I'm much more interested in the quality of gameplay. Games have become stagnant and repetitious, with new titles emulating whatever is popular. If the next console is going to be more Assassin's Creed and CoD then it doesn't matter to me what the specs are or whether or not it requires an online connection, I'll be opting out.

I use gaming as a way of getting away from my life for a moment. If the games themselves don't start improving then I will find my escapism elsewhere.

Have you checked out what's going on with indie PC and iOS titles lately?

I think this is the real rub for the consoles. PC Games and mobile titles are where the new ideas are coming from.

If they really do make it harder to resell games, it's the end of the $60 a game market. Either the prices will come down, resale will be easily allowed again, or more "AAA" publishers are going to go out of business. Actually, I'm pretty sure it's going to be the 'more "AAA" publishers are going to go out of business' anyway. "AAA" development is already pretty unsustainable without a CoD-style franchise.

Just got to Earth (about 18 hours in). This part takes a turn to the worse. You basically have two choices, either deal with a horde of a dozen enemies that do decent quick damage or pickup a gun that removes your ability to dodge. Seriously, this is easily the worst part of the game so far. The rest has been pretty enjoyable.

I think I need to find me a better scythe that gives me health on hit...

Just to clarify what the game is, it's a free to play MOBA. The founders edition on the link is basically pay for beta access. From the IGN link:

Sins of a Dark Age is free-to-play, and Ironclad wants players who never spend a dime to feel rewarded fast. Sink enough time into matches and, like other F2P games, you can earn pretty much everything save skins for your heroes. In fact, skins are the only thing you can't purchase with the currency you earn playing matches. How much you grind depends on the game, but the founders of Ironclad stated, rather nervously, that "the grind is probably less than any other game."

It's basically right above my study (where I am a good chunk of the time). The vibration isn't that noticable except when the pump is running to pump the water out. The pump on my model is pretty noisy. The spin cycle isn't really noticeable except when the load isn't balanced. Keep in mind the wash tub itself is suspended on pistons, so it can move around a bit without moving the frame. I had to clean the washer today anyway, so I just put it on the clean cycle now. I'll post again if my opinion changes.

I've got a Whirlpool Duet 9450. I would not suggest this model or a Whirlpool. The Maytag line is better if you're going to buy something from Whirlpool.

Don't get front loading washers unless you can leave the door open when its not in use

This plus cleaning the washer isn't an optional thing. Do whatever the manufacturer recommends. I've got an 3 year old Whirlpool and we use Affresh once a month to keep it clean. Haven't had any problems after we started doing this. Might seem silly, but if you don't it's going to smell and it's a giant pain to get rid of the smell. We figured this out after about a year...

As to the vibration complaint, they seem to be more sensitive to being level than top loaders. Ironically, I've found the best way to level them is to load it with a load of wet towels and put it on spin. Adjust the legs until it's smooth. If the legs don't have lock nuts you'll want to add them or you're going to be repeating the process over and over.

Keep in mind with the 2nd floor laundry (we have one too), a front loader washer weighs around 300-350 lbs.

Yup, we've learned a lot about cancer in the last 35 years. 'The changing science' was a good tagline.

No one gets my fine dry sense of humor.

D'oh. Some humor doesn't translate well over the tubes. Plus, GOG isn't Good Old Games anymore (as silly as that is)...

Are any of those games good? They look kind of old.

Yes, they're good. Especially the Dungeon Keeper series. It's too bad it's 75% off only if you buy the whole bundle...

Yes, they're all old. Dungeon Keeper 2 is the newest and it was released in 1999. Populus is the oldest released in 1989.

They've already started adding some older Disney movies for streaming. I think I'm going to watch Rescuers Down Under tonight, haven't seen that since I was little...

This used to be common in the early 90s, not so much anymore. I wouldn't expect to see this except on their lower lines (e.g., mini-itx lines), which are already soldiered. Keep in mind that the laptop versions of all these processors are already in a BGA package.

While the article lists it as a positive for OEMs, it would seriously increase the warranty costs. If the CPU dies, they've got to replace the whole mainboard and vice versa. It's unlikely it's going to result in a savings once those costs are factored in on the very low margin desktop lines.

When your post begins with a premise that's so disconnected from reality that the National Geographic Channel has a hour-long show that disproves it, you probably need to visit Snopes.

TWC has announced a 4.00 per month fee to 'lease' the modem.  So I'll buy my own. However, I have their VOIP service and on the one they are letting me borrow it has dedicated phone line jacks.

Do I need to find another that has those jacks or will it work on any docis 3.0 modem?

If you buy your modem, you'll need a second device from TWC to hook up your VOIP.

You might want to consider switching away from TWC for your VOIP...

Have you checked a site like Zillow to see what their estimate is?  I'm about to close on a refinance myself, and my appraisal was really close to what Zillow estimated.

Yeah, the numbers on Zillow are pretty low, similar to what the appraiser had - but.... this was the same situation 3 years ago.  My house happens to be a bit of an oddity in the neighborhood it is in because it was torn down and rebuilt 25 years ago, and then about 10 years ago a major extension was made to it.  So it's much newer than the majority of the neighborhood and much larger as well, which is why 3 years ago I was also worried the appraisal may not come in - but like Teggy said, it came in exactly at the purchase price.  Even better, because it was through the FHA, we had to do 2 appraisals, and BOTH came in at exactly the purchase price. 

Zillow is probably pretty accurate, around here it's usually a little lower than what you can get by about 10%. However, it sounds like your MLO at QuickenLoans wants to sell you a different loan (that he/she likely makes more money on). If the underwriter has already denied the loan, I'd move on to another company. The approval process is usually fairly automated and once denied, it's not likely to be overridden unless you're at a small bank.

Banks also tend to work with the same appraisers over and over and they tend to know what the contract price is. Seriously, sometimes I think you can't have ethics to work in that industry...

Now supposedly the appraisal process has changed in recent years so that it can't be directly influenced/controlled by banks, etc. - but that was the same thing I was told 3 years ago.  Supposedly these are completely independent entities, which makes the whole process even more suspicious.

ATB, how did you find/choose your local mortgage co?  I get a ton of ads every day but I don't know if they are trustworthy so I thought it would be safer to work with a bigger company.

Aside from the normal "don't get your mortgage where your deposit accounts are" advice, might I suggest you look at your local banks instead of brokers? I don't know where you live, but I'd head to your regional bank (e.g., 5/3, Sun Trust, Zions, etc) or credit union and see what they can do for you. They're going to sell the loan (to FNMA/FHLMC) but retain the servicing rights. This means you still pay them and if you have a problem, that's who you deal with. A regional bank isn't typically going to sell your servicing to another bank, they just want to be able to lend the money again.

A broker, like QuickenLoans or "Bob's Hypothetical Mortgage Company", is probably going to sell both to whoever they work with.

I'm without my laptop for a while but would still like to have some decent gaming while I'm in call at work.  The work PC is decent but I don't have admin privileges.  Our techs are cool but they don't want to get into trouble by installing non-sanctioned software. 

So, does anyone know of any decent PC games that don't require admin rights to install and play?  I'm not into FPS if that helps.

Flash games on Newgrounds if the firewall will allow it is what I would do...

CNN/ORC national poll shows presidential race is all tied up, 49%-49%.

Soooo. If you completely ignore the way we actually elect the President, that poll shows the race tied. Got it.

Let's see. Bush takes over a country at peace with a budget surplus and leaves two wars, a trillion-dollar deficit, and an economy in freefall.

Obama winds up his first term with a slowly growing economy, ends one war, and puts an expiration date on the other.

Not seeing how #2 is worse than #1.

Obviously you've never watched Fox News...

And I also get annoyed with your constant use of "you guys".  Please, you're not some beacon shining the light of truth on the matter.  If anything, you're much more naive than anyone arguing for or against a candidate in this election.

This. Sometime, the language we choose may not convey what we mean and stokes the flames of a flamewar. Granted, this has been silly on both sides, so Comedy Gold approved.  

Actually on topic-ish...

Today's 538 post talks about the lack of Romney momentum, arguing that it's actually building toward Obama. My favorite quote:

To argue that Mr. Romney is ahead, or that the election is a “tossup,” requires that you disbelieve the polls, or that you engage in some complicated interpretation of them.

This is actually similar in vein to a PEC article posted yesterday here in which he says

Today, the Washington Post's Chris Cillizza has moved Ohio from "lean Obama" to "tossup." Yet the current margin in Ohio is Obama +3.0+/-0.5% (n=14 polls, Oct. 13-Nov. 1) and probably insuperable. What could be Cillizza's reason?

He writes: "...the absolute necessity for Romney to win the state if he wants to be president - leads us to move it back to the 'tossup' category." Now here is some problematic reasoning. Romney needs Ohio, so therefore it's a toss-up. Ah yes, the "let's not bicker about who killed who" argument.

Any thoughts? Or should I start a different thread on this one...

Similar to the time I was almost hit head on by a 90 yo lady going the wrong way on a one way street.  Elderly people should really be tested occasionally after a certain point to determine whether they're capable of driving safely.  If I were 80, I'd want to be tested .

I know very little of your politics, but this struck me as quite crazy - In Denmark, once you reach a certain age, 60 I think, you have to take a doctors appointment every second year to hold on to your drivers license. Once you are seventy, its every year and it gets more restrictive after that. Because of course reaction time, the ability to turn your head and the like gets impaired physically as you age.

Do you mean to say there is NO such thing in the US?

No, but we have significantly more landmass and significantly less mass transit options than you do. It's stupid easy to get a drivers licence here and it's not likely to be taken away.

Oh, and FREEDOMS!

Rick, it does not apply to any of those.

I said I Kid, sort of, only because I think there is a larger percentage of Obama supporters that really should be tested in some way before voting.  Controversial obviously, and I realize and respect why  that will never happen. Still though, after watching and listening to many interviews of Obama supporters this past year the thought entered my mind for the first time.

If we were to implement a test prior to voting, let's make it science questions. Just saying....

Trolling, wow.

All your (and your cronies), "posts" directed at me regarding this were entirely refuted and your modus operandi illustrated.

Wait, wait. You're trying to say you haven't been trolling?

Now I'm confused. I was pretty sure that this has pretty much devolved to one side trolling the other...

Nevermind...

Calvera, you said it win a decent amount of conviction bit you're wrong which isn't really new.

http://m.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections/election_2012/election_2012_presidential_election/ohio/election_2012_ohio_president

Hadn't seen that poll, it's not included in 538 yet. It still goes against all of the other polling in the state over the last 2 weeks (If not longer). It's in the same boat as the Gallup poll that showed Romney up by 7%. Outliers (in either direction) don't count.

Also from that page

Nearly one-in-three Ohio voters (32%) have already cast their ballots. Obama leads 62% to 36% among these voters. Romney has a large lead among those who still plan to vote. The question of who wins Ohio may come down to whether enough Romney voters get to the polls on Election Day to overcome the president’s lead among early voters.

First of all your link goes to RCP, which I rarely visit.

Romney is up in Ohio on the latest Rasmussen poll.

Guess it isn't all about Ohio now eh? LOL

http://gamingtrend.com/forums/political-religious-nonsense/the-2012-presidential-debates-thread-get-free-halo-armor!/msg884065/#msg884065

http://gamingtrend.com/forums/political-religious-nonsense/the-2012-presidential-debates-thread-get-free-halo-armor!/msg884160/#msg884160

you seemed to put stock in them not too long ago.  as a matter of fact you used it as your only defense against requests for other polls.

Absolutely, hands down, without a doubt made my day.  I have to give it to Eco, he made me laugh out loud.  To say that when all it takes is to go back one or two pages in this very thread to see otherwise is amazingly ballsy.  

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2012/president/2012_elections_electoral_college_map.html




I still cannot comprehend the notion that this election is "in the bag" for anyone.

Canuck, do you even live here?  Maybe that explains it.  Is the media in Canada saying ya "in the bag".

By the way, real clear politics has used already in this thread to "prove" the electoral college lead to me...

Damn, Romnesia is contagious!

Good thing we've got Obamacare, I'd be worried I wouldn't be able to get treatment otherwise...

First of all your link goes to RCP, which I rarely visit.

Romney is up in Ohio on the latest Rasmussen poll.

Guess it isn't all about Ohio now eh? LOL

LOL, the last polling showed Obama with a consistent 2%+ advantage in Ohio. The last Rasmussen poll (10/23) in Ohio was tied. Literally every other poll has shown Obama ahead with the latest conducted on 10/28 by from Public Policy Polling with a 4% advantage.

Sure it does.

I'm convinced.

I do not see the logic of putting so much weight on the RCP no tossup map?

Because the toss-up map is irrelevant. It tells you nothing about the potential outcomes.

I'm no worse, or "selective" than you...

Romney is leading in most reputable national polls, and in those polls, plus the lesser known polls where he is losing he is within the margin of error and LEADING amongst independents.

In addition, many swing states that has been thought to be Obama locks are either now tied or show Romney with a lead.

Many democratic pundits have voiced major concerns over this the past week.

Everyone has selection bias, but that's what sites like RCP (without tossups), FiveThirtyEight and the Princeton elections page are designed to combat. If you (attempt) to remove selection bias, Obama has lead the whole election in the EC. The. Whole. Time. Right now, he's forecasted to get ~ 290 and he's never dipped below 270.

The media narrative is that it is close. To continue this narrative, they've started running stories about the EC being tied. The chance of this happening is around 0.5% according to 538, or roughly the same chance that Obama will win with a double digit popular vote margin.

Ohio, btw, has announced that over 800,000 votes have already been cast here. With over 600,000 being vote by mail (meaning cast prior to the third debate). That's about 14% of the votes cast in 2008.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2012/president/2012_elections_electoral_college_map.html




I still cannot comprehend the notion that this election is "in the bag" for anyone.

Canuck, do you even live here?  Maybe that explains it.  Is the media in Canada saying ya "in the bag".

By the way, real clear politics has used already in this thread to "prove" the electoral college lead to me...

Because RCP is calling more states "Toss-ups" than any other major site. Hell, even Karl Rove has Obama with more Electoral votes than Romney (with even more toss ups!). WARNING! Fox News link for the Karl Rove info: here.

In the EC, Obama has been leading the entire time by a large margin. Most statistical analysis of polling data has Obama winning the EC if the election was held today (which it effectively is with early voting). The only reason the media here is emphasizing the popular vote is because it requires no explanation and it paints the picture that the election has been really close. Which it really hasn't been in the EC.

538 has Obama back to 70/30 today and gaining (again).

Curious in that if you install Doom 3 BFG edition to the HD on a 360, you can't launch the bonus Doom 2/Original Doom:

Twitter user Wario64 discovered the error message seen below. NowGamer reached out to Bethesda and was told by Bethesda's Matt Grandstaff that "we recommend not installing the game" as it will prevent the launch of both Doom and Doom 2. Additionally, "there is no performance advantage to installing the game to your hard drive."

This seems very odd, and I wonder if it also happens with the PS3?

Joystiq's article has a little more information. According to the comments you can still launch Doom/Doom 2 from the dashboard with the game installed, you just can't launch it from within the game. A better error message would have been 'Please launch these from the dashboard' when Doom 3 is installed to the hard drive.

Any guess who said this:
 
"The fact that we are here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure.  It is a sign that the US Government cannot pay its own bills.  It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government's reckless fiscal policies.  Increasing America's debt weakens us domestically and internationally.  Leadership means that, 'the buck stops here.'  Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren.  America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership.  Americans deserve better."

Obama in 2006. Prior to the whole economic collapse thing. You know, the thing that practically collapsed the entire financial sector globally? In a more prosperous time, I would hope they would say something like that because taxes should have been raised instead of running a huge deficit AT THAT TIME. The economic situation has been drastically different since which involves a different focus. But, hey, when you're looking for confirmation of your beliefs...

BTW, you should read Obama's acknowledgement and comment on that quote.

Has the UN ever taxed anyone? Do they even have that power?

So, it comes down to you defining significant portion to be whatever suits you?  

"Nearly half of Americans believe God created mankind in a single day about 10,000 years ago...About 46 percent of people say creationism explains the origin of humans."

How is that not a significant portion?

They called ~ 1000 people for this survey. Critically, however, there is no breakdown by state. As a result, the poll is treating the whole country as homogeneous with respect to these answers.
The results are about as accurate as an internet poll of "random" people (that is, not very). It's meant to be a throw away poll for soundbites, not a rigorous study that could be peer reviewed.

With a higher sample size distributed among the states evenly, I'd wager you would get a drastically different result.

All I've ever said about the polls are that I believe it will be neck and neck until the bitter end.

Armageddon must be upon us because I can agree with this statement. I agree it will be neck and neck until the bitter end.

Typically in the past, one party has checked against the other in terms of who has majority in the executive and legislative branch. Governing requires compromise and cooperation across the aisle, and our elected officials used to work together to get shit done when it really mattered. I still think one party remembers that, but the other has flat out refused to even consider any kind of middle ground.

I think this is ultimately hurting Romney. Romney really comes across as a moderate when not trying to give the party line. I could see voting for Romney just as easily as I can see Obama. From the way he came across in the debate, I can see him attempting to compromise. I think the Democrats would be apt to help him, they've shown a willingness to compromise over the last 4 years (even on Obamacare, passage excluded).

However, I just can't vote for Romney with the rest of the party being so crazy. Ryan doesn't help balance the ticket for voters like me, he actually makes the ticket worse.

In September, the household survey showed a whopping 873,000 increase in the number of people who said they found work. That’s the biggest one-month gain in 29 years.  Fact, and reason to be skeptical...

Again, I ask for some kind of reasoning other than "impossible because Obama can do nothing right". Making a claim like that demands something to back it up, otherwise it comes off as petty and childish

I would just like to point out that this place was dominated for 8 years by this mentality toward GWB.  And if Romney wins, the P&R forum will see more activity in his first 6 months than it has in the last 4 years of Obama.

Anyway, whoever wins, we lose. And I don't mean AvP.

I agree with this. It's not like it really matters who is elected. If Romney is elected, the Senate looks to still be Democrat. Democrats with a very large incentive to block everything. So the next two years would look just like the last two years.

If Romney is elected, Obamacare isn't going anywhere (they'll never get the 60 votes to break the filibuster), the large tax cuts probably won't happen, etc...

Well, on the topic of alternative energy I got a whole-house solar quote over the weekend.   For me to exit the grid completely it'll cost me roughly 14k, with roughly 1600 of that being paid by rebates from the state.  When you look at the fact that I've spent $2674.00 in the last 12 months on power, it'll take just 5.2 years for me to break even.  At that point I'll be immune to rate hikes and other nonsense.   Tell me again how Solar is a waste of investment and should be cut from federal research?

Ironically, your solar panels probably won't be made in the US even though they were pioneered here. It's pretty disappointing that we've pretty much ceded our solar lead to China and Germany.

If only we could live long enough to see this time in history referred to as the real dark ages because of these nut fucks.

Luckily it's mostly just the US (as in "a significant portion of the population", not "everyone") and various third-world countries that subscribe to these fundamentalist beliefs, so it's not so widespread as to be utterly destructive to our future.

It's not a "significant portion of the population" that believes this. It's a very vocal, very small portion that lives mainly in the deep south. Unfortunately, it hits the media as an implied "look at these idiots" and gets spread around the world. Don't worry, the average American looks at these idiots the same as a train wreck or Honey Boo Boo.

It only seems that way if you live in a blue state. Behold "the average American."

Nearly half of Americans believe God created mankind in a single day about 10,000 years ago, a literal interpretation of the Bible, according to a new survey that shows the view toward evolution in the United States hasn't changed in 30 years.

About 46 percent of people say creationism explains the origin of humans. Just 15 percent say humans evolved without the assistance of God, a Gallup poll finds.

The new data reveals that more Americans think President Barack Obama is a Muslim than believe in the theory of evolution. More Americans also believe in witches with magical powers, too.

I believe you left out the best part of that link!

More Americans also believe in witches, 21 percent, according to a separate Gallup poll. Three quarters said they believed in some kind of supernatural or paranormal activity.

If only we could live long enough to see this time in history referred to as the real dark ages because of these nut fucks.

Luckily it's mostly just the US (as in "a significant portion of the population", not "everyone") and various third-world countries that subscribe to these fundamentalist beliefs, so it's not so widespread as to be utterly destructive to our future.

It's not a "significant portion of the population" that believes this. It's a very vocal, very small portion that lives mainly in the deep south. Unfortunately, it hits the media as an implied "look at these idiots" and gets spread around the world. Don't worry, the average American looks at these idiots the same as a train wreck or Honey Boo Boo.

One more question about steam.

I'm getting this game from amazon (i have credit so it's free).  When I install it from the disk, will it prompt me to login to steam or will i have to register it with steam after the fact.

My experience is that beginning the install from the disc will immediately launch Steam and have you register the game.  If you're unlucky, entering the key will then cause Steam to begin trying to download the entire game from the internet rather than from your disc.  True story. 

If the installation will allow it, try cancelling out of Steam and installing as much as possible from the disc.

-Autistic Angel

Yes, what's on the disc is a Steam "backup" of the game. It's the same as if you click "Backup and Restore" in the menu and backup a single game. That said, it was kinda wonky for a long, long while. I believe this issue is mostly fixed these days, though. Partially because they changed the way the games are updated.

If you have that problem, just copy the contents of the DVD(s) to a directory on your hard drive and use the built in Steam restore from there. (Meaning, go to Steam->"Backup and Restore Games" in Steam. Don't run the executable in the directory.) It won't download as much/any data at all before it gets it off the hard drive.

The administration doesn't feel as confidently about the debates as you do, as they've been trying to lower expectations for the past week.

Confidence has nothing to do with that. They're actively managing expectations to remain in control. Romney is doing the exact same thing, granted not nearly as well. I don't need to see Romney doing 'zingers' (unless he goes full out and says Bazinga), but he's putting out press about doing them in the debate.