Support NeoGAF

[Shaneus]

Woah there! I'm indifferent on the whole thing, was just making a joke

I thought so, but kind of wanted to put the whole "thing" behind me. I'm not pleased with the side of me it brought out, nor the way I was feeling having my experiences questioned.

 

[reptilescorpio]

I take issue when alternative medicine practitioners start ingraining a culture of deceit in the community - where they make claims that they can cure cancer or state that immunisation is dangerous.

So do I. Which is why I wasn't saying that we should all embrace alternative medicine and never touch another vaccine again. When all other typical avenues are tried and the problem hasn't gone I don't see any problem with giving an alternative method a shot. Again, I am reminded of my friend who had breast cancer. Her first port of call was not the local witch doctor.

You should always play the numbers, conventional medicine will see you through most of the time without having to resort to alternative medicine.

 

[codswallop]

I had that LEGO space set!

Fistbump, etc.

 

[Dead Man]

So do I. Which is why I wasn't saying that we should all embrace alternative medicine and never touch another vaccine again. When all other typical avenues are tried and the problem hasn't gone I don't see any problem with giving an alternative method a shot. Again, I am reminded of my friend who had breast cancer. Her first port of call was not the local witch doctor.

You should always play the numbers, conventional medicine will see you through most of the time without having to resort to alternative medicine.

If someone is either on all the normal medicines or they have tried them and they haven't worked, then it is absolutely fine to try alternatives. It is the people that use alternative medicine instead of medicine that are dangerous fools.

 

[Deeku]

Those space sets were great and all, but my favourite is still the police station I had. Or the police boat. Or the police copter. I had a lot of police stuff!

 

[Dead Man]

See, they don't make lego like they used to!

Damn right. Too many niche pieces these days.

Not sure if I had that exact set, but I had a couple of those grey bases with the craters in the ridges like in that one. Fun times.

Those crater plates were the best thing they ever made.

I had that LEGO space set!

Fistbump, etc.

brofist and all that, chaps.

 

[hamchan]

lol? Where do you live?

You lego sissies make me sick. Real lego doesnt have 'instructions' and themes. Real lego IS IMAGINATION!

South West Sydney. Can't get to a JB unless I drive, which I can't yet, or I take a train, which I don't want to do just to buy a game ><

I see Cave Story 3D is also out tomorrow, I think I'll order that too.

 

[Omikron]

Top give games evar, tough, need to have more thinking time.

Candidates....
Pirates!
Railway tycoon
Super mario world
Super mario kart
System shock 2
Half life
Doom 2
Goldeneye
Blast corps
Final fantasy 7
Morrowind
Civilisation
Football manager / championship manager

Ugh list getting long as I think...

 

[Planet_JASE]

THAT IS ALL.

Really? The Wiidom is white? That makes is look... interesting. Sorry, I couldn't find a polite word for tacky.

As it stands, I didn't even think what the colour the Wiidom would be...

The sound design for Rayman Origins is at the very least the equal, if not superior to, the art design. It's fucking amazing.

Go on. I'm listening.

The greatest Lego kit of all time:



The number of things I made from that kit was unreal.

Oh. My. God. The memories, they come flooding back.

Fuck yeah!





WHY ARE WE TALKING ABOUT MEDICINE AGAIN??? DO YOU ALL REQUIRE MORE RENEDUCATION??

 

[Danoss]

Not berating at all. Just don't think it is fair to pidgeon hole anyone who is into natural/alternative medicines as a Scientologist.

Care to rephrase that? I did no such thing.

 

[Fredescu]

My favourite was this big red tractor because it has these huge chunky wheels that were fun to put on anything.

Edit: Wow, some great shots of it here: http://lego-maker.blogspot.com/2009/12/lego-851-tractor.html

 

[Yagharek]

I agree with all that, but a better example is Steve fucking Jobs.

You don't need a high profile case to be an example. You learn more from a personal case rather than a rich man in the spotlight who kept his battle relatively private.

I've been lucky in that I don't know many people who have died from cancer. The number is 3 from memory. One tried chemo and it worked for a while, then they died. Another had a brain tumor and was dead in under 3 months. The third was a friend of my mum whom I didn't know well, who had homeopathic and associated treatment and they died as well.

The cold hard reality is that cancer is a nasty, nasty disease and as brutal as it is, we like to think that it won't happen to us or we can be cured. Humans have a natural fear of death and powerlessness, and thats what alternative medical practitioners in large numbers prey on. Whether they do it out of misguided belief or misanthropic opportunism is the real mystery. I'm sure it's a 50/50 split.

 

[reptilescorpio]

If someone is either on all the normal medicines or they have tried them and they haven't worked, then it is absolutely fine to try alternatives. It is the people that use alternative medicine instead of medicine that are dangerous fools.

I agree with that 100% which is why I take my son to the hospital when he has a really bad cough or is out of the ordinary. The one time we couldn't get into a doctor was when he had a bad nappy rash from teething and a pharmacist told my partner while she was in getting Sudocreme for his poor little bottom that this special cream would clear it right up. It turned out to be some kind of thrush treatment and made it ten times worse. Damn cheery lady didn't know what the hell she was talking about.

 

[reptilescorpio]

I've been lucky in that I don't know many people who have died from cancer. The number is 3 from memory. One tried chemo and it worked for a while, then they died. Another had a brain tumor and was dead in under 3 months. The third was a friend of my mum whom I didn't know well, who had homeopathic and associated treatment and they died as well.

The worst thing about cancer is that the experience is different for everyone so it is hard to tell them what they should expect. One woman had it removed only to have it come back 5 years later and eventually took her. Plus the procedures can really take it out of some people while others you can barely tell. Cancer sucks.

 

[codswallop]

So if I cheap out and get Zelda for 79 or whatever, what's the cheapest I'll find a MotionPlus?

 

[viciouskillersquirrel]

Pretty sure I will monitor the crap out of my kid's internet usage. No way are they gonna get into that "buy a toy and play a free mmo" bs that kids are into these days. It's going to be Legos, books and maybe some video games depending on what games are out in like 15 years. No iphones or whatever either until they're responsible enough! And I'm gona make them play the piano!

My wife wants our future kids to play the piano. I've already told her that we will let them quit if they don't like it after (say) a year.

Just did kritz's spreadsheet. Apparently, I have played just under 4% of the games released since '05, but I know I've played a lot more games than that since about half the games I do play I'm late to the party on. I'm also a terrible reviewer (or somehow manage to avoid playing terrible games) as my average score was a 4 whereas you'd expect the average to be about a 3.

 

[Dead Man]

You don't need a high profile case to be an example. You learn more from a personal case rather than a rich man in the spotlight who kept his battle relatively private.

I've been lucky in that I don't know many people who have died from cancer. The number is 3 from memory. One tried chemo and it worked for a while, then they died. Another had a brain tumor and was dead in under 3 months. The third was a friend of my mum whom I didn't know well, who had homeopathic and associated treatment and they died as well.

The cold hard reality is that cancer is a nasty, nasty disease and as brutal as it is, we like to think that it won't happen to us or we can be cured. Humans have a natural fear of death and powerlessness, and thats what alternative medical practitioners in large numbers prey on. Whether they do it out of misguided belief or misanthropic opportunism is the real mystery. I'm sure it's a 50/50 split.

I think the reason Jobs is instructive is because he is someone who was pretty universally considered quite smart, and he still chose poorly.

As for cancer, it killed 2 of my grandparents, and my mother. I fucking hate it, and people that peddle bullshit cures.

 

[markot]

So if I cheap out andi get Zelda for 79 or whatever, what's the cheapest I'll find a MotionPlus?

$13 at eb!? https://www.ebgames.com.au/wii-147524-Wii-MotionPlus-Nintendo-Wii

 

[reptilescorpio]

So if I cheap out and get Zelda for 79 or whatever, what's the cheapest I'll find a MotionPlus?

$13 at EBGames

Markoted

 

[Echoplx]

I thought so, but kind of wanted to put the whole "thing" behind me. I'm not pleased with the side of me it brought out, nor the way I was feeling having my experiences questioned.

Fair enough, sorry for bringing it up.

Also lol at that pic, I would actually hire him as a lawyer just for the lolz.

 

[reptilescorpio]

Also lol at that pic, I would actually hire him as a lawyer just for the lolz.

There is no greater attorney than the Birdman!

 

[Kritz]

I have the worst ****ing attorneys...

 

[Echoplx]

There is no greater attorney than the Birdman!

Last i checked the line was 'better call saul' I may consider this bird man if he can come up with a rhyme that is equal to or greater than Sauls.

 

[Soul_Pie]

So it's close to the 24th and I'm wondering if any places are having a midnight launch for Zelda and Mario apart from the centre of Melbourne.

I didn't think I'd want them straight away but now I feel like I can't wait til morning.

EB doing midnight launches?

 

[Danoss]

Last i checked the line was 'better call saul' I may consider this bird man if he can come up with a rhyme that is equal to or greater than Sauls.

"Are you a plumber who gets called the Turdman? Call Harvey Birdman."

It's a stretch, but it rhymes.

 

[Echoplx]

This is why GAF is amazing

 

[legend166]

So when exactly can we start playing the SWTOR Beta? I thought it would just let me play as soon as the download finished

 

[Danoss]

So when exactly can we start playing the SWTOR Beta? I thought it would just let me play as soon as the download finished

It's a weekend beta, so, the weekend.

 

[Echoplx]

"Are you a plumber who gets called the Turdman? Call Harvey Birdman."

It's a stretch, but it rhymes.

I like it, I shall make some enquiries tomorrow.

 

[Shaneus]

Fair enough, sorry for bringing it up.

Also lol at that pic, I would actually hire him as a lawyer just for the lolz.

There is no greater attorney than the Birdman!

The reference was more for his name, not his occupation. S'all good, man.

I think the reason Jobs is instructive is because he is someone who was pretty universally considered quite smart, and he still chose poorly.

As for cancer, it killed 2 of my grandparents, and my mother. I fucking hate it, and people that peddle bullshit cures.

I was going to make a light-hearted mention of "he chose poorly" and Indy Jones/Last Crusade, but then I noticed the second line. So sorry to hear that, seriously. I'm lucky in that I've only known one person in my extended family to die of cancer (and for that matter, actually die of anything... 3/4 of my grandparents had gone before I was born, the other was from old age but she had dementia) so luckily for me, I can hardly relate... just sympathise.

Of course, on the idea of alternative vs. proven treatment methods involving life or death situations, I'd stick firmly on the side of the latter, and only when those options had been exhausted would I consider being comfortable with someone choosing alternative therapies. About the only time I'd side with someone who made that choice, is when there's little chance of survival or only a small benefit from going through something like chemo, as opposed to having a better quality of life but for a shorter period of time. But it's their choice.

I completely agree with Vince's megapost as well, but it's too late and I'm too tired to try and explain why. It seems to echo my own feelings fairly well.

 

[Omikron]

This is why GAF is amazing

True story, I have a few nuns in my family on one side. Amusing thing us their surname means devil in english. Go figure.

 

[Yagharek]

I agree with that 100% which is why I take my son to the hospital when he has a really bad cough or is out of the ordinary. The one time we couldn't get into a doctor was when he had a bad nappy rash from teething and a pharmacist told my partner while she was in getting Sudocreme for his poor little bottom that this special cream would clear it right up. It turned out to be some kind of thrush treatment and made it ten times worse. Damn cheery lady didn't know what the hell she was talking about.

That's a bad experience sure. If you had been able to get a doctor's opinion hopefully they would have known the difference. I'm not sure if that's meant to be an argument for or against traditional or alternative though. My wife has seen kids who aren't immunised against whooping cough because of scare campaigns. My motto is that I trust qualified medical opinion.

The worst thing about cancer is that the experience is different for everyone so it is hard to tell them what they should expect. One woman had it removed only to have it come back 5 years later and eventually took her. Plus the procedures can really take it out of some people while others you can barely tell. Cancer sucks.

That's why I did say 'range of experiences' or something similar. The documentary I quoted had an interview with a very candid oncologist who clearly and coherently explained the consequences of not taking the suggested treatment.

 

[remz]

The reference was more for his name, not his occupation. S'all good, man.

I just got it.

I just got the name pun

 

[Echoplx]

The reference was more for his name, not his occupation. S'all good, man.

Oh. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH.

How have I never picked up on this before

True story, I have a few nuns in my family on one side. Amusing thing us their surname means devil in english. Go figure.

So you are well acquainted with Nuns? I'm sure the OP would appreciate some advice.

Does anyone care about the surname thing? It seems like something that may cause some issues

 

[markot]

So when exactly can we start playing the SWTOR Beta? I thought it would just let me play as soon as the download finished

Yeah, Bioware and EA are stupido and dumbo so we cant play till weekend. Also it still has no Australian release date! Lolerific!

 

[Danoss]

Yeah, Bioware and EA are stupido and dumbo so we cant play till weekend. Also it still has no Australian release date! Lolerific!

They're smart by well preparing for it. It's more of stress test than anything else, hence the large number of codes handed out. Everyone who signed up for the beta got an invite also.

 

[reptilescorpio]

This was an awesome thread today too. The internet is a hard place to understand for some people.

That's a bad experience sure. If you had been able to get a doctor's opinion hopefully they would have known the difference. I'm not sure if that's meant to be an argument for or against traditional or alternative though. My wife has seen kids who aren't immunised against whooping cough because of scare campaigns. My motto is that I trust qualified medical opinion.

Wasn't arguing at all! Just one of my regular anecdotes. Shit, if we weren't so busy organising for a weekend away we would have just Googled the damn cream first before putting it on his ass. When we went to the doctor 3 days later when we got back we already knew the cream wasn't helping at the very least! Also we have had our son loaded up on every immunisation offered to us. He is a strong dude so we were never worried about him being too weak to take an immunisation properly.
Thankfully the worst he has had was a minor viral chest infection-ish thing for a week or so and the nappy rash on and off at the moment. When the gf and I got gastro end of last year he didn't even get it the little bugger.

Anecdote: Also I get a lot of entertainment out of her sister-in-law who is a Revivalist and won't let her kids drink the tap water because of the chloride. lol

They're smart by well preparing for it. It's more of stress test than anything else, hence the large number of codes handed out. Everyone who signed up for the beta got an invite also.

The amount of codes they sent out seems INSANE! At least it will be a proper stress test to show exactly how bad things could get under load.
Still thinking it will end up f2p sooner rather than later.

 

[Kritz]

So, from the AusGAF Game Ranking spreadsheet, I've made the following "Best Of" list for games released this generation.

Games with a perfect 5/5 score:
The Orange Box
The Witcher
Portal 2
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

The remaining top 20 in order:

1. The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings
2. Battlefield 2
3. Fallout: New Vegas
4. Mirror's Edge
5. Saints Row 2
6. Amnesia: The Dark Descent
7. Call of Duty 2
8. Wii Sports
9. Burnout Paradise
10. Resident Evil 4
11. &#332;kami
12. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
13. Super Meat Boy
14. Psychonauts
15. Super Mario Galaxy

Conversely, here are the top 10 worst games this generation that AusGAF have played:

1. Spore
2. Mario Kart 7
3. Age of Empires III
4. Scribblenauts
5. Borderlands
6. Indigo Prophecy
7. inFamous
8. Prototype
9. Battlefield Bad Company 2: Vietnam
10. Enemy Territory: Quake Wars

Note: Only Spore and Mario Kart got less than a 2.5/5, and from Infamous onwards, the score was 3/5 and up.

So far, there have been:

107 1/5 Star ratings
240 2/5 Star ratings
554 3/5 Star ratings
700 4/5 Star ratings
445 5/5 Star ratings

The average score given to a game is a 3.5/5 stars. Justin.au was the strictest reviewer, averaging a 2.6/5 stars between all his rankings. choplogulas, Hamchan, x3n05 and Jintor were the most generous, giving a 3.8/5 stars on average.

Jintor, Frawdder and viciouskillersquirrel don't play games they don't like - none of them gave a 1/5 star rating.

Roosters93 thinks no game is perfect, and did not give any game 5/5 stars.

Of the people who have contributed, there has been a combined 2046 games played this generation, with the average person having played 136.

Fogz has played the most games, ranking 304. Hamchan the second most at 280.

Of all the games released this generation, only 94 of them have been played by more than four of the people who went through the rankings.

AAaaand that's all the stats I care to make at the moment. If you want to edit it still, here's the link. You may have to add some cells and fiddle around down the bottom to get all the stats updating nicely, but I can look into doing that in a weeks time if there's significant change in the results. A few people haven't completely finished going through the thing, so yeah, if anything changes, I'll let y'all know.

5/5 Stars

 

[markot]

They're smart by well preparing for it. It's more of stress test than anything else, hence the large number of codes handed out. Everyone who signed up for the beta got an invite also.

Everyone does this. Even wow did this. 7 years ago!

Oh well, at least I can play it and get sick of it and therefore dont have to buy it whenever they decide its ready for Australia.

And if it does go f2p, I think most of the executives at EA heads will roll. This is meant to be their WOW cash cow!

 

[Shaneus]

This was an awesome thread today too. The internet is a hard place to understand for some people.

Wasn't arguing at all! Just one of my regular anecdotes. Shit, if we weren't so busy organising for a weekend away we would have just Googled the damn cream first before putting it on his ass. When we went to the doctor 3 days later when we got back we already knew the cream wasn't helping at the very least! Also we have had our son loaded up on every immunisation offered to us. He is a strong dude so we were never worried about him being too weak to take an immunisation properly.
Thankfully the worst he has had was a minor viral chest infection-ish thing for a week or so and the nappy rash on and off at the moment. When the gf and I got gastro end of last year he didn't even get it the little bugger.

You know who else didn't get sick when there was a mass viral infection? The Outbreak monkey.

Yeah. Think about it.

Anecdote: Also I get a lot of entertainment out of her sister-in-law who is a Revivalist and won't let her kids drink the tap water because of the chloride. lol

That's one thing that frustrates me about some religions. I had a friend back in high school who was a JW and couldn't have blood transfusions. Go figure.

 

[reptilescorpio]

Also Kritz I only got like 1/4 through the list before I got distracted and gave up.

And if it does go f2p, I think most of the executives at EA heads will roll. This is meant to be their WOW cash cow!

A lot of MMO's have become really profitable since going f2p, DC Universe is the latest example. I know that EA have pumped a STUPID amount of money into TOR but I worry about it posting WoW like figures with the next Blizzard MMO not to far off being announced and the next WoW expansion. After all, who can say no to Panda's!
(I know they have been part of the lore for a while but I wonder if TERA has brought them into the fold sooner than they were planning)

 

[Shaneus]

I've decided to transfer to business school!

 

[markot]

Also Kritz I only got like 1/4 through the list before I got distracted and gave up.

A lot of MMO's have become really profitable since going f2p, DC Universe is the latest example. I know that EA have pumped a STUPID amount of money into TOR but I worry about it posting WoW like figures with the next Blizzard MMO not to far off being announced and the next WoW expansion. After all, who can say no to Panda's!
(I know they have been part of the lore for a while but I wonder if TERA has brought them into the fold sooner than they were planning)

I think the drop in subs and Swtor/GW2 made Blizz push the big Panda button.

F2p is profitable, sure, but $15 a month from millions of users makes it look like chump change. I think, we will never see another game like wow really, that big anyway. But when you look at it, Vivendi was almost ready to get out of video games, they were even looking to sell blizzard >.< then wow happened, hell vivendi forced blizzard, its rumoured, to just ship the game in an incomplete state because they were sick of it, and it essentially made Activision sell itself to Vivendi. Activision got endless profits from wow subs, and vivendi got someone else to run their games division while still owning the majority. Its pretty much the reason Activision has been the only 'profitable' company in publishing this gen.

Its like the fountain of youth for a publisher, a huge game with monthly fees, but the fountain is running dry, and finding a new source may prove impossible!

 

[Fogz]

Fogz has played the most games, ranking 304.

WTB life

Which is pretty much confirmed by using the term "WTB"

 

[reptilescorpio]

Its like the fountain of youth for a publisher, a huge game with monthly fees, but the fountain is running dry, and finding a new source may prove impossible!

Yeah I think it is a major reason why SC2 and Diablo 3 are coming out after such a long break, they focused on WoW to the point where they made huge bank but then realised they need to leverage the other IP's to keep things going when WoW hits some low points. I wonder if they will spin WoW off into an RTS. World of Warcraft: Moving Tabletop Edition.

 

[Danoss]

Everyone does this. Even wow did this. 7 years ago!

Did WoW do it on a scale this large though? Through codes give out through websites in the last week alone, that has added over 100,000 players to the SWTOR weekend beta test.

After all, who can say no to Panda's!
(I know they have been part of the lore for a while but I wonder if TERA has brought them into the fold sooner than they were planning)

The introduction of the Pandaren class in WoW seems like a cry of desperation. They have previously said many times that they would not add them into the game as they were a joke character. It's honestly not that surprising as they seem to be bleeding players at an alarming rate, which is not helped by the fact that a large amount of their talent is now working on Titan.

SWTOR seems to have the right idea from what I have seen and what my friends who are in the regular beta have told me. If they can continue to churn out the content, preferably at a faster pace than Blizzard does, I think they'll have a winner on their hands.

 

[Darklord]

I got a weird text today. Some random number texts me saying "Your car is ready for pick up at union station. Congratulation." At first I thought it was strange but probably some scam thing and ignored it guessing they wanted me to reply. Then the same number about an hour later just texts me my full name. No message, just my name. What the fuck?

 

[markot]

I remember wow doing a huge open beta weekend >.<

But server issues dont matter that much really, wow had a shocking first 2 months, but people stuck with it cause the game was great underneath the problems, I think this fixation on server stability is kinda over blown to be honest, and I think their handling of it with Warhammer online helped to kill server community instead of fostering it >.> (Hell, thats been true for most of wows life! lots of problems, but under it all a solid game with a great combat system, although its showing its age now)(And warhammer had 99 other problems too!)

 

[justin.au]

Couldn't be happier that AusGAF doesn't like inFamous.

For my money, it was the most over-hyped game of the generation.

 

[markot]

I got a weird text today. Some random number texts me saying "Your car is ready for pick up at union station. Congratulation." At first I thought it was strange but probably some scam thing and ignored it guessing they wanted me to reply. Then the same number about an hour later just texts me my full name. No message, just my name. What the fuck?

I would so sleep with a knife under my pillo... well next to my bed cause under my pillow would cause problems >.<