Hurlshort

Did they take the servers down on purpose? I just don't get the whole attitude here. There are quite a few things in my life that I have bought that didn't work exactly the way I wanted. That doesn't give me a reason to start stealing those things. I either deal with, or I buy a different brand, or numerous other solutions that don't involve anything illegal.

I certainly hope that won't happen. We butcher enough history as is - alternative history is usually just an attempt to impose specific interpretations on times and events that just can't be bend enough to peoples liking. I usually try to phrase it as "What would your life be like if so and so didn't happen?" For example, if Charles Martel didn't stop the Umayyad advance into Europe, would Christianity still be the dominant religion in the world? Sometimes it works. It's pretty hard to get a bunch of 12 year olds to reflect on their society.

It's funny, but after I wrote that I read an article about a bunch of DLC and how multi-tiered collector's editions are beginning to become more common. I guess costs are going up!

DRM is a pain and I'm no fan of it, but it's simply the publisher's attempt at protecting their product. It may be misguided, but it could be a lot worse as well. At least the publisher's aren't trying to make up for the fact their products are pirated by charging the paying customers more. Game budgets have skyrocketed over the years and we still continue to pay the same price.

Greylord, I see what you are trying to do here, but a trademark violation really only becomes an issue when you are profiting from it. It really doesn't compare to downloading software and using it illegally.

There is also a huge gap between singing a song and downloading a game illegally.

Finished Act 1 with my bounty hunter in TOR. It was pretty awesome, a very good end to that part of the story. Now I've got my legacy unlocked and I'll start a new Republic character, probably a Jedi Knight.

Vanguard was a pretty decent MMO that had more of the hardcore elements. I believe it is still running today with a few servers.

This xenophobic remark beats everything your american buddy said, congrats. I'm not saying you aren't welcome here. Although if I did, it would be because of your general unlikability rather than any nationality.

True, games are closer to counterfeiting money, since the overhead is so low compared to manufacturing drugs and fake pants. Good point!

So is my inhaler. It is not uncommon in the NHL to get a cortisone shot.

Delfosse, maybe you can hold off on the insults and generalizations a bit? Gifted and mrkreku may be bickering and giving each other a hard time, but they stop at outright name calling. Also given your low opinion of so many Americans, I'm not sure why you are hanging out on the board of an American corporation.

Ah, also a cortisone shot will probably be administered.

Was going at the idea that stealing decrements the amount they have. Not really the case with pirating the game, and is a bit different than slating him as a mugger. Although, I suppose you could consider stealing as getting something for nothing, so may be. The raging on this is always cute though. Bleh, we've argued the whole definition aspect to death enough times already. Let's not get into that. Morally, if someone creates something and asks for compensation, and you take it without paying, you are in the wrong. mrkreku is more arguing about regional conflicts that make it unavailable to people.

Back injuries can be a bit odd, a lot of physical therapy and heat and cold treatments can make a pretty huge difference fast. It's really a matter of working out the knots.

I don't really see how they can possibly include all of Tamriel, I would think they would handle it like Lord of the Ring Online has with Middle Earth. You don't want a bunch of generic towns everywhere.

Jagged Alliance 2, my favorite game ever, was actually released in Europe many months before it made it to the US. While I was upset and really really wanted to play it, I still waited until it finally got released stateside. There are Japanese games that don't get released here as well. The fact is these are still just pieces of entertainment, and my life goes on whether I play them or not. mkreku, are you really saying there was no legal option to get Gothic? You couldn't have someone buy it and send it to you? You couldn't wait until it was available for purchase online somewhere?

Yawn. I have to say, I just don't find the ES universe very interesting. Daedric princes and all that are fairly yawn inducing for me. I love the idea of exploring a huge world that looks beautiful, but the lore has never really pulled me in. Morrowind was the only one I ever got close to finishing the story on, and even that lost me after awhile.

Well I'm really a fan of all history, so it's hard to choose a specific one. Right now I'm teaching about the Mesoamerican civilizations like the Mayan and Aztecs. The fascinating thing about this unit is how independently they develop. Even Japan, which was fairly isolated, still had some cultural diffusion with the mainland. There are also so many mysteries left about groups like the Mayan. We really need a time machine to answer some of the questions left behind here.

I've been seriously hitting SW:TOR lately, I started a bounty hunter on a new server, and I've got him up to level 30. I want to unlock my legacy, and then I'll start a few alt characters for fun. Almost there!

The problem is now you have plenty of legal ways to get games and music, and yet piracy is still rampant.

Congrats to Oby on finding his lifemates. Hiro, I think your camera is broken

I think we may be glossing over the point. The USSR is not a country anymore, and it is The Pirate Bay's fault.

Do you notice anything about your two quotes here? Anything at all?

Says "Born in USSR" in my Russian passport. Says "Born in Leningrad USSR" in my Belgian passport. I love how americans talk without knowing a single thing about the eastern world, it cracks me up. Actually we don't really spend much time at all talking about the eastern world. You, however, go on and on about the western world.