Gromnir

game-changing abilities is stoopid. developers should be lauded for not having individual abilities that is game-changers. sadly there were a couple poe class abilities that were altering the gameplay dynamic once your character acquired. such developer miscalculations is a flaw to be avoided. just saying. HA! Good Fun!

*chuckle* in poe when you level you alternate access 'tween new abilities and feats. with a handful o' outliers, the feats is all having substantial impact on combat efficacy. the abilities, particularly for spell casters, is also far more diverse and vital than a couple % points in skill X or Y. am sorry, but you is sounding ludicrous when you compare wasteland 2 level advancement rewards to poe. is fewer levels in poe. is that the real issue? as to loot... *shrug* that must be subjective. personally we found a great deal o' poe gear. is more slots in the poe paperdoll, so perhaps is misleading to wrath. not as many weapons, but more stuff such as rings, belts, amulets, etc. poe has, we suspect, far more total equippable 1007 than wasteland 2, but we can't say for certain. still, if finding more 1007 is a major need for you and you felt as if wasteland 2 simple had more, then who is we to argue, eh? on the other hand, while you find mods in wasteland 2, the range o' weapons and armour enhancements in poe is rather dizzying. am suspecting you didn't make much use o' such if you is comparing poe to wasteland 2 and finding paucity for poe. dunno. wasteland 2 just don't seem like a good contrast. "I prefer guns to magic/melee." am suspecting the above explains our confusion. HA! Good Fun!

hmmm. reminds us o' the following: HA! Good Fun!

wrath observations might have more impact if not for fact that he uses wasteland 2 as the contrast to poe. perks and feats were only added to director's cut and they were not done particularly well. is clear winner and loser perks and feats. bad. previous to dc, wasteland 2 were all 'bout skills and attributes... and the skills and attributes were woeful unbalanced and lending themselves to ideal builds. should be obvious that clear limits on viable and best builds reduces customization. given how relative few actual customization options is actual available in wasteland 2, there is little room for bad skills and bad attributes. nevertheless, wasteland 2 has far too many barters and mechanical repairs and shotguns skills, and is startling how little variation one sees in recommended attribute spreads for wasteland 2 characters. oh, and wasteland 2 combats were highly repetitive. the game were even more a squad-based tactical combat game than were poe, so is no surprise that combat were accentuated. fine. that being the case, poe combats were not only more varied, but more complex compared to wasteland 2. smg available at end of game did more damage than those found at start, but they were essential the same weapons. poe had far more status effects with which to contend and a greater variety o' the rock v. paper v. scissors concerns. weapons could do corrosive damage and stun, or any number o' different combinations. in addition, the vast catalog o' spells and abilities available to friends and foes necessarily made poe combats more complex. sure, complex is not necessarily better. chess has a limited number o' pieces with limited move qualities that can only interact on a smallish game field. even so, wasteland 2 ain't anywhere near as elegant as chess. is difficult to claim with a straight face that tactical challenges offered in wasteland 2 were superior to those o' poe. find shortcomings in poe leveling rewards and combat redundancy is gonna be valid with appropriate support. to use wasteland 2 as a superior example o' level reward and combat variation is a dubious proposition at best. HA! Good Fun! ps am not saying that wasteland 2 were a horrible game. rather we specific not that when considering leveling rewards and combat design, wasteland 2 does not compare well with poe. sure, some folks loathe rtwp so much that they cannot enjoy poe. even so, is no question that poe combat is more varied and sophisticated than wasteland 2.

we don't know anything 'bout preacher comics. also, we only saw first episode o' the tv show. that being said, the way we saw first episode were that some kinda entity were looking for a compatible host. first prospective vessel were a christian minister in africa. explode. second were a satanist in eastern-europe or russia or some such. explode. tom cruise were indeed mentioned via a tv news broadcast. explode. the titular character, as far as we could tell, were like baby bear from the goldilocks fable. unlikes papa bear or mama bear, baby bear were an ideal fit for goldilocks. the preacher's inner conflict is what seeming made him sympatico with the moaning space miasma. he is a bad man trying to do good? dunno. only one episode. perhaps am reading all wrong. the friendly irish vampire attacked by the religious fanatics (nothing says crazy like a defaced bible filled with jack torrance inspired doggerel) whilst he were bartending (?) on a charter jet, will no doubt play a greater role in the future, but he is clear a protagonist. two things we got from pilot: 1) camp meter will be set extreme high, and 2) the not-so-subtle theme o' Religion Sucks will be a constant. looks kinda fun. am kinda a binge watcher these days, so will likely wait 'til the season is finished and then watch all X episodes over a couple weekends. HA! Good Fun!

due to a stacking bug with rogue reckless assault that took many months to fix, the first character with which we finished the game were a quarterstaff wielding priest o' wael. deceptive & clever. the han solo options? ... is strange that the ONLY priest o' wael specific dialogues available in the game were accessible only if the character had a high enough "honest" disposition. quick point o' clarification. use mere existence o' ie game features and mechanics to legitimize same/similar use in poe is stoopid and foolish. the ie games did many things terrible. the fact that the ie games had so much filler combats is a bad reason to be adopting so many combats in poe. the thing is, we know that the obsidians did consider those aspects o' the ie games that were essential in poe. classes. rtwp. elves & dwarves & humans. etc. am personal agreeing with bartimaeus that poe woulda' benefited from fewer combat encounters as such did become tedious. even so, we suspect that somebody at obsidian calculated the combat encounter density o' the ie games and then used that as a guide for poe. *sigh* obsidian attempted to make individual poe combats more compelling than the ie counterparts. am thinking that for too many players, obsidian failed in their goal. for the purists, poe combat were borked by numerous cain & sawyer (and other developers too numerous to mention) mechanics choices... though cain inexplicable avoids mention and blame when folks rage 'gainst the indignities that poe level'd 'pon the TRUE crpg fan. for the casual fan, attempts to make combats intense and visceral resulted in tedious and interminable. for a considerable number o' people, poe woulda' been better with less combat, but somehow the developers hit on the notion that ie combat encounter density were an essential quality. we will also observe that in spite o' the fact that a noteworthy number o' poe combats were avoidable, crpgs (and the ie games in particular) has ingrained in too many players the notion that killing everything on a map is essential for Teh Win. don't kill that group o' kobolds on level X o' the Dungeon o' Fractious Forbidding is cheating self out o' essential loot and xp, yes? heck, we found our self doing similar at times in poe. first time we did skaen cultists under-temple, we slaughtered everybody. well, truth-to-tell, we spent a considerable 'mount o' time getting slaughtered. took a long time to total eliminate the skaen presence from a rather substantial map. after first clearing, Gromnir forevermore took shortcuts. coulda' scouted and done shortcuts our firstest time, but we got our crpg training that teaches us that developers likes to put important items and quest triggers in remote map locations. stoopid. regardless, poe has fewer essential combats than many would suggest, but am betting that many o' us nevertheless slaughtered every "enemy" in raedric's hold. tough slog indeed. more fool is Gromnir, eh? HA! Good Fun!

unfortunately, other than ps:t, the ie games were squad-based tactical combat games with rpg elements. if you were making a game to be appealing to ie fans, am understanding why as a developer you would make combats frequent, 'cause +80% o' the ie gameplay in the bg and iwd games were combats. the thing is, particular for ie fans who created super characters and parties, folks who re-rolled for stats and took max hps (is amazing how many folks ignore just how significant were the max hp option insofar as game difficulty were concerned) most combats were little more than an mildly amusing exercise in 1007 and xp accumulations. poe combat and mechanics were different. were no rolling for stats. were no inflated hp/health option. were no You Win classes or kits or weapons. yeah, were still folks who complained o' poe combat ease, but such folks were likely having played the beta for +100 hours before ever playing the game itself. particular at release, there were ways to game the game. slicken were broken as were traps. is any number o' spells that needed retooling. ciphers alternated 'tween underpowered and overpowered with each build. etc. the thing is, a very small % o' poe players who would recognize the inevitable flaws in any number-based rpg combat mechanics. a novice bg player could save-scum for character and companion max hp and give 18s in all prime attributes to his/her pc and it would take actual effort to die save for at level 1-3. other than a handful o' encounters, use pause function in bg combat were choice rather than essential. bg2 combats did have a degree o' increased difficulty compared to bg. but the average bg2 player had likely played bg... and perhaps ps:t, totsc, and iwd as well. the average bg2 player already had dozens o' hours o' experience with ie combat before ever loading the game. obsidian made a game with 'bout the same frequency o' combat as the ie games. unfortunately, they made combat a bit too unforgiving for many players... and story mode were too little and too late for many who were initial discouraged. ... am not sure what to say 'bout lexx rtwp observation. is many folks who hate rtwp. nothing wrong with that. the thing is, the ie games, all o' them, were rtwp. obsidian were not hiding that poe would be rtwp. the games most often mentioned as the inspiration for poe were the ie games. we don't like artichoke hearts. we once got sick eating an artichoke heart dip. nowadays we can't even smell artichoke hearts w/o getting queasy. guess what? we don't order foods with artichoke hearts as a main ingredient. if we see "artichoke hearts" on a menu, we move on to the next option w/o a second glance. Gromnir's behavior is reasonable, yes? to order food with artichoke hearts as a main ingredient would be a bit silly, yes? order an artichoke frittata and then complain that the dish is ruined by artichokes would be making us seem more insane than most folks already believe us to be, no? *shrug* we prefer good turn-based to bad rtwp. we prefer good rtwp to bad turn-based. HA! Good Fun!

our housekeeper is an older portuguese woman who also cooks for us once a week. what frustrates us is that our housekeeper refuses to teach us how to cook portuguese cuisine. am curiously grateful and embittered whenever she brings us food. our housekeeper's cleaning skills, from our pov, is largely irrelevant. HA! Good Fun!

we got loads o' poe complaints. we had issues with the companions as the writers were far too willing to use the joinable npcs as sources o' exposition-heavy info drop for world lore. given that the companion quests often felt like a mini-game, we were frequent going through the same, tedious dialogues looking for a new option 'mongst all the old stuff, and the old stuff were not particular engaging. for a few o' the companions, we had to check the journal to be realizing that we had actual completed the joinable's quest as the resolutions were frequent forgettable. the barbarian class, used by josh as some kinda gleaming example o' how the poe attribute system allowed for unique builds such as the genius barbarian were ironic an example o' the exact opposite o' flexibility. the barbarian's carnage ability were/is so integral tied to intelligence that it is jackarse stoopid to play anything other than a genius barbarian. poe were not 'posed to have class defining abilities and it were s'posed to allow flexibility o' attribute spreads. the barbarian is actual the prime example o' the class that failed in those regards, in spite o' being an oft used example o' success. etc. is loads o' additional criticisms that we has posted elsewhere already. the thing is, when you get down to core problems with poe, am thinking the developers erred with basic vision. unlike bg, the combat in poe were more complex and less forgiving. for the more casual crpg fan, poe combat were a slog from one brutal combat encounter to the next. unfortunately, the hard core crpg fans has become increasingly polarized over the years. if you is gonna make a game with hardcore appeal, you gotta accept that your audience will be small. crpg grognards is having much difficulty coexisting, so obsidian's choice to aim for no-bad-builds were making it impossible for certain significant sects o' the crpg zealotry to embrace poe's heresies. and combat mechanics were only one example o' how the developers chose to go a bit too hardcore for the casual gamer, and fundamental wrong for the self appointed purists. is sad, but the obsidian's transparent attempts to embrace casual and hardcore expectations actual resulted in the game being more o' a niche title. we like poe, in spite o' many flaws. even so, we can recognize that poe is very much a niche title. poe were 'posed to appeal to fans o' the ie games. the failure to make such a game is only partial the fault o' obsidian. the ie fans has become increasing clannish in the intervening years since iwd2 were released. folks who liked the ie games back near the turn o' the century has had considerable time and innumerable games to further refine their crpg tastes. to make a game that would appeal to ie fans were much easier in 2000 than in 2015. failure to make all ie fans happy were inevitable. HA! Good Fun!

june 26, 2016 will henceforth be known in the Gromnir household as Bloody Sunday. took the dogs for a walk at 6am. gotta go early as the afternoon highs is gonna be 'bout 103F today, and by tuesday we could see 108F. am current walking five freaking dogs. when our sister died, we took her two little dogs. neither is more than 12 pounds, but they is noisy and excitable. a few years ago we took in a friend's border collie. our friend had a stroke and we already had one border collie, so... anyways, we got four dogs o' our own. then, 'bout a year ago, we noticed that we were no longer noticing one o' our neighbors. typical we would see our neighbor doing yard work once or twice a week. we weren't close friends or anything, but we were aware that only a few months previous, his old dog, max, had died, and he had replaced with a new pup by the name o' hamish. neighbor were nowhere to be seen, but we heard hamish barking whenever we passed his home. our neighbor were in his late 50s, so we figured he had taken ill or been injured or somesuch. gave his residence a telephone call with the intent o' offering aid and to walk his dog 'til he recovered. our neighbor were dead. had died a few months previous to our phone call. his wife/widow, whom we had never spoken with previous, were going in for hip surgery. *sigh* we offered to take hamish for walks 'til ______ got back on her feet. literal. she were gonna need stay off her feet for a few weeks and she were actual a bit frantic as to what she were gonna do 'bout hamish during that time. hamish has now been part o' the Gromnir pack for over a year. we did end up purchasing a 97 chrysler minivan that serves no purpose save as a dog walking vehicle. one o' the better $1500 purchases we has made. anyways, today we were walking all five dogs when things went horribly wrong. those ground dwelling birds that is ubiquitous in our neck o' the woods has recently multiplied. is the yearly and temporary multiplication that occurs after eggs hatch and chicks appear. typical turkey hen seems to have 'bout five poults and quail got similar numbers o' chicks. no doubt the local cat and hawk populations is collective (and metaphorical) salivating. am pretty sure hawks don't salivate. anywho, Gromnir were blissful enjoying nature, while keeping an eye out for coyotes and snakes, and largely ignoring the threat o' mountain lions as we were knowing we could do little 'bout a puma attack in the event such occurred. tragedy struck. our sister's little black mutt likes birds. is not a cookie monster and big bird friendship kinda 'like' neither. the little black dog has, in the past, attacked any number o' small birds. killdeer and sandpipers is typical targeted when we gets near lakes. rare does the dog have much success in his hunts as the birds, y'know, can fly. also, Gromnir is aware o' the dog's bird ocd, so we typical put him on a leash when kildeer is nesting and chicks is present. there ain't never been an issue with quail or turkey in the past, which is kinda odd as the black dog will chase geese, ducks, swans pelicans, egrets and all matter o' waterfowl regardless o' prohibitive size disparity. ... can no longer state that quail is off the menu. ... ok, is all Gromnir's fault, and we do feel terrible. of all the dogs we walks, we only had hamish on a leash this AM 'cause we walk where is absolute nobody else walking dogs. as we mentioned earlier, our actual concerns is snakes, coyote and mountain lions... though our vet friend tells us that the actual danger we should be more wary o' is disease carrying voles and mice. regardless, dogs were off leashes when the black dog went after a bevy o' quail. we shouted, but that were pointless. black dog caught a chick and promptly tore it to shreds. okay. that were bad, but then everything went to hell rather quick. the other unleashed dogs unexpectedly joined the black dog in a bloody bacchanalia. am not gonna share details other than to note that hamish got away from us while we were attempting to put one o' the border collies on a leash and so we ended up with all five dogs contributing to the impromptu display o' savagery. before today, the only dog we walk that has ever shown interest in chasing birds is the little black dog... and one o' the border collies will chase geese and egrets. can't say that anymore. am glad the dogs didn't go after turkeys as male turkeys, with their spurs, can do serious damage to a dog, but that is the only silver lining we can see. were all a bit horrifying and ridiculous. we did experience a moment o' quasi hysteria on the drive home. a prince song, you know the one, played on the radio and we couldn't help but laugh like an idiot at the perversity o' the universe. HA! not Fun!

curious enough, the deep fried twinkie, a staple at many county and state fairs, were invented by a guy from rugby, england... well, at least one story attributes to the englishman. co-invented with a guy from brooklyn at their fish 'n chips restaurant is how we heard it. regardless, pretty much any candy bar, pastry and ice cream confection has gotten the deep fried treatment. one o' our many sports when we were younger were swimming. a regional swim meet could be an all-day or multi-day affair. if you were scheduled for multiple events, you would often need wait a considerable 'mount o' time between time when you were actual in the pool. *chuckle* am suspecting we ate our weight in twinkies and candy bars many times over during those interminable waiting periods at swim meets. finish 100m fly and then need wait 30 minutes or an hour for next event. *groan* needed replenish lost calories and sugary snacks were readily available options. twinkies and candy bars traveled well. the thing is, we never genuine liked twinkies, but they were convenient and loaded with sugar. HA! Good Fun!

https://www.amazon.com/American-Stories-Legends-Writings-Classics/dp/0142437093/ref=pd_sim_14_8?ie=UTF8&dpID=51ykkBk6J7L&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR102%2C160_&psc=1&refRID=9SR4BMBVKAAN5ZW7SRJY is not a history book, but am gonna recommend it for the cultural perspective it affords the reader. w/o a written language, the lakota were predictably terrible historians, but they produced many fine storytellers. along similar lines, we can recommend the following author: https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1?ie=UTF8&text=Joseph+M.+Marshall+III&search-alias=books&field-author=Joseph+M.+Marshall+III&sort=relevancerank as a storyteller, marshall is an okie dokie historian. as a historian, marshall's depth o' research and unique insights fail to impress. read for the stories. drury (and clavin) is a fine author and has much deserved accolades, so am gonna second gd's recommendation. HA! Good Fun!

am not wanting to put a damper on hurl's trip before you even begin, but am hopeful you consider the cultural implications if you is planning a trip to the black hills (and particular mount rushmore) while you visit south dakota. am recalling that you were quite moved when visiting the mlk and civil rights museums on your tour o' the south, yes? all am asking is you consider the significance o' rushmore when you visit, 'cause is no modern parallel we can provide. ... imagine if after years o' fighting, israel and the arab world formalize a treaty. as part o' the deal, the arabs demilitarize. peace lasts for 'bout five minutes and then the israelis break the treaty and invade. part o' the new israeli occupation includes razing of mecca to take advantage o' mineral resources found on the site. the masjid al-harām is leveled and in its place is constructed a granite monolith depicting david ben gurion and moshe dayan. is not as if hurl and his family built rushmore or took the black hills from the lakota. is folks who might wanna try and makes you feel guilty 'bout what happened way backs in the post civil war years. not Gromnir. that being said, while we can understand the pride one must feel as an American looking up at rushmore, we do hope you consider just what mt. rushmore means to the lakota. the monument is magnificent, but is also degradation and insult that just ain't possible to forget. if any lakota is still alive 100 generations from today, they is still gonna recall rushmore very different than we suspect will hurl and his family. a moment's reflection is all we would ask of you.

That was pretty cool. I could use that hammer too. ginsberg, that old letch, grabbed our arse. almost twenty years ago? were more than a bit embarrassing. our shock resulted in a most unmanly display as we reacted similar as does the typical cat when a vacuum cleaner is fired up in the same room. am thankful that ginsberg's residual poetry no doubt dissipated quickly. HA! Good Fun!

fixed HA! Good Fun!

I love the concealed porch weapon. I'd probably keep a melee weapon in a discreet place, too. A good framing hammer will do a lot of damage.* *I mean against zombies or humans, not foxes I have a firearm concealed in every room and space. For real. You never know! true enough. having lived in a rural part o' the US, am familiar with "never know." you never know when a rabid ninja raccoon will break into your home looking for your wife's shoes. oh sure, you immediate thought the racoon were male. bruce would be disappointed. you never know when a rabid ninja racoon will wanna look pretty, yes? and you never know when white-tailed commando, sick beyond sanity from you dog's constant barking, will break into your newly renovated florida room and plant a splayed hoof right between the canine's shocked eyes. sure, statistically you and your family is far more likely to be injured or killed by one o' your own firearms, but you never know when genetic enhanced black bears will escape from the secret government facility that is located only a few miles away from your house. the bears, bent on revenge and world domination, will no doubt be hungry after their long incarceration, and gd's fruit loops will drive the ursine super brains mad with desire. you never know. as an aside, given the current Congressional shenanigans, we is being asked by our aclu colleagues to aid with a challenge to the No Fly List. https://www.aclu.org/infographic/grounded-life-no-fly-list https://www.aclu.org/blog/speak-freely/until-no-fly-list-fixed-it-shouldnt-be-used-restrict-peoples-freedoms am very much disappointed Congress and the President keep using the No Fly List as a cornerstone o' their new gun control legislations. HA! Good Fun!

commercial pilot is different than airline pilot... or commercial airline pilots. as a commercial pilot you may have charter flights that include passengers, but is, so we is told, a broad range o' other options available to the commercial pilot. the typical airline pilot needs a college degree and all kinda extra training, but if you wanna be a pilot that does firefighting or cargo or rescue or... am mostly talking out our arse as we ain't a pilot and we got everything we know second-hand, but is our understanding that if you don't wanna fly passengers for a major airline, you still got considerable options. HA! Good Fun!

had a teacher friend o' ours quit his job a few years ago. the guy liked teaching, but he started to hate the kids, so he figured it were time to quit. so he quits his job w/o having any real prospects. that bachelor of arts in history from csunowhere that he invested four years o' his life (and innumerable keggers) pursuing weren't opening too many doors for him. our friend didn't have a genuine plan, but he were still in his early thirties, so he considered his options. commercial pilot. commercial pilot? we thought he were crazy. less than six months o' training/school and he had to pay ~$25k? guess it don't matter too much if you love your job. he gets paid well enough that it didn't take too long to pay back the school loans. the guy is happy. am not suggesting commercial pilot. have no idea what is your situation. even so, you is still young enough that you can find a career rather than a job, yes? as hopeless as it may seem, try to stay positive. HA! Good Fun! ps gd already has a dedicated melee weapon. http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/70860-what-you-did-today/?p=1580315

it is nice to have fighter equivalent accuracy with both a piercing and a blunt weapon. also, there is decent stilettos and a good club available at low levels. clubs is particular useful at low levels with the accuracy bonus. HA! Good Fun!

yeah, the priest is malleable and potent. http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/84013-no-idea-what-would-be-a-good-initial-build-for-my-first-proper-game/?p=1771290 am thinking that far too many folks waste the opportunity to play a pc priest by going with the healbot + buff/debuff route. is not to say that the traditional support priest ain't efficacious in poe, but durance can handle most such duties in spite o' beat-to-death complaints 'bout his attributes. use durance for traditional support role allows a pc priest to explore the fringes o' the poe mechanics for more unique (and fun?) builds. enjoy the sinister skaen priest. the only thing he/she ain't good at is tanking... and the good-guy dialogue checks. HA! Good Fun!

am imagining the above would describe a typical day for tim burton... for the last 30 years. HA! Good Fun!

am honest not sure what is bruce's point, unless you is attempting to give us additional proof that the post apartheid government in sa is having difficulty with the concept o' justice. is ok to criminalize folks for shooting their mouth off in public, but actual criminals who has been sentenced to long prison terms for multiple murders and crimes 'gainst humanity will be released just so long as they offer up some kind token to the State? am complete honest that we do not see how the kock example helps you explain sa free speech limits. we will note that we is mildly curious as to how you feel 'bout our due process conundrum: do you believe that due process rights should be abridged in cases where the majority population is particular offended by the defendant's alleged crimes? if the answer is no, then why do you feel different 'bout due process than free speech? if sensitivity towards the majority and its history at the hands o' an oppressive former regime is a rationale for criminalizing free speech, then why not do the same when is due process? HA! Good Fun! ps happy father's day to all the American fathers on board. and to stay on-topic, today we used our impulse buy watermelon slicer for the firstest time. *chuckle* kinda nifty little tool. weird looking, eh? am suspecting that Gromnir were the last person in the free world to hear o' these things, and we don't typical bother with gadgets, but it did work surprisingly well for us today. shock.

we watched a few stargate tv episodes with mcgyver staring in 'em. meh. the movie, with the 'girl' from the crying game and the computer who wore tennis shoes weren't much better. am not a stargate fan, so we got no horse in this race. that being said, we thinks ditching the tv show lore is a good idea, particular if your intent is to bring back professor daniel jackson, but no longer a milquetoast. have movies all 'bout prof. jackson subverting and neutralizing alien cultures. have an older and more cynical david spader channel his black list and ultron work. now that sounds fun. ... go heavy on drones to do reconnaissance and wet work. at the very least you get gifted to go see. HA! Good Fun!

all kinda deals is made with defendants and prisoners. give relaxed sentences for testifying 'gainst ______ or describing where is stolen loot or buried bodies or to convey expertise 'bout how a high-tech crime were committed. 'course somebody gotta approve such deals, such as a judge. roman polanski's deal with the da, for example, were rejected by the judge in his case. even so, am not certain o' your actual question. do criminals in the US get early release for cooperating with the State? is not all that common, but sure. would the US release a guy such as kock under similar circumstances? dunno. doesn't strike us as likely. however, am thinking we is missing your point if you suggest that the kock scenario is related to our previous discussion 'bout denial o' free speech when that speech might tend to anger the majority population o' south africa. our comment 'bout due process rights is not actual analogous to kock. kock were tried and found guilt and sentenced, presumably all with authority o' law. did the south african courts treat kock different just to get a conviction that would satisfy the south african majority? would you be offended if the south african courts had treated kock different just to insure a conviction? if such prosecutorial shenanigans do offend your sensibilities, then we see a serious problem, 'cause you is clear supporting the diminution o' free speech rights when a speaker is tending to offend the majority population. HA! Good Fun!

we gave you multiple examples. 1200 civil servants controlling a nation of 300 million? the spanish had 1000 soldiers conquer the aztec empire, which were having a populace of millions. the number o' spaniards in mexico were relative small for most o' the 300 years. and why does colonialism make a difference? were no emerging democracies during the colonial period? mill wrote during the 1800s. is unique in the sense that sa took longer than the rest o' the western world to be embracing the notion that regardless o' race, all men and women deserve equal treatment by the State. even so, is any number o' nations that struggled with the exact same issues as did sa, but they did so in the 1800s through the early post ww ii era. am not sure why you think 1950s, when numerous nations were finally freeing themselves from colonial rule is making a fundamental difference compared to 1994 end o' apartheid. again, the real tragedy 'o south africa were not that it were unique, but that until relative recent in history, it were common. regardless, if a fundamental human right such the freedom o' expression can be abridged 'cause o' sa's unique situation, then what personal liberty is truly protected? because o' due process rights, an otherwise guilty white criminal would get away with _____, which would inflame the black population o' south africa. so we got an excuse for suppressing due process in sa, yes? what freedom is free in sa if you genuine believe that your unique situation can lead to the abridgment o' that which mill and others knew were the most essential o' all rights: free speech. democracy is dangerous. we have mentioned elsewhere, and to no avail, that democracy and liberty is actual antagonistic. the founders o' democracies invariably set certain liberty rights beyond the reach o' the majority will, because the majority can be fickle and vicious and stupid. everybody loves free speech, until the majority is offended by an utterance. everybody loves freedom of religion, until a religion makes most god fearing people uncomfortable. democracy has always been the greatest threat to liberty in modern western nations. for sa to prioritize the emotional well being o' the majority over individual fundamental liberty rights is a dangerous reversal o' philosophy. HA! Good Fun!