FMBI

To use my earlier example, again - the US is permanently pissed at China over various issues, so we're reporting the Tibetan !@#$%^&*. Doesn't mean it isn't true, does it? And anyway, I guess both of you missed something. The "massive army" isn't necessarily going to consist of troops, in fact, it's unlikely it would be more than spec ops and marines. While it's theoretically possible we could send in more (we do have troops on the arabian peninsula, after all), it's more likely that this would consist of air strikes, cruise missile launches from the navy, and perhaps !@#$%^&*!@#$%^&*inations. That's all Bush has been pushing for the whole time, anyway.

X, all you did was continually say "have you seen this yourself", which is one of the worst arguments ever. I haven't seen the chinese police killing tibetans, but I know they're doing it. And Veg - I am aware that state-run media is something to be careful with, I had a 45-minute argument about this last night. However, as I said, Russian news was more reliable in 03, why shouldn't they be now? And, X, one more thing - Sounds like they're already building up a "massive army on the border."

Uh-huh. This is widely considered so insane that it was dumped by the media as a viable option a few months ago, and even Fallon quitting didn't cause more than a small murmur. And yet, here we are, with Russian news (Which, sadly enough, reported more accurately on the Iraq invasion and war than American news) basically stating that it's only a matter of time. GG, Bush. You might have !@#$%^&*ed us all, but you still managed to slip in a nice surprise at the end.

People have been discussing this for years, and the only things we've been able to come up with are : 1 - Incompetent / Lazy zone owners There are many people who have ruined good zones by screwing up the setts while hoping for a pop boom. Sadly, in 99.5% of all cases, this has resulted in the vets leaving for another zone, while the newbs get bored, even in the lame new version. Also, a serious deficiency, even among owners who know what they're doing, is simple sloth. There are at least half a dozen major zones which lost large amounts of players because time and again, they would see problems, but ignore them and only give the zone a face lift (think halo from a year or two ago - endless new maps, all of them boring and none addressing fundamental gameplay issues). 2 - Simple aging This is perhaps the most annoying, because even if Priit came back tomorrow, we would never be able to make SS a powerhouse again. There are too many fundamental flaws in gameplay and setup. This is not to say that SS isn't an incredibly addictive game, but it just doesn't have the "flair" to attract people who could be playing counter-strike or world in conflict. If SS would get an upgrade in content and engine similar (but quite different from) infantry / CR, then we would have both the addictiveness, and the flashiness, required. Of course, there is the risk of going all-out imitation, and destroying SS's gameplay superiority (IMO) relative to those !@#$%^&*les. 3 - Players who whine I haven't been on SS in a while, as you might have guessed from one of my other posts, but last time I was active, I noticed one thing above all. A very large proportion of people who consider themselves "vets" whine all the time, even if it is not constructive in the least - and they pointlessly disagree over trivial issues when they could be formulating a general plan to revive SS. 4 - Discouraging atmosphere This is related to the self-proclaimed vets I referenced above, who think they know everything despite deep and utter incompetence. As part of their power demonstrations, they love nothing more than killing newbs (in the new player, not the insulting, sense) just for the sake of killing newbs, then insulting those same newbs (kill macros are great, eh?). In some cases there is downright hostility towards new people (such as the classic "make them exit the arena when they ask how to play" trick). All of these problems must be addressed to give SS a boost. We need owners and staff who know exactly what they're doing and don't work at cross purposes with each other, we need some fundamental upgrades to the game engine, we need to shut up some of the 6-monthers who decide that they know the rules better than mods, and we need, perhaps most of all, to make the "newb friendly" (fast gameplay) zones more accessible - oddly enough, some of the zones most attractive to new players seem engineered precisely to expel them.

These are my actual goals, sadly - 1 - Lose 240 lbs. 2 - Get a girlfriend (I'm guessing this one will come after #1) 3 - Get a job (also will come after #1) 4 - Eat healthier (will come before #1) 5 - Work out (will come after #4 but before #1) 6 - Go to college (will come after #3 but before #2) 7 - Break my alcohol addiction (should contribute to #1, #2, #3, and #6) 8 - Develop my intuition (also tied to #2 - I seem to be highly insensitive?) 9 - Read more about history and what it means to today (I got lost somewhere in Ethiopian unification) 10 - Break my internet addiction (will help with #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, and #9)

I have the distinction of being netbanned twice, both times just because I needed a break from the game - apparently speedhacking convinces otherwise-reluctant netops to give you the boot. I'm not sure which is more fun, the 45 minutes of pub ownage before someone finally bans you, or coming back to har!@#$%^&* them about it. I've also been local-banned dozens of times, for everything from spamming, to har!@#$%^&*ing an owner (I believe I got 1 year once for that), to simply being cheap (in zones with gameplay rules). That reminds me, my latest netban is up 2 weeks from today.. Hmm...