Humodour

An excellent post. Most countries have atrocities and genocides lurking in their past. The most successful ones are those that have faced up to that fact, apologised, and made amends (my own country is no exception).

Comparison? I made no comparison. What I said is certainly correct, though. If you disagree, could you please explain why?

I really hate that attitude. "If you haven't done anything wrong, you have nothing to worry about." It's exactly the sort of logic people use to justify things like government spying. Excuse me if I value my privacy and my legal and human right to it. But there are many other issues at play here: for example, suppose somebody wanted to stalk you or commit identity theft (e.g. credit card fraud, which is depressingly common). Are you able to see how providing the information Hurlshot provides on Facebook makes these things trivially easy? And what about the numerous cases of employers checking Facebook pages before hiring someone, or lawyers using Facebook photos to justify some case against someone in court? There are privacy features which I KNOW used to exist in Facebook (been on it since 2005) which were important and useful but have now been removed. That's chilling. The implication is "we think you shouldn't have as much control over your data and privacy (because it gets in the way of us using your data for advertising and money-making purposes)".

Considering I only use it to communicate with friends and family, that sounds unnecessary. The whole point in putting information like an email address or a birthdate is that it makes it easier to keep track of that information among your circle. I get reminders about upcoming birthdays, I can send out invitations to events, I can share pictures of the kids, etc. What I'm saying is the benefit outweighs the risk of my private information getting out. I also don't post stuff that is inappropriate and I don't really have any hush hush secrets. What exactly is the risk here, by the way? Like, what are you guys worried about exactly, in terms of that information getting out? No offence Hurlshot, but I think on this issue you are rather naive. Let's see, random reason why you shouldn't be so trusting of Facebook number one: http://www.businessinsider.com/well-these-...problems-2010-5

And the history books would be sad indeed if the Nazis, Soviets, or Serbians won their respective wars.

Facebook now faces an EU privacy probe aimed at preventing this feature: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-08/f...o-tagging-.html

I believe this is being talked about wrt Social Security. There are currently two tiers of retirement: 1) Retire at age 65. This nets you a certain amount. 2) Retire at age 67. This nets you a higher amount than retiring at age 65. I think Ive heard/read somewhere that they are now talking about backing the reitrement age to 72. True, but this is not just about what age people are wiling to work until. Jobs have to be found for them. Perhaps more importantly, the jobs those people are occupying before they retire are jobs 'needed' for other people. This is what I meant about a ballooning population. You've got pressure from young jobless at the other end of the system. God, this is depressing. We have a skills shortage in Australia. That means we have more jobs than people to fill them. We currently just 'import' lots of and lots of foreign workers (around 300,000 a year) but at some point we're going to have to raise the retirement age as well. The other thing is that in any country with an aging population, soon the number of young people born each year will drop off precipitously, while the number of old people alive will increase precipitously. When it does, worrying about the youth unemployment rate will be the last thing on a policymaker's mind, and raising the retirement age will be a necessity.

Then one of us has misunderstood the capability of the software. And I don't think it is you.

Oh no, Obsidian is the new Bethesda! :> I must admit it is a rather amusing turn of events.

Yes, they should've cut out the cinematics, the dialogues and the VO because they're not graphics or gameplay. Heh. It's a wierd sort of logic, isn't it?

I really really dispise Facebook's upper management and its marketing and strategy teams. Their goals scare me. They are not in line with the goals of ordinary citizens. Don't get me wrong - one thing motivates them and that's money. They're not evil people out to control everyone (like, say, the Chinese government), but unchecked and unregulated the potential for Bad Things worries me greatly. I fight with myself over the fact that I use Facebook so actively. It's a very useful service. It's a very dangerous service. It has a lot of potential for good and bad. Kind of like the Internet itself. Unlike the Internet, though, Facebook is centrally governed, not massively decentralised. I just wish the people in charge were more like, say, Google (say what you will, Google balance altruism with turning a profit pretty well).

Yeah, I figured that would come up. Full disclosure: I boycotted FO3 and only finally played FO:NV a few weeks ago. Whilst I concede I was stoned most of the time I played it, FO:NV confused me. For a modern 3D FPS version of Fallout, it actually got the 'feel' of a lot of things right, including many parts of the combat (surprisingly VATS was a decent 3D approximation of FO's turn-based combat) and atmosphere. But as the game progressed I found it increasingly difficult to be motivated by the plot, atmosphere and RPG aspects due to the fact that I had to ****ing walk everywhere and continually click to fight, and hold down the movement keys for ages to get anywhere. The repetition and 'hollowness' of Bethesda games leaked into FO:NV and killed the vibe (by 'hollowness' I mean the towns and NPC's felt empty and inanimate after a while). The FPS mechanics got in the way and I gave the game up. I'll probably give it another go when I'm sober. So if FO3 was anything like FO:NV, then I'd say NMA's reaction was overly critical and at times irrational, but not altogether misplaced. That said, the NMA community often had some rather rational reasons for being disappointed or annoyed - the Fallout universe and franchise prior to FO3 was a very rich and unique one in many aspects: plot, combat mechanics, RPG mechanics, control system, art direction, atmosphere, dialogue, party members, etc. Relative to this, the DS franchise is but a spectre. Although I ****ing enjoyed the Dungeon Siege 1 music and art. Those definitely stood out for me. And those two things alone created a certain 'epic' atmosphere about DS1 which I did not feel was replicated in DS2. I actually wasn't aware there was a vibrant modding community. I'll have to look into that next time I replay DS1/2. Which game had the better mods?

I'm guessing you don't get anything most of the time, based on their previous games. It's rather annoying and I don't think it is terribly good game design.

Hmm, that's definitely not the consensus I've been hearing around here, even from the DS fans critical of the controls and combat. I and others have found it quite pretty, with smooth performance. What graphics options are you using? But hey, everyone has different tastes, this just might not be for you. I remember when DS2 came out I really disliked the art direction. It was a step backwards. DS1 was beautiful. Lots of people agreed with me, lots disagreed. Same with BG2 - I hated the change in art direction but some quite enjoyed it.

Me. Other gamers. I mean you can take a look yourself at what the DS fans are complaining about (it feels odd saying that since I would normally consider myself a DS fan), and it seems to be focused on mainly one thing: combat mechanics (including control scheme). Other complaints include: multiplayer (which they haven't even tried yet considering it's not in the demo), and uh... help me out here. Given how utterly bland, non-original, and boring the combat mechanics and control schemes were for the original DS games (and how widespread this sentiment is among those who've played DS - and I don't just mean DS fanboys) I feel rather secure making a judgement call about the depth and value of the Dungeon Siege franchise. I mean Dungeon Siege certainly isn't known for it's brilliant plot, excellent dialogue, great role-playing opportunities, or unique universe (as generic high fantasy as you can get). I don't want to give off the impression I didn't find the DS games fun - I did. I've even replayed them and the MP is an OK romp between Diablo or Torchlight sequels. I'm just looking at this from a critical perspective - the DS games were jack of all trades and master of none. Obsidian clearly decided to cater to their specialty with DS3 - roll playing and storytelling. I think that more than anything it is this change from a generic fun game (action RPG) to a specialised, more niche game (more traditional RPG) that has DS fans so riled.

Oh god, Dungeon Siege in no way felt like Baldur's Gate. Both DS games were linear as hell (DS1 had the illusion of openness) and did the RPG elements poorly (DS2 definitely improved on this). Kind of the opposite of Baldur's Gate. By the way, I thought Dungeon Siege 1 was thoroughly beautiful (Dungeon Siege 2 on the other hand... urk). I haven't played much of the demo yet and if I do discover that Obsid catered to the console crowd at the expense of their core market, that will be quite disappointing and may just be the final straw that stops me buying their games anymore. We'll see. Have to wait till I can try it on a decent computer.

What about the franchise? I'm sure there's a lot of people who aren't happy with the direction the franchise is taking, don't they have a right to complain? I think they certainly would if the Dungeon Siege franchise actually stood for anything in the first place. It doesn't really.

God you're lame. You got a demo, you didn't have to buy anything. You didn't like it? K, don't buy it. No need to have a bitch about the fact. Because, just so you know, a lot more people ENJOYED the demo than those who didn't. C.f.: http://forums.obsidian.net/index.php?&...e=show&st=0

Yes, basically try turning every graphical option off, or down to the lowest setting. Then, sequentially turn them all back on or up until you recreate the glitch, and at that point you'll know which feature caused it. EDIT: NM, you got it. Opened this thread as a new tab about an hour ago.

My gripe is that they called it Dungeon Siege 3. The name 'Dungeon Siege' is already stupid, why tack on the number 3 when it's not a sequel and will thus enrage DS fans? A much better idea, given Obsid obviously wanted the brand name recognition, would have been 'Dungeon Siege: Jeyne Is A Big Fat Bitch' or something. You get the idea. Similar to how they did with Fallout: New Vegas. Definitely no props for Obsid's marketing team.

You know, speaking of 9/11, this is like watching a 9/11 denier at work. OPEN YOUR EYES, SHEEPLE!

Perhaps, Zoraptor, but NATO is just a wee bit different to the Gaddafi dictatorship (and the propaganda released by NATO is on a whole different, less retarded and certainly far less evil level to that of the Gaddafi regime). Let me enumerate some of the differences between NATO and the Gaddafi regime: 1) NATO seeks to avoid and certainly minimise civillian casualties - Gaddafi doesn't give a damn, and in fact is currently trying to starve multiple towns to death (not all of them rebel-held, but I guess he sees them as potential threats down the line) by cutting off supplies like water lines, 2) NATO is trying to free the Libyan people (with the support of the Libyan people) - the Gaddafi regime has a long and current history of brutality, state-sanctioned domestic and international terrorism, human rights breaches and now war crimes against its populace 3) People accept that there are innocent casualties in war. It's horrible, but if you're going to sit there telling me the alternative - sitting back and watching this bastard **** Gaddafi continue his reign of terror and state sanctioned murders, rapes and tortures - is superior, then that worries me somewhat. Not that you have done that. Libyans may live on the other side of the globe, but that doesn't make them any less real people than you or I here in Oceania - they have hopes, children, careers, and feel pain like you or I. And they deserve and want to be treated with basic human decency like you or I. Perhaps a bit of a condescending rant given your post was limited to cynicism about NATO propaganda, but I did not at all like the intimation that NATO is as bad as the Gaddafi regime.

who gives a flying f? I would say fans who wanted to play Dungeon Siege 3. The Dungeon Siege games were pretty bland and generic. Fun, yes, replayable, heck no, and definitely generic high fantasy. DS1 had a bit more flare in some ways, but more boring combat (it basically played itself) and fewer role-playing elements than DS2 - there was little unique about it. I really don't understand this fascination with wanting some sort of mystical sequel to DS1 or 2. You want a more Diablo-like game? Fine. That's different to saying this game doesn't fit the DS universe though - because frankly DS2 didn't fit the DS1 universe at all well either.

Look, frankly, Dungeon Siege doesn't even HAVE a 'feel'. DS1 and DS2 were quite different, and DS3 is different again (for the better, based on what little I've played so far). But what I really wanted to point out is that, while I agree with Pidesco, he is a moderator, not an Obsidian employee. Please don't misinterpret his comments as coming from Obsidian.

And yet in the war crimes trial of General Radislav Krstic, the court twice found that what occured in Srebenica was genocide (the second time was due to an appeal). And what of the women who were raped? More of them than those of who died (i.e. thousands). Such rapes constitute war crimes in and of themselves, and indeed Serbian soldiers have been charged with war crimes for such rapes. Do you deny they happened? And what about the male children who were murdered? Was that also because they were soldiers? As to your original link to a work by the denialist Mr Herman... hmmm... no: http://srebrenica-genocide.blogspot.com/20...srebrenica.html