Hurlshort

If you can, try to play through book 1. It is do-able around level 15.

I thought about that, but Hades is a genuinely nice guy no matter which alt he is using. Sure, he's stubborn, but LoF is condescending and lacks any humility or introspection. Hades is nearly the opposite. I am concerned that we haven't seen him around lately though.

I thought this should have its own thread, and Deraldin rose an interesting argument: The big issue I see is that developers have to go through different steps for each platform, so it makes sense that consumers pay for different copies for different platforms. Unlike movies and music, where you make it, then you put it into the correct media format, which is a relatively cheap part of the process. If you release on the 360, PS3, and PC, you are actually developing three separate titles. Sure, there is overlap, particularly with the 360 and PC, but it still requires a lot of resources throughout the life of the project. As for RPGMasterBoo's piracy argument, no one has claimed that companies are tanking solely because of piracy. That isn't the point, the point is if you enjoy something then you should support it. Again, they are games, if you don't have the money, then you aren't going to die without it. We can argue about the bottom line impact of piracy all day, but it doesn't change the fact that you are taking something that a group of people poured years of their life into without their permission.

The internet isn't any more anonymous than the real world. You can make the personal choice to be a good person in both spheres. It has plenty of meaning to the individual, and it shines through to others. Maybe we should move this top WoT. Should we take a poll on whether piracy is ok or not?

Well, before you deal with healthcare insurance, you have to fix the legal system as a whole. Without gigantic lawsuits, insurance wouldn't be where it is today.

My sweaty muscular body is glistening in the sun and I throw a coy look at Lt. Bodgers. Dang, that's why you won the writing contest.

Yep, MMO's are really tough to download, particularly after the first year or so. They just keep on cramming stuff into it.

RPGMasterBoo, did you happen to notice this is a game developer's message board? You might not want to defending piracy here, it's like arguing for counterfeiting money while in line at the bank.

It got a decent review in Game Informer. I'll probably pick it up the next time I go on a trip.

Wow. So basically you are calling the people who don't rip off developers ignorant? You've got it backwards. When I was young and dumb I though only about myself. In High School I went to a FTP sites and downloaded games. When I grew up I realized that not only is it morally wrong, it is also counter productive, because I'm hurting an industry that I enjoy. There is no justification for piracy. You do not need games to survive, so if you can't afford it, you go without. It is immature and selfish to pirate, accept that.

Here's a pretty sweet update coming up, and it's free. http://www.lotro.com/mirkwood/

It's immoral to make a profit off illness and people's fear of death, preying on the sick and downtrodden. J. It's also American, gosh darnit! Seriously though, do you expect doctors and nurses to work for free? There is obviously a line that needs to be drawn somewhere, but there has to be some profit or you wouldn't have anyone involved in medicine. For example, pharmaceutical companies probably make way too much money in this country, but they do need to have a healthy profit in order to fund more research and development, because that is the only way stuff will get better.

A wayward brick hits you in the head, and you are knocked unconscious.

By pirating a game? Of course not. Yeah, no, you are still a thief. I recently traded in my 360 for a PS3, but I really wanted to keep playing Saint's Row 2. I guess I could have stolen the game off the store shelf, but I decided to buy it instead. You know, because that isn't illegal, and it also supports the developer whose product I enjoyed enough to play more than once.

Actually $10 a month if you do it right, they have promotions going on, or if you get invited by someone like myself.

It's more like this:

Maybe they could spell awesomeness correctly though, you know, to be different.

That is a fantastic picture :D

That comic is from some lame EA LotR game, you can swim in LotR Online. There are actually a few LotR Online folks here, including a developer or two. First off, it is an MMO, so if you've hated every MMO you've ever played, this probably won't convert you. However, it is a very well polished MMO, and it does a fantastic job recreating Middle Earth and involving you in an epic storyline. The quests are the real draw for me, they are layered and interesting. The book quests really made me feel involved, like I am taking part in something much larger. The classes are all solid, most of the melee classes have some type of combo system that I find rewarding and isn't just mindless button mashing. It's also quite beautiful, traveling through Moria and the huge stone hallways, or wandering around the shire, there are quite a few visual treats.

I think he is Sawyer's alt. I mean with the Aliens RPG canceled, he had to do something with his extra time.

Yeah, I'm getting pretty down about the Giant's chances, especially after they really got whooped by LA last night. It's hard to be too down though, I thought they'd be fighting to be .500 this season. The fact is they got a lot of young talent and they should be good for a few years to come.

Woohoo, huge that they got Heatley without giving up Marleau. I hope Cheechoo is able to thrive in Ottawa a bit, after 50 and 35 goal seasons, the expectations were just too high for him in SJ. I think he can be a solid 20 goal guy if he stays healthy. Michalek is another 20-30 goal guy, might be even better in a couple years.

I don't see any big changes coming, we've been having these same arguments since the articles of the confederation. In 3-7 years we will have an entirely different leadership and we will argue about the same issues. As for State run UHC, I'm not sure I want California running anything at this point. I have no idea how a state with a GNP larger than most countries is in such a pitiful state.

I haven't read through all of this, but I'm not necessarily opposed to UHC, but for the Europeans, ask yourself if you would want a single UHC program that covered all the countries in Europe. The US just has a huge population, and many people see a Universal Health Care system as a total nightmare that will be terribly mismanaged.

Well, I'd say they are in the order you listed them. This game is kind of boring.