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All Posts by lomiller - 1784 found

New Death Race Movie
6/15/08 8:08 PM
General Discussion » Off-Topic Discussion
Viewed 269, Replies 9

 

Meh  looks nothing like the B-Movie classic. 

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mnobj5YXkZY&amp;feature=related

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeT6uGzn_nE&feature=related

 
Green this, green that, global warming, earth heating up....Bleh
6/13/08 5:41 PM
General Discussion » Off-Topic Discussion
Viewed 1826, Replies 128

Originally posted by Draq

 If you want to get rid of CO2, just plant more trees.


 

 

When trees die they decay and give off all the CO2 they absorbed. At best planting trees stores CO2 for a century or two. The only permanent way carbon is removed is the formation of limestone, which is a very slow process. 
 
If we stopped emitting CO2 today levels in the atmosphere would drop as the carbon worked its way through the ecosystem, but since the carbon is still there and the carbon cycle is still running, CO2 levels in the atmosphere would remain elevated for several million years.  
Green this, green that, global warming, earth heating up....Bleh
6/13/08 1:41 PM
General Discussion » Off-Topic Discussion
Viewed 1826, Replies 128

 

Originally posted by outfctrl

There is a consensus on man-made global warming:

Because the global warming alarmists can't give a good answer to many of the most basic questions that people have, they've simply been claiming that almost every scientist believes they're right. The idea here is that people will think, "They may not be able to make a case for what they believe, but if all those scientists agree with them, they must be spot-on!"

 

The why are there thousands of papers published in top journals saying humans are causing the planet to warm and virtually none taking the opposite view?   Just because some shill on a blog someplace says "a question is unanswered" doesn't mean it is. 

 

 

Originally posted by outfctrl

 

However, while there is a consensus that the earth warmed a small amount over the last century, there is no consensus on whether mankind is responsible, whether the warming will continue, and whether the consequences will be serious if it does. In fact, more than 31,000 American scientists have signed a petition stating the following:   LINK

 

None of those 31000 “scientists” actually do research or publish papers on the topic and you could get at least as many PhD’s to sign a petition saying UFO’s are real.  
NEW LAW - Permit Needed for SUV's, Van's, & Trucks
6/13/08 1:28 PM
General Discussion » Off-Topic Discussion
Viewed 677, Replies 45

Originally posted by greymann

  Fact is what we're experiencing is solar system warming.  Scientists have discovered melting on other planets and moons and have determined that the sun is going through a warming cycle.  Nothing we do can help it. 

 

There are satellites looking at the sun for the last 40 years, and it’s been cooling down slightly over that period. Of the 2 objects (out of 150) besides earth that are suspected to be warming the cause of 1 (Mars) is known, and it isn’t the sun. The other is Jupiter and while the cause isn’t known, of this possible warming isn’t known Jupiter generates far more internal heat then it gets from the sun. If it’s warming it’s probably due to some internal process.  
NEW LAW - Permit Needed for SUV's, Van's, & Trucks
6/12/08 12:26 PM
General Discussion » Off-Topic Discussion
Viewed 677, Replies 45

 

Originally posted by outfctrl

I love my 16-18 miles per gallon gas guzzler and pollution maker SUV. 

 

 

I drive a Jeep Liberty, It’s not exactly the largest SUV on the market, in fact it’s probably the smallest SUV built on a truck chassis.  The again, mine is 6 years old and has 45000 Km (30 000 miles) on it because I cycle or take public transit to work and walk to do basic errands like grocery shopping. Of those 30 000 miles a good percentage is on snow covered roads, gravel roads, dirt roads often carrying camping/hunting supplies, or pulling a boat.  
NEW LAW - Permit Needed for SUV's, Van's, & Trucks
6/12/08 12:13 PM
General Discussion » Off-Topic Discussion
Viewed 677, Replies 45

Originally posted by bluberryhaze

 

Originally posted by lomiller
One of Capitalisms first principles is cost transparency.  It’s the idea that you pay the full cost of your activity.  As long as you pay the full price of driving an SUV I don’t see any reason why you shouldn’t drive one.  This, however, must include the costs of things like pollution and the fact resource is finite. 
 
Where the US has been getting itself into trouble is not building in these costs, effectively creating a subsidy for unsustainable environmentally unsound lifestyle.
but if you let capitism go, and grow, you wind up with anti-gravity clean technology.

 

horse and buggie less than 100 years ago. how long have humans been on this planet?

let it go.

 

Ask yourself one simple question.  Did an increase in regulation precede that change or follow it?  Here is a hint, the progress was made after it was recognized government has a role to play in guiding economic and social development. Government was much smaller in the 1800’s then the 1900’s yet progress was much slower in the 1800’s.  
 
Capitalism is essentially and evolutionary algorithm for solving problems. Evolutionary algorithms can come up with some amazingly innovative solutions but also suffer from distinct limitations.  
 
The first is that they lack vision. They consider only the current situation. They do not have a predefined goal they are working towards and cannot arrive at any solution that doesn’t have a distinct progression path from the current situation.  
 
Second these algorithms don’t provide useful solutions unless you constrain them. Without constraints they simply spin their wheels generating things that don’t really mean anything. From an social or economic this means if you want “good” results you need to place some regulation around them.  
 
For example lets say you have 100 companies producing “widget X”.  Under a capitalist system the companies that produce them for the lowest cost can increase their sales by lowering their selling price.  The companies that can’t do this will go out of business and their business practices will become “extinct”.
 
The problem is that there is no inherent difference between finding a way to achieve this. Finding a way to reduce the amount of raw material needed to produce it has no inherent advantage over finding a way to not pay for your employees medical care.  The is no telling whether the widget industry will end up aggressively researching better ways to make widgets or aggressively look for ways to deprive it’s employees of health care. 
 
If you have structure that prevents them from pursuing the bad outcome then the good outcome becomes a virtual certainty.  If you lack this structure, however, you will have industries that thrive based on their ability to screw over the public. 
 
The trick is balance. Too much regulation or poorly thought out regulation and you won’t obtain the positive outcome.  Too little regulation or poorly thought out regulation and you will end up with pervasive negative outcomes.  Clearly the US today is leaning strongly towards the latter.
NEW LAW - Permit Needed for SUV's, Van's, & Trucks
6/12/08 9:16 AM
General Discussion » Off-Topic Discussion
Viewed 677, Replies 45

One of Capitalisms first principles is cost transparency.  It’s the idea that you pay the full cost of your activity.  As long as you pay the full price of driving an SUV I don’t see any reason why you shouldn’t drive one.  This, however, must include the costs of things like pollution and the fact resource is finite. 
 
Where the US has been getting itself into trouble is not building in these costs, effectively creating a subsidy for unsustainable environmentally unsound lifestyle.
Americans are becoming a nation of sheep - ready for the slaughter.
6/12/08 9:02 AM
General Discussion » Off-Topic Discussion
Viewed 1014, Replies 61

Originally posted by Cabe2323

 

Originally posted by lomiller

In a democracy you tell government what to do.  Take away the government and the richest people start calling themselves things like “King” and “Lord” and tell you what to do.  Sounds like a simple choice to me, but it seems the Libertarians and “fiscal conservative” republicans seem determined to convert the US to a Monarchy ruled by board members of large corporations. 


You obviously have no idea what Libertarians believe.  Libertarians do not want to convert the US into a Monarchy.  The exact opposite.  . 

 

They don’t think they are, but it’s an inevitable consequence of their policies.  
I'm Voting Republican!
6/12/08 8:42 AM
General Discussion » Off-Topic Discussion
Viewed 651, Replies 65

Originally posted by ladyattis

 

Originally posted by SioBabble
I invite those who think anarchy is a valid way of life to move to Somalia and bask in the anarcy.



Pro-tip: Somolia is not in anarchy. In fact, it has several tribal governments that control it.

 

 

 

How is that different then having several corporate governments in control?  If you create a power vacuum power blocks will form to promote the interests of its members, and whether you call these blocks tribes or corporations is irrelevant.  
Americans are becoming a nation of sheep - ready for the slaughter.
6/11/08 11:29 PM
General Discussion » Off-Topic Discussion
Viewed 1014, Replies 61

In a democracy you tell government what to do.  Take away the government and the richest people start calling themselves things like “King” and “Lord” and tell you what to do.  Sounds like a simple choice to me, but it seems the Libertarians and “fiscal conservative” republicans seem determined to convert the US to a Monarchy ruled by board members of large corporations. 

The evolution of combat in RPG's
6/10/08 10:50 PM
General Discussion » The Pub at MMORPG.COM
Viewed 1240, Replies 36

Tatum, while I understand what you are saying I think you are missing some things.  I’ll use my EQ2 Wizard in my examples even though I’m not playing it now, I’ve only been playing CoX very casually since I left it.

First, no matter how much you read it won’t help you if the common notion is wrong.  This happens a lot more then you may think, and quite often the people who know better keep their mouths shut.  I argued the merits of one particular spell upgrade with a prominent Wizard for a month.  He felt that upgrading it was gave the biggest increase in DPS, when in fact you could get an even bigger increase by not using the spell at all.  It wasn’t until a year later that it finally sunk in and he stopped promoting it.

Second, even if you learn everything about your own class a single piece of gear can change your mind.  With the right AA and right gear I could get the recast time on my Ice Nova spell down to 18 seconds.  Ice Nova one of the highest damage spells in the game, only ability with comparable damage is on a 15 min timer.  To do it I used AA that many people took little notice of, equipment that common knowledge said was mediocre, and some equipment that was hard to get.  Clearly quite a few other people knew and did the same thing but it barely registered in the common knowledge.

Third, learning everything about your own class isn’t enough in a good MMO, you also need to understand every other classes so you can take advantages on synergies in groups/raids, or exploit weaknesses in PvP. 

Finally, even if you solo exclusively, in almost every game I have played there are players who can do simply amazing things.  I was nowhere near the best soloing wizard, but I could clear nest on a regular basis solo when the level cap was still 70 (in fact I did this before even EoF).  I could also solo a good way into Sanctum of the Scaleborn.  I know of one other Wizard who could solo halls of fate (then the toughest group instance in the game) up to an including Sothis.

You may be tempted to think this is simply an overpower class, but that really isn’t true.  Wizards are indeed good PvE soloers and can take on most non-raid mobs up to 3 levels above their own.  If they get an add, however they will almost certainly die, every mob in these dungeons is social, and Wizards have no real pulling tools to separate them.  To do these things you need to know exactly what the mob can do, know the dungeon itself inside and out, have the equipment with the resist to counter it, know how all the mobs path, where they spawn, how much longer you have before they respawn, what their agro ranges are and.  

Not only do you need to know all those things you need to keep track of these things mentally  No one is going to show you any of this you need to learn this yourself, not only that you need to learn it for every single dungeon and zone you want to conquer.
The evolution of combat in RPG's
6/10/08 6:42 PM
General Discussion » The Pub at MMORPG.COM
Viewed 1240, Replies 36

Consensus, you are still making the unfounded assumption that because you don’t know things there is nothing to know.  If you don’t understand just go to the game of your choice and ask for some tips to becoming a better player.  
US Senate decides to privatize its restaurant service
6/10/08 2:47 PM
General Discussion » Off-Topic Discussion
Viewed 128, Replies 10

 

Originally posted by bluberryhaze

 

i just mean accountability needs to be there. alot of people abuse government services because of lack of responsible oversight by competent government employees.

 

 

You actually have that backwards.  Government tends to be inefficient not because there is a lack of accountability but because there is an overabundance of oversight. Private business actually makes wrong decisions far more often, but simply writes them off an moves on while fear of political blowback means government stalls while simple decisions are vetted over and over again.  

 

 

Originally posted by bluberryhaze

 

 

like horses, humans need to be whipped to race. safety first, though.

 

 

Wow, you wouldn’t last long in the business world.  Employers who find quality people and keep them happy are far more successful then the ones who try to pressure their employees to productivity. It’s really only low skill easily replicable employees you can even attempt that technique with and even then productivity studies say it doesn’t work. Of course, if you are in a business where employees are easily replicable chances are you are replacing them with outsourced labor in china and India.    

 
Solo Vs. Group
6/10/08 12:44 PM
General Discussion » The Pub at MMORPG.COM
Viewed 1269, Replies 37

It costs much more to develop an MMO then it does to develop a single player game. This means that for a given development cost a standalone game will make a much better game for a solo player then an MMO will and it will cost more for them to play the MMO.  
 
There may be exceptions of course, but generally speaking on a straight up basis, MMO’s simply can’t compete with standalone games for solo players. Even if there are some people who are willing to pay that extra cost, the solo centric MMO simply isn’t a viable market.  Yes there is a need for some solo play but having it as the games focus isn’t going to be a successful strategy for most MMO’s.  
 
If you want to make a successful MMO you need to know what that massive investment in infrastructure and maintenance is going to buy you. Some good examples are wide scale PvP, and interactive player drive economy, group play and raid play.  There may be others, but ultimately if an MMO is going to be successful it’s got to stress the inherent benefits it’s got over standalone games or it simply isn’t going to provide good value for the money.
The evolution of combat in RPG's
6/10/08 12:27 PM
General Discussion » The Pub at MMORPG.COM
Viewed 1240, Replies 36

 

Originally posted by Consensus

stratergy in mmos: press tab to auto lock. press auto attack. watch the fight, pherhaps move character maintain him being in attack distance (this only in some mmos), press buttons to iniate attacks & wait for cooldowns.

 

That’s not strategy its tactics, and pretty bad ones at that. No wonder you don’t think there is strategy in MMO’s you don’t know what strategy is and don’t use tactics. Understanding your abilties, and knowing when to use which one, knowing where to position yourself, your group and the mob, knowing what your groupmates are capable of and altering positioning, ability use, and plan of attack based on their capabilities makes a massive difference.

 

Originally posted by Consensus

 go on website look up best talent/skill build and copy it.

 

At least you are touching on strategy, but again you suck at it.  Copying someone else build won’t get you anywhere unless you understand why the build works and what it’s for.  Strategy goes beyond build though; you need to figure out what items complement that build and how to get them. In addition you need to modify the build and equipment based on the capabilities of your friends and groupmates.  
 
From the sounds of it you are a mediocre player making excuses for your own mediocrity.  You use “they have better gear” as an excuse for sub par play without ever realizing they have better gear because they are better players, understand what gear they need and have a plan to get it.
US Senate decides to privatize its restaurant service
6/10/08 11:49 AM
General Discussion » Off-Topic Discussion
Viewed 128, Replies 10

Originally posted by bluberryhaze

its the employees and their notion of job security that fucks things up.  

 

If only we could get rid of the nasty notion of job security we would be so much better off!  Deregulation of the banking industry and Bush’s economic policies have the US half way there, and now with oil prices nearing $150/ barrel job security may soon be a thing of the past!
 
On a more serious not privatization can be a mixed bag, you really need to get into the specifics.  In this case it sounds like it’s a good idea.  Privatization works when there is competition to provide the service which looks like the case here. If it’s a service that no one really wants to provide without incentives or if there is a single provider and therefore a monopoly then it works less well.  
60 days of free timeplay??
6/10/08 10:22 AM
Everquest II » The Tavern (General)
Viewed 5049, Replies 71

Originally posted by SpungeX
I haven't played in about a year and a half, had a 36 templar, but sucked for solo. Whats a good solo class to try out this time ? Also: Sweet ass deal.

 

I’d try an Inquisitor (templars evil counterpart). Go with a melee AA spec and they solo extremely well.  Another good choice is a Warden, again with a melee AA spec.  They are cheaper to equip plus they have run buffs and portals.  They are more common though, so are not quite as desired for endgame.  
Maps/ Dungeons ?
6/10/08 10:09 AM
Everquest II » The Tavern (General)
Viewed 369, Replies 6

The main “hubs” are the docks in BB, TS and Nek Forest.  TD connects to the docks in BB via griffon.  
 
You can buy tickets to take a bell (boat) to the TS docks from QH and the Nek docks from East Freeport (??? Where the docks are in Freeport). You can also go overland by crossing Antonica/Commonlands to TS/Nek.
 
Sinking Sands connects to East Freeport, Qeynos harbor and BB docks via carpet and can make a nice shortcut.
 
KoS zones are connected though teleport spires in Ant/CL, TS/Nek, EL/Feerott. 
 
RoK 65+ zones are connected via docks in Ant/CL. Internally you need to explore them and unlock sokokors to navigate. 
 
EoF zones not connected directly to BB can be accessed through Greater Faydark.
 

Some classes have teleports/portals.  Wizards/Warlocks can teleport anyone to spires they have visited, Druids can teleport you to rings they have done the quest for but you need to have harvested the shrub for that ring.

That may seem like a lot, but it's not like you need to memorize it all at once.   You don't need to locate the spires until you hit the mid 50's, you don't need RoK until 65, you don't need SS until low 40's.  At 20ish you need to start figuring out where the boats in Nek/TS docks go and how to navigate BB. 
Any archery fans/competitors/enthusiast here? I need some advice.
6/10/08 9:29 AM
General Discussion » Off-Topic Discussion
Viewed 308, Replies 10

Originally posted by Vampir

 

 

ok first off if you want her to see what good proffessional archers are like watch the olympics.

second off archery takes a hell of a lot more skill then any other shooting i tried.

I gave up after 2 and half years, mind you i didn't start as young.

The real skill is in long bows, they are harder then any firearm on earth to shoot in some ways, when you get into the ones with ridiculous pulls which are the ones that are shot at a proffessional level.

Compound or recurve its a matter of repitition.

 

Yeah, log bows are tough. A properly set up compound bow is pretty easy to pick up though, no tougher then a rifle once you build up some strength and stamina. From what I’ve seen most people start their kids out on recurve bows, probably because they are cheaper, but a good compound bow is easier. 
 
I don’t know much about the competition side of things though; I just do some occasional bow hunting. 
The evolution of combat in RPG's
6/10/08 9:16 AM
General Discussion » The Pub at MMORPG.COM
Viewed 1240, Replies 36

Originally posted by Consensus

 


1. gameplay>realism

First person shooters don’t qualify as interesting gameplay.  

 

2. what mmo's have stratergy anyway?!

All of them

3. go play RTS games

RTS games do not have anywhere close to the same level of strategy as turn based games. At the highest levels of RTS play it’s all about who can do the most micromanagement. Not fun.  

 

 

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