Brasil

For Skyward Sword to succeed, it really just needs to avoid everything Twilight Princess did. You hear this time and time again, but repetition doesn't make it any less true. TP fell victim to a strict adherence to a rigid formula where getting the player from Dungeon A to Dungeon B was the only thing that mattered. And the game suffered for it. Between dungeons, you were given next to nothing to do. Hyrule Field was gigantic, sure, but it was also gigantically empty. At best, you found a heart piece or a rupee slightly off the beaten path. But even those were colossal disappointments, because you rarely needed extra hearts, and you most certainly rarely needed extra rupees. Didn't help matters that the game had a ridiculous "You got a ____ rupee!" cut-scene every single time. It's almost as if the game didn't trust the player to realize they picked up some cash. Now, to be fair, it's not as if the heart piece/rupee placement is anything new. Even the original game had its fair share of useless caves and pointless dead-ends. But it was nowhere near as bad as TP. There were long stretches of cave that gave you nothing. Where NES Zelda may have had one or two screens when you went down into a freshly bombed hole, TP had a winding cave structure with ups and downs, candles, enemies...but for what? A purple rupee you couldn't even carry because you were maxed out. Yay. I suppose that's one of the things that needs to change. Zelda games need some sort of an economy again. The original was perfect in that regard; you bombed a rock and maybe found a merchant selling arrows. It gave you incentive to try exploring your environment. It gave you a reason to actually keep cash on hand. It gave you an incentive to gear up. Sure, the game gave you mission-critical gear in dungeons (ladder, raft, red candle, etc) but being able to grab the blue candle or magic shield or bombs right at the start of the game added an immense depth (for lack of a better word) to the game. Hell, if you look online, there have been people doing no-sword runs in NES Zelda...and by "no sword" I don't mean they simply just don't use the sword. I mean they don't even grab the sword at the start of the game. There was incentive to experiment and explore and the freedom to do so. Later Zelda games lost that incentive when they started giving you [i]all[/i] of your necessary gear. I think OoT was the last Zelda game to really engage merchant shops on a substantial level. You had civilized shops in Kokiri Village, Goron Village, Castle Town, Kakariko, etc, but then you had hidden shops around Hyrule Field, Death Mountain Pass, etc. After that, it all kind of sputtered out. Rupees have become so useless that they should just be removed all together. I mean, think about it. What did you ever really need rupees for in the past couple of Zelda games? You always knew you'd get the right armor and shield by going through ABC dungeons. You always knew you'd get the Hookshot in Dungeon X. You always knew the game would give you bombs when you needed them in Dungeon Z. There were no real surprises. There were no true "OMG Blue Ring" moments. Again, I think OoT was probably the last Zelda game to really embrace those "OMG Blue Ring" moments. First time I got a Bomb Bag, I know I went around, blowing up rocks, stumbled across one or two fairy fountains. It was a great experience, and I'd venture it's because of those kinds of experiences why people regard OoT so fondly and pan TP in the same breath. The closest thing to Blue Ring moments I saw in TP was the sword skill acquisitions but eventually they got repetitive and ultimately became an annoyance because I seem to recall the howling stones being marked on your map, which kind of took the fun out of the exploration and discovery. Beyond sword skills, what, realistically, did you really have in the ways of Blue Ring moments in TP? So that's another thing I'd like to see in Skyward Sword. The return of true Blue Ring moments. Now, do I believe that Skyward Sword is really going to improve upon the trouble areas? Not really. For as much talk as I hear about changing the formula, I remain cynical. They haven't changed the current formula in over a decade and in many ways, it's just gotten worse. So I'm not entirely convinced they'll be able to pull off something akin to Zelda 1 or 2. And Des is absolutely right about mentioning Zelda 2, because it's a phenomenal game, and I'd say it's my favorite Zelda game ever. Sure, it's filled with cheap hits and cheap deaths, with enemies that steal xp from you, and areas designed to just beat you into a bloody pulpy mess on the ground, and by the first quarter of the game, Ganon's laughter will have been burned into your (and your fiancee's) memory...but it does click with you eventually. And once it clicks, it becomes one of the single most rewarding gaming experiences you'll ever have. In a lot of ways, it really was the predecessor to Demon's Souls on PS3. If you're hurting for classic Zelda in a current gen system, Demon's Souls will certainly tickle your fancy. The games aren't exactly alike, but there are enough similarities to where DS feels like a spiritual successor to where 2D Zelda left off back in the 1990s. Come to think of it, with Demon's Souls basically working as a next-gen Zelda game should, it almost makes me wonder why bother with Zelda-proper. Probably the Nintendo polish, I guess. Demon's Souls is horribly unpolished. Or at least, it's horribly depressing. You occasionally see ghosts of other players running around in real-time as they play the same levels you are. You'll see bloodstains that show how other players died just moments or steps before you. Most of the NPCs you'll interact with are actually dead. Hell, you're actually dead throughout the entire game, I suppose. You spend most of your homebase time in the Nexus, which is basically the afterlife. And everything is bound to the Nexus, even when you have a body. Plus, when you "die," it's not really death, per se...just losing your physical form. You resurrect in your spirit form and have to touch your bloodstain to get your souls (xp) back...but you never get your body back (unless you use these soul stone things). Great game, just horribly depressing. So Zelda is probably a much needed variation. lol

[quote name='James' date='10 June 2010 - 06:46 AM' timestamp='1276166808' post='695014'] [font="Palatino Linotype"]I saw this the other day and now, after seeing it again... I'm really not liking it. I am not entirely sure what angle they are trying to go with on this - it's almost looking a bit film noir in this trailer. On the one hand it seems to be trying to go for a more serious tone, but it's got this camp undertone that just doesn't square somehow. Maybe I just need to see more of it, but I think this trailer looks pretty awful. :\ [/font] [/quote] Yup. As a typical action/crime/thriller trailer, it's pretty horrible. I mean, sure...it's not even a trailer, just a proof of concept. But all it proves is that these writers don't know how to write. The dialogue is awful. Exposition--even in a trailer--should never be handled in such a clumsy manner. It doesn't help matters that the only real high point of the trailer is the fight between Johnny Cage and Baraka. Seriously, when the best part of your trailer is a brief fight scene, what does that say about the rest of your video? Now, I won't deny that it might be interesting to see a crime drama seedy underbelly background as the backdrop of at least the start of a/the story...but right now as it's conceived...it's so unappealing and underdeveloped that I immediately lose interest. Now, as a Mortal Kombat movie/trailer/something, I find myself wondering how it could have gone so wrong. Within a few minutes, they've taken completely iconic characters and turned them into generic action movie fodder. I mean, honestly...take some random nerd and show them a picture of Baraka from MKII. Chances are they'd know who it is within a second. Show that same person a picture of what's supposed to be Baraka here and they wouldn't have any goddamn idea what the hell they're looking at. Same goes for Subzero and Reptile. Subzero looks like an UE3 character render from the cutting room floor and Reptile is a random creepy bum who keeps human lampshades. How is that any more compelling than their origins in the early MK games? Subzero and Reptile never needed to be gritty serial killers. They were far more interesting as mystic warriors and assassins. On top of all of that...MK was never gritty and realistic, even in its heyday. Its contrast with Street Fighter was always that MK was the Looney Tunes to Street Fighter's Tiny Toon Adventures. In fact, Looney Toons is a pretty apt analogy for MK. It was never as smart as Looney Tunes, but it did have that weird blend of violence and mean-spirited slapstick humor. That's why the first movie was so great. Because it kept that weird blend of violence and mean-spirited comedy. And that's why I can't begin to understand why they're even looking to pitch this weird reboot thing.

http://3dnes.blogspot.com/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3ow0dZDbMM I'd kill for a Zelda game like this.

I will have my copy tomorrow. Though I turned out to be utterly disappointed by GTAIV, I'm very optimistic about Red Dead Redemption. Its a logical optimism, I think. GTAIV bugged me something fierce with its generally horrible characters (though Brucie was hilarious), meh writing (strange for a GTA game), horrible pacing, and side diversions that paled in comparison to Saints Row 2. I mean, seriously. Is playing darts or going bowling any real alternative to ATVing down a crowded city street, blowing up cars and lighting gasoline ablaze? hah I expect the setting in RDR to make the gameplay much more palatable. Plus I hear there's poker to pass the time. And hogtying. And bull-wrangling...or at least attempted bull-wrangling. I've seen stories of guys getting thrown around, right through a saloon's doors thanks to the Euphoria engine.

I'd like to hear if Allamighty Morphin Power Rangers is for or against the soda tax.

Unfortunately this spill won't stop "Drill Baby Drill." :-( The math wasn't in offshore drilling's favor back in 2008. I sincerely doubt it's there in 2010. All the studies I read damn near concluded that it's completely asinine to pursue offshore drilling as any part of a broader energy policy because the math just doesn't work. Even if we were to tap out 100% of all of the estimated reserves, it'll amount to next to nothing within the larger global market and its effect on prices will be slim to completely negligible. But of course reality has a well-known liberal bias, so "Drill Baby Drill" will continue to be chanted. Who the hell cares about math, or science, or the environment, or efficiency, or the right way to go about reducing our dependency on oil? Sigh. Sorry. The entire situation aggravates me.

[quote name='Nerdsy'][COLOR=deeppink]God, the sense of humor in animes are so awful. More often then not, they boil down to something that's at least intended to be funny happening, but then the other characters just outright state the damn joke, effectively robbing it of any humor it ever had. It really frustrates me when otherwise wonderful series do this.[/COLOR][/quote] That's the funniest kind of humor, though. Awkward silence!

[quote name='James'][FONT=franklin gothic medium]There are a million unfunny (and often seriously disturbing) things about Japanese culture[/FONT][/quote] [IMG]http://www.otakuboards.com/customavatars/avatar6_95.gif[/IMG] *cough*greeneyes*cough*

[quote name='Zombie_Nosh']If you could hang out with any dead person[/quote] [B]Zombie[/B]_Nosh Is there something you want to tell us?

[quote name='Sara'][FONT=secret font!][SIZE=3]Oh, man. Life's so crazy. I should really thank you for all those late-night telephone conversations we had a few years ago. You're like the slightly-deranged older brother I never had. [/SIZE][/FONT][/quote] You know, we hop on Skype and those late-night phone conversations could see a most glorious revival. The stories I have to tell, hooboy!

[FONT=Arial][SIZE=3][B]Brasil [/B] [B]Who:[/B] Member since...well, there's a small technicality, since there were a few bannings in my history. But I suppose I've technically been a member in some fashion or another since 2003. [B]Where:[/B] Living in NE Philadelphia with my fiance. [B]What:[/B] Just started a new job at a tech recruiting firm in King of Prussia, PA. Full-time, with benefits, great perks. Getting married this October. Wedding party is at 6 on each side. Guest list is hitting 165. I'm going to have one hell of a How I Met Your Mother story to tell, hehe. So life is progressing. [B]When [i.e. Back Then]:[/B] I went by many names. First was PoisonTongue. Can't remember most of the following ones. I think I went by Siren at some point. I seem to recall spending a lot of time in Anthology (lousy writing still irks me), Gaming (Nintendo still disappoints me), and Lounge (political stupidity still annoys me). I got banned so many times it felt like an uncomfortable sitcom. "How can Alex get himself banned today? Stay tuned!" It was like a mean-spirited version of Curb Your Enthusiasm. [B]Why: [/B]Because I received a Happy Birthday email from OB Administration. Figured the only way I would have been wished Happy Birthday was due to my account being unbanned. So...yep. I pop in and out every so often. [B]Favorite Things About OB: [/B] [I]Charles![/I] Thankfully we still hang out even though we're both busy as **** planning our respective weddings. He's getting marred this June to a great girl who puts up with our ****. [I]Mitch![/I] I think we both secretly enjoyed our weird love-hate relationship. I still hear from him here and there. Seems to be doing well. [I]Star Wars 411![/I] Great thread or greatest thread? I'd say greatest thread. Some really fun discussions there. Rebel Scum (see links in sig) was born out of Star Wars 411. Good times. [I]Lady A![/I] Another weird love-hate relationship. Getting up in her face turned me on a lot. I surmise it turned her on, too. hehe Last but not least, GUILD WARS. The GW crew here knows who they are. [/SIZE][/FONT]

[quote name='Azukuriu']I guess what I was really trying to say was that I believe the reason they destroyed everything Shepard worked for in the first game, as well as making most of the original Normandy's crew move on with their lives, was to show that the player (Shepard) cannot truly control what other people in the world do, even his crew.[/quote] But the first game is focused on Shepard assuming control. He leads the investigation into Saren on the Citadel. He becomes the first human Spectre. He commands the Normandy after Anderson steps down. His crew's dedication is unwavering. Ashley and Kaiden risk their own lives. Tali owes her life to Shep. Garrus wants to learn. Wrex even comes around, and there were a few choice moments where you weren't sure if he'd be loyal or not. The second game is no different. Shep assumes control. Leads the investigation. Gathers a crew. Orders them around. They follow his orders, even when his orders are Renegade. The suicide mission at the end is the only part that doesn't perfectly follow that pattern, but then again, I also feel the suicide mission "where anyone can die" is NOT one of ME2's high points. Especially since it flies in the face of the direct, unquestioned player control we've had throughout the first two games. My issues with ME2's finale aside, both games are all about Shepard being in complete control. So for the intro of ME2 to imply Shep isn't in control is wholly inconsistent. It's basically saying "Hey you weren't really in control when you faced Saren but now you're actually in control even though you're just an errand boy now, following orders from The Illusive Man." It's unnecessarily convoluted and works to the detriment of a game franchise (and developer) that's prided itself on the player having a direct impact on the game world. The far more likely explanation for the destruction? Bioware simply didn't know where to take their story after ME1 so they had to wipe the slate clean and start over. It explains the new crew, the new story, the new game format, etc etc. Easiest way to wipe the slate clean was to destroy/ignore everything you did in ME1. Oh, speaking of the story, here's why it makes no sense to me. [B]One[/B]. A huge deal is made about the council (again) ignoring the plight of humanity. Uh, what? The reason the council wasn't too keen on helping humanity in the first game was because the original council were aliens. It worked because we actually saw the council treating Shep like a primitive screwhead. But the canon ending from ME1 is the Renegade ending. Where Shep lets the alien council die. Where a human council assumes control. So it makes no sense that a [I]human[/I] council is suddenly ignoring the plight of [I]other humans[/I]. What's even sillier about it is how Shep's been dead for two years, has no idea what's been going on, then suddenly is able to tell Tali that the council is ignoring human colonies? Just because Cerberus operatives told him so? [I]What?[/I] It's completely incoherent. Why should we believe Cerberus without, you know, actually looking into it ourselves? Why do we automatically join Cerberus? Why should we trust them immediately? Simply, we shouldn't. And yet Shep tows their line as soon as Martin Sheen tells him to. It's super-lame. My Shep would have said screw them and headed off into Citadel space immediately. Any sensible commander would have, actually. [B]Two[/B]. The Reapers needing the Collectors to reproduce. If you're the ultimate force in the galaxy, having left advanced technologies like mass relays for the puny races to discover, why do you need or want a bunch of mutated Protheans to harvest organic material for you...just so you can create one or two more of you? If you're so technologically advanced, I'd expect you to have devised a better, faster method of reproduction that doesn't rely on a slow harvesting process, especially when that process can be so easily interrupted by some blaster fire. Ignoring the plot-hole there, what disappoints me is the overall execution of the story idea. The Reapers are impressed that Sovereign was beaten by a human, so they decide to harvest human DNA to create a reaper-human hybrid, something they believe to be a superior life-form. Then why do we fight a Terminator at the end? This was the Reaper's grand plan? A T800? Saren was at least threatening. Saren's second boss form was at least foreshadowed by all of his biotic implants. But this...is a joke. The boss isn't ominous at all. It's just goofy. And the fight itself is ridiculous. We just take cover and shoot the eyes with heavy weapons. Come to think of it, you could take the entire Collector's plot and jam it into one of those ridiculous Terminator arcade lightgun shooters and it'd work far better there. At least then shooting out the eyes of a large T5000 prototype wouldn't feel so out of place. Here, though, meh. It just doesn't work and feels like ME2 has no real focus. Plus, the thermal clip ammo system is really getting on my nerves. Enemies regenerate health faster than I can reload my weapon. Meh. Meh, I say. Meh.

Well, here's the problem with that. If ME2 is supposed to be a bridge chapter in the series, it would need to bridge ME1 and 3 together. It would need to take events/characters/story/etc in the first game and at least relate it to what's coming in the third game. Yet it doesn't. Think about it. Within the first thirty seconds of ME2, what happens? 1) The Normandy gets destroyed. You lose the ship that housed you and your crew throughout the entire game. The ship that Captain Anderson gave you to command. It was the most technologically advanced ship ever seen, the result of a joint venture between human and Turian engineers. One of the most important symbols of the first game is essentially erased in the blink of an eye. That's not bridging the series; it's making the first game completely pointless. All the time you spent with the ship suddenly didn't matter. 2) Your crew disappears and you're forced to recruit mostly completely new allies. If you wanted to keep Liara and Wrex? Sorry, you only get a minor interaction with them as you're embarking on loyalty quests for [I]other[/I] brand-new recruits. Being able to keep only two of your original crew feels incredibly cheap. It got me wondering what was the point of growing attached to any of the other crew in ME1, since most of them are getting thrown to the wayside in the sequel, with little more than barely-support roles and a few tiny lines of dialogue. Does that sound like a bridging chapter? Heck, a true bridging chapter wouldn't have disregarded almost everything Saren had been doing.

[quote name='Desbreko'][COLOR=#4b0082]My only real problem with the game is with the power-ups. The fire and ice flowers are too similar; you rarely get other kinds of power-ups; and the propeller hat isn't as fun as the raccoon tail and cape were. The mini mushroom is the only new power-up that I thought was really fun.[/COLOR][/quote] Pretty much. In time I came to love the Penguin suit, but I still can't help being a bit disappointed that it's essentially Ice Flower+Frog Suit+traction. Makes the Ice Flower pointless, especially since you can be guaranteed dozens of Penguin suits in the ice levels, while the Ice Flower still seems pretty rare. On top of that, the Ice Flower loses a lot of effectiveness when you have the much more potent and common Fire Flower. The fireball bounces further. It outright kills most enemies. You can throw fireballs faster. In the time it would take you to kill an enemy with the Ice Flower, you could kill three with fireballs. Additionally, the Propeller Suit is fun, but having to shake gets ridiculous further into the game. Some of the levels get so crazy that my hands are jumping to begin with...and any little tremble from the Tourette's seems to propel me to death. I really, really, really dislike the industry's hard-on for some of these motion controls. Spin-to-grab, too, come to think of it. Why they couldn't have used the grab method from SMB2 USA (Down+B) is beyond me. That grab worked consistently. It was intuitive. There was no confusion. Just hop on top, hold Down and hit B. Simple. No other weird conditions. Here, though, ehhhh. It doesn't really work all that well. First, you're going to be holding Run the entire time. That's just what you do in Mario games. So you already are doing the first part of the grab whether you like it or not. Second, you have to use the spin move for so much other crap in this game (propeller suit for example), it's almost inevitable that you'll be holding 1 while you spin. Third, given how tiny some of the platforms are, it's almost inevitable that you'll be right next to each other when you hold 1 and spin. That kind of situation has happened with me far too often and it gets very, very tiresome. They should have used SMB2 USA's grab. And if that would interfere with their weird, rubbery, bouncy player interactions, then remove the weird, rubbery, bouncy player interactions. If P1 wants to jump-bounce off of P2, P1 should just hold Jump while they land on P2. Otherwise, they simply land on P2's head. That one change would have alleviated a whole lot of headaches and the multiplayer portion would have been a hell of a lot smoother. As it stands, multiplayer games in NSMBW slow to a crawl...and slow Mario platformers just aren't fun when each player has to gingerly step around each other to make sure there isn't a random bump or jump-bounce that propels someone to their doom. To be fair, there is some funny in those moments, but it ceases being funny after half a dozen times. I get that multiplayer is inherently funny. Because it [I]is[/I] inherently funny. It's inherently funny because you have player betrayals. Crazy explosions. Grenade triple-kills. Meteor spikes in Smash Bros. Anytime you play with other people, there's a guaranteed inherent funny. Multiplayer is inherently funny [I]without[/I] stupid physics/controls.

ME2 had the unfortunate pleasure of having to follow what was arguably one of the greater RPGs of this generation. Mass Effect 1 was special because of how it straddled the line between WRPGs and JRPGs, combining the strengths of both, while avoiding falling into their many respective pitfalls. For example, one of the strengths of the WRPG is player freedom. Most games give you a huge, open world to explore with little to no direction. The game is entirely up to you. Some games do this well. Fallout 3 is pretty decent. One could argue that Crackdown handles it well. But some games take it too far...ESIV: Oblivion, I'm looking at you. When the player leaves the sewer, there's no real direction at all. You get a menu pop-up that basically says "Hey, welcome! You can deliver the amulet or just putz around. Up to you. We don't care." If you aren't in the right mindset, Oblivion breaks down right then and there. Your sense of direction disappears. Plot urgency evaporates. The game dumps you into a completely open world with absolutely nothing helpful to tell you. Mass Effect avoided that WRPG freedom pitfall with a galaxy map, mass relays, and story flags. The player still has freedom to explore but there's a lot more plot structure to help them along. That plot structure owes itself to JRPGs. I view Saren much like I viewed Kefka or Sephiroth: the reason why the hero or heroes need to step up and save the world. Villains like Kefka and Saren push the story forward. Their presence is felt all the time. They're more than just a name. They're constantly threatening you. Constantly in your face. Constantly doing something to piss you off or just outright horrify you. Saren is a classic villain archetype and helps focus the game, uniting the heroes in a single goal. One of the most poignant moments in ME1 is right after Shep has assumed command of the Normandy. You give an inspirational speech over the com, and as you're speaking, there's a shot of Garrus, Ashley, and Wrex standing together. That is the heart of the game right there: individuals with different backgrounds uniting against something larger than themselves. And that is something ME2 lacks. Martin Sheen is great as The Illusive Man, but he never assumes the role of Saren, and wasn't really intended to. You come across a bunch of smaller antagonists, but nothing stands out. None of those smaller threats amounts to anything. That ends up hurting your squad. There are a lot of great allies in ME2...but they have no common thread other than Cerberus has dossiers on all of them. I suppose that's another problem I have with the game. I grew attached to each and every one of my allies in the first game, but only get to recruit two of them here. If Shepard is going to be fighting supposedly ultra-powerful enemies, why recruit new crew members? Why not grab your old friends? I know I'd prefer to have people I'm familiar with if I'm going on a dangerous new mission. That brings me to another point, come to think of it. I wanted Firefly instead of The Matrix. The first game ended on a great hook: Sheperd and his crew were going to hunt down Reapers. I saw that ending and got a Firefly vibe: Mal and his crew heading into the black to kill Reavers. There were so many weird parallels that it seemed like a no-brainer for the sequel. You could have a very dark and ominous mood. You could still have the suicide mission kind of thing at the end. You could still have the Normandy get destroyed. Basically everything that happened at the beginning of ME2 could have happened at the end of ME2 instead. Most importantly, we'd get to actually SEE/PLAY it rather than just watching a simple 40-second cinematic. The third game could pick up with someone or something reviving/cloning you. NOW you'd have to figure out how to get your old crew back. Maybe some of them died. Maybe some of them want nothing to do with you. And sure, you might have to recruit some new blood to fill out the roster. There would be a lot more of a consistent feel than this really drastic jump from 1 to 2. Further, it feels like there's too much of a jump in the skill system. When I'd first read about their ideas for the new thermal weapons, I figured they'd tweak the overheating concept; your weapon still overheats and cools down normally, but now you have the option of ejecting a thermal clip to cool down the weapon faster. Kind of like the Ghostbusters game with its pack venting...the pack vents automatically but you have the option of doing it manually. The dynamic works really well there and I feel like it would have worked really well here, too. But no, apparently we needed something more like Gears or Call of Duty. Functionally, this thermal clip system how they have it never feels like I'm dumping heat exhaust. It feels like I'm shooting actual bullets and having to reload a magazine. On top of that, they could have done something better with the weapons. Having to devote skill points to improving cryo and incendiary ammo? Huh? I like that they made ammo types a power-up on the abilities wheel, but just because we have an easier method of switching between ammo doesn't mean we need to waste skill points on improving it. Would it have been so outrageous to introduce modular weapons "By Cerberus"? You have one weapon that does everything? Four casing mods (Pistol, AR, Shotty, Sniper), two ammo slots, and keeping actual item upgrades? Their goal was to streamline the upgrade system, fine. But what they did wasn't streamline the upgrade system. They just removed it completely. Plus, MDK did the "one weapon for everything" pretty well. Kurt attaches his chaingun to his head and voila! Sniper rifle. On top of that, you pick up different types of ammo, so your sniper rifle can become a grenade launcher or a rocket launcher for versatility's sake. It's a great system that works stupidly well. And it's sleek/streamlined as hell. I guess I just don't understand why ME2 had to throw out almost everything from the first game.

James mentioned this possible rep system a few months back in one of our randomly rare IMs. The notion of a good/evil RPG-like rep system got me wet. So even though I rarely/never post here anymore, I wholeheartedly support the idea, and lovingly long for the day when Shinmaru can get voted pure evil very quickly.

I'm the best at yawning like a Tauntaun.

I've got a few parties I'll be attending. One next Saturday, the second on Halloween proper. Both parties I'm going as an undead Redshirt. Zombify my face, probably with my fiance's makeup, haha. Find TOS Redshirt costume, tear it, muddy it up, maybe burn it a bit for battle damage. Then walk around in a daze the entire night. It'll be glorious.

[IMG]http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs008.snc1/4175_801201119459_8839024_46034400_8233637_n.jpg[/IMG] The fiance and Yours Truly at a family wedding earlier this year.

Really? I saw that coming, definitely. Their shows were starting to target similar audiences, their viewer numbers were starting to decline. Both networks were basically sinking in two identical little dingys.

Dave, well, you said you have a 9 in Marksmanship? That's standard minimum requirements for most bows, but I'd advise pumping more into it, because I'm pretty sure higher Marksmanship grants more critical attacks and such. At level 12, with 9 in Marksman...how high are Blood and Curses? I'm thinking you've got both of them in the 6-8 range? And using a pet, too...so I'd imagine you're also doing a smattering of Beast Mastery. If you're also using Expertise from Ranger, you're looking at five attribute lines used right now. Hmmm...seems pretty spread out. How many attribute points total do you have? I think at level 12, you'd have 60. Are you running at the following? Expertise: 2 Marksman: 8 + 1 (rune) Blood: 4 Curses: 4 Any Beast Mastery? Just for a more or less extemporaneous build assessment...here's what I'd recommend. [quote]The Edge - Guild Wars Utility [url="http://www.sovereignlegion.com/downloads/theedge.htm"]http://www.sovereignlegion.com/downloads/theedge.htm[/url] Class: Ranger / Necromancer Attributes: (cost) '+' indicates Rune attributes Expertise: 3+1 (6) Marksmanship: 8+1 (37) Wilderness Survival: 3+1 (6) Curses: 4 (10) Total attribute points used: 59/200 Skills: [Attribute] (Energy, Cast Time, Recharge TIme) 1) Power Shot [Marksmanship] (10,0,6) Bow Attack: If Power Shot hits, you strike for +16 damage.[Ascalon City (Sir Bertran); Quest: Ranger Test] 2) Penetrating Attack [Marksmanship] (10,0,3) Bow Attack: If Penetrating Attack hits, you strike for +12 damage and this attack has 20% armor penetration.[Yak's Bend (Captain Osric); Quest: Helping the People of Ascalon (Old Ascalon)] 3) Distracting Shot [Expertise] (5,1,10) Bow Attack: If Distracting Shot hits, it interrupts target foe's action but deals only 5 damage. If the interrupted action was a skill, that skill is disabled for an additional 20 seconds.[Yak's Bend (Captain Osric); Quest: Charr Reinforcements] 4) Read the Wind [Marksmanship] (5,2,12) Preparation: For 24 seconds, your arrows move twice as fast and deal 8 extra damage.[Ascalon City (Sir Bertran);] 5) Blood Renewal [Blood Magic] (5,1,10) Enchantment: Sacrifice 25% max health. For 10 seconds, you gain +3 health regeneration. When Blood Renewal ends, you gain 40 health.[Ascalon City (Sir Bertran);] 6) Troll Unguent [Wilderness Survival] (5,3,10) Skill: For 10 seconds, you gain health regeneration +5.[Ascalon City (Sir Bertran); Quest: Ranger Test, Endangered Species] 7) Weaken Armor [Curses] (10,3,30) Hex: For 18 seconds, target foe has an armor penalty of -20 against physical damage.[Yak's Bend (Captain Osric); Quest: Supplies for the Duke (Old Ascalon)] 8) Faintheartedness [Curses] (10,1,8) Hex: For the next 13 seconds, target foe attacks 50% slower, and that foe suffers health degeneration of 2.[Ascalon City (Sir Bertran);][/quote] It's an ugly build, definitely, and I apologize for that, but it's been a while since I've done lower level builds. I cut Beast Mastery, and I also cut most of Blood magic. Until you get Well of Blood, Blood magic isn't going to help too much I think. But for healing...I think Blood Renewal is your best bet. Nice regen, plus it'll heal you for a bit after it ends. Now, in certain parts of Northern Shiverpeaks, there's going to be Enchant Shatters, and that will put a dent in Blood Renewal. I think around there Shatter Enchantment (from Mesmer's Domination magic) does something like 30 or 40 damage, but don't quote me on that. Regardless, if I'm not mistaken, if Blood Renewal gets shattered, the "when it ends" condition still triggers, so you'll get 40 health back. So that may cover you well enough. At this point in the game, using Marksmanship to its fullest extent will work very well, particularly with the two skills I selected from Curses. Weaken Armor will particularly be nice. The -20 armor vs physical attacks, combined with your Read the Wind preparation, combined with Penetrating Attack, should be boosting your DPS considerably. Plus, Faintheartedness is a great skill for any errant melee fighters that wander in. Slower attack rate, plus some health degen. It'll cut down on Warrior attacks, for sure, because most War attacks are based on Adrenaline. Adre is gained through successfully connecting physical attacks, and taking damage. With a 50% slower attack speed, their Adre gain will be cut down by 25% at least. Oh! Almost forgot. If you're none too keen on Power Shot, consider Lightning Reflexes. Granted, the recharge absolutely sucks with such a short duration, and vice versa, but L.R. is a godsend when you absolutely need it. If you can spot a melee aggro early enough, make sure to slap a Weaken Armor on him, Faintheartedness, then when he gets close, activate L.R. That should work pretty well. So....yeah. I'm not particularly fond of Blood and Beast Mastery that early on, mainly because there's very little you can actually do with them if you can't easily get Blood magic up to 8 or 9 and still have your primary attributes at solid levels. --- Next, [quote]The Edge - Guild Wars Utility [url="http://www.sovereignlegion.com/downloads/theedge.htm"]http://www.sovereignlegion.com/downloads/theedge.htm[/url] Class: Mesmer / Assassin Attributes: (cost) '+' indicates Rune attributes Fast Casting: 3+1 (6) Illusion Magic: 12+4 (97) Dagger Mastery: 12 (97) Total attribute points used: 200/200 Skills: [Attribute] (Energy, Cast Time, Recharge Time) 1) Black Mantis Thrust [Dagger Mastery] (5, N/A, 12) Lead Attack. If this attack hits, you strike for +5...+17 damage. If target foe is suffering from a Hex, that foe is crippled for 3...13 seconds 2) Jungle Strike [Dagger Mastery] (5, N/A, 12) Off-hand Attack. Must follow a lead attack. If it hits, this attack strikes for +5...+17 damage. If it hits a foe that was crippled, it does +1...25 damage. 3) Horns of the Ox [Dagger Mastery] (5, N/A, 12) Dual Attack. Must follow an off-hand attack. If it hits, Horns of the Ox strikes for +5...+13 damage. If struck foe is not adjacent to any allies, that foe is knocked down. 4) Falling Spider [Dagger Mastery] (5, N/A, 10) Off-hand attack. Must strike a knocked-down foe. If it hits, Falling Spider strikes for +5...+29 damage and target foe is Poisoned for 5...17 seconds. 5) Conjure Phantasm [Illusion Magic] (10,1,5) Hex: For 15 seconds, target foe experiences health degeneration of 5.[Ascalon City (Sir Bertran); Quest: Mesmerizing the Enemy (Sardelac Sanitarium)] 6) Distortion [Illusion Magic] (5,0,5) Stance: For 5 seconds, you have a 75% chance to evade attacks. Whenever you evade an attack this way, you lose 0 energy or Distortion ends.[Yak's Bend (Captain Osric); Quest: Supplies for the Duke (Old Ascalon)] 7) Fragility [Illusion Magic] (15,1,5) Hex: For 21 seconds, target foe takes 21 damage each time that foe suffers or recovers from a new condition.[Lion's Arch (Firstwatch Sergio); Quest: The Stone Summit Champion (Yak's Bend)] 8) Illusionary Weaponry [Illusion Magic] (15,1,40) Enchantment: For 30 seconds, you deal no damage in melee, but whenever you attack in melee, target foe takes 43 chaos damage. This is an elite skill.[Boss: Seer Windlash (Talus Chute), Didn Hopestealer (Snake Dance), Dirko Mustalker (Iron Mines of Moladune)][/quote] At this point, this entire thing is purely hypothetical. There are several variables that pretty much make or break this build. One, whether or not Illusionary Weaponry (IW) counts as ?misses.? The Assassin attack skills function in a chain. If one link is broken, you need to start over. Lead Attack into Off-Hand into Dual into Off-Hand, possibly. When any of those opening attacks miss, the chain won?t work. Two, whether or not Assassin skills will function like certain Warrior skills presently. Currently, I?m pretty sure Swordsman skills like Sever Artery will still cause your target to bleed if you use them with IW. Using Me/W, for example. Activate IW, use Sever, and even though you wouldn?t think it?d work, Sever Artery?s conditional status effect still gets triggered. I haven?t heard of any changes, so I imagine this tactic still works. But only time will tell. The description for IW doesn?t mention ?missing? your target, per se, just that you deal no damage in melee?should be interesting what happens. I had a third variable?but I forgot what it was. lol EDIT: Oh, my idea for this Me/A build, if you couldn't tell, was doing 43 armor-ignoring damage with dual-wielding weapons that attack pretty much faster than any other melee weapon in the game I think. In the attacks that are actually dual attacks...I believe I'd hit with both weapons...which means 86 armor-ignoring damage. I think that's the third variable, actually: Three, the Dual Weapon strikes actually strike with both weapons.

Question is about the success of Pacifism? To answer that question, we need to ask ourselves another one: Has there ever been a true success of Pacifism? Looking back throughout history...at the very few instances where military action had been averted...was it ever actual Pacifism? I can't even recall recorded history where Pacifism was ever mentioned in the same sentence as "victory," apart from in some historical ideologic propaganda. Seems to me that the two best examples as they relate to this topic are World War II and the Cold War. Everything else before those two events...didn't exactly have anything to do with Pacifism. American Revolution, French Revolution, various wars during the formative years of early post-Colonial America...yeah. The major ideology in America at the "start" of WWII was one of Isolationism. They were going to remain neutral throughout the conflict, although American ideals clearly disagreed with the Nazi's "Aryan Nation" or the totalitarian regime in Japan. But we all know what happened there. One cannot remain a Pacifist when one is confronted by an aggressor. If one remains a Pacifist, one will be brutally injured. So what about the Cold War? No shots were ever fired because of MAD, pure and simple. The American government did all the right things, of course, but if MAD were not a factor, the outcome may have been radically different. And Pacifism does not equal MAD. So...does Pacifism work? I don't know. Has it ever worked? I don't think so. Has it ever even been used? Barely, and it didn't do all that well when placed into a realistic context...sort of like Socialism. Incidentally, Socialism reminds me of why Christ's message is respectable, but ultimately flawed: it's a great idea to be nice to everyone, and spread peace and joy, etc., but most of the time...you've got to be a dick. Same thing with Socialism: good idea, but can't be implemented.

I'm somewhat with Adam here. So far, I'm kind of underwhelmed by the Assassin class. I just can't figure it out in PvP. It's the rhythm or something. Maybe it's because it's a brand-new class philosophy, I don't know. I know for a fact I'll be needing the PvE portion in Chapter 2 to get used to Assassin, and while I can't do PvP worth a damn, I figured I'd browse through a roughly complete skill listing. Keep in mind I have had no experience with Assassin yet, except for a tiny bit a few days ago. Here are some Assassin skills I like the sound of: From [b][u]Critical Strikes[/u][/b]: Unsuspecting Strike 10 energy, 10 recharge Lead Attack. If this attack hits, you strike for +1...+25 damage. If your target was above 90% Health, you deal an additional 10...34 damage. From [b][u]Dagger Mastery[/u][/b]: Black Mantis Thrust 5 energy, 12 recharge Lead Attack. If this attack hits, you strike for +5...+17 damage. If target foe is suffering from a Hex, that foe is crippled for 3...13 seconds Fox Fangs 5 energy, 10 recharge Off-hand attack. Must follow a lead attack. Fox Fangs cannot be "blocked" or "evaded" and strikes for +5...+17 damage if it hits. Falling Spider 5 energy, 10 recharge Off-hand attack. Must strike a knocked-down foe. If it hits, Falling Spider strikes for +5...+29 damage and target foe is Poisoned for 5...17 seconds. Wild Strike 5 energy, 4 recharge Off-hand attack. Must follow a lead attack. If it hits, this attack strikes for +5...+17 damage and target foe loses all stances. Exhausting Failure 5 energy, 10 recharge Dual Attack. Must follow an off-hand attack. Target foe's action is interrupted. If that action was casting a spell, target foe suffers from Exhaustion. Blades of Steel 5 energy, 20 recharge Dual Attack. Must follow an off-hand attack. If it hits, this attack strikes for +1...+6 damage for each recharging dagger attack. Horns of the Ox 5 energy, 12 recharge Dual Attack. Must follow an off-hand attack. If it hits, Horns of the Ox strikes for +5...+13 damage. If struck foe is not adjacent to any allies, that foe is knocked down. From [b][u]Deadly Arts[/u][/b]: Enduring Toxin 5 energy, 1 cast, 10 recharge Hex spell. For 3 seconds, target foe suffers -1...-3 health regeneration. If that foe was moving when Enduring Toxin would end, Enduring Toxin is renewed for another 3 seconds. Entangling Asp 10 energy, 1 cast, 20 recharge Spell. Entangling Asp must follow a lead attack. Target foe is knocked down and becomes poisoned for 5...17 seconds. Expunge Enchantments 10 energy, 3/4 cast, 30 recharge Skill. All of your other non-attack skills are disabled for 10...6 seconds. For each skill disabled in this way, target touched foe loses one enchantment. Impale 5 energy, 1 cast, 15 recharge Hex spell. For 10...30 seconds, next time target foe is hit by a dual attack, that foe is struck for 10...58 earth damage. Scorpion Wire 5 energy, 2 cast, 30 recharge Hex Spell. For 8...18 seconds, the next time you and target foe are more than 100' apart, you teleport to that foe and that foe is knocked down. This spell has half the normal range. Shameful Fear 10 energy, 2 cast, 20 recharge Hex Spell. For 10 seconds, target foe moves 10% faster than normal. For each second, if that foe is moving, that foe takes 5...17 damage. Siphon Speed 5 energy, 1 cast, 5 recharge Hex spell. For 5...13 seconds, target foe moves 15% slower and you move 15% faster. Siphon Strength 15 energy, 2 cast, 30 recharge Elite hex spell. For 5...10 seconds, target foe deals -15 damage with attacks and all of your attacks against that foe have an additional 33% chance of being a critical hit. From [b][u]Shadow Arts[/u][/b]: Beguiling Haze 10 energy, 1/4 cast, 20 recharge Elite spell. If target touched foe is casting a spell or suffers from Exhaustion, that foe is interrupted and becomes Dazed for 5...10 seconds. Blinding Powder 5 energy, 1 cast, 20 recharge Spell. Must follow an off-hand attack. Target foe becomes blinded for 3...13 seconds. --- It's late, I'm tired, and I'm having trouble typing on this laptop, so I'll be brief. I think the Assassin has some nice potential here. There's some wicked Caster-Hate in their (Exhausting Failure+Beguiling Haze, anyone?), and I could see some use for Enduring Toxin and Shameful Fear for Melee-Hate. I'll have some time to kill on Sunday night, so I may try to squeeze in some testing.

[quote name='Chabichou][color=#004a6f']Do you mean London, Canada, or London, England?[/color][/quote] Unless there's a Thames river dividing London, Canada through the middle? Pretty sure we're in England here. lol Regarding the topic...it really should go without saying at this point that we really need to clean up our act on a global scale. I'm not talking about "Peak Oil" or bizarre crap like that, because it sounds like something that's being trumped up like nothing else. I'm talking about day-to-day signs that we're screwing things up. Habitats are in danger of radically changing, global temperatures aren't as stable as they could be...and in general, I've got this bizarre feeling we're not doing as well as we could be. I don't know if this whale incident is testament to things getting worse, but I think we do need to re-consider how we go about doing things.

[QUOTE=Chabichou][color=#004a6f]From my understanding, you seem to think it's justifiable to punish people who make posts you find stupid by making nasty remarks. How about for ONCE, just for once, STOP belittleing people. There are ways to teach em a lesson without insulting them. "Remove your head from your rectum"? Come ON. I'm sorry Brasil, but you really have got to stop the foul language. Please. Amelia did not deserve that comment.[/color][/QUOTE] Chabichou, congratulations. You've earned it. [img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v151/madsatirist/OBGilligan2.png[/img] And since we obviously can't just post images that say precisely what so many people are thinking...I'll needlessly elaborate. It's gotten to a point around here where anyone can post any type of "OMG my life is horrible" drivel and so many people still feel like they have to flock to that person's aid. I don't believe that's necessary at all. This thread in particular...is a perfect example of the OP whining about how horrible his or her life is, and then throwing the advice of others pretty much right back in their faces. I'm sorry, but regardless of who you are, that is just piss-poor behavior, and it really should not be tolerated, and others should not imply it's okay. Because it is not okay. If you were to read through this thread, you're going to find a majority of the initial replies trying to be helpful. And then the OP either just disregards them entirely or damn near insults the posters' intelligence...the prototypical "You don't know me" teen angst argument. And I challenge anyone to try to counter me on that. I challenge anyone here to show the OP didn't try to pull any variation on that "You don't know me" rebuttal. And let's not forget the completely irrelevant references to Sony. I sound like a complete dick here, and you know what? I really don't care. I don't care because I know precisely the kind of treatment people need when they're in the same place that the OP is in. I find it laughable, quite frankly, that some here are accusing me of trying to assert some sort of superiority over others in this thread, when I've been making it very, very clear that I'm using personal experiences to illustrate that nobody has had a perfect life, and that nobody will ever have a perfect life. And because of this, as I have stated before, people should not think that they are special in any way at all. I dealt with the crap that's gone wrong in my life. Others here have, too. Why can't people like the OP? Oh, that's right. Because they're getting sympathy from others. Hate me all you want, but giving attention-grabbers like this sympathy is doing them no good at all. I know from experience. Do you honestly believe I would have gotten over so much of my own traumatic life experiences had I been comforted the entire time? Simple answer here is no, I wouldn't have. Had I not turned on the light in the bathroom in the emergency ward and not seen what basically was a walking corpse...my life philosophy would not have changed. If the nurses in the hospital prevented me from seeing the reality of that situation, I would have never changed my entire approach to living. I would have continued to be some scared little punk who thinks he's got the world all figured out. What I saw in the mirror was tough love in every sense of the idea. And only tough love helps people through really traumatic experiences. They need to face death to understand death, so that's another reason I find so many replies here utterly laughable. Some here are criticizing me for being too harsh, yet they're too wrapped up in sympathetic pity to open their eyes and realize exactly what's going on here. I don't mean to highjack this thread or anything, so I'll take my leave, but before I go, I'd like to request that a few people here take a good hard look at themselves and start thinking rationally, because I think that'd do a lot of good for some of them. You see, there comes a point where you're supposed to stop feeling sorry for individuals and start treating them like you'd treat a sociopath. I'm not quite sure why a few people here haven't reached that point yet, but I'd highly recommend that they consider it. [b]EDIT:[/b] And Mitch, I'm not brilliant. Far from it. I'm pretty damn average when it comes to most things. If I were brilliant, some type of higher order of intelligence than most people here, nobody would find logic in what I'm saying. But as it stands? Check page 3. There are a few posts there that echo my sentiments. Page 2 has a few, as well. If I were truly brilliant, only I would be the only one offering these insights. And I'm not the only one offering these insights. Ergo, I'm not brilliant. I just enjoy a little thing called common sense. You know, common sense, the thing that helps people deal with their personal lives in a mature, responsible manner? The thing that allows people to see things rationally, unburdened by hypersensitivity?