metadigital

Yeah, but that Cleopatra was a bit of a bike: she ended up with his best mate, Mark Antony. :ph34r:

Hooray! (w00t) Yes, William Gibson is da man! Cyberspace is his invention: he is a Tolkein for the third millennium. Please?

Unfortunately "goodwill" seems to be an optional extra when it comes to the goldrush mentality of the fanboys in this thread (see <{POST_SNAPBACK}>), so LA are (quite rightly, methinks) prioritising quality waaaaaaaaaaaay down the list of requirements for games.

FaramirK, I thought "Christ" was a secular title given to the senior ranking Jewish leader of the time Nope. It is a title of divinity. As for Mary's Gospel, I doubt its validity, and I am confident that it will be disproved in time... But believe it if you will, it's your right after all. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> You seem very confident. I would say almost fundamentally confident. " Hubris is Mother Nature's way of bringing the overconfident down to earth.

Ah, but the sources quoted in a wikipedia article can (and should) be confirmed just as easily (and moreso) than any other article in any other library. So don't just stop at the Wikipedia, go forth and research! For example, one of the quoted sources was an article (translated from German) of Dr Albert Schweitzer's thesis on the historicity of Jesus. I am quite prepared to accept him as an expert (D. THEOL., D. PHIL., D. MED.) Unless we follow Rosbjerg's existentialist position, and doubt everything outside our heads (which, I suppose includes our heads ...) then we have to make some assumptions. The alternative is spending the rest of the thread arguing semantics. I think it is a little arrogant to conclude the reverse is true: that other sources are any more reliable (Bible? " )

I think the argument is derailed: we are not necessarily talking about physical violence. The issue I believe revolves around the Christian imperative to actively evangelise: it is a hostile act to assume moral, spiritual and theological superiority and try to convert the "heathens" to the word of God. If you are a Buddhist, you do no such thing. Live and let live.

Yep, Roman Catholics believe that, for example, stillborn babies (who naturally haen't been baptised) go to a "special" afterlife called limbo. There was even a case last year (in the headlines because it was a politician's family) where the Catholic priest refused to baptise a fatally ill baby in hospital. Good ol' Anglican priest had no compunction and they baptised the little girl before she died, a couple of hours later. The Protestant (Apostolic) churches (formed after the reformation) are not so strict.

Well, they have some original texts (one of those Dead sea scrolls sites) and there is some very interesting stuff in "Mary's" Gospel.

FaramirK, I thought "Christ" was a secular title given to the senior ranking Jewish leader of the time -- hence why Jesus was regarded as a political threat in the region and why the Romans crucified him. And one of the reasons the Jewish Rabbis turned on him. Jesus the Christ. He was the most senior direct decendant of Solomon (the Christ). I thought his cousin had a similar ranking which is why John "The Baptist" and his annoiting of Jesus is so important (to signify his support for Jesus the political leader). And wasn't Doubting Thomas Jesus's younger twin (thomas meaing "twin"); whilst his younger brother was Judas ... who Jesus gave the job that he couldn't do himself: a betrayal that would see his name besmirched for all time. flame away!

While I'm not an expert in anything, let alone the Bible, I don't think the misoginy stems from it. It's a later (Catholic, mostly) invention. Christianism isn't inherently misogynistic. ... <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Well, according to the latest research (into the Gospel of Mary Magdelene) the Christian religion was birthed from misogyny: Peter (y'know, the great-granddaddy first Pope) was more politically astute / hostile / effective in white-anting Mary and her support in the new organisation. He wanted to be in charge, and he didn't like the fact that Jesus used to "give the word of God" via "the mouth", i.e. Jesus used to kiss her and she also had a closer spiritual relationship with Jesus and she also was a more capable theologian than Peter. Allegedly. (The Gospel of Mary is arguably a little more reliable in the grand sceme of things because only the really old copies survive the purges of the early era.) You are correct, though, that Pope Grogory (as in the guy who gave his name to the chanters) was a true misogynist and he codified the sexist rules of the Church.

Well, as i said earlier, I'll tell you when I uncover it again ... I haven't played IW since its release, so I have forgotten some of the plot (hence why I am re-playing it). I was only being facetious about Grey Death and Dowd. I imagine there is a natural process of attrition even in the Illuminati: probably Nicollete had her own coup d'

It depends. If I were in the Jedi order, I would want to know what the Council feared (was it just fear itself?) ... there were certainly ramifications past the immediate war. Perhaps if the Jedi had waited for a suitable time near the end of the war, they might have had a larger, more effective impact on the Mandalorian war and prevented some/all of the nasty consequences. That said, if my home planet or loved ones were toasted by a Sith fleet, I'd be one of the first to rush into mortal combat ... <_<

Not necessarily; the dark Age could (and was, from memory) caused without destroying the infrastructure. It was either faked by the new being or a symptom of the incomplete merging of Denton with Helios (or at least that's what happenned in my game). Dowd had Grey Death and Everette was a sneaky megalomaniac, so I expect they were eased out (the dude in the freezer might have actioned a coup d'

Its the publisher that sets the deadlines, not the developer. I would think people would know this by now. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> True, but it was the developers that didn't stick to their estimates. " (I can see the LA boardroom a year ago: "Can you believe those developers agreed to finish before Xmas ... Hah!" )

Well, I'll tell you soon, I'm currently re-playing it again. :D Still, you can't incorporate all the endings; one was to blow up Area 51 and cause a new Dark Age; one was to merge with Helios; and one was to join the Illuminati! They are mutually exclusive. Yeah, so stop digressing on this tangent. "

And good luck to you. I will be a little more discerning with my precious cash, however.

You are a merchandizer's dream. I'm just a little concerned about the Legolas cut out ... *backs away smiling* ... you obviously have deep -- er -- convictions for your entertainment. (You do know it's all entertainment, right? )

Aahhh, AvP2. Gotcha. Yep, there was a story there, but the only difference was that you had a briefing beforehand to explain it all. λ2 was all about stopping the collective. Simple. Same as AvP: kill everything that moves on the way to stopping big baddie. Change of scenery along the way with different weapons, vehicles, allies and enemies. No, it is not possible to change perspective to third person in λ2. All adds to the headlong rush ...

True, but he really shouldn't have shaved with a cursed razor (-23 to hit and -46 to damage) ...

:cool:

So? It's true tho <{POST_SNAPBACK}> ... and funny.

I thought the same. (I was severly let down by the over-hyping; I nearly took the Concord to New York to watch the first screening! :"> ) Then I watched it again a couple of weeks ago and I could appreciate the plot for what it is, and even enjoyed Qui-Gon's character.

This thread is imminently about to descend into gratuitous physical descriptions of "giver" and "taker", so I will not deign to go there ... If a girl can have "Cameron" for a name, then a man can have "Amy". Heck, the protagonist of the first trilogy is "Ani"! I agree and wholeheartedly support equal opportunity for everyone, based on merit. Meritocracy based on cleverness, wisdom and innovation.

AVP2? Sure, I think that was intentional (having you searching for a reason to be running through the game), although I agree it played on the fan-boys' enthusiasm a little too much and ended on a WTF cliffhanger. (I was half dreading the almost certain fight through Xen I had anticipated ... :"> ) Still, I think it ended better than if there was a stream of dialogue. "

Well, read this (thanks to FortranDragon for the link) and decide. FarimirK suggested they are similar to the Thetans (from Scientology, though I would't be surprised if L. Ron Hubbard "appropriated" the idea from E. E. "Doc" Smith " ). You need to watch Phantom Menace to get the eminently forgettable quote.