Cantousent

"...Science will be able to explain everything in existence." If science is just how things work, and everything that exists follows universal laws, then science can't explain everything. For folks who have no god but science, science IS everything. It has no more concern for itself than a rock or a pond. It explains nothing. It just is. Using the man made language of science, man might be able to explain everything in existence. I doubt we'll ever put that to the test, but who knows? If we're asking what should be taught as science, then the answer is most definitely science. We just have to come up with a definition and then teach it. For my part, I'm not against a strict interpretation of the term.

What a doofus. I can't believe I laughed out loud at that.

Gingism? Sounds like some sort of dental disease. Attacking folks based on their hair color? Nuts.

Echh Pales. I'm drinking water right now. Straight from the tap. Just the way I like it. Unlike the muppet saxaphonist and the penguin, not all of us are lushes. :Cant's wishing he had a beer icon:

I don't think religion should be part of any science class. Morals themselves should not be part of any science class. science is completely amoral. It does not care in the least about morals and does not recognize their existence. Science is science. The very idea of empirical morality is laughable. Science doesn't have any vested interest in policy. At best, it can predict what will happen and record the happenings after the fact. All policy is moral and none of it is based on science. Science argues after the fact in a policy discussion, not before hand.

Equipment degradation is fine by me granted that it provides more than boasting rights for the guys who like to play a one legged dwarven thief with sleep apnea. If equipment degradation is based on resource management, I'm down with it. If it's meant to impose some arbitrary line of "realism," then I'm pretty much against it. The big factor, for me, is what it does to the game. If it intrudes on the fun factor by require long detours for fixing equipment or takes away all of my favorite equipment midway through the game, it will cease being fun and become monotonous. If degradation adds to my fun by giving me another factor to consider during my adventures that I can address with sufficient forsight, then I can see a lot of potential in the idea. A lot of games have item degradation, from WoW to STALKER. It's not like this concept has not made it's way into games I've already played. I don't hate the very idea of item degradation, but I'm leery of it.

Well, it can't help yet. Maybe when I go into work tomorrow it will help in writing future bug reports. Probably not, as I've already been trying to tighten my reports for the past four weeks. The only thing I can do is rewrite my old reports. My new ones are good.

Yes Christians benefit from the secular government just like atheists do. But do you really think that the a majority Christian population would have an atheists back when getting in office anytime soon? Ah, the same old arguments never change. Why should a Christian back an atheist? I think of plenty of policy reasons why a Christian should back a candidate and plenty of reasons why a candidate's religion should not matter. It usually does though. That's how it works. The thing is, saying that Christians won't back a candidate is not the same thing as saying that an atheist is institutionally denied access to office. Now we have folks citing not just outside articles, but other message boards as evidence to prove a point here? I don't look down on a single person here based on any proclaimed atheism. I get the impression, however, that some of you are more than willing to hate someone for being a proclaimed Christian, and that's just sad. As far as the secular government goes, yes it does help Christians. However, it's only helped one Roman Catholic into the Oval Office. That's fair though. Giving someone the access to seek office in the United States is not the same as ensuring that they reach it. Nor should it. For good or ill, you live in a representative democracy. Most folks vote their conscience. All things being equal, would you not choose the candidate who denounced religion in favor of a secular humanism?

Well, my bug report was really, really bad. That part I can say. To go into more detail would not only be irresponsible, but also unseemly for a variety of reasons. However, after the title ships, I can go over what *I* did wrong in more detail. I rightfully received a verbal reprimand regarding this bug. I just received it four weeks after the fact.

I'm still game, but I pretty much leave at 6 every morning and I don't get home until 8 at night these days. I should be able to start up in mid-August, which would be cool. ...But this is the same problem we've always had with me running a game. My life is just too chaotic to tie down to a schedule. For example: I'm planning a trip up to Northern California and Washington state in late August. On the other hand, in setting up my own game and having folks join it showed me that it's actually quite easy. Hell, I had Pidesco (Europe) and Tigranes (Australia) on at the same time. It's not a big deal at all. All you have to do is set the port forwarding.

Aha! Some of those early bugs have come back to haunt me. It's kind of strange that a bug report I made on my second day on the job (May 18) has caused quite a bit of grief in the middle of June. I had it sent back to me and it looked terrible. It was actually kind of a depressing day on Friday. My bug reports now are much better, mostly because I've gotten used to writing them. It's too bad that I didn't have the bug sent back to me to rewrite on the day I wrote it. I think some of my earlier reports were actually quite terrible. I think my later reports have been generally good, but mostly because I've been trying to learn as I went through this process. Anyhow, I thought this was significant and I can't just tell you the cool stuff, can I? :Cant's rueful grin icon:

Agreed. What we need is competent secular leadership in our government, not religious wackos like Bush and his cronies. What exactly does this mean? I suppose being Christian should be the basis for denying office to any citizen? Should it also be the reason to deny the a citizen the right to vote? Don't let the internet fool you. There are more of us than there are of you. When you say that we need a "competent secular leadership" that precludes "religious wackos," I think that maybe what you mean is that anyone who professes a strong faith should be institutionally precluded from office. A lot of good Christians have fought long and hard to ensure the secular nature of our government. If someone wanted to institutionally deny you access to office based on atheism or agnosticism, then you could count on our help. Make sure you return the favor.

I've been playing a bit of NWN2.

I'm dead serious, kaftan, I hate the hair in NWN2. I've been playing it today also, mostly switching between the campaign and trying to figure out the toolset. I can't stand the hair. It's not just the female hair. At least some developers get the female hair right. The male hair just sucks. In WoW, I can't have a standard, parted on the side male haircut. Rat bastards. Well, Blizzard is worse, but Obsidian doesn't get it right either. There are short haircuts, but they look like anime or lightly parted in the middle. Most of the haircuts are long. I don't disdain your long locks, Mr. Barlast, but I want the choice of a haircut that is similar to my own. In fact, while the argument that growing long hair was a way of self expression and the devs should grant the option has turned dramatically the other way. I can't express myself in my own fashion because the devs want to have these ridiculous long haircuts (Blizzard) or the unkempt mop top anime style (just about everyone).

This is one of the most sensible comments I've ever heard. That's really the problem. The category exists as little more than an excuse to exclude game one group or another doesn't like.

It would be nice if the debate itself weren't framed in such a way as to attack existing games. Yeah, that was only partly aimed at you, Swedeboy. What I'm saying is, we have to rely on the games we've seen to make the debate meaningful, but it's hard when the games that have had the most impact on us elicit such a powerful feeling. It's not just the PS:T debate, although that's a big one. Folks who like WoW will likely dismiss valid arguments that question its status as an RPG, while folks who hate it will do the opposite. Face it, with the players in every argument seeing so much at stake over the definition, having meaningful dialogue regarding RPGs is going to be difficult.

I just can't see doing this trip. The England trip was fun, but exhausting. Another transatlantic flight just doesn't appeal to me. Of course, it really isn't all up to me, but the thought just sounds too tiring right now. I guess no Greek waiters for the wife.

I was born and reared in Vegas. It's changed a lot over the years, to be sure. There's a lot of stuff to do in the Vegas area. I'd suggest red rock. In July, I'll be playing Dumbledore again for the release of the last Harry Potter book for the Henderson District Public Libraries. Currently, cherry limeade cut with water.

Wow, another Vegas member. I spend about 3 months all tolled in Las Vegas every year. Anyhow, I'm drinking a Monster Energy drink.

I was thinking more that we would spend a few extra days in Italy after we're done. My wife wasn't really complaining that my job doesn't make enough money. She was complaining that the job didn't make enough money to make it worth being gone for so long every day. I think this trip is kind of a peace offering for the bitter recriminations we've had. ...But I don't know. Women are inscrutable.

Maybe I'm being a little too puritan. I don't know. Different strokes, to be sure.

Yeah, that's another thing. I'm afraid I'll gorge myself daily on the cruise, which won't be good for me at all. I don't know. We're still discussing it. That, and it would be our second major trip in one year. I tend to like to spread out these trips over a longer period. We've barely recovered from the England escape. Still. Greece.

The wife has proposed a 7 day cruise of the Greek Isles. I was taken quite aback, but I have always wanted to visit Greece for a long time. I've not been a big fan of cruises because I largely think they're a waste of money, but I guess we'd fly to Venice, go on the Cruise, and then come home. That might give us a chance to see a bit of Italy while we're at it. There are four stops in Greece and, for some weird reason, a stop in Croatia. As always, since this my version of stripping on a webcam, and since I'm quite as shameless as Eddo in my own way, I'll post pictures and give a little report of the experience. Plus, if any of you board monkeys lives in or around Venice, Greece (there are four stops), or Croatia, let me know and I'll buy you a beer. I promise to keep my clothes on. From what I understand, this Cruise is set for November, which makes a lot of sense scheduling wise on our end.

You know, I'm appalled that you're asking if you should strip in front of your webcam. That's a serious response. I'm not saying it to make a joke. I'm saying it because I truly think it's depraved. If you're really worried about it, consult an attorney. That and a psychiatrist.

Psst. They aren't targeted at you, they're for the others. Hehe You don't say. I always wondered about that. I don't know. I think prestige classes are the way of the future. Dinosaurs like me just won't survive if we don't get with the program. You know, I've never bought a CRPG and played a prestige class. I've never played one in PnP. I guess if I don't want the other geeklings to kick sand in my face, I'd best try my hand at one. I suppose I could go through the original game with a Mage and then switch to one of these new fangled spell caster prestige classes when the expansion hits the shelves. Or restart the game with the expansion and bring a mage up through the ranks as a prestige class so I can just keep playing my character in the expansion. Can we do that? Is this like BG2?