tumblr.com/post/39544291251/on-fandom-and-toxic-environments

How dare people leave Obsidian, indeed. We must put a stop to this. Bring out the chains! Let's see them leave with a 40kg iron ball chained to your feet, eh? -Cackles madly- None shall leave, and great games will be made! -Cracks whip- Get on with it, minions! Get on with it! Oh, and remember to enjoy yourself. I will be taking notes. If I don't see smiles, questions will be asked. *Tough* questions. Carry on. ... What are you looking at me for like that, I said CARRY ON!

This made me laugh, and about sums up my feelings when reading this.

By the way, for those of you who were worried about the multiplayer focus of Elite: Dangerous , it is confirmed that it will be perfectly possible to play the game offline.

The latest update for Elite: Dangerous is , and looking good. If anyone here is still on the fence, take a look and see if this might win you over.

That sounds a bit like this Kris landed by boat, rushed ashore, put a little flag on this fellow Steve Goodman, struck a pose, and said something akin to "In the name of the queen, I hereby claim this person and christen him Steve Goodman! Now, let's go find the natives and tell them the good news." ... But then again, maybe I just have a very odd imagination.