Assume Nothing

3/10 I could vaguely recall your name...

[hide] Perhaps this is why your friends are like that, hmm? :P Not everyone grinds to 99 for bragging rights, too. On a personal level, I train my skills for personal satisfaction, and rising on the highscores is merely icing on the cake. Dungeoneering. This isn't a fault of Jagex, but rather the players that want the capes so they can go despite putting in no personal effort whatsoever. Makes you wonder where their self respect is, doesn't it?Not saying you do if that isn't clear, but that's my perception of the botter psyche. What did people actually do before skillcapes came out? Did they actually do nothing but play together with their friends all the time? Compare old school melee training, such as in the Legends' Guild with shadow warriors, with today's Slayer, in various locations. Both give interaction with other players and I generally find myself still talking to other people during tasks. Same as back then, they'd train for hours on end so that they could get to 126 combat, how is that different from owning a few melee capes? Thanks for my weekly dose of doomsaying, as usual. Already doing that. Already doing that in Dungeoneering. Already doing that with new clan members in DG. Are you serious? WHAT, ME WORRY? [/hide] I don't typically respond to articles written in such a fallacious manner, with obvious fallacies such as hasty generalizations and slippery slopes. I understand that there may be a valid point, but it's typically unpleasant to read and any persuasive effect it may have is likely to be a sham. Another point of criticism would be the narrow focus - There are more effects than stated in the article with skillcapes, including economical effects as well as the attitude to RuneScape in general. Unjustified doomsaying supported by poor use of evidence doesn't help the author in terms of persuasiveness either. Overall, therefore, I don't think the second article has been well written, and the conclusions being drawn has not been very well founded. Now, isn't EP recruiting...?

Am I allowed to bump blade's blog without causing a massive something-fest?

In order to slightly bump this topic, I've got a topic: Is the use of technology changing our society for the worse?

Voice + Hair + Face + Ass + Smell = Awesome. And yeah, girls with low self esteem are awesome :D. Who needs brain cells?

I just realised that today is the end of the world.

I find that a bit of a false dilemma really - Surely there's a type of post in between. I think 'fun' posts/threads are great and all, as evidenced in threads like 'Food' or 'Hot celebrities/models', but it's also nice to share opinions about a particular subject that may spark controversy. I think the 'Things that annoy the HELL out of you' thread would serve as a thread that's somewhat inbetween, because most posts aren't very serious, but they can be. That's the best compromise in my view.

Other people sniffling or coughing during an exam - I just want to hurt them for distracting me. I'm doing trig dammit!

Today, I've read one of the most amusing news articles I've seen in a while. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13454160 I'm also extremely annoyed about my exams. Although I think I've done relatively well on my Maths resit, I don't think some of my exam has been done very well. I feel like punching a wall at the moment. What do?

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll add that to the list on the Original Post

I think 'not saving someone's life' should be extended to 'not assisting a person in need of medical assistance/attention'. Take this case for example: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-13457442 I think he was let off too easy with merely 12 weeks of jail. What he did was not merely theft - he intentionally stole a mobile phone from a person who was dying, which may have been a cause of her death (because if the person had contacted ambulance services, then maybe she wouldn't have died). I still agree that it's highly circumstantial. What do you guys think?

What would this position do? We do have the editor position as the OP indicates, for proofreading and co-ordination. Well, the Editor position would require good knowledge of the rules of the English language - a skill that I, and perhaps other potential candidates appear to lack. If people completely new to the concept of writing articles apply, then they may not produce very good articles until weeks/months into working with the team of volunteers called the Editorial Panel. I think it would be nice to play the devil's advocate when it comes to writing articles - it gets boring to see articles about how macroing is unethical and 'bad' for the RS Community. Surely there would be some benefits to having some bots around... An example of another controversial article could be that the idea of selling gold for real money may not be a bad idea, if the seller of the said gold would be JaGex themselves. However, a black market is likely to arise if the price is deemed too high, as long as the trade system is unchanged, thus it may not be the solution to end RWTing (and the incentive to bot). In TET, there's a thread for TET Event Suggestions - Is it possible to create a similar thread for Tipit Times articles too?

I wouldn't know what to write an article about. Couldn't we have 'Editorial Panel Assistant' positions?

What are the advantages of circumcision anyway? I only know of one - The reduced risk of HIV/other STD's.

Pretending to text to avoid someone - EPIC WINNING

The Price Elasticity of Demand measures the responsiveness of the change in demand relative to a change in price.

I daresay... their smell.

It seems a shame, the posters' principles and values seem to be established to a point where too many people agree and there's no debate, simply because there isn't the other side to argue against. I do agree that this thread is a little cluttered - it's difficult to respond to a post because there's so much going on in it. I value life over freedom, but I'm still leaning towards pro-choice, because I don't really think two reproductive cells have 'life' yet, until it actually develops some brain waves and functions like a sentient being. @Leonard; Everyone being equal to the law is irrelevant to the fact that not all people should have the same rights. 'Rights' refers to the human rights here. It may or may not be the most basic human rights, but I think even the most basic rights could still be argued against in a specific circumstance (eg. the right to privacy for convicted sex offenders). As for free healthcare: That's the current practice in the UK. I don't think it really helps society when people who attempt to exploit the system do indeed exploit the system and the burden then lies on the taxpayer. Chain smokers, Obese people, binge drinkers and drug abusers costs the NHS multiple billions per year (I don't know the figure itself though), on an already overstretched free healthcare service. I think those exploiting the system ought to be refused treatment, or charged for their treatment because it's just not fair on the taxpayer that they have to pay for someone else's self inflicted illnesses/injuries. If they tried to change their eating/drinking/smoking habits, then it would make a little more sense to treat them, but if they didn't, why should we treat them for free? Although the idea of taxing harmful substances/food may be a good one, but it's just not very effective. It's proven that the demand for fast food, alcohol and cigarettes are relatively inelastic, thus price changes would barely change the demand for the said goods. The NHS ought to be a safety net for those in genuine need, a free service for normal people in society, and a barrier to those trying to exploit it.

Bathing is a terrible way to wash oneself. You're pretty much 'cleaning' yourself with sweat saturated, unclean lukewarm water. It's difficult to rinse yourself, and it's especially bad for girls due to reasons I am unable to specify on G rated forums. Baths are also extremely time consuming, for both 'washing' and waiting for the bath to fill up, which is terrible for the environment from the excessive water use. Therefore, I wouldn't recommend bathing to anyone. More ontopic: Not bathing/showering is terrible for the body, so I wouldn't recommend it at all

The spreadsheet is great but I can't seem to find the bit with the theory of how damage is calculated. Knowing how damage is calculated is useful because it gives an insight on how Dragon Claw's special attacks work, and such

I fail to see how there is any 'trolling' going on in here, except for your post. There are arguments for both sides of the proposed topics - Why are they 'trollish'? Its not the users posting, its the thread. The purpose and intention of this thread isn't to invoke a negative reaction - it's purpose is to discuss topics which may be controversial, debating in a constructive manner. I don't think it would be a good idea to be bogged down on this argument, as it merely creates clutter. I agree with most views expressed here so far, so I think I ought to wait before I post.

I fail to see how there is any 'trolling' going on in here, except for your post. There are arguments for both sides of the proposed topics - Why are they 'trollish'? @Nomrombom - I don't see how 'thick skin' would make anonymity a good thing. Whilst I acknowledge that there's anonymity to protect users, anonymity can be excessive to the point where chaos may ensue (see 4chan for example).

Real men watch shock videos for lulz

That's actually not a bad idea. I think I'll add it to the list now. Simply stating whether you agree/disagree isn't enough though - Why should healthcare be charged based on lifestyles? Surely if everyone is paying for their national insurance, then they've earnt the right to treat their body however they want. On the topic of animal testing, an example of where it would be a bad thing is when people test shampoos on rabbits until the point of blindness - surely that's questionable enough to object to animal testing. If anonymity was removed, and a system was implemented where everyone uses a form of internet national ID - surely that would be a bad choice, as the freedom of speech will become far more limited than it ought to be. Meat production (including transportation of food, natural greenhouse gases by farting, and other factors) produces up to 18% of the CO2 emissions according to the FAO in 2006. Why is raising animals in order to slaughter them for meat 'not a problem'? I'm referring to the meat industry breeding cattle specifically to fatten and kill for food here. So, please post a little justification before coming to a judgement.

The misuse of words/phrases. 'Begging the question' is actually a logical fallacy, and it doesn't mean the same thing as to 'raise the question'. 'Irony' and coincidence isn't the same thing. 'You're' and 'Your' aren't the same thing.