Yeah, weed is only a performance enhancer if you always practice high. Your muscle memory gets encoded in a certain state of mind then you want to be "mood congruent" during competition.
I would love to see some no-enhancers-barred events out there. I get so sick of people whining about this drug, or that procedure. Caffiene's ok, but amphetamines aren't? What about asthma inhalers? What about surgically corrected vision so your glasses don't get in the way? It's such a slippery slope that only bogus morality gives anyone the sense that there's a logical cut-off point.
And as far as the emotional connection being why people watch, well, then, the steroids, egomania, and multi-million dollar motivated professional "athletes" in baseball, basketball, etc should be alienating fans left and right.
Yeah, it might, overall LESSEN the dependance of farmers on genetically modified, terminator organisms which they have to buy from the evil corporations every year.
I just mean that he is super-humanly fast and can hurt you more reliably than you can hurt him. the whole teleport, shake the ground and attack you situation. Then again, I've never been very good at this sort of thing.
I initially thought as you did, but then replayed it maximizing my plasmid choices so that the only weapon I would need, besides offensive plasmids, was the wrench. It's hard at first but after you get bloodlust and a couple of wrench-lurker/sport boosts, camouflage, etc, you're a serious thug. The game definitely feels different.IMHO
I bought Vista along with my new PC for gaming. It runs like a fascist on LSD. I understand that there must be a learning curve with any new software, but it crashed my computer to a Blue Screen of Death within minutes of booting it up for the first time. Now it likes to freeze up whenever I leave it alone for more than 20 minutes.
It's bloated beyond all reasonability. I don't see why they can't do what works best for them: copy the Mac OS as close as possible without getting sued (exept focus on making it stable) . I try not to hate Microsoft but I'm P.O'd that they would foist this shellac off on us.
Whooooa, there Cap'n! While I have been attempting to keep this discussion amiable in tone, if a little spicy for "flavor," you seem to be getting a might worked up.
Bear in mind that what would be tone of voice doesn't come across in email, which, while stylistically weak, emoticons, expressions like "meh" and so forth come in handy while trying to convey the convivial, jocular or otherwise self-deprecatory intent of the writer.
As far as copyright goes, while, true you can't copyrigth an idea....
For example, the copyright which subsists in relation to a Mickey Mouse cartoon prohibits unauthorized parties from distributing copies of the cartoon or creating derivative works which copy or mimic Disney's particular anthropomorphic mouse, but does not prohibit the creation of artistic works about anthropomorphic mice in general, so long as they are sufficiently different to not be deemed imitative of the original.
If Neil Gaiman's idea isn't sufficiently different from Moorcock's, Moorcock should be recognized as the genius he is and well paid, that's all I'm saying. .
Maybe you should read some Moorcock books before replying to comments like this! I have read a few books by Gaiman, including American Gods and found them, especially American Gods entirely "meh."
His graphic novels are fantastic, however.
To refresh your memory, some of Moorcock's books are about a guy who finds himself in a war and has to fight alongside versions of himself from alternate dimensions. It was a theme he explored in more than one book/series of books.
I just wanna see the guy get a fat check from Gaiman's box office reciepts, that's all I'm sayin'!
It will be interesting to see if the strict controls that the Chinese government imposes on the internet in order to enforce its wierd ideas and fantasies break the internet.
The sad thing is, eventually, we'll be buying draconian filtering technology back from the Chinese in order to cope with spam. Sigh.
Actually, I agrew with you. The core of any quality game has to be level design and story. But as long as they are going to throw enemies in there, it would be great if they were smarter than my shoe.
Yeah, but that will only be true until they get used to the new style. Ultimately, I bet it will produce a player that can fight in both styles equally well.
I can't wait. The Hobgoblin of story-based FPS is that predictability of the NPCs. Even when they're pretty smart, you can count on them to behave in certain critically flawed ways. Or, they're un-realisically fast and impossible to deal with.
Not to mention, re-play will be much more interesting.
That's the f*cked up thing, it's like they're so focused on becoming a social/political utopia that they don't notice the paradox of forcing people to be free and using a miltitarized police force to stop violence.
It's sad, the Germans, like us Americans, used to have a rep for making high quality, cutting-edge stuff. Now we just make middle managers.
So they have one little shooting and they freak out with police-state, authoritarian tactics that the average citizen won't object to. A slippery slope until everyone's wearing coded buttons again.
Yeah, I'm not a sensitive audiophile, but I like to think that the music I enjoy is worth at least a 196 bitrate. Especially nowadays with the the broadband and so forth.
And, I'm sorry, but the video quality is crappy considering that a movie is what you might call an "aesthetic experience" like music. I don't want my aesthetic experiences to be low res.
That means that, while I may use iTunes for a legal, convenient way to make sure someone is supporting my favorite artists, I will always be on the lookout for a something better.
In psychology they call it "the bystander effect" where responsibility gets difused among witnesses such that no one person feels responsibility rests with them to take action. It happens all the time, with or without technology. It is ameliorated, however, if people know they are or could be indentified.
Apparently, very small or very large cities are the places in which strangers are most likely to help. So maybe a society where everyone is being watched will at least be like a very large city?
Michel Foucault came up with the idea that our society is based on a series of "social engines" that rely on the possiblity that any one person could be watched at any time. Which is why most drivers stop at a stop sign in the middle of nowhere at three in the morning when they know that there aren't any other drivers on the road: because someone might see them and punish them. He called this effect the panopticon after an 18th or 19th century prison design which allows one guard in a central tower to see into any of the cells arrainged in a ring around it (think the prison in Silent Hill: The Room).
He predicted that, as technology increased, the panopticon would become ever more pervasive and ever more invasive. That was a few decades ago. Sure enough!
The trick is, as others have mentioned,that as technology becomes more and more advanced, that people who were traditionally in the position of "guards" are now safely monitored in their own panopticon. Case in point, the nanny-cam.
I say let it roll! I say let's get every politician, police officer, judge, corporate CEO, etc. wired for audio and video and have it stream to the internet 24/7! If we can't hide, then neither can they.
Slashdot Mirror
Yeah, weed is only a performance enhancer if you always practice high. Your muscle memory gets encoded in a certain state of mind then you want to be "mood congruent" during competition.
I would love to see some no-enhancers-barred events out there. I get so sick of people whining about this drug, or that procedure. Caffiene's ok, but amphetamines aren't? What about asthma inhalers? What about surgically corrected vision so your glasses don't get in the way? It's such a slippery slope that only bogus morality gives anyone the sense that there's a logical cut-off point.
And as far as the emotional connection being why people watch, well, then, the steroids, egomania, and multi-million dollar motivated professional "athletes" in baseball, basketball, etc should be alienating fans left and right.
--
-Jack the sound barrier. Bring the noise.
Yeah, it might, overall LESSEN the dependance of farmers on genetically modified, terminator organisms which they have to buy from the evil corporations every year.
Touché. It just seems like an all-to-common trait of end bosses and something that has bothered me since I was a wee child.
I just mean that he is super-humanly fast and can hurt you more reliably than you can hurt him. the whole teleport, shake the ground and attack you situation. Then again, I've never been very good at this sort of thing.
Also, I didn't mention before, but as great as Bioshock is, Portal and Episode 2, especially Portal, kick a** as far as replay.
I initially thought as you did, but then replayed it maximizing my plasmid choices so that the only weapon I would need, besides offensive plasmids, was the wrench. It's hard at first but after you get bloodlust and a couple of wrench-lurker/sport boosts, camouflage, etc, you're a serious thug. The game definitely feels different.IMHO
It's bloated beyond all reasonability. I don't see why they can't do what works best for them: copy the Mac OS as close as possible without getting sued (exept focus on making it stable) . I try not to hate Microsoft but I'm P.O'd that they would foist this shellac off on us.
Touché!
Oh...yeah...(shame).
You may disagree with my hyphenation, but, technically, I added it for emphasis, so at least it was on purpose.
Statute, not "statue." I can't help it, editing is what I do.
Bear in mind that what would be tone of voice doesn't come across in email, which, while stylistically weak, emoticons, expressions like "meh" and so forth come in handy while trying to convey the convivial, jocular or otherwise self-deprecatory intent of the writer.
As far as copyright goes, while, true you can't copyrigth an idea....
If Neil Gaiman's idea isn't sufficiently different from Moorcock's, Moorcock should be recognized as the genius he is and well paid, that's all I'm saying. .
Thanks for the link, I didn't think of that. I'm sorry I beat you to the punch and so you got modded down.
His graphic novels are fantastic, however.
To refresh your memory, some of Moorcock's books are about a guy who finds himself in a war and has to fight alongside versions of himself from alternate dimensions. It was a theme he explored in more than one book/series of books.
I just wanna see the guy get a fat check from Gaiman's box office reciepts, that's all I'm sayin'!
Everything being done these days was done better in the '70's!
The sad thing is, eventually, we'll be buying draconian filtering technology back from the Chinese in order to cope with spam. Sigh.
Actually, I agrew with you. The core of any quality game has to be level design and story. But as long as they are going to throw enemies in there, it would be great if they were smarter than my shoe.
I can't wait. The Hobgoblin of story-based FPS is that predictability of the NPCs. Even when they're pretty smart, you can count on them to behave in certain critically flawed ways. Or, they're un-realisically fast and impossible to deal with.
Not to mention, re-play will be much more interesting.
1) Create a million bacteria-sized mirrors. 2) ???? 3) Profit!
Yeah, cause when you become an immortal cyborg you're going to want to take your wii with you as you travel into the inter-galactic void.
It's the same with us. Sigh
So they have one little shooting and they freak out with police-state, authoritarian tactics that the average citizen won't object to. A slippery slope until everyone's wearing coded buttons again.
I, for one, welcome our safety-minded overlords.
And, I'm sorry, but the video quality is crappy considering that a movie is what you might call an "aesthetic experience" like music. I don't want my aesthetic experiences to be low res.
That means that, while I may use iTunes for a legal, convenient way to make sure someone is supporting my favorite artists, I will always be on the lookout for a something better.
I assume that someone out there has found one.
Apparently, very small or very large cities are the places in which strangers are most likely to help. So maybe a society where everyone is being watched will at least be like a very large city?
He predicted that, as technology increased, the panopticon would become ever more pervasive and ever more invasive. That was a few decades ago. Sure enough!
The trick is, as others have mentioned,that as technology becomes more and more advanced, that people who were traditionally in the position of "guards" are now safely monitored in their own panopticon. Case in point, the nanny-cam.
I say let it roll! I say let's get every politician, police officer, judge, corporate CEO, etc. wired for audio and video and have it stream to the internet 24/7! If we can't hide, then neither can they.