James

[color=#808080]Bah, I saw this on Fox News. This hazing stuff is the most ridiculous, immature stuff I've seen in a long time. If students just want to act silly for a day, then that's alright by me. But this? It's insane. On the one hand, I feel that the girls who agreed to get involved are either highly ignorant or they have some sort of desire to be hurt. Even though they couldn't predict what would happen, they were certainly willing to go through something like this initially. I would never submit myself to something so degrading - and I don't care whether it's some sort of idiotic high school tradition or not. My dignity is more important than any juvenile tradition. Having said that though, the girls who were submitted to the punishment obviously didn't know that it'd go this far. And the girls who attacked them deserve to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. This is something that needs to cling to them on their public record forever - assault of fellow students. And I hope that they regret doing this for a very long time to come. In addition, what about those people who were standing around cheering? In my opinion, they are just as guilty as the ones carrying out the act. How can [i]anyone[/i], drunk or not, stand around and watch people be beaten? And then make [i]fun[/i] and light of it? That just totally escapes me. It's cruel and horrible. I know that the school has totally washed its hands of this (it's out of our juristiction, etc etc). But these people need to be suspended - and the ones who carried out the acts need to be expelled. If this had happened with high school students at my old school, you can be sure that the purpetrators would be expelled by now. And rightfully so.[/color]

[color=#808080]This is why it's really important to preorder a game that you want. If you preorder, you won't have any problem getting a copy (unless the actual delivery is late or something). However, sometimes I've not preordered and had to wait. The most significant delay I remember was when the Dreamcast came out here. Sega Ozisoft (the now defunct local Sega operator) shipped the Dreamcast toward the end of the year (December, I think it was) and didn't ship [i]any[/i] VMUs until [b]February!![/b] Can you imagine that? It's absolutely ridiculous -- and it virtually killed the Dreamcast from the very beginning. I should actually restate that though -- they did ship [i]some[/i] VMUs. But the number was so tiny that it was insignificant; all VMUs shipped for launch sold out within a few minutes. 99% of DC buyers had to wait for two months. No good.[/color]

[color=#808080]As I said before, an RPG involves more than one person. It could be two or it could be two hundred. It's totally and utterly irrelevant. Adventure Arena is a totally open and free place. You can create your own RPG and you can control how it operates to whatever extent you like. If you simply want to roleplay with one other person, there is absolutely no reason why you shouldn't be able to. And if you want to roleplay with dozens of people, that's fine too. I tend to find that this complaint is similar to the complaints about depressing threads in Otaku Lounge. People complain about it, but don't provide any sort of solution, other than to say something like "Oh, we shouldn't allow that". Honestly, if you see something you disagree with, you have two options: 1) Ignore it 2) Make your own thread It's as simple as that. I understand that this is probably more of a general discussion about what is appropriate in Adventure Arena, but it's very difficult to start telling people that they [i]must[/i] include a minimum number of players and such. I mean, you could expand on that and tell people that they can only cover a limited amount of subjects in their stories. I think the whole point of Adventure Arena is to allow for maximum creativity and fun -- however that occurs. Obviously everyone will have different tastes (in terms of numbers of players and subject of story). I still think that this is a totally moot point and a non-issue.[/color]

[color=#808080]This is something I've never really formed a true opinion on. I'm not going to sit here and make a moral judgement about people who go out with a third cousin, frankly. It's not my place. And considering that I am constantly reminding people [i]not[/i] to make moral judgements on others, it would be hypocritical of me to turn around and do that very thing. I do know that in an evolutionary sense, there are negative issues (biologically) attached to having children with a member of your family. However, the whole rumor about three arms and major birth defects, et al, are pretty untrue I'd say. It's mostly just an issue of perception. I think I would feel weird if anyone told me that they were going out with their sister or something. lol And even a third cousin...it's not something I would personally ever do. But that's me. And my "moral compass" doesn't apply to everyone, you know? So I say -- do what you feel is right. If someone is going out with their third cousin and nobody's getting hurt, then I really couldn't care less. It's none of my business and if it makes them happy, so be it. I'd only have major concerns personally if someone was being hurt by it. And of course, in most of these situations, someone is being hurt (other family members, obviously).[/color]

[color=#808080]Charles, if there's anything you need to inform me about, I advise you to send PMs regularly. In fact, it might even be worth sending one once a week or something, so that I know what's going on and stuff. This would be really useful when it comes to name changing and stuff, because then I can work out details about hacks (I can coincide things with your activities) and I can inform you about things that you might need to know. It's just better to have that contact, I think. Anyway, if you're interested in doing the whole name change thing, I'll be happy to announce it.[/color]

[color=#808080]Miketsmith, please try not to double post. It's against the rules. If you ever have something that you'd like to add (and if you posted in a thread last), please edit the former post rather than posting another response. Thanks. [/color]

[color=#808080]Darkness Falls? Peh. Go and see The Ring. Or go and see one of its Japanese originals. Either way, it's the scariest series of movies I have ever seen.[/color]

[color=#808080]Ahh Seph. :( This is such terrible news. You should definitely get some rest and try to relax. As Sara said...we all hope that you don't do something destructive to yourself at this point. Grief is very difficult to deal with and you know that you can [i]always[/i] talk to me if you ever need to. [/color]

[color=#808080]Currently, I don't believe that we have "rounds" of name changing as such. We've only done that once. I'm not sure exactly how Charles is handling the name changing issue, but if you want to have your name changed (up until the time when we allow people to change it themselves), it's best to ask Charles.[/color]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by tweak [/i] [B][color=crimson][size=1][b]NO[/b], I already explained why I made this thread. To talk about my music happenings and such. New bands I found, old bands I found a new love for, and anything else related to music going on in my life. Would you rather have me post a thread for each of these bands?[/size][/color] [/B][/QUOTE] [color=#808080]Hey hey, calm yourself firstly. ~_^ Secondly, no...I'd rather you didn't create a thread for every band. Of course not. I'm just pointing out that OtakuBoards is a place of [i]discussion[/i] and that people posting mere "music lists of what I like" can be a bit redundant. That's all. My message is more a general thought than a specific warning to you. [/color]

[color=#808080]I pretty much dislike all of these genres, with rare exception (in terms of certain songs that I can listen to). I don't really like rap [i]as such[/i], but I do like R&B on occasion. I've found myself listening to a lot more R&B lately, which is pretty interesting. Oh and...I [i]loathe[/i] the Presidents of the United States of America; [i]especially[/i] Lump. lol When that song came out, I was praying for the day when the radio would no longer play it...it drove me mentally insane. *twitches* As far as your selections go, they sound pretty reasonable to me. I guess that by your thread title I did expect to see more of an overview of many styles of music...so your range is a bit limited, but obviously it's your personal tastes. Although I wonder what the point of this thread is, really. I mean...I guess you're trying to get some of these songs recognized (to suggest 'em to members). That's fine, I just hope that we don't get heaps of threads with simple lists of what people like. o_O[/color]

[color=#808080]If it's an RPG, it's an RPG. It doesn't matter whether it has two players or a thousand players. Let's get a [i]real[/i] problem here. lol[/color]

[color=#808080]Some people can be really annoying with their "snitching". *eyes some OB members* You know; telling you about something naughty that someone has done at the drop of a hat. Having said that -- if some kid punched an innocent person...he deserves to be punished. If I had to tell on him, I'd probably do it. It's got nothing to do with wanting to please a teacher or something...it's justice. lol I mean if I saw a crime or something, I would report it. Why should that principle of justice be any different elsewhere? Obviously there are different "degrees" of severity and various different circumstances. In some cases it's probably better [i]not[/i] to snitch. But generally I think that if someone's going to do something foolish, they deserve what's coming to them.[/color]

[color=#808080]lol...okay, Vicky...uh...where do I start here? I guess I have to ask what the point of "making up" a story is. lol I mean, you're asking people if they believe in ghosts or not, you know? If you make up a story, people will obviously say "it didn't happen", because it didn't. lol Let's try and stick at least vaguely to the topic. o_O[/color]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Oradriel [/i] [B]I would claim to a few weird ghost stories, but I know that those can't be justified cuz I have like 4 cats right now and they can creep you out very, very easily... as for Vicky's 1st post about seeing eyes, I get that all the time =P. And this is kinda becoming like "I saw a ghost!" "No u didnt u liar!" "DId too!" "DID NOT!" "DID TOO!" So wats the point? [/B][/QUOTE] [color=#808080]Oradriel, I think I should remind you that your signature violates our rules. Only [i]one[/i] image is allowed at a time. I recommend combining multiple images to form one banner for your siggy. Anything else won't be accepted here. As far as the thread goes, I certainly don't mind it continuing. Ghost stories make a nice break from "girl/boy troubles". ~_^[/color]

[color=#808080]I actually wonder what the reason for Pheonix is in the movie. I mean, I wonder if it'll be the same scenario as the cartoons (I don't know about the comic at all; I only ever watched the cartoons). Still, I think it's great that you don't need to have read the comics or seen the cartoon to actually watch and understand the movie. It's a good balance I think.[/color]

[color=#808080]Yep, Rob is a known expert on X-Men. He's even interviewed some of the major players who are involved with the comics! So, I encouraged him to join our little community. Welcome, V-R. ~_^ I'm also wondering if there is some kind of plan to produce a certain number of X-Men movies. Each one (so far) seems to end with a very open ending. Or are they just going to keep making them forever and ever? (like Bond, I guess) After seeing X2, I can't wait for X3. ^_^;[/color]

[color=#808080]Whoa, Vicky...slow down a bit. You're not making a whole lot of sense 'ere. It's really important to keep the posts understandable, so that people can respond and have a good discussion. :help: [/color]

[color=#808080]Hehe, I think you answered your own question regadring Jean. [spoiler]Yes, she did have problems at the start. And when she blocked the missile, she only blocked one -- the other hit the rear of the jet's control room (or whatever it's called). I guess that for the sake of the movie, they had to cut her "development" time down quite a bit. Still, it came out pretty well I think.[/color][/spoiler]

[color=#808080]Tsk tsk. You need to do some more research before you sign up. ~_^ The last post in this thread was on 27th December, 2002. It is now May 3, 2003. It's highly unlikely, based on that alone, that the RPG would still be going. In addition, you obviously haven't searched for the actual RPG thread in the main forum. You might want to check the date of the final post there, too. ~_^[/color]

[color=#808080]I remember Billy Connolly talking about ghosts once. He said something like "do you notice that everyone who claims to have seen a ghost or been abducted by aliens is always [i]incredibly weird[/i]?" He did a hilarious impersonation of some guy with his eyes wide open, claiming that he saw a ghost. It was really funny. And I pretty much agreed with it. lol I think there are always things that happen that might seem weird at the time. I know there have been many times where I've "seen" something that has made me do a double take. Sometimes something in the distance can look like a totally different object, etc... I guess I just find it funny that we're always willing to say "Oh, it must be a ghost" or something like that. It's kind of like the answer you can use when you really have no idea. But what can I say; it sits well. We humans like authoritative answers, even if they bear no relationship to the truth. But I guess that's my "serious" response. I'm sure there is a deeper discussion behind the simple question. In any case, I've certainly seen a lot of weird things in my time. I remember, after I saw The Ring, I had a LOT of weird moments. lol Like um...I saw the Japanese version and turned the TV off afterwards. Then a few minutes later, it came back on by itself with loud static. Of course, it gave me a heart attack. lol But it happened because my brother sat on the controller. -_-[/color]

[color=#808080]Flaming any other members is obviously against the rules. But there's nothing new here; abide by our rules and you'll be fine. If you want to bash Cartoon Network, that's your business. The only thing I'd say about it is that it shouldn't be a source of flaming between two or more members. I mean, really, it's [i]just[/i] a TV channel. If two people are going to be stupid enough to flame one another over it, then they don't deserve to hold a membership here anyway. I have absolutely no problem with people stating their like/dislike of CN. It's well within your rights on OB to speak your mind on stuff like that. The only other thing I'd point out is that we really don't want to see lots and lots of CN bashing threads -- not because they bash CN, but because they are simply a repeat of the same old discussion over and over again. It's unnecessary. I hope my post clarifies this sticky a little further.[/color] [color=hotpink][size=1]Thankies, James. :) *QA*[/color][/size]

[color=#808080]This is one of the most low quality RPGs I have ever seen. To all members who are participating: please try to put a little more effort into your posts. Make them a little longer and focus on higher post quality. RPGs that just sit here collecting dust (and with only a handful of poor posts) will likely be discarded.[/color]

[color=#808080]Thanks for the comments, everyone. Originally I wanted the circle in the middle to move in and then out...to pulse like a heartbeat. But that wouldn't be suitable for the effect I wanted. I wanted it to look like some sort of target reticule or something. And they generally pulse inward and not outward. Plus, this animation could have been far more complex if it weren't for the fact that I was trying to contain its size. Producing a GIF animation with any degree of complexity, whilst still maintaining low file size, is incredibly difficult. In most of my animated avatars and stuff, you notice that I never simply let the animation stop and then start again -- it always flows continuously (that's because of the way I treat the final few frames, which is easy to do). I was thinking of having the circle shrink into a central dot and then move out again...but that would require too many frames. I wanted to keep a very small file size. I think it ended up about 24kb or something, which isn't too bad. And I like the way the outer circle turned out; it actually only does one quarter of a revolution before restarting. But because the "cut out" marks align correctly, it gives the illusion that the image is constantly rotating. But yeah, thanks for all the comments. I feel motivated to make more animations in the future. ^_^[/color]

[color=#808080]Well, I saw it just now. X2 came out in Australia last Wednesday, but I didn't have time to see it during the week. I really felt that X2 was [i]far[/i] better than the original. The original was a bit lacking. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't very "in-depth", had a pretty poor script (Storm's lines were some of the worst) and the effects were generally only average. I'm probably being a bit harsh; yes, it was a good movie. But it wasn't totally brilliant or anything. X2 is far far better. Does this movie have a new director or something? It sure seems like it. The camera shots are far more stylish this time around and the movie generally has a much darker, more sinister tone. That works to the credit of the movie, really. The story is significantly better and the whole situation is more serious and intense. The only negative is really that the movie skips back and forth between situations so often that it doesn't really have time to establish anything significant. But having said that, I didn't find it to be as much of a problem as others seem to. Effects were much more accomplished in X2. [i]Much[/i] more accomplished than the first movie. Fighting scenes were also generally far superior. And the movie contained more drama and "real" tangible story elements. It was almost a totally different movie, I felt. This is what the first should have been (and I only give the first movie a pass because it was obviously establishing characters - and the concept - for those who aren't familiar with X-Men). But yeah, very good. Better than I had expected. I'd give it four stars. ~_^ The Matrix: Reloaded will probably top it though.[/color]