Warmaker

For WoW's numbers, I have no doubt some of those numbers are due to alternate accounts. Some people may have 2-3 accounts. I've known some to have even more. The thing is, this applies to all MMOs also. Back in SWG's good days, I had 2 accounts. My Sister had 2 accounts also. I had a good friend that had 4. So, even with WoW's numbers being cut down by half or even down to 1/3, WoW still has an insane number of subscribers. It's the MMO that has "quadrupled-quadropled" even the biggest dreams of MMO developers ever since Ultima Online came out in the late 90s. It's not the MMO I favor to play, but its success cannot be denied. The only other MMO that I know that comes close is Guild Wars. They've got 5 million last I read about in several magazines a couple months ago, and it's still millions behind WoW. Since Dangaioh brought up PvP, the last game I regularly did PvP with fervor was Star Wars Galaxies before it went to hell. I played as a loyal Imperial... an Imperial Stormtrooper I had the regularly seen armor as well as the Scout Trooper version as well, with the armorsmith making them and my replacement suits as close as possible to balanced defense values. When I PvP'ed, I went in looking Imperial. It was too bad I didn't find any Imperial "Trooper" guilds on the Ahazi server. I always strove to maintain a uniform appearance as a Stormtrooper back then. Going so far as to use weapons used by the Empire during the movies. I just had to go around harder to get high end versions of the weapons I favored: E11 Mk.II Carbine, T-21 Hvy Blaster, Scout Blaster, etc... and some only becoming good at certain points of the game's history. Even while lounging around the cantina, I had the dress uniform standing by. Edit to add: regarding the armor again, I remember still using Stormtrooper Armor when it had "30% resists" and tons of vulnerabilities while everyone was running around in "90% resist" armor with 1 vulnerability in stun damage. I was very vulnerable back then. But I got alot of credit from Rebel PvPers for wearing something that screamed Star Wars. More than enough, especially after getting my butt whipped in PvP, I got /salutes from the Rebels It was fun, for several reasons: Imperials, in a funny twist of Star Wars canon, were outnumbered by Rebel players. After all, everyone loves the Rebels, right? Not me. SWG was also one of the extremely rare Star Wars game where you can play as the Empire, much less a Stormtrooper. Plus, guys like me and the "Trooper" guilds helped immerse people into the Star Wars setting, especially the new players. Very few things scream Star Wars than seeing a bunch of guys in Stormtrooper / Scout Trooper armor patrolling the streets of Mos Eisley. The role players went even further to have others in on the act, like someone being inspected for and being caught with contraband, only to be taken away by the Empire. Like I said, it was fun. Until they screwed the game over. Then everybody left.

The Terminator probably did the act just enough to get Connor's trust and to confirm his identity. Once that was all done, it's back to "business mode." Throughout all the Terminator movies, from Arnold's 3 incarnations, the T-1000, and the T-X, they all act business until they have to interact with a human as part of the infiltration process. Even Arnie's T2 version was all straight to the business in personality. As for the public school and metal detector requirement, it's simple: The detector will help screen a Terminator infiltration, though that could pose problems for his own protector. Why no homeschooling or a private school? Simple. Money! Those routes for education aren't cheap, and the Connors don't have enough income to maintain such a luxury. Especially since they move around so much and ensure they have weapons and ammunition on hand, just in case.

I'm willing to be corrected by anyone as to what post SDF:M show is superior to the original. As far as I've seen, nothing touches the original. Its only weakness is it's now old animation / art style, which I don't mind, but in these days, many will, I wager. 1/1 LowViz Lurker's thoughts on SDF:M are pretty much spot on with my views on the matter... and prevents me from typing out a whole page worth of text

I've never played WoW but I have tried other MMOs, and I've been away for months. But LotRO I have found to be fun in the 2-3 months I was able to play before going abroad. I still had a myriad of quests to do, gear to acquire, buddies to help out.... though I probably need to get help when I come back since my friends would probably be maxed out by now. There's a 7 day trial I believe, so you might want to give it a try just to see.

One word: Sweet The Batman cartoons have traditionally been deemed in a very favorable light. With Japanese studios doing the animation? Should be interesting. Right now, the Batman franchise is back on track after the disastrous derailing of the late 90s. This is another great indicator of its successful return. All thanks to Batman Begins

I've got a bunch of characters in LotRO also, but all on the Firefoot server. My main is "Elrias" for those that go to Firefoot. What's nice is that there's very large updates every few months, all as part of the normal, free patching. I was around to play the Evendim region before deploying. What's your main character's class? Mine is a Lv45 Elven Champion.

Personally, I foresee advancements in technologies associated in weapons and computers coming alot faster than finding ways to increase a living pilot's ability to endure G's and high performance flights. Aircraft designers can already really push things with the current stock of modern aircraft. What do you think those aircraft designers can do if they had more advanced computers, electronics (given enough years) if they were not restricted to performance so that a pilot would not be killed just from flying the thing? I'm not talking remote control. I'm talking, with advanced computers and AI, autonomous combat aircraft. Again, I just believe other technologies will come quicker than finding ways for a pilot to endure more in flight. Computers, weapons, and aircraft designs have come far since the 60s and 70s. How much advancements have been made for pilot endurance since the same span?

Without the success of SDF:M, you wouldn't have the much hoopla'd productions of DYRL? and Macross Plus You wouldn't have those VF-1 models and toys that they've been producing for more than 20 years. You wouldn't have those artbooks from SDF:M... nor the artbooks of DYRL? and afterwards, all because of SDF:M's success. Where would S.Kawamori's stance in anime be without the success of SDF:M? I could go on, but SDF:M is by far the most important of all Macross productions. It was highly successful, holds up today, and NOTHING Macross related was possible without it's success and the setting it made.

It could be more original. The main could be a female Japanese High School student

Reminds me of the cockpit modules for the fighters in Space: Above And Beyond I didn't think actual aircraft had such things. Learned something new.

Never say never. Especially since the timespan of a lifetime can differ greatly, for better or worse If you told the average person (or college professor?) in 1940 that in just barely over 2 decades, man would be on the moon and man-made satellites would be in orbit around Earth in large numbers, you'd probably be told to lay off the comics. As far as what's possible with computers, electronics, etc., think of this: How far have computers come since the 80's and 90's? They've become smaller and more powerful. They're able to do more for the same amount of space they used to require before. How many households in the 80s had computers? 90s? Compared to now? You already have computers having a major role in how aircraft fly, where alot of the commands are automatic. Flight Control Computers / Fly By Wire. Automatic Throttle Controls. Computers controlling leading & trailing edge flap movements, dependent on what the aircraft senses in what the pilot inputs, airspeed, altitude, etc. Autopilot Systems. A far cry to say, how aircraft were flown during WWII and how involved a pilot was with the flight controls alone. Computers have advanced rapidly. How far do you think they will progress in 10 years? 20?... and how they can affect weapon systems?

Of the two poll choices, I chose the first since it's closer to what I feel. No Macross production comes close to SDF:M. DYRL? is great namely due to the artwork and animation (at least to me). But due to the time constraints of a movie, it had to chop down and alter the story from the TV series. If a character wasn't one of the major ones, then they had very short, very minor roles in DYRL?. Heck, Quamzin, who played a huge role in the TV series, was merely fodder in the movie and saying very little before getting killed. Macross + was so so to me. Blaspheme to some, but the story and characters didn't grow on me whatsoever. As a matter of fact, I despised the 2 main charactrs, Guld and Isamu, but I relegated Isamu lower since he's just an all-around-a**hole. The only good thing with Macross + were the YF-19/21 and the flight / action sequences. Everything else was a painful pause before the YF's were flying again. Macross 7? I won't go there right now. I've had plenty of Macross 7 hate threads in the past here. I'll hold off on Macross Frontier until I see it. SDF:M nearly had it all. Lots of characters and room for development, many of whom had the chance to shine. Characters had time do DO something, unlike in DYRL?. Great mecha. Lots of action, enough episodes for story / character development. Artwork and animation was good overall for it's day, but some of the shortcomings are very evident when the show was new.

I'm veering off topic with this reply, but I had to get this out with some of the recent replies here There is only one constant in warfare. Change Changes in doctrines and forms of fighting. And changes in the technology and weapons used. Nothing is permanent in warfare except change itself. As far as pilots being removed from aircraft, I do believe it will happen sometime. Not now. Not in a few years. But it will happen, especially with better technology. And it will happen because some forward thinking officer in some air force will push it, and someone higher up will say, "That sounds interesting. Here's some funds, run the development, show me what it can do." If a new weapon or form of fighting looks like it will increase one's capability in war, it will be be used and implemented by someone. If it proves successful, watch out. And of course, it too will be made obsolete at some point.

It's going to take getting used to since I'm used to the 60s vintage TOS model and the wonderful movie versions. It retains the Pre-Movie era look at least. And most of all, it avoids bringing a TNG era look to it. *looks angrily at the "Akiraprise"* As much as I adore the TOS Enterprise, that model simply will not work in today's entertainment. At least we're back to Phaser Banks, not Phaser Strips or turrets. There's also what I think to be the Torpedo Bay at the "neck" of the ship. Nitpick Those floodlights could show off a bit more of the ship. I understand that view is from the shadow side, but surely the floodlights that are all over that ship (more than the refitted Constitutions) could show off a bit more of that ship under lights. P.S. - Any shots of the new ship showing the paint scheme? I'm wondering if they'll utilize the red / very light grey scheme of the TV series or the movie paint scheme which utilizes a bunch of black (and the modeller's dread: "Aztec" paint pattern)

I wouldn't say "better" since that's such a broad term. TNG era Feds were good on talking their way out of a problem. The Federation in the old days just seemed to take less s**t from anyone. "War? Sure! Come on over you Klingon / Romulan bast**ds!!!" Also, you didn't get the feeling that the Federation's technology wasn't so superior against everyone else than it did in the TNG era. Plus, I admired Kirk's flair of getting things done. --- Other minor plusses: TOS Federation Uniforms - Short skirts for the females TOS crew / movie era Federation Uniforms - Best looking Starfleet uniforms in a Trek show, IMO. Even the crew in Engineering were dressed far differently than the rest of the crew. I'm a sucker also for the TOS movie era Enterprises.

TNG vs TOS way of solving problems Example: The "Enterprise" is at a standoff with a massive, powerful warship from a new, rival faction TNG Way * TNGPeaceful Means: Picard talks about peace, love, harmony with the Federation * TNG Fisticuffs!: Technobabble to somehow bypass the warship's defenses and disable their weapons. Then refer to *TNG Peaceful Means TOS Way * TOS Peaceful Means: Kirk beams aboard to begin negotiations... complete with... pauses in speech... every now... and then. If the rival Captain is a Female, love ensues in the Capt's Quarters, peace is assured. If the rival Captain is a male, negotiations fall apart. See *TOS Fisticuffs 1 or 2. * TOS Fisticuffs 1!: Kirk and his team beams back aboard the Enterprise. Combat shortly ensues but the Enterprise eventually wins a close fight. There is no "disable" BTW. * TOS Fisticuffs 2!: Kirk and his team begins to beat the living bejeezus out of everyone aboard. Using a wide array of attacks like Flying Double Kicks, Vulcan Death Grips, etc., Starfleet is still in an even fight with the enemy. That is, until Kirk uses his Double Overhand Attacks. It's OVER from that point on. Peace between the Federation and aliens somehow ensues. TOS era Federation FTW

Reminds me of my time in Lineage II when it first came out. After playing ages and ages and ages I still had not reached a level where I could branch off and begin one of the higher classes. I couldn't even get to a level or point in the game where I could do any decent PvP without getting annihalated in a few seconds (because really, you NEED to be high level to even PvP). I wanted to like it, but holy jeez did that game demand too much time for minimal gains.

I liked it quite a bit but towards the end of its only season, it got real bad. But there's a couple things I think lead to that. - For some reason, halfway through the season, Fox abruptly changed its timeslot. One week it was playing just before my favorite show, the X-Files. The next week I tune it, it wasn't there. No commercial announcement about it. I only found it's new slot just by flipping through the channels one day and coming across it by accident. - It wasn't the only time the show changed times either. What a way to lose viewers. - Lose viewers? You're going to get canned. I guess the writing was on the walls to the cast and staff for S:AAB. The last episodes were very mediocre and the very last one was a horrible, "WTF?" moment. I mean, they kill off everyone but 2 of the characters, end it, thanks for watching!

So... if I step up to this new Terminator with a straight face, and ask her (it): "Your clothes, give them to me." Would she: A) Give the clothes to me or B) Rip my heart out. Literally, ala Terminator 1.

... and that's not a good thing!

DS9 for most parts (at least to me) was ho-hum dull until the Dominion War. There were good episodes before the war, I'm sure (that I can't remember). But the war brought a focus and several things normally not seen in Star Trek Warships fighting, sometimes even fleet engagements Federation looking less like a bunch of pu**ies ever since the advent of the TNG era (TNG era Federation needed a kick in the nuts for their own good) Seeing the Klingons do their thing far more in a time of war A lengthy, major, fluid backdrop that you can fall back to Introduced many more ship designs onscreen All these warships in Star Trek... couldn't only have been for exploration and diplomacy, right?

I *somehow* saw this all the way where I'm at Anyways, I felt neutral about it. I'm curious to see how this goes with the story, especially with the Terminators. Is it going to be the same one chasing them all the time? Hope the flesh regenerates, otherwise there's no infiltration going on. If they send Terminator after Terminator every episode or two, it lessens the dangerous feel they bring. If it's the same Terminator week in, week out that can't catch them, then it's just an "incompetent Terminator." As far as Summer Glau's Terminator, I'm guessing her model is merely an offshoot of the 800 series. Still machine underneath with flesh covering. Just "sized and built" differently from the classic, hulking 800 series that Arnie's is from. Nothing like the 1000 or T-X series where they had that liquid metal thingie. But when it wants to, it "acts out" its role better than previous Terminators we've seen.

I've got several MMORPGs under my belt 'o experience <<geek<< What makes MMO's addictive (to varying degrees) for people? Here's *my* reasons why. - Multiplayer... the people. Lots and lots of people. Firstly, you have to like playing with and / or against people. If multiplayer isn't your thing, then stop right here and don't check out an MMO The people you play with is a big factor, whether there's lots of people on that MMO or not, but IMO, too few people will make an MMO look like a ghost town and will suck. Really, if I wanted to play a single player game, there's better focused games for that style of play. But the population, just like in any multiplayer game, has a very wide scope of personalities. You got your a**hats. You got your teamplayers. You got people that won't help you when you're in trouble, but fortunately they're few. More often than not, when you're in trouble, if some stranger is passing nearby, they'll come over and help. Maybe talk a little... and possibly add another person to your Friends List in the game. Organized groups of players, usually called Guilds, are another focus point for this multiplayer aspect. The players are part of tighter knit membership. They'll help each player out in their progression, quests, or to help get gear they really need to improve. They'll organize these events with the possible addition of PvP events (Player vs Player), even against other Guilds. Some guilds are purely PvE (Player vs Environment), some purely for PvP, usually most guilds do a bit of both. Anyways, the people make a big difference whether you keep logging in or not. I could be trying to solo some area or quest or as part of a small group, have trouble, and some buddies happen to log in. You greet each other, see what each other's going to do, and they may very go out of their way (sometimes a loooonngg way) to rendezvous with you and help out. The main thing is this with MMORPGs: An MMO will have a more tight nit "community" of players. - The game's "Persistency"... the permanence of what you do with your character(s). This is quite broad since it covers so many things. ---- Your character: Your levels (for the games that use "levels"), your gear, your character's skills, "badges" or "accomplishments" showing what your toon has done. Getting all these things doesn't come quick and a degree of time and effort is always required just like any game. You'll hear terms like "Grinding" that refer to this "work." Some MMOs balance this (like old Star Wars Galaxies, Lord of the Rings Online, Guild Wars). Some MMOs are absolutely notorious for this (Lineage II comes instantly to mind... OMG was that bad). ---- Effects in the game world. How permanent and visible your efforts are for other players to see. This isn't easily done for PvE aspects of the game. But PvP, this is quite possible. Some games like Lineage II and Guld Wars will have castles, forts, etc. that can be controlled by a Guild of players. They can hold onto it until another Guild removes them. I'm not sure how the mechanics of this are since I'm not the biggest PvPer despite having also played alot in Guild Wars, but I also do know that holding such things usually brings some sort of reward to those controlling it. - Huge game world. A very major factor to me, IMO, and the advantage a decent MMORPG will have over the the majority of single player RPGs (Oblivion for the consoles & PC belongs to one of the few game franchises that feature huge game worlds). MMO game worlds need to be large. Space for content to bait the player along. Space for exploration. Players want to see new sites, and developers will be wise to provide new areas over time. Be among the first to see an area (and find the loot / rewards for that area), especially when a game is new. You hear about it from other players, but you have to see it yourself. But MMORPGs get another advantage like some PC game titles: Expansion Packs. These packs offer a variety of things, but new lands to explore is always included. Mature MMOs like Guild Wars and WoW will usually have an immense game world to explore. - Loot, Rewards, Gear. Like every game, PC or Console, MMO or not, you're always looking for better gear, even when your character's fully levelled. Any half-successful MMO will introduce new gear over time to keep enticing the existing players, and developers with half a brain will provide lots of gear that's useful to a wide range of players and playstyles. If the game goes down the route of a few sets of gear that trump all, then that's a bad sign for variety. Anyways, some people out there really, really buy into this. We call them, "Lootwhores" :lol - The Game System / Gameplay. Again, just like any game, some MMOs style will click more with certain players. It's all good with an MMO, just as long as one remembers their priorities. As an avid MMO player, it surprises me to hear about some of those player disasters out there. P.S. - Regarding the Crafting aspect of MMORPGs. When an MMO comes out, there is almost always a question posed about Crafting. Why? Because some games in the past have done very well. A good Crafting system can be very deep in gameplay. It could be a completely different experience within the same game. I will use Star Wars Galaxies as an example (before Sony made the game nosedive with oversimplistic changes in late 2005). SWG used to have one of the most sophisticated, deep crafting systems in any MMO. To be a good crafter, you had to be dedicated to it the same way combat players are with fighting. Believe it or not, there were many players who loved playing only for the Crafting and Merchant aspect of SWG in the past. I knew a bunch who never fully developed a combat oriented character, but put all their time and effort with Crafting and the business side of the game. Crafters could band together for a bigger, overall operation, or be the "little guy" in business. Either way, you eventually had good crafters competing. I had my favorite crafters that I returned all the time to buy their gear (old SWG had items wear away given time, use, and / or combat). I had my favorite shopkeepers for weapons, armor, etc. They made good gear for good prices. In the old SWG, Crafters made the best possible gear. Provided they had the proper crafting equipment with great quality, all they needed was the rare, expensive materials. They could come up with the materials and make it (depending on rarity) and sell it to you with the standard, expensive price. However, they would make it far cheaper for you if you went out and got the resources needed, come back, and let them do it. I had many great weapons done that way from the same weaponsmith in the old days of SWG. Like I said, some people really love that aspect of gaming in an MMO. It's not my style after having tried it, especially since I'm a combat oriented player. But it was great to interact with a crafter and conducting business. For some, that's all they cared for in an MMO.

I have not played World of Warcraft, so I can't give opinions or gouge on it. I have played Guild Wars since it first came out. So, here it goes. To further add to Dangaioh's description of the game: PvE is the main aspect of the game. You can duel players anywhere but PvP is designated mainly for arenas, events, etc... namely specified regions of the game. As far as character progression goes, it sounds crazy, but the max level is 20. However, the game goes around a different approach to improve you character. Firstly, you have your starting class (let's say warrior). Eventually you'll get a chance to add a supporting profession without the bells & whistles as if you had made it your primary profession, but you'll get some useful skills / abilities to complement your main one. Outside of the usual loot, reward items / gear, you learn skills. You can learn these skills via purchase at a trainer once you have the prerequisites. But the truly good skills are "Elite Skills" that are learned from Boss / Unique / Special NPCs scattered about in the game. You use a 1 time skill to capture a skill from these NPCs once you've defeated them. The skill you took will replace the captured skill (or rune thingie). You'll have to go to a trainer to get replace that capture skill / rune and it costs more the more you do it. The other main thing is when it comes to skills, you can equip up to 6-8 at a time (can't remember, I'm on deployment and can't access my account now). While in town or some safe haven like it, you can arrange whatever skills you have on your Skillbar to bring along for an adventure. Once you've exited town and are in the wild, you can't change the setup. So alot of thought has to go into how you set your character up for any given adventure. Your kicka** build that you've used for a long time in so many regions may work horribly the next. A major difference with Guild Wars compared with alot of MMOs is that it relies very heavily in instances, meaning your assembled party, once venturing out, will "instance" into their OWN wildness, dungeon, etc. Meaning you will not run into strangers out in the wild, talk to them, and get them to join. It's a different feel for me since I'm used to more traditional MMOs where you can run into random players out in the wild or whatnot (those games use a "persistant" game world). But finding a group in Guild Wars is easy. Firstly, Guild Wars is one of the more successful MMOs out there in terms of player populations. WoW is king still, but GW also has millions. Towns are full and it's easy to find people to work with. Crafting: It's not much in this aspect compared to some other MMOs. The player doesn't really do the crafting, just bring materials over to an NPC armorer, weaponsmith, tailor, etc. But reward & looted items are superior. This is a big letdown with the game, IMO. As of right now, there's several chapters with Guild Wars: The original Guild Wars "chapter" Factions - Brings 2 new classes a whole new continent; uses an "asian" background; more items / gear Nightfall - Brings 2 new classes a whole new continent; uses an "african / middle eastern" theme; more items /gear Eye of the North - I was deployed before seeing this, so I can't say what it really brings, but as I understand, it's an offshoot of the original Guild Wars campaign / chapter. The thing with the chapters of GW is that they really bring about a different theme and feel in them. The classes they've introduced in the subsequent chapters really do feel different than the predecessors, but having their inherent strengths and weaknesses as they should. I need say that Guild Wars is also very, very stable as far as MMOs go. MMOs are known to be buggy, and some are notorious to be horribly bug infested (Star Wars Galaxies for instance). GW however is rock solid. All of the chapters / expansions, except Eye of the North which I haven't tried yet, are permeated with quality. The story, narration, in-game texts, etc. are done very well with no indication of idiots running things *ahem, Star Wars Galaxies*. Nightfall, the last I tried before going on deployment, was done exceptionally well. You'll see what I mean once you try some other MMOs Regarding the chapters and the special classes they bring, you can only start a character with the "special class" in that chapter's world. But you can find loot / rewards useful to that special class even in the newer chapters. Example: Assassins can only start in Factions. However, if I took that assassin later on into Nightfall, I will find gear there that my assassin can use. Once you've levelled up enough, you can venture out to the different chapters (provided you bought them, of course). I took my original GW character and have brought her all over Factions' and Nightfall's worlds. Guild Wars overall is a solid game, especially if you're casual. There are no subscription fees, just pay for the expansions. You can stop playing for months and come back... like I did... and your toon is still there. No heartaches, just catch up on what's current. The game has many expansions which all bring alot to the table. The game is permeated with quality; very stable. There's lots of people to play with. Not as deep gameplay as "Sandbox" MMOs, but it makes you prepare and think about your build before adventuring.