Will H

NotW whistle-blower is found dead I'm trying very hard not to draw conclusions, but holy crap.

Yeah, I'm a fan. I think that what the creators have done is very very clever.

LOL Being incredibly disrespectful and bumping a dead thread, nice. The funny thing was that he specifically said they had to be American. I mean, if they're British, or Iraqi, or Afghan, they don't go on the list, do they? [/sarcasm] Last_to_Kn0w was being insensitive. Knee-jerk reactions are rarely the best reaction.

I've given up using as it as a source of money. It's irritating, really. Unless something changes, don't bother getting 85 Dungeoneering for it. Get it for Chaotic stuff or the lulz.

I think we can all relate to the first article, but I don't think it's anything new. What you're experiencing, Racheya, happens to (I think) most of us. It's happened to me multiple times. I normally quit for a month or two, perhaps set my status as "Semi-Retired", then come back. After doing that, it somehow gets easy to be enthusiastic about the game again, and the cycle continues. I don't know why this happens, but it has at least kept me playing this game, albeit not consistently, for nearly 6 years. *shrug*

I would be more surprised if Murdoch didn't intend to give Brooks a 'leaving' bonus payout. At a guess, he's the sort of man that perceives people who work closely with him as part of his family, and he values his family over anything, including morality. He would give her a cheque even if she was jailed for murder. That's the kind of person he is. I agree with you that there is definitely a problem when someone can amass this much power. Most importantly, this should have been uncovered much earlier, and newspapers need to be held to account regarding how they obtain information, while still maintaining a freedom to say what they want at the end. It's a difficult job.

It's not like that. Certain people outside of MLP's demographic legitimately liked the show. Because, according to cultural norms, this would be seen as ironic, like-minded people get together, creating their own sub-culture, so it no longer is ironic. The irony of the thing as perceived from the outside brings it together. There's no pretending and there never was. There's also the point that MLP has conveniently challenged a sensitive subject where most people have secretly disagreed with cultural norms, but rarely talk about it. That's the idea that there are 'girls' things, like dolls and princesses and ponies, and 'boys' things, like cars and fighting and rescuing princesses. Cultural gender segregation, basically. An equivalent topic a decade or two ago would have been homophobia or racism. Lauren Faust have also been consistently challenging the idea that cartoons are exclusively for young children and needn't be subtly intelligent. It's important, and dare I say it, a sign of cultural change to come. It's difficult to explain, really, but I hope that clarifies it.

On an only slightly related note, I didn't realise that you can sit on the chairs in the Clan Camp. Heh. A mage is throwing chickens into an unstable portal in the Clan Camp to calibrate it. What's more fascinating is where she's getting the chickens from.

Public opinion isn't all about social media though. It's there when two or more people talk with each other about current affairs. It's here, it's in the pub, it's at the dining table, it's practically everywhere. Assuming that, I maintain that politics is heavily based on public opinion, and should be. I agree though that people are deluded if they think that Twitter or Facebook is going to alter the course of events here. It's down to what gets uncovered, the facts, and what is enough to make a significant number of people stop buying News Corp's products. Nobody knows that until it happens. Too many variables. I wouldn't judge the number of copies of the last edition of the World sold as an indicator of support. There's very much a human instinct to get the 'last' of something that went on for 163 years, perhaps as a historical document with potentially lasting value. For a similar reason, I happen to have in my possession some of the last batch of Iraqi currency printed while Saddam Hussein was in power. Long story.

If that was true, the News of the World would still be in business. Never underestimate the power of public opinion, especially when they've got a pantomime villain to antagonise.

I think it was debunked, but when it comes to this thread, you can't say anything in certainty without plenty of people flaming you.

Me neither, but you can copy/paste the image url into your address bar. Looking good :)

Right.

Or, you could ask me for an invite. Seriously, I have too many of these. Go wild. EDIT: I think I'm gonna advertise in my sig. Too many people missing out on the Spotify goodness when they don't have to.

Now I think about it, the vine whip actually makes more sense, should the whip vine fall to around 1.5m. There is a niche for people who haven't taken the jump for the rapier, but have enough money to want a slightly better primary weapon after using the original whip for so long. The people who are complaining that it isn't a metagame changing weapon fail to understand that this weapon is not designed for them.

I've got 16 invitations to hand out if anybody wants one. PM me :)

Done. :) (this is turning into unintentional post count spam for me...) Thanks :D (same)

Any chance someone could add me in Norwich, England please?

I vote Salve Amulet (e). Those zombies, skeletons and shades wouldn't know what hit them.

There are far more unfair bosses out there. Bal'lak the Pummeler, Shadow-Forger Ihlakhizan, Skeletal Trio... those are the bosses you'll really hate. Har'lakk's one of those 'medium' bosses. It's true that there aren't really any techniques that completely avoid damage from attacks, short of the hit-and-run gatestoning (which usually takes longer than it's worth), but at the same time, what he can land on you shouldn't be that much of a problem.

Good luck to everyone who applied.

We need a monster that gives the need for one handed crush first. Something that combines the style specific defence of waterfiends with the special shield requirement of dragons or basilisks. Would make a fine slayer task. In any case, Dungeoneering isn't the right thing to solve this with. The shop rewards are adequate, although it would be nice to see more resource dungeons once other skills have been filled out a bit more.

I'm not sure why people don't answer this question, I've got a pretty clear idea; The Big Society is the concept that everyone should be consciously considering and doing things that help the local community in general, instead of doing everything according to pure self-interest. It's a mindset. Extreme examples are participating in volunteer projects to renovate dilapidated parks, removing unwanted graffiti or help run a public event, but it also includes smaller things like keeping hold of litter until you find a bin, being polite to people in public, having a tidy front garden, going to that local shop on the corner instead of going to a supermarket. Simply being a nice decent member of society, really. So simply ethos which every "decent" person should already have in them? That's pretty ridiculous. Why is it ridiculous? Because the although concept is nice, it's pretty stupid to have as a government policy. I fully agree with cutting the deficit, but it can't go hand in hand with the Big Society because charities are being temporarily hindered by the cuts and many people lack the means to volunteer in the current climate. Once the deficit has been significantly reduced, then things like the Big Society and smaller government can actually be put into practice. Currently, the role of the central government is becoming larger - and rightly so when it has a nationwide deficit to deal with -, and it only makes sense to cut first and devolve power later. The Big Society is something that needs to be left for the devolution stage. I completely agree with you, I imagine it was something that was thought up before the financial crisis. It's one of those long-term hopes, not really a government policy. The priority right now is sorting out the deficit, any Tory will tell you that.

I've got no problem with sending my email by PM.

Crossbow? Rigour? Maul? Arcane Stream? I wish that more overworld monsters were specifically weaker to Stab, Slash or Crush. That would easily solve this problem, as whip would be the one handed slash weapon of choice, and rapier would be the stab.