^Part of the reason I left the congregation. However I think the forced BELIEFS were a bigger problem for me.

I only scanned TFA but I can't seem to find where it says who they played against. Was it Green Bay vs. Steelers? Or was it a different team? This is a weighted 1 in 32 chance whereas predicting that the Steelers would also make it but would eventually lose is far more impressive. I get the impression this wasn't the case.

I'm going to break this apart first.

Things WoW has:
Huge amoung of back story and Lore
A constant grind and a reward system
PvP from the ground up
A beautifully stylized world
Few Bugs
PLAYERS

things SW:TOR has:
Huge amount of back story and Lore
lots of story driven quests (presumably)
PvP from the ground up (presumably)
A stylized world
Who knows how many bugs
Players?

The way I see it, SW:TOR has a CHANCE to match up with WoW. It has the story aspects it needs to compare to WoW and it's BioWare so I'm not to worried about that aspect coming through. The PvP is implied, it's Star Wars after all, however if you played Star Wars Galaxies, you can see what poor implementation can do to what should be a premier PvP experience. The world of the Old Republic is very much stylized in the WoW fashion except in a Sci-Fi setting. And it doesn't seem out of place either. I think the style and the music can go a long way to making or breaking the game by giving you a sense of tone and so far I think where a lot of games have failed is in trying to be too serious which it seems SW:TOR is trying not too do by softening the art style.

BioWare has certainly been playing up the amount of dialog and story driven questing in the game which I don't doubt. I find it a poor assessment to judge an entire game by it's newbie experience because a rudimentary experience is just what a lot of players need. Newbies will learn what they need slowly and gradually without having to keep track of story elements and focusing on getting around and killing things, which are important to survival while Experienced MMO players can play through quickly and just learn the finer points of the game. Of course if they drag the newbie experience too long then it will kill the game but hopefully that's not the case. But here it's all about execution. Do you strike the proper balance for both Experienced players to breeze through and newbies to get all the training they need so they don't feel overwhelmed.

BioWare has as good a chance as anyone, if not better for the delays they are allowing to make sure implementation is handled correctly. I'm just going to hope that BioWare pulls through again.

Sleep deprivation and loud music both strike me as forms of torture. Are they not legally considered that? I was under the impression that torture was causing pain and discomfort and possible permanent damage in a controlled setting (otherwise it's just assault or something).

Sleep deprivation can cause massive headaches, hallucination, and if prolonged it can cause death.

Loud music can cause headaches, ear aches, disorientation, dizziness, and permanent deafness if exposed too much. And I'm assuming we're talking about something more than what people subject themselves to or it wouldn't be particularly effective.

That isn't torture?

You have points here but I think that in this case, it would be considered the best "reasonable response." It's not even like they sought this person out, he came to them and asked about it. They said no.

They can't protect everybody, but when you are going to choose possibly the biggest symbol with the worst common connotation, they made the right move. I mean when you see it, are you going to see a Hindu symbol? No. Of course not. To put it in perspective, I think in some instances even the devil is less scorned than this symbol. He is, after all, used by a lot more than just the religious crowd. But you're right, I mean really, they should be equal across the board...

So let me get this strait. Someone playing CoD wants to use the Swastika as logo in a WAR GAME. And he wants to be all preachy about it's different meanings when they say no?

The Swastika had all sorts of positive connotations UNTIL some idiot decided to fly it over their artillery. And you are different how, Mr. "I want to use a positive religious symbol in a war game?" Get with it buddy. Maybe you aren't committing genocide but you're still perverting the symbol.

If there wasn't and kids were buying R rated movies, would you support both laws or neither?

Sure they weren't coming back. But when they left, they left because their home was no longer home for religious/political reasons or because they expected something better when they got to where they were going. Big trade or some such.

People who will be going to settle Mars will be leaving without their families, abandoning their homes never to return, and they gain nothing of material value, especially if they aren't coming back.

That said, I think a lot of people would still volunteer to go. I just wouldn't be one of them.

You know, I'll probably go see this in 3D. But it'll probably also be the last 3D film(s) I'll see. I can't wait for this.

I understand why a lot of people didn't like XIII but just about the point where I was getting fed up with the party limits, the game finally came around and I was quite pleased with it. Yes it was very, very linear. It was very tube like. But it was also a beautiful game. The graphics were great and if you didn't want to go backwards and could get beyond the occasional cliche one liners, you'd find a very fast combat system, a decent story, and a lot of things to look at. No it's not like the previous entries in the series, but it's Final Fantasy and that's how they roll. It's still a quality game if it came from any other developer.

Course, I had XIV pegged as a failure since day one.