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Comments
I think the obvious thing to do is to base the ruling on a cache check and internet history -- if there is a consistent pattern of child porn consumption, then you can throw the book at 'em.
Definetly.
I just feel like there's gotta be some kind of middle ground that protects people who were unlucky enough to click the wrong link and punishes people who go out looking for it at the same time.
I don't know what the middle ground is, or even if there really is one, but it's certainly not this law.
^^ That sounds better than what they've got now.
IJBM: she can't do anything without loudly announcing that she's doing it and explaining why.
EDIT: Actually wait no I don't care.
Uh...
The article expresses HOLY FUCKING SHIT OUTRAGE at this issue, but reading the quotes I actually find nothing wrong with the jurisprudence (as far as I know from my very limited legal knowledge):
The burden of proof is on the accuser to prove that the viewer of the kiddie porn is a pedophile. Merely viewing a web page with kiddie porn does NOT meet that burden of proof, by any reasonable consideration.
If you've seen any police procedural show, you'll know that to convict someone of something, you need motive, means, and opportunity. This "affirmative act" is needed to establish motive.
Does this ruling evidence a loophole? Yes. Is it something that should be fixed? Yes, but by appropriate legislation, not by suspending legal principles. I don't know about you, but I agree with the principle of innocent until proven guilty, and the U.S. justice sytem is also built to respect this principle.
Against my better judgment I watched Linkara's Superman 701 review.
Holy shit, the guy actually admits his bitching about continuity isn't funny.
you know, the fact that it surprises me there's a 701th issue of superman bugs me.
that's in cornell's run, right?
oh.
welp.
So I'm watching the Tales of Phantasia anime.
Apparently the first episode is really condensed because they had to fill the first episode with the bulk of the early plot to leave room for everything that comes after in the next episodes. It shows. On the other hand, the anime nails the aesthetic of the game really well, as well the way SNES JRPGs were so good at combining the fairy tale and contemporary high fantasy genres. It's sort of just charming to watch, although that could be nostalgia speaking, too.
The action is solid, with good clarity and excellent timing and pacing. It really nails the rhythm of narrative combat, which ensures everything feels solid and weighty enough. The characters are likeable enough, but Cless and Mint suffer from heavy "protagonist and love interest" syndrome -- they're not as interesting as the side characters, because the side characters aren't held to their standards of idealisation in terms of behaviour. Cless is your basic JRPG swordguy and nothing more, and while I appreciate the swordguy archetype more than anyone else I know, that doesn't make it any more interesting in a broader sense. The three secondary "party members" are all more amusing and endearing characters for the definition they get, especially Chester, who is the garest gar and the quintessential best buddy.
One thing I'm disappointed in is that the anime didn't actually showcase the beginning of the game. While I realise they were under heavy constraints -- a large JRPG plot in two hours -- I felt the game's introductory sequences were really effective. You go hunting with Best Buddy Chester, and after you've snagged your quarry, you hear your hometown's alarm bell in the distance. Once you return, though, the place is absolutely ransacked and everyone's dead without any indication of who actually did it or what kind of forces they had. Simple and cliche, but it worked. Given that this is the JRPG genre, it's appropriate, too. A fantasy JRPG isn't quite the same without some level of cliche; it feels as though something's missing if too many tropes are ignored or messed with. But then again, I play JRPGs for their gameplay and the endearing compromise between fairy tales and modern fantasy, so it might just be me.
So far, it's no masterpiece, but it's an entertaining watch and pretty much pushes the right buttons in context of its origins. If you're in need of a swords-and-sorcery anime, it might be worth a look if the condensed first episode doesn't disinterest you.
I think I made a model I wouldn't be too ashamed to show, for a change. I made this (based on this and this).
The thing that gets me about Linkara is that, while he seems like a nice enough guy (insistence on pushing conservative politics notwithstanding), he doesn't really have anything to add to parlance about comics that's meaningful. He points out the stupid gobbledy gook sayings and how poorly the suicide talk was done, but that's been done a billion times before. The only things new I saw was him complaining about Superman paying for a cheesesteak with cash because it would compromise his secret identity through fingerprints, which isn't only wrong because of how many prints those damn little green slips of paper go through, but it also the same kind of nitpicky wankery that doesn't actually add to a story.
^^ That's really good. Although I had no idea you did 3D modelling.
Watching the Extra Credits thing about WRPGs V. JRPGs. I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks those descriptors are misnomers.
Not entirely, I think.
Both trace their origins, essentially, to tabletop RPGs. The difference is in the experiences each "faction" of designers was trying to evoke, exactly as Extra Credits points out. But both essentially come from the same mechanical perspective of translating that tabletop experience into a video game, albeit in different ways. JRPGs have either suffered or benefited from more abstraction, depending on how you look at it, and tend to have more arcane, complex systems than their Western counterparts as a result of their huge success in their homeland.
All the same, each genre represents a different way of approaching the same concept based on the kind of experience the designers wanted to evoke. The Witcher games are very interesting in this respect, because they're very JRPG from a narrative perspective -- they give you a predefined character and linearity of narrative experience despite the choices you make. What I refer to here is how naturally the plot comes together in both games, irrespective of how it changes depending on your choices. They just feel written that way, and so have the same sense of focus that JRPGs have, while games like Fallout, TES, BioWare RPGs and so on lack that.
In fact, I'd call The Witcher games the most successful "cross-cultural" RPGs from a design standpoint, because I consider them to successfully combine the best of both game design philosophies despite their flaws. If games like The Witcher and Dark Souls represent the future of cross-cultural RPGs, then the collective genre has a very bright future indeed.
Anyway, I certainly agree that the important factor is that JRPGs and WRPGs aim for different experiences, and the distinction should be made on those grounds rather than their shared points of influence. All the same, I'm not surprised the comparison is made because each genre represents a take on the concept of a heavily narrative game experience.
Wait, he said that or is that in the story?
Well... I'll leave it here: My birthday is upcoming, and it's on the 18th of May.
Maybe it's god's way of telling you that you should watch [something i like] instead
don't you juan
Yep, I've only brought it up a couple times, but it's the first time I post something.
i actually haven't watched iron man for some reason. tony stark never really appealed to me. well, non-alcoholic tony stark, anyway.
Then keep it coming. Your translation of that artwork into a 3D model wasn't absolutely perfect, but it was effective and conveyed the design very well. I'd be interested in seeing what you tackle in the future.
>Both trace their origins, essentially, to tabletop RPGs.
Yes, but having roots in something is very different from actually being it. Star Wars and Indiana Jones have their roots in republic serials, but they are very much not republic serials.
On another note of Extra Credits, I find the idea of not permitting someone to speak unless they are at a certain skill level terribly misguided as there is no correlation between skill and basic human decency.
Iron Man is my favorite of the Avengers lead up movies.
Well, I did watch it, but I watched it dubbed and all I remember is like the first and last minutes, so I don't count it and I'm not really in a rush to change that.
EACH AND EVERYONE OF YOU ARE HERETICS! Was I the only guy who watched almost all of the movies more than three times before avengers?
Also, hamsterdam is going to hell, and I have the fleeting suspicion Tommy Carcetti won't stay clean for long.
^^Dude I saw all of them in Theaters at least twice, including Incredible Hulk.