Hurlshort

Well I doubt many developers actively pursue brain deadening their games. But it is very difficult to make a game that really appeals to the hardcore fans but still manages to attract the much larger casual (not a very good term, I know, but I try not to belittle people) audience. I think Bioware failed with DA2, but the ME trilogy as a whole satisfied me and I plan on giving whatever they do next a careful look. Every once in awhile we get a developer willing to take some risks, like Firaxis with Xcom, and it can be enough to give me some hope. Still, I worry that the sales of Xcom will simply backup my worst fears.

So Skyrim is an example of a good RPG?

There are a lot of problems with your analogy, but the main thing I want to say is that Bioware is a business, and they aren't going to grow by simply releasing 90's style RPG's. I think you are overestimating the amount of people interested in such games. Heck, Project Eternity is targeting that audience, and people are even paying way over market price for the game, but they still only managed to get 80,000 people to pay for it. That just doesn't come close to the numbers of more mainstream titles. We might as well go take a swim in a tar pit at this point

Anubite, you seem to be very passionate about this, and I appreciate you taking the time to go into great detail with your responses. Comparing Dragon Age 2 to a recent Adam Sandler film actually seems pretty fitting. I do think you should work the target audience into your lists though. I'm more prone to agree with your rating of DA2 as a bad game because it seems like it missed its audience. That's why I typically say Bioware has changed its target demographic, it is no longer going after the people that bought Baldur's Gate. However a game like Starcraft 2 and MW3 seem to be designed very successfully for a certain audience, and so are harder to justify as bad games.

I completely agree with the first part of your sentence. It is comfortable that you can watch any episode of Law and Order and not be confused about the cast and plot progression. As for it not being very dark, I disagree quite a bit. There are extremely disturbing storylines in all the L&O series, although SVU tends to take the cake. The Wire is great because i doesn't hold anything back, but I also don't mind a show that uses some subtlety, which network television obviously dictates. Also I've seen quite a few Law and Order episodes that don't end on a happy note. Hung juries, lesser charges, etc. I'm three seasons into The Wire and the first two seasons have actually wrapped up pretty nicely at the end, so I don't see a huge difference in terms of verdicts. The big difference might be that corruption within the police force is rarely a storyline in L&O, while it is front and center in The Wire. But I still think there are plenty of favorable comparisons between the two shows.

I'll take a cut of that

It could be the end of the Monkey Island franchise, that's pretty horrible at least. Actually I'm guessing Disney will be more willing to license out a property like that than Lucasarts was.

You guys have really weird opinions of Law & Order. Thankfully for me they don't reflect the views of the general public, as it was an immensely popular series that went 20 seasons and has spawned extremely popular spin-offs. Criminal Intent is my favorite, and SVU is a close second, although it can be hard to watch. I'm enjoying The Wire tremendously, but I fail to see how it is insulting to compare it to one of the longest running crime dramas ever created.

Well, there're tree rings too : http://wattsupwithth...s-in-ther-data/ The problem with claiming scientific consensus is that academics are overwhelmingly leftist, and thus can't be trusted on issues touching public policy. They have a huge confirmation bias. Plus I remember the Y2K panic and the alarmism over Kuwait oil fires, and I'm still waiting for Krezack's giant solar flare to destroy civilization. It's more concerning that there is a real lack of academics on the right. Academics by definition are highly educated, so it should concern the right that few academics support rightwing policies.

DA2 is a very average game. The reviews back that up. It has decent graphics, music, voicework, etc. I didn't enjoy it all, but that doesn't mean I put it in the same class as a broken or poorly produced game. I think arguing it is a poor RPG is a more successful track. It smacks me as closer to an action game than many that wear the RPG genre moniker. That being said, Diablo 3 is called an RPG too.

Bummer! I remember as a teenager I fractured my big toe. The first doctor I went to didn't even see it on the x-ray. We went to our family physician the next day and he found it. It was super painful to walk on for the first couple days, but it did heal fairly quickly. Good luck.

I believe regardless of global warming, we should be doing everything we can to lessen our negative impact on the environment. I am realistic to the fact that you can't force everyone out of business to do so though. You need to balance progress and profit with preservation.

Here is one of the almighty Thor.

I'm pretty sure John Carter was a massive financial failure.

The Wire is like an episode of Law & Order on steroids. Throw in some New Jack City for good measure. edit: I've always considered Jon Stewart more moderate than anything else.

I understand the whole fanboy angle, I definitely prefer episodes 4-6 to everything else that has been created, but I think some of the people in here don't realize they are not the target audience. The idea behind every new launch of Star Wars content is to bring in a new generation of fans. My kids love the Clone Wars, but I can barely get them to sit through The Empire Strikes Back. Episode 7 will be aimed at them, or even younger fans. It's smart business.

I don't know how an episode 7 could really be all that close in the timeline to 6. I doubt they would really use replacement actors for Luke, Han, and Leia, and they are too old for anything but cameos. My guess is you set it a bit further out and focus on the kids of those characters.

I'm currently on season 2 of The Wire, but I can't put it on the list comfortably until I've watched the entire thing. 1. Firefly - Probably helps that it only had one season, as it didn't go long enough to get stale. 2. The IT Crowd - Best comedy ever. I'm still heartbroken that they decided not to do a final season. At least the two main actors are popping up in a lot of new movies. 3. Lost - Watched every episode as it aired, so it must have done something right. 4. Stargate SG-1 - I started this on Netflix, and 10 seasons later I was amazed I missed it backi nt he day. 5. Community - Has some brilliant episodes. 6. Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Surprised this isn't on more lists, it just did so much more than I ever expected. 7. The Office - It has really fallen over the last couple years, but the first few seasons were phenomenal.

Then you probably shouldn't have posted all the other drivel.

I made a good dinner tonight. I put brussel sprouts in the oven for 30 minutes after dripping some olive oil, salt, and pepper over them. Then I boiled some carrots, the trick is to throw a little sugar and tarragon in with them, gives them a little sweetness. Don't overcook them either. Lastly I made bowtie pasta with a creamy pesto sauce (using nonfat milk.) The pasta was this new vegetable fusion type, basically they use carrots and squash when they are making them. http://www.barilla.com/aggregator/prodotto_barilla/1306 It was delicious. Anyways, I'm starting to get a bit more creative on this super low fat diet, and it's going well.

What the hell? That's being lectured? People really see what they want to see. Although it wasn't a very funny bit, I'm not sure how you see that as anything serious. Also that looked like a nice kitchen, and I doubt Joss Whedon has anywhere near the money necessary to have a full staff serving his every whim. I'm sure he has a house cleaner and maybe even a cook, but he's not exactly a mogul.

*bump* Fund this people!

I tend to avoid the organic stuff most of the time. I'm not really against it, but usually when you have a salmonella outbreak, it is the organic stuff. Plus I live next to a field so I'm pretty sure I'm already well exposed to all those pesticides anyways.

LC, I'm heading to the Public House, the bar attached to the park, to watch the game today. It should be pretty crazy, hopefully they clinch tonight so I can buy my shirts right there at the park.

My WoW account was hacked, and Blizzard kept telling me it was an issue on my end with security. I don't believe it for a second. Blizzard has security flaws and they are targeted more heavily than any other company out there.