Vivi22

Given the effort they put into even the GBA re-releases of FF games those new features are disspointing. I definitely won't bother with it given the price. Now if it was $20, then it might be a different story.

I wasn't complaining about the length mind you, just pointing out I was getting a lot of mileage out of such a short album. The songs can always be set to repeat if I want, but I find the whole album flows pretty well. A few times I didn't even realize that the song changed. Given what little I know about the game I think the songs are a good length, and there's a lot of good material in them; enough that I don't think they need to be any longer.

Downloaded the soundtrack yesterday but didn't get the chance to listen to it until a little while ago. I've pretty much had it on repeat for half an hour and it's only what, 9 minutes and 30 seconds or so? I'll probably be listening to it for most of the day. Excellent stuff. I just wish I could hear it in context.

Haven't had the chance to weigh myself in about a week, but I've finally started to hit my stride. Despite being out of town every work day of every week for the last few weeks, which means eating out for every meal, I'm starting to be able to make some pretty healthy choices as far as food, and my wrist is finally well enough that I've hit the gym three days this week alone doing crossfit workouts. I'm already feeling loads better than I have in months, and more importantly, since I'm back to doing crossfit stuff again for the first time in about a year, I'm not board out of my mind everytime I go to workout.

I think you're required to make a demo of your game for Xbox Live Arcade, but not entirely sure.

Sounds cool, but since I don't have or ever plan on getting a 360 I won't be buying it. I will gladly check out and pimp the soundtrack when you release it though.

Get lessons. Even if it's only for a year or two a teacher will help you advance faster than you can on your own, particularly when it comes to technique. Sloppy technique will not only hold you back in terms of what you can play, but it can lead to injury (tendinitis and more). As for kits to buy, in the under $500 category you have options like these: http://drums-percussion.musiciansfriend.com/product/Pearl-Forum-FZ725F-5Piece-Shell-Pack?sku=483276 http://drums-percussion.musiciansfriend.com/product/Sonor-507-Force-Combo-5Piece-Drum-Set?sku=446784 http://drums-percussion.musiciansfriend.com/product/Mapex-QR-Voyager-5Piece-Drum-Set?sku=508172 They're decent beginner kits and would hold up well for the first few years. I wouldn't necessarily recommend getting anything more expensive since you won't have an idea of what you like in a kit yet. That comes with a lot more experience. If you do want something a little higher quality but still under $1,000, then these are some options: http://drums-percussion.musiciansfriend.com/product/Yamaha-Stage-Custom-Birch-Drum-Set-with-22-Bass-Drum?sku=491533 http://drums-percussion.musiciansfriend.com/product/Pearl-Export-Custom-ECX925C-5Piece-Shell-Pack?sku=490453 http://drums-percussion.musiciansfriend.com/product/Tama-Superstar-SL-Fusion-5piece-Shell-Pack?sku=482379 http://drums-percussion.musiciansfriend.com/product/Sonor-Force-2007-Stage-1-Shell-Pack?sku=490519 There isn't a lot of difference between the major companies quality wise in these price ranges, so the only real differentiating factor is sound. Also, be careful of pricing up anything listed as a shell pack. Shell packs give you just the drums. Stands, pedals and cymbals will be extra. If you go the shell pack route, then these cymbal options would be good to start out: http://drums-percussion.musiciansfriend.com/product/Zildjian-ZBT-4Piece-Starter-Set?sku=444544 http://drums-percussion.musiciansfriend.com/product/Sabian-B8-Pro-Economy-Pack?sku=448991 Just stick to major brands (Pearl, Yamaha, Tama, Sonor, Mapex, Zildjian, Sabian, Paiste, etc.) and you'll get a good product. I realize these are a lot of suggestions, but I tried to keep it as simple as possible. If you have any more questions on choosing a kit, or want opinions on some feel free to ask me.

I've been using Steam since about a year or a year and a half after it's release and have never had a problem. Also, I think you're a little more worried about the information they get from your system than you need to be. They don't share any specific information about you with other companies for instance, just aggregate data about all users. Honestly, I think part of what makes Steam awesome is that they can get information on both the hardware their users use and how the software runs on it so that they make games that are as compatible with most users systems as possible, and fix issues that arise faster and better. If them collecting info to make better products down the road is a deal breaker for you then so be it, but I don't mind it one bit.

Pre-ordered. I submitted my order without even realizing I haven't used paypal since before I moved. It's not a huge deal since it'll just go to my parents house. In fact, it's probably better this way since I'm planning on slipping it into my fiancees stocking.

Yeah, it seems to only let you search tags. That definitely needs to be patched if you ask me. I'd be happy to add you to my friends list later and try your level though. I wish I had the time to make something myself lately, but I haven't even finished the story mode yet.

I wish I didn't have to miss the OCR night yesterday. I'm also sad I'll have to miss it next Saturday if we do it again since I'll be at an office Christmas party (yeah, I know it'll only be Nov. 15, not sure why they're having the party then). You can bet that I'll be on in two weeks though.

If there's going to be a lockdown night then I second holding it on Saturday. That's one of the few days I can guarentee I'll be in town lately. I still may not be able to get on all of the time, but that'd be my best shot to play most of the time. As for different custom settings, I'm not too picky. I'm fine with the standard game myself, but if anyone wants custom settings that's cool too. Also, I don't want to dredge this up any more than it has been again, but I do feel the need to mention that some people seem to be getting up in Bahamut's grill more than necessary, particularly since he provides an awesome server at his expense. Maybe some people are simply sounding ruder than they intend because things don't always come out the way we intend on the internet, but still, ease up a bit. If you have a problem, bring it to him in a civil, well explained manner. I can understand his frustration when some people are sounding a little ungrateful for what he's doing for us.

Got it last week and I love it. Haven't been able to play since Sunday since I'm out of town, but the game is great; the user generated content is going to add a lot of life to it after the story mode I think. It's also great that my fiancee is in love with the game too so we have something we can play together.

In all honesty, there probably has been a change, it's just spread over a large enough area that you don't notice it as readily. Hell, I gained almost 20lbs. in the last year before I realized something was up, and the only reason I did was because my clothes didn't fit as well as they used to. How much have you lost exactly?

Saying cheese has no nutritional value at all isn't quite fair though. It's a great source of protein and calcium. It may not be very high in other nutrients, but eating it isn't necessarily bad for you. Like anything else, keep it to a reasonable portion. Most people should be fully capable of eating enough calories in a day, even on a reduced calorie diet, that a little cheese on a sandwich isn't going to kill their diet for the day.

I have to argue the point of saturated fat being a killer in diets here. I won't argue the others, but saturated fat is the one I have trouble seeing as a completely bad thing. The sheer irony of everyone thinking it's bad and a leading factor in heart disease and everything is that it's never been proven to my knowledge. Men's Health did a good article on it a few months back actually which I will link to: http://www.menshealth.com/cda/article.do?site=MensHealth&channel=health&category=heart.disease&conitem=a03ddd2eaab85110VgnVCM10000013281eac____ One of the more interesting things it mentions is at the bottom of page 2 and the top of page 3, and that's what actually happens with about 95% of the saturated fat we consume once it's in the body. Turns out it's not really as bad as many people think, especially when it comes to causing heart disease. And when it comes to losing weight, people who try cutting fat won't typically lose as much as people who cut carbs. Now I'm not saying that people should cut carbs too much (your body needs them for fuel, particularly when exercising), but since most people eat too many in the run of a day, cutting back isn't a bad idea. I'm also not saying people should eat more fat than is recommended, since most people in North America also eat a lot of that. What I'm saying is that they should probably be more concerned about the other nutritional values of what they eat, as well as the caloric intake, as opposed to just the saturated fat. If you're looking to lose weight in particular, steer clear of sugar, and get your carbs under control.

I played the demo and had very little troube with disorientation once I got used to the controls. I'm not someone prone to nausea in the first place though when it comes to first person games. I know some people can't handle it, but I've never had a problem.

Neither do I to be honest, which is why I'll rarely just charge into a snipers line of fire without cover, or meat shields. I'd rather find a way around if they're there, but if not, I'll charge into anything. I once charged alone into a point being captured on Gravel Pit, and got lucky in that every shot fired from my minigun was a crit for a few seconds. Wiped out five or six people in a few seconds. Had I not gotten crits though, I still would have gone down fighting (likely as fast as they did). It was oh so satisfying. Honestly, most of the regulars on our server who play medic do a good job of not leaving me hanging in my moment of need. It's people people on other servers mainly. You'd swear 95% of the medic population is retarded. Unfortunately though Gman, I don't think the random button has even assigned us to the same team in recent memory. At least not any time I played Heavy. Though I know from watching you follow my victims into death occasionally that I'd be able to count on you when we do play on the same team.

If this is your first playthrough then you'd be much better off waiting to do a PC only run on a second playthrough since upgrades carry over into a new game (but not to other difficulties). Yeah it'd mean playing through the game again, but that's not so bad if you really want that achievement.

Demo may be my most played class, but Heavy is quickly working it's way up there. I wouldn't be surprised if it surpasses it soon. I've already played at least 3 hours as a heavy this week. Considering I usually only play for maybe 5 hours a week if I'm really lucky, that's kind of a lot. I'm also getting used to playing Heavy without Medic support. It always seems that no matter where I play, a medic will heal me a bit and then dissapear when I need them most. One of the many reasons we need Brushfire back. I'm tired of medics abandoning me because I charge headlong into battle and they don't want to risk death.

Wait a second, little Medics? Oh Christ, Brushfire got me pregnant.

Well, there's always Valve. I'd put them pretty much at the top of the heap in terms of character design and animation. The facial animation they did in HL2 was impressive enough, but everything they did in TF2 is pure genius. Naughty Dog also did a great job in Uncharted if you ask me. Those are just two I can think of off the top of my head. Then again, we're talking about a company who's pretty much top in the industry and another so obsessed with getting the animation right that each character has literally thousands of subtly different animation sets. I'd say a lot of companies have a long way to go to catch up to either of them though, western and Japanese a like. There are plenty of games that slap characters with one run animation, or don't animate things like opening a chest, etc. I see just as much bad animation on both sides of the Pacific.

I know that Vista is technically more resource intensive than XP (assuming you don't turn off a lot of the visual options), but unless you're trying to load it on a 5 year old PC with a P4 and 512MB of RAM, I can honestly say you'll never really experience a performance drop. I'll be one of the first to admit that I gave Vista a lot of flak in the past, but I run it on my desktop currently and have absolutely no issues. But to answer you're question, it is my understanding that Windows 7 will use fewer resources, but someone correct me if I'm mistaken there.

I wasn't aware of that and it sounds like a good idea actually. It's probably their attempt to make it all a little more accessible, so I'll give them credit for that. It's certainly taken long enough for them to do something about it, but at least they aren't just leaving it the way it is.

Only problem is that getting a game on XBLA is insanely difficult, even for some fairly well established indie developers. Apparently the approval process is an absolute bitch, to the point where it's an almost insurmountable obstacle for indie developers with no publisher to handle it for them. In fact, most indie developers trying to get a game on there are forced to turn to publishers, which defeats the purpose of a distribution system meant to give smaller developers with no publisher backing an outlet to release their game and have most of the profit go to them. It's a nice idea in theory, and I fully understand the need for some quality control with it, but the system is inherently flawed the way it's run now.