AzureWolf

[FONT=book antiqua][SIZE=2][COLOR=blue]Forgive me God, for I have sinned... I saw yet another lackluster piece of the Ghost in the Shell universe. I saw the episode that aired last week. I'm trying hard not to remember it, so I can resume a normal life, without having the knowledge that something this pathetic is praised so highly. Still, for the sake of discussion, though, I will revive the nightmare. First off, the character design is really insulting. It's hard to tell men and women apart, and the generic characters look either bulky or extremely depressed out of their minds. Normally, I would say that the story is what is important, but with art this bad, it's hard to let it go. ESPECIALLY when they try to give you fanservice with that kind of garbage. In the episode I saw, there was a three-girl sleepover FOR NO REASON. So, we got to see them hugging each other in their sleep, followed by nothing else, really. Luckily, the story by itself is also cheesy. What is this? The 40th time that the same people have had their brains hacked? Don't recycle the same idea forty times over, then it just gets lame. It was an interesting idea the first time, and there were some cool variations, but now it's just so stupid. The character personalities aren't any better. None of the characters have a refreshing charm about them. Execution of these stereotypes is what really makes it bad. Everyone is beyond generic: the "by-the-book" guy, the "insubordinate" main character who is allowed to get away with things because she gets the job done, and so forth. Normally, I would watch a show till it completes (or one arc if there's more than 26 episodes), but I've seen the other GitS series enough to know that there's nothing more here besides trash. "Milestone in anime?!" Bah, more like the Eva of anime - oh wait, Eva is an anime too... I need more similies. But still, all talk, no substance: GitS, like Eva, is praised without having true merit.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=book antiqua][SIZE=2][COLOR=blue]Well, when crying myself to sleep after reading so much Anal. didn't work, I turned on the old box and decided to see what was on. Last week was indeed a surprise treat for me. I won't mention those people who made me biased against watching FMA because "if they are the type of people who like it, I probably wouldn't," but I was quite impressed. I saw the train episode that aired last week. While the comedy seemed dry, there were a lot of interesting things about FMA. I particularly appreciated the use of alchemy's "bi-products" in the search for gold. That was clever of the creator. In addition, the family aspect looks intriguing: the "gentle giant" and "hot head." The roles are even reversed: the younger brother is the former and the older is the latter. I guess you would call that an ironic juxtaposition, haha. I'm wondering what the big psychological development in the story will be. Is it going to be about the little brother, or about man and machine? While I am worried about that aspect of the story, the show was rather unique in its design. We've got alchemists, people! Speaking of which, how could you have different types of alchemists, such as "the Alchemist of Fire?" O_o Also, after previewing this and a few other episodes of random anime action shows, I'm more adamant about Bleach being the biggest knock-off of Naruto I've ever seen. But that's for another thread...[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

[QUOTE=Drix D'Zanth]Well, I remember reading a book by a scientist restricted to a wheelchair, who must use some sort of vocalizing machine? I can?t recall his name; Steven Hawkings or something like that... It was in a book titled ?Ooh, look at the pretty stars!? Or ?Black holes and you..?[/QUOTE][FONT=book antiqua][SIZE=2][COLOR=blue]The best part of all of this is you're embarrassing yourself, since I was actually referring to who made the comment in this thread, not the author of the idea.[QUOTE]As for the vision turning ?white? I?m referring to the electrons continuing to fire in the brain despite the disability of any sensory organ. This usually occurs when your occipital region strikes an object hard enough so that you cannot see anything for a short period of time; it is described as blinding light, rather than pitch blackness.[/QUOTE][STRIKE]Whoa, hold up there. How would the body be working at the speed of light (or faster?). Ok, even if we were to accelerate slowly towards the speed of light such that the force on the body is tolerable, that doesn't mean the body will behave normally with the concentration of energy it has. IF NOTHING ELSE, kinetic energy will be converted to heat within your body, altering most components to an inactive state, if not dead.[/STRIKE] Whatever. Amusing the idea that all mortal variables are negligible, I'm still not understanding the "means" to go as fast/faster than the speed of light. Wormholes aren't about speed at all, and the energy burst from matter/antimatter would need a container for the energy released (i.e., more mass). I don't think it'll ever be possible to go fast (or faster) than the speed of light, even at the theoretical level. [QUOTE]Also acceleration is (for example) 5 meters/second every second. It looks like this. 5 meters/second second A 5 meters/second just means that you cover 5 meters every second. Just a good thing to keep in mind.[/QUOTE]Wait, Corey and Baron, you are confusing acceleration with velocity (aka speed - well, kind of aka). In this example, in ONE second, you'll be moving at a speed of 5 meters/second, which, if you stopped accelerating, would take you 5 meters in ONE second. Trivial correction, I know, but I was getting confused, which brings me to my question: I'm intrigued but lost on where this discussion is heading. What's so important about g-forces with respect to going at the speed of light?[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT] EDIT #1: After thinking about it, I think it would be of great benefit to both sides of whatever argument to work from the ground up. That is, instead of trying to work with human bodies where we have all these variables we have to ignore, start from the atomic level and scale up. Just a thought. EDIT #2: Drix explained the white light phenomenon to me, and it makes sense.

[FONT=book antiqua][SIZE=2][COLOR=blue]I can't seem to find who said it, but the idea about going through wormholes is exactly what Einstein saw as the best means to travel through space. Unlike on Earth, quite a few people believe that the universe is curved, so the shortest means from point A to point B is not a straight line, since, when you unfold the universe, it would be an extraordinary (almost parabolic) direction.[quote name='Drix D'Zanth]The speed of light is about 9.8 x 10^8 m/s.[/QUOTE]Where did you hear this from? Are you sure you aren't confusing acceleration due to gravity with the speed of light, which is a little less than 3 x 10^8 m/s? [QUOTE]Could we go faster than the speed of light? Discounting artificial gravity produced, the fact that speeds like that would require some sort of energy generation, friction... space is not an absolute vaccum... the fact that you would eventually collide with matter....yup.. you could go as fast or possibly faster than light.[/QUOTE]Could you elaborate on your idea, explaining how you think this is possible? I know you are ignoring the listed variables, but even then, where would the energy generation come from? [QUOTE']One problem, everything would go pitch black or pitch white. Concievably, everything around you would freeze, not in time, but as you reached the speed of light, the photons would have a hard time catching up to your eye.. until... they cannot.[/quote]Wouldn't the person going as fast/faster be freezing up as well, and why would things turn white at all if there's no light?[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

[quote name='DerelictDestiny][COLOR=DarkRed']Btw, would someone explain to me what E=mc^2 is?[/COLOR][/quote][FONT=book antiqua][SIZE=2][COLOR=blue]E = mc^2 is Einstein's equation for energy that tends to hold true for really small masses. Energy's units are kg*m^2/s^2, so it's easy to see how, with the speed (m/s) of light squared (m^2/s^2) being a constant value, the effect mass has on energy. Put this equation alongside E = 0.5mv^2 (also of kg*m^2/s^2 units), and you can also relate the concept to how much energy a particular mass needs to travel at the speed of light. However, working with E = mc^2 and because the speed of light is constant, the only way for a particular mass to increase its energy is by increasing it's mass, thereby also increasing the amount of energy necessary to travel the speed of light. This loop continues until infinity. And hence, we arrive at the paradox, heh. Hope that made sense![/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=book antiqua][SIZE=2][COLOR=blue]How insulting! To belittle the rest of mankind is just unacceptable. Do you really think a war no one cares about would have that level of impact on the future? As great as our... "philosophical masters" are, they sure aren't the only ones who can BS their way to recognition. If they didn't come up with those ideas, someone else would have. There are many cases in history where two people discover or conclude the same thing (even at the same time), but one person gets credit because he was able to publish it before the other guy, or the communication barrier caused most of the world to overlook someone else's earlier discovery. A good example would be Mendel. There his records for the patterns of inheritance were, recordings and all. It wasn't until fifty years later that, when someone else came across the same discovery, did they recognize Mendel as the father of genetics. To put it simply, Mendel made a discovery, and, if no one ever found his papers, the only difference today would be that it wouldn't be called Mendelian Genetics. If Mendel discovered anything at all or not didn't matter too much because someone else figured it out later anyway. Remember, there aren't only a select few intelligent people in the world: everyone has a different situation and/or time they come from, and, if the scenario calls for it, there will always be someone to rise to the challenge. So, in short, I don't think the war's outcome is that big a deal on today's situation. We'd just have different (and maybe even better) names for a few things.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=book antiqua][SIZE=2][COLOR=blue]Whenever I finish watching (a good) anime, there are a few things I just cannot resist doing. First, if I like the artwork enough, or there's a certain aesthetic value to some scenes, I accumulate a picture archive. Next, if I can't satiate my appetite for discussion, I write down all the aspects of the anime I found interesting, along with my ideas, thoughts, and theories about them. Of course, if I didn't have it already, my next intent is to grab the anime on DVD. Usually, I'll buy the collector's box first, wait for the rest of the series to be released, and then buy the remainder all at once. I'm not in a hurry to see what happens next, and this saves me money and time. My collection is admittedly small, though, because I only get the anime series I think are worth getting and are actually out in the US. For my favorite among favorites, I rip the anime out of the DVD so the actual disc can be saved for "special occassions" and I can view the DVD as casually as I want without worry about scratching the disc. I'm nit-picky like that. :p Now the trickiest thing for me is the music. Most of the time, when the anime is worth getting, the soundtrack is also spectacular, therefore making it a must-have for me. While I usually download it first, actually buying the soundtrack is another thing. I would prefer to get the domestic version, but it is really hard to tell if an anime's soundtrack may be released over here. Consequently, I sometimes never get around to getting the soundtrack even if I do like it... That's the gist of my behavior after becoming enthralled by an anime series. [B]What do you do after seeing an anime? Do you rave about it, buy it, grab everything pertaining to it, etc.? In what order do you do it? Why do you do what you do?[/B] The underlying reason to this thread is probably that I'm trying to extend my "anime activities" and am curious to see what others do - and if I'm the only psycho who commits the deeds above.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=book antiqua][SIZE=2][COLOR=blue]Well, seeing as the universe will be no more, reduced to nothing, wouldn't Hell just be adiabatic? O_o I would have liked some more input from the thread creator, such as his opinion and his reasoning. What a strange question to ask. Does it even have a real answer? And I don't even mean like one of those "we'll never know" types of answers, but is there an actual, plausible answer to this question?[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

[quote name='Dagger IX1]Azure, you seem to be placing a heavy emphasis on art[i]work[/i']--as in, the actual character designs, shading, color palette, etc. of the anime in question. I interpreted the original poster's statement a little differently. While many different forms of art rely heavily on the strength of their visuals, and anime is clearly one of these, there are also other elements I use to judge a show/movie/OVA as a work of art: plot, music, dialogue and so forth. For me, an episode with horribly off-model characters or choppy animation, though distracting and deeply annoying, isn't as bad as an episode in which the entire cast acts out of character or huge plot holes are exposed. I'd like to know your take on this.[/quote][FONT=book antiqua][SIZE=2][COLOR=blue]You know, not ONCE did that thought even cross my mind, haha. I always thought the thread creator was referring to Pokemon ridiculing anime artwork. Hmm... the post as a whole does make a lot more sense now. X_X I don't know. I would say that the "liberal arts" angle of anime would be damaged or ridiculed if it were for the sake of money - even moreso than just the artwork. All those components of an anime (or any show) that you listed: the good ones are driven by inspiration. However, as I pointed out with Sciros, I see where your argument is coming from. Of course an anime would never see the light of day if there was not some potential profit coming out of it. At the same time, when the ambition to convey a story through anime is lost and all that is left is the unspirited churning for the green, does the anime lose what makes it special? That's the trickier question that I also have too little thought or knowledge to answer. So, in short, yeah, anime's identity as an art originates from both profit and inspiration. A mockery of this art isn't manifested if the primary reason for making a series is money. But what about cases where the only cause behind an anime is money? I'm guessing this point is where your idea that most anime is garbage steps in, huh?[quote name='Dagger IX1']When someone is in the business solely to get rich, chances are not all of his or her endeavors will end up having much artistic value. It just concerns me when fans seem to think a person can't try to eke out a living and at the same time produce something special and artistically noteworthy. It's an attitude I've seen here and there (not from you, however).[/quote]Well, that's certainly a valid point: everyone does things that they don't like to do (or don't care about). Does that make their contributions any different: for better or for worse? Anime (and all liberal arts) aren't as objective as science or math, so the answer doesn't necessarily have to be "it doesn't matter," since the drive could actually affect the end product. Going back to art, it's not like a person will lose her talent if she one day decides to draw solely for the sake of money. At the same time, will the same "soul" be in the work? And yes, I know I'm not answering anything and only reiterating the questions presented. That's not going to stop me from doing from doing it anyway. :p[QUOTE=Dagger IX1]There are issues in a straightforward manga --> anime conversion that don't always extend to original anime movies or series. So that might complicate things a bit in continuing to use Naruto as an example, although I definitely understand your point. Do you mind PMing me about the spoiler? I'm just curious about which part I was off on, heh. :p EDIT: I forgot to say this earlier--awesome banner![/QUOTE]Well, it's not like original anime is any different: corners are cut, but they are harder to see because we don't have a reference to go by. If we compare future episodes with earlier ones, I bet there are a few undesired changes we can catch. But, I really can't think of a long-running series that was not based off a manga (at least off the top of my head), haha. I'll PM you soon, and thank you.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=book antiqua][SIZE=2][COLOR=blue]Really gotta disagree with Sciros and his posse (this is the first time I've ever disagreed with you, isn't it?). At least in the case of anime, art always tends to suffer when money becomes more important than the creator's vision. Since Naruto was brought up and is a good example of a long-running series, I'll use that as my example. Naruto is based off a manga by some dude named Kishimoto. At the "jackets" of each volume, Kishimoto talks about his inspirations and thoughts on how Naruto manifested and became what it was today. The important part that pertains to this discussion is the fact that he sometimes shows how and why he draws a character so. If I remember correctly, there was one time where he spoke of Iruka looking "too evil" before he was made how he is now. So, yeah, there's inspiration involved to design a character so, and there are particular (and possibly important) details that do tend to get lost when other artists take the original creator's rendition and change it into a faster-to-draw form. In other words, the inspiration for the anime art is sometimes not there because it's just easier to make-do without it. Hence, the art of anime has suffered, IMO. Maybe this example was too far-fetched. I'm willing to accept that. But another, more prominent example would be when the anime artists have time-constraints or hire some other studio to do episodes so they can be on schedule. Using Naruto again as an example, episodes 48-50 are INCREDIBLY ugly in both terms of animation and art. Art has definately suffered because it was driven by the greed to air those shows on-time and to make a profit. On a slighty OT point, it hurts the show because the change (and nasty-ness) really distracts a fan who has been following the show. We can't even amuse the idea that the characters were supposed to look so bad because of the situation at hand. Why? Because the manga has them drawn as they have always been, and why would bystanders look uglier anyway? The idea for Pokemon is not so different: pump out as many episodes as possible and cut corners where no one hopefully notices. While I disagree with Dagger's spoiler, and would love to respond to Lady Katana's post, this post is long enough as is, heh.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=book antiqua][SIZE=2][COLOR=blue][CENTER]"[i]The measure of a man's real character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.[/i]" ~Thomas Babington, Lord Macaulay[/CENTER] It's like our school's code of conduct, but I think it applies here very well. None of you are inhumane enough to shoot someone if there were no penalties (with the exception of your guilt) just because you hated them. I guess, in essence, this topic boils down to if you think people (and yourself) are naturally violent/evil/whatever, heh. I don't think this hypothetical situation is supposed to have anything else, like if the person was threatening your life or others, heh. Obviously, that's a completely different scenario: you stop wrong-doing from happening, while (what I think) this thread is asking is if some schmo' pissed you off, would you shoot him.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=book antiqua][SIZE=2][COLOR=blue]I think the colored pencil style works better - at least for now. I don't know, your "sketch" style seems to call for colored pencil since they too give off a "sketch" feel. If I saw only the colored version, I would have said it was pretty good. However, looking at the B&W one and PS-ed one, I think your particular way of drawing calls for the manual touch. Then again, you might just need to improve with PS, since this was your first attempt. Again, it really is great either way, but seeing the original makes me think that the coloring made it worse. =/ [/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=book antiqua][SIZE=2][COLOR=blue]I have no clue about the origins of any of the animes mentioned here, haha, with the exception of [B]Yu-Gi-Oh![/B] which was originally a manga. I wonder how much influence the manga creators have on ongoing series such as Pokemon. It's always been my experience that a long show starts out rather great and interesting, but because it never bothers to come to a close or give some sort of resolution, it just dwindles in quality. In order for a show to last a long time, it has to be very dynamic. As Solo has pointed out, Pokemon is a strongly static show: [QUOTE]The plot hasn't changed, the characters (essentially) haven't changed, and yeah, they're probably only continuing to run because they have done for so long already. It's pretty much self-perpatuating.[/QUOTE] Indeed, there has been no resolution, no new conflicts, and no type of character change. There's always the handy Professor Oak, the stalwart Ash, and the wise Broc. Those adjectives are never time-dependent (i.e, professor Oak was pretty handy before - say - his wife died; or Broc thought he knew everything before he lost a match), and so the characters become very inappreciable. I'm trying to make two points with all this: [i]1. Long shows may not necessarily be for the sake of money[/i]; but [i]2. Those shows that don't change may just be that: money-makers[/i]. Surely, when a single manga writer/artist sits down and writes/draws his manga, he has a story in mind that he thinks is worth telling, one that people would want to read/see. However, when big business comes in and see something people would pay money for, they usually don't care about the manga creator's vision if there's more money to be had by continuing the story. Since big business has no clue how to go about conveying a story, they try to stick with what the manga creator has proved will work. Unfortunately, they don't realize that it works only because it is not repetitive. I imagine that this situation is the case for shows like Pokemon and even Yu-Gi-Oh! See how the games they help promote continue to grow and sell. As for anime being an artform, I'm all for that. I mean, I'm a huge fan of Car---... um..., ok, that person doesn't always draw PG stuff... I'll refrain from mentioning her for fear of annoying any OB authority. Those who know to whom I'm referring to should easily see my point. If not, you really need to see her stuff! ;) (I'm a fan of her PG stuff only! Honest! Ok, I probably would be a fan of her "other stuff" if I could bring myself to see it. :o) In fact, I can't even mention my other favorite... O_o *shakes head* The point is, I feel that anime is a medium for telling a story first and an artform second. There are those who, like [B]*her*[/B], can make a huge profit out of just drawing in anime style. She's capable of utilizing how potentially artistic and beautiful it can be, but most anime has a style that accentuates certain aspects of the story it is telling. For example, characters that are emotionally thin, hollow, and empty: it is shown in their physical attributes; characters that hold less humanity have smaller eyes; and so forth... I'm not saying that anime can't stand on its own two feet if it were just an artform (quite the opposite, in fact). However, I think the reason for anime is primarily story, of which artistic value is a bonus or aid. And for those who know how confusing and poorly-written this post is: TO SUM EVERYTHING I SAID, everything is exploited for money. However, that doesn't mean anime has lost its root as both a story-medium and an artform. While CaptainAnarchy feels that anime as an artform has suffered, I say it couldn't have because anime is first and foremost for story. So as long as the artists' desire to convey a story through this artistic column doesn't wane, we need not worry about money-mongers. :)[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

[quote name='James][font=book antiqua][size=2][color=blue][color=dimgray]What I'm saying is that if a member is intimidated by a thread's size, it probably has to do with them simply not wanting to invest a little effort to at least skim through it and see what's there. Make no mistake; just about all threads, no matter how large or small, are going to have varying quality from post to post. Substance is substance, regardless of the thread's length. But a large thread shouldn't be intimidating by default, particularly if we are always encouraging people to pay attention to the discussion.[/color][/color][/size'][/font][/quote][FONT=book antiqua][SIZE=2][COLOR=blue]I think there's a little misunderstanding from both sides. I was talking about how most long threads are so large that a good deal of it isn't relevant to the discussion anymore, so a person wanting to post will get increasingly flustered trying to find and catch up on what is being discussed. In response to that idea, you made that statement about unwillingness (which could also be a lack of free-time) to wade through a post could be indicative of a member not being suitable for OB. I said I took offence to that comment because not every person is willing to waste their free time on material that is out of date and useless for discussion. Sure, if a person wants to, for example, see what people thought of a game before it came out, they can dig in the archives to find out. However, I don't think it's right or fair for a person who wants to enter the discussion to be forced to sift through pertinent and dead material. [B][i]That's what I was saying[/i][/B]. I just wanted to clarify where I was coming from when I felt you were implying "size = quality." Anyway, after reading your recent post, I am more than satisfied. Thank you for taking the time to address my gripes, heh; and sorry for taking up too much of that time, haha.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

[quote name='James']If a member is too intimidated to post in a thread simply as a result of its size, then I would question whether or not OtakuBoards is the appropriate destination for them in the first place, really.[/quote][FONT=book antiqua][SIZE=2][COLOR=blue]I take great offence to that comment. First off, just because a topic is extremely large and verbose doesn't mean it has as much content as it makes itself out to be. I dare say there are quite a few "legendary" threads in the RPG area that were just large for the sake of appearing "epic" and amazing. When you read for actual substance, there's little to be found relative to its reputation. Second, it's a big mistake to think that quality is directly proportional to quantity. Some of these threads have outdated information that can't be applied anymore - a wasted read (and time) for someone who wants to enter the discussion and introduce something new. A good example would be in the Play It forum, where a "preview" of the game isn't really useful anymore. People talking about the possibility of X being implemented, or Y character introduced, and so forth isn't something that can be used in the discussion anymore. In short, just because a member has little patience to enter a discussion doesn't mean it is deserving for him to wade through what could potentially be weak and wordy posts to do so. I know you are more experienced on board-related matters, and because of my inexperience, I have little choice but to agree. However, I was around for v6, whose anime section never missed a day for posting. On v7, however, I've seen this happen at least once or twice already. So, v6 was far more active that v7 - at least that what it seems to me. If things are truly better now than they were before, so be it. Haha, but it just appears to me to be the opposite is all. I don't enter many parts of OB. Only the Anime Lounge, Manga W, Otaku Lounge, and of course Suggestions/Feedback are the ones I frequent, so the inactivity may only apply to those forums. The others I may occasion and have little knowledge of. If the problem for everything is that OB is just too small for it, isn't there anything that can be done about it?[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=book antiqua][SIZE=2][COLOR=blue]Cool, cool... No qualms at all (pretty solid, in fact). But... what's balance have to do with your soul idea? :confused:[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

[QUOTE=Adahn][font=Courier New][size=2][color=#0000ff]1. Nuclear power=Nuclear waste[/color][/size][/font] [font=Courier New][size=2][color=#0000ff]2. Burning of fossil fuels=Lots of bad things released.[/color][/size][/font] [font=Courier New][size=2][color=#0000ff]3. Hydroelectric power=ruins ecosystem around rivers used.[/color][/size][/font] [font=Courier New][size=2][color=#0000ff]4. Wind power=Relatively small (if any) environmental effect.[/color][/size][/font][/QUOTE][FONT=book antiqua][SIZE=2][COLOR=blue]Alright, you listed one thing that was electricity-related. That's only one means to harness electrical energy. That doesn't make the energy itself bad. Just because we generate it in a way that (supposedly) does damage to the environment doesn't make electricity inherently bad. Electrical energy is nice and awesome, and the closest thing to the most efficient type of energy: light. Personally, I've never even heard of hydroelectric power plants harming ecosystems and rivers. Is the effect noticeably profound?[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

[QUOTE]We'd have to give up electricity, because the only power that doesn't harm the environment is wind power, and we all know how much THAT generates. [/QUOTE][FONT=book antiqua][SIZE=2][COLOR=blue]WHAT THE...? :twitch: Could you please elaborate and explain to me how electrical energy is harmful to the environment?! At the same time, please tell me how "wind power" is any different.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

[quote name='Dagger IX1']Azure, I noticed you mentioned that you and others find extremely long threads to be off-putting or intimidating. What some forums do is designate one series-specific topic, but then lock it off after two hundred posts or so and start a new official topic--i.e. "Inuyasha Discussion, Part II," complete with a link to the previous thread. I think this might complicate things in terms of the directory sticky and searches and such, but I'm wondering whether you feel such a policy would make the most bloated topics seem more inviting.[/quote][FONT=book antiqua][SIZE=2][COLOR=blue]Personally, I don't see why we need to cling to the past so strongly. Certainly, m@d_sk1llz isn't staring at his computer, twidling his thumbs and thinking, "Boy, I sure hope someone responds to my gripe about the music in Inuyasha from 2001 so I can reply!" What I mean is, if the posts have gone months (or weeks in some cases) without being addressed, not only will few people bother responding, but the person who made the initial post won't really care enough to continue discussing. Also, by making the thread big and scary, you have to wonder if your topic has already been addressed, and if your two cents were already mentioned. What's so bad about reiterating someone's two cents? Well, first you have the fact that there will be those people who posted the same two cents not caring since the person didn't care enough to address their post, and then you have the others who will be like, "wtf? That's already been discussed, so no need to respond." On the other hand, if you have a fresh new thread in what is ultimately a new environment (new members perusing the boards, catching members with more or less free time), the topic with poorly-developed discussion could now become the hottest topic because of others' opinions, new angles, and whatever-have-you. Let's not forget some people do change their minds. Keep in mind that all of these ideas are derived by my own feelings and opinions. I really don't know why others feel the same (never bothered to ask), but it is likely that some of our reasons overlap.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=book antiqua][SIZE=2][COLOR=blue]I like the idea, and I think it definately needs to be implemented. However, I'm worried that the only answer you'll get is "preview it on your gawdda## HTML program 'cause it's not so hard." Haha, Baron got a similar answer from the members here. So, before that happens, I'd just like to say that the idea (like most of them) are about CONVENIENCE, not necessity. It's like saying you don't need a mouse because it's not necessary. However, thinks are so much more convenient when you do. Previews would be nice, and if not that, a simple HTML checker that checks for and equal number of and 's would be cool.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=book antiqua][SIZE=2][COLOR=blue]Heh, mainstream... In the sense that anime has become just another accepted means to deliver entertainment or convey a story, yes, it has indeed become mainstream. In the sense that anime has become accepted as being a distinct medium; having its own strengths and weaknesses; being able to express or hinder certain elements within a story differently than other mediums, anime has not even come close. In the former sense, most people are aware of anime, and no longer express (openly at least) disgust or interest in it. They are familiar with the term. Sure, sometimes you have to call it "cartoons," but they know what you are talking about. There are even quite a few people who saw an anime movie or series and thought, "that wasn't bad." What I mean is, around here, you can't find many people who, when introduced to anime, respond with, "Ewww! It's that aneeemay $h**." In the latter sense, these same people mentioned above don't really see anything special about anime. They will see it, think its ok, and never really look back and think, "Would I have had the same experience if it was done with real actors? Would the story have any different effect?" The ones that do, though, mostly answer these questions with, "Yeah, this was done before, and was better with real actors. It was ok, but it was pointless to draw all that." Here is where anime still needs to work at becoming "mainstream." Certainly, Pixar and its awesome animations are making the transition so much easier for anime to become something more than just a superficial entertainment medium in the eyes of the masses. For example, it's hard to convince a person that [B]Ghost in the Shell[/B] did the whole "man and machine" thing better than [B]The Matrix[/B] did; but it is very easy to convince someone that [B]The Incredibles[/B] wouldn't have had some of its charm if it was done with real people. Sorry for not discussing anything and just putting my two cents in. ^^;[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=book antiqua][SIZE=2][COLOR=blue]I'm not necessarily entering the debate, but I thought I'd point out something about chaos and nature. Chaos is more a natural occurrence than something concieved artificially; hence the law of entropy. The existence of increasingly complex organisms (and even our own being) goes against this concept of timely decay. So, in essence, you could say that ALL creatures are against nature. As more and more complex organisms arise, there is more order and less entropy. In short, anything that is promoting the degradation of all matter into hydrogenous formations is natural. So, to say that humans are chaotic is to say they are more natural than other creatures. If you ask anyone, they would say that [i]any life[/i] is very hypocritical of the nature of the universe. In other words, I don't think you can say that us humans creating more chaos is indicative of being against nature. Now, whether or not the fact (well, my opinion) that man is very against nature in this sense is a good thing? Only [B]God[/B] knows. ;)[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

[quote name='Dagger IX1']As another example, a lot of Naruto fans have sort of drifted away from the boards in the past few months, which means that the once highly active Naruto thread isn't updated nearly as often anymore.[/quote][FONT=book antiqua][SIZE=2][COLOR=blue]Actually, I'm of the opinion that because Naruto didn't have a place where the topics could be neatly distributed, the ever-growing thread became more and more daunting. Certainly, no one wants to read a novel before putting their two cents in. To have to shuffle through unrelated posts (with respect to the topic of interest) to make sure your post won't be redundant is quite a hassle, and more than likely the reason the Naruto thread waned. At least, I can vouch for the Uchiha, who started the thread. In theory, every show, no matter how good, is going to wane in its popularity. That's why the rotation idea should be put into place. That way, when a show is new, fresh, and hot, all the discussions possible will be generated. Then when it starts to suck, dump the thing in the anime archives and have the next thing big thing. It wouldn't hurt to try, right? The anime lounge hasn't exactly been "Studio 69" as of late.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

[quote name='Adahn][b][font=Trebuchet MS][color=darkolivegreen]The whole thing was left very unresolved, and I suspect its ghost will come back and haunt people.[/color][/font'][/b][/quote][FONT=book antiqua][SIZE=2][COLOR=blue]Indeed. Don't be surprised when people start posting in other threads you posted in just to spite you (I'm not referring to you directly, just everyone in general). It's best to think about the discussion that went on, and then just move on. Don't leave the closed thread with a bitter feeling (or rivalry for that matter): it never tends to do any good for either side. Rather, just learn from it and make yourself better prepared for the next thread you participate in. Preach the choir! XD[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

[quote name='Adahn][b][font=Trebuchet MS][color=darkolivegreen]That's all well and good, except that it doesn't address any of the questions I asked.[/color][/font'][/b][/quote][FONT=book antiqua][SIZE=2][COLOR=blue]Well, for the record, you didn't even ask any questions. XD In reference to your query, though: [QUOTE]A thread was recently closed, though I can't seem to understand why.[/QUOTE] My post above addresses this issue. Saying "hi hi hi" over and over is considered spam, so going around in circles, I surmise, isn't any different. Why not just PM the moderators instead of posting where other members can post if you don't want their opinions? Certainly, the moderators are the best source for answers pertaining to rules, but we can still make inferences.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]