Hurlshort

Sounds like it wasn't school sponsored, but rather the chaperones on the field trip were idiots. Wow, hopefully some jobs are lost.

Many people are ignorant twats. So what? QFT

Yes, God forbid we actually address the gaping holes in Morgoth's argument.

I don't really get the whole MMO bashing. I dislike RTS's, but I don't go around bashing them. That's my personal taste. Complaining about grinding, repetition, and balance issues is really a matter of perspective. Nothing says you have to grind or do boring quests in an MMO. My wife enjoys playing WoW on occassion and she doesn't worry about levels. She just has fun fighting a couple things and exploring areas. The best times I've had playing MMO's are when I get together with a few friends and tackle difficult areas together. We don't rush and we aren't worried about maximizing our XP. Balance is really only an issue in PvP. Most MMO's are really designed around PvE. I play the class and race I think is cool and I don't worry about what other folks are doing. I play to have fun.

Wow, they have been pretty consistent with their releases...one every two years not counting expansions.

The closest thing to a good thieving system I have seen has been in a NWN PW with permadeath and PvP. Sure, you could pickpocket, break into houses, and backstab people for their gear. But in a permadeath world, you were ultra careful about what you targeted, and rogues aren't exactly buff fighters in D&D. One time I chanced upon a Drow in the woods. He was hunting a bear, and asked for my help. I was a bit creeped out, because we all know that drow are evil. But I said ok since I figured he'd stab me if I didn't help. He went up to the bear and started attacking (which was terrible tactically.) He got mauled pretty bad and was knocked to the ground bleeding. I set a trap and let the bear come to me, killing him. Then I went up to the drow, finished him off, and looted the body. That was good thieving.

That's clever. I've never heard that before.

So you were going out of your way to grind for these traits and deeds? That does seem boring. I don't know why you would do that when you could naturally progress your character and simply accept the titles and traits that your adventures led to. The combat is rather slow, although it depends on your class. It's also a low magic world, so rather than spells, you rely mostly on combination fighting moves. I'm enjoying it, but it's another aspect that is very similiar to other MMO's.

Yeah, I think Batman Begins suffered from competition with Superman Returns and perhaps the old stigma of the numerous bad versions in the 90's. Still, Spiderman 1 and 2 are solid flicks, and the whole Doc Oc surgery scene in 2 is a must see for any Evil Dead fans.

I'm a bit dead inside, but I'm still reading the thread. Detroit beating Anaheim will soothe my pains a bit, as that means the Sharks lost to a team that went to the Cup. I don't really have a favorite in the East. I think Alfredson deserves a Cup, and this is a good year for him to do it.

Bethesday has never developed a Star Trek game. They published one, but that's not anywhere near the same thing.

Not that I'm doubting you, but I'm at level 21 and I've never seen a quest asking for more than ten of something. Also, quite a few quests can work in conjunction with one another. For example, I took on a couple "kill 8 wights" and "kill 5 wargs" and did them at the same time as the "Explore creepy graveyard area" and "collect relics buried in graveyard" and "find my dumb son who ran into the graveyard" as well as "quiet the local ghost by finding his missing ring". What I'm trying to say is the grind is nowhere near as bad as most other MMO's. Of course, WoW was the same way until you hit the high levels and started faction grinding. There's nothing that says you actually need to grind in an MMO. You can refuse to do crappy quests. It will slow down the levelling, but why is that a big deal? I play MMO's for the exploration and the social aspects, not to keep up with the Jones's. Turbine did a great job of creating Middle Earth, and besides the goofy hats, it's gorgeous. Oh, by the way, there is a fully functioning music system. You can play instruments and strum all sorts of songs. They aren't preset either, you actually use 1-9 to hit cords and ctrl and shift to adjust the treble.

Maybe that's why it's becoming more effective to shoot trilogies all at once, rather than over a period of time. The actors are tired and ready to do other things, but they are contractually obligated. Maguire was good when he was a hungry actor looking for a big break, but now he's lazy. Is there supposed to be a 4? I thought this was it.

I think the whole pay-to-play has more to do with personal budgets than anything else. I consider $10 a month a rather minor commitmentm even if I'm only playing a few hours in that said month. In exchange I'm getting more entertainment value than if I went to see a movie. But everyone's financial outlook is different. I've explained the actual business necessity of a monthly fee a few times on these forums, so I don't think I'll go over that again. The story elements are hard to explain without showing (and the infant on my lap is making typing very slow.) The Intro is similiar to Guild Wars, in that you play through a prologue, and by the end of it, an entire town lies in ruins. Then you start in that ruined town (dwarves and elves have a different start.) When you advance the main plotline, you meet famous characters from the books, Like Strider and Gandalf. You face off against something nasty in an instanced dungeon, and then you get a cut scene that tells you where you are at in the overall story. Gandalf narrates about Frodo leaving the Shire and all that. You are basically working behind the scenes of the main plot. It sounds odd, but I think it works very well. Again, it's still a MMO. There is still a sense of grinding. But it's well done, and surpasses WoW in quite a few ways. The trait system is pretty fascinating, and if you make it your job to kill spiders all day, you get titles like Spider-Foe and special traits to better fight them.

Thinking of home...

Yeah, I've posted about the fact that the story elements are way more reminiscent of a solid single player RPG than an MMO. It's very entertaining. It's also fairly similiar to WoW in terms of gameplay and character progress, so if you hate WoW, you'll probably tire of this after a month or two (although the graphics aren't cartoony, if that's your WoW complaint.) Turbine has done a tremendous job with the main plot, anyone who played Asheron's Call 2 and finished the Vaults knows they can spin a good yarn. I have a level 20 Captain on Windfalo named Taranto.

Also, Locke's dad was a lot more deserving of a killing than Ben's dad. Boo hoo, Ben's dad didn't remember his birthday and was a bit of a mean drunk. It didn't look like he was beating him, taking his kidney, or tossing him out windows. I think Richard (whatever the ageless guy's name is) has way more influence over events than he's letting on. I'd say he's more important than Ben. Look at the way he has been manipulating both Locke and Ben.

Yeah, but Locke couldn't actually kill his father, which may set him apart from Ben.

Huh, surprised they haven't mentioned a title or a setting. I'm pretty sure it will be basic action-rpg stuff like the rest of y'all, but it COULD be solid if they bring on new writers or something. Both DS's are solid game engines for an RPG, they just aren't used to tell a good story or develop character. Maybe Sega will bring that in.

I've been teaching my students for years that the Chinese were way ahead of Europe when it came to nautical exploration. Zheng He led huge expeditions. But the Ming dynasty isolated China after his death. I'd say the real issue is that China had plenty of resources, whereas Europe was hungry.

Well, even if it is an MMO, it should be mentioned that it wouldn't be released for another 3-4 years. WoW took about 6 years to develop, maybe seven. Even if the alleged Starcraft MMO has been in development secretly for a couple years, you can expect it will still take awhile for them to even reach the closed beta phase, and that alone took two years for WoW. So it wouldn't really be competition for WoW, it would simply be a next generation game.

Kicking people with your leg muscles developed your arm muscles? :D And still playing Titan Quest. After so long not being able to play games much, it's nice to spend some time kicking monster behinds. Uh, when you lift heavy stuff like cars and elephants, you are supposed to lift with your legs. Trust me, you don't want to throw your back out when attempting to hurl a garbage dumpster at a bunch of hooligans.

The Theme from Shaft

Yeah I'll pick Anaheim and Buffalo. I'm so bummed right now. I wonder what San Jose will do now? I don't think they will get rid of Wilson. Guerin will be gone, and Hannan is unrestricted now. They will probably try and work out a deal with either Rivet or Hannan, but not both. I still don't know which goalie they will trade, but it looks like Toskala will be the trade bait. He's got a cheap contract and he had a great regular season, so the Sharks should get a decent value for him. Some folks are talking about Marleau being traded, but that's tough. I guess if it was for Drury, I can see it, but Marleau is still a mainstay in the organization. Yzerman and Sakic have had rough playoff series as well, but you don't trade a captain after just one bad round. Marleau's playoff numbers are pretty staggering over the years.