That or my defenses were up.

Going back over the thread- I can see where DyerWolf could easily have been misinterpreted.
Likewise- after a LONG PM session with Soylentgreen after tempers flared on a couple sides there as each person read more into what was said than the poster intended, I think he and I understand eachother better now ( I hope.)

Perhaps Soylent can post in better clarity later- But this is just one of those topics that has a passion about it.
Treating civilians like soft weaklings is nonsense.
Treating Military like boneheaded sociapathic killers is nonsense too.
I know of so many gaming websites that have "Shoot up your office" schemes to them
You can smash your computer- demolish your desk eetc.
One bad one on Adult Swim has a guy running around his office suicidal using office machines to grant him freedom in oblivion.

I'm glad you serve for me. I'd be awful in combat. Sometimes I wonder why I'm a teacher! ;-)

Thanks

__________________
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Albert Einstein

Peachy, dude, just keep in mind, he's right. Would I handle combat well? I dunno, after my twenty-first pair of underwear and the first meal actually held down and fully digested that week, I might adapt to the kind of life he leads.

Its a diametric opposite of what would be considered "normal" in civilian life. And the fact is, these guys coming back from combat tours need about as much defruitcaking as your average cultist who's spent the last year in a cave under a charismatic lunatic.

I don't kowtow and bow quite so much as your typical "support the troops" fanatic, but I do fully understand the unbelievable (and voluntary) psychological trauma these guys inflict on themselves just to get by day to day. I do respect that sacrifice of personal humanity, I just don't fawn over it because they did volunteer for it. If the man says blasting avatars on a computer screen helps him stay sane, hey, I'll chip in for the next expansion for him.

As for the "sociopathy", put it this way, if it weren't for the paranoia level instincts they develop as a part of their lifestyle, the odds are, he'd be returning to the US horizontally in an ornate flagdraped box instead of a little screwloose in the bone box. Take your pick.

__________________
I'm not completely heartless, the doctor who removed it told me he'd never be able to get it all.

Yeah uhhh... blasting avatars keeps me sane.

And you sound like an easy victim too.
It's a good thing I'm sane. But...
I dunno how long that will last because my Playstation went and broke...

Oh?

What's that you said?

Why DOODLER I didn't know you cared!

Itakecashcheckcreditcardtravellerschequesandmoney ordersorjustshipitdirectlytomymailingaddress.

__________________
I'm not completely heartless, the doctor who removed it told me he'd never be able to get it all.

Back to the OT, I found that playing Carmageddon 2 after driving home from work was an excellent way to relax after a bad commute, but playing it immediately before driving to work was not a good idea.

__________________
The automatic equation of radical [artistic] style with liberal politics and of conservative style with reactionary politics is a historical myth that does little justice to an agonizingly ambiguous historical reality. -Alex Ross, The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century

I've played Half Life1/2, Halo, Call of Duty2, and GTA Vice City/San Andreas, but I also enjoy Rail Tycoon and most by Sid Miers, especially Civilization 3/4. Always ones you come back to.
I can't say I use them to vent anger per sa, but they are good for letting out frustration when things don't go right elsewhere in Real Life. Curently I'm doing WOW after getting bored with EVE, which was a shame 'cos I'd rather wanted a good MMPG space sim.
And they cancelled the Star Trek MPG they were making , so vented on WOW

Most of my friends play the online shooters, especially Call of Duty 4 on the Xbox, and I would say they have no violent tendencies whatsoever in the real world.
When playing the games, however, I wouldn't trust them with a blunt spoon!

__________________
I don't believe in mathematics. Albert Einstein

Biologically speaking, if something bites you it's more likely to be female. Desmond Morris.

Quantum analysis is scientific dithering

Professor Frink: My observations n'hey, n'hey, show the universe could be a torus Weh, uh, or toriod it may like the typewriters and bananas and the monkeys with big teeth the biting the screaming Mm-hai!

Homer: mmmmm... doughnuts!

Civ 4 is awesome

__________________
WANTED:

Schroedinger's Cat

Dead And Alive

EVE is probably too good a space sim for its own good, sometimes. Its grind wears on you worse than others, because as necessary as it is, the motivation to stay on the grind is very abstract compared to games with an experience point system based on enemies killed or items crafted.

On the other hand, there are elements of its gameplay that make it exceptionally attractive for the long haul (PvP with severe consequences/rewards as well as its exceptional political/diplomacy model), its simply imperative that you find a solid group of people to play with.

I've been at it just over a year now and rarely play anything else. Looking forward to launching my carrier on Monday night.

__________________
I'm not completely heartless, the doctor who removed it told me he'd never be able to get it all.

Grand Theft Auto is my 'chill pill'.

When life gets too stressful, it's good to be able to climb onto a nearby roof with an arsenal of weaponry, and go psotal...so as to not endanger my real-life neighbors, or wind up in prison as somebody's new GF.

__________________
Angel of the Abyss
-------------
"I am Ripper...Tearer...Slasher...Gouger. I am the Teeth in the Darkness, the Talons in the Night. Mine is Strength...and Lust...and Power! I AM BEOWULF!"

Ironically, I'm an RPG man. I guess some of my games like Jak II and Jak III could be called violent.
Or Xenogears or Legend of Legaia

But them they are not shoot em up, no plot gunslinger games either.

I found Civ4 a bit confusing, couldn't get used to the new interface...

Hehehe. I just accidentally fried myself in Elder Scrolls: Oblivion after having set the game down for a month or so. My preliminary conclusion is this: do not use the electricity spell in my #4 slot to take out a dire wolf at point-blank range in the Colovian Highlands. I suspect I forgot I had a major area-effect spell there.

Off to do the forensics.

Update: I figured it out, and it's a neat way to self-inflict. There's a mod called Midas Magic which adds spell effects. One of the better assault spells is Grand Chain Lightning. The advantage of this spell is that it'll bounce around among one's enemies and can do a lot of damage for the magicka required to cast it. (For oblivion players, it's a rough equivalent to optimized crafted Journeyman spells.) The drawback is the very same thing. The spell will bounce around. Allies, enemies, the only person off the table is the caster. Or so I thought. Apparently, the spell chain-bounced between my horse and the dire wolf. That is, the dire wolf standing directly in front of me, and the horse standing directly behind me. I ended up taking the spell in transit in both directions, repeatedly.

Heh, oops.

As to the OP, I'm feeling pretty relaxed right now.

__________________

New! It combines the power of science with the gentleness of your mother's best intentions!
A new miracle technique, we apply homeopathic methods to achieve scientific efficaciousness
for dilutions WAY beyond Avogadro's Limit. It's New! It's Fresh!
It's Placebo^[tm] Brand Power Drink! *[Use as directed. May increase kidney function.]

The irony is that I don't have that attitude. Anyone who's read enough of my posts can see that pretty clearly. Also:

I guess you and Soylent read a whole "Col. Jessup" thing into my post that wasn't there.

I would resent the implication, but I recognize there has been a whole lot of 'wrong impressioning' going on.

For what it's worth: I had a very concrete example in mind (rather than some hyperbolae/stereotype) that I might write up some day.


Anyway: the title I'm presently waiting on is Empire TotalWar
Screenshots
and
more screen shots

For those unfamiliar with the series: its like Civ - except you get tactical control over the battles and the time-line is much more specific. This title will be a sim of the period of expanding European Empires from the late 1600's to the early 1800's.

__________________
Talent develops in quiet places, character in the full current of human life.
- Goethe

Jump in with both feet!
- Me, indulging my inner eight-year-old

*** *** ***

"Are you a mad-hatter that just types what he wishes, or have you actually any physics training?"
Occam's Ghost to Grant Hutchison.

I think that was probably the problem as it was just me and one other, so mining and the missions get kind of repetative after a while. I got as far as the Gallant hyperion battleship, and was working towards the carrier and then dreadnought. Maybe I'll go back to it at a later date.
The graphics were the best I've seen on an MMPG, but then space games don't have to worry about background so much.

__________________
I don't believe in mathematics. Albert Einstein

Biologically speaking, if something bites you it's more likely to be female. Desmond Morris.

Quantum analysis is scientific dithering

Professor Frink: My observations n'hey, n'hey, show the universe could be a torus Weh, uh, or toriod it may like the typewriters and bananas and the monkeys with big teeth the biting the screaming Mm-hai!

Homer: mmmmm... doughnuts!

If you come back, look up Janu Hull or Barron Hull. I'm with a pretty good group now with solid roots in both high sec and 0.0.

If you don't want to go that route, which I perfectly respect, I do know a pretty good place for lone players to get involved in 0.0 without too many obligations tying them down. Ratting can be more boring than missions at times, but it is more profitable, for far less work, and being at risk definitely keeps the blood flowing and your heart racing.

__________________
I'm not completely heartless, the doctor who removed it told me he'd never be able to get it all.

Thanks for the info'. I'll give them a shout if I go back to it. Got my arse kicked in .4 sec, I remember that! Ha! Mind you, running around in a frigate was asking for it...

__________________
I don't believe in mathematics. Albert Einstein

Biologically speaking, if something bites you it's more likely to be female. Desmond Morris.

Quantum analysis is scientific dithering

Professor Frink: My observations n'hey, n'hey, show the universe could be a torus Weh, uh, or toriod it may like the typewriters and bananas and the monkeys with big teeth the biting the screaming Mm-hai!

Homer: mmmmm... doughnuts!

Careful in the battlegrounds, though, at times that could make you more aggitated then you were before you sat down. Has anyone checked out the new arena's yet? I am tempted and like the idea of a level playing ground but with all the new hacks showing up in the regular game, I don't want to chase another carrot.