213374U

So basically you made a thread out of what should have been a YT comment? Nothing wrong with that, but I'm not sure what you hoped to accomplish, though I might be missing some context. Is that account some sort of gaming big shot whose opinion really matters or something? [Looks Around] This is called a forum, is it not? Seriously, did I miss something between the 90's and today? Forums, thoughts, discussions, etc. As for my opinions: They're mine, and they're opinions. They of course matter to me but... No one else is required to: acknowledge, ratify, agree with, exalt, deny, show disdain for, get flippant about, explain their position, etc. with regards to them, unless they actually want to have a discussion on a forum. Chill. I was asking why you believe that the YouTube account that posted those videos is more representative of the average RPG player than any other Skyrim LP where the author doesn't seem to be suffering from ADD (or are they all like that?). I suppose you misunderstood and assumed I was referring to your forum account, sorry about that, I could have worded it better. You are of course free to start discussions and express opinions about whatever you feel like, but as I said, some context may be required, as evidenced by some people not getting what exactly is the point of the thread initially.

So basically you made a thread out of what should have been a YT comment? Nothing wrong with that, but I'm not sure what you hoped to accomplish, though I might be missing some context. Is that account some sort of gaming big shot whose opinion really matters or something? Nostalgia is always used as the default rebuttal by people who don't understand what made a genre/game popular or loved by the people discussing it in the first place. The fact is that many RPG fans have been disillusioned by how modern (AAA) RPG's have placed an ever-increasing emphasis on action to increase marketability, reduced dialogue/gameplay choices because of the constraints of voice-acting,/graphics, ect... stripped away depth, challenge and complexity because it doesn't "appeal to a mainstream audience". Problem is that, being fair, those claims usually don't hold up to scrutiny. Old* RPGs had rather clunky mechanics and, more often than not, the perceived depth of combat was not really such. Many character builds not being viable, encounters being unreasonably difficult unless you knew and prepared for the one weakness designed into them, a single strategy or combo being so effective that everything else is irrelevant, that sort of thing. And this also extends to dialogue choices, where multiple choices rendered exactly the same result, as a necessity of excessively linear plot lines. Having a lot of fake choices does not add to complexity, it adds clutter. New games sometimes suffer from some of these problems too, especially in the gameplay department. Game designers have the hardest job in the industry, IMO. Old games in general, being tech pieces, don't compare well vs new ones. There's going to be better and worse games in every generation and those all have their highlights and shadows, so any comparison can be made to support the agenda of the day. The funny thing about the incline/decline thing is that seemingly the most avid consumers of modern RPGs are also the loudest. I guess everyone needs a cause. *Where is the "old" threshold, anyway? The 90's? The 80's? Maybe I never really knew the golden age.

That may actually be a bug. I haven't done any group content since 3.0 because I only pug and want to get a better hang of how specs flow before taking up the pug life again where it's carry or wipe, so YMMV. The damage nerf was intended and I have experienced no problems through the new content, but perhaps they *forgot* to adjust older content to new damage and healing outputs. I've heard that HM 55s are basically impossible to complete in "recommended" gear now because of that. Another example that the expansion was rushed. In the same vein, they are taking the servers down today to deploy another patch. Yes, after doing that yesterday. Also, you made it to 60 on Rishi? I finished Yavin and was half a bar short of 60, and I popped XP boosts before accepting stacks of 3 rewards. How?! edit: wrong links, bleh

You really love to hate this game, don't you?

So, despite this, I managed to complete the encounter by following the instructions of some of the brave beta testers in the SWTOR boards. The ending was more or less the same quality as the rest of the expansion, and, as expected, the plot completely destroys any real RP options for a Sith Warrior. So far I'm actually liking the "feel" of the gameplay in 3.0, TTK seems to have gone down with everything dying faster but mobs, especially strongs, dealing more damage. This is from 55 on, as I have no lowbies at the moment. I played through the whole expansion with a set of augmented rating 156 gear, and I really don't see this damage nerf people are complaining about. Also, other than buying entry level 55 gear, is there any use for basic comms at 55? What is the point of allowing a comm cap overflow if you can't buy anything useful with them until you hit 60 and any earned over the cap are lost? genius.jpg

Um. This is exactly the way they did it with ME1 back in 2007. In fact, they didn't even bother with the PC port themselves, they outsourced it (Demiurge). They did release it on PC eventually. I guess people have really short memories.

So, the end boss fight, the highlight encounter of the xpac is bugged and "can be rendered impossible to complete in many cases". Bravo. /golfclap This, on top of the completely ridiculous lag and other pleasant occurrences should be a good reminder to never again deviate from my policy of waiting for stuff to go through a few patches before getting and avoid release days like the plague. And now they are announcing that ability training costs are going away, triggering a -somewhat justified- riot from players that feel screwed over by an early access that should have more appropriately been labeled "open beta". Personally, I'm not very impressed with the expansion myself. The new animations are uninspired with very few exceptions, the Disciplines system is nothing to write home about and appears designed solely so they don't have to account for hybrid builds, which seem to be wrecking ranked PVP (heh). The story doesn't feel especially compelling, although maybe I'm just tired of Revan and wish they'd put the character to rest for good. No new PVP content and meta favoring certain classes in PVP even harder than before 3.0 complete a rather disappointing experience for me. I'm thinking it's entirely possible that the problems aren't so much with the game as with me, and this is simply a case of MMO burnout. But after going through all class stories I feel the game has little else to offer and no amount of cosmetic gear or new ops can change that...

Heh, with reduced XP and SCS, it should be a pretty rough ride. I found arcane spellcasters fairly unmanageable until I disabled the annoying auto-stoneskin part of the buff that the mod brings, and even then, letting them get off more than 2-3 spells usually meant a reload. Basically, if I couldn't get the drop on them with a backstab, it was already an uphill battle. Watch out for liches, though. There was a bug with the mod not too long ago that made their Stoneskin impossible to remove short of hitting them with a Spellstrike (which you obviously don't have access to yet). That on top of Dispel Magic being bugged made fighting liches a pointless exercise until I could get Daystar and/or the improved Mace of Disruption. Cleric/Mage is awesome later on though, when you can get creative with Spell Triggers and Chain Contingencies... but that won't happen until ToB and they suck until then. :D Edit: Oh, you haven't mentioned Rogue Rebalance. Don't like that one?

I didn't even think devs even did that anymore. I thought we'd all realised consoles are trash and moved to focusing on the PC. How naïve of me. I realize you're being sarcastic, but... http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2012-06-13-game-consoles-will-be-extinct-after-next-gen-says-jaffe (yes, I know it's more than 2 years old)

"Their opinions are completely invalid"? Interesting viewpoint. Have you ever been a victim of unfair and abusive law enforcement practices? Have you ever had to endure racial discrimination? Are you and your loved ones under the poverty threshold with practically zero chance of moving up in life? Because otherwise, your opinion is completely invalid, by your own logic. Don't get me wrong, I agree that people talk too much about things they know too little -I've been guilty of this myself- but you really know diddly squat about the lives of people you are directing your blanket statements at. Also the suggestion that an opinion is "completely invalid" because its holder has never been under fire is patently, manifestly ****ing bat**** insane, to put it mildly. You DO realize that those charged with overseeing and ensuring the proper behavior of law enforcement (ie. members of the judiciary) have more in common with a member of academia than with a soldier, yes? This isn't by coincidence, it's by design. It's part of the so-called "checks and balances". Please, tell us more about this primal desire to torch cars and smash storefront windows that you feel, seeing as it is a primal desire. I mean, if it's actually as you describe, it should be something that all human beings experience at one point or another, being part of basic human nature, right? If you aren't affected by these desires, please explain then what exactly makes you a fundamentally different being from those rioting.

Ah, yes. The old "show me proof!" defense. I've been around long enough to know that, even if I did show you proof, you'd worm your way out of admitting that you were wrong in your assumptions. There's always a "but" — there's always something about the origins of data, there's always something about the way data is interpreted, and if everything else fails, you can always raise your standard for evidence to arbitrarily high new levels. The funny thing is that anyone who actually works with statistics knows that no certainties can be gleaned from them. Whatever, it's the main reason why I rarely post anywhere anymore — people are more interested in winning their little internet victories than actually listening and considering the merits of other viewpoints. FYI, it's you who needs to offer evidence that supports your assumptions that policing and the judicial system are fair and working as advertised. Have fun being "right".

No one in this thread is arguing whether police acting perfectly lawfully in a scenario where violent criminals threaten their lives are entitled to use deadly force. That is not really what's happening here and elsewhere. The problem is the perception shared by many that police will resort to (deadly) force without due justification and there will be no consequences for this behavior. This means that the rule of law is subverted by those tasked with upholding it, and trust in the rule of law is one thing keeping the social fabric from unraveling. Of course, "the full weight of Justice" (Obama dixit) will fall on those who dare rise up against a manifestly unjust establishment. Way of the world. In fact, it is you who is turning things upside down because you are treating as fact some things that are merely assumptions, to wit, that convictions are fair, that law enforcement is applied equally across the different strata of society, that being caught "in the act" means somebody is guilty, etc. Personally, it's especially appalling that you are suggesting that "being caught in the act" or even "being a criminal" is a liability waiver for law enforcement agents using deadly force. And about this "statistics aren't rocket science", there is a reason why sensible sociologists, historians and political scientists are often wary about drawing immediate conclusions from statistics. Think about it — is the fact that more blacks are convicted a consequence of blacks actually committing more crimes, or is the statistic of crimes committed by blacks higher due to more blacks being convicted? edit: beaten to the punch

1v1 me irl faget i rek u m8

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condor_Legion If that wasn't an invasion back then, you'd need to prove that the level of Russian material support and deployed men is greater in scale than that was, to even begin to talk about an invasion.

Heh. When I was younger, me and a friend were fooling around with a replica gun in a park. Some local cops walked up to me and calmly and politely asked if they could see it. I was startled and, of course, handed it over. After inspecting it they explained that I needed a license for it and I couldn't wave it around in public like a complete idiot, as I was doing (they didn't actually call me an idiot). Apparently some concerned citizen had called in. It was resolved quickly, professionally, and most importantly, no one died, for which I'm obviously grateful. Of course, this was a few years ago, in a country without such extreme social tensions and where the police are still subject to the rule of law for the most part. But the fact remains that nobody is forced to take up a badge. If you can't handle the pressure and stress associated with policing in a high-risk environment, perhaps consider finding a safer job. Normalization of force as a work tool of law enforcement is fundamentally incompatible with an open society. Then again, so is stuff like this. As I've said before, you guys really need to take back your country.

I think I have the same laptop. I was having massive vlag spikes in SWTOR warzones (like the game freezing for 1 second) and general poor performance, and Humanoid is right on the money — it's your graphics card throttling down. Apparently the manufacturer went a bit overboard with throttling to make power consumption manageable. I tried downloading a software override to disable throttling and the laptop ended up shutting down once due to the inbuilt overheat protection. So in my case I also had to take the thing to a local workshop to have it cleaned out. They showed me the crap they pulled from the fans and I kid you not, I was embarrassed. The metal fan support was also warped due to the heat. My vlag problemas have disappeared since. TL;DR find a manufacturer-certified laptop repair business and get them to clean out the fans and replace the themal paste. Haven't played Torchlight, so I'm not sure if that's good or bad. I don't really have a problem with grindy, if the actual matches are fun and the game allows for sufficient character customization (I don't mean aesthetically) and different playstyles to provide variety to keep things interesting past the first 20 games or so. I have a feeling that ME3MP was kind of a fluke, though.

So, after skimming through the first few pages and feeling a connection with Gromnir's feeling of disconnection, I've decided I cba to read through 7+ pages of the same old for the nth time. But since I'm going to play this game at some point, I would like to know your opinions on the MP, PC specifically, if anyone has tried it. I played ME3MP much more than I did the "main" game, so this may be the key selling point for me — otherwise I'll just wait for a price drop two years from now or something. From what I've read in the MP FAQ, they are making emphasis on lessons learned from ME3MP and stuff... but I have enough experience with BW's PR talk from SWTOR to take it with a grain (or a ton) of salt. So whaddaya think?

If you look at that list of nations, the abstains pretty much represent those thoroughly under the UK/EU/US banking cartel's thumb, the 'yes' votes pretty much represent those nations who would be free of that oppression if they could, and then you have the U.S..... what a disgusting disgrace that vote. You see this is exactly what I knew you guys were going to say and what 2133 was actually alluding to. But he can't really be bothered to explain further You guys think its a conspiracy, that certain countries only abstained due to some sort of surreptitious influence from the USA or Western banking circles. But sometimes there is no conspiracy, just what a particular country thinks is best for its own national interest. And in this case they are obviously more concerned with the Islamic extremist element within Hamas than the loss of Palestinian lives. Because a Yes vote is really a vote to support Hamas, even if it seems unfair And I'm not unconcerned with the loss of Palestinian civilians, I am just trying to be realistic Ah, yes, the conspiracy handwave. I'm sure that programmed reaction helps you sleep, but it does nothing for people in Gaza, really. It must be nice to live in that world in which free markets are actually free, the media don't lie through their teeth, and "free and democratic" countries don't commit war crimes. Wish I could go back, but alas. Of course, it's pointless trying to reason with you, as you have, in this thread and others, implicitly agreed that the ends justify the means. This is fundamentally incompatible with the principles of international law and human rights. Until you stop recognizing my right to blast you to pieces for whatever random reason I can think up (whether you agree with the reason is irrelevant), we have nothing to talk about. Good day sir.

And I imagine you need to read and think before you post. The stated purpose of the inquiry is to investigate *ALL* int'l law and human rights violations in Gaza since the start of military operations, not just Israel's. "Don't owe the USA anything", lol. Wake up and smell the coffee. Bah, why do I bother.

I haven't seen this posted ITT, which is surprising. US Stands Alone in Vote Against UN Inquiry Into Gaza Assault (and, of course, its cowardly Euro retainers abstain in the latest vomit-inducing display of servilism)

Awesome first half by Ghana, I'm impressed. Give them a forward that can avoid getting caught offside every ****ing time and they could seriously rain on Germany's parade...

Well, generally people are better off together, except when they aren't. No doubt there are advantages to having close ties with neighboring tribes/ethnic/religious groups, but ultimately I believe humanity hasn't yet sufficiently progressed past the tribal mentality to indefinitely enable cohabitation under a common legal framework that will in fact (and not only on paper) guarantee equality, justice, and respect for minorities. And since you brought it up, the Ukrainian historical claim to the Donbas, as presented, is born out of a mixture of historiographical factors, 20th-century nationalism and half-truths, and doesn't really hold up to scrutiny. Facts, unsurprisingly, are more difficult to fit into a single, clear cut interpretation. From my understanding, from the modern era, the eastern part of the Wild Fields was a frontier land sparsely populated by Cossacks (Zaporozhian and Don mostly, but also others), while Russian lands proper were more to the northeast (Grand Duchy of Moscow) and Ruthenians were to the west, in the Kievan Voivodeship which was part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, until Catherine incorporated the area into the Russian Empire in the late 18th century, alongside Crimea. The Donbas was an ethnically diverse area with a population that increased quickly, as you noted, due to immigration, and the development of the coal-steel industry in the region, but this process began well before the Soviet era (now-Ukrainian Donbas pop in 1897 was <700k, and it had grown to ~2M by 1920). The current ethnic composition of the region is a result of Russian Empire- and Soviet-era migration which in turn is a consequence of a myriad factors such as the unique relationship of the Cossack communities with their neighbors, the Catholic/Eastern religious schism, the revolution of 1917 and the development of heavy industry in "the Russian Ruhr". Russians have as much of a claim on the Donbas as Ukrainians, if we are using history to determine the legitimacy of territorial claims, which is another can of worms. In addition, Putin's support or his status as an autocrat (an exaggeration btw, cf. Teodoro Obiang, King Abdullah, Islam Karimov, etc; "our bastards") are completely irrelevant to the legitimacy of the claim of either side—it may well affect the outcome, but not the validity of the claim itself, which is a legal, social, and ultimately academic issue. Not that it matters, at any rate. My reply was more aimed at highlighting the ever-present double standards with regards to certain "fundamental principles"—in this case, self-determination—in world politics, which in my mind, is one of the biggest obstacles to peace and a working international legal framework. I'm not against the dissolution of an artificial post-colonial Middle-eastern state that has been kept together only by means of brutal oppression and mass murder into its constituent nation-states.

Maybe that is so for the English, but over here it's BAWW all over and a huge pissing contest, seeing who to pin the blame on, etc. The navel gazing is still going strong, it's just a different, much more bitter, flavor.

u wot m8?

To be honest, the idea of a unified "EU army" scares the living **** out of me.