Gorth

Yes! Thanks. I was just worried that it had to be a "gradual" upgrade process, like can only install mk3 kits if you had a mk2 slot already etc. If I can go straight to mk9, then it saves a lot of pain (got more of those than you can shake a stick at). My main guy is a cybertech guy, who has created purple versions of just about every re-engineerable variant of (crew skill trainer, not special drops) ear piece schematic Hence the fair sized stockpile of mk9 kits (actually, I think my trooper probably generated the most from RE'ing armour) My commando is pretty good at providing raw materials from scavenging and underworld metals. With the ship droid upgrade giving it +2 underworld critical, Tanno's +1 underworld critical and MX4's +5 scavenging critical skills, I get all the level 9 materials in abundance, including the previously elusive Beryllius (I think every second time I send the ship droid on 'Secret Recipe' he gets a crit and comes back with the rare stuff). Troopers were made for armourmech/scavenging/underworld trading. I "re-educated" my armstech smuggler girl late in the process and replaced her otherwise maxed out scavenging skill (already having my Bounty Hunter and Trooper doing it) with Slicing. Seemed essential at the time if I wanted to do augments in general without taking a mortgage and shop on the GTN for parts. Can I just say "Whoa?"... slicing is like a license to print your own credits. Now I just need to get my Sith Warrior going and beef up his Artifice. It's maxed out actually, but he's hopelessly behind on the schematics and crafting materials, as I don't currently play other force users *) (nobody to share the burden of archeology, treasure hunting etc.) Damn you Bioware... I really really want a legacy bank very badly for sharing crafting materials. Maybe if I dangle my credit card in front of them? *) I have other toons, but they are all in cryostasis. Two toons at or close to level 55 and my smuggler/sith warrior past level 40 is already getting more than the proverbial lions share of my spare time. Besides, if I have to visit the Okara Droid factory again any time soon I'll probably lose what little sanity is left. Yes, just me rambling on, blogging on my life on an MMO Edit to add: Just some impressions of the planets so far... I really like Hoth and Taris, Tattooine is good, but could do with less sandpeople. Alderaan felt too long and Balmorra felt more than twice as long as it needed to be. Quesh was too short and Corellia I haven't spent enough time on yet to form an opinion on. Haven't seen Ilum or much of Makeb yet (ended up there by mistake at level 47 and promptly left again). The jury is still out on Belsavis. I like the old Rakata (sp?) areas, not the contemporary prison areas.

Managed to get a second kingpin in the closing hours of the event. No more Tattooine kingpins for Gorth, thank you very much (between last month and this, got him both dead and alive). Got some help from guild members. Just for kicks, tried to have a go solo at the Nar Shaddaa one to see what the fight was like. Got my rear anatomy royally kicked. Next month I'm going to make it my goal to gather a group and humiliate the bastard. I figured since I love my old black "Combustion" armour (bought way back at level 30 or so from the reputation vendor in the old space station store), it's time to upgrade it with augmentations. Figured out I could "create" slots by adding level 1 kits at a workstation and assume I can upgrade the slots by going through the steps from 2 - 9. Do you need to actually install an augment before upgrading the slot? I'm out of stock of level 2 kits, so I haven't been able to try upgrading it. I wonder if I'm the only one who finds it silly that I need to create and then break stuff to get the kit component. I mean, if I created the thing in the first place, why the heck do I need to do anything other than just build the component that I put there in the first place? Yeah I know, it's a game mechanic and an abstraction at that. Silly none the less. Edit to add: In general, a lot of the crafting mechanics seems "counter intuitive" to me. It would make more sense if you had a chance to learn a new schematic by the crafting process, not the destruction process. Just imagine this technical genius in the team. He designs and builds from scratch this nifty little blaster pistol. In my world, it would make more sense that he took a look at his work and then had an Eureka moment. If I tweak the trigger and cook the battery, I can improve the speed and output! Instead, he puts the shiny new blaster on the table and takes a hammer to it. *Smash!* and then studies the debris on the floor for clues how to improve it

I suspect the lower emissions aren't driven by economics (higher energy prices) rather than a conscious effort to improve the environment? More efficient cars with lower fuel consumption, outsourcing of labour intensive/wasteful manufacturing overseas etc. Not scientifically proven in any way, just a thought. Applies to more than the US though. Probably most "western" countries.

One of very few soundtracks I ever bought on CD...

Split a lot of irrelevant and pointless posts off into a thread of their own in the Way off Topic section. If people have anything sensible to add to the other discussion, by all means continue Anime for adults or kids? If not, then it's in a nice and easily closed thread.

Thanks In the shopping basket if goes.

So, what's the verdict of the Big Mac index for 1984 and 2014. More or less Big Macs in 2014? (I actually used a home made "beer index" when I started traveling around the world to compare income and expenses, just to discover that some clever guy got the same idea with Big Macs a long time ago).

Gorth casts "Summon Hurlshot". (grabs dice)

Has anyone tried this one? Space Rangers HD a War Apart Let's just say BG:EE gave remakes/enhanced editions a bad name as far as I'm concerned (and the various Jagged Alliance remakes didn't do anything to help the concept along). On the other hand, I loved Space Rangers 2 dearly (IMO a vastly underrated game). Just wondering if anyone had tried it before jumping in at the deep end and buying it.

Yeah, quoting myself from another thread. Just classy Just a heads up, that while shopping for this one, I noticed that the 'Syndicate' game I bought a while ago now *includes* American Revolt. I could have sworn it wasn't part of the deal when I originally bought the game (which is now called 'Syndicate Plus').

I can understand only accepting prices from certain sellers. No idea how it is in the US, but I gave up using local price comparison sites because "bait and switch" was running rampant. Basically put up listings for dirt cheap stuff that you in reality don't carry, but hey, since you are here anyway, take a look at our other products.

Not yet, but I know what I'm going to be playing pretty soon (as in, when I get home from work today)... Carmageddon 2 Carpocalypse Now "The world's first high-speed internal organ liberation simulator is back in full 3D! The slaughter is bloodier, the body parts fly further, and the destruction is heavier. Crash and burn through the 3D rendered crowds with the pedal to the metal. Destroy your opponents every which way possible, the more creative the destruction, the better the rewards. No rules, no compromise, NO MERCY!"

Probably better to check, yes. It would be a shame though as they are (were) good speakers. I thought most equipment these days, pc or otherwise would be using either 4 or 8 Ohm.

I wonder how long power plants can run if we substitute coal and oil with books for a while?

*Sigh* I really need to do something about the audio side of things on my pc. Ever since my THX certified 7.1 system burnt out on me, I've had a pair of usb desk speakers. Awful... just awful. Still got the 7 satellite speakers. Might have to look into the traditional hi-fi market to find an amplifier/receiver and a new subwoofer. The brilliant guys at Creative Labs designed the system with a glue inside the subwoofer that becomes electrically conductive over time. A built in self destruct mechanism if ever there was any (the glue is there to keep the components of the amplifier in place on the boards, as they take quite a pounding inside the subwoofer box when in use).

Did a pair of bounties so far. Way less excessive than the last time around. Just to give some xp and credits to a pair of low level toons. Easy money and xp really with the fast travel to capital world and then the "limited edition" fleet pass back. Got a kingpin head to my trophy collection, which was what I sort of had promised myself to focus a bit more on this coming weekend. Now need to get him alive too (the Ord Mantell kingpin).

"Eh?"... So, you're implying that's a Canadian terrorist mastermind? Maybe I should have used quotation marks to indicate sarcasm. I didn't intend to attribute anything positive to the people involved. They happily play a game of 'Chicken' with other peoples lives and livelyhoods at stake, not unlike the same way corporate fat cats gambled away other peoples money in the constant hunt for excessive bonuses (at least up until the GFC exposed some of the dirt that had been going on for a while). All for a bit of territorial pissing and personal glorification?

Jean-Luc Picard 85% Geordi LaForge 70% An Expendable Character (Redshirt) 60% That one in third place has me a bit worried...

Yeah, as Kgambit pointed out, this is total bull, done by comparing the year of the financial crisis (2008) which included TARP and everything else to the more normal spending patterns of later years. The actual slow down in the rate of growth in the last couple of years is attributable solely to the sequester, the first real cuts in decades, that the Democrats love so much. For those curious about how the GFC impacted the "debt ceiling" It's impact wasn't exactly trivial. As for the latest budget skirmish: Meanwhile... "Meanwhile, ratings firm Standard & Poor's said on Wednesday that the partial US government shutdown, the first in 17 years, had already shaved $24bn from the American economy and would cut growth significantly in the fourth quarter." Remember to say thanks to the people masterminding this standoff.

My "main" toon is sort of my guinea pig and fall guy all in one package. He gets to do all the errors and the suffering you possibly can through the game so other toons following in his footsteps can benefit from it I've always had an obsessive-compulsive disorder when it comes to maps and fog of war. I can't resist clearing out every last black spot no more than a cat can resist a ball of string. Sad but true. I noticed in the patch notes that you can now spend your bounty contracts on more than just more kingpin contracts. Now accepted as currency for a few new items at the reputation vendor. Nice idea. Not sure how it works out long term, but interesting anyway.

Oh, they got conned alright... Orwell would have been so proud

You guys could always ask Putin if he wants to buy Alaska back... might improve liquidity (and possibly cash flow) for a bit to keep the rest running for a while Is what's her name Palin still a governor there? If so, you might want to change that to improve the selling price.

Got big plans for a new PC. Wont happen until mid next year though. Then I'll be going for a workstation build As for gadgets... I have been forced at gunpoint to carry an Android phone at work (which usually means all my waking hours). Would never buy one. I've always loved computers. Never was into gadgets. Only gadget I would consider is if my now 20 year old Moulinex toaster decides to commit Seppuku on me. Long may it toast my sandwiches still. @Humanoid: You are preaching to the choir when it comes to BD media. I've had a dual layer (50GB) burner for years. Never bought a single disc to burn in it. In the end, external USB HDD's are cheaper per MB. Ridiculous but true, buy a handful of external HDD's instead of the BD discs (and put virtual BD images on them if you really need to)

The name of the game is RE Revelations. Following a hunch and assuming the worst when it comes to console ports, I plugged in my PC xbox controller in the USB port. True enough, I could then select start and after that access the options menu (where I could choose Keyboard/Mouse controls instead of controller). I'm stubborn like that sometimes, not letting a few puzzles stop me

I bought two of the recent Resident Evil games, RE6 and another one which I can't remember the suffix for. Good thing I got them cheap too. One doesn't seem to have a quit game option other than Ctrl+F4 and the second game wont start, as it seems to "eat" my mouse pointer and just sits there with a start button I can't press. No keyboard shortcuts either. Consider me very unimpressed on the technical score.