Unfortunately I am at work so do not have time to read through the thread to see if this has been mentioned with any seriousness, but whatabout MAX? Disney has a history of not being affiliated with anything overly violent or "adult". I don't see most of Marvel's comics changing too much, if at all, as a result of this acquisition - sureley Disney wouldn't want to mess with a good thing. Or at least a relatively decent thing depending on the writer, artist, editor, etc. But the MAX imprint has a history of being more adult - more violent, more swear words, the occasional nudity (though I might be confusing MAX with Vertigo on this part). Now I am not one who thinks a comic can't be adult or good without violence, nudity, etc. but it is refreshing once in a while, to be honest. It feels more gritty and realistic once in a while. Does anybody know of any examples where Disney acquired a company and the company all of a sudden changed their content? Though the majority of Disney now is pap (in my opinion) they have made great things in the past. I have fond memories of their movies from when I was growing up, and the series Gargoyles remains to this day one of my favourite cartoon series. I don't like this acquisition but as long as the stories and characters don't change drastically or in such a way that lessens my perceived quality of them I will still continue to read Marvel. Ah, who am I kidding, I'll still keep reading even if everything does change for the worse, just so I can complain about it. Though I must say, as mentioned in a recent Something Positive strip, I would love to see a Spider-Ham/Darkwing Duck crossover come out of this.

Is it possible to design the helmets in such a way that prevents this? If not, it might be a necessary evil. I would rather run the risk of TBI than have my head shot off or something, honestly. It might just be a sad side effect of our need to have soldiers.

This actually makes sense to me. I may be in the minority but I don't want to hear other people over a headset or speakers or whatever when I am playing a game. Also I often play at odd hours of the night and my roomates wouldn't want to hear me chatting it up. Typing works for me or I can let my playing do the talking.

I'm sorry, but I can't hold it in any longer. I've been reading and reading the thread and I haven't seen it yet. Tauren Paladin? HOLY COW!

I'm 22, a bit overweight, and depressed.... does that make me better or worse than average? Better! I'm ahead of the curve.

Wow that would be the awesomest idea ever. I'm stealing it and writing a book based on this.

Heh. I see your point to I suppose. It's just that when I think of micro-transactions in terms of gaming, I think of $5.00 here and there for the codpiece of awesome. To me that, while not a lot of money, isn't something I'd want to spend. I just think that if it breaks the balance of the game, then it's something that shouldn't be there. I'm just starting in PvP myself, and I don't take it seriously, but it would bother me if somebody who was the same level as I was had the codpiece of assrapery just because they spent the money for it. I do realize that my dislike of the whole microtransaction thing is possibly illogical, but that's just how I feel. As many others have said in this thread, to me it feels like, well, cheating. If somebody put in the time to get the awesome gear, more power to them. Even though I should be fine with people spending money for awesome gear, as it's basically the same principal, I don't. I also want to mention my previous statement: I'm fine with people paying for stuff that they could have gotten through playing the game. I don't think that brings in any balance issues. Or if they want to pay for cosmetic things, like those companion pets that don't do anything in WOW, that's fine too. But if they buy something that changes how the game plays, and it's something that your average player (or even your hardcore player) couldn't get through just playing, then I have a problem with it. As I said, if the game is good it won't stop me from playing, it's just that I'll sneer and maybe say some sarastic remark every time I see somebody with the codpiece of awesome that they paid real world money for. Something like "NEERRRD". And yes, I'm fully aware of the hypocrisy in that. I'm sure someone will point it out later on though.

I don't see if it matters if it only gives a heads up on pre-existing content. However, if it gives the people things that the regular customers don't get, then I'll be pissed. If the thing was free with microtransactions, the people paying for the extra gear or whatnot could go hog wild for all I care. But if I'm being charged monthly or whatever, I don't think it's fair for me to be shown up by somebody with more disposable income who buys all the fancy bits. That happens enough in real life, I don't think it has a place in the game world. Of course, the company will be doing whatever makes them the most money so there's nothing I can do about it. Heh. I probably will still buy the game if it looks good. I'm a sucker for superheroes.

I don't know about that. I think electric cars are a good step in the right direction. Yes, we're still dependant on coal, gas, and oil for electricity; but isn't one source of pollutants (the power plant) easier to regulate than a bajillion sources of pollutants (gasoline powered cars)? Electric cars ultimately still release pollutants and such into the atmosphere, but it seems to me that it would be massively easier to deal with those pollutants since they come from one source instead of many. The amount of pollutants may be the same, but the distribution of them and therefore the cost of dealing with them is smaller.

Actually, pretty soon your septic tank may be a gas station and his shit may move you. Yay for biofuels. Stinky biofuels, but biofuels nonetheless.

What about the Aborigine's of Australia? I read somewhere that they are one of the oldest and most unchanged (genetically) human groups. Did they arise in Africa? Would their genes fall into the African subtype specified? Just curious. Also I find it funny that an Anonymous Coward (the guy who started the 3 sons of Noah thread at the top) could engender such a flamewar when I think it's fairly obvious he was trolling (or he would have commented under his own name, wouldn't he?)

I'm out of shape, and my reflexes aren't the best. If I wanted to punch for real everytime I played Street Fighter, I'd take up martial arts. Maybe I should anyway. Anyway, what I'm saying is I don't want to waggle my hand around to control my character. That's why I have no interest in the Wii. Even the games that I would love to play (Such as Mario Galaxy, for one) I feel would have been better if the main control scheme had been a joypad. The Wii games I enjoy the most, Brawl and Mario Kart, are easier to play with old GameCube controllers than with the Wiimote. I know that some people like the wiimote, but I'm not one of them. This whole Natal thing could be awesome, if only they have it as an option to use instead of mandatory. I mean, that's why I didn't really like Heavenly Sword or Lair all that much on the PS3 - a mechanic that I didn't enjoy was mandatory. As long as they keep releasing traditional games, I'll give it a go, but if all that's available is Natal powered games, I'll stick with the Xbox 360 and the PC thank you.

But just because the mods are out there does not mean you have to take the time to download them. I played Oblivion primarily on the PS3, same with Fallout 3 (I don't own a fast enough computer, so I was playing them on my roomate's PS3 at the time). I felt that I was missing out because, doing some research on Oblivion, I found some very interesting mods that I would have loved to give a go. Basically, what I'm saying is: release the game for those who want to play a game, and release the mod tools so that those who want to can screw around with it and potentially come up with something cool. Sure, 90% of everything is crap, and in this case you're probably going to be looking at 99.9% crap, but that 0.1% may make the effort worthwhile. Just because something is out there doesn't mean you have to use it or even care about it, but I don't think preventing anybody else from trying it is a good idea either.

I know you're joking, but you actually raise a couple good points. I wonder if we could monitor the quantity of penguins in the colony, and the general health/diet of the colony by their guano trail... we would have to have some baseline to go off of... hurm... I smell (amongst other things) a possible thesis!

I want to buy WOW. Many of my friends play WOW. I played the free trial for it, and enjoyed it quite a bit, despite the pacing being a bit too slow for my standards. However, I get addicted to things quite easily. I know that if I start playing WOW, the other facets of my life will take the back seat. I even have a bit of trouble focussing on other things besides Dungeons And Dragons sometimes. (I know, I'm a geek). Basically, I know that I would enjoy WOW, and by extention other MMORPGs, just a little bit too much. The only reason why I let myself play other video games is that the ones that I'm interested in have an ending. So no matter how addicted I get, there will come a point where I have to stop playing, for at least a little while.