Nonek

Well there are a number of reasons for the state owned banks being bailed out in the UK, not least among them being the fact that the politicians (of either side) and the bankers went to school together, mix in the same social circles and any MP can usually retire into a comfy executive position at such institutions come the end of their tenure so long as they've not rocked the gravy boat. Politicians of any party are fairly much in the business of perpetuating parliament, not representing the will of the people, and if they've not got their noses in the trough over here they've usually got a position in Europe where they can lap up the cream of unaudited expenses. In a rather cynical mood today, sounding a bit preachy as well, sorry about that the subject always gets my dander up. You'd think i'd be old and wise enough to not care any more. Edit: Zoraptor makes a brilliant point in that while Labour over here has fairly much divorced itself from the unions, the Tories have become the lapdogs of the banks, a vicious circle of alliances and cronyism.

Mrs Thatcher was doing just that with all of the nationalised industries, which were mostly running at a loss. Her hatchet man in the steel industry had for the first time in years made it profitable, but cut jobs massively in the process. As I remember he was then appointed to oversee the mining industry and came into immediate conflict with the unions. When it finally all boiled over into the general strike it was revealed that Mrs Thatcher had been stockpiling coal in case of just such an action, and the unions lost their ability to blackmail the government through energy cuts via their striking.

Well nationalised a fair while ago, but though technically under the governments auspices it was mostly the NUM (national union of mineworkers) who ran the show in reality through striking and picketing. Some attribute the fall of Mr Heaths government to their industrial action, can't remember whether that was 73 or 74.

Touch anglocentric, but these little movies are rather nice: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbGFb1Pu-YA

One would think that Annah would instead of trying to make her father commit suicide, simply stop his involvement in Wounded Knee, from whence he came to the baptism to be shrived of his sins. This is before he became Comstock, so if the suicide works then by virtue of a normally functioning universal temporal system, anything earlier should also work. To be honest the more I think about the defeatism and predestination of the ending the more i'm sickened by it, truly a slave obeys. I think Ken Levine ought to have played the Legacy of Kain games, or at least spoken with Ms Amy Hennig, they deal with predistination and the manipulation of time in a far more tasteful manner.

What makes the mine closures even more tragic is that half the workforce never voted for a general strike, Arthur Scargill did not even have a majority when he chose to try and oust the democratically elected government, many pits were never balloted. The miners who refused to accept his unvoted for action, and returned to work suffered intimidation, violence and social pariah-hood, and a lot of them squarely blame old shredded wheat head even over Mrs T. It's an extremely sad and far from simple tragedy, that resulted in cultural wastelands, and allthough her role was significant Mrs Thatcher cannot be portrayed as the only instigator of it. Mr Scargill and the NUM had overthrown one government, and were intent on doing so again.

I'm not asking for conversion to be the sole purpose of Eternity's priests Fashion Mage, but to be a holy duty that no faithful son of the church can overlook, and as Tsuga says even a little acknowledgement of holy responsibility outside being a healbot would be nice to see for once. A priest of knowledge in a den of Half Orc illiteracy and barbarism, you beard the smart, wily old Shaman and teach him the power of words and knowledge. He'll soon see the beauty of holding secrets and the power one may wield when one knows more than others, self interest leads him and his tribe to your god. Tithes for the church, an increase in its sphere of influence, the smartest of the tribe sent to study with your church so that they too may go out to spread the word. A priestess of the killing god, a little old woman who mostly sits at a desk and scribbles orders and missives all day, her hands have never known the touch of anything heavier than a quill. She is a gifted orator and fine administrator however and thousands have been drawn to her god by the dark charisma she commands, the passionate fervour with which her hands fly in mid speech. Her orders have mobilised entire armies, the faithful crusaders of mother church and prompted the shedding of blood across entire continents, what are a few murders when compared to the genocides she has ordered. The church is the means to an end, the empowerment and domination of its god, and his revelation as the one true divinity. For that to come to pass, all must acknowledge his glory. I'd also like to see holy strictures of mundane nature brought into the game, fasting on holy days, feasting on others, labour being outlawed for the duration, peculiarities of clothing and diet to be adhered to etcetera, etcetera. A list of saints and angels for every religion might be going a little far however, imagine the work.

To state that there is only one method of stopping Comstock when you have all the powers of time and space at your disposal seems a little feeble, I can think of a dozen ways of ensuring he doesn't get born, from before and after the baptism. From before DeWitt was even born in fact. The storyline limits itself for absolutely no good reason. The baptism is an artificial point of decision, and the urge for suicide to me at least distasteful, even with Booker's dying brain conjuring up that last pleasant delusion.

A stunning landscape. Wonder if we'll see any more waterfalls, say for instance something as gargantuan and awe inspiring as the Iguazu falls on the Brazilian Argentinian border, as featured so memorably at the beginning of the Mission.

The fact that she became Prime Minister in a country that is still ruled by the Old Etonian boys network is something in and of itself, never mind that she was a greengrocers daughter from Grantham, one cannot say that the woman lacked ambition, strength of will or direction. I'd prefer her rule than the current generation of spineless, non confrontational, corrupt fops that we are currently saddled with.

For me the method of how to tackle sexism is simply to not be sexist, and I don't need a game journalist preaching to me on that point, if I fail to notice my other half will tell me in no uncertain terms if i'm crossing any lines. As for game developers, they could look to making more characters like Kreia: Strong willed, able, self motivated and intelligent rather than half dressed, idle, idiots whose only form of empowerment is pointless slaughter, as we've been requesting for years. Ultimately I don't want developers to feel that they've got to work to checklists and focus groups however, that's a recipe for the "accessible" games we are currently saddled with.

I remember the years before she came to power, hillocks of rubbish in the streets, intermittent or no gas or electricity, dead bodies remaining unburied, fairly much every public service on the verge of collapse. Maggie might not have been the Prime Minister Britain wanted, but she was certainly the leader we needed. Of course in dragging the country into the modern world there was a lot of damage done, and there are poorer areas of Britain that have still not recovered entirely.

My wifes been celebrating since the news broke, find it a little distasteful to crow over an octogenarians passing but then again my home village and industry weren't decimated like hers.

Personally i'd see that as preaching, I doubt that I have the authority to tell people what to think (I certainly don't have the inclination,) or that my code of ethics is superior. I am responsible for my family and myself, nothing more, going beyond that is not to me the right thing as no matter how objectionable ones view I believe they are entitled to it. The moderators maintain the standards of the site, and they seem to do an admirable job in that regard.

I can't see what exactly i'm supposed to do about other peoples behaviour, that's their business. I have no desire to enforce my morality on anybody else, in fact i'd find that utterly distasteful.

I stopped reading RPS a while ago, the endless articles preaching of sexism in the industry were not particularly bothersome as that's nothing to do with me, I just happen to think that their standards have plummeted rather severely lately. That Nathan Greyson chap especially is quite clearly trying to network a job in the industry rather than undertaking unbiased criticism, the mans interviews fairly much function as a developer bidet, except when he's trying to wedge more sensationalist claims of sexism into an unrelated topic.

Seems to be an eminently nice place on these boards, i've yet to experience any behaviour I would regard as overtly aggressive or confrontational, but then again for me it's only a virtual reality and hardly something to be taken seriously. It's nice that there's less parroting of the latest popular memes and other internet obsessions, such as that childrens cartoon about equines or the massive preponderance of smilies that inundate the less articulate of writers prose. The other half admits that it seems a little too high brow for her taste, but she's a yorkshirewoman of extremely grounded sensibilities.

Yes and Tyris Flare should be taking off her brassiere if Ax Battler's got to go shirtless, fair's fair. How sad that I remember their names.

With the knowledge of their own immortal souls and access to powers such as Ciphers and Wizards etcetera weild, our characters are allready supernaturally potent are they not? Then again I never mind a well implemented otherworldly mechanic such as the Soul Devourer of Mask, or the Exiles strange charisma.

Gods need worship and followers to remain potent, even if their metaphysical strength is not derived from belief, the strength and wealth of their church and the number of followers who uphold their dogma is a key aspect of faith, if they are to remain a force to be reckoned with in the world. There might well be wildly varying orders, but even they will hold that turning an unbeliever to the true faith is a divine duty, never to be overlooked. Thus there are even more willing souls to do the deities bidding in his sphere of influence, and their god is proven to be paramount and true. Political and secular power can also not be forgotten, one assumes that faith is an intrinsic part of government and everyday life in Eternity, rather than being carefully segregated from statecraft by law as in most western democracies. Indeed Saint Waidwen seems to have weilded almost a nations strength from the descriptions, and the fallout from his death is bound to have real consequences for the faith. The weakest gods cause is strong if the whole world follows him and his doctrine.

Considering the very real benefits of rising to the zenith of the clergy, sainthood and immortality like Waidwen, one can only speculate on how byzantine the power games, pretense and politics being played out in the quiet cloistered halls of the church might become. I picture something reminiscent of the Name of the Rose, with a prize that is worth achieving through any means necessary.

They're connected but not in an intrusive sense, it stands alone as its own game with a few nods to the previous ones that are not too jarring.

In my own pen and paper games my Clerics had one purpose, to spread the word of their god, and thus Charisma was their all important stat and was used for little miracles and strengthening their smiting arm. On the flip side evil Priests were usually demon summoners, using their charm and charisma to make infernal bargains with malefic beings. Spreading the faith is something i'd hope to see more of from a roleplaying standpoint, as it's so often overlooked for the Cleric, and how else would one rise up in the heirachy of their church.

You can do exactly this with Ceasar in New Vegas, and they've allready said that faction reputation will be their main method of an alignment like system so I don't get what changes you want to what they've allready announced. The opinions of most dialogue members will still be decided by actions, whatever your words.

But dialogue proves nothing until acted upon surely? You can wrap King Leonidas round your finger with the right words of brotherhood, alliance and honour but if you fail to follow up with deeds then your words are empty, and discarded. Advice can change minds and the deeds of others, but you woukld have to prove yourself through actions before they'll listen to you. I suppose persuasion and intimidation can yield results, though I can't see any effect from the lowest forms of wit such as sarcasm. But these dialogue options are present in fairly much all of the Obsidian games, and yield various results.