Semjaza

[quote name='Sage][B']Grandia 3[/B][/quote] Yeah, this one actually looks pretty hot. I enjoyed the original Grandia despite SCEA's absolute butchering for the localization. The second one wasn't as entertaining overall, but it was still solid. I hope this one turns out. It certainly is pretty. As for KH2, as long as they make the "worlds" more than three or four rooms, I guess it could be interesting. I hope they really are taking advantage of the locales this time around.

[quote name='Jake of Bodom]:laugh: I know you're referring to me here! lol. I actually only [i]really[/i'] care when people say thatl nu-metal is Metal. Because it's not.[/quote] Actually, I wasn't really, but take it as you want :p I go to other forums aside from this one and they're largely music based. As I said in the post above, I really do not think anyone here (even youself lol) is really all that bad when it comes down to things. People can be much, much worse... to the point that I wonder if they even like music or just making up words to call music.

It's funny because I do not like Julia Roberts and I find her insanely unattractive. It's kind of sad that, really, female actors do seem to have it harder out there. I remember Halle Berry saying something about the difficulties for black actresses in major films and, honestly, when I think about it, I can't really think of anyone aside from her nowadays that does as much. I suppose for myself I'd have to go with probably Brad Pitt or Johnny Depp. Depp seems to have some sort of popularity surge here as of late due to random Burton stuff, but I think a lot of his best roles are within other films. He's managed to save possibly average-at-best films (in my opinion) such as Blow, The Secret Window or Pirates of the Carribean on his own. Dead Man and Fear and Loathing Last Vegas are two of my favorites of his without Burton. Brad Pitt just seems to ooze "cool" and I love him in films like Seven and Fight Club. I just enjoy him in movies, even though I can't say that I feel his characters are very different lol. Christian Bale is another one. Aside from his role in Batman (which he was perfect for and I was happy the day he was announced), he's done a few other really underrated roles. American Psycho is probably the most remembered one, but there's the Machinist and a handful of others.

It's $2.79 for regular here at a "fair" place. Premium is $2.99 at that same place. I don't think I'd be complaining if we were still around $2.50, honestly lol.

I'm not going to bother reading this in the future, but if anyone brings up things from O'Rielly and the Druge Report saying she was "happy" with her original visit with the President is a pretty large difference from what's in the actual interviews with her. It's the only real attack anyone can surmount against her because as far as I'm concerned, the President actually speaking to her on this would be a major PR move to help him out of these incredibly negative polls as of late.

It's a good film. In many ways I think it's one of Burton's weaker ones, but who cares. It works well anyway. I was waiting for the new DVD set back when it was supposed to originally release. It went to stores and was recalled. No one knows why. It took another six months after that before it was released again with absolutely no differences. I never wound up buying it lol. Ed Wood is an interesting guy in general. I'd recommend watching his actual films because they really are some of the worst things in cinema, but at the same time they're so ridiculously entertaining.

Well, I'm technically adopted and so is my sister. My father passed away, my mom remarried and our step-father adopted us and changed our last name in the process. In some ways you resent the person at that age... I mean, I was already ten years old. As I got older though, I realized how difficult the whole situation is and was on him. I think he's done a good job. Adoption isn't an easy thing even at that stage. In addition his parents actually fully adopted him, his brother and his sister. All three of their kids were adopted. I'd say that's a success story because they're a pretty closely knit family and they've been together for a very long time by now. A family is a family, regardless of blood. In your situation, molleta, I think you did the right thing, honestly. Sometimes things like this happen and it's difficult to be adquately equipped. It's not a decision of what is "easier for me", but rather what is better for the child, as far as I'm concerned and that's obviously something that is righteous. There's a lot of people out there who just cannot have children and while this is difficult for someone who had the child (no one is just like "whatever, take it" I'd imagine, unless they're weird and try to sell the kid on eBay), it really does help fulfill the dreams of other less fortunate people. I think you handled it very well and I admire how you've acted through all of it, myself.

They're okay within reason. I don't really call anyone anything, myself. I don't even really like using short forms of names. Everyone calls my girlfriend "Jess", but I just can't bring myself to say that instead of Jessica. Don't ask me, especially since Tony is obviously short for Anthony (which isn't my first name to begin wtih). A lot of people just call me "Tone"... I guess the extra "y" is hard for people or something. At times they just get obnoxious... I've known some people who call eachother weird names constantly and it just starts to get really weird lol. I'm talking people who are to the level of "schmoopie" in Seinfeld, though.

[quote name='ma1achic0nstant']I think Final Fantasy XII is a big contendor for most anticipated game. If it is coming out 2005 is not probable though.[/quote] It's not even coming out in Japan till around mid-2006. It's definitely not hitting the US or anywhere else before then.

Does no one listen to most of the ones I mentioned or what...? lol

[quote name='Retribution][SIZE=1']Yes, but my main point was that MMORPGs really aren't going to exist on portable systems without significant lag. You're beaming a portable signal to a satellite, and other people are doing the same, so delays could be either really short or really long. Overall, people aren't going to use portables over consoles ever as far as MMORPGs are concerned. The Nintendo DS's wireless capability, even with the router, won't be able to match a console.[/SIZE][/quote] I don't understand why... if there's a decent amount of RAM and a good connection, there's nothing stopping that from happening. People use wireless routers and connections to play MMORPGs today. Obviously servers would have to be dedicated to it in some fashion like with console/PC online RPGs... But the main issue is figuring out a way to display all those characters on screen at a time, I don't really see how any connection/internet technology would be an issue. The wireless capability in the DS and PSP really isn't anything less complex or powerful than what you'd see in anything else. I don't know where you're getting this satellite idea either... most wireless connections reach a router that's connected through a ground line. Everyone who I know has it set up like that and so does any hot spot place I know of. The only people worrying about satellites are the few that actually have satellite internet connections to begin with and they're rather rare.

Hmm. This isn't too difficult for me... there's actually more stuff on handhelds that I want, but I'll just think consoles that I own now. 360 has some cool stuff, but I doubt I'll even get the thing this year lol. 1.) Digital Devil Saga 2: This game apparently contains a good 90% of the story and improved everything. I enjoyed the original despite its issues and cliff-hanger ending, and this seems to whip its *** in every conceivable way. 2.) Dragon Quest VIII - We're [I]finally[/I] getting this one. It seems like the first game in the series that might actually win people over. Great graphics and (apparently) some pretty strong and fun characters never hurt. It's being spruced up for the US release with voice overs, an improved menu system and more modern sound effects. Here's hoping. 3.) The Legend of Zelda - I think Wind Waker looked amazing and I am not looking forward to this one because of the image change, but instead the fact that it seems to be trying new things for the series. That's a good thing as far as I'm concerned. I honestly have no idea what people enjoyed so much about the original KH (I'm a big Disney fan, but this was a horrible utilzation of the franchises), but to each their own. KH2 admittedly looks far more interesting.

I think their story of overcoming addictions and apparent homelessness is compelling, but beyond that I don't really care. You'd think through all that they'd have something more interesting to say. They really are one of those insanely "we sound like everyone else" bands and I continue to question what the general music buying public is thinking. None of their material has been over mediocre at best, but that's my personal opinion. I'm semi-used to being told my taste is nothing special either lol. They have promise. It's just a matter of whether or not they realize a way to truly capitalize on it as far as "good" (by my standards) music goes. I don't really think they will.

Well, I would hope this question would be answerable by common sense. A lot of forums have that one image rule and I think they should. I can't stand going to a forum where someone has three huge animated GIFs that cause even my cable connection to slow down and choke my broswer to death. As it is, only the banners were 500x100 to begin with. How someone would think a pixel rule could somehow apply to text I have no idea. No loss on this forums part, I can say that much :animeknow

No more teams, eh? So much for my little icons lol. Really, by nature, the mods work in a teamlike manner anyway. I suppose calling attention to that wasn't a mandatory thing.

[quote name='SilentSecurity']They mobile systems are the future. Eventually graphics on mobile systems will be so good people won't waste their time on big clunky systems that aren't portable. As soon as battery life stops becoming an issue for mobile systems like the PSP people will be on the PSP RPGs like a dog on a turd (bad analogy, I know). Right now big systems offer more than mobile systems, but in a few years your cell phone's graphics will far surpass the Playstations or even the PS2s[/quote] I think that's rather short sighted. Good graphics are one thing and people like portability, but nothing will ever take over the fact that consoles allow you to sit in your home comfortably and enjoy a screen and sound quality that handhelds will never, ever be able to match... if only for size reasons. And let's face it, there's no portable on the earth that is able to keep up with larger systems. They're always behind by their nature. RPGs are one of those games, which while they work portably, require such an investment that I honestly cannot see anyone wanting to play them exclusively on a small device. There's always been good portable RPGs. I'm not sure that there's more, however, particularly now with this last rather large wave of PS2 ones coming up.

I honestly think at some point subgenres get ridiculous. There's no need for a lot of these classifications. At the rate these things are being made, pretty much anything that isn't completely derivative will be it's own subgenre. We have to end it somewhere. I think genres are important in the sense that they allow people to trace the history and evolution of music. They're also useful if you want to recommend something to someone... but as far as arguments go and the general call-it-this-or-you'll-die-a-thousand-painful-deaths mentality some people have, I think it just goes too far. To be honest, there's not a single person on this forum I've come across that's anywhere near as bad as some people are about these things on other forums or even in general life, despite what some may think. I might disagree completely with some takes on these things here, but man... go to some other strictly music-based and realize how tame this place is in comparison lol. It's almost like they're divided into gangs. I dislike the cliche "I just like good music!!" thing because, let's face it, pretty much everyone has certain things they do prefer. Genres are good at sorting that and allowing new things, but I don't think they're the end-all-be-all of anything... and in some ways I think the insistance that genres remain pure and categorized to this degree is detrimental (which happened with punk rock in the 70s even). I think they're doing more harm to music and its evolution than anything useful in that sense.

[quote name='James][font=franklin gothic medium']I think the biggest thing I notice on the web is that people tend to feel that they can truly be who they are. For example, a lot of people here may not want to share their love of anime in a typical school situation...but online they can find people who share their interest and there isn't a problem.[/font][/quote] On the flip side, I feel like a lot of people have a far easier time being something they are [i]not[/i] on the internet as well. Largely due to the same reasons such as the relative anonymity.

[quote name='RiflesAtRecess][font=trebuchet ms']I still have the original Guilty Gear released on the PlayStation several years ago. I hated it, but I'm willing to give it another chance once I can raise some money... I'm in between jobs. :([/font][/quote] To be fair, the series has improved dramatically since then. If you're interested in getting rid of that, I'll buy it off you. My copy disappeared.

It's interesting, but I don't know how practical it is. Sony has some sites made just for it, but for the most part websites look rather bad. The PSP's resolution is far too low and most pages go way off the screen. The browser in 2.0 also just doesn't have enough RAM to properly cache things and constantly runs out of memory. Maybe they'll fix it so Memory Sticks can store some of that, but as of right now it doesn't work that way. Either way, it seems like a novelty at best as far as I'm concerned lol.

I like their games. Out of them I've enjoyed Disgaea the most, largely because of its unique atmosphere and attitude. I feel that it's the most cohesive of their recent SRPG titles as well. I think their style would be well suited to a DS or PSP game. I'd like to see something from them on one of those, if they're not doing something already.

Post genres are weird. Sometimes you listen to them and they don't even resemble whatever comes after the "post". I don't listen to a lot of this stuff. I enjoy certain bands that I suppose fit within the genre, whether perfectly or loosely. I'm not very big on genre specifics, but that's my own problem lol. The main ones I listen to are Achilles, Dillinger Escape Plan, Bad Brans, Black Flag, Yourcodenameis:milo, Converge, Kite Flying Society, Blood Brothers and Honeywell. I have to be in the right mood for most of them, although some are obviously better than others. I'm probably into Converge and Black Flag the most out of these. Bad Brains has its moments and certainly times when it's not even remotely like hardcore (such as their dub albums), but it's still good stuff. I like older albums from the Blood Brothers, but that new one didn't win me over. I'm into some of that digital hardcore-ish stuff like Error, Alec Empire and Atari Teenage Riot... although I honestly don't think a lot of it is all that good. Out of those three, Error is definitely the most impressive and all they've put out thus far is a five song EP.

[B]Code Name / Call Sign:[/B] Persona. Generally associated with the Comedy/Tragedy theater masks. [B]Gender (If Applicable):[/B] Male [B]Location:[/B] He mostly appears in Chicago, Illinois, USA. This is his general place of business and assumingly his hometown. [B]Age:[/B] Unknown; Mid to late-twenties is assumed due to his build. His Orphanage back story is unknown to everyone aside from himself and his companion, Margaret, whom he murdered early in his career (see Kill Adam Vol 2). [B]Personal Appearance: [/B]The main thing that indentifies Persona is his mask. This mask resembles a blank human face, albeit it dirty and cracked. The eyes are a flat pitch black. This mask covers the entirey of his head. No skin or hair is visible. Persona is always seen in a full suit. The pants and coat are pure white. The shirt undernearth is a bold, blood red and is accented by a deep blue tie. He wears thin gloves of either white or black which, again, cover up any hints of his skin coloring. [B]Personality/Behavior:[/B] The lack of publicly known history for Persona has led to him being thought of as an almost iconic figure. He is not associated with any real people and has no defining human characteristics. No one is able to indentify with him or claim any remote bond, regardless of their mental issues. He is a "thing" and people generally speak of him as such. Very few people want to claim him as a member of the general human species. Persona rarely speaks, whether of his own accord or when addressed. Most people have only heard him speak during transactions with clients to solidify contract agreements. His silence has turned him into a highly sought commodity as he never speaks of job specifics, even under heavy pressure. Persona does not engage in casual conversation nor does he tell anyone what he plans on doing -- he simply does it. He rarely makes noises during his battles, neither sounds of pain or fatigue. In terms of his opponents, he rarely says more than what he feels needs to be said. Persona can be thought of as a mercenary, although that is perhaps too nice of a term. He almost always acts alone. Even when within a group, he is doing his own thing. His business is largely murder-for-hire, yet he has no real interest in retaining money or general material possessions. A vast majority of his proceeds are utilized to further his own blood lust by equipping himself with weapons, money for travel expenses and necessities. He does what he does not for the material gain, but for the love of the hunt. Pure blood lust. He simply loves what he does. Aside from his effectiveness, Persona is infamous for his unmatched brutality. His victims are rarely left in one piece and often decorate the walls around the fight. This violence is not random, however, and crime scenes have made it very obvious that Persona allows his victims to live through his torturous methods as long as possible. Many do not die from attacks to vital areas, but rather from the sheer pain or blood loss that goes along with Persona's techniques. He has no interest in keeping things clean and prides himself in his methods, which he looks upon as an art form. Persona can generally be described as "insane" by most people, although his moves are un-mistakenly calculated. He is not moody. He does not get irritated. He does not act joyful. He is extremely intelligent, despite his eerie silence. His general attitude is disturbingly calm, regardless of the gravity of the situation. Much of what he does is meticulously planned, although he is also extremely adept at making snap decisions due to his killing instincts. No one other than Persona himself knows why he wears his mask, but it is generally of no importance to his employers, victims or rivals. Persona believes that eyes lead to weakness as they are gateways to the soul, but he seemingly enjoys looking into the eyes of his victims as he finishes them off. Other than the obvious, Persona's main eccentric quality is that he collects a vial of blood from each of his more difficult and/or important victims. No one knows the reasoning for this or what he does with these vials, but it is assumed he has amassed a large collection as of this point. Some many consider his general attitude on the evil side of the alignment spectrum, but Persona does not work on the basis of "right" or "wrong". He is loyal to the job at hand, although he will act appropriately if crossed. [B]Personal History:[/B] Much of Persona's past is largely unknown, even to himself. He does not know his birthplace or date. He has no official or rumored ties to any family tree and currently has no one he is close to. The only person he has been emotionally involved with on any level, with is long gone -- cut clean through with his own axes. That person's name is long forgotten by Persona, but she was his caretaker of sorts for a good deal of his teenage life. Most of their time was spent working together in the same line of work Persona works in now. She got in the way, so he killed her. It's that simple in his mind, although exact specifics are unknown. She is main reason that Persona is not interested in material possessions and is generally put off by greed-related emotions. Through the years he has been hired by many different clients. Many of these would be considered on the corrupt/evil-doer side, but he has also done jobs to the benefit of national and government security. It has been determined by higher-ups that Persona, while a major threat, is also a necessity who is very useful when the time comes. Thanks to this, Persona has many ties to people in power although his services are only used in desperate situations. [See Kill Adam if you'd like something more specific and detailed.] [B] Special Skills or Abilities: [/B]Persona, unlike many of his ilk, does not possess and super powers or strengths. He is simply a normal, mortal man who happens to do what he does very, very well. He wields two axes; one is plated in gold and the other in silver. Both are strapped to his back and he is able to retrieve them so quickly that it seems instantaneous. Persona's weapon wielding style is not about pure brute strength, but it isn't about flash either. As with anything he is about effectiveness. His time that isn't spent killing is used for more intellectual pursuits. He is a master of almost a dozen languages (which has helped with his international clientel) and would be considered someone of extremely high intelligence by most people. [B]Availability: [/B]Fluctuates. At least weekly, possibly every other day. [B]Rating:[/B] M or R-Rated seems safe. -----Good enough.

[QUOTE=Mitch]Haha, pointless blathering on OB, how I've missed this. I love messing with people. All I've got to say to the gamut of posts against me is this: you're taking me too seriously.[/QUOTE] Please don't act as if you never cared or meant a thing you said to avoid some sort of debate. If you want to joke around, why do it in a thread about someone who died? Come on.

I'm not understanding this. If you don't care about the guy, why come into a thread about him? Sure, people die everyday, but the attitude in here trivializes the deaths of [i]every one[/i] not just this man. The fact that so many people are familiar with this man is why this is getting attention. He accomplished a lot of things in his life that were at national attention and although most of them were dealing with journalism, that doesn't mean they weren't impressive. He's just a newscaster? Well that guy over there is just a writer. That guy over there is just a painter. That guy over there just cleans toilets. I don't know how you can trivialize this man without trivializing everyone else. People know him because of these things. Just because you don't keep up with mainstream news doesn't mean everyone else should be put in a situation as though they relied on TV like an IV. Is it fair that not everyone gets national coverage when they die? Sure. However, most people who do pass away aren't known in a national way. That doesn't mean those close to them don't care. It doesn't mean they're not remembered. The only reason people like Jennings appear on here is because of the way the media works. It wouldn't make sense for every death to appear on OB. I cared when Hunter S. Thompson died. Did I know him? No. Did that make his death more important than anyone else that year? No. If you want to see people remembered every day go look in the obituaries. I'd go to funerals of people at cemetaries that take place every day. The fact that this man worked hard to reach a status in society where he was easily recognizable is not a reason to fault him or question the importance of life or death. Death is meaningful no matter who it happens to and again, this is largely bringing up a question of this man's "value"... which I think is kind of disgusting. It's being twisted into the idea that "talking about this man when he was alive" is more valuable, which is fine, but not when it's at the expense of basically insulting the importance of his death. Isn't it insanely obvious that the only reason this man has reached a situation where his death is nationally reported is [i]because of what he did when he was alive?[/i] To come in here and act as if it is wrong to discuss and focus on this man's death and instead on what people do when they're living is nonsensical. They're related at their core in this situation. Maybe people into jouralism look up to him? Maybe people respect his character on the air? It's very easy to get corrupted in a situation like that. Jennings was one of the three major, major newscasters and that gives him a LOT of pull in things. He knew a lot of people. Faulting this man for his own death is ridiculous and callous. We know more about smoking troubles now than we ever did before. Are we going to get mad at people who smoked during pregnancy in the 70s because no one knew any better at the time? Certainly people knew it wasn't particularly healthy, but it wasn't a widespread concern back then, particularly with the way cigarette companies kept everything quiet. Go make another thread on the question of how important death is to you. Why it has to be dragged down in here I have no idea. If you're going to do it to this guy, you might as well do it to everyone. If I make a thread about my grandpa dying I sure as hell don't want to see someone posting "oh well, people die", but this attitude sure lends itself to that situation. Why make exceptions for anyone? This isn't a faceless person just because he happened to be on the television.