Their NDA is definitely hurting them...unless of course its there because people would be slamming the game otherwise.

Having finally played the game for myself, I can assure you that's not the case. I was taking a bit of a risk defending the game as much as I have the past few weeks without having seen it, but tonight I played for about four hours and any fears I had have subsided.

Another reason behind my EQ2 bias that I haven't gone into real depth about is that one of my best friends and many of his family members who were die-hard EQ players are going to be playing EQ2. I'll finally get a chance to get in on the ground floor with a group of dedicated players who WILL get me to 50 and let me experience some high level content for a change.

You guys who want to group though, I'd definitely like to meet up in game (I'll pass on the butt touching.)

Everquest 2 just announced that the legendary Christopher Lee will be adding 4 hours of dialogue to the game, and luscious babe Heather Graham will be adding 300 lines of dialogue.

Take THAT WoW!    

Actually, EQ2 is more casual than WOW. Blizzard just announced that WOW would have raids that the entire server could participate in, at the same time. EQ2 raids are capped at 24, correct?

Correct. The EQ2 raids were intentionally capped to avoid the problems of the old EQ1 raids that took forever to organize, bad lag, etc. So good luck with that in WoW   . Guild size also has limitations, though not caps - the larger the guild, the more money and prestige it takes to keep it going. So the average guild size will likely be smaller.

Lower raid/guild size doesn't necessarily equal "more casual" though. The encounters in EQ2 are designed to be very tough and will take a lot of teamwork between parties and party members.

I voted EQ2. My friend just got into beta so I've had an opportunity to compare the two titles first-hand. EQ2 wins my money by a mile. In fact, it really boggles my mind that people think WoW is so much better. The only explanation I have is that a) there is more info on WoW, b) they simply don't like EQ/SOE and that is swaying their opinion.

That's not to say WoW isn't fun, because it is. I really enjoyed my time with WoW, but it's not the game for me. It's too simplistic and not quite innovative enough. There were so many things about EQ2 I like better - the particle system, the voices, the combat, the crafting, the graphics, the sound.

I don't really care which game "wins." I just want the game that is the better fit for me and the one I have the most fun with. EQ2 is that game.

I also don't mind the steep system requirements for EQ2. The game runs GREAT on a rig identical to mine, and I like to see companies push the limit without worrying about catering to the lowest common denominator.

Oh, and to tiny ogre who has probably been watching me pimp EQ2 and smacking his forehead, I certainly mean no offense. WoW is going to sell a gazillion copies, it's a GREAT game, and I've already talked a couple of friends who didn't like EQ and are more casual MMOers into pre-ordering it. It's not the best fit for me, but I would not at all be surprised if it becomes the reigning king of MMOs.

Probably going to pick up Kingdom Hospital since my friends all loved it and I never got around to watching. Plus I'm a big King fan.

I hate to spoil the Pamela lovefest, but the woman was a bona fide bitch. I have never seen someone act so rude and condescending to a team she basically just "met." I think part of good management is good people skills, and coming in and treating grown women like school children is not an example of good people skills. She handled the transition entirely inappropriately in my opinion. Yeah, the team she inherited sucked, but the "drill sergeant" approach just came off as so incredibly egotistic.

I agree about Raj. When the season started I thought he would be the token "crazy guy" like that wacky little dude from Season 1. However, it's obvious that Raj might be eccentric, but he's certainly not crazy. His ideas seem sound, and I can't help but think if the team had listened to his pricing ideas they would have won by a lot more than $10. His thing with Anna Kournikova was very funny and almost inspirational.  

I think Trump ultimately fired Pamela because the board room only had enough room for one enormous ego.

I think that doom and gloom again hearkens back to the old Dickens novels, which consisted of the same kind of dark, dreary atmosphere. This book is written as if this stuff really happened, and that the novel is actually just another "history book" in a long line of tomes written about the two great magicians. The footnotes help establish that history, and in that way are absolutely essential.

Election is nigh!
R&P forum is dead!
Terrorists have won!

I'm not really wishing failure on it, I just have no interest in the thing. I've just become really disillusioned with Nintendo as a company. I just feel that they are out of touch with the gaming industry. Maybe I'm wrong, and gamers really DON'T want good graphics or envelope-pushing technology.

Sony has the best chance of knocking the GameBoy off its golden throne, and I'd really like to see Nintendo get some competition. Lack of competition is what allowed Nintendo to give us non-backlit GameBoys for years.

I can feel the noose getting tighter and tighter.

When I first started here, I was in complete control of our company's network and email. There were no restrictions on internet usage.

Slowly my control has been eroded. Now we're at a point where our internet flows through our parent company. Our firewall is configured and controlled by our parent company. Our mail flows through and is filtered by our parent company.

My job is fairly secure (knock on wood) because they'll always need someone to do front-line tech support here, but I think my dreams of being a big network admin are over. I'm nothing but a glorified custodian for a network that is truly controlled by people hundreds of miles away.

I just finished it recently. The book was written in a style common to the era it was set in. That's something you kind of have to accept upfront, or else you'll be bored by the footnotes, formatting, dialogue, etc. A lot of your complaints, Sparhawk, might be attributed to that.

I really enjoyed it, though I also thought it dragged a bit in the middle. The story itself is extremely slow-paced, but it makes it a very rich tale when all is said and done.

I kept thinking I'd love to see a movie version of the book, though they'd have to keep it true to its Victorian roots and I don't know if Hollywood could pull it off. Part of the book's charm is that it is almost written as part of the collection of magical books that it speaks so often about.

I would probably pay $10 easy.

Man, so many. A few I haven't seen mentioned:

1. The great mod walk-out (crazy time)
2. SkirtMan's collective PWNING of GG. That was hilarious.
3. The great Morrowind post flood.
4. The dreaded R&P forum split.

But most of all it was the day-to-day experience of being able to go somewhere and engage in some feisty political debate, get real gamers' opinions on a new game, talk about Chick-Fil-a, find a great deal, and maybe make a game trade, all in one visit. I can't count the number of times I laughed my ass off at those crazy posts, or how many times my visits to GG helped me get through a particularly rough day at work.

If I needed advice on anything, I could count on GG. If I needed information on anything, I could count on GG. If I needed a game recommendation, I could count on GG. It was my one-stop shop for almost everything, and I really do miss it like I've never missed a webpage before.

I've read several of his books (American Gods, Neverwhere, etc.)  Very imaginative guy, his books are full of really strange characters and bizarre fantasy. He reminds me a bit of Clive Barker and China Meivelle (sp?) in that respect.

American Gods is probably my favorite so far though.

Mystery solved:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1324244,00.html

JoJo looked across the savannah, his heart beating wildly. It had become so suddenly apparent. There was more to life than picking fleas from his friends and running from lions. Across this wild jungle, over the vast expanse of the Atlantic Ocean...

There was Vegas.

I'm more bewildered than pissed. A site vanishes without a trace from the internet without warning and nobody in a position to know seems to know what happened? I find that extremely odd.

I had to kind of laugh to myself - I was reading an article yesterday about how the FBI was yanking anti-government websites. I guess those crazy liberals in R&P finally crossed the line.  

I'd like to echo the thanks to Knightshade and the gang for allowing this, truly a grand gesture.

Just a couple of thoughts:

1. If GG dies, I'd really be interested in helping get the PC reviews up and running.

2. As one of the biggest anti-R&P people around back during the forum split, it may surprise you to hear me say that if this does become the "new" GG, I HIGHLY recommend a separate R&P forum. The reason being, you're not going to stop people from talking politics so you either stick it in its own forum or you WILL see it in the Off Topic area sooner or later. My complaints about the original R&P forum were more behind the way in which it was implemented and the lack of resolution to some serious behavioral problems. The former wouldn't be an issue here, and the latter - well, we've learned to deal with it.  

3. I agree with others' sentiments that I don't want to feel like I'm intruding on another established site. I have no problem making CG our new permanent home ONLY if Knightshade and the rest of the CG community extend the offer. Otherwise, let's make a new site and no hard feelings.

Considering WoW basically stole it's entire existence from EQ, I think it's a fair trade.