I don't really get the bonus xp stunt. If this was WoW, I'd understand, but in LOTRO, the entire point is to enjoy the leveling process, not to zoom past it. It's not like getting to level 50 is a hard task these days anyway if you really want to, considering the additions of Forochel, Evendim and the High Pass in the Misty Mountains.

I think it is because if you want to do the Moria stuff, you need to be 50.  Any XP bonus will help get you there.  I started playing a character and still haven't reached 50...I think I am 43 and this XP bonus will be great to get me the rest of the way.  Of course, it would help if I would stop logging into Warhammer.

I could have written that exact sentence.

Ale

What exactly is the scam? If drifter can wait until the check clears, what risk is he assuming?

I'd go for it.

Ale

I don't think that treating other people as individuals and weighing their thoughts and opinions appropriately is a matter of taking the forum seriously.  That seems to me like a matter of common courtesy.

When you get your panties in a bunch over being told your panties are in a bunch, then yes, you take this forum WAY too seriously.

Big part of the problem with this forum is all the panties all bunched up.

God you're tiring.

You throw a tantrum because someone says your arguments are dumb, yet you've got no problem telling people their panties are in a bunch, or they have their head up someone's ass.

Wait, don't tell me. You were being sarcastic and I have no sense of humor. That's how it goes, right?

Ale

Wasn't Tim Berners-Lee at CERN when he created HTTP? For a nuclear research facility, they sure have had (and look to still have) a great impact on the Internet.

Ale

Thanks for the link, those are some interesting numbers. Though one of the authors links says that the highest energy collisions are very rare, it sounds like there are still large amounts of collisions with energy equal to that of the LHC. One of the things I find interesting is that the actual total energy is not that large (I read that 1 TeV is the amount of kinetic energy a flying mosquito has), but it is concentrated in such a small area that it can have monumental results. Really curious to see what the first real test tunrs up.

Ale

These kind of impacts that the LHC are doing are actually pretty common and happen from things like particles from the sun hitting planetary atmospheres.

I still don't buy that. Do you have any statistics of the energies of those collisions? The LHC experiments will recreate conditions present 10^-25 seconds after the big bang. I think that's pretty darn energetic.

Code:

You just have to remember that the universe is a vast place filled with all sorts of extreme conditions by our standards.  If it was that easy to destroy a planet or solar system, it would be happening all over the place

What makes you believe it isn't?

Code:

If I recall correctly, the LHC does create tiny, tiny black holes, but so do other similar collisions in space which are common, these black holes exist for the tiniest of moment before evaporating.

Well, no one knows what it creates because it hasn't happened yet, but some speculate that that could be one of the outcomes.

Pardon my clumsy first attempt at line by line quoting.

Ale

what they are doing at the LHC is what is happening all around us, but this time they can observe it easily. if it could create a black hole we would know by now. this stuff is stupid. yeah, lets not advance science because we can't be bothered to read a little.

I'm pretty excited for this, personally. Lots of cool stuff could be explained and maybe the string theory will turn out to be true too.

I don't follow you. What are some examples of this happening all around us? Isn't the reason it takes such an enormous amount of energy to do this because it doesn't occur normally?

Ale

well i'm not physicists, i just read a lot about it. just relying what scientists have been saying. the whole purpose is to observe and run the tests in a controled place. black holes are formed from collasping stars as far as they can tell. what they are doing isn't like that. that's quite some dense mass they'd have to do. this is just colliding atoms and observing what they form and spilt off into

I'm not a physicist, either, but I like to keep up on this stuff, too. It isn't actually just colliding atoms, it's colliding sub-atomic particles, specifically protons.. I know this seems like a fine point, but when you consider the density of protons vs. the density of atoms, it's a big difference. I'm not running around with my hands in the air saying the world is going to end, but I also don't think it's outlandish to consider that when you smash matter together at those energies, you might approach the density required to create a 'black hole'. Not necessarily a Disney type black hole, but a black hole nonetheless.

Ale

Cosmic radiation isn't an example of atoms smashing into each other. It would be low energy photons reacting with atomic particles in the atmosphere. We aren't talking photons here, though. We are talking massive protons accelerated to near the speed of light. I don't think that kind of collision is common, though I may be wrong, and hope someone can correct me. If it was, boy, wouldn't it be great to be able to harness that?

Ale

what they are doing at the LHC is what is happening all around us, but this time they can observe it easily. if it could create a black hole we would know by now. this stuff is stupid. yeah, lets not advance science because we can't be bothered to read a little.

I'm pretty excited for this, personally. Lots of cool stuff could be explained and maybe the string theory will turn out to be true too.

I don't follow you. What are some examples of this happening all around us? Isn't the reason it takes such an enormous amount of energy to do this because it doesn't occur normally?

Ale

I haven't played CoV, but I still think LotRO is great. So much content is being added, and I don't think you'd find it much different play wise than when you played earlier.

Ale

Even though many consider the Halo series to be overrated and unfortunately falling short of expectations, I really enjoyed the marketing approach and thought it was rather original and touched on human emotion more than any other video game marketing campaign I had ever seen.

I agree. I hate the Halo series and quit half way through Halo 3 recently because it sucks ass and just is not fun at all, but the marketing is brilliant. I look at the ads for it and say, "I wish I could play the game they're talking about instead of the one Bungie made." It's sort of like the trailer for Spider-Man 3 which is 19 kinds of bodacious ass-kickery. If only they had made that movie instead of a musical...

Just curious, why did you even play Halo 3 if you hate the series?

Ale

I have Station Access, so I still play Vanguard a little. However, it's by no means regularly, now that EQ2 has it's hooks back in me. I'm on Seradon mostly, Raz, how about you?

Ale

Absolutely! I don't think they ever topped it.

Ale

I thought it was funny until I realized it was a joke. Come on, man. You don't need an online community to make an incense purchase. But since you asked, find a head-shop, or natural foods store, or record shop. It doesn't have to be run by Indians. Our co-op has boxes of 25 or so for about $1.79. Support local business.

Ale

BTW It's a freaking Star Wars MMO!!

Because we all know how well that worked out the first time...

Star Wars Galaxies, before they ruined it, was better than WoW. It didn't have anywhere near the content nor the polish, but it was a better experience.

No, it wasn't.

Ale

I just played my level 40 hunter today after 2 months away (AoC and a re-kindled interest in EQ2). He really seemed to be unable to hold his own against monsters I'm sure he had no trouble with before. I don't think it was just being rusty, either. I played for several hours and just felt really underpowered.

I'm really looking forward to the expansion.

How come you call it LOTORO?

Ale

Is it worth $17 shipped to anyone? Also would trade for Folklore or Heavenly Sword.

Ale

Angostura bitters

Mmm... Manhattans

Ale

Just any day now the Court will hand down the decision about the 2nd Amendment.     

Yes.   I'm scared.

So you disagree with the decision?

Ale

That does look good. Hope it has good joystick support.

Ale

Couldn't you hve pm'd him?

Ale

I think it's as much resistance to a pro-American president they aren't fond of as it is about tainted beef.

Naturally, there must be something seriously wrong. 

Ale

[Vinda-Lou]

+1 to Vinda-Lou

Ale

http://www.moa.ubc.ca/index.php in addition to the things already listed. Chinatown is interesting, also, and a good location for cheap eats. My wife and I took a nighttime ghost tour of Gastown a couple of months ago. We both really enjoyed it. More of an underground history tour than anything really supernatural. A passport would be very helpful getting across the border, and don't bring any children that aren't yours 

Ale

I haven't been able to get the /claim to work either even though my account info on their website shows the items attached to my account.  One thing that might be preventing it in my case is I haven't input the retail code yet since my copy hasn't arrived from GoGamer, I'm still playing on my early access download and code.

That's exactly why it isn't working. The retail code is required.

Ale

[Lassr]

+1 to Lassr
+1 to Canuck

Thanks

Ale

Adding-

Viet Cong- Fist Alpha

+3

Ale

Haha... classic 

Ale

Best undocumented feature: Sidekicking!  Level too low?  No problem!  Sidekick today and we will give you (level-1).  Now if only they also had mentoring.

So how does that work, exactly? Do you get the skills, feat points, and abilities of that level? Then you go back to your original level when you de-group?

Ale

Garcia is dead ?

OMG

Don't believe it. Jerry lives!

Somebody miracle me.

Ale

If Blizzard's 'secure' server was hacked, don't you think they would have got a whole lot more accounts? While it sucks to have your account compromised, I find it very unlikely Blizzard's server was 'hacked'. Also, it's a good idea to remove payment information if you plan on a hiatus.

Ale

This filthy, worthless administration has set out to destroy everything that is good about America. The basic decency for which our country was once known is now gone. This president, and his supporters, are to blame for this, and for the repercussions that might come if we do not correct course dramatically.

We have pretty much done similar things in almost every war or combat situation we have been in going back to even the earliest days of this country. Heck after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor they rounded up all the American Japanese and put them in detention camps. I'm not necessarily saying it is always fair or right, but don't just blame the administration as it has been a fundamnetal stance since the beginning.

Great argument. Don't hold anyone accountable, 'cuz you know, other people have done it before.

Ale

Apparently somebody would.

Ale

ANy consensus on server choices for GT/OO?

http://www.gamingtrend.com/forums/index.php/topic,26640.0.html

Ale

I'm thinking I might sign up for the Wanderers again.  I was Rust in WoW and Gravity Well back in CoH.  Just installing now... who knows if I'll get to play tonight or not at the rate it's going, mind you.

(did this game just tell me I needed 26 gb free to install???)

The box states 32 

Ale

I'll give that a shot. It's been awhile since I've installed new ones.

Ale

I encountered that issue last night, D'Art. It was on White Sands Isle and I was fighting the level 15 crocs. I'd use cobra stare which stuns them. I'd back up a little bit and they disappeared. When I moved forward, they reappeared, but had broken combat and were evading.

Ale

I've got to say the whole thing has been really smooth for me. No crashes. Performance is quite good. Sometimes my fps dips down to the mid-teens, but it doesn't seem as bad as it sounds. Doesn't affect combat or anything. So far all the quests seem to be working.

Just a couple of nitpicks-

A few times my screen just goes black (always during combat) and stays that way 4-5 seconds. It's happened about 4 times all weekend. It comes back normally by itself.

Another thing, sometimes npc's take ages to load. If I zone into Tortage (or into the tavern, now that I think of it), I'll sometimes have to stand around and wait for an npc to appear for up to 2 minutes. Sometimes their quest icon will be sitting on the ground, other times it won't appear until they do.


What are the yellow arcs that flash during combat? Is that the direction the attack is coming from? Is there anything I should do about those?


Can't wait for it to be back up. Maybe they'll have fixed the trader.

Ale

Yeah pure drops for gear hasn't been great for me yet.(lv.14)
Quest rewards, and merchant stuff is the way to go so far.

This saddens me as this sounds precisely how the loot system for LOTRO is.    Crafting and Quest rewards are where the good loot comes from.    For those of you that didn't have the misfortune of seeing the effects of this long-term in LOTRO, let me give you a peek of the future of a game that goes this loot-route:

In about 40 levels...you will look around and notice that everyone looks the same and has the same gear.    Very very boring.     A system that mixes random valuable rares in, you have a huge variety of people wearing a huge variety of things.    THis will not happen in a game that forms their loot system like what LOTRO or seemingly AOC does.     

And for the record:   people claimed in the early life of LOTRO that the loot system probably wasn't finished.    Well... it was.   And it continued it's suckage to this very day.     

   I'll pass.

LotRO kind of has a framework they must stay within. There wasn't a lot of bling in Middle Earth. Even so, there is a ton of variety in loot. I'm not sure why you never saw it. Higher level characters look a lot more distinctive than they do in WoW, where everyone grinds until they all have the same old tier X gear or crafted class set. No differentiation at all. I'm glad for games that are more than just lusting after the uber gear.

Ale

Hey Lassr,

Could I get that Supreme Commander?

+1

Ale