Dervish

I feel so bad for my cat.

Turtlicious said
Lion King: Cats 6Dogs 4

Cujo:

Cats: 2
Dogs: 7

Cheap Death in Storys?

Brovo said
Depends. If it's a death without consequence it destroys the tension. If the death still holds consequence, then it will hold an appropriately equal level of tension with it based on how likely it is to occur within the parameters of the story.For example (gaming): Death in a lot of video games holds no consequences other than having to load the game. It can be frustrating but it's hardly the end of the world, especially since most games let you choose when and where to save and load. Now take Dark Souls, a game that doesn't let you save/load and will ruthlessly slaughter you, causing you to lose experience and progress. Death suddenly has consequences attached. There is a palpable tension in Dark Souls when faced with death--especially if you have a lot of experience to lose--than in, say, Mass Effect, where you just load the game and try again with a different approach.Or, take X-Com. Deaths suck but you can always reload unless you toggle the "Ironman" option in the latest edition, which prevents loading the game past the current turn. Suddenly all your squaddies' deaths hold impact, especially if you renamed them to RP characters or living people.It's why nobody talks about or cares about Sheppard's dramatic death at the beginning of Mass Effect 2. It was a death that was, for all practical purposes, without consequence to the player. It had no impact on how they played the game, it limited no options, and it was entirely out of their control as a contrived way to start the story.To summarize: The greater the consequences attached to death, even if the death is reversible or temporary, the greater the tension one will derive from it. Especially if the consequences are permanent in some manner, like you could bring someone back from the dead but they would lose all their memories, or bring someone back from the undead but only as a walking corpse, etc.

Spoilers for Mass Effect if you haven't played and intend to ahead:

Going back to Mass Effect for a minute, I was just thinking about it, but you're looking at that from a player perspective. Any game that lets you reload can apply to that, but Mass Effect was actually pretty good for character deaths that could have been prevented if you did the right thing, but your team can die if you don't do things right. Like Wrex in ME1, not upgrading the Normandy in ME2 as well as picking the wrong people to do certain duties on the suicide mission, and quite a few variations in ME3 like not being able to talk the Virmire survivor into trusting you about Udina, if Thane died in ME2 than it's Kirrahe who dies in ME3, and if both were dead by ME3, then the salarian Councillor gets assassinated, sabotaging the genophage with Wrex still alive has him confront Shepard, forcing Shepard to kill him. Mordin is almost guaranteed to die in ME3 unless you do some very specific things leading up to it, and so on so forth. Mass Effect kind of handles death with a sudden and rather unpreventable finality if you don't do things the right way well in advanced, and simply loading a save often can't prevent someone's fate from coming to pass, unless you wanted to replay the entire game.

I feel so bad for my cat.

Card said
Tigers Cats: 1Dogs: 1

Direwolves

Cats: -1
Dogs: 3

Mass Effect: Nova

Voltaire said
I intended to see the movie from the beginning. The humor looked great and I'm a huge Lego fan myself. I've moved all over the western US and never once considered tossing my Legos. Shame on you Dervs. I've also discovered that my collection of Bionicles is quite valuable.

Of all my regrets in life, that easily ranks in the top 3. D:

February Protests in Venezuela

I remember you talking about this stuff before, the state of your nation I mean, back when we were in GEARs together. Man, I don't have adequate words for what you're going through other than I hope you and your family stay safe in all this and that whatever tomorrow brings is the change that you and the people are fighting for. You've always been a good guy, and Venezuelan people have always been great in my eyes. You guys seem to really strive for values that we treasure (and often take for granted) in Canada, and I really think the world needs to know about your struggle. You're regrettably right about the news; this is literally the first I've heard about this, which is a damn crime and an injustice to your people.

Whatever happens, know that this Canuck has you in his thoughts and I wish there was more I could do than offer intangible support.

So after at least 20 hours of solid sleeping created by lots of drugs.

Awson said
I almost typed something strongly worded aimed at this post.

'tis why I replied with a heavy handed, retarded joke that required zero effort.

So after at least 20 hours of solid sleeping created by lots of drugs.

Drakel said

I am tripping balls right now.

Mass Effect: Nova

O LOYAL SUBJECTS, I HAVE RETURNED WITH TIDINGS OF THE LEGO MOVIE OF LORE! GATHER ROUND AND HEAR MY VOICE!

It's amazing, seriously go see that shit immediately. That was one of the most enjoyable movies I think I've seen in years, if not my entire life. I say that with no hyperbole or exaggeration. It's a perfect movie.

The movie does a really, REALLY good job at looking great and blurring the lines between CGI and stop motion, which at times I wasn't entirely sure if they were just using CGI or not. The movie moves a great pace, didn't overstay its welcome or drag on, the cast and characters were wonderful, especially normally very serious actors who just had fun with it and getting into character. The trailer didn't spoil everything, was was refreshing as hell, and there was a lot of stuff that genuinely surprised me. The writing was spot on, jokes perfectly timed, and it really captured the fun and spirit of Lego that's making me sincerely wish I didn't throw all my Lego out before I moved. Honestly? It's right up there with Pixar movies (except Cars; go fuck yourself, you anthropomorphic piles of shit), and it actually had some genuinely emotionally effecting parts with some great messages. A great twist at the end pops up that's pretty cleverly hinted at earlier on, and some of the stuff was genuinely unpredictable for how it plays out. The best part is, nothing you see in the movie you couldn't actually create with Lego and so much of it is so incredibly imaginative, I honestly had a big stupid smile on my face the entire time. I literally have no criticisms of the movie, not a single thing I would change, and I am totally buying it when it comes out.

There's very, very few movies I'd give a 10/10 to, and this is one of them.

EDIT: I don't want to do spoilers or anything, but seriously Batman is hilarious because he is literally every joke the Internet's made about the character rolled into one package.

My Spam list of Friends: LIST YOURS AS WELL!

Blitzkrieg said
"He died for our sins"

I would want to be a Geth. No voice acting for that, just give me hard-drive noises.

Or you can only speak in dubstep. I normally hate dubstep, but I find it enjoyable when used for amusement, like in Saints Row IV.

So after at least 20 hours of solid sleeping created by lots of drugs.

Cayden Black said
Medicinal drugs?If just druggie drugs, respect lost my friend.Respect lost...

Hell naw, chase that dragon, maaan.

xXx420xXx 4lyfe needle and the damage done, dawg. My veins transport more smack than blood, lol I can't believe I'm talking through a toaster.