Heretic86

Just out of curiousity, how big are the maps you are planning to do? The one I'm working on is 50 by 80, but what I'm coming up with is super complex!

Can we start mapping now? Im too lazy to go check the link. Or at least make a post of "On your mark..."

This is just kind of a generalized question. I've come across a bunch of good scripts for both XP and VX, but the ones in VX are the ones that got my brain going. XP to VX translations seem to work better because obviously VX is newer. Functionality is expanded, even if scripts are not compatible because of other changes. But what about going backwards? Has anyone tried taking a script from VX and getting it to work on XP with any modicum of success?

Thanks guys! That helps immensely! Mostly just playing around right now, waiting impatiently for the contest, so focusing on understanding the scripting langauge better.

XP - how do I equip with a Script? Isn't it something like Player.weapon(1).equip or something similar to that?

I wish we could translate some of the other scripts from VX back to XP...

I think I'll take a crack at it. It will give me a chance to sharpen my skills and work on something a little fresher... --- Edit: One last questionon using the RTP Tilesets. Is it acceptable to use previously imported RTP Tilesets that have been merged? The importing by itself can be a total pain, but they are all RTP Tilesets that I intend to use, but, that means I will have to open a previously started project, I just intend to build it on a new map. Heads up for everyone else, you better bring your BEST game, cuz I'm playin for keeps! That includes you, Kiriashi! /competitive_spirit

Can we submit projects or demos that we have already completed, or do they have to be brand new maps created after the contest was started? --- Edit Also, in regards to using events / scripts to make the map feel alive, I think a contest the community could benefit from the most would be to use events to bring Characters to life. Like display a conversation with absolutely no dialogue, or something like that. I know I new here, and this statement would be better in its own thread (I'll split it if you want), but do you take suggestions for the next contest?

I do see something in that last version of the map I really like. Upper right hand corner, you have a tree partially obscuring a log. I love styles like that! To me, it feels like that adds depth, like we arent just looking at one static tree, like there can be something behind or in front of it. It looks very natural! I do think you've got the hang of it. I don't think there will be much else that you'll be able to do without "expanding your palette". Its a limitation every single one of us run into eventually. We want to throw in a tile from another mapset, but its not available in this or that one. The solution (not without cost) is to merge tilesets. If you don't go crazy, like I did, you can import tilesets into the game. Inquisitor has some of the best tilesets to date, but they are massive and take literally hours to import. They aren't all perfect, there are a couple of shadow issues I ran into, but was able to fix with photoshop. One of the consequences of importing larger tilesets to expand your palette is that the game performance can suffer on slower computers. But thats if you go insane and merge every single tileset with every other tileset out there. Dont go nuts. Try merging the Forest and Forest Town tilesets. Its still quite a bit of work as the game only imports the images, you have to set up all of the passage settings, priority settings, bush, counter (tables that you can "talk across), and since you are using XP, your passage settings are 4 times more of a pain because each tile has 4 passage settings. It takes time to import a new merged tileset, but it does expand your palette by that same ammt. One advantage of that imported tileset is that the image itself resides as a file that you can go back and edit later, in case you need to fix something or add something else to it. The Disadvantage is that all importing, as far as I know, has to be done manually. Every single tile setting has to be done on each and every tile. Very very very time consuming. I was able to sucessfully import one of Inquisitor's tilesets, but I think it took me something like six hours, which is just nuts and asking for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. I think its about time that you tried importing a new larger (not insanely larger) tileset to enhance your palette. However, I believe you have what it takes to make awesome looking maps! If you do decide to try merging two tilesets, one bit of advice that I can offer is on Tree Shadows. The edges of the shadows where no actual parts of the Tree itself are visible. Mark those tiles with a Priority of 1, otherwise you run into "map holes" or places that the player is able to walk through even though there are other unpassable tiles there. Like a log with a part of a tree shadow will allow the player to walk thru the shadow even though the log is normally unpassable. Fix that by setting that part of the shadow to a Priority of 1. It should have a star there on the Priority. The rest of it, just reference the existing tilesets for how to set the priorities, bush flags, and what not. I think you'll definitely benefit from that extensively.

Its a little harder than that. A lot of caterpillars allow the players character to walk through the other events, but allowing them the Through option makes them all stack on top of you and follow simultaneously. Scripts are easier to deal with, but then again, the style might not work with a caterpillar, like I said. The bosses I think need to be graduated for difficulty. Thus, the first boss will be the easiest and shouldnt take 20 rounds of healing and strategy implementation to beat. You could even use it for a Tutorial, or some banter between the characters which provides for a Tutorial Opportunity. Banter during fight scenes I think should be really really short. "Use the whatever spell to disable his magic shield" or something like that. Looking forward to the revised version, but dont rush it on my behalf. I'd much prefer if people took their time and did it to the best of their ability moreso than rushing out a product because of someone elses deadlines.

Since you're using VX, one of the better Caterpillar Scripts that I know of and use is Zeriab's Caterpillar. http://rmrk.net/index.php/topic,35167.0.html Yeah, its not on this forum, and I dont really like having to link to competing forums to provide scripts, but thats just the way the cookie crumbles. Modern Algebra on that forum is a flat out genius and was able to take the original XP version of the script and modify it to be VX compatible. He added a couple of very cool things, like the "ghost" character, a follower that isnt in your party, and some other stuff. There are a couple of things that are lacking in the script that I modified for the XP version. If you need to, I can try to mess with the VX version to include the same 3 features (more like 3 lines of code) that I was able to implement. If you need them. The caterpillar may not work for your style of gameplay also. But I think it is worth checking out at least. If you decide against it, you could use events, pop them on top of the character, then make it look like they are walking out of the party to deliver their dialogue. Or something like that. I thought the music was fine, but keep in mind that music is only half of the game. Even the default music is fine as well for specific instances, but thats when the music really has to shine through. When it changes from map to map, its kind of expected, but changing the music once or twice for a long cutscene can make or break the cutscene. I just feel the cutscenes need a secondary character to provide for that visual interest, the visual part of the visual audio experience. If you're up to it, go download my Once More, With Feeling demo. Its only like 6 megs and its way way short, but I tried really hard to make the characters really animated as part of both a visual and audio experience. Just another character on the same screen would definitely spice up your game. Bugs suck, and sometimes its impossible for the developer to find them all. Players do everything they can to break the rules set by the developer and can sometimes come up with very clever manipulations in order to achieve specific goals. Speed Runners do this constantly. Like being able to finish Super Mario 64 from start to finish in under 5 minutes. Lots of stuff we just dont expect. But such is the life of anyone building a game is the bugs. Your bugs weren't horrendous or make the game unplayable, and yeah its a work in progress, and that's what we are here to help with. Constructive Criticism, not just Criticism.

That sounds pretty reasonable. The placeholders do still show up, but if you have placeholders turned off, as most people do, they probably wont notice.

Occurs on both IE and Firefox. Though, like I said, I have Image Placeholders turned on. If you try to grab the URL's of one of those images, do they show up for you? Lol. Firefox, not Firefix.

Lets start with the technical issues and bugs first. First map, the doors to the lower left start the Open animation, but the player cant walk thru them without that Open Animation occuring. Occurs BEFORE talking to Princess character. Vampire does NOT disappear after being defeated. Fix with New Event Page, Self Switch A switch is on, and conditional fight branch should set Self Switch A to on (which allows for different graphic, in this case, set Event Page with the Self Switch Condition to have Graphic set to NONE. End of Game needs an End of Game event, just say end of story so far. --- Gameplay. I didnt care for the map. Too much of a Maze, it didnt feel like a castle. Not enough detail. Too many fights. I got poisoned on my first random encounter and didnt survive with no anidotes. Boss fights were way too hard while still for a first map, which I was still doing tutorials in. I like the idea of having the tutorials. Fonts on the word Manipulation was different than the other menu options. I didnt care for that. Fonts should be consistent for all items in that menu. The characters looked like they were twins. I also had no idea there was another character in my party when I first started playing. Consider implementing a Caterpillar system. The conversations appeared as if the player was talking to themselves because there was no other sprites on the screen to appear to be having a discussion. Also, during the fights, due to the difficulty, I found my character leveling several times after just one fight, but even 2nd fight was difficult enough that my attacker turned into my Healer, and my Healer was dishing out all the real damage. Needs a 3rd character to be a dedicated Healer type. Needs a lot of work, but dont give up.

The router could be the issue. I know there are a few routers have a lot of problems when it comes to DNS. It could also be your ISP redirecting requests from your pc to their website. You could try telnetting on port 22 to their website just to see if it responds which will check the ISP, Router, and Firewall, and we can narrow it down from there. I didnt have any troubles validating mine, but I dont own VX (only tried the trial) just XP, and dont recall if Port 22 was the correct port to check connetions with.

I keep coming across a few missing images here and there, which look like they are supposed to come from the site. Not really a big deal. http://www.rmxpunlimited.net/forums/public/style_images/enterprise/notifications/notify_pm.png http://www.rmxpunlimited.net/forums/public/style_images/enterprise/rte_icons/hide.png http://www.rmxpunlimited.net/forums/public/style_images/enterprise/topicpreview.png I have my Image Placeholders turned on because I do some website design stuff, so its quite noticable. Just pointing out in case you didnt notice. I actually like the main style of the site looking a lot more unique than so many other forums out there...

The type of gameplay I know sounds extremely vague, but entertaining fantasy story driven gameplay, focusing on the story being character and world event driven (get to this town for next part of game, but not rushed). What I am thinking is that the dialogue is heavy in the beginning as there are lots of short expected tutorials, sleep and save in beds, this is how to do this and that, then as the story progesses, taper down dialogue to be more exploration and combat driven towards the middle of the game, more open instead of very linear like this particular map is. I know it doesnt really sound that exciting as that description is extremely vague, just want to make it entertaining for the player. I would like for the Player to be able to relate to each and every character in some way shape or form, even if those characters are the "enemy", the Player I think should be able to relate to their point of view and understand their motivations as not necessarily being good or evil, but reasonable. Im also keeping an eye out for a better NON ABS Battle System, but something with a bit more "spice". Not necessarily a side persective or Active Battle System, just a wider more detailed combat system. I can already do dialogue during the combat sequences with the current Scripts, but those will probably be minimal. I just think the Combat needs to feel a little more rewarding, as well as being able to do it as quickly as possible, which is one of the good things about the default battle system. I'd love to be able to have a lot more map Character Animations than I currently have available, and would probably need a lot of help with that, so I wont ask or expect that much work from anyone. But that would be the Style I would love to aim for. I've tried to fix as much of the current style issues as I can, excluding giving the Wooden Signs a Wooden Background, but I do want to do that because it is an excellent suggestion. But just in regards to this map, do you have any other suggestions in regards to the Style of the gameplay? Characters that chatter quite a bit (to be toned down in the future), and guide the player towards their goal with that Dialogue?

To add to Kiriashi's statement, if you do use Events for a Tile, dont forget to turn Walking Animation off. It does affect performance slightly. It allows for 4 layers instead of the 3 standard reserved just for tiles. Also to add to his statement, defining Layer Splicing. Each tree has individual tiles. When those tiles are next to each other, they APPEAR to form a tree. Each one of those tiles does not have to be on the same layer as the other tiles of the same tree. I also agree with the idea that the Trees should define the Border along the path, to a certain extent. Using other natural debris like Logs or other Plants can help it to feel a little more natural, like it is a dense forest as opposed to being sparce, which would be more like an open plain, where a few trees wouldnt form any natural borders, except hopefully for the borders of the map. I think the map itself is very good. I like the way that the trees overlap, and there isnt any recognizable patterns to it. And the path is not straight and perfectly even, which I love. The trees themselves look pretty dense, but to rate the density, they hit about a 5 out of 10, where to feel really dense, they need to hit about a 7 or an 8.

Workin on the gameplay. Now that the technical issues appear to be resolved, was the style acceptable? Heavily animated characters, hints, visual cues, your conversations being observed by other characters, etc.?

I think we are all very conditioned to thinking that the "Legitimate Copy" completely follows the definition of what their Lawyers want it to be, and not what is actually "Legitimate". If we start to think in terms of what is "Legitimate" by the definition of ordinary people, we start to realize that whole Middle Man / Publisher is the Real Pirate. Thanks for the +rep folks!

Ok, read later if you want. Or, go for the last paragraph. Basically the point was you can listen to a song on the radio for free and that isn't considered piracy, but to experience a game, you have to PLAY it, so downloading a Game off the internet is more wrong than downloading a Song. The REAL Pirates are the Middle Men, or the Publishers who dont actually create the Content we was consumers want to consume. Thoughts? --- Thanks Arkbennett for the +rep! Right back at ya!

I think Humans are Sexual Creatures, which is necessary for the survival of the species. Other types of life can reproduce asexually. Like Bacteria. A bacteria isnt exactly alive in the way we would call alive as having a heartbeat and brain activity, and isn't exactly aware of its own existence in the way we perceive life. However I think there are still similarities between the two. Humans and Bacteria both need to eat to survive. Now, if the way our bodies were set up, if we werent rewarded in some way shape or form by our body (cellular) chemistry, and had no drive to do what we needed to do to survive, we would both be extinct. When people have sex, our brains reward us by releasing Endorphins as a pleasure reward response for that activity. When we eat something that satiates us, again, our brains reward us by releasing certain types of chemicals. I'll assume that something similar happens in Bacteria. It eats, thus, it "feels" better, and thus, is compelled to continue performing that same type of activity. Did you know that 99.999% of ALL species that have EVER existed on this planet are now extinct? And I'm not just talking about the Dinosaurs either. Now we can go off on the whole Evolution bit, but as to not offend anyone or their beliefs, we can incorporate whatever methods you want into the same outcome. One thing I think we will both agree on is Genetic Diversification. If a person believes in Evolution, they may conclude that said genetic branch died off. Creationists may say something different, but I believe we do agree that Genetics is why children look very similar to the way their parents look. Another point that we will agree on is that everything dies. There is no immortal human, there is no immortal dog, or plant, or tree, or monkey, or bacteria, or fish, so on and so forth. Everything dies, eventually. I think where the Evolutionists get things mixed up is that they believe that such and such branch was a Genetic Dead End. Well, it was a dead end, but not because of genetics, however, because everything dies. Where genetics come into play is when a Wolf crossbreeds with a Coyote, you end up with a new species. The parents of that new species will die regardless, but the parents being one Wolf and one Coyote may be the last of their kind, but the offspring, I'll just call it a Wolfyote are still around. The Genetics were compatible enough that the offspring were able to survive. And someday, guaranteed, that offspring will die, but in the meantime, it may pass on its genetics to a new generation of Dog and Wolfyote. I have a feeling that a lot of people will call BS in the cross species genetics. But it does happen. Not every new species can survive however. Human females have been impregnated with Human-Ape hybrid offspring. Not a single human female was able to carry the hybrid species to term. And it wasnt without risk to the parent. Several females died as a result of the type of offspring of their Pregnancy. So it doesnt all just magically work out. Most of the time, it doesnt. The greater the genetic diversity between the species, the higher the chance that their DNA wont be compatible. And that probability increases exponentially with more genetic diversity. Hence why we dont see Duckagators, or Fishonuts, or a Mosquitopottamus. The Wolfyote is real. So are Ligers, Grizzly Black Bears, and, of course, the Platypus. Humans are not exempt from the genetic cross breeding, however, we dont consider people from different herritages to not be human. We dont walk around saying African Americans are Human but Caucasians are a totally separate species. Genectically, we are, but as we dont classify Humans as being Human or Non Human based on color of their skin or ethnicity, we still acknowledge that an African America, an Asian, and Caucasian are all still Human. Just as we recognize both a Chihuahua and a Great Dane to be a Dog. We now have many multi ethnic families whose children have traits from both of their parents. There is some genetic diversity in those types of families, but those differences are not enough to prevent us from cross breeding. What people may think is odd is that a Chihuahua that was mated with a Great Dane usually wont be able to carry the puppies to term, if they even survive the pregnancy. We have bred in that much genetic diversity into the generalized class of dogs, but not all Dogs DNA is 100% compatible with other dogs, so genetic failure occurs even within the same species. I think that one of the things that has guaranteed the survival of all life is the allowance of genetic exchange and diversity. We tend to think of all life on the planet as either the whole planet, or to focus only on one couple or one experiment. The whole planet is one big soup kitchen of various types of DNA which constantly interchange and cross mingle, a billion times every second of every day, for the last four billion years, and if we dont fuck things up for everything on the 3rd Rock from the Sun, for the next four billion years as well. Species will die off, not because of genetic incompatibility or dead ends, but because things die, but the hybrid offspring may sometimes survive. And with a billion experiments a second, it is pretty well guaranteed that one of those hybrids eventually will be able to survive being a hybrid creature, whose DNA is more compatible with both species of either of their parents. Bacteria change as well, but not as a result of Sex, but because of mutations. Bacteria are so small that we are unable to see them without the aid of a microscope. Right now, you probably have no less than ten billion bacteria in your innerds. And to think that each one will clone itself perfectly from now until the end of time is absurd. One of those is going to come out being the retard of the bunch, and unfortunately, has the same chance of survial as the one that comes out being the genius of the group, the Albert Einstein of Bacteria, having an IQ of 0.000000001% as opposed to a flat out zero. But those types of traits dont benefit or hinder Bacteria as much as their ability to survive in different types of enviornments. If a Bacteria can survive being airborne, it has a better chance of survival than one that cant survive being airborne when its launched at a hundred miles per hour out of your snot locker. The constant exposure of billions upon billions of bacteria being launched into the atmosphere when, not just you, but any person on the planet sneezes, coughs, or even breathes, the odds are one of them eventually will be able to survive in the new enviornment. But my schpeil isnt about the genetic diversity of Bacteria, its about Humans. Humans have gotten to where they are today because, lets face it, we're horny! We screw! We get drunk and wake up next to Coyote Ugly, well, that kid has a shot at survival. Maybe better than you think. We are hard wired to screw as much as possible. And we dont stay with one mate, as having sex with as many different partners as possible creates greater genetic diversity which has guaranteed the survival of our species, at least, this far. And we love to screw! Hell, most of our culture is about screwing! Rich people want to get rich so they can attract more mates that they can screw! A good dinner and a good movie might lead to you screwing who ever you took out with you, or them just screwing you over. Our brains release chemicals that are chemical rewards for us when we screw. If we didnt have that, we'd look at our naughty bits and wonder why they are even there in the first place. But thanks to the divine power of chemical rewards from our brains, we produce crotchfruit at the rate that even Rabbits envy! We are just higher on the food chain. Now, to answer your first question, does True Love exist? I think it does. But we are not in love with what we think we are in love with. We are in love with screwing! And if your partner allows for it, will be in love with screwing you as much as you are in love with screwing them! And if that relationship fails, if we dont have the genetic hodge podge of both of the screwers DNA result in a new mutant hybrid mutation that crawls around on the floor and cries every twenty seconds as they wet themselves, we immediately try to find a new parter to screw! And we keep going at it until we finally reach our guaranteed fate of death, at which point, our Banana and Oyster Splits will try to screw anything they can find willing to screw them as much as they want to screw once they figure out that they are as in love with screwing as much as the previous ten million generations have discovered! And the cycle will continue from there! So, does love exist? Sure. But it is more chemical based than most people are aware of.

I agree with Marked. Hell would be worse than not existing. However Hell isnt necessarily contained into just the afterlife perspectives of life. Life itself can be as Hellish as we imagine and think Hell would be. What if you were a slave? What if you starved every day of your existence and had no idea when or where your next crumb of food will come? There are things in life that people can picture that would be worse than their picture of Hell. What if you had Cancer? What if you were a 14 year old Quadrapalegic and stuck in a Wheelchair for the rest of a very long expected life? A lot of it has to do with that individuals perspective. Rape is a decent example. Many people imagine that being Raped only happens to Women. What if you were / are a Woman and have experienced the trauma of being Raped? Living with those consequences can be as traumatic as the experience itself. Many people often have the perspective that you cant Rape a man. Two words. Butt Secks. Like Prison. Prison in many ways can be just as Hellish as we may picture that Hell itself would be. However, it depends on the perspective. If you were on the brink of starving to death, used to selling your body in exchange for sexual favors, not knowing where you will sleep next or where your next meal will come from, Prison, to that person, could appear to be a Heaven more than others would perceive it to be a Hell. Prison puts a roof over your head, some sort of a place to sleep, and provides food. The minimum necessary requirements to stay alive. Hell to a lot of people is when they cant even acquire or sustain those necessary requirements. Thus, it is all a matter of perspective, and every person is going to have at least a slightly different perspective based on their life experiences. Some religions teach that a person will be given a certain number of virgins if they die in such a way that it appeases their God. Well, thats just great, unless you're the Virgin! Perspective.

(I know this is an old thread but I'll post anyway.) I think that there needs to be a Balance as to how much kids can play video games. Just about everyone knows or at least has heard of the Four Food Groups. However, what most people dont think about is that the Mind is just like the Body. The Mind needs its share of different types of mental stimulation, just as the body needs different types of foods. If we let kids eat what ever they wanted to eat, they would consume sweet sugary snacks and junk foods until their eyes exploded out of their skulls because of their high blood pressure and diabetes. The mind is similar. Video Games arent necessarily the Mental Version of "Junk Food for the Brain", but too much or too little of anything is effectively unhealthy. Vegetarians can get around eating meat by replacing it with other sources of protien in their diets. If kids are left to choose to consume only the Mental Stimulation they desired, they would usually go for the types of mental activities that produced the most adrenalline in their brains. Video Games are able to stimulate more adrenalline than watching TV, and watching TV causes the brain to release more adrenalline than reading a book. Thus, given the opportunity to play Video Games, or do Math Homework, kids are going to choose Video Games. High Adrenal Stimulation by Video Games, however, I think is a much safer alternative than encouraging kids to engage in high risk real life behaviors, such as fighting, stealing, and any other activity where someone else is made to suffer for their Adrenalline Rush, or the behavior is such a high risk that it is completely unsafe. As a kid, I didnt play a lot of Video Games. I got my "fix" out of playing sports, and riding a bike a lot. Although some would consider those to be "high risk activities" now adays, I do not. We have to look at what the kids are experiencing. What they are experiencing in Video Games can not be safely performed at all in Real Life, and is the equivilant of being in a full on military combat situation where people die, for their entertainment. Going to war and literally getting shot at is what I would consider to be the "high risk activity". Playing a First Person Shooter where if your character gets shot twenty thousand times by four hunred tanks, gets at lest 10 nuclear weapons detonated, there is no risk of physical injury, but the kids do still get nearly the same Adrenal High that Military Personnel get from an actual Combat High. However, the brain needs more stimulation and input than just the Adrenalline Rush. It needs stimulation from other types of activities, such as educational and human interactive activities. However, in order to try to get kids interested in Math, Science, or whatever their intellectual stimulation is, the material needs to be presented in such a way that it is exciting and interesting. And paying teachers minimum wage in overcrowded schools where most of their classmates dont even speak the same language just isnt going to cut the mustard. I could blather on about our whole situation in the Schools as its own topic, but for now, I'll try to stick to the intent of my post, and that is that the brain has its own Food Groups. Focusing on Intellectual Stimulation for a second, if you can teach kids how to do the most complex math equations in their heads in less than two seconds literally, kids become interested, because they can show off to their friends, and use their math skills to challenge their friends, there by stimulating one of the other necessary elements that the minds are all in need of, and that is human interaction. Seriously, teach your kid that one hundred eleven million, one hundred eleven thousand, one hundred eleven Squared is twelve quadrillion, three hundred forty five trillion, six hundred seventy eight billion, nine hundred eighty seven million, six hundred fifty four thousand, three hundred twenty one, and be dead accurate, in less than a second by just recongnizing that the number being squared has all ones in it, and the "trick" is to count to the total number of ones in the string, then back down again. Thus, 111,111,111 has nine 1's in it, so count to nine, then back down again. 12345678987654321. Not that difficult. then put commas in. Dont believe me? Plug it into your calculator. Forty two times eleven. The trick, add the two numbers together and put it in the middle. Four plus two is six. Oooh. Hard math there. Put it in the middle: Four, Six, Two. 462. 462 is 42x11. 11x27 is 297. Less than a second to figure out. Teach a kid how to do that, in their heads, and watch how exited they get over learning. Intellectual Stimulation is one of the elements, another is Human Interaction. Without the experience taught by Human Interaction, the kids will not know how to interact with the rest of the world when they finally come into adulthood. The source of the Human Interaction I dont think matters quite as much as it just being present. However, it also can not be the ONLY source of stimulation for the kids brains. We tend to think that if the kids arent studying expected school related lessons that they arent learning anything. This isnt true. Human Interaction teaches kids how to do exactly that, interact. If a kid were forced to focus only on school and studies, you end up with nerds. They end up being booksmart, but have no idea how to interact with the rest of the world. Its one of the reasons I despise the concepts of Homework. The time that the kids spend at home needs to be utilized by the kids to do everything but homework. Homework takes away from Family Time, or social time with their friends, which, as I already pointed out, is just as important as the scholastic elements. Video Games allow the kids to have an in depth knowledge of a subject they focus on which can be used to influence how well they are able to interact with other kids. Say there is a new Pokemon game that your kid is playing. When they go to school, they have learned quite a bit about their new popular game, and this gives them a means to learn human interaction, even if the human interaction is to talk about their favorite video game. Some of the games also have the whole online component to them. While the kids are playing their currently favorite video game, they are also gaining that Human Interaction, although I dont think is done in such a way that it is exactly healthy. When kids play sports, if the kid somehow cheats and is called out on it, they dont have the opportunity to learn that human interaciton is all about mouthing off and not being held accountable for their actions. They can cheat in video games, the other players cant do anything about it, and the kids end up establishing an overdeveloped ego, and disregards any sense of responsibility for their behavior. I think Video Games are fine, as long as they are Balanced. But try to encourage kids to take on other different types of challenges. Sports develop hand eye coordination as well as focusing heavily on the Human Interaction aspects. But the benefits of sports, or going over to a friends house, riding a bike, or what ever type of activity that a child is encouraged to engage in, they should ALL be in moderation, they should all be Balanced, especially Balanced, because the worst thing that a child can become is Unbalanced. Unbalanced is Unhealthy. As a Parent, I feel that it is the Parents responsibility to Balance homework and scholastic studies against the need for Human Interaction, as well as to provide some down time, and allow the kids to just veg out. Ultimately, I think it comes down to Parents being Responsible for their kids and not allowing Video Games to replace their role as Parents, just as my Parents did, and the Parents of their Generation to allow TV to become their children's Parents. It is all about the Balance, and that is the Parents greatest Responsibility.

I think the Law has blurred the lines of what is piracy. The copyright holders want to squeeze as much money out of the products the publish as possible. But at the same time, they hype the shit out of everything they expect to make money, regardless of quality. Please bear in mind that the Publisher is not the same as the person or group that created the product. Every Publishers wettest dream would consist of charging every person that hears even a portion of any song that they've published every single time they hear it, unless it is on the Radio. I believe there is a big difference between their definition of Piracy and the common man's definition of Piracy. They would have Piracy defined as recording a song off of the Radio using an 8-Track Tape (if any of you even know what that is, dont raise your hands all at once). However, the Common Man would define Piracy as someone claiming to be the Creator of said content, and distributing it for profit. I take a Final Fantasy game, maybe hack it, take out everyone's name but my own, slap my name on it, then try to sell it as being MY product, that in my definition is Piracy. I think most of us agree that Piracy is benefiting somehow from the distribution of a product that isnt technically yours. I download a movie off of some website while it is still in theaters, burn several DVD's of the movie, then sell them, I dont pay the Studios any money, the content creators a dime, and tell the Publishers they can go piss into the wind. That is what I believe is Piracy. Downloading a song off the internet for Personal Use, I.E. you don't sell it, to me, is the same as listening to it on the Radio. You can listen to a song on the Radio, if you are willing to put up with commercials, or pay a subscription fee to Satellite Radio, but for all practical purposes, you are listening to it for free. The Radio Station can not guarantee that you will listen to the Commercials. The Radio Station affords its operating costs by either Commercials or Subscriptions (Satellite). From the Commercial percpective, the Advertiser would prefer that you listen to their Commercials rather than the content that attracted you to that station to begin with. Same thing goes for TV. Now, something has changed in the last century. But lets think about what changed. Content Producers still want people to view or listen to their content. The Consumer wants to view the Content that the Content Producers produce. But getting that media (visual, audio, book, or game) from the Content Producer to the Consumer used to require a Middle Man. A TV station. A Radio Station. A Satellite Radio Station. A Game Publisher. A Book Publisher. A Cinema. Theater. Etc. Etc. Etc. What has changed in the last several years is that we have found ways to cut out the Middle Man, and the Middle Man is not happy about that. Another topic to focus on is that Media used to be a One Way Street. Publishers were the ones who controlled which bands played, which movies made it into Theaters, which books and games got published. With the Internet, the Media has shifted from being completely controlled by the Publishers to being nearly entirely controlled by the Consumers, which is what allowed us to cut out the Middle Men. We self generate the response and demand for the content. We utilize social networks, forums, chat rooms, text msgs, and every other advantage the Interwebs have to offer us to communicate with each other as to what kinds of content are worth half a squirt of piss and what is the best content out there. We no longer listen to Movie Critics to tell us to go see movies that suck while they pan and criticize anyones product that hasnt bought their influence. We all know that the Major Middle Men are so heavily influenced that their reviews and recommendations can not be trusted. We know that you and I have nothing to lose or gain by giving a good movie a good review and a shitty movie a shitty review. We are as completely honest and unbiased about calling something what we feel it really is. And that is a massive threat to the Middle Men. The Middle Men gained so much power, money and influence before the Internet when the could tell us what to pay for and what not to pay for that they ended up being the ones who funded most of the products. That influence still lingers, but is quickly diminishing. They've resorted to trying to assert themselves as being important in the industry by Lobbying for stricter Anti Piracy Laws and DRM to try to persuade us to continue to think that they are still important. The Middle Men are no longer important in the Age of the Internet. They are going the way of the Dinosaur and the Dodo Bird and Print Media. They are Extinct. They just havent realized it yet. The Age when the Middle Men controlled your content is Over. The Future is the Consumers. We control which companies sink and swim based on our unbiased opinions. The Content Producers dont need the self-important Middle Men to distribute their content. We have a direct line of communication with the Content Producers to tell them what we want, what we dont want, and what our opinions are of their content. In that respect, absolutely nothing has changed in regards to the relationship between the Content Producers and the Consumers. Content Producers still want to produce content, and consumers still want to consume their content. The consumers will still pay for content when they believe that the Content Creator will be the one to benefit from paying for it. However, most of us could really give a shit less if the Publishers get paid. We dont need Publishers any more to get our content. But, the Publishers, the Middle Men have continued to try to maintain their importance in the relationship between the Creators and Content Producers and we the Consumers. The Publishers are usually the ones that suffer the most from Piracy, when in fact I believe it is the Publishers that are committing the greatest Piracy of all. They have twisted the law to turn us into Criminals and themselves into Heroes. They get paid for distributing content that they did not create. They claim that any content that any Content Producers produce is their Intellectual Property. I believe the Middle Men are the REAL Pirates. They take our money, money that we want the Content Producers to have. They steal the Content from the Content Producers, claim it as their own, and "sell rights to License" the use of that material. They steal both the Content and the Money. The Publishers and Middle Men are Parasites. They are the Criminals. They are the Real Pirates. I would be tempted to say that there is only ONE fact that makes what they do as being Legal, and that is the Agreement between the Content Producers and the Publishers, but alas, I can not even say that. The Content Producers are so desparate and the Publishers (Middle Men) are so greedy for even more money that they bully and pretty much force the Conetnt Producer to give them absolutely everything that they work to create. We always complain that DRM screws over the Consumer. But what we dont gripe about is the Content Producers point of view, where in order for them to get funding from the Publisher, they have to sign over 80% of the profits of their Intellectual Propert over to the Publsiher, as well as the rights to the Intellectual Property as well. So we have DRM on the side of the Consumers there to screw us over, but the Content Producers get just as screwed over. The Consumers outnumber the Content Producers, so often their voices are drown out in the sea of DRM rants. However, look at the real cause of the problem. The Real Cause of the problem is neither the Consumer or the Content Producer, but the Middle Men. The Publishers. Both DRM that screws the Consumer and Legalized Theft frmo the Content Producers are inventions of the Publishers in order for them to maintain a fading presence in a fully digital world. I went to a Nine Inch Nails concert about ten years ago, where I stuck around after the show to get Trent Reznor's autograph. When I met him, I shook his hand, and gave him twenty bucks. I told him that I pirated his last CD, but since I knew he was coming to town, I'd rather give Trent the money personally and his Publisher didnt deserve a bigger chunk of the profit for the Content he created. He was a little puzzled, but graciously accepted the money, said "Thank you", gave me the CD (which I already pirated) and he autographed, and moved on to sign his next fan's CD. He didn't seem to troubled by the fact that not only I flat out told him I pirated his music I think because not only did I buy that CD right then and there, but he got an extra twenty bucks on top of me now having a legitimate copy of his music. I dont know if that had anything to do with Trent's decision to try a different method of distribution and changed his stance on Piracy or not, but it might have. Now, I just referred to buying his music to be legitimate, however, that is the Legal Definition, and not my opinion. As far as I am concerned, that so called "legitimate copy" is about as illegitimate as you can possibly get. Trent got screwed, and I got screwed out of my effort to pay Trent for the copy. Now, I wont deny that a CD is physical media and someone has to produce a CD, then go through the effort of copying the music onto that CD. The CD producer does deserve a share for having done some work, but when I can just go to NIN's website, make a financial exchange for me to have a copy of his music, I call that a Legitmate Copy. The CD's were usually produced and manufactured by the now defunct Publisher. The Publisher that overcharges NIN for the production of their CD's. Then, the Publisher who creates the CD wants to put screwy software on those CD's (Sony Rootkit) to keep us from "Pirating" what they've already stolen from the Content Producers. That to me is NOT a Legitimate Copy. Let me change the subject for a minute. There is a Big Difference between what I will start referring to as Static Media and Dynamic Media. The difference between the two is that Static Media is something like a Movie, a Song, a Book, or something that you can NOT interact with. Dynamic Media would include Games and Software. I think there is a big difference between the definitions of Piracy for each. The examples that I provideded earlier where I listen to a Song (Static Media) on the Radio is not considered Theft or Piracy, as I can listen to it for free. However, when I play a Game (Dynamic Media) that I download, I have no other way to interact or observe tht type of Media than to be directly involved with it. I can't listen to a Video Game on the Radio, or watch it on TV. I can only play it on my computer, or what ever electronic device I need to play said Media. That to me does meet a definition of Theft, but not necessarily Piracy. Piracy is to benefit from the distribution of someone elses content. Essencially Pirates act as the Middle Men where they act as Publishers, but never agreed with the Content Producers to give them one Red Cent. This is where I think a lot of people are not making the association of what really is theft, based on what type of Media they are observing or interacting with. I dont feel that if you download a song off the internet for free without paying either the Content Producer or the Publisher that it constitues Theft because you can observe that Media without having to pay for it. The Content Producers still get paid regardless if we pay for a subscription to Satellite Radio, or just listen to it on the Radio subsidized by Commercials. Dynamic Media on the other hand can ONLY be interacted with as that is its ONLY form of entertainment. Game Makers dont get paid if someone watches a video of someone else playing their game on YouTube, they only get paid when we the consumers buy the content they produced, and even then, they dont get their fair share, unless they've figured out that they dont need the Publishers any more. Thus, Downloading Songs, Movies, and TV Shows = Not Illegal, Downloading Games = Illegal, but not Piracy. The Real Pirates are the Publishers who steal the Content from the Content Producers as their own, and profit from it. Thoughts and reactions? Do you agree or disagree? Why or why not? Debate.