Sumpta

I would like to inflict some serious physical pain on some politicians. When the Dutch right-wing populist Pim Fortuyn was murdered, I was more happy than shocked. Shocked too, but still.

Can't say I've missed 'em. Amen. I'm rather blunt myself. I'm a very loyal friend, but I *will* cut you radically from my life and ignore you for a very long time if you don't treat me the same and piss me off.

Right, since short texts have more of a chance of being absorbed down here: Grammar =/= Spelling Spelling = a set of rules a language community makes concerning the orthography of words. Spelling is imposed on a language. First came the spoken language, then the rules for spelling. Because of this, linguists don't attach a lot of importance to spelling mistakes. A lot of languages don't even get to the stage of being written down. Grammar = the implicit rules concerning the mechanism of a language, extending to morphology, syntax and semantics. Grammar is inherent to a language. It was there before the rules were made explicit by linguists. It's a common Internet thing to take people down on account of their spelling and accuse them of bad grammar, but in fact, you are the dumb donkey for doing that. Oh and I think Latin is easy. The Romans were very logical, straightforward and a little unimaginative, making Latin an easy language to learn. Just a question of learning the rules by heart. Ancient Greek on the other hand...

I'm taking offense with all the shoe-hate here! I love shoes, I have twenty pairs easily. However, I didn't buy 20 versions of more or less the same shoe, I have shoes in all forms, seasonal types, colours, etc. I have shoes that match certain dresses, shoes for skirts, trousers,... I love each and every pair that I have. Seriously. I LOVE them. I love buying them, owning them and most of all, wearing them. I do nót love seeing them degrade at an impossibly fast rate because I wear them all the time. By owning so many pairs, I can change regularly, and all my shoelove can be sustained without having to throw my most loved pairs away.

I see both viewpoints as well, and I don't post the infamous 'Get over it' myself, but I still don't believe the ranters should be so easily excused. If you expect the people who post replies to have some self-control, then you might expect the same from the ranters, no? Just because this is a rants forum, does not mean you should come here to cool off your rage on the people who frequent it. It is perfectly possible to write about your frustrations without behaving like an idiot. Just because the place is for venting, does not mean you shouldn't take a few breaths before you post that rant. I still feel both parties are to blame. ------- Edit: to clear up my point, two similar, yet different situations. I'm at work and a collegue storms in in a rage. He starts abusing our boss, calling him all kinds of dirty names and fuming like a dragon, because something just happened. It's very likely my reaction will be "oh my god, dude, lighten up, your spit is wetting my documents." Now, if he'd enter, visibly shaken, but more or less calmly and coherently telling me what was wrong, I wouldn't mind listening and maybe even sympathising, even if I'd heard it all before.

Okay Fairness, I'll repeat myself. "Get over it" is sometimes a normal reaction to a wildly accusing, incoherent, silly, downright aggressive and/or crybaby rant. Granted, I can get awfully annoyed by the people who can contribute nothing better than "get over it", but the fault does not lie solely with them.

I cannot believe that. Should everybody start out life equal, then yes, I would say so to. Work hard and you'll be rewarded. But people are by definition unequal. Even before we are born, genetics come into play. And then. Geography. Environment. Society. Education. Gender. I've been working in the social sector for a few years now, working with those who according to our standards have not succeeded in life. A lot of them haven't been able to make the American Dream come true, and to be frank, a lot of them never will, even if they tried their utmost best to. They might have free will, but not the options to pursue it. Anyway, back to fate. I don't believe in fate per se, but I do believe in determination. We are children of our time and our surroundings. Apart from that, I sometimes do feel 'things are (not) meant to be'. I guess it's a way of coping with the things in my life I can't alter.

I was always taught that humans, like pigs, are omnivores... Not only do we digest food, we are able to extract the 'stuff' we need from it (sorry, not in the mood to look up the English vitamin and food-related vocabulary). But I'm not an expert, so I'll just speak from my own experience. I simply need meat. I don't eat it every day though, sometimes I even go a week without it. But I do need it. A few weeks ago, I neglected to eat meat during my menstruation. Not very wise, the result being low blood pressure, dizzyness, headaches, fainting spells, see-through paleness, fatigue... due to anaemia. I admit it was careless of me, but nevertheless, I did eat other foods that contain iron and the necessary vitamin C to absorb the iron, such as tomatoes, cherries, carrots, bread, dark chocolate etc. It simply wasn't enough. I needed a few steaks to get me up and running again. However, I do abhor animal cruelty. So instead of becoming a vegetarian, I have decided to put some effort into screening the meat I eat. These days it's not that hard to buy "fair" meat, just as you can buy eggs from chickens that weren't locked up in dreadful circumstances. Some of those labels are very tightly screened.

I really don't like any shoes other than leather ones. I almost always wear Chelsea boots. Ahhhh, the relief! Chelsea boots are on a man. Mmm, I'm very tempted to take a picture of my shoe rack... at the very least twenty pairs of all sorts of lovely shoes. I'm an addict.

Obviously, you have a point. I haven't been in the rants section for a long time and I am kind of shocked to see some of the rudely worded 'get over it' reactions here. However, regular posters do have a hard time in here - the same rants over and over again. They are often hardly thought out and of an abysmal writing quality. And if you dare to criticise, then you get an "omfg get off my thread I was just venting that's what rants are for you idiot". A lot of the people who are venting, write their rant in a very aggressive way blaming Jagex or some other player (the noob) of all the sins of the world. Not a style that is particularly inviting for a lot of sympathy from its readers. That's why the Debate Forum was created. A tightly moderated forum for all those rants-frequenters who liked a good discussion about RS' stronger and weaker points. That is also the reason why your thread got deleted... because the debates section is meant for well thought-out discussions, where people can plead pro or against something. Not saying it wasn't funny, but it didn't fit in the tight plan for that forum. Problem is that most of the crowd who started the debate forum have drifted off, leaving a very quiet forum behind. And not all rants get bad criticism. The rare good rants do get good replies. Like this one.

Sounds good to me as well, but if this is the idea, then the moderation should be geared towards guiding the posters back to that thread instead of having them create threads of their own. I also like the idea of Ginger Warrior to have real life pictures in the user profiles. It would give easier control over all the real life pictures threads.

Well, first of all, there's a difference between spelling and grammar. Spelling is just a code, a set of rules that gets regular updates. A spelling mistake is not that big a deal, as long as the meaning of the word isn't changed in a way that makes it hard to understand (dear, deer). Nevertheless, the set of rules is there to make sure people do still understand each other when writing. Especially for English, which doesn't have a phonetic spelling at all and rather random spelling rules, it's important to have everybody spell more or less in the same way. Then there's grammar. Grammar is much more inherent to a language than spelling is. It evolves naturally. Language change is often language erosion, because we have a way of simplifying our language and rid it of the exceptions. Again, not that big of a deal, but using good grammar is still important if you want to be understood. To your readers, correct grammar is connected with a good education. As such, bad grammar will not do your argument any good. More important to me, however, is coherence. How do you build up your argument? This is also an aspect of language: what sentence comes first, which words do I use to bind together my argument, how do I conclude? Wrong spelling and faulty grammar do not make an argument invalid. However, the more you are able to word your argument, making use of all the nuances and possibilities of vocabulary, grammar, coherence and even sound, the more you will be able to pinpoint your exact meaning. And that is what communication and language are about. I don't consider myself a grammar nazi, but I love reading texts that are written by people who command their language and know how to make it work for them. When I just learned to drive, my brother often told me the car was driving me, instead of me driving the car. I often have that feeling with people who can't manage to write a sensible text of more than five sentences. Then again, I studied languages and literature at university, so I sometimes go way too far in this. The English-speaking world has such a gorgeous language that I'm so jealous of, with so many possibilities, nuances and ways of expressing oneself, that I really don't understand why not everybody wants to perfect it :.

Yeah, that like explains everything, you know. I mean, she's a sicko, totally. I'm so not amazed, I bet that if you let a spycholologist (sp?) examine the paintings, they'd see right through her evil satanic mind. Seriously, highlanders is right, if I read the sarcasm right. I'm not into shock art, but some people here are really exaggerating. It's just menstrual blood, after all. By overreacting, you are giving the artist exactly her way.

Ahh, yes, cannons. There's nothing unfair about them really. The player pays the cash and the cannonballs for a loss of experience (2xp/hp instead of 4), so it is balanced enough. But as with so many things in RS, it's all about common courtesy. I own a cannon myself, and even I can get thoroughly annoyed by people who set up a cannon where I am training (without my cannon, obviously). Why do they have to be so rude about it? When I cannon, I hop to find an empty world and if it can't be found, I apologise and explain before I set it up. I have never been flamed in RS for setting up my cannon this way. Not once.

On assignment, they are fabulous. Easy kills, decent drops (pure ess, rune drops, whip), crimson charms and 150 slayer xp a kill. Camping, on the other hand, is a waste of time.

Okay, I see what you're getting at now. In a nutshell, you really want to take only a few steps in the direction of the "sensitive jerk" and not more than you can handle. Exactly. Blacksurge, as for your story... You're doing the right thing. Don't go running after her, she's a girl with issues. Joking around about being knocked up, that's plain attention-seeking. My guess is that she is only just discovering her budding sexuality and the power she can hold over men/puberescent boys with it, and she's playing around with it, seeing how far she can go. It will do both your self-respect and her in her try-outs a lot of good to draw a firm line. She is acting like a spoilt self-centered adolescent, and you're right not to let her rather silly attempts at manipulation get you. Talk to her, be friends with her, whatever, but always, always keep your self-respect. I know it's hard to believe now, but you'll meet loads of really nice girls in the future. In the mean time, I advise you to have a good s[racist term] out of "Kyle & Kylie". Not that I imagine it would ever come to that, but get a good laugh from imagining the wedding invitations they'd have :P.

Like Ginger, I don't mind participating in a discussion to the best of my abilities, but I lack a certain something to start them up. I feel that what might interest me, will often not interest everybody else here and I don't wish to inflict boredom on other people. I know there are many who (thankfully) have no such qualms :. So, I whole-heartedly agree with you, Lionheart, that a community really needs these good people and that I take little effort in that direction. As for the rest, I'm all for some light-hearted discussion, I'm really not game for a political or religious discussion every time, but a topic like 'your room' is so typical of the OT after the post your own picture-thread. Someone else said it as well on that thread, that the mods wouldn't like it. I don't feel it's on a fine line because it's light, but because it's about real life pictures, about displaying portions of a life that should remain somewhat private. Yes, it's just a room, but you're heading for a slippery slope. What's next? Post pics of your house? Is that acceptable? It is a very interesting discussion, how far you should or shouldn't go in moderating, a very hot debate as well since the rise of 4chan or what's-it-called. I do realise this is a difficult job, so all my respect goes to you mods, let me be clear on that. Edit: after my daily browse through the OT, a little idea, nothing to do with my issues with the room thread: maybe create a "parental problems" sticky such as the "I need a girlfriend" one?

Well, I'm afraid you hit the nail... I think we're talking about the very thin line between being irresistible and obnoxious. A guy needs a lot of flair to pull off the sensitive jerk thing and not make a complete fool of himself. A characteristic trait of a real sensitive jerk is that he doesn't really care - he's an egotistical and somewhat immature man who will nevertheless make some girl very, very happy in the far future. And in his earlier phase, if a girl reacts like I do, he goes "oh well" and goes his merry way or insists, with the same result in the end. But if he's a guy like so many who come for aid here, who is basically looking for a nice girl and is a nice guy himself, then I'm not sure you should encourage him so much to be this strange creature y'all adore. With the exception of the ever sensible Rebdragon apparently :. The theory is sound, and incorporating parts of the sensitive jerk won't do that much harm, but it's best to be aware of the pitfalls. Especially if you aren't one by nature.

My biggest flaw is that I live by the paradox. Nothing is ever just simple with me. It's even displayed in my looks. My eyes are blue, green and grey at the same time. My hair is neither brown, nor blonde, nor red. It's not straight, but it's not really curly either. In essence I am kind and wish to do good, but I can have bad tempers, be stubborn, arrogant, self-righteous, a pessimist and a cynic. I can't stand people who don't move on and don't take responsability for their life, yet find that those are the people I work for and wish to help. And I myself stare back all the freaking time. In some ways I think only in blacks and whites and in terms of high moral principles, but I'm still able to see every shade of grey. I have a lot of inner unrest, but lots of people consider me a calm and calming person to be around. I just seem to combine all kinds of extremes in one volatile personality.

I have a few critical notes I need to get off my chest. How is it possible the mods didn't intervene faster when discussing the ban of some of the people who post here, pointed out and called by their name? I have no issues whatsoever talking about the general forum policies, but when we're referring to specific individuals, I think it's hurtful to be talking about them so publicly, no matter what their not-so-redeeming traits may be. And throughout several pages in this very thread! Secondly, I don't get it, sorry, I really don't. I've been browsing through the OT Forum and some of the topics are of a quality so depressing that it hurts my brain. Do you realise that there's a thread out there with people posting pictures of their rooms and having them rated by other people? Am I really completely out of touch to think that this borders on the line of what should and shouldn't be discussed on a forum, off topic and random though it may be? I read that we are asked not to post spam, too many pictures and silly +1's because of the limited server space, yet such topics live? I'm baffled. I heard there was going to be a cleaning out the OT to restore it to its former glory (imaginary or not, I'm not getting into that discussion again) - but I don't see anything of it, with the exception of deleting the made up sexual stories thread.

Edit: never mind, I'm taking my complaints to the designated thread. Apologies for the empty post.

I don't see any reason to be so angry about it, as the OP seems to be, and I do like the bank update, but nobody can deny that there are still issues to be resolved. I agree that the weird bouncing around of items can be annoying. I wind up with items I didn't want in my inventory all the time. Also, I'm a bit put-off by the many withdrawal options you now have in a right-click. It's really a bit too much, I find myself misclicking a lot. They're not that big a deal, but they are still annoying. Nevertheless, I feel it beats searching fruitlessly for an item you put god knows where, or, hold on, did I perhaps drop it? And the constant dragging around of items in a vain effort to tidy the thing up.

Can we stop the copying someone else's sentence and adjusting it slightly in a stale effort to seem witty? It was already old the first time it was done -.-. As for the new graphics, there's always stuff you like and stuff you don't like. Some people hate the new whip and the new walk, others love them. I think it's just a matter of getting used to them. Before you know it, you'll be ranting when they change them into something even more ridiculous in a year or so. With every graphical update I need a bit of time to adjust. The only thing I really never got over is that you have to click more to see your weight in RS. But that dates back to a few graphical updates ago.

Hear hear. If you don't want to buy, combine MTK with slayer. Do remember that using MTK is effectively buying too, though... And this method will take a while if you want 99. You're likely to reach 99 slayer before you get 99 farming.

Nice read. I've never understood the general ambition to become a mod, quite frankly. I'd definitely refuse the status myself. Everybody seems to think a mod has to be friendly and help everyone out. Well, it's not my job to help new players or to hand out punishments for misbehaviour. I chat only when I please, I help people only when I please and I report abuse only when I feel like it. And as it is, I'm getting enough attention in the game without the added burden of a crown. I pay to play, not to keep a bunch of unruly kids from harm. Well, let's say I definitely don't have the kind of attitude that will put me in danger of being invited for it :-).