Search Results

  1. Patman
    When we were teenagers my parents told us it was completely okay if we were or turned out to be homosexual, so my sister had little to fear when she eventually came out. In my country roughly half of the population is atheist and, up until not so long ago, I thought secularism was one of our strong point.

    However, a few weeks ago, France passed a law legalizing gay marriage. The debate that arose when that law began to be discussed has divided the country, led to violent protests, and liberated homophobic speeches and acts. Although it has already been voted more anti gay marriage protests are to come and some sort of opposition in court has been planned.

    I' m glad that it passed, but at the same time I didn' t expect that law to expose nearly as much latent hate in my compatriots hearts. Hell, it even made me realize my own familly isn' t exactly as tolerant it prides itself to be, not even my parents, they just never had any occasion to let the ugly stuff out up until now. So yeah, yay for the law, but what happened was also quite disheartening for me.
    Post by: Patman, May 16, 2013 in forum: Debate Corner
  2. Patman
    I guess they aren' t grading their students then, that would be "punitive and arbitrary".

    Sure, grading tests aren' t fair, but then so is life, the sooner we get students used to it the better.


    It' s not about the quantity of information they give you, it' s about teaching you what to make of it. The goal is to become wise (able to gather knowledge on your own), not cultivated (able to mindlessly regurgitate whatever you were spoon-fed). Being cultivated doesn' t hurt but it' s a mean, not an end.

    Although grading schools would be subjective to some degree surely you can see how useful it would be to know which school teaches bogus science and which teaches actual science, or which proportion of their students successfully pass their exams. Besides, schools always have and will be judged by word of mouth, whether "official" grading systems are implemented or not.

    That being said, it' s more about the teachers you end up with than about schools per say ...
    Post by: Patman, May 15, 2013 in forum: Debate Corner
  3. Patman
    I recently finished Covenant of the Plume 100%, there were some hidden dialogues in there warning us we shouldn' t expect a VP3 anytime soon, or ever really. Although I love the series I guess it' s understandable, it would be better to let it rest in its glory than to let it run in downhill circles, like Star Ocean. Romancing SaGa barely left Japan and hasn' t had any succesful or critically acclaimed title in years, if not decades, there' d be no point in making a sequel no one is asking for.

    I haven' t played any Drakengard, but as far as I know they both weren' t particularly succesfull or critically acclaimed either though ... Besides, I' m not really sure why Cavia would even consider making any VP, SO or SaGa, I' m having a really hard time following their logic. <_<

    But yeah, makes me really curious as to what Tri Ace could possibly be working on.
    Post by: Patman, May 15, 2013 in forum: Gaming
  4. Patman
    I only played its sequel, Terranigma. Visiting real countries and participating in their development by helping historical figures (Edison, Keynes etc ...) was quite refreshing, considering most RPGs from that era were just a pile of shonen tropes. Well, Terranigma is a pile of shonen tropes too, but the real world history spin on top of it made it memorable. From a gameplay perspective it' s basically a zelda clone with exp, so nothing groundbreaking, but hey, if it ain' t broken ...

    I should definitely get around giving Gaia a try.

    Oh, and it' s not a Nintendo game, it' s from Enix, Nintendo was merely its NA publisher.
    Post by: Patman, May 14, 2013 in forum: Gaming
  5. Patman
    Said the chick with 13 badass homeless in her sig. ^^
    Post by: Patman, May 13, 2013 in forum: The Spam Zone
  6. Patman
    Lol, those things are outright theft. Electric razor here.

    I started shaving quite late too but I consider myself lucky : now people keep assuming I' m five-ten years younger than I actually am. It might be annoying when you' re a teen, but in this youth-obsessed society it quickly becomes a boon.
    Post by: Patman, May 13, 2013 in forum: The Spam Zone
  7. Patman
    Nope, they say Cid is Yuna' s mum brother.
    http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Cid_(Final_Fantasy_X)
    Post by: Patman, May 9, 2013 in forum: Gaming
  8. Patman
    For me it' s the other way around, I keep forgetting TP was also released on the Wii. But then the differences between those two versions were completely anecdotal (hell, motion controls are a downgrade imo). If nothing else I expect Vs XIII to be prettier on PS4, and yes, graphics do matter. The recent slew of sucessful remaster collections make it crystal clear.

    If the game is good to begin with and that they not only improve graphics but also add bosses, quests, stuff like that, then the PS4 version would nearly look like a killer app to me, especially if they anounce a big brand new FF in the same breath. I' d be willing to bet the Vita would have fared much better with FFX and/or Type 0 in its launch line-up and a big exclusive titlle anounced to come later on.

    I do hope they wouldn' t be stupid enough to pump out an absurd number of copies though (at that point I wouldn' t put anything monumentally stupid past them), but as long as they don' t it would look like a rather safe bet to me.
    Post by: Patman, May 8, 2013 in forum: Gaming
  9. Patman
    My lil' cousins had a really good time playing Little Big Planet together on my PS3, it' s the only game I own that made me retrieve my second controller from its dusty shelf. Not that fun if you' ve already played it in solo, but otherwise it' s decent.
    Post by: Patman, May 7, 2013 in forum: The Spam Zone
  10. Patman
    I think when it comes to trailers they aren' t legally hold to add any warning because people are expected to implicitely know they' re being lied to. Marketing is a seduction operation, when you' re flirting you probably avoid mentioning upfront that you really have a wart on your ass, fart in bed and snore, more realistically you' re wearing make-up and disclaiming (more or less blatantly) asspulled qualities or facts about yourself.

    Of course, we can draw a line between lies by omission and outright outrageous deception, but the thing is that a marriage based on outright lies affects your life significantly, whereas 60 bucks wasted on a video game doesn' t. Do you have a point on paper ? Sure. Is it worth wasting ridiculous amounts of state money in courts ? I take it most judges would classify this as a blatant frivolous lawsuit. At least that' s my assumption, I take it if there was a way to make money in court based on that, somebody would already have. Just snob that editor and let it be a cautionary tale as to why you should be more cautious from now on, problem solved.

    But hey, this is just my own guesswork, Forsaken probably knows more than I do about the legal consensus on that matter.

    Reminds me of MGS2 btw, some people complain to this day about Kojima making it look like we were going to play as Snake, whereas the whole point of the game was to show us how easy it is to manipulate us and how naive we' d have to be not to expect it.
    Post by: Patman, May 5, 2013 in forum: Current Events
  11. Patman
    Besides, I highly doubt either Brother or Yuna have the slightest clue about the consequences of inbreeding. if there even are any on Spira that is, Incest might have been frowned upon by Yevon, but I don' t see why either of them would care about that.
    Post by: Patman, May 4, 2013 in forum: Gaming
  12. Patman
    Well, I haven' t played that particular demo, but most demos I' ve ever played, if not all, had a "this demo is based on an unfinished product and as such yaddy yaddy yadda" message. If memory serves most official trailers have it too, precisely to kill any attempt at that kind of lawsuit in the egg.

    All the lawsuits against "dishonest" movie trailers I' ve ever heard of have failed, legally I think their asses are pretty much covered on that front.

    http://www.screengeek.co.uk/features/article/the-drive-lawsuit-and-other-misleading-trailers

    I can think of a more obvious contender : not a single shot in the Paranormal Activity 3 trailer was from the movie. It made it look like it would address a specific plot point from the previous entries, but the actual movie didn' t even mention it. They probably wouldn' t do that kind of thing if they didn' t know for sure they could get away with it.
    Post by: Patman, May 4, 2013 in forum: Current Events
  13. Patman


    I tried to go to their website to marvel at its idyllic pictures but it' s been taken down. Gee, I wonder why.
    Help me KHV, I' m running out of facepalms.
    Post by: Patman, May 3, 2013 in forum: Current Events
  14. Patman
    I' d argue she was just as ditzy in FFX, she never exactly struck me as the brightest bulb in the box. Maybe it wasn' t as obvious, but it was there.

    I only remember her blowing Shelinda off, for good reasons (no point for her being a public face anymore). On the other hand she was unable to say no to Tobi' s constant pleas, despite R&P mocking her gulibility.

    As for the helpless act ... not sure what you' re talking about either, silly joke scenes setting a lighter mood aside.

    I don' t know whether you' ve played it to the end or not, but in the end she makes it obvious in her dialogues that she has indeed learned something from X. I' d say the "wisdom" that isnt' t there anymore wasn' t wisdom to begin with, that would be part of what she learned, but she hasn' t thrown all of it away. The ending also makes it plainly obvious she' s neither frail nor a coward.
    Post by: Patman, May 3, 2013 in forum: Gaming
  15. Patman
    Post

    Likes...

    Ladies, gentlemen, the thread you' re about to read today is an hommage to the no reason, that most powerful element of style.
    Post by: Patman, May 3, 2013 in forum: The Spam Zone
  16. Patman
    I often see people complain about this, but I actually think her characterization in X-2 made perfect sense. In FFX she had all sorts of self imposed restraints. She acted as the person she thought she needed to be rather than as the person she wanted to be, putting duty before anything else. She forbid herself to have any sort of fun because it made being a sacrificial lamb easier for her. However, by the end of X, her entire belief system has been beaten into a bloody pulp. Turns out her "duty" was utter bollocks.

    A world without Sin, a world where people could just goof around on the beach without having anything more pressing on their mind than flirting, that' s all she ever fought for. Now that she has it she' d be silly not to enjoy it, she has no reason left not to be who she secretely wished to be all along. She' s still a goody two shoes trying to do the right thing whenever she can, that hasn' t changed.

    I also often hear people complain about her clothes, but I' ve lived by the beach for 20 years and they don' t strike me as particularly odd or, err ... "****tish". Now Lulu on the other hand : a long dress, a leather belt overdose, the whole thing is black and there' s even some fur to top it all ? In summer ? Seriously ? You don' t want to know how she smells like. <_<
    Post by: Patman, May 3, 2013 in forum: Gaming
  17. Patman
    Wait ... how can you tell ? Are you a vet ?
    If this happens regularly it could be something that never healed and/or will worsen over time. I know it' s quite typical for westerners to go to the doctor only when something' s wrong, or worse, only when it has become unbearable, but usually the sooner you detect a problem the easier it is to treat. Not to mention cheaper. Routine checkups are a must to be safe rather than sorry.

    tl,dr : even if you don' t go to the vet right now make sure you don' t forget to mention this when you eventually do.
    Post by: Patman, May 2, 2013 in forum: Help with Life
  18. Patman
    A few days ago, in the Lightning Returns thread, I mentioned that FFdream had an interview with the dev team. They put the whole thing online today. There was nothing about LR in there really worth enough to bother translating the whole thing, and although they also asked questions about other SE games they only got non-answers through and through.

    However they did got an answer to their question about the X-X2 remake : will the european feature Last Mission (X2' s bonus dungeon) ? I thought it was a given, but surprisingly their answer was that they don' t know yet. They want to see how the public reacts to the incoming batch of trailers before they take that decision.
    Post by: Patman, Apr 30, 2013 in forum: Gaming
  19. Patman
    Not only is it tougher to learn something that looks so overwhelming that late in life, but they may not even want to :
    Source : http://www.softpanorama.org/Social/Toxic_managers/learned_helplessness.shtml
    And that' s just one of the many cognitive biases that can get in the way.
    Post by: Patman, Apr 29, 2013 in forum: Discussion
  20. Patman
    My name is pretty straightforward, no one ever got it wrong.

    However my best friend in college was named Truong Lu. Or so we thought. When I started befriending him a few months later he told me that, as I' m sure you already gathered by yourself easily, Truong is really pronounced Tee ong. As for Lu it wasn' t even his last name : Vietnamese have two last name and they picked the wrong one. Long story short, the one they picked was their equivalent of our middle name. Sort of. As for his actual last name (which I won' t put here) it' s also a nightmare. Just by seeing it you know you' ll get it wrong.

    He never corrected a single teacher. One of them even called him p'tit lu jokingly, implying it was much simpler (it' s a famous French cake brand). He knew all too well that it would take freaking forever to correct any of them, and that he' d probably have to do it all over again everytime anyway. At least Lu was easy to get right.

    He only revealed his real name to the people he cared about, for him hearing his name right acted as a people-i-care-about detector. Most of our other classmates thought I was the one getting it wrong when they heard me call him, I never bothered to explain either. ^^
    Post by: Patman, Apr 28, 2013 in forum: Discussion