Bling Bling's page

Greetings. I'm a 3.5 player, but after seeing a few of the changes in Pathfinder, I'm thinking about converting. My question is, how does Pathfinder compare to 3.5 in terms of Powergaming? I've seen that there's been some much-needed balancing of classes and races, but at the same time, it looks like the power-level of characters in general has risen. One thing I don't like about 3.5 are all the splatbooks which encourage min/maxing and optimizing at the expense of roleplaying. In your opinions, is the Pathfinder system less prone to 'overdoing it' than 3.5? Thanks for the replies.

I feel rather petty asking about this FPS mini-game from the most recent Call of Duty while others are talking about great classic RPGs. However, it's an addictive mini-game, so I'll ask anyway. I play this co-op with one friend, so there's just the two of us against the horde. Sadly, we don't make it very far, so we don't get to explore much of the maps. What I'm wondering is... Does the game adjust for the number of players? Is there any way to reduce the difficulty? I see no settings in the xbox version to do this. If not, any tips for surviving (without cheating) would be appreciated. Thanks!

That’s Korean pop music. Thanks to a Korean co-worker who introduced me to it, I’ve started to like it. There are plenty of cutesy, popsy groups, but my favorite (at the moment) is a slightly less generic group called W&Whale. They’re an electronic band with a variety of styles and a great singer. Here's the first single I heard from them that made me want more. If anyone else is familiar with K-pop, I’m looking for more from W&Whale (not already on youtube) plus suggestions for other groups to check out. Gamsa!

Although this question was most surely asked several thousand posts ago, I missed it. So, if you’ll humor me…

How do those of religious persuasion explain other religions (i.e. why doesn’t everyone who believes believe the same thing)? Can any single religion claim to be THE religion, and if so, the implication would be that everyone else is wrong or at least misguided. And if every other religion makes that same claim, how can anyone know who’s right or if everyone is miguided?

An honest question here: As I drove to work this morning, I noticed a Muslim woman in a full black burka from head to toe walking her bike laden with groceries down the sidewalk. As I passed her, I saw in my rearview mirror that her face was covered as well. It was sunny out, about 90 degrees, humid and with no breeze whatsoever, so I imagine she was not terribly comfortable. I felt sorry for her. While I realize that many if not most Muslim women wear the Burka by choice because it's part of their faith and that's very important to them, I know that some only do so because they feel they have to. Anyway, my question is... If 'modesty' is such an important virtue of the Muslim faith, why aren't Muslim men required to wear burkas as well to demonstrate that same virtue? Why only women?

Hey compadres. I humbly request your banking/broker advice. I've had my modest savings with Merrill Lynch for a long time, and although they've never overtly screwed me, I'm miffed that they won't provide me with a complete list of ALL the fees they charge me for a debit card, checking, a basic deposit account and minimal investing. I can't help but wonder why. So I'm looking for other options. I've avoided traditional banks up to know just because their return rates are so low. At least I get higher returns with a broker, but I wonder how much of those returns are going into their pockets instead of mine through fees. Who do you all use? I need to start shopping around. Thanks for the advice! Really, thanks!

Racism is a blight on society, a chronic condition that is worse at some times and better at others. As bad as one may feel things are in the US now, they are certainly better than in the past, and I'd love to see the sins of the past forgiven so we can finally move on. But sadly it seems that some do not want to forgive or forget, so their mistrust and anger are passed on to the next generation, raising them to feel that they are owed something by those who have never personally wronged them. This then breeds resentment on both sides and leads to a host of 'appeasement' measures which are in themselves racist, so the scales tip but nothing really changes. You can blame one group or the other for racism's longevity in the US, but both are responsible. It's time for people to grow up.

Hi all. My director has asked me for suggestions as to a good scary book. I do work in a library, but amazingly enough I don't read much. So, I need your help. He doesn't like guts & gore scary. He likes eerie scary, like Edgar Allen Poe, although he's read all of his stories, including that new Poe Shadow novel. He wants 'my' suggestions by the time he leave...tonight! Help! Thanks!!!

ever forced on mortal eyes, but alas

hunchbacked gnome as he lunged

battered, soiled codpiece.

are darker, more wicked things afoot, like

love this!" she chortled. "Watch

to locals. However,

Have you ever wonderered how 'sinful' your city ranks compared to other US cities? Well, statistics have been gathered and numbers crunched in order to provide the following maps of sin. In the words of Mr Spock... "Fascinating"

In case this hasn't already been posted, here's a simple, informative comparison of several national healthcare systems...right here.

I really liked this game. I'm new to the RE series and fairly new to game systems, but this game's the best one I've played so far. Halo, Gears of War, Left 4 Dead... All were fun, but all were lacking in some way, IMHO, compared to RE5, and I'm a little surprised that RE5 hasn't gotten more praise. It's as graphically stunning as GOW, my next favorite, but with a more in-depth story, more detail and longer gameplay. I wish the rest of the series were available for xbox. Local co-op definitely makes this game, as it did the other games I've played, and I hope all FPS games will have that feature from now on. If you haven't played this one yet, pick it up!

We may have a winner in the 'Dr Who?' category here.

I wanted to drop by again and make another note.

The way I view things, everyone is religious. Even atheists are religious in my book. Religion to me is basing things off how you feel or based on a theory of sorts. Considering NONE of you have died and stayed dead and wrote a letter back to the rest of us of what the other side is like, everyone's just going off their beliefs ... or you could say everyone's guessing to put it plainly.

Well, not exactly. I agree that religion is based on what one feels, and more specifically, what one ‘wants’ to believe. However, atheists do not necessarily ‘want’ to believe that gods and the supernatural don’t exist; they simply point out that no objectively-verifiable evidence proves that they do, and that lack of evidence is more indicative that they do not. Feelings have nothing to do with it; it’s about proof. That’s not religion. That’s science. As far as death is concerned, everything we can observe and study objectively indicates that death is final. Maybe it isn’t, but the lack of evidence for an ‘afterwards’ seems to suggest otherwise. While near-death-experiences and out-of-body experiences are intriguing, evidence points to causes which are more mundane than divine.

I've heard about people doing stoooopid things, but I hadn't actually seen this particular demonstration of mental inacuity until today. A lady in her SUV (and on her cellphone) turned left...from the right-hand turn lane, cutting across four lanes of moving traffic to do so. How she avoided causing a major accident is beyond the realm of physical laws to explain, so I must assume some sort of divine intervention. What in blazes goes through someone's mind to make them think that's a reasonable thing to do???

My turn. To make a long story shorter…
A young driver backed into my new car causing $800 damage. I was in my car at the time, so we exchanged information. She had no driver’s license with her nor proof of insurance, but I did get a state ID and a student ID. Because she was a young, working student and didn’t want her parents to know about the accident, I decided to give her a break. I didn’t call the police or file a report, and I agreed to accept $50 a month until my repairs were covered. We stayed in contact, and I waited month after month for 6 months for her to begin paying me, but she never did. I finally gave her an ultimatum. She promptly disappeared. With no other options, I sued, and I won. That went on her credit record, but she still didn’t pay. I made a last effort to collect by using that suit to have her license suspended until she paid. After a mound of paperwork and filing fees, I finally got her license suspended, but she still didn’t pay. Now I’m told I can’t ‘make’ her pay and that none of my efforts mean squat if she moves out of state. So, after spending an extra $150 in fees and whatnot doing all of this, I accomplished little, and I felt like a TOTAL idiot for having trusted this girl in the first place. So much for patience and understanding :(

My psych teacher gave his class a test once consisting of one question, one word - Why - to which interpretations and answers varied widely among his students. I wonder how Paizonians would respond to that question...if at all?

... So if you would, please tell me what other fantasy RPGs you recomend.

I suggest giving GURPS a look. It's 100% customizable and adaptable to any style of play. You can d/l an abbreviated version of the basic rules for free...

GURPS Lite

...and check out the forums too, where the posters are as helpful and gracious as they are on Paizo...

The Forums

It's also well supported, and that always helps.

With all this talk about nerfing and some classes being overpowered, I'm wondering why you don't just try a classless system like GURPS which allows players to pick and choose which abilities they want (or don't want) for their characters and still wind up equal in relative power to other characters. Too much time seems wasted in D&D on developing and trying to balance classes, IMHO.

Not taking sides here, just thought this was interesting...

THE 545 PEOPLE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE USA'S WOES. BY CHARLEY REESE:

Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them. Have you ever wondered why, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, we have deficits? Have you ever wondered why, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, we have inflation and high taxes? You and I don't propose a federal budget. The president does. You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does. You and I don't write the tax code. Congress does. You and I don't set fiscal policy. Congress does. You and I don't control monetary policy. The Federal Reserve Bank does. One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president and nine Supreme Court justices - 545 human beings out of the 300 million - are directly, legally, morally and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country. I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered but private central bank. I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason, they have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman or a president to do one cotton- picking thing. I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator's responsibility to determine how he votes. A CONFIDENCE CONSPIRACY. Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party. What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a SPEAKER, who stood up and criticized G.W. BUSH for creating deficits. The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it. The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes. Who is the speaker of the House? She is the leader of the majority party. She and fellow Democrats, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto. REPLACE THE SCOUNDRELS. It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts - of incompetence and irresponsibility. I can't think of a single domestic problem, from an unfair tax code to defense overruns, that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist. If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair. If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red. If the Marines are in battle, it's because they want them in battle. There are no insoluble government problems. Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power. Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exist disembodied mystical forces like "the economy," "inflation" or "politics" that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do. Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible. They, and they alone, have the power. They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses - provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees. We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess.

With a disclaimer that I am slighty cynical about politics...

This election is about showmanship, as usual. Pretty sets and emotional claptrap seem to be enough to captivate many Americans. Many are simply too busy, ill-informed or apathetic to learn the specifics about their candidates or to care. In a utopian society, there would be no 'campaigning' nor millions wasted to finance it. Our decisions would be made based on candidates past performance, a far better indicator of their future performance than the spiffy media blitz and campaign promises we're all used to. The following links provide concise summaries of every candidate's position on several key issues, for those who still aren't sure:

Obama
Biden
McCain
Palin

Happy Voting!

Sorry this is such a hideously boring question. It doesn't get much more off-topic than this, but I'd appreciate some advice. I currently have my very modest nest egg with Merrill Lynch, which has now unfortunately been bought by Bank of America. I don't like Bank of America, so I'd like to transfer what little I have to another broker. Any suggestions? Who do you think is best/most reliable as far as not nickel-and-diming you with lame fees and charges? I don't do much buying/trading, per se, but competent financial advisors who aren't pushy about their own products are always nice as are free checking and a credit/debit card. Any advice at all? As borig as it is, this is important stuff, you know. Thanks.

I like The Police (What 80s pop fan doesn't?). I happen to like Gwen Stefani too. Some of her music has obvious ska and reggae influences just like The Police, and I think she'd do a great cover of this Police classic. Any other Police/Gwen Stefani fans agree?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGnqjZFdhkY&feature=related

I've just started the latest edition of GURPS, and I already miss that concise one-page list of skills, advantages & disadvantages that came with the previous edition. That one-pager made creating new characters fairly quick and easy. I found a multi-page list of skill 'categories' on the web, but I haven't yet found a list of advantages and disadvantages. The GURPS website'll allow me to print a list, but point values are not shown. Does anyone know where I can download a list with the values included for easy reference? Thanks.

You know Frida wasn’t the only former ABBA babe with a hit in the 80s. Here’s one from the blonde, Agnetha, called Can’t Shake Loose. Actually, the same guy, Russ Ballard, wrote this hit as well as Frida’s hit plus had a minor hit of his own you may remember called Voices. BTW, read the info for Ballard’s video, if you're interested. I had no idea that guy worked with so many people. Whoa…

Having just turned 40 myself earlier this year, I feel your pain. Here's a blast (or maybe just a pop) from the past. Anyone else remember these...

(Caution: If you're a Metal fan, skip these!)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Wmp9kxNZwN8
http://youtube.com/watch?v=M3nk1ji3dlQ

PS: Thank you Youtube!!!

Thanks to everyone for your comments. What a diverse lot of talent there is here on these boards. Paizonians rule!

As these boards are so incredibly gracious when it comes to helpful replies, I thought I'd throw out this question (for one of my classes) to see if anyone's interested...

What is the term (if there is one) for the act of rationalizing, refusing to accept or even denying known wrongs because of a desire (conscious or unconscious) to avoid uncomfortable truths? The example I use is the family who protects a relative known to have committed some violent crime, rationalizing it as self-defense or blaming the victim, because they want to believe that their relative couldn't do such a thing (despite evidence to the contrary). Any ideas? Thanks.

Actually, there's a cool cheat that'll allow you to continue playing even if your character dies. You can play other races too. Just declare your character's religion to be Buddhism. Later in the game when it looks like it's all over, *poof* you start again at the beginning. Make sure to build up your karma skill first, though, as the game assigns your new beginning race based on your previous karma skill, and I hear some of those non-human races assigned for lower karma can be VERY challenging. Good luck!

My apologies for irking a few here who don't like to discuss certain topics or even allow others to discuss them. I have always thought this to be the most civil of boards, and I didn't mean to ruffle any feathers by expressing my opinion in a forum where I thought any topic was up for discussion. For what it's worth, I despise republicans and democrats equally, although this wasn't supposed to be a political rant, per se. In hindsight, I suppose my posting two whole 'political' threads over the last several months may have been somewhat excessive aferall. Anyway, I do apologize.

Am I the only one who thinks there must be someone else on the planet more deserving of this honor that Al Gore? Don't get me wrong, I agree with the dire importance of the global warming issue, but I think Gore's a hypocrite, not to mention a politician using the issue for his own benefit. Gore's actions contradict his supposed passion for this issue anyway. Remember the story about his home energy use...20 times the average? Sounds a bit suspicious to me, but maybe I'm the only one.

First of all, I'm glad we have a few meaty discussions going on here. One shouldn't be afraid to express one's opinion. Now, I too believe entering Iraq was a royal mistake. However, I think the best thing we can do, for us, for Iraq and for the rest of the world, is to leave. Stop throwing away lives and resources in a war that cannot be won. Stop further infuriating the arab world, and let Iraq evolve on its own. We might not like the result, but there's really very little we can do at this point aside from officially supporting democratic reforms and offering aid to all the innocents suffering from our mistake and its fallout. Sure, we could stay for years trying to hold off the inevitable civil war, but it will happen anyway. It's already happening, and no matter how many more terrorists we catch, no matter how many more insurgents we kill, no matter how many more suicide bombers we stop, more will come. It's easy to say we should fight on...to make Iraq a better place and to make America safer, but does anyone really think we're accomplishing either of those things? Supporters of the war like to cite modest accomplishments, but overall I think it's generally agreed that things are not happening the way we'd like them to, and neither more troops nor more billions have helped matters. It's time to admit our mistake, get out of Iraq and do what we can to help the people recover and cope as best they can.

An echo of whispers spreads throughout the courtroom halted quickly by the slam of a distant door and the sound of approaching footsteps. Moments later, a tall, gaunt figure garbed in flowing white robes and carrying a think tome approaches the stand. Could this be him?

Ok, so most of us grudgingly or not so grudginly concede that 4.0 will eventually find its way into our collections. I'm curious about it too. What long-time D&Der wouldn't be? While I won't besmirch WOTC (much) for using D&D's loyal fan-base as a reliable source of revenue, I definitely understand the feeling that they may be overdoing it a bit. Granted, D&D has its problems, and it's good for the game to evolve to address those problems and maintain its appeal, but I think WOTC could change its tactics so that new editions and the subsequent plethora of supplements don't seem quite so...profit-motivated. When the latest GURPS edition was released, for example, they immediately made all the rules changes available in a single file for free download on their website, so buying the new edition was merely an option for those who wanted a spiffy new book, and older editions retained their value. They did this with previous editions too. Now that's customer appreciation. Hint, Hint, WOTC...

one doll mysteriously had been left untouched.

puny plush people who no stop staring!"

to hide stinky unmentionables in

thus enraged, charged.

Then fate intervened.

...followed quickly by another, then another even louder, echoing painfully through his groggy head as he fell out of bed, scrambled to the door and squinted through the peephole to see who or what waited on the other side.

IMHO, one of the best systems for customizability's sake is GURPS. There are no classes or levels to worry about; characters instead start with a given number of points, 100 is typical, with which you can build the exact type of character you want from scratch by spending those points however you choose on anything from ability scores to skills to advantages(unique abilities like feats in D&D but much more varied) as well as other options. The system is definitely skill-based (i.e using a particular weapon or casting a particular spell is a skill). You can even save points to spend during the game to re-roll an important save or attack or any other roll, for example. After each gaming session, the GM(DM) awards each player a few additional points which you can then spend immediately to improve your character however you choose, a little at a time, specializing or not as desired. You can also select for your character to possess disadvantages(like Vow of Poverty in D&D but much more varied) which, in return for the obvious penalty, grant extra points to spend as desired on other things. Essentially, you end up with a character that matches exactly what you want your character to be, and since there are no classes, you have no clue what different characters can or can't do until they show you...or you learn the hard way ;)

speeding away while rapping the words to

the high minister of milkings

This debaucherous spectacle

over Ames in his pimped-up, funkified limo