Gorgon

Who were initially so inept they almost allowed Germany to do the impossible, because their command structure had been devastated by Stalin's purges.

But we are talking about voting on whether or not officers get to whip disobedient subordinates. In any case with independently thinking men and women the prospect of voting, or to be more exact, disagreement in the middle of battle becomes real. People need to be able to shut up and do what they are told. Or at least that's the prevailing idea.

lol How do you think the anarchists in the Spanish Civil War picked the leader of their military units? How do you think the early Bolshevik-aligned soldiers organized themselves? Officer removal via vote has historically played a pretty major role amongst ultraleftist western revolutionaries. Those would presumably be the anarchist militias which proved totally incapable of a single offensive operation? I think Che Guevara was on an expedition in Africa before he got killed in South America, didn't amount to anything though. The argument is a little thin if we are just talking about militaries and discipline. Without question the most able forces are based around it. As a redcoat in the Brittish army circa 18th ct. you could expect to be whipped or shot for disobeying orders. Wasn't pretty, but it also meant no one wanted to be the first to break formation and retreat, which is why they out performed the American revolutionaries again and again. The democratic process is too slow to be effective in battle, maybe in future it will be possible through some kind of neural hive mind network. In fact such decision making could be superior to a traditional command hierarchy.

It's desperation. You know love has some very unpleasant sister emotions.

It would have been a lot easier to swallow if we were talking about first contact, and not the x-files type government cover up reaching back to the 60s. You can't keep a secret that big for that many years. It's just not practically possible. On the other hand the existence of alien life is entirely probable, which most scientists concede without being able to offer any percentages of course.

That would be Hiro

Having worked in one I concur with Humanoid.

It would appear that the teachers cunning plan to force you all to think for yourselves and formulate your own opinions is bearing fruit.

That all depends. Sweatshops are profitable because they mistreat the workforce, and they are a part of the whole that makes up Capitalism.

It's too bad no one makes real tactical shooters anymore. I'm thinking a la ghost recon before the series got infected with consoltitis.

Look, employment, with the exception of the public sector in those cases where you can't fire anyone without misconduct, is a mercenary relationship. That goes both ways, the sense of company loyalty common two or three decades ago has long since evaporated. People aggressively negotiate wages on an individual basis regardless of what that does to the prospect of collective bargaining. In Denmark applications for 'safe' government jobs in the health industry has risen by, in some cases, several thousand percent since the start of the financial crisis.

There aren't going to be anymore Kotor games, just some depraved Mmporpheger.

Thanks for that. Not only are they awesome, but they just helped me with my work. Ok, what the hell do you do anyway. If that's not too forward.

It's an interesting problem though. How many of you believe that a company has a moral duty not to lay off staff if it can be avoided, and where does the idea come from. Isn't dog eat dog the basic operation of businesses in a Capitalist society. There is some evidence to the contrary, for instance public pension plans in many European countries approach their investments with an ethics clause, but private companies.... Many do take the highroad to acquire and maintain a good image. Things like a 'CO2' policy are getting common for companies which depend on a good standing in the public, but do we expect companies to maintain staff - especially in an economic crisis where getting laid off is a more serious business.

What do you mean 'forcing' there is no expectation that a company has do anything other than making money for their shareholders, what are you, a Communist ?

It's called downsizing and it's all about remaining competitive and the message, to the shareholders, of a strong earnings report. Just making money is not enough, you have to do better than predicted. Sacking a lot of people and telling the rest that they have to do more with less works better than just telling everybody that they have to do more with less. Growth through acquisitions is faster than expanding the core business, and if you don't do it you don't look like you are going places. in order to "narrow its product portfolio to provide greater focus on titles with higher margin opportunities." Think sequels and reboots of proven titles, and not much else.

He's a reasonably intelligent guy, you would think he was capable of playing more than one kind of psychopath. On the other hand it's an action movie, there isn't a lot of time for Shakespearean monologues

I didn't buy the premise of the blue hand at all. An s&m club where people pass the time by playing Russian roulette ?, is that really what people would be thinking if they knew they were going to die. It doesn't seem to fit with how people diagnosed with a terminal condition spend their day. It seems to me people in that situation would be looking for purpose, salvation, rather than an orgy. Also there are some excellent possibilities for philosophical comment, the surface of which have barely been scratched.

same for me... i purchased all expansion packs for all games that i own and have released it... the difference between DLC and Exp pack is in most cases very big... you usualy get more fun for same money from exp packs for you it might be effective marketing, for me it is dealbreaking issue... there is reason why i never watch TV stations, which do have commercials in middle of movies... they do break the immersion for me as much as stuff for real money NPCs in computer games... But yes it is effective marketing in a way... it effectively saved me 60 EUR Trickery is effective marketing, otherwise they wouldn't bother. Now in the case of the DLC It's all about appearance, I'm not suggesting they are deliberately scamming. For me the nuisance is the salesperson in the camp. Making an adon with considerable impact on the skill tree and doing it concurrently with the host game, intending to launch them at the same time. To me it's also ever so slightly dishonest. If people insist that people who try to sell them stuff appear honest, and I am one of those people, an overt strategy like the one in the DLC will run into problems. I actually pay attention to business practices that I dislike and make it a point not to buy from such vendors. Say if there has been news coverage about an electronics chain which attempts to dissuade people from making claims on their warranties or price an enferior product line identically to the high end one figuring people would be too stupid to notice. Recently there was a case where a supermarket chain re packaged old meat and sold it as new. After the story broke they started loosing business at an almost exponential rate. After which they started running apology ads in all the major newspapers. They are certainly acutely aware of the importance of perception and having one's name unstained.

That is part of being in college. Kindergarten through 12th grade teachers are supposed to stay away from voicing personal opinions and challenging students over political and social issues, but once you hit college that goes out the window. What class is it anyways? Today I built a playhouse with my father-in-law. It is two stories and has a climbing wall and a slide, as well as a swing set. It took quite a bit of time, but it looks good. We got it for free from a neighbor, just had to take it apart, move it, and then reassemble it Just write that you are current not doing anything to combat racism, and that you don't feel you have to apologies for not being a bigot.

They need something to do other than flying around and going through the od gate.

As an aside I believe wholly that nuclear power will be a major part of dealing with energy crisis and global warming. Unfortunately that inevitably leads to proliferation and a situation eminently more dangerous than a handful of western powers locked in a cold war.

Every time the 'air raid' siren, signifying disaster conditions, had sounded all the kids at my kindergarten would run and ask if it was either the bomb or Barsebeck ,the smoke stacks of which were visible from the harbor, gone critical. I kid you not. I'm sure a lot of that came from watching our parents' paranoia.

Acting as a block in trade is one thing, foreign policy another. I don't like the notion, but just to play the devil's advocate, imagine if a capable EU deterrent had existed when people started going crazy in Yugoslavia.

Cool beans. I think the U3 engine is sufficiently advanced to be an option for a long time.