Gorth

Macho men doesn't scare anyone. Frightened little boys with guns are scary, because they are unpredictable. At the moment evolution seems to favour brains and intelligence as a recipe for success.

With statements like these, you come across such as the likes of Timothy McVeith. So what lethal force are you advocating to change the government's course of action? Bombing government buildings and using lethal force to convince the government? Crazy stuff. Breivik would be soo proud of him *sniffle*

“A great democracy must be progressive or it will soon cease to be a great democracy” Of course, a "socialist, incompetent politician" like Theodore Roosevelt is not exactly a poster boy for the idea that things needs to evolve. Oh, wait... You guys sound like Adam Lanza's mother. I need more guns, because the evil government is going to be here any minute. Could it be that some people are completely brainwashed to follow the twisted interpretation of the second amendment the way Taliban fundamentalists interpret the Quran? Any which way that suits those that profit from it? Or did technology change and legislation simply didn't keep up, because things evolved since the 1789 musket that militia were expected to have at hand to defend against external aggressors? That an anachronism has survived doesn't make it sacred, it just makes it an anachronism.

Amen She was hot in Zardoz, playing against Sean Connery

Let's start with those I don't enjoy... Riddles for riddles sake, math puzzles (find x numbers whose total is y), player reaction based puzzles (good riddance to QTE's too), Towers of Hanoi and floor jig saw games. Probably a few more, but those stand out in my mind. Those I like are unfortunately few and far between in games, being investigative "detective type" puzzles (work out who did what and why), discovery type puzzles (i.e. need to explore places and people to gather the knowledge to solve a task, sometimes integrated into the quest structure and therefore "transparent"), some "adventure game" type puzzles (you discover a number of things during the game, only to discover later that some of them have secondary uses). Probably a few more, but rarely ever the multiple choice/press the right button sequence ones.

This... and no Jennifer Hale, thank you (overuse syndrome). I wonder what it would cost to hire Christopher Lee as the story narrator?

That's rather vague if you ask me. Hey, they could add some old sailor songs and sea-shanties there (although to be honest, it's way too modern a phenomena to be appropriate for the setting) I've said it before and will repeat it again, way beyond anyone caring to listen, that Kotor2 had the best game music of any Obsidain/Black Isle game (putting on asbestos suit, preparing for ire coming from Mark Morgan worshippers). Wouldn't mind something in a similar "style", as it would fit just about any setting.

Not knowing the numbers, just speculating, but it would also make it more attractive for subscribers to play in "populated" worlds as opposed to ghost towns (hyperbole added by Gorth)? If you can get a handful of volunteer extras to fill out the worlds, why not? As Calax suggested, the same extras may even buy something in the local shop every now and then. Talking MMO's in general with F2P and Subscriptions, not necessarily TOR in particular.

It makes for good ratings? That's capitalism and free market economy in action. I wonder if somebody could enlighten me about something (since I don't live there), but isn't there an enormous stigma associated with being a "loser", in a country where success is everything and failure seems to be regarded as a crime and/or divine punishment. Maybe somebody need to run an information campaign for young men, since they seem to be the majority of the shooters, that it is perfectly Ok to seek help? Just a thought.

That was actually pretty good. Constructive critique is sometimes few and far between

Looking forward to the next installment I liked the indie presentations.

That's the one indeed Sounds like you need a break?

Dusted off my Chtulhu Carols boxed set and listened to a bit of seasonal music. Trying to find a place to hang my Christmas Tentacle (which came with the set), so great Chtulhu can give me gifts when I've been a good cultist.

Why don't you drop the strawman? Nobody gives a damn about copyright in a patent thread. Nobody said anything about violating patents being Ok In fact: Somebody (me) said the suit looked suspicious because of the dates and companies involved (i.e. a company that for all intent and purposes don't exist and doesn't have a history, other than suddenly filing a few hundred infringement claims without anything specific.). If they had pointed out exactly where and how their patent had been infringed, I might have given them the benefit of the doubt. As it stands, it looks like a patent troll (see definition above). If you want to discuss patents in general, why not create a thread in Way off Topic? The only hypocrisy displayed are when morons go to great length trying to justify piracy.

Yes, we have. What's your point? Breivik, presumably, and how your (sic) tough gun controls didn't stop him murdering a bunch of kids. The point is, of course, slightly reduced by not getting the country right. Yes, Breivik, filthy Swede that he is...

Pretty much this. The tobacco lobby was once a world wide force to be reckoned with, but over the last couple of decades, targeting the message that having a cigarette hanging in the corner of your mouth was "cool" to being a social reject if you smoke is the way to go. It might still take decades for guns, but only if you target peoples attitudes and dare go against the all powerful gun lobbyists do you stand a chance of succeeding.

You can also contest a patent, if there is doubt about whether or not any invention actually took place, whether or not the patent filer is the one doing the invention and whether or not it was something too generic to actually patent. See debate about human DNA. Did you confuse yourself? You sure confused me. What does copyright have to do with patents (other than protect creators and inventors)? Typically 2-3 years (and we are talking 11-12 years after the fact here). In that case, the patent applicant can contact the users of the patent and point out that it has already been filed. I have a nice bridge in Los Angeles I want to sell you I think most pirates are low life's, but most of them aren't *that* stupid, even if they try hard to convince people of it sometimes. Which is why you have courtrooms and it's up to lawyers to decide. If MCRo is a genuine company developing lip sync middleware that they sell to video game and animated movie studio's, they are entitled to their due for their money invested in research and development. If not, I hope their next job involves asking 'Want fries with that?'. Point not found?

Just for good measure, Wiki's summary of patent trolls: Patent Troll "Purchases a patent, often from a bankrupt firm, and then sues another company by claiming that one of its products infringes on the purchased patent Enforces patents against purported infringers without itself intending to manufacture the patented product or supply the patented service Enforces patents but has no manufacturing or research base Focuses its efforts solely on enforcing patent rights Asserts patent infringement claims against non-copiers or against a large industry that is composed of non-copiers" Basically gaming the system without contributing anything of value.

So could Australia. Impossible to get a decent Irish Coffee anywhere. Fancy, expensive hotels in Sydney? Hah, what a joke. Some of the most piss poor excuses for Irish Coffee I've ever had.

Not really. Ripping somebody off deliberately and knowingly for the purpose of greed and being fooled by companies or individuals into buying their services and products in good faith, likely paying good money in the process, isn't quite the same. If you can't see that, then nobody can help you. Besides, there are companies who never invented a thing, but has turned it into an industry searching patent office records, trying to catch companies off-guard with "Gotcha's" because somebody may have patented something in the past, that is similar enough to a common practice. Strange the "inventors" only discovered more than a decade later that video games exists? If they had actually provided any proof or specifics, they may have been worth listening to, but when using the shotgun method against any and all video game companies listed in the yellow pages in the same week (and only US ones, they probably didn't have access to overseas phone books), it comes across as gold diggers, not trying to "protect their investment", but trying to extort money from an industry. Did anybody ever claim that abusing the patent system is better than piracy? Nope, just as pathetic.

A bit of Mass Effect 1, but mostly Carmageddon (the original 'GoG' version). Nothing like a bit of Pedestricide to relax at the end of the day

Sounds like they plan to change that... Quest compasses? Regenerating health? Auto-aim? Couch Co-op?

Anybody actually watch those shows? I could understand if it had been Victoria's Secret or some such

There, fixed it for you

Edit to add spoiler tags, just because.