Cantousent

I've avoided this topic like the plague, although I've been reading it since day one. For non-US citizens, carry on as usual. I won't even comment. For US citizens, really... really, the more you liken Bush to Hitler, Saddam Hussein, and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the more his stock will rise. There are a bunch of factors working against President Bush right now. He has problems at home and abroad. Even the Republican party isn't very popular at the moment, its base notwithstanding. While all the missteps aren't the President's fault, or even Republicans as a party, he's made enough mistakes that he deserves having his feet held to the fire. Still, there's nothing like having folks literally claim that he is the second coming of Hitler or that he just as bad or worse than Saddam Hussein to engender some sympathy. I'm not going to argue policy in this thread, but I will argue that, if you want to do real damage to President Bush, you'd be better off making arguments that aren't simply ridiculous on their face. The President can't run for another term. Nothing will better confirm the solid foundation of our democracy better than the elections themselves, when one administration will step down and be replaced by another. In the meantime, the Republicans never learned their lesson when they used the same tactics against President Clinton. You can demonize the President. Hell, that's the political process. Just don't make yourself look stupid in the process. It doesn't hurt the president, but it can hurt the cause with which you've associated yourself.

I dunno, maybe you guys have a point about assessing difficulty levels. I still tend to think that most games are designed around the normal difficulty level. Changing the slider from easy to hard only changes some characteristics but leaves the underlying design at normal. For that reason, I play and virtually always finish a game on normal and then go up from there. On the other hand, a designer, at least one reviewer, and several players all disagree with me. Maybe I'm the one who's wrong. *shrug*

It's still sad to have folks fold during the holidays. Hope they manage okay. Hey, they can get jobs at Obsidian!

Wow, it's gotta be a real feat to get Lebanese, Serbs, Italians, and Greeks to work together. What the hell? hahahaha

I was waiting for the Socialist comment. I was waiting for it with relish. Yes, European Socialism. A capitalist system in socialists clothing if I've ever heard one. ...But where do you derive the capital for this endeavor? Did the government just create the capital? Even if it did, which it did not, then does any government stand alone? Where do the exports go when you manufacture items? Is it all domestic, because, if not, you get an awefully big boost from some capitalist neighbors. Nope, I didn't have the wrong idea, friend. You do.

You do love those 500+ words per post battles about capitalism with taks, don't you? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> No, he just likes the rank stench of hypocrisy that permeates his position. Nothing like sitting at your university, using your computer to post messages on a message board, and enjoying the benefits of the system that has reared you to engender unhappiness in any individual. Of course, maybe he should come up with a better system. Here's another question... wasn't ebay a capitalist enterprise in the first place? So, capitalism creates something you enjoy but that service falls prey to a more successful endeavor, and capitalism killed it? I guess capitalism giveth and capitalism taketh away. In the meantime, Kaftan, continue to rail against the very system that affords you the opportunity to sit at a computer attacking it. Your position is not only grossly hypocritical, it is also most odiously stupid. Not you, though. Nothing personal. Just your ideas and positions.

I'm not suggesting that normal should equal real life. It's a game. One would assume that the point is that a game is not the same as real life. Even a simulator will allow for things outside the realm of reality, such as getting back up after being killed. Where Hades had it right is that the normal difficulty setting should reflect the baseline for the ruleset. Reviews should also reflect the normal setting. I don't want to read a review where the reviewer hiked up the difficulty to max to get any enjoyment out of the game. I want a fair assessment of the game based on the normal setting. Do I changed difficulty levels? Sure I do. Most of the time, I changed difficulty levels based on rewards, which is a terrible reason. Still, that's what I do. Of course, then you have games where changing the difficulty level only chages the... well... difficulty. You get no other reward. I change the difficulty on those also, but usually only for something like FPSs. What I do, or you do, with the difficulty setting doesn't really matter, though. Right? I mean, the game is built around the normal setting. Then, to make it more difficult for the grognards, they tweak things after the fact for other settings. So, while I might be forced to change the setting in order to play the game, it's never optimal. Perhaps our designer in residence can clear this up for me, but how often are as many resources put into developing the game for higher or lower settings as compared to normal?

I haven't forgotten a single one of you. It's just that I take a while to think of how I'm going to approach each report. That's why it takes me so long to do each one. That's why I was so happy when Kor agreed to do Draken's report. It's not that I won't eventually do one. It's only that I don't know how long it will take me to do it.

Actually, I think Hades pretty much summed it up nicely. More thoughts later.

We've killed the poor Child's thread. Now it's only a matter of time before the LAW catches up with us.

You even used your "Jokey" icon! Woo Hoo. Cant says he liked it also.

A friend of mine who was a battle-hardened Halo veteran picked up Halo 2 and was repeatedly annihilated by the opening sequence in Legendary mode. Shields do not help you any more than health if you have no time to regenerate them. The only times shields are useful is when you withdraw from combat or after combat ends. That's not always an option. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Pardon me while I double post.... or not, I don't care. Gamers should always assess a game based on the normal mode. Sure Fist of Fury, or legendary, or whatever you want to call it might be cool and all, but that's not the normal gameplay.

PC FPSs are much better than console FPSs. Part of that problem is personal, as I cannot seem to get the hang of playing an FPS on a console controller. Part of that is just the difference between the systems. That's part of the personal preference area of gaaming. However, the longer load times, smaller maps, less control than a mouse and keyboard combo, etc. all combine to make console FPSs inferior. ...And it's not like I go out of my way to avoid console games. The areas where the console excels, such as ease of use, less cost, etc. aren't actually part of the gameplay. In this case, my numbered friend and Hades are right. It's not that FPSs are better, it's that consoles are easier to use.

Wow, I didn't know that. I thought you were Visc first. You have to admit it can be hard keeping everything straight. I was just telling Cant the other day that everyone should stick with one name.

He has every right to post obnoxious remarks and change his name on a whim, Vis... I mean Doom.... I mean.... Dammit, you know what I mean. :D

God, I love this quote from Peter Dunne: "There is much to admire about Australia but copying the stupid attitudes of drunken thugs at Cronulla in Sydney is not the way forward for a peaceful New Zealand." So much is true. Emulating drunken thugs is usually a bad choice. hahahaha I can't believe folks want to demonstrate "white power." I've always thought white/black/brown/purple/whatever pride was stupid and divisive. After all, why should you be proud of an attritbute over which you have no control? I mean, if you're not proud of your country, you can at least renounce your citizenship and go somewhere else. It's not like you did anything special to be white or black. You just happen to come that way.

Your avatar rocks, Nartwak. Now, as for the racial/ethnic/religious violence... it sucks.

One more example of why we figure that even Mother Teresa would tell you to get f***ed. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Oh my goodness! I feel guilty, but I roared with laughter at that. You bunch of goofs.

The subject of this report is Gorth ___ Standardized Attributes: Intelligence: 5 Didactic (Good): 0 [5] Didactic (Bad): 0 [2] Annoyance: 0 Chutzpah: 1 Wits: 4 Charisma: 4 Will: 1 Eloquence: 4 Kindness: 4 ____ Assessment of reviewer

Great, Kor, that's wonderful!

To be fair, I've never seen Arrested Development. Family Guy and American Dad are offensively stupid.

lol Hey, I'm willing to do all these reports, but it will take me forever. Any volunteers to help with the backload?

I've never thought you were actually evil, but your taste in T.V. is foul.

Heres to Silver Shadow having a great birthday. Kaftan... you can have a somewhat pleasant birthday with a brief period of melancholy.

Hahaha. Comedy. Shadow, you rabble rouser, you!