Humodour

um, democracy was invented in 510 BC by cleisthenes, the beginning of the period referred to as "classical greece." taks You might want to read up on the history of Greece and Rome before you make up your little hypotheses. Democracy then was often very different to democracy now (and largely not about individual rights). Not to mention that democracy didn't last that long - much of the time the Greek and Roman empires were run by dictators and emperors.

Nepenthe, why on Earth would you buy an Xbox360 just to play Mass Effect (*cough* PC, helloooooo)? In fact, why would you buy it to play ANYTHING, since a computer is almost always superior (except for certain team games with mates)?

I'm not depressed! I'm just saying that my past couple of NYE's have been depressing. Maybe depressing and ashaming. Yes, I know that's not a word. Edit: as for not having done anything wrong... well that's debatable. I'm 21 - I should've finished a degree with Honours by now except I'm still stuck at the start of it, and instead I'm finding myself disturbingly content in my day job as an IT helpdesk monkey earning a 'meagre' $50k a year.

I like the way you think, but there are a few logistical problems preventing me from doing that.

Is so depressing.

It's a part of the game. Eventually the trees wither away and die, and then they can be planted anew. You misunderstood what I mean - I understand the tree mechanic, diminishing returns each cycle after being planted. But there's another aspect to it which I discovered after reading a dev post (and would probably eventually discover in game). Minor spoiler:

This.

Do I NEED this computer game? Am I greedy for WANTING it?

Well I apologise if that was not your intent. I figured you were making some remark about trolling in the thread and how you were about to close it. Why couch your contribution in language like that otherwise? Frankly I don't understand where you're coming from. Are you arguing that consumerism is an evil, not capitalism itself? I'd in fact argue almost the opposite - corporatism is the evil, not capitalism itself. Yuusha: Capitalism and democracy have been mixing well for many decades now. So have socialism and capitalism. Any modern Western democracy is a collection of parts from various different ideologies (mainly democracy, capitalism, and socialism). You could certainly argue that any society based purely on capitalism would not function. I can understand where you're coming from because Indonesia is a fledgeling democracy still trying to shed decades of history where graft and corruption were the norm in politics and the economy. But surely Indonesia's present-day advances compared to even 10 years ago, as well as examples from the rest of the world (e.g. Europe, Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan) are clear evidence for the success of democratic capitalism?

Anyway while we're on the topic of Mr. Smith, I'd like to quote him:

Where the hell did that come from?

This thread is rather alien to me since I don't see how it would be a good or a bad thing if Christianity supported something (because it has a very murky track record for being on the side of good in the past).

After I had a hissy fit about it, my friend mentioned it was probably magnetism (e.g. lodestones). Perhaps related to unobtainium. I mean, really, it was just a gimmick. Don't read too much into it.

The Sisters are naked hotties that strike erotic poses when you give them Colour, though.

OK, so I restarted now that I know that the sisters want specific colours. Anyway I somehow managed to plant 3 full Emerald, 2 full Gold, 1 full Silver and 1 full Azure (Silver and Azure were mini-trees though) all in the first cycle. Next thing I know, the second cycle hits and it drops an absolute crapload of Amber in TWO different chambers! Ahaha awesome. Love this game. I really should get past the metagaming and enjoy the plot and atmosphere, though.

My favourite would have to be... Lost: The Game.

Funky. It worked fine on my debit MasterCard, which isn't even a true credit card. :S Sure you entered everything correctly, including security code on the back of the card? You're probably looking at me in a bad way for asking that. Sorry.

I want to play Batman: Arkham Asylum and Dragon Age but my graphics card is melting so they cause blue screens of death. So in the meantime I'm playing The Void which is as beautiful first-person-survival-thriller-RPG-turn-based-strategy game. I booted up STALKER and enjoyed the atmosphere but my first go at combat sucked so I put it down again. But I did this with Torment and Deus Ex as well (my favourite games of all time) so I'm not terribly worried. I tried playing Indigo Prophecy and while I could see myself enjoying it, the control system is so moronic it would send my insane. I'm not sure I'm willing to play it. Oh, I'm also playing Aquaria which is this neat little indie 2D sidescroller on Steam. It's got great graphics, voice-overs, story and gameplay, though. Quite immersive.

'Artsy' as in Morgoth is above playing/enjoying it, like most games, books and movies out there. Honestly, this game being artsy is secondary. It's also got great gameplay mechanics and atmosphere. Haven't played The Path, sorry. For reference, on Metacritic (aggregator), reviewers give this game an average rating of 80%, users give it 85%. Usually an 'artsy' game does well with reviewers but not with users. It's DRM-free so you should be able to download it from another digital store. You might want to ensure they don't use some sort of online validation system like Steam first though (i.e. their own DRM, which I'm guessing is the reason you're avoiding Steam). E.g. http://www.direct2drive.com/8688/product/B...e-Void-Download Although it says "This product is available worldwide excluding South Africa, Australia, and Western Europe." WTF? I wonder if New Zealand counts as part of Australia there... Or perhaps: http://www.gamersgate.com/DD-VOID/the-void

Violet I think, but I haven't had any of that yet! The 'negatives' section of Colours in the game journal (Chronicles) confuses me.

Same. That was one of the most awesome things about it.

Considering the huge need for Emerald and Gold in at least the early part of the game, I think I'll restart so I can plant more of those trees. 2 of each doesn't seem to be enough. Does anybody know why trees produce less each cycle? I mean trees that are planted each cycle (not the diminishing returns when they're running out). At first it was 46, but now it is 36 for a fresh tree. Is it because I've been using too much Silver in the world or what?

Every review I have read has spoiled the game too much, so no. Go buy!!! I'll quote the start of one for you though:

Hahaha jags. Yeah play KB:TL first. Armoured Princess is a stand-alone expansion. I forgot to mention that. They are both as good as each-other.

Basically, since blood is equivalent to Colour (your lifeforce) in the game.