Gavin

[QUOTE=Petie][font=Verdana][color=blue]I realize it would be only once a month and personally, I'd have no problem with it. The only concern I had was time, considering the already rising complaints about quality, though I realize now that we could just have a dedicated thread where we could nominate and then vote so we never really have to actually all be around at the same time to discuss it. Also though, I do see what you're saying about obvious choices which should cut down on the time it takes as well.[/color][/font] [font=Verdana][color=blue]I'm not sure what you're saying about the previous titles though. Are you planning on a comma separated list or something else to display past wins? Let's say you win once - your title is changed to reflect that. Now, let's say six months later, as you suggested, you win again. Again, your title is changed to reflect that new win, overwriting your old title. Do we just forget about past wins altogether or is there something I'm just not seeing?[/color][/font][/quote] [SIZE=1]Yeah that's really the one problem I never got around to solving, you're correct in thinking that previous wins would be overwritten by the most recent win, so unless people kept their own record, or better yet a thread was dedicated to record the official winners then that's the only way to really keep track. Like many others I'm HTML retarded so I've no idea how difficult it would be to alter OB's code to add another slot to the profile for recording the previous wins.[/SIZE] [QUOTE=Kura][size=1]Perhaps the solution to that problem maybe a small committee (two or three regular users of OB) that are separate from the moderators and admin staff. They would have to make sure that they have the time to spare for these monthly awards and that they will try their best to be as unbiased to everyone as possible (if that makes sense). That way the moderators/admin could suggest potential award winners to the committee and they committee could make the final decision. Just a thought.[/size][/QUOTE] [quote=Petie][font=Verdana][color=#0000ff][/color][/font] [font=Verdana][color=blue]I don't know if this would really work the way you planned it. For one, this committee would never be able to win because of the fact that they'd be voting. Plus, non-staff would not actually be able to see the nomination/discussion thread related to the process which would mean that if the final decision came down to this committee, it would be based solely on what they thought to begin with or what they have discussed amongst themselves.[/color][/font][/QUOTE] [SIZE=1]Personally Kura I'm inclined to agree with Petie's thoughts on this one, by leaving it in the hands of the Staff you're not eliminating any potential winners from the Member pool, and by having a committee for it you're effectively having the same problem as Josh pointed out as per favouritism, and with a committee of Members there's no accountability as there would be with Staff. So personally I'd prefer to stick with the original format of the Moderators making the decision.[/SIZE]

[QUOTE=sakurasuka][size=1]Live without TV, for sure. I most definitely could not live without my friends, and internet happens to be my only current means of communication with people where I used to live. Television just doesn't compare. [b]Fall in love and get your heart broken?[/b] Or [b]Never have loved at all.[/b][/size][/QUOTE] [SIZE=1]They say it is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all, unfortunately to me that phrase is a load of crap because I've gone through it. Personally I'd rather never love again than to go through the heart ache of a broken love. [B]Know true love for a year ?[/B] Or [B]Know friendship for a lifetime ?[/B][/SIZE]

[QUOTE=The13thMan][FONT=Century Gothic] [COLOR=DarkOrange]I wish all meanings of phrases and words were taken literally but none were removed. Example: an eskimo pie is a pie made of a real eskimo. Later. [/COLOR] [/FONT][/QUOTE] [SIZE=1]Bam, language has been changed forever by your wish. Unfortunately the day you make your wish, in a moment of anger you tell your mother to **** off. What happens next causes you to get a knife and slice out your eyes and eventually bleed to death. I wish I had the greatest personal library ever. [For those going for the illiteracy route, come on, try harder.][/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting. [b]Linkin Park: Meteora[/b] Weirdly enough I bought this CD about a week after getting back from Australia, having listening to my cousin's copy of it non-stop the entire trip. Weirdly enough I've been meaning to buy this CD since it was released years ago, but forking about ?22 for an album is just bad value from my point of view. Picked it up for ?15 off Play.com and have been happily listening to it ever since, for me it's just one of this CDs you can turn on and just keep listening. That said the fifth track [I]Easier to Run[/I] is definitely my favourite.[/SIZE]

[quote name='macewindu0099']basejump bacon or eggs?[/quote] [SIZE=1]I'm going with bacon simply because I'm not an egg fan, just add some lettuce, tomato and bread to your bacon and you have yourself one fine BLT. Also macewindu0099, you're supposed to explain your choice. [B]Life without the Internet ?[/B] Or [B]Life without TV ?[/B][/SIZE]

[QUOTE=tanukioh](NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!) Boom you where never born and all of your friends are depressed becasue they have no one around. O.o sadly they all form a cult and kill themselves. ^_^ I wish I could be kidnapped by a pretty girl, who refused to ill or hurt me. >.>

[SIZE=1]Ah good some mixed responses, I was hoping it wouldn't be all bad. [/SIZE] [quote name='Petie][color=blue']I think the idea has potential with one problem - this method of rewarding titles would require quite a bit of time from an already very busy staff. I'm not speaking for everyone here but I know that I personally don't have as much time as I'd like to for this site due to school and I'm sure there are others who would agree with me. Other than that though, I like the idea. I'm just not sure how repeat winners would work. Maybe a list of previous awards on the user profile? That would require some fancy custom fields though...[/color][/quote] [SIZE=1]First off Petie thanks for replying, I was hoping to get a Mods input quite soon into the thread, in relation to the idea causing already busy Moderators extra hassle, as I said this would probably be only a once a month or even longer thing. Besides, maybe it's just me here but the biggest contributors to any forum are pretty obvious at face value. For repeat winners, I think having a set time period, say six months before they can win again kind of prevents a constant build up of awards. Plus since it would replace their User Title as opposed to Custom Title you could see previous awards straight off.[/SIZE] [quote=Baron Samedi][SIZE=1]And I can already see the trouble with people feeling that other people are being favouritised, and [ironically enough] with friends of moderators going without any new title because the moderators don't want to appear biased. In this way post-count was a 'better' way to earn titles because people felt that the ability was on their side. Whilst a cool idea, I think it lends itself to the possibility of too many arguments and general ill-will [perhaps]. Until it's put into practice we can't be sure.... but it's what I can imagine it degenerating to.[/SIZE][/quote] [SIZE=1]Good to see you're still you old pessimistic self my old friend, although you do raise a very obvious flaw in the system, although when it comes to these kinds of systems none are fool-proof. I guess really the only thing that could be done is hope people are mature enough to trust that those getting the awards deserve them for their contributions rather than who their friends with, it worked in the Nifty Fifty, I guess I just hope it would work here. In terms of friends of Mods going without awards, well seeing as only the Mods would know who's nominated there'd really be no question of going without as they'd not know they'd received the awarded title until they get it. I think the benefits and detractions of this system would work better than the post count as really the Staff here on OB have always proved themselves impartial in their forums regardless of personal friendships.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]"[B]The special guests on this weeks episode of "This Spartan Life" didn't realise the danger of lighting up in a strictly non-smoking zone.[/B]"[/SIZE]

[QUOTE=Zidargh]Just a quick question. What are your system specs Gavin? Do you play it with settings all on high? I've got an ATI Radeon X600 256 MB (Decent card) and even with medium settings the frame rate drops like a brick with Gravity X10.[/QUOTE] [SIZE=1]Well I bought my current Dell XPS about eighteen months ago, so I'm lucky enough to be able to run most of the settings at High, actually except for a few graphics settings which I have no idea of the meaning, they're all set on high. The graphics card is a GeForce 6800 256 MB, I'm not sure what the ATI equivalent would be, although I've noticed since downloading a new driver set from NVidia it's been running a bit faster. The machine itself is P4 3.4 GB processor with 1G of RAM, those three combined mean that most games run quite stable on the High settings, however I have begun to notice in some areas some drop in frame rate and am considering upgrading to a GeForce 7600 before it becomes a problems. Z you seem in the know on the whole Graphics cards thing, is ?287/$359 good value for an overclocked GeForce 7600 GT 256MB ?[/SIZE]

[quote name='Charles']It's interesting that you should say so. The camera pulls back so far in third person view that it's hard for me to discern what exactly is going on. Plus, there's the stiff, awkward-looking animation to consider along with the fact that the controls feel extremely floaty. When you're in first person mode the floaty controls aren't a huge problem since you get a much better vantage point but when the camera is pulled back I can't tell what the hell is going on. It's just obvious from the limited mobility of the character that the game was made to be played in first person mode. But, I'm glad that there are at least some people who enjoy third-person combat. Maybe as a result they will improve it in the future. Hopefully they will make it feel more like you're controlling a real person.[/quote] [SIZE=1]Ah, you see with the PC version you can actually move the camera much closer to the character, to the point literally of being able to go into first person perspective by scrolling the mouse wheel. For archery of course, FPP is the obvious choice, although I have been known to stick with third person in the event of being surprised by an unexpected enemy. Usually I have the camera pulled out just a fraction out, maybe two or so feet, as it gives the third person fighting advantages without sacrificing too much of the first person clarity, in fact it's often superior. Has anyone else noticed how superior single class characters, like pure fighters are as opposed to mixed ? [/SIZE]

[quote name='Charles']and they make it plausible to use the third person perspective, I'll be happy.[/quote] [SIZE=1]Odd, I was going to say the exact same thing about the first-person perspective, melee combat in first-person never really felt right to me, although I suppose maybe it's just because I prefer to be able to see exactly what it is I'm doing when you're controlling with a keyboard and mouse.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]In a succession to the last few replies to the "How do I move up in ranks or whatever....", I've created this thread to discuss the merits of an idea I had for awarded user titles. Given a sizable segment of the populace would like to see some more User Titles, as opposed to Custom Titles, introduced I thought this seemed like a fair way to do it. To explain what I mean by "it" I'll quote the previous responses from the last thread. I've purposely broken up Tical's post for ease of explaining the idea.[/SIZE] [quote name='Gavin][FONT=Trebuchet MS']Instead how about a system where once every month, or any set period, the Staff come together and pick out one nominee from their respective forum/s to be given a new title to reflect their standing in said forum. For instance the Arena title could be Adventurer of the Month - May 2006, I think people would be happy as it's a title of some standing and can't be spammed to achieve. Anyone's thoughts ? Having had some experience creating Special User titles, I know it wouldn't be difficult, although the strife among Staff in deciding a single winner for each forum might.[/FONT][/quote] [quote=Tical]That... would be so bad-***! *can see self being titled Master Musician or something* it's so perfect! One thing though... if someone gains that title, it would also mean they wouldn't have any other title, right? And then there'd be someone else getting their same title every month.[/quote] [quote name='Gavin][FONT=Trebuchet MS']Discounting their own Custom Title yeah they'd only have the one, they wouldn't be something like Member - Master Adventurer - May 2006, it'd just be Master Adventurer - May 2006. The idea of adding the date of when the title was issued would also help to add some sense of not only time but uniqueness to the titles, for instance after a year you'd have twelve Master Adventurers but each would have their own month. As for repeat winners, well that'd be up to the staff really, after winning one maybe people shouldn't be able to win again for say six or nine months.[/FONT][/quote] [quote name='Tical']SOOOO.... I suggest you make it so you only pick one candidate from select forums, as certain forums get no play whatsoever, while others are kept alive on standard. You should only hand out title if there is a particular someone who is keeping that forum alive. For example, if someone creates a bunch of popular threads in the Lounge, they get a title, and if someone makes a lot of threads in MMaT, they get a title, but if everywhere else is downright dead then there should be no title.[/quote] [quote name='Gavin][FONT=Trebuchet MS']By having one for each forum, you're effectively giving everyone equal chance of winning one, some people like myself don't go anywhere near the Anime forums because we have no interest and the same applies for others in other sections. By having one for each you're not excluding anyone. By having a set time period between giving out titles you're effectively giving people a chance to prove themselves, I don't think just because someone can create a bunch of popular threads they should automatically earn a title, it should be based on their addition to the forum as a whole.[/FONT][/quote] [quote=Tical]As for Arena, it could go to whoever has the biggest running RPG. I'll take my Nobel Prize now, thank you [/quote] [quote name='Gavin][FONT=Trebuchet MS']It could, but one successful RPG doesn't make a master role-player, as I said it would be better to examine a person's contributions to the forum as a whole rather than reward a person for a single success.[/FONT][/quote] [SIZE=1]Peoples' thoughts ? [I]To Dagger[/I] - Sorry about getting off Topic in the last thread[/SIZE]

[QUOTE=tanukioh]KA-BOOM!! you have all the songs, but too bad, you go deaf before you can hear them. :( sorry. I wish I was magic!![/QUOTE] [SIZE=1]Bam, you are now magical, unfortunately being magical means inherent drawbacks, which in your case as a genie means you get to spent eternity in a lamp buried beneath a few hundred million tons of sand, that is unless someone happens to come across you, which means you have to grant them their wishes without any say in the matter. And I thought my job sucked. For the third time [I'm starting to think people are intentionally avoiding it]. I wish Anime ceased to exist and people who worship it can experience some semblance of a normal life. [/SIZE]

[QUOTE=Ver2.0]Yay you can now fly, but sadly you have a cape, and while you are flying you get sucked into a jet engine :animedepr I wish I was in Heaven :animesmil[/QUOTE] [SIZE=1]Bam, you are now in Heaven, unfortunately as nothing interesting ever happens in Paradise because everything is always so good you turn stark raving mad and are kicked down to Hell so nobody else is bothered by your antics. You now have to spend the rest of eternity in Hell completely bonkers. Seeing as it wasn't answered before, I'll go again. I wish Anime ceased to exist and people who worship it can experience some semblance of a normal life.[/SIZE]

[QUOTE=Tical]That... would be so bad-***! *can see self being titled Master Musician or something* it's so perfect! One thing though... if someone gains that title, it would also mean they wouldn't have any other title, right? And then there'd be someone else getting their same title every month.[/quote] [SIZE=1]Discouting their own Custom Title yeah they'd only have the one, they wouldn't be something like Member - Master Adventurer - May 2006, it'd just be Master Adventurer - May 2006. The idea of adding the date of when the title was issued would also help to add some sense of not only time but uniqueness to the titles, for instance after a year you'd have twelve Master Adventurers but each would have their own month. As for repeat winners, well that'd be up to the staff really, after winning one maybe people shouldn't be able to win again for say six or nine months.[/SIZE] [quote name='Tical']SOOOO.... I suggest you make it so you only pick one candidate from select forums, as certain forums get no play whatsoever, while others are kept alive on standard. You should only hand out title if there is a particular someone who is keeping that forum alive. For example, if someone creates a bunch of popular threads in the Lounge, they get a title, and if someone makes a lot of threads in MMaT, they get a title, but if everywhere else is downright dead then there should be no title.[/quote] [SIZE=1]By having one for each forum, you're effectively giving everyone equal chance of winning one, some people like myself don't go anywhere near the Anime forums because we have no interest and the same applies for others in other sections. By having one for each you're not excluding anyone. By having a set time period between giving out titles you're effectively giving people a chance to prove themselves, I don't think just because someone can create a bunch of popular threads they should automatically earn a title, it should be based on their addition to the forum as a whole.[/SIZE] [QUOTE=Tical]As for Arena, ic could go to whoever has the biggest running RPG. I'll take my Nobel Prize now, thank you :animesmil[/QUOTE] [size=1]It could, but one successful RPG doesn't make a master role-player, as I said it would be better to examine a person's contributions to the forum as a whole rather than reward a person for a single success. [/size]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting. I was just about to ask how the hell I could have missed this thread seeing as I've been going on about it over AIM for the last fortnight before I actually took a glance at the creation date, you're a sneaky one James, a real Shadowfoot. Personally I adore Oblivion, like you James I'm a newcomer to the Elder Scrolls videogame series, having only bought the game because I returned Command&Conquer: The First Decade which turned out to be crap, well that and ES:O had got some great ratings in previews. The first wonderful view of Oblivion's magnificent vista after emerging from the Prison has to rank as one of my all-time best gaming moments. The actual character animation is quite good in my own mind, having created several different species characters I've come to actually enjoy the process when originally I loathed it for it's difficulty [I admit to using Random alot back then]. Really the only thing that bugs me is that all the people of the same species look a lot alike, there's not a whole lot of change between them when there's amble potential. That said my main gripe with the NPCs is the fact that for the entire game there's only maybe 10/12 voice actors altogether, something that really disappoints me. Had there been a good diffusion of voices, say 50/60 for the entire populace I think the odd similar face wouldn't have bothered me. I have to say James that I really do enjoy the depth of mythology to the game itself, it gives a great feeling of history to the actual realm of Tamriel or more accurately I suppose I should say Cyrodiil. Too often in games I?ve found myself kind of wondering why I should really give a damn about the quest because there?s no history to the place, no real reason why it should stay as it is. In Elder Scrolls you get a good sense as if there genuinely in a need to make the quest successful or suffer the consequences. The similarity to LOZ is also one of the things I quite enjoy about the game as it gives a newcomer like me so sense of familiarity about the proceedings. All that said, I?m also a lover of mythology of any kind, so it one more thing that I really appreciate about Oblivion. Having gone from RPGs like KOTOR and KOTOR II to Elder Scrolls 4, I must admit one of things that I really found enjoyable was the way actual adventuring and to a greater degree combat were handled. In KOTOR sadly it?s a case of click the attack icon three or four times and just sit back and watch as the animation unfolds, it?s all very tedious and artificial. In Oblivion when I actually made my first long distance headshot with the bow it felt like my own kill, sure all the stats are there as with any RPG, but the skill feels your own, a character is a full extension of yourself. While the main quest is relatively short at maybe 25 hours [I can?t recall exactly how long as I was off just adventuring for fun] it?s the amount of sidequests that really made the game a gem, as you were saying you could literally be just walking along and then you stumble across one out in the middle of nowhere. One thing I?d have preferred however were if the Faction quests felt a little more tied to the game, as they are they feel very disjointed. For instance [spoiler]When I completed the Mages Guild quests and became Arch-Mage I fully expected to be referred to as such by Mages Guild members, on returning to the Arcane University in a later quest, the Mystic Archives member merely referred to my coming as a member of the Blades rather than her boss.[/spoiler] It just feels like a bit of a muddle in an otherwise first-class game. Just out of curiosity what kind of character are you using ? Oh and seeing as you were asking, I?m working off the PC version so we can compare notes over AIM.[/SIZE]

[quote name='Tical']Anyway, to elabprate on my idea of having your rank determined by how long you've been here, it would have to be in days you've actually been active. I realize, though, that this system is probably rediculously hard to crate.[/quote] [SIZE=1]I was actually just trying to think of ways to create a special title system aside from the current Custom Title that people would find acceptable and fair. While your active days system sounds a very valid way to do this Tical I reckon creating the code to do so would be nightmarish as an undertaking. Instead how about a system where once every month, or any set period, the Staff come together and pick out one nominee from their respective forum/s to be given a new title to reflect their standing in said forum. For instance the Arena title could be Adventurer of the Month - May 2006, I think people would be happy as it's a title of some standing and can't be spammed to achieve. Anyone's thoughts ? Having had some experience creating Special User titles, I know it wouldn't be difficult, although the strife among Staff in deciding a single winner for each forum might. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting. I just have to mention Tical that your post weirded the hell out of me because I was listening to my Green Day CD having just switched over from Linkin Park's Meteora as I read the thread. Anyway moving on, personally I don't really mind the length of a CD so long as there are at least twenty-five/thirty minutes of good medium length tracks on it. While others like Metallica's Garage Inc is nearly two hours long and yet only had a handful of good tracks on it, most of which are relatively short, granted of course it's a cover album. So like everyone else here it seems, a albums length is second to it's quality for me. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting. Well seeing as I actually spent quite a bit of time designing my current signature, or rather the layout of my last two signatures I think I have a good idea of what it says about me. The first part, the text in white just above the banner, is a Latin phrase which translates to mean "For the great glory of God", the motto of the Jesuits for anyone who might wonder where it came from. That phrase actually recently replaced another Latin one "Dominus illuminatio mea" which translated to mean "The Lord is my light". Taking those two phrases into account as well as the colour used to style them I think it's obvious that I'm quite a religious person, which is true. The banner is pretty simple, it's taken from the Darth Maul/Qui-Gon Jinn duel from Star Wars Episode I, now while some may think this a not-so subtle nod to my newest RPG in the Arena, I actually had planned to use that banner/avatar set instead of the Fierce Deity one to replace my KOTOR II banner and avatar, which was replaced just after the Nifty Fifty finished. It also pretty much gives away the fact I'm a huge Star Wars fan. Finally the "Now Officially Nifty" is a bit of a contradiction honestly, as I had absolutely no idea I'd be voted Nifty, let alone thought myself unofficially nifty, however the explanation is that while many people change their Custom Title to reflect new honours, The Irishman title is permanent and so the achievement was set in my sig.[/SIZE]

[QUOTE=Lord of Spirits][I]POOf[/I] There are now stores that sold good anime but none that you like. All they sell are ones that seem boring to you but others think that they are cool. I wish I had season passes to Great America.[/QUOTE] [SIZE=1]Bam, you now have the Great America season passes you've always desired, unfortunately for you while queuing up to one of the rides you accidentally brush past a rather nasty looking biker who proceeds to bludgeon you to death with a queue railing. I wish Anime ceased to exist and people who worship it can experience some semblance of a normal life.[/SIZE]

[QUOTE=Leon Fury][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=Red]i'd be stuck in a bus of thevies because i could get all my worthless stuff stolen and not care, whereas if i were stuck on a train of kidnappers i'd be held hostage for the rest of my life. die as a very famous celebrity and give nothing back in your will or die as a nobody, but donate your body and cash to charities and the sciences ? thank you for your time. Leon[/COLOR][/FONT][/QUOTE] [SIZE=1]Hmm, oddly enough I thought I'd pick the second one out of some sense of piety, however when it comes to the idea of organ transplant I'm soured for some incomprehendible reason, I don't know the idea that someone is walking around with my heart just isn't groovy in my mind. So in a complete turn around from my usual behaviour I'm going to die a misery, but celebrated personality. [B]Watch your favourite movie right when you need it ?[/B] Or [B]Listen to your favourite album right when you need it ?[/B][/SIZE]

[quote name='Tical][spoiler']I clock in at 89, but if you add all my old accounts, I'm in the top 25 ;) [/spoiler][/quote] [SIZE=1]The Top 25 ? Whew, I've been round just over four and a half years and I'm still only ranked 32nd, still it's really only been in the last two years or so I've had the chance to post on a far more regular basis. Still with the Number 1 spot held by a man who can quite easily delete the posts of those who might contend with his position, I'm quite happy with where I am for the moment.[/SIZE]

[QUOTE=Lord Dante]Sproing go! *sproing!* Now the artists who create Anime have some understanding of how to draw human physical features properly. However this causes leigions of fanboys to hunt you down, and beat you to death with kasumi pillows. I wish I was better at using my nunchuks.[/QUOTE] [SIZE=1]Heh, well let them at least admire a properly drawn female rather than a horrible disproportioned one. Bam, your wish to be better with nunchucks is granted, however while training one day in the part an off-duty intoxicated police officer mistakes you for a threat and puts a bullet in your skull, you die wishing as in life you'd be a little better so you might have blocked the bullet. I wish the Picard vs Kirk argument would finally settle.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting. [b]Name:[/b] Tiberius Excellon Braska [b]Age:[/b] 472 by Terran chronometric standards [b]Species:[/b] Promethean [b]Timeline/Date:[/b] 4958 A.D. [b]Origin:[/b] The Temple, Terra, Via Lactea Galaxy [b]Special Talents:[/b] Prometheans are a species are known to be capable of feats of great strength, dexterity and constitution, their mental abilities entitle them to glimpses of the future and a far greater awareness of their surroundings. Years of continuous war have also forged Tiberius into a great warrior, his skills with a sabre are second to very few beings in the Universe, matched only by his equal proficiency with speechcraft and diplomacy. Many would comment him capable of raising an army with but a handful of words, and quelling entire worlds with only a single conversation. [b]Weapons/Items:[/b] Lightsaber, the weapon of any Templar. The weapon itself is said to be taken from Terran mythology of the ancient past as a symbol of righteousness, the energy blade is capable of cutting through all but the most durable metals and energy shields. While lacking a stun setting, most sabre masters are capable of rendering opponents unable to fight through skill alone. [b]Appearance:[/b] [URL=http://zeitgeistglee.250free.com/Revan.jpg]Tiberius[/url] [b]Personality:[/b] Often I have been accused of being aloof, cold, silent, but war breeds such traits, too often I am confronted by my own mortality and it leaves a bitter aftertaste. So often I have watched those whom I care for fall to the ravages of time and malevolence, for every one person I grow to love there are so many more I should grow to hate, but I cannot hate for it is not my way, the Code does not allow it. I am a warrior, such is enough to draw what conclusions you will about my personality, for I will neither correct you if wrong or extol you if right. [b]Biography:[/b] I was born somewhere in the Via Lactea many centuries ago, where I do not know, nor do I care to know for there can only be pain in such knowledge. There are so few havens of safety in the galaxy left that memories of one?s past is often filled with sorrow. I was taken to the Temple as infant, raised and instructed by the rigours of the Order and it?s Masters, it was not an easy life, but then so few lives are easy. I found myself lonely as a child growing up, no mother or father to comfort me, no brothers or sisters to share my company, only the silence of my room and the brief fellowship of others my age. Time past slowly, ever there was work to be done, more to be improved upon, more that could be improved upon, training occupied all my waking hours. It was not an unpleasant way of life, I am grateful for the path I have been allowed to walk, the people I have been able to help because of my training. As a young adolescent I was opted for by a Master, one whom I would spend the next three decades learning from, one who would help me define who and what I truly was. I first saw war as an apprentice, watched fear take hold of grown men of great stature, watched women and children my own age cower in fear in the face of greater oppression. It was said there was a corrupt and sickened heart to the galaxy, and only through our martial prowess could we return it to some semblance of beauty and cheer. I took my first life shortly after my thirteen birthday, and his face shall be ever burned into my memories, I see him in waking dreams, face contorted in murderous rage, hatred, and the smell of burnt flesh. I shall watch him fall to the ground at my feet, a single neat hole in the centre of his chest, and I will remember crying, always crying for the sin I committed, the life that I took. In leaving the Temple a boy, I would return a man nearly two decades later, just shy of my thirty-first birthday. I bore the tattered robes of my beloved Master to the hallowed catacombs beneath the Temple, and then took my oath as a Knight against injustice, against malice and greed. I took that vow over four hundred and forty years ago, but as hard as I fight, as many lawbreakers fall beneath my blade there are ever more to take up the challenge, to continue the sickness that infects all that is good and clean. I have fought on every field of battle, whether land, sea, sky or space, in every corner of the Universe and all that I have found therein is death and misery, I fear I have grown to accept that there can be no other truth to life other except that just as there is beauty and life there must be equal or more suffering and death to balance it. Sorry for the delay Vicky.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting. I'll admit when I'm involved in IM conversations I have a tendency to use "Heh" when I find something funny, but really how does one accurately portray the sound of laughter over a silent medium ? I don't really mind most abridged versions of phrases, like "lol" for instance, but it's hacker 1337 that truly infuriates me due to the fact people are just too lazy or intellectually devoid to write properly.[/SIZE]