Enoch

By "modern vampire stuff" I meant "stories about vampires whose names don't rhyme with 'Schmount Schmacula.'" Also, is there widescreen support?

Currently bored with my games. Considering laying out $20 for Bloodlines on Steam. I have avoided it to date because 1) Troika's previous titles were pretty lousy (I don't get the respect people have for Arcanum-- interesting world, but mediocre story/character writing and possibly the most thoroughly broken RPG rules system I've ever seen), 2) the whole modern vampire genre isn't my cup of tea, 3) the bug-related horror stories, and 4) combat gameplay looks pretty mediocre. I know we have some diehards around here. Anybody care to set me straight? Other thoughts? Also, I understand that there are some useful unofficial patches-- recommendations for a first-timer?

Me either. I can't imagine that a company in as difficult a cashflow position as Sega is would allow Obsidz to let the ship date slip past the holiday shopping rush.

As I understand it, legally, internet service in the U.S. is all private contracts. That is, you make a contract with a service provider to run a line up to your house, and provide whatever services the contract requires. At present, there is no requirement that a contract to provide "internet service" necessarily means "the whole internet without limitation or preference to certain sources." If the provider restricts said service within the terms of the contract, the government, under current law, has no role to play. The consumer's alternative is to insist on different contract terms (good luck!) or to find a different provider. Pro-net-neutrality bills have been proposed, but nothing yet has been enacted into law.

Went stalking some bugs in the front yard. Teh internets told me that the huge wasps buzzing about the place were in fact Cicada Killers. I got close enough to get a good picture-- there isn't much for scale, but the wasp in question is about an inch-and-a-half long: Given that they're harmless (except to cicadas), and that their burrows (I've found two so far) are out of the way, I decided to leave them be.

Shuffle all is on a good stretch: The Hold Steady -- First Night Modern Jazz Quintet -- Milano The Clash -- Lost in the Supermarket The Rolling Stones -- Gimme Shelter Paul Desmond w/ Gerry Mulligan -- All the Things You Are

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No, "Eyewear" is a separate menu option. See @ 4:30

Also consider that they were running through that mission for the hundredth time, knowing where all the enemies and objectives were, and not particularly careful about taking damage. A more careful, exploratory first run will take us much longer.

Just noticed something else. The armor stat categories are Endurance, Damage Reduction, Noise Level, Upgrade Slots, and Inventory Space. The latter 4 seem pretty self-explanatory (although I am curious about how the "inventory space" one works-- I assume this has to do with gadget capacity), but "Endurance" is interesting. Is Endurance that the aggregate effectiveness of the armor? My guess would be that the Damage Reduction takes down each incoming blow by a set amount (or percentage), up until the point where the damage absorbed by the armor equals its Endurance. If accurate, it means that the armor is either reparable or a disposable one-mission accoutrement. Any other theories or Dev comment? If my guess is right, can mods be transferred from 'worn out' armor to other suits? Addendum: Among the appearance customization option, along with the hair/beard/hat stuff is "Eyes." PS:T homage?

There are probably also some endgame areas that won't be disclosed until we get our hands on the game. (Villain's tropical island lair? Infiltrate corrupt agency HQ back in the States? Run off with your dame of choice to Rio?)

I like the little cilp of Mike fighting barefoot in pjamas (around 0:28). I'm a big sucker for the whole "hero stripped of his weapons and tools, surviving on wit and skill alone" cliche-- hopefully we'll get to do some of that! @ 1:32, I wonder if Smirnoff paid for that product shot... Weapon mod effects: Silencer decreased damage from 5 to 4. Good. Laser sight raised accuracy from 7 to 9, and stability from 6 to 7 (due to the increase in mass, I guess). Extended magazine increased ammunition from 4 to 6, but decreased stability from 7 to 6. (any help here from the gun nuts?) Custom grip increased accuracy from 9 to 10. The armors didn't seem to have any stats entered yet. The description of the Fury ability at 3:07 is entertainingly unfinished. @ 4:31, is that a non-caucasian Thorton?

Salad in an English pub? Surely, the end of the world is nigh.

I know that taking on the Vologic is futile, and even beyond that, I don't even have a dog in this fight, as I haven't had a reason to read a D&D manual since the late-90's. But are you actually complaining that a particular type of character doesn't have abilities that are more deadly than an 8-inch knife buried to the hilt between a person's ribs??

The Rolling Stones -- Let It Bleed

The Tom Wolfe and the Ruth Bader Ginsburg are my favorites. Fantastic work, HK.

Long time no see, Drabek! No music at the moment, but The Hold Steady's "You Can Make Him Like You" has been running through my head for most of the afternoon.

either you do not understand objectivism yourself, are you are overgeneralizing it to the point of intellectual dishonesty. in either case, this is a strawman and not at all what is believed by either objectivists or capitalists (essentially the same thing for purposes of this discussion). no rational person actually thinks there can be a "perfect" world - that would be a utopian position, in fact, objectivism, as well as capitalism, counts on the fact that people are imperfect, perferring to make choices based on their own needs and desires. It was more of an exaggeration for attempted humorous impact. The distillation of all major societal problems down into one variable (the interplay between personal freedom and interference with such by governmental forces) with one policy recommendation to address all these problems (decrease or eliminate such interference) just doesn't jibe with my sense of the complexity of the world and of human nature. It may be good advice 60% of the time, but that doesn't make the analysis any less sophomoric.

MC's take is pretty reasonable to me. A moron? Certainly not. Overly focused on social structures to the point of naievity about some core aspects of human nature? Yeah. (Whenever one of the few rabid objectivists I've known got onto the whole bit about how expensive public goods could be entirely supported by voluntary contributions, I started to wonder whether he had actually met more than 3 human beings in his life.) Free markets are powerful and useful things, both from an economic and a political point of view. But I do get puzzled at the Randies' jump from "X is good" to "If everything is X, everywhere, all the time, the world will be perfect!" That type of reasoning seems to appeal to a particular type of mind, and I don't think that type of mind is particularly good at understanding how other people often think and behave differently from the way they do.

I've got nothing against Obsidz employees telling us that they like the game. But in the future, you can best avoid the perception that you're teasing us by combining said mini-reviews with some piece of information about the game that we haven't been told yet. It's still 'teasing,' but if there's new info involved we'll all focus on that and the teasing won't bother us much.

Charles Mingus -- The Shoes of the Fisherman's Wife Are Some Jive Ass Slippers

Dashiell Hammett -- The Big Knockover (collection of short stories) The detective story kick goes on. Hammett's prose isn't quite as satisfying as Chandler's, but it's really the source of the essential 'hardboiled' character that Chandler took and worked with. (Yes, I am reading these in the wrong order.) Still quite satisfying, though.

From the news reports and this thread, GD's assertion earlier in the thread is so far the only thing I've seen indicating that the White House is in any way involved in this. It's a report of civil servants whose job is involved with military and veterans' health, making a recommendation to the SecDef, who in turn may or may not pass it on to the President (if it would require Presidential rather than Departmental authority to implement).

Curious that you led the thread title with "Obama" given that he's not mentioned at all in the linked article, and that government studies are pretty slow moving animals, which means that this one was probably commissioned well before his inauguration. It's a recommendation from an internal Pentagon/VA health group, not an official statement of administration policy.