Hurlshort

I finished The Arrival DLC. Left a pretty bad taste in my mouth.

I read a good article on Shanahan and his job the other day. I like that they are really emphasizing education and transparency. It's a tough job to cut down on injuries without getting rid of the physical nature of the sport.

I also haven't heard of it. It can't be that hyped.

Hmm, I have a hard time believing they would discard the current stories in any way. My guess would be that they war will either take place in entirely new areas on existing planets (as well as new planets) or they will make heavy use of instancing to give the illusion of a changing world. For example, in Lord of the Rings Online, you are traveling on a similar path as the fellowship of the ring. When the game launched, the Fellowship was in Rivendell, out in the open for all to see. But eventually they had to move on as new areas were added, so Turbine hid them away in instanced buildings in Rivendell for players that were behind in the story, and moved them forward for those at the front. So for TOR I would guess that a world could look very different depending on what level or what part of the story you visit it in. They could have a Coruscant for levels 10-50, and then a separate Coruscant for post-50. Just my theory, they could do something entirely different. I just can't imagine them altering the class quests in a dramatic way though.

This I can agree with wholeheartedly. I would probably say that is going to be my biggest hurdle with TOR in the long run. I hope they continue to add areas for all level ranges, not just end game content. It is one of the reasons I still go back to games like Everquest 2 and Lord of the Rings Online, they continue to make it interesting to start and level new characters.

The choices in ME2 did have an effect on the ending in that game though, your crewmates lived and died based on your decisions. I'm guessing some of the personal stories will matter. I romanced Ashley in the first game, and then I avoided hooking up with anyone in ME2. Because of that her picture stayed on my desk and all that. I'm expecting that to be addressed in ME3 n some way, I'd be surprised if it wasn't.

It is completely unreasonable to expect the game to fail you because you made a bad decision 30 hours earlier in the game. I lived through the Sierra adventure era where you were screwed if you missed picking up a fish in a barrel, and I don't miss it. However Bioware did a great job acknowledging my choices from ME1 in ME2. Whether it was the way a conversation went with a former companion, or a simple email, I felt rewarded for my choices.

It's more about a small market team finding a way to compete against big markets with gigantic payrolls, but really it's the story of Billy Beane and his unique path to stardom. I think it's a bigger deal for me because I live in the Bay Area and watched it all unfold, even as a non-A's fan.

I loved Moneyball as well. It's definitely a baseball lover's movie.

Submitted my taxes, pretty nice return that will all go towards paying off credit card debt. I can't wait until I'm done paying for day care.

I picked up the Arrival DLC, I figure it will be a nice little prologue for ME3.

I did enjoy arresting the fake king of Alderaan in his flooded throne room. But yeah, the different houses were fairly uneventful.

Interesting stuff on JA: Back in Action. I'm glad to see it is on Steam, I might pick it up down the road just for the nostalgia factor.

Is the game available in Asia yet? I know Korea/China account for a good portion of that huge WoW number.

That's pretty much what I expected for it, very good numbers. I'm guessing they need to keep about half those numbers to really be a solid hit and ensure there is a nice big team working on it going forward. I really have no idea if that will happen. I've heard a fair amount of grumbling and there are a lot of folks playing it like a single player RPG, which means they will likely leave after they finish the story quests. But I've also seen a lot of rabid fans that can't get enough of it. I know I'm in for the long haul, I can tell there is enough content to keep me occupied for a good year or two at minimum.

What's a warzone? Seriously though, I'm sorry to hear you are having trouble with the PvP. I haven't even thought about trying a warzone, so I have no idea what it's like.

I thought they addressed the fps problems too? I swear I read something about how they are working on the fps drops in your starships and other odd places.

Thankfully its payday, we were getting down to our last few bucks in my household. For some reason teachers only get paid once a month, and that is made worse this time of the year because they pay us in mid-December and then don't pay us until the end of January. Going 7 weeks in between checks while dealing with holiday expenses is always pretty rough. We did a good job of not leaning on the credit cards this year, so I'm happy about that. Hopefully I'll finish up my taxes tonight as well.

I remember LotRO implemented a full graphics overhaul about a year after release, basically making it compatible with the newest version of DirectX. WoW has also done quite a bit over the years to improve the graphics quality, if I'm not mistaken. There are definitely some issues with TOR performance wise. As with most MMO's, I'm guessing it will be a much smoother experience in a year. Everquest 2 was a complete mess when it came out, but I went back awhile ago and it has really come together performance and graphics wise.

You know these people don't go to prison right? They are arrested, cited and then let go. If there is a lot of them, they might get put in a jail cell for awhile while they handle all the processing. So yeah, resisting is dumb. I don't think the officers should have to chase the guy around the park and wrestle him down. Maybe this should be in the gender thread, because you've also got two female officers and a large male resisting, that doesn't sound like a good mix. These officers are also carrying quite a few weapons, they never want to be in a position where they can be overpowered and have those weapons taken away. Anyways, I guess this is getting way from the point of the thread

I'm pretty sure it was the early 90's.

I just finished Game of Thrones Season 1, it was fantastic. I've had less luck with the other films I've tried to watch recently. The Dilemma - This is a comedy about a guy who finds out his best friend's wife is cheating. But it really was more uncomfortable than funny. I only watched half of it. The Green Hornet - I thought this might be funny, but it really was just off and Seth Rogen is fairly unlikable. Again I only made it halfway through. I might try and finish it, but I doubt it. The villian seems somewhat entertaining. Clash of the Titans - Great special effects, but they really took the greek myths and butchered them. It's just a mess, I found myself laughing out loud a lot and it wasn't really a comedy at all. I finished it because my wife made me. Arthur - This one actually seems decent. I had to go to bed so I still have an hour left in it, but it was picking up and getting pretty funny when I stopped it. Jennifer Garner is great as a terrible person and his love interest is charming. Helen Mirren is also fantastic. Katy Perry's ex husband was a bit annoying at first, but it is toned down later in the movie.

I'm guessing he didn't have a permit to camp there. Seriously though, he was resisting arrest. I've seen plenty of these protesters arrested peacefully, they tell you to sit down and put your hands behind your back. Just do it.

Oddly enough, I was just talking with 53 Americans, and Australia never came up in the conversation.

I've heard slicing will make you filthy rich. Rumors are that will get nerfed pretty soon. I'm thinking most of my alts will do slicing and something that gets decent companion gifts, I'm not a fan of the actual crafting of items.