Hurlshort

Does arguing semantics really make it easier to clear your conscience when you copyright infringe someone else's hard work? It is still a crime, can we agree on that?

We are forgetting the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes.

No, it's really not. Is someone supposed to buy an album on a leap of faith? Christ, it would take several hundred dollars just to stumble upon a band you enjoy. I don't know about you, but I only buy music from bands that I already know and enjoy (exception for debut albums, of course). If you were to deny people the means of discovering obscure music, which these days is mainly piracy, obscure music would die. There are quite a few avenues to legitimately sample music. I have a hard time believing this obscure music you are talking about is only available via illegal methods.

That is a fairly ridiculous argument. It's ok to pirate because the album is difficult to find? Really, that's a major stretch.

Yeah, I'll disagree with that. TW voice is atrocious. It is severely grating. Shephard is nowhere near those levels.

Anyone else playing Minecraft? The game is super addictive. I haven't touched the multiplayer element and I'm curious as to how it works. Does someone need to host the game and then let others join it with an IP address? Anyone interested in setting up an Obsidian world? I have a fairly slow DSL setup, I'm out in the boonies, but I'm not sure how important it is to have high speed for this game. I'd host the game if I can without everyone having a ton of latency.

Giving a mix tape to a friend or two is a lot different then giving out mix tapes to a few thousand folks.

You are trying to justify something that is quite simple. You have a company that puts time and resources into a product, and then they ask for a certain amount of money for it. When you take it without paying, it doesn't matter what you call it, it is wrong.

With all the suggestions about reading comprehension classes, perhaps we should organize a forum workshop? I have a couple binders with reading comp. materials around here, I'd be happy lead one for a modest fee

Minecraft - Holy moly, the time just flies by. I finished up my crafting shop and turned off the game last night, and was shocked at how late it was.

I still buy music. I buy music that has recently been released by bands that still exist. That doesn't mean anything at all. Because you do something legally most of the time does not excuse doing it illegally some of the time.

Is the voice-acting on the same level as Risen? I thought Risen was leagues above the Gothic games in the voice acting.

The other day I came across my copy of NHL '94 for the Super Nintendo. It was a nice little bit of reminiscence, but in the end I threw it away. I have no Super Nintendo, it's old technology, and time has marched on. I went out and bought NHL '11.

I'd be more concerned if Valve wasn't such an extremely successful company. They aren't going to just implode someday. There is a chance they will shift business models, like WalMart did with their music store, but I believe it is in their best interest not to burn all their customers. I also don't care about my game collection that much and don't expect it to last me for decades.

If Pakistan goes radical, a war between India and Pakistan is likely. Given that these are nuclear countries, it would be hard for an country not to get involved. A la WW3.

Drawing comics is hard work.

Imagine if Steam had done this. The world would have ended. HAHA Actually this is a valid concern of mine... if Value or Stardock pulls a DNF and ends up in chapter 8 (lets just say for the sake of the discussion it happens, not debating the odds of such) what happens to those of us that have bought games on the service? With impulse at least I can archive the installed games and reinstall them locally as long as I got a copy of impulse still to manage such. Steam from my understanding if the service goes down the games stop working... While I bought many games via impulse and I had to install steam for civ5 (don't get me started on that) I am very apprehensive of this model. As you have a vest interest in the company staying afloat. If it does not you just lost all those games you bought. Valve already have a system in place, should this happen with Steam. Which is...? Not very informative nor reassuring... THe CEO released a statement about it awhile ago. Something to the extent of "in case of catastrophe, Steam has a number of back up plans to make the games available."

Your totally fab, Hurlie, but someday I'm going to fall out of my chair when I see a negative "this game looks like ****" post from you. Don't keep me waiting! I took that stance on Dante's Inferno. It still bothers me that they pillaged an epic of classical literature. People complain about what Bethesda did to Fallout, but I have a hard time putting that in the same class as the abomination that is a hack and slash version of the Divine Comedy.

It does look pretty cool though, the whole floating city thing.

Do not question the shogun!

The constitution is vague enough where it can be applied to many issues.

It isn't quasi-legal at all.

Oblivion was a large lore disappointment, compared to Daggerfall, Redguard, and Morrowind. It was just super bland. I think they get it though, they did much better with Shivering Isles.

The new f2p stuff in LotRO is pretty interesting. I have a ton of free points since I have been a subscriber forever. I hope they release Rohan soon though, I figure it has to be just around the corner.

You are just making stuff up. Here is a chart of MMO subscriptions, which has had a steady climb. Also, WoW has had a steady drop in the last couple years in subscription numbers, which means there is a void to be filled.