Gavin

[QUOTE=Sara][color=#b0000b][size=1]If the ratings stay, I think they need to be completely renamed so that things like [PG] don't overlap with exisiting standards outside of the boards. Even something arbitrary like [A] [B] [C] would allow a blank slate where the ratings would be defined [i]within the boards, for the boards[/i]. I think this would help the situations where people opt for [M] over [PG] because they consider their RPG goes beyond the [PG] movie rating they're familiar with. [/color][/size][/QUOTE] [SIZE=1]Sara makes a good point here, I think that defining some ratings for OtakuBoards' itself might actually solve a lot of the rating problems affecting the Arena at the moment. People's own perceptions of what ratings mean, taken from outside of OB have definitely affected their perceptions of what ratings mean inside OB, some creating something just for the populace here would certainly solve that problem, or at least alleviate it.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting.[/SIZE] [QUOTE=desertphoenix]I know for sure it's King of fighters. I'm a long time Iori fan. My turn i guess .......: the sun is in your hands hint1: it was a game that insisted you go outside for sunlight. hint2: old school metal gear solid gameplay[/QUOTE] [SIZE=1][B]Boktai: The Sun is in Your Hand[/B] "[I]Choose Your Path[/I]" [B]Hint 1:[/B] 2003 Game of the Year [B]Hint 2:[/B] First great use of the licence in years.[/SIZE]

[quote name='Raiyuu][FONT=Trebuchet MS']Oh, I'm not suggesting Regulus is still alive. All evidence suggests Voldemort killed him stone dead. I'm suggesting that Horcrux in the zombie lake had been gone a fairly long time - that Regulus stole/hid/destroyed it, and possibly some of the others, and was killed for doing so. Obviously if I'm right then Regulus won't be giving Harry any help in person, but he might have left pointers as to the locations of the other Horcruxes.[/FONT][/quote] [SIZE=1]Good point, that's something I hadn't actually considered. Though it does raise that actual question as to what could have occurred to make an apparently loyal Death Eater [officially the worst villain group name ever] turn on his master and destroy the keys to his immortality. Also, I wonder if we'll ever get to the point in HP where spells don't even need to be said, as opposed to firstly spoken aloud and then whispered/mouthed.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]I have to admit a certain reluctance to see the Arena reformatting back into Games and Stories simply because many of the games which are posted in the Lounge serve often as spam conduits for people to up their post counts. Often you end up with two or three people who have giant post counts in these threads compared to everyone else who've participated. Eventually these threads are closed by one of the Lounge's mods because they've deteriorated to the point where they no longer conform to OB's rules, I have to wonder if these kinds of threads are what we want in the Arena. I think even though it was said a little undiplomatically, Ken may have had a point when he spoke about the quality of current RPers in the Arena. Time was that you always had a pool of older members who'd been around the Square for a long time and demonstrated the kind of quality that could be exhibited. I'm not going to throw any names out, you all know people like this, but many of these people are no longer present in the Arena, so I also wonder if this also has had an effect. I know certainly that my own RPing skills were developed primarily from working with guys who were better than me. Again these are just simply my thoughts on the issue.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1][SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting. [B]1) What day is your birthday? [/B] February 23rd [B]2) What is your zodiac sign?[/B] Pisces [B]3) How does your zodiac sign describe your personality?[/B] [quote name='Wikipedia']Individuals born under this sign are thought to have a dreamy, romantic, generous, emotional, receptive, affectionate, and honest character, but one which is also prone to exaggeration, fickleness, passiveness, hypersensitivity, and paranoia. Pisceans are said to like solitude to dream in and mystery.[/quote] [B]4) Does the description of your zodiac actually describe you? Why?[/B] Like many others, I'm quite surprised at how accurate this is. As much as I want to deny it, the more negative traits of my personality are definitely accurate, though I mightn't go as far as to call myself paranoid. [B]5) How does your zodiac sign PWN over the rest? [/B] [/SIZE] As Revelation accurately put it, we Pisces have traits taken from all eleven other signs, making us the best obviously. Plus Pisces was used as a symbol of early Christians in order to secretly identify themselves[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting.[/SIZE] [QUOTE=Albert Flasher][COLOR=Sienna]Justice? What justice? Saddam was already powerless, a caged madman... This was revenge. Cold, hard vengence. Nothing to do with justice. Besides, things aren't a whole lot better in Iraq... Hell, they're a lot worse I'd argue. Saddam was a tyrant and a despot and he opressed his people... but at least he kept his country from degenerating into a mass of anarchy and religious zealotism. Say what you want about his methods, but it's pretty hard to say that anyone else would have done a better job in Saddam's position. IMO the West is just using Saddam as a scapegoat. We caused the entire situation in the Middle East, especially the one in Iraq. When the Western Powers (The US and Britain especially) carved up the Ottoman Empire after WWI, we invented countries were there were none and ultimatly left the Kurds with no country to call their own (We also forced religious extremeists to co-exist with other religious extremeists, which is never a recipe for success.). This caused the Kurds to rebel (Rightfully so... they deserve Kurdistan) and forced Saddam to put them down or risk destabilizing his entire nation. We're just blaming him for a problem we caused...[/COLOR][/QUOTE] [SIZE=1]Quoted for truth. Everything AF has said here is not only correct but he's the first person to bring in some historical context to his argument. Saddam may not have been a good man, but given the shitstorm he had to work with because of WW2's Allied powers and constant interference, it's a wonder he managed to hold the country in the relatively religious-neutral state he managed to. Take a gander at his neighbours in Iran and you'll see how bad it could have been. I'm reality I'm not at all surprised at this happening, the Iraqis will get no real value out of Saddam's death, he'll become a martyr to the very groups he spent years trying to defeat and the Americans can look forward to being accused to simply "bumping off" one of their old enemies under the guise of an Iraqi court. There's no winners here, Saddam should have faced a U.N. war crimes tribunal, had the chance to defend his actions and then been judged guilty or innocent based in independent evidence and unbiased judges. That's pretty much my opinion on this travesty of justice.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting. While it makes me feel immensely immature, I have to admit I am looking forward to finally reaching the ending of the Harry Potter "Saga" for the lack of a better word. It's a wonder really given how many admitted HP fans we have on OtakuBoards that there was never a serious attempt at an RPG made. Anyway on to the questions. [B]What theories about Book 7 do you have?[/B] Like Dagger and Lady A, I definitely believe that Severus will eventually be revealed as an already redeemed characters. To clear that up a bit, what I mean by it is that [spoiler]when Snape killed Dumbledore it was under Dumbledore's own orders rather than Snape re-defecting back to the Voldemort's side.[/spoiler] As for Draco, personally I don't care what happens to him, he's shown the potential to become less-evil, I won't say good as it's a bit of a stretch. However like Snape I believe he'll eventually be redeemed, though Dagger makes a good point when she says it may not happen due to lack of space. R.A.B. is almost certainly Regulus Black, either that or it's going to be a character who's name we've never seen as it was given to them at birth. Though I'd say Regulus is probably the right answer. [b]Who would you be most upset about dying?[/b] Hmm, I don't think I'd use the word upset, but I'd be disappointed if Remus Lupin met his end. We've already seen Sirius killed off, I'd prefer it if the werewolf managed to stay alive and serve as some kind of conduit between mankind and the Lycan community. Chances are however that evil werewolf who's name I can't recall at the moment, will kill him. [b]What's the big question you want answered?[/b] Definitely the "eyes" question that everyone else is curious about. Also however I wonder what will become of Harry after he's completed his quest and defeated Voldemort, I don't really see him settling down in a normal role. More likely he'll either become an Auror or become a staff member at Hogwarts, probably the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting. I have to admit I find it rather ironic that only a few years ago we were arguing in this very forum as to the advantages of removing the swear filter to allow for "creative expression". Personally the swear filter has never been a problem for myself as I've always tried to either limit the amount of swearing that occurs in my works, or to have it as an effective means of story-telling when it does occur. Speaking as someone who like Shy, Charles and Alan has seen the Arena go through many different shapes and forms, I honestly think that simply reformatting the Arena and making it compulsory to detail what type of work it is, as well as it's rating will make very little difference in the long run. Of course I might be wrong here, but that is just my personal opinion. In terms of the rating themselves, I have always been a proponent of adding new ratings to cover the absolutely abhorrent gap between the "PG" and "M" ratings. I think many people would be surprised by the effect of adding something as simple as a "T/Teen" rating to the Arena. Personally I've found, and I know this is true of other writers in the Arena, that I've had to give RPGs an M rating because I've felt the proposed content was beyond the realm of a PG rating. Those are just my few cents anyway.[/SIZE]

[FONT=Franklin Gothic Medium][COLOR=WHITE][SIZE=3][CENTER][B]Last Man Standing[/B][/SIZE] [SIZE=2]The world is an unpleasant place, and thus we have made it with our own selfish decisions. The fractured human race exists divided because of politics, race and creed. People live their entire lives in fear because governments and leaders see fit to keep them in this state of apprehension. And one particular tool of fear that has proven highly effective over the centuries is the assassin. Imagine now that you are an agent of the government, that you kill without hesitation or remorse under orders from the elected faces of the people. You are capable of killing in hundreds of different ways with dozens of different weapons, or if the situation requires it, with no weapons at all. You exist to eliminate the enemies of your nation, and you are very, very good at what you do. Imagine that you and fifteen fellow agents were dispatched to a foreign city with a population of twenty-three million citizens. You each arrived at different times and via different routes, and upon arrival received orders that you were to terminate your fellow agents with extreme prejudice. You are not made aware of their crimes, you do not need to know, you are simply a means to an end, and that end is their death. Your mission boundaries are few, firstly, you are unarmed and will not by supplied by your government, thus you must acquire all weapons within the confines of the city. Secondly you may kill anyone you deem necessary, but should avoid eliminating all but your targets to avoid capture by local law enforcement agencies. Capture will result in the activation of a neural toxin imbedded in the base of your skull, which will result in a quick, painless death. Good Hunting.[/CENTER] [LEFT][INDENT][U][B]Sign Up[/B][/U] [B]Name:[/B] [Your Name] [B]Appearance:[/B] [Must be in photo form] [B]Advantage:[/B] [A particular trait that will be beneficial to you] [B]Disadvantage:[/B] [A trait which you may find detrimental][/INDENT][/LEFT] |||||||||| [LEFT]Some of you might recognise this as the Spar supplement of my ill-fated Event Kumite, others won't, but at this point in time it doesn't make any difference. [B]Last Man Standing[/B] will be something that hasn't been attempted on OtakuBoards in a long time, if ever before, a Mass Spar. Something akin to wrestling's Royal Rumble, the aim of the participants will be to be, as the name suggest, the last man standing. The actual fighting will take place over a large group of city areas, each of which are common in any megalopolis, ethnic centres, parks, industrial estates, suburbs etc, each of which will provide certain tactical advantages and disadvantages. The geopolitical situation is actually completely irrelevant, as you won't be interacting with any form of political authority or need to know geographic information beyond the city. A generic American setting is probably the most accurate as the cultural melting pot provided best suits the parameters of the RPG. As I said all of this is really irrelevant, I'm just trying to save myself from answering this question at some point in the near future. As to who you'll be fighting, and how, well that's fairly easy to answer. After I've decided on the final cast for the Mass Spar, I'll provide people with their starting location, after which they will RPG their way through the city to another character. Whomever this is, is your own choice, but it will be your primary objective. There will be twists and turns as the story progresses, you may receive contact from your superiors directly or indirectly and some of these twists will hopefully add a longevity to the proceedings. Anyway, I've spoken enough, I just hope you all have fun.[/LEFT][/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting. Still mid-afternoon here in the GMT time zone, only another nine and a half hours to go before the new year. 2007 will hopefully prove to be a year of marked achievement academically for myself, as university is on the horizon in 2008 and work done properly now will pay off then. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting. [I]Wonderful Christmas Time[/I] by Paul McCartney gets the vote from me, of all the songs repeated ad-infinitum at Christmas, this is one of the few that I actually continually hum along with and enjoy, rather than wanting to destroy the source of whatever is playing the seasonal tunes.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting. I definitely remember G/S/B Master and Crimson Spider from the Pokémon forums from ages back, though I didn't post there too often I did find that both of you knew your stuff when it came to squads. It's hard to believe you weren't even, or might have just entered double digits while the rest of us were in our early teens. Wow, reminds me of Warlock. As for Oldies celebrating how long they've been around, it's probably about 5 years and 2 months for me now if I recall correctly, given I had two accounts before this one.[/SIZE]

[QUOTE=Rachmaninoff]Would you rather fall in love only to realize that the person you care for loves someone else, leaving you to pine after them as they will never feel the same way. Or Would you rather not fall in love and as a result never feel that way towards someone else. You won't have the pain of loving someone who isn't interested, but at the same time you won't get to experiance the feeling at all, ever.[/QUOTE] [SIZE=1]Given that I've already been through the first one, I really don't know whether or not it's better to have never loved against having loved and lost. To avoid going into a big long off-point ramble, I'd rather love and lose again than never to have loved at all. [B]Wake up from the Matrix and realise life itself as you knew it was a lie ?[/B] Or [B]Never have woken up and continued to live a lie for your entire existence ?[/B][/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting.[/SIZE] [quote name='Lonley Fighter']Do you think there's such a thing as a question with no real absolue answer?[/quote] [SIZE=1]Yes, but as Allamorph has already pointed out, any question which begins with "Do you think" is open to multiple interpretations from different people. As has already been stated a few times, religious matters are often the subject to questions with no absolute answers, the existence of the Divine being the most argued. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting. Only celebrity, if you could even call him that I've ever met would be Peter Mayhew whom I met at a Star Wars convention in Dublin a few years ago. Nice guy, really polite as well as looking tall enough to make you feel like a midget.[/SIZE]

[QUOTE=Kurayami Oji][SIZE=1][COLOR=DarkRed]Omg, this is probably one of the easiest question's i've had to answer, I would definetly want to be Donald Trump. I would never be Rosie O'Donnell.*shudders at the thought* Would you rather live in another country? Or.... Would you rather live in the country your in now, but be extremely poor?[/COLOR][/SIZE][/QUOTE] [SIZE=1]Live in another country definitely, I'm probably going to emigrate when I'm older so it's a fairly obvious choice for me. [B]Find out Santa isn't real and get presents ?[/B] Or [B]Believe that Santa is real and get no presents ?[/B] These are both taken from a perspective that you still believe Santa exists, like most of my younger cousins.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Wow, I'm kind of glad I retired when I did given that fact I really hadn't been keeping up with what was going on with the other guys events. Still this should definitely turn out to be rather interesting at the same time.[/SIZE]

[QUOTE=The13thMan][COLOR=DarkOrange][FONT=Century Gothic]Would you rather eat a kitty or eat a sewer rat.[/FONT][/COLOR][/QUOTE] [SIZE=1]I'll take the cat, so long as she/he's seen a vet recently. Add some kind of flavoured sauce to mask the fact that it's a cat and I probably wouldn't even notice. [B]OB without smilies or jokes forever ?[/B] Or [B]OB with only smilies and spam ?[/B][/SIZE]

[quote name='lostvoice]It's alot more difficult than you think! It's my [I]first[/I'] kiss. I imagined it to fit my most fond fantasies so straying from those dreams is difficult.[/quote] [SIZE=1]Lostvoice, seriously your first kiss will almost certainly not live up to your expectations, in fact it will probably feel weirder than anything you've ever done in your life with another person up until that point. Relations are things that need constant work, if you don't feel it's working you can either try a different approach or end it and go back to the drawing board in terms of what you're looking for. You seem to believe your current boyfriend is not working out, my advice then would be to simply let him know the reasons as to why, as I said I think your own reasons are a little unrealistic but you're doing more harm than good by just stringing him around. As for anyone who've had problems with what Alan and Charles have said, lighten up for God's sake, there's so little humour in this place a funeral would be a step in the right direction. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting.[/SIZE] [QUOTE=MistressRoxie][color=#9933ff]The thing is, I feel like one of society's rules is that guys are supposed to ask girls out, and girls aren't [i]really[/i] supposed to ask guys out. Why do you think that is? And, what's you're whole opinion on girls asking guys out? I'm interested in hearing answers from the guys, as well as the girls. [/color][/QUOTE] [SIZE=1]Personally I have no problem with girls asking guys out, heck one of my more recent girlfriends was the one to start off the relationship, we'd go out, have fun and split the cost of the date at the end of the night. If society wants to get to a point where men and women are able to hold the same roles in society, I see no point in returning to old roles pointlessly. That said, I'd certainly have to be the one to propose.[/SIZE]

[QUOTE=Red]There could very well be the usual batch of defective consoles that'll be under a lot more light considering the limited release. The processor the PS3 uses runs extremely hot, so if the (bloomin' enormous!) fan was to be slightly misplaced or not working the console could easily fry eggs. I wouldn't count on it being widespread as thermal problems would've been high on the testing list. Then again, I'd wouldn't put botching something else this year past Sony, either![/QUOTE] [SIZE=1]I'd say more than likely it's just a problem with a small patch of the first production run, I can't imagine Sony would risk the PS3's reputation by releasing an entire run of consoles with thermal problems. Wii is the media darling at the moment, so it would definitely not being in Sony's interests to make a screw up like that one.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting. I think everything that can be said has been said already, either Nintendo will go to court and make Interlink look like a crowd of morons, or they'll just avoid court altogether by giving the beggars some money to do with what they please. Chances of the Wii being pulled off the shelves just two weeks before Christmas is about as likely as George Bush sending Saddam a nice Christmas present.[/SIZE]

[QUOTE=Allamorph][FONT=Arial]Would you rather... ...be in the marching band and give up half your life to seemingly endless rehearsals, Friday night games (or Thurs./Sat. in college), and multiple weekend competitions?? or ...be one of the pathetic band groupies and give up a third of your life just to hang around the band room wishing you were cool enough to be in the band? P.S.: No hard feelings, milady.[/FONT][/QUOTE] [SIZE=1]Damn, that's a nasty set of choices as I loathe both groups. Flick of a coin, I'm going to go with marching band simply because it came up heads, no other reason. [B]Get the worst haircut ever ?[/B] Or [B]Be banned from shaving for three months ?[/B] Don't ask me where either of those came out of, I really don't know.[/SIZE]

[QUOTE=Sandy]No offense to either White or Gavin, but [url=http://debrisson.free.fr/images/musee/xinzhong.jpg][B]this[/B][/url] was the first thing that popped in to my mind when I saw that middle banner. X( The Coca-Cola-esque Santa Claus is just [I]that[/I] creepy... *shudders*[/QUOTE] [SIZE=1]Woah, where'd you get that out of ? I mean sure I can see a resemblance between the postures, but it's Santa Claus for God's sake. As for the Coca Cola reference, well that's the one most people have grown up knowing, as opposed to [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Nicholas]Saint Nicholas[/url] from whom it's derived. Maybe it's just me, but I've never seen Santa as being creepy in any way, despite the obvious ways in which he could be interpreted as creepy.[/SIZE]

[QUOTE=takoyuki]would you rather get gangbeat by100 [B]very[/B] angry little kids and get several broken bones or beat the crap out of 10 little kids and give them several broken bones?[/QUOTE] [SIZE=1]Anyone who has younger siblings has already this question answered, I'll beat the ten little kids as obviously one or more of them has done something to earn the beating. [B]Be the Town Drunk ?[/B] Or [B]Be the Village Idiot ?[/B][/SIZE]