Hurlshort

Not really. Most companies are very honest about the fact they won't pull in 9 million people. They don't need to though, just getting a few hundred thousand people is more than enough to create solid revenue. Surprisingly few MMO's have shut down over the years.

I think it has something to do with MMO's making some companies a ton of money, and the fact that the revenue continues to flow in, whereas most games are only profitable for a few months after the release. Maybe we should offer to pay Obsidian $10 a month to make excellent single player RPGs. We'd only need about 100,000 people to buy into that idea.

On a side note, Lord of the Rings Online is really reminding me of my years playing AC, and has definitely recaptured the Turbine magic. They are also back to releasing epic updates every couple of months for free. Housing is next.

I'm an American, and I spent last Saturday at a Mosque for Ramadan with 80 of my middle schoolers. They are all Americans too, although i didn't check their papers. Many parents were there too. It was an open house, so there were city council members, Christian clergy, and I think a few Buddhists there as well. The US and Israel are not the Islamic world's biggest problem. The fact that Sunni's and Shi'ites bomb one another is. No Muslim country is going to achieve real economic success until fellow Muslims learn to live side by side in peace, even if there views on Islam differ. But hey, Christianity went through all this for centuries. Christian denominations were at each other's throats, but in the last century it has been relatively quiet.

I got my 10 minutes of play, and I was pretty happy with what I saw. It's not likely to win over many MMO haters, but the game really does offer a fresh take on the genre and it is very professionally done. The ship to ship combat was great, if you ever played Sea Dogs, it's fairly similiar.

I don't get the whole re-envisioning comment. Bethesda has always made their RPG's a certain way, going back to Arena and Daggerfall. They aren't some newbie trying to change the world of RPG's, they've been around a long time and they keep doing what has brought them success. Just because it isn't a formula that you appreciate doesn't mean it's some evil company.

I wouldn't say excellent puzzles, but it is the best Elder Scrolls thing since Redguard. The difficulty isn't insane anymore, so you don't have to metagame the **** out of the system, the story pulls you in, it's visually imaginative, engrossingly crafted and the few characters that are built upon are about a hundred times more interesting than the sorry sods in Oblivion. Yes, it doesn't do away with some of the flaws in the main game, but the additions fortunately overshadow them. You're right, I think I mean the puzzles were more engaging than excellent. They definitely didd a better job with character development.

Roenick countdown: 3 goals to go.

Technically I said more depth that might appeal to you. Every game has some sort of depth. For Hellgate the dpeth lies in the inventory system, and for Half0Life 2 it's probably the physics engine. In Solitaire it's the different card faces you can choose. I prefer the castles.

Bah Yuusha didn't address my question Why do you keep ignoring the free love movement we've got going here? Pull up a bean bag chair, enjoy a brownie, and watch the stars move to some Pink Floyd.

I think, considering what I know of Sand's tastes, he'd be unhappy with the Half-Life package. It's still very much a standard FPS. Hellgate: London has more depth that I think might appeal to you.

Actually Shivering Isle is a very imaginitive quest line with excellent puzzles.

Myth and Warcraft don't really have anything in common. If anything, Myth is an early precursor to a game like the Total War series. You don't manage resources, you use formations and terrain to win battles.

I second this motion. Do we have a third?

On Penny Arcade, they were discussing what an Irrational developed Halo would look like. Bungie is great, but this hardly means Halo is dead. Maybe we'll see Myth again!

Does this mean the return of Marathon?

Uh, immigrants would not welcome a Mexican succession. Every Mexican I know believes their government is f-ed up and they are glad they have US or dual citizenship. You can be proud of your cultural roots and realistic about state of the government at the same time.

Yuusha, do you believe there is an innocent side in this conflict? No one is claiming that the US and Israel haven't commited violent acts in this conflict. What I'm saying is that both sides need to leave it behind in order to have any peace. If you go into mediation filled with fury and vengeance on the brain, you won't get anywhere.

I'm voting Torrey Mitchell for possible rookie of the year. He undressed Steve Staios 3 times last night and had a couple great chances, including one that rolled off the post. I'm a bit surprised he didn't get a chance in the shootout, instead we went with Marleau and Cheechoo who have combined for 0 out of 30 shootout chances.

I'm trying to play the stress test, but I'm having issues...of course I think that's my fault for hitting the test server button.

Well, it takes two to tango, I suppose. The fact is both sides need to move beyond their bloody history with one another if there is to be any peace. That means both sides need to focus on building a future together, rather than destroying the other. But hey, that's just the whiskey talking.

Yoko Ono

Detroit really outplayed Anaheim. They looked pretty bad, actually, although the defense was solid.

And they totally overgeneralize stuff too!

Wait a sec, Sand is losing weight, so his new free space would be perfect for a 360!