Hurlshort

You should try Saints Row 2 first, it is considerably cheaper. You might really like it, I loved the customization, from my wardrobe to my cars. But it might not be your style at all.

One of the worst things I saw with the Occupy movement was the fact that small businesses in the downtown area were losing business and even dealt with vandalism. That is the exact opposite way to change the financial system. I think I also read a story about how one of the Occupy groups had collected money and then put it in an account, which just happened to be with a major bank. Come on! Pulling money out of the big banks and going with smaller credit unions is a good start. Pushing legislators to close up the tax breaks for huge corporations and supporting small businesses is another. This is a tricky position, you don't want the government to have too much control over the economy, but you also don't want it dominated by a few gigantic corporations. We need more economists and less politicians.

The problem was that a lot of financial institutions and companies accepted a very high level of risk well knowing that they were too big to fail. They were entirely unable to make judgements about the big picture and with their high level of access their self interest, which was assumed to be to the benifit of us all, resulted in the opposite. That's a valid complaint, escpecially given the scope of the crisis. We can't have a system balancing on a knife's edge in order to maximize profits. We can't change that either without a major rethinking of our financial system. I agree wholeheartedly. I just don't see how camping in a park is going to achieve that.

Apparently you have a 2% chance of surviving a headshot, which is pretty good.

The problem is the banks have all paid back the bailout funds, with interest. So I understand frustration with the fact the banks continue to get wealthy, good economy or bad, but I just don't see how letting them fail would help anyone.

Yeah, you would think. That's kind of my whole point, the occupy movement was terribly disjointed and had no specific goals. They were just camping out for a couple months. How long were they palnning on doing that? There are people who have no choice but to live in tent cities, and I thought this whole movement was a slap in the face for them. I'm betting most of these people had houses to return to, whether it was their parents or a cheap apartment.

Well, I'd say that most of these protesters are graduates who are in $100k debt or something from tuition loans, Really? Most of them?

There are quite a few people who have survived gunshot wounds to the head. Their faces usually look pretty terrible, but that works well with the facial creator in this game. Heck, there are people who have fallen out of airplanes without parachutes and survived, so nothing is out of the realm of possibility.

120 hours in just over a week? Wow.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I'm off to the Big Bone game, which is a High School football game they've been playing here for about 80 plus years.

That was actually my biggest complaint with WoW. They were so worried about PvP and balance that they weren't willing to implement cool stuff. It took them way too long to introduce a new class, and then they cheated a bit with the Death Knight. They've been around for like 8 years without adding new classes, that seems weak. They seemed to do the same thing with the gear.

I still have no idea what the Occupy movement was all about. What was their goal? What was the change they were looking for? I listened to a few speakers on it and they seemed more concerned with playing hackey sack and camping out.

They did have an option in TOR to match your armor to your chestpiece, meaning everything looks a bit better color scheme wise. Hopefully they put that option in at retail.

Cant, you've just gotta stay out of the whole rat race for gear. It seems like a terrible way to play these games in the long run, it just leads to burnout. I've never worried about getting the best gear in an MMO. I'm not sure what the end game will be like for TOR. I do know gear is all about upgrades rather than replacements. It sounds similar to the way epic weapons worked in LotRO, and that was a great system where equipment leveled with you.

I was thinking Shea Weber as well, since Nashville still has Ryan Suter and they really need a guy like Malkin. But I doubt that is enough for him, and Nashville probably doesn't have the moolah to sign him in the long run. What's his contract status anyways?

You only have one companion then, and you get them around level 8, so that seems a bit problematic. You can unsummon them or just keep sending them on quests every ten minutes. Make them go pick up your laundry and sell your junk, it's cathartic. Don't forget you can modify their combat abilities. The droid for my Jedi Knight was really annoying, he would grapple hook everyone I was fighting and pull them away. Finally I realized I could disable that. Honestly companions are a huge selling point for me, just like the Bioware RPG's.

Considering how amazingly police departments across the country handled the Occupy protesters, it's pretty sad that they get tared and feathered over this one instance. I would say the difference is in training and preparation. The forces that went into the Occupy literally had weeks to prepare and train for the eviction. There was one rough night in Oakland, and everyone stepped back after that and investigated how to handle the situation better. The UC Davis protest was handled poorly obviously. I think it might be an indicator of problems within that specific department, or maybe even more generally University police departments, but going after cops in general is a bit much.

Also, your companions can just sit back on your ship and have very little interaction, just like in every other Bioware title. You only get to take one with you at a time (not a requirement, but pretty helpful) so I can't imagine getting to annoyed with them. I'm not a fan of the cover system, I'm just not comfortable with it. But I can see where it will appeal to some people's playstyle.

That's funny, I did the same thing for my wife. Little bit of a pricey Christmas present, but it will be fun to have a gaming partner again.

*cough* Guild Wars 2 *cough* I stand corrected. Just have come to not expect such things from MMORPGs. Has anyone played the Agent, and if so, how is their story/playstyle ? I would say there is a fair amount of choice in each storyline in TOR. One of the earliest quests in the Sith Warrior campaign has you deciding the fate of three prisoners. You can let them go, keep them imprisoned, kill them outright, or let them fight for their lives. Then when you finish, your master lectures you about what the right choices were and why. Some are simple choice, some are a bit more complex.

But isn't that kind of the whole point of the Mandalorians? They aren't really with the Empire, they are just looking for the greatest challenge. They purposefully distance themselves from the greater conflict. I don't know, I've never been a big BH fan, even Bobba Fett. It's a shame because I love the abilities they have in combat. Did you play any other classes? I am just wondering if there might be a different storyline that you feel better about.

It's funny, but I'm playing the Bounty Hunter in beta because I know it is the last class I would want to really play in an MMO. And while the story has been engaging enough to this point, there are still some things about being all about the benjamins that rub me the wrong way.

Sorry to hear that Tale. I wasn't aware that companions were forced on you, my highest character is level 15.

Krookie didn't say anything negative about Malkin, he just wishes they would move him for a top defenseman. I loved Devin Setoguchi, but I was still excited that the Sharks moved him for Brent Burns, because it filled a serious hole in the Sharks lineup. I agree that there probably isn't anyone worth Malkin on the market though.

I'm looking for a way to cancel my cable TV subscription, but my wife is impeding me. I can get most shows through Netflix or Hulu Plus, but the tow networks she wants is Bravo and Lifetime. I can't figure out a way to stream those. Such a hassle, it's like $70 a month for nothing.