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AusGAF 2.0 - Twice the price, a year late but still moving forward
- Thread starter VOOK
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Jumped on the Stalker pack (even though I own the boxed original and have barely played it ) 
Also, couldn't resist Super Meat Boy at $7.50. Steam then kept suggesting bargain games on the side; this resulted in me getting VVVVVV, Bit.Trip.Beat and PvZ:GotY also.
I had to reboot Steam for the downloads to actually start working ("too busy" thingy), which resulted in me seeing Amnesia is on sale and am thinking about getting it too, even though I own Penumbra and haven't played that either.
EDIT: Caved and bought Amnesia right after posting this. Damn you Steam and your cheap prices!
Also, couldn't resist Super Meat Boy at $7.50. Steam then kept suggesting bargain games on the side; this resulted in me getting VVVVVV, Bit.Trip.Beat and PvZ:GotY also.
I had to reboot Steam for the downloads to actually start working ("too busy" thingy), which resulted in me seeing Amnesia is on sale and am thinking about getting it too, even though I own Penumbra and haven't played that either.
EDIT: Caved and bought Amnesia right after posting this. Damn you Steam and your cheap prices!
FormallyMegadrive
Member
Bernbaum said:
Make sure you post your impressions please. I hate STALKER as it is (the walk-bob makes me feel crappy) and if it can fix that I'm in too.
Juicy Bob said:
Yes. I am tempted to install listening devices rigged with explosives in all Australian advertising agencies, set to explode with gruesomely lethal effect whenever anybody mentions "dancing", "down the street", "singing in unison".
Too many mind-dissolvingly, obnoxiously fucking stupid Australian ads on that theme.
AnkhWeasel
Member
Fun fact: They use terrible "singers" in ads because you remember them more. Which is clever, but I'd much rather remember a catchy, well-done jingle. Bah.
FormallyMegadrive
Member
HolyCheck said:
oh.. talk out of.. um
thats the reason to watch community. mad men sucks.
FormallyMegadrive
Member
HolyCheck said:
I know. Doesn't save the show.
Cohsae said:
Wrongo!
D
Deleted member 30609
Unconfirmed Member
no, it's cool.
Mad Men is a show about long stretches of grey and paying attention to how characters develop over a long period of time.
masterful writing. it's ok if you don't like it though, we can't all be this smart. I need my toilet cleaned by someone.
Mad Men is a show about long stretches of grey and paying attention to how characters develop over a long period of time.
masterful writing. it's ok if you don't like it though, we can't all be this smart. I need my toilet cleaned by someone.
Each component of Mad Men was obviously very well-crafted when I watched the first season about two years ago, yet I felt an overarching story was lacking. The characterisation and production design was exceptional and there were tonnes of snappy dialogue, but I didn't get a sense of direction of where the show was going and the pacing was stuck in a gear just below what my attention span demands. I recall describing my impressions in the first AusGAF thread as 'less than the sum of its parts'. There is one caveat- I never made it to the final episode of the first season and I'm perfectly willing to be proven wrong.
Agyar tried to convince me that it isn't a show you sit down and smash through a whole series over a couple of days. Rather, he suggested that each episode be watched individually and left to stew in the back of the mind before returning for the next installment of the story.
Still not sure if I have the attention span for that, especially since I usually have a book, a comic book and a video game on the go at any one moment and watch about 3 movies a week.
Agyar tried to convince me that it isn't a show you sit down and smash through a whole series over a couple of days. Rather, he suggested that each episode be watched individually and left to stew in the back of the mind before returning for the next installment of the story.
Still not sure if I have the attention span for that, especially since I usually have a book, a comic book and a video game on the go at any one moment and watch about 3 movies a week.
D
Deleted member 30609
Unconfirmed Member
Yeah I slammed through all four seasons over roughly two months. You can make it work but you really have to actually put yourself outside of your comfort zone to do so. If I could do it again I would probably still make my way through the first two seasons pretty quickly, but Season 3 is where a lot of really fucking amazing, unpredictable but really, really right character pay-offs start happening, and then Season 4 is like a whirlwind of certain characters spiraling out of control and others grabbing the bull by the horns.
You have to invest yourself in it, but they really do make good on it with time. And they could only have made good on it if the show was so depressing or even unremarkably normal in the way the characters are slowly established in the earlier episodes. Even within the earlier seasons, pay-offs like Season 1's carousel scene really stick with me.
Also, maybe it's just me, but it's so nice to see decent female characters on TV.
You have to invest yourself in it, but they really do make good on it with time. And they could only have made good on it if the show was so depressing or even unremarkably normal in the way the characters are slowly established in the earlier episodes. Even within the earlier seasons, pay-offs like Season 1's carousel scene really stick with me.
Also, maybe it's just me, but it's so nice to see decent female characters on TV.
D
Deleted member 30609
Unconfirmed Member
it's also true that ever talking about this show makes you sound like a complete wanker. so, bear that in mind.
for instance, if you'd even consider typing a blog post on the show I think we could never be friends.
for instance, if you'd even consider typing a blog post on the show I think we could never be friends.
Soooo.... Rent or buy?
And I'm not trying to be cheap. By 'Buy' I want to know if this is a show that 'I like and will return to for a second viewing so I can relish my favourite moments and look for things I didn't notice first time around'.
As for blogposting, is that a veiled warning not to post my moment-by-moment scotch-stained impressions of the show in this very thread. Because I'll do it by gosh, I'll brave the tempest of wankery.
And I'm not trying to be cheap. By 'Buy' I want to know if this is a show that 'I like and will return to for a second viewing so I can relish my favourite moments and look for things I didn't notice first time around'.
As for blogposting, is that a veiled warning not to post my moment-by-moment scotch-stained impressions of the show in this very thread. Because I'll do it by gosh, I'll brave the tempest of wankery.
I've watched almost the entire first season.
To re-iterate- I felt the show had all the fundamental building blocks of something I'd love, but rewarded my viewing at too slow a pace. Fans of the show praise the long-term payoff of the show's intrinsic slow-burning delivery and I think I may not have stuck with the show long enough to have enjoyed that prize.
To re-iterate- I felt the show had all the fundamental building blocks of something I'd love, but rewarded my viewing at too slow a pace. Fans of the show praise the long-term payoff of the show's intrinsic slow-burning delivery and I think I may not have stuck with the show long enough to have enjoyed that prize.
FormallyMegadrive
Member
Speaking of scotch, does anyone like Boston Legal? I loooved that show.
edit: also, regarding mad men, i don't enjoy agonisingly slow shows. shows don't need to wrap up at the end of each episode but i enjoy feeling something is actually happening.
edit: also, regarding mad men, i don't enjoy agonisingly slow shows. shows don't need to wrap up at the end of each episode but i enjoy feeling something is actually happening.
Mad Men is amazing. Watch it.
I got really addicted to it when I bought season 1-3 on Blu-ray to catch up. Watched 10 episodes in one day and tore through all 3 seasons in about 2-3 weeks. Then I caught up with the first 7 episodes of season 4 in two days and watched the rest as it aired.
I got really addicted to it when I bought season 1-3 on Blu-ray to catch up. Watched 10 episodes in one day and tore through all 3 seasons in about 2-3 weeks. Then I caught up with the first 7 episodes of season 4 in two days and watched the rest as it aired.
http://www.news.com.au/business/bus...l-jobs-retailers/story-e6frfm9r-1225981373508
Also here: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/nat...l-jobs-retailers/story-fn59niix-1225981302010
Good to see they haven't thought about increasing their online presence, or the fact they haven't thought about who will administer the GST on every purchase on Ebay.
Whoops, double post.
Also here: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/nat...l-jobs-retailers/story-fn59niix-1225981302010
Good to see they haven't thought about increasing their online presence, or the fact they haven't thought about who will administer the GST on every purchase on Ebay.
Whoops, double post.
Fuck myki. There's a recharging station at the local, so I try throw 28 days as a myki pass on the card, $155.70 but it won't let me. I don't have enough myki money for the transaction to complete. Are you fucking serious? So you need to have myki money as a backup before you can even think about adding a pass on it.
The myki site claims I have $5,10 in money left, the machine said it was around $2.94, so the system isn't even synced!
Luckily I had enough change for a metcard since you can't use notes at that machine either. Clusterfuck.
The myki site claims I have $5,10 in money left, the machine said it was around $2.94, so the system isn't even synced!
Luckily I had enough change for a metcard since you can't use notes at that machine either. Clusterfuck.
I'm actually right in the middle of watching Mad Men right now. I started about a week ago and I'm halfway through season 2.
I'm really, really liking it. It's definitely a slow burner, but to me that seems like more of a reason to watch it a lot in one sitting. I definitely don't get the 'you should watch it once per week' thing. I think I'll just wait till the DVDs come out to watch the new seasons.
It's weird for me, because judging by GAF and in the media and stuff, everyone seems to love Don Draper. I really dislike him. The guy is a complete knob. He looks good in a suit and is good at his job. That's about as far as his positive character traits go. Luckily it doesn't make the show worse if you don't look up to Draper as some sort of model man. It's still fantastic.
Spoiler for midway through season 2:
I'm really, really liking it. It's definitely a slow burner, but to me that seems like more of a reason to watch it a lot in one sitting. I definitely don't get the 'you should watch it once per week' thing. I think I'll just wait till the DVDs come out to watch the new seasons.
It's weird for me, because judging by GAF and in the media and stuff, everyone seems to love Don Draper. I really dislike him. The guy is a complete knob. He looks good in a suit and is good at his job. That's about as far as his positive character traits go. Luckily it doesn't make the show worse if you don't look up to Draper as some sort of model man. It's still fantastic.
Spoiler for midway through season 2:
Watching Jimmy Barrett drop some truth bombs on him was awesome. He deserved it.
D
Deleted member 30609
Unconfirmed Member
He doesn't remain a suave James Bond behaving how he behaves as the show goes on. He gets his, others get theirs and certain characters are redeemed in certain well earnt ways, but even up until the Season 4 finale, which really pissed me off, Draper continually proves he's a completely outdated model.
DualShadow
Member
Dead Man said:
Or maybe Aussie retailers could be more competitive?
Back to work today
One imperfect solution would be for retailers like Harvey Norman to improve their online stores and scale back the brick and mortar retail space. The retailer saves cash on property leases and employing clerks and can be more competitive against existing online retailers.
Of course, the big downside is that you cut a large number of jobs. You also shortchange people in regional areas and luddites who are averse to shopping online. Cheaper prices dont necessarily win back local customers either Joe Bloggs can access an overseas website just as easily as he can dse.com.au, and the purchasing interface is roughly the same across all online retailers, so ignoring shipping time and freight costs, Mr Bloggs will more often than not seek out the cheapest price.
As Serrels says, there doesnt seem to be an easy fix although it is mildly entertaining to see these big corporate bodies prattle on about a free market economy and then whinge for government intervention when things dont go their way.
At the end of the day, Im a consumer and I want to save money buying my toys.
Of course, the big downside is that you cut a large number of jobs. You also shortchange people in regional areas and luddites who are averse to shopping online. Cheaper prices dont necessarily win back local customers either Joe Bloggs can access an overseas website just as easily as he can dse.com.au, and the purchasing interface is roughly the same across all online retailers, so ignoring shipping time and freight costs, Mr Bloggs will more often than not seek out the cheapest price.
As Serrels says, there doesnt seem to be an easy fix although it is mildly entertaining to see these big corporate bodies prattle on about a free market economy and then whinge for government intervention when things dont go their way.
At the end of the day, Im a consumer and I want to save money buying my toys.
Hearing some stuff from smaller retailers, the problem lies with the importers/distributors. Some have exorbitant prices and know retailers can't go elsewhere, therefore holding them and consumers to ransom.
One other point that I have heard is higher cost of items may be the effect of GST being charged at every point along the chain before it even gets to the store shelves. Charging GST at the point of sale in-store only may bring prices down and allow retailers to be more competitive.
Instead of trying to fix either of the problems above (assuming either or both are correct), they just want to apply more taxes. So we pay 10% more to import stuff when it's already 50% cheaper a lot of the time. That's not going to deter anybody and the only thing it does is add more tax revenue. Retailers see nothing of that, so they still suffer.
For example, a friend was looking at purchasing a couple of speakers. The overseas cost was $240, domestic was $849. According to retailers, him paying $24 GST to import those speakers should deter him from a $585 saving; right, if you say so.
Slightly less extreme, I'm about to buy a new DAC and headphone amp from Germany. They are $1240 including shipping. Buying locally, they are $1648. Even $124 GST on that item isn't going to stop me from going through with a saving of $284. That saving just got me a new keyboard and mouse, which I did buy locally.
One other point that I have heard is higher cost of items may be the effect of GST being charged at every point along the chain before it even gets to the store shelves. Charging GST at the point of sale in-store only may bring prices down and allow retailers to be more competitive.
Instead of trying to fix either of the problems above (assuming either or both are correct), they just want to apply more taxes. So we pay 10% more to import stuff when it's already 50% cheaper a lot of the time. That's not going to deter anybody and the only thing it does is add more tax revenue. Retailers see nothing of that, so they still suffer.
For example, a friend was looking at purchasing a couple of speakers. The overseas cost was $240, domestic was $849. According to retailers, him paying $24 GST to import those speakers should deter him from a $585 saving; right, if you say so.
Slightly less extreme, I'm about to buy a new DAC and headphone amp from Germany. They are $1240 including shipping. Buying locally, they are $1648. Even $124 GST on that item isn't going to stop me from going through with a saving of $284. That saving just got me a new keyboard and mouse, which I did buy locally.
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