Gromnir

medium size shirt? Gromnir's sister, who had an eating disorder, could still fit in a medium... and that were while she were going through chemo. Gromnir wears xl-2xl and am less than 6' tall. obese? not even close. for chrissakes, when we were a sophomore wrestling in high school at 145 we still wore large sizes. maybe is the pasty-faced euros with their concave chests and chain smoker physiques that is real problem. HA! Good Fun!

crap. never have purchased a console. always does Gromnir wait until we get as a gift. got 3 xboxes and a ps2 that way. 'course, as the price jump 'tween old consoles and new is 'bout as big as Gromnir ego, we ain't been given one o' the next generation consoles... until now. we got one o' the new xbox 360 elite consoles... and we got no idea what to do with the damned thing. have not kept up on 360 games releases 'cause we didn't have a freaking console to play said games 'pon. 'course now we gots one, but am not sure what to do with it... kinda sits there likes a mini version o' the monolith from 2001... all black and unfathomable to Gromnir. ... look, does anybody got a suggestion or two 'bout xbox 360 games? am not a shooter fan... am not a twitch gamer. we not like race games. figure that if some yutz went out and spent over $400 for one o' these things for Gromnir, we should at least try, but we got 0 notion 'bout what is worth playing on new consoles. thanks. HA! Good Fun!

10? maybe not quite 10... and these is in no particular order. jolee kreia keldorn- gets a place 'cause he is pretty much indispensables to Gromnir when making a bg2 party edwin- bg2... not bg1, 'cause all bg1 joinables were no more than a character record sheet and a catchphrase or two morte nordom- some funny lines and nice range o' upgrade options via dialogue korax- the only bg1 joinable we liked boarderliners: dak'kon- would be better if written a little less maudlin... young writer syndrome: trys too hard to be deep/profound annah- shenna easton doing vo. pretty transparent and shallow as far as reasons go for putting her on a "top 10" list, but so what. is our list and if we likes annah more 'cause of lucky charms vo, then so be it... and to hell with you all for questioning our motives. imoen jan is some others that maybe get consideration, but those is the ones that jump to mind. HA! Good Fun!

honestly, Gromnir ain't all that interested in fo3, but we is glad that bethesda is making for 2 reasons. first, we loves vd's journalistic approach to new fo3 news. no matter what bethesda says, they is screwed at codex, and to sees the codexian staff go to work on each new preview or interview likes the the pack o' rabid, frothing dogs they is makes Gromnir feel something close to joy. codexians live down to expectations is one of those constants of the universe that we can always depend 'pon. also, we cannot wait until fo3 sells... big. not only will every codexian b&m 'bout how people bought into the hype and ignored the crap, but pretty much every codexian is gonna buy the bethesda offering anyways, even if they not admit. is gonna be even more fun to watch as fo3 outsells fo and fo2 combined and then gets to watch the predictable codexian fallout following such an eventuality. ... is too bad that bio ain't making fo3. woulda' been even more fun to sees biowarians and codexians going at each other. *sigh* have never understood the people who likes to see car crashes or disasters caught on film. lowest common denominator entertainment. even so, watching the fo3/codex car crash as it occurs is compelling stuff 'cause not only is nobody really getting injured, but 'cause the folks in the metaphorical car is all retarded jackarses. HA! Good Fun!

transformers, gi-joe, he-man and many other cartoons were weekly commercial advertisements for toys... commercials that were 30 minutes long. they were all pretty darn terrible. have always been curious 'bout the fascination some people in this place seem to have with the transformers considering just how terrible it were. sure, folks who were kids in the 80s gots the nostalgia factor working for 'em... gets warm fuzzies 'membering those happier times? *shrug* am gonna give you one concession: he-man were even worse. had to find some way to repackage and sell all those unsold conan action figures and so he-man is born. awful. HA! Good Fun!

to josh, 1) nonsense your hitman observations ignore fact that it is a twitchy button manipulation game. you say it is an easy such example of button manipulation. so what? is a shooter and requires manual dex to hit targets... am 'membering how you boasted 'bout your hit % or somesuch silliness on this board. if no skill is required, then why you crow 'bout hit %? and from personal pov, hitman has far too much button manipulation for us to enjoy. downloaded the demo for the newest hitman game, and played for 'bout ten minutes. never liked wasd, and hitman were more complicated than simple wasd. that ended Gromnir's foray into hitman games. josh says is easy and not much button manipulation? Gromnir says it is too much. folks who complains 'bout min-games in crpgs is too much button manipulation is probaly of the Gromnir school and not josh... and he knows it. 2) if you say so you claim that poster's concern were transparent, but you clearly misrepresented... on purpose. were not really a blanket condemnation of the notion o' mini-games, but were the oft repeated complaint that in a crpg the character's stats should contol skill checks rather than the skill of the player. such complaints is almost invariably complaints 'bout button mashing and manipulation. sure, we agree that not all min-games gotta be manual dex based. the kotor card game, while maybe not best example, is such a min-game that ain't dex based and is easily avoidable in kotor. you feel better that unnecessary step o' clarification needed be made? fine, is only the manual dex min-games, and mini-games that is unavoidable and requires numerous reloads to "win" that is bothersome to Gromnir... and no doubt to the earlier poster as well. HA! Good Fun!

So I take it you would also like combat to be resolved with a single die roll? After all, there's an extraordinary amount of player skill required to resolved the combat mini-game in RPGs. am pretty sure that josh is aware that he is not responding to poster's actual concern/problem. does crpg combat require skill? yeah... kinda. the skill required to overcome most crpg combats is a very limited and game-specific kinda skill that ain't twitch/reflex/eye-hand related in any way. is crpg combat as synapse burdening as is playing chess v. a grandmaster? not a chance, but is not some kinda glorified version o' tetris neither. want our coordination tested? will go to dr. and get a freaking physical... 'bout as much fun as is the stoopid lock pick nonsense from oblivion. kotor and kotor2's mini-game in which you do the racing stuff? if we wanted to play a racing game we would simply buy one of those nascar games. and part o' the problem Gromnir has with the twitch min-games is that they seems to be dependent 'pon multiple failures to be fun. is like the damn shooter and platform games that also requires twitch reflexes and gets all their gameplay hours from dozens of reloads to overcome the "hard parts." if the twitch mini-game is beatable on first try then it not afford the twitchy fans much fun, and is simply a momentary inconvenience for those of us who loathe such stuff... somebody has got to suffer. am knowing that josh likes shooters and games likes hitman... but Gromnir ain't a fan. not got no real thrill from button manipulation games, so mini-games based on same/similar principle aggravate us or bore us. want our eye-hand challenged? will go out and play real baseball or some other activity. is easy nuff to find rw eye-hand stuff. find tactical or strategic combat simulators in rl? can play chess at park we s'pose. hell, the reason we hates playing rts on-line is 'cause those games invariably becomes much more 'bout the ease with which you can manipulate buttons on keyboard than tactical or strategic planning... which ain't really what we finds fun 'bout such games. regardless, josh did purposefully pretends to misunderstand the poster's concern regarding min-games... which is kinda bad form. HA! Good Fun!

dragon magazine were almost necessary way back in mid seventies. the original white box rules were less than complete and more than a little broken.... and this were pre-internet. at conventions n' such, there began to evolve a kinda accepted house rules standard, but most players were unaware o' these changes. dragon mag were a nifty resource for offering rules updates and changes... also provided new content backs when most supplemental material were in form of relative small game modules. 1st edition ad&d changed things a bit by codifying most o' the house rules... but as those rules were result o' an organic trial and error process spanning some number o' years o' tourney play, the new and improved rules were still 'nuff of a mess that dragon continued to be a useful resource. for a LONG time the only hardcover books were monster manual, phb, dmg, deities and demigods. eventually we gets a bunch o' others likes unearthed arcana and fiend folio and oriental adventures, but compared to rate we see today, with a new hardcover book coming out seemingly every month or so... *shrug* errata and rules changes, the stuff that were maybe the most useful aspect o' old dragon (though not its most popular application) can be handled more easily and cheaply via the internet. new monsters, classes, gods, spells and magic 1007... the stuff that people really want more of? why use magazine subscription when you can get persons to buy 4-5 hardcover books instead? all rules in d&d is optional... but the stuff that were in dragon were more optional than most, and THAT might have been its greatest strength. is there anybody who used everything from dragon magazine and incorporated into their d&d rules? might be a couple weirdos who did, but we never met 'em. people viewed a dragon magazine likes a buffet, picking and choosing only what appealed to their personal gaming palette. sadly the same cannot be said of the vast and steamy pile o' crap that is the supplements for d20 d&d. each new book that is released is accepted as part o' d&d canon, and the sneaky wotc design guys makes sure that these tomes is increasingly interdependent. you not wanna use prestige classes from the Uber Wizard supplement? tough, 'cause every adventure and campaign setting book is gonna use at least some of the spells, feats, classes from that book. furthermore, is simply impossible to balance all this new Official material. you honestly thinks that wotc guys balance all new material with all old material in attempt to avoid possible breakage and balance issues? cannot be done, even if they wished to do so. is too big. so much for making d20 d&d more streamlined and balanced, eh? more is not always better. ... am understanding economics, and we ain't ignorant nuff to hope for a return to the good old days... which weren't really better btw. oh, and while we hates to admit it, we were kinda impressed with the recent ravenloft hardcover offering that josh mentions. HA! Good Fun!

have not read thread, so am not sure what others have said. nevertheless, Gromnir simply has no interest in moore. am not expecting moore to be some kinda objective reporter of Truth; he gots an agenda and that is just fine. is no question what message he is trying to get across to audiences and where he stands on an issue. he is an advocate for his ideology. great. truth to tell, we agrees with many of his conclusions, but the way he tries to convince others that his views is right is by using lies and misrepresentations and innuendo... and he does so with full knowledge that he is muddying the search for truth. were thinking that "roger and me" were a fantastic documentary... right up until we discovered that it weren't really a documentary so much as a fairytale . woulda' still been interesting as a fiction piece, but moore pretended likes he were doing factual presentation rather than whimsical fantasy. we chuckled for a few moments when we realized just how much elmer gantry were being channeled by moore... were kinda funny that he had bamboozled so many people, including Gromnir. ... dunno. people likes pro wrestling too. some folks likes even thought they know is fake. others, as improbable as it would seem, insist that it is a genuine sport. for those who watch moore and know that his act is as staged and fraudulent as pro wrestling and can still enjoy, we says, "Good for you." but for those people who thinks moore is Real... we got same contempt for you that we typically reserves for the mullet bedecked southern cousin breeders who is the stereotypical fan o' pro wrestling... as a sport. HA! Good Fun!

we thought this were gonna be a jokes thread. you know... step 1) take a sledgehammer to your pc as you will no doubt save money and lifespan by simply destroying your rig now w/o wasting time and effort on the install of vista.... and then having to wait while vista seemingly destroys your computer by inches. step 2) with the time you saved by not installing vista... etc. *shrug* HA! Good Fun!

makes it easy for you. we didn't save pic, but this obsidian message board software does save such stuff on our profile page... go figure. HA! Good Fun!

as an aside, Gromnir has purchased 3 g220fb monitors in last few years. we got 2 at home and we purchased one as a gift. never paid more than $325 after shipping. the opened box bit is great 'cause the monitor is still under full warranty... which is a 3 year deal for viewsonic and probably a 30 day to 1 year warranty from retailer. if something is actually wrong with the monitor chances are you is gonna have to pay some money to ship back to source, but if you do then you gets delivered a brand spanking new monitor that ain't an open-box item... which means chances are you is still saving a good chunk o' change over what you would pay even at newegg. is a bit o' a hassle and you gotta be patient for open-box item to become available from reputable retailer, but for monitors it is a nice way to save some dough. am doubtful that we would ever buy other computer hardware this way, but monitors is kinda like tvs and is self-contained soldi-state appliances: low risk to Gromnir. in any event, we gots no compassion for eldar. recall that embarrassing picture of Gromnir's "desktop" with the silly siamese cat perched on chair? no? well, that were one o' our g220fb monitors on the big ole desk. as an unabashed narcissist of first water we would expect eldar to recall such minutiae. HA! Good Fun!

is not like Gromnir hates many folks, but we does hate the French... en masse. nevertheless, is hard for Gromnir to complain 'bout viewsonic graphic series crt monitors. have had a g90fb and a g220fb and is doubtful we ever buy any other brand o' monitor. typical price for one o' these things is 'round $500... but you can gets a new/opened box model from a reputable retailer for 1/2 price. don't do refurbish. keeps checking buy.com and pricegrabber.com and we can almost guarantee that within a few weeks some 4-5 star retailer will offers an open box model in the $250-$350 range. http://www.viewsonic.com/support/desktopdi...cseries/g220fb/ the thing is BIG, but if you gots a large 'nuff desk you is gonna be envy of all the kids on the block. HA! Good Fun!

lemon-lime kool-aid. if we answered the same question tomorrow or three days from now, answer would probably still be: lemon-lime kool-aid. HA! Good Fun!

what am? fighter. gots instincts and attitude of fighter. only useful lesson we learned from Gromnir Sr. were: take the first shot. have some martial training, but more important is fact that if we is in a situation in which violence is possible, we has absolutely 0 hesitation. is a good thing that we gots an education, 'cause our tendency to go blood simple is far less of an issue now that we is srrounded by nice people who were raised right: people who will go pretty far out of their way to avoid a physical confrontation. 'course, now that Gromnir is getting older... probably still a fighter. what would Gromnir wish to be? not a fighter, that is for damned sure. would want a career choice that were far less lethal. cleric... not a cheesy FR cleric, 'cause worshipping FR deities would not be something we could stomach. nevertheless, d&d rules does allows for clerics sans a specific deity. would amuse us to no end to be a priest o' Gromnirism, for want o' a better description. strength o' our convictions would result in mystical/magical powhaz? sign us up for that. HA! Good Fun!

if josh had renamed gray dwarves following tutorial as "gelded duergar," would everybody ha' been happy? HA! Good Fun!

"a more focused campaign" and "tighter storyline" is simply developer speak for short... betrayer is gonna have a much shorter story arc than nwn2. no surprise there as betrayer is an expansion, no? am never sure what people mean when they says "non-linear," but we suspect that people expecting a really big and open game world with lots o' sub-quests that is complete tangential to critical path is gonna be disappointed by betrayer. for chrissakes people, motb is an expansion to a 40 hour game. what is you expecting? typically an expansion is more streamlined than the original game offering. even for an expansion that were as big as Throne o Bhaal, which had considerably more hours o' gameplay than is usual for expansions, the gameplay were far more "linear" than were the case in bg2. you wanna tell a compelling story in motb and has a real big and open-ended game world offering much player freedom with an expansion? right. expansions is free money for developers and publishers... is different than sequels, so don't expect a sequel. as for the rest of roshan's grumblings... *shrug*. roshan is a nutter when it comes to ps:t. EVERY obsidian/bis offering since ps:t has seen fergie or some other representative o' the developer reassure fans that there wouldn't be as much dialog as ps:t... or as much character interaction as ps:t, or as much darkness as ps:t. now we know that 'ccording to fergie ps:t was a wonderful commercial success, but other bis/obsidian folks has pretty much admitted that such a claim is utter bs. no biggie, we all know that ps:t didn't sell well regardless o' roshan's fanticsim or fergie's dissembling. so then, is it any surprise that obsidian developers always makes sure that we is reassured that release X will not be another ps:t, another failure? ps:t, right AND wrong, gets held out as both high and low waterline for various aspects of crpg development. ps:t is the extreme and is thus useful as a measure stick. consider: if fergie had claimed that there would be a great deal more character interaction in motb than in FO (another interplay/bis/obsidian offering which roshan seems to hold in high esteem,) would anybody be impressed? would you has any notion o' just how much character interaction motb were offering if fergie had said >fallout? motb is gonna be an expansion. is gonna add new spells, feats, monsters, prestige classes and an included campaign that is gonna be brief, but hopefully improves 'pon some shortcomings o' the nwn2 oc. is NOT a sequel. is free money for obsidian and atari and they ain't gonna try to rewrite the history o' nwn2 with this offering. will they makes same mistakes they made with iwd expansion? probably not. even so, if you is expecting nwn2 to correct all flaws you seen in nwn2, then you is clearly delusional. accept the reality oh what is an expansion. ... there is some other stuff going on in this thread, but is all rehash... nothing new. our complaints 'bout nwn2 ain't changed since last time we discussed, so we got little new to add. HA! Good Fun!

saw pirates. first half of movie impression: *groan* this movie drags its feet likes a gout ridden wino with the DTs. second half of the movie impression: ... huh? nevertheless, it were not likes we felt cheated. the action sequences were okie dokie, and the return of Geoffrey Rush were welcome, but the dialogues were far less witty, and the characters were less colorful. what a waste of Chow Yun Fat. jack sparrow were kinda boring in this flick. some scenes reminded us of terry gilliam flicks of past, and that were both good and bad. maybe there were too many main characters. Geoffrey and orlando, and keira, and bill nighy and depp and naomie harris all hads to have some sorta resolution to their story lines, and that were far too big a task to be pulling off given the way that the first two movies were not really building 'pon each other... 'cause first movie were more of a stand alone story. the thing that bothered Gromnir most were that there were this big Davey Jones/Calypso thing building, and in the end, it just were... abbreviated. huh? never got back the magic o' movie #1, which were fun and clever and unexpected. this latest installment were an okie dokie movie that were salvaged at end by a wonderful action sequence that somehow not seem too long, and by a satisfactory resolution to the orlando and keira story, but we couldn't help but feel that pirates 3 were far (FAR) less than it could have been. HA! Good Fun!

sounds likes solitaire is finally getting an update. HA! Good Fun!

"colorless green dreams sleep furiously." HA! Good Fun!

for quite some time, when young(er), Gromnir wanted to be a corpsman serving with a marine unit, but on those surveys/tests at high school where they ask/tell you what occupation might be appropriate for you, we always indicated that our career goal were to be Pope. ... am still thinking that we would make a damn fine Pope. oh, and we has met all criteria on vol's list... though probably not how he means. lawyer? check. we has been paid for some of our scribblings, though not 'nuff to survive, and we has played sports as a professional, but not one of major pro leagues likes NFL or mlb or some such... ironman arena football for a summer, back when it were just getting started. as for hot... dunno. am considered attractive for the ambulatory fireplug we resemble. do better than ok with the ladies w/o much effort. am not sure if that = hot though. typical we dates hot women. proof and pudding? HA! Good Fun!

1 mistake we seen in Gromnir post, and am not sure where our head were at time we made commet, but replace "synthesize" with "metabolize." as for stretching... stretching is good, but only if done right. have seen almost as many people stretching wrong as stretching right. too many people got seriously futzed by their gym teachers or coaches regarding proper ways to stretch. is maybe not as dangerous as doing weights wrong, but is still noteworthy. is tough to thinks 'bout age 40 or 50 when you is in 20s, but you should. relative minor injuries in youth is gonna gets magnified and compounded when you gets older. ever see old pro/college football players? most looks 10-15 yearls older than they should, and they shuffle round likes 80 year olds when they is in their 50s. just likes even small cuts leave scars that never goes away, almost all your injuries, as minor as they may seem, leaves behind damaged and weakend tissue. ever have a high ankle sprain? well then, you is more likely to have one in future. rotator cuff injury can happen very easy, and once you weaken one shoulder, chances are that you overcompensate in some way... often leads to back and neck injuries. am not trying to scare nobody... no, that ain't true. Gromnir AM trying to scare, but am not overstating the danger in the least. for most folks, sticking with cardio alone is probably best. HA! Good Fun!

unsolicited advice from Gromnir re weight train... there is 5 mistakes we see from people trying to get into weights: 1) doing wrong is worse than not doing at all this point is gonna be kinda repeated by Gromnir numbers of times. your average trainer at 24 hour fitness and other places is an idiot who took a weekend class to become certified as a trainer. if these jokers were smarter, they would be doing something other than training at a gym... and don't assume that just 'cause a person looks like they is in good shape that they know what they is talking 'bout. Gromnir cannot count the number of people we has seen inure themselves 'cause their form sucks, and the thing is that these people may not realize that they is injuring self til 5-10 years after the fact. look at it another way. you ever play golf or tennis? maybe you thinks you got the smoothest swing in the world, perfect. then you somehow happens to see self on film and you not recognize yourself, 'cause you really didn't imagine that you were stoking/swinging like you actually is. is reason you go to a golf or tennis pro to get right, no? bad form in weight training is not only gonna inhibit muscle development, but is gonna possibly lead to serious long term injury. if you hasn't been coached by real knowledgeable folks 'bout how to train, then don't %$#@ around with weights. go and interview some trainers, get their qualifications, and pay for a handful o' sessions. will be real obvious which trainers is fools and which is competent after 2-3 minutes o' questioning. spend a little money now, or risk serious injuries down road... your choice. 2) tyros thinks that you build muscle while working out is kinda misleading o' Gromnir, but we does so to make a point. some people quit weight training less than a month after start... most people. no harm, no foul. other folks really takes weights serious, and they thinks that train more = better results. muscle grows while you rest, not while you work out. over train is one of the more common mistakes we see from folks just starting weight trains... they see fantastic results for month 1, then they train harder and wonder why they not see as much results in month 2-10000000. your most dramatic results always comes as you first start, but REST is key to muscle development. if you works out muscles that ain't healed from previous workout, then you ain't helping self much. 3) more weight you is gonna be tempted to add more weight. see Gromnir on bench next to you doing 10 reps at +300? makes you wanna do more weight. no. no, no, No, NO! more weight you add, the more likely you screws up your form. is gonna be very difficult to do so, but concentrate on form far more than the actual weight you does. again, Gromnir cannot stress just how unhealthy a bad workout is. maybe you not recognize this year or the next, but 10-20 years from now you will pay in triple for mistakes you made today. is many movements that not look impressive, but is just as good (or almost as good) as is squat and bench for building legs or chest. do more exercises that require less weight and you will be far better off in long run. 4) not enough focus on nutrition is too much to cover in depth, but do not forget just how important the nutrition component is. just as you won't build muscle w/o rest, you won't get good results w/o the right food. those protein bars and shakes? is mostly a waste o' money. human body cannot synthesize much protein at any one time... is a surprising small amount. eat 2 really good meals a day with lots o' protein is not gonna help you build muscle as much as you might think. again, muscle is built while you rest, and your body not synthesize much protein at any one time... so? key is to spread out protein intake. those protein shakes and protein bars gots 'nuff protein in 'em, but you probably gets better results (and cheaper too) by eating small portions o' chicken or fish multiple times a day. is protein bars more convenient? sure they is, but you is paying for protein your body can't use. and protein ain't the only factor... the basic four food group stuff ain't a half bad guide. is no exact science, but you makes sure you gets lots of dark green vegetables and some considerable 'mount o' fruit too. carbs? carbs is strange. you need 'em, but people reacts so different. if you is already fat, then go careful with carbs loading, 'cause fat people tends to be more carb sensitive. that is it for Gromnir advice... we can gives specifics on individual body parts, but for starting out you really should seek some profeshnul help to make sure you got good form first... and don't be a schmuck. if some exercise regimen seems like a gimmick, or some supplement sounds too good to be true, then chances are that it is. finally, don't worry 'bout plateaus n' such for at least first 3 month, maybe more. again, is much more important that you is doing the right way than is seeing huge gains in strength and size. HA! Good Fun!

Gromnir ran track in high school, but that was really just off season conditioning for football. sprints. went to state for indoor 60 and 100, though we excused our self from the extended team runs. in fact, am thinking that we never, Ever, ran more than an 800 during a track practice. football practices involve a great deal of running. can't recall how many stadium stairs we has run. football is a team thing more so than is track, so Gromnir occasionally had to do one of those 3 or 5 mile runs. *groan* did some running as part of our wrestling practices too. not too much though. Gromnir still runs to stay in shape for rugby, though mostly we does sprints and stadium stairs rather than serious distance stuff. ... ever see that movie with robbie benson 'bout Billy Mills? that ain't Gromnir. like running, just to run? crazy talk that is. have never once enjoyed running, save for on the way to a touchdown (rare) or during those infinitely prolonged seconds leading up to a real spine crushing tackle (frequent.) any run that takes more than 11 seconds makes Gromnir die a little inside. HA! Good Fun!

funny, but we thought that the pointlessness of thread were due to you simply repeating that you is a victim, or complaining that you didn't make no mistake. you ain't added nothing to the debate save for crying foul, so we got no material to respond to at this point. maybe you shoulds look up definition o' "hypocrite" too while you is at it. HA! Good Fun!