my point exactly...

I want to like these movies but I just can't. Lucas can pace an action scene and build a believable world but he can't write dialogue or cast and direct actors to save his life.
The two kids (in both EP 1 and 2) playing Anakin and the Princess - are black holes on the screen. All light and energy is sucked into the void. It's obvious anytime you place them on screen with real actors like Ewan McGregor and Christopher Lee. Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman are nice to look at but they just don't have the chops.
Couple bad actors with bad dialogue and you've got a bad movie.
You could probably say something similar about Mark Hammill in the first trilogy but those films had the advantage of being first. It's easy to overlook a few warts when you've just been introduced to something so fresh and different.
I honestly think that we as geeks need to become vastly more discerning in our entertainment tastes. 95% of all sci fi and fantasy films and TV shows are absolute crap. Yet there is so very little of it out there that we all seem to rally around it and give it much more attention that it's worth in the hopes that someday something better will come along. What right-minded individual could still be a fan of Star Trek after Voyager, Enterprise and every film made after the Wrath of Kahn!? How can we justify our devotion to Highlander!? Who on God's green earth watches Stargate SG 1 !!?

KAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!

I feel sorry for the kids who were introduced to Star Wars with EP I and II rather than the original trilogy. They can't possibly understand the significance of those films to a different generation.

As much as I wanted Lucas to make the entire series I now wish he would kindly slink away to his multi billion dollar island fortress and leave my childhood memories in peace. Pardon me, I think my pre-order collector’s edition of Star Wars Galaxies just arrived...

This comment was edited on Jun 26, 15:30.

Troll, this is hardly the place for a well reasoned, thoughtful post on the problems that lie at the heart of every MMORPG.

HOW DARE YOU!

I DEMAND that you return immediately and post some drivel about the severe injustices being heaped upon the gaming public by SOE.

Thank you for your time.

MS is already subsidizing the cost of the machine by a significant amount in hopes of gaining marketshare. Some have said as much as $100/unit.

But your right ram is cheap

I think it would be scary if they did move Bronco. Women are infinitely more devious then men. I mean the Sims Online has no built in structure for this sort of subterfuge, so the women went outside of the game to create it.

If it were a male oriented game, there would have been lots of whining and /rant posts on the forum demanding that the devs do something about it. Makes you wonder what Lineage or Shadowbane would be like if more women played it. The men wold be terrified to log on!

I shudder at the thought...mommy hold me...

This comment was edited on Jun 6, 13:12.

"You quote $9 to see a movie, weak comparisome as movies are one off events, planetside is a monthly subscription and if I go to movies once a month its not to see the same move. Same for video rental"

Thats my point - you pay $9 for event that lasts 90 minutes. $10+ to an MMORPG gets you an unlimited amount.

I'm not saying that this isn't a ploy to make money on the publisher/developer's part - it is. It's business pure and simple.

As for cheats and additional content - there will always be cheating but mmorpgs don't have it at nearly the level that your standard FPSs, RTSs and Diablo style games do simply because the publisher won't support them at the level that an MMORPG offers support.

The reason that the Internet itself, and to some degree game developers (not publishers or retailers) are in a bad spot is because they've given away too much. If you want to play games where cheaters are actively banned from playing the game, where the software is continualy optimised and new content is added to the game from time to time, then you have to pay for it. No BS, just Simple economics.

Bingo - I did say many, not all. Obviously those with multiplayer components have a higher replay value. The point I'm making here is that $10 isn't that much money when you put it in context with other forms of entertainment. $9 to see a movie, $15 for a CD, $8.95 for a paperback book, $3 for a video rental...I could go on but I'm sure you see where I'm coming from. I find that the additional services provided by the developers - monthly content updates, relativly cheat free gameplay, access to customer support, and a strong player communnity, add enough value to the product to warrent what is actually a modest monthly payment.

Ethic -
Here's how I rationalize it - $10-$15 bucks a month buys you an infinite amount of entertainement. You can't say that about going to the movies or buying a CD. Many games that you buy for $40-$50 bucks entertain you for a month and then you move on to the next one. In my view, MMORPGs save you money because you aren't necessarily buying a new game every month to entertain yourself. $50 for the first month and then $15/month for every month after that. I'm currently only paying for one MMORPG - Anarchy Online.

This last month however I have beta tested EVE, Star Wars Galaxies and Planetside. Of those three, Planetside is in the best shape.

On topic - I think PS is a pretty good game. I'm not sure I'll buy it right away just to see if the devs add enough new content on a regular basis to make it different from BF1942. To me, FP shooters are like candy - great stuff in limited quantities but after a steady diet of it your teeth start to hurt. If PS can add some depth to the gameplay, I'd be there in a heartbeat.

I gotta say - I don't get cordless mice and keyboards. Both are never more than 3 feet away from the humming box sitting under my desk. I suppose there might be a few specialized uses for these things but I doubt their practicallity for most of us.

Don't get me wrong - I'm as big a gadget freak as they come but this one escapes me.

The Sims Online, Earth and Beyond and Majestic all have one thing in common - dull game play. I didn't try MCO but in playing the other three, I sensed a lack of respect on EA's part for their clientle. All three titles go out of their way to reduce the cost of failure to the point where all dramatic tension has been elimentated. Their failure to produce a successful MMORPG title has more to do with their failure to build a good game then it does with the mass market being unwilling to pay monthly fees or understand complex game systems. If you build a good game, people will want to play it.

As much as I enjoy the ad, it's only a matter of time before he's forced down our media gullets so much he's coming out of our media a$$

My favorite thing on the Terry Tate website is this warning:

"The characterizations in this advertisement seek to entertain and are not in any way an endorsement of the use of force in the workplace. Workplace violence is an important safety and health issue. The Occupational Health & Safety Administration (OSHA) has standards and regulations to prevent and deal with workplace violence. For information, please visit OSHA."

We live in a strange world...

Pictures Blue, we demand pictures of Hudson the Wonder Dog...
Maybe a Hudson the Wonder dog Blues News logo?

This comment was edited on Jan 18, 08:34.

Wow talk about a labor of love! They've done an excellent job of capturing the ambiance of the original series. The production values are excellent and they've done a terrific job of reproducing the style of acting and dialog as well. It's pretty impressive. Check it out!

Worst. Star Trek Movie. Ever...

Time to retire the Next Generation.

It's an urban legend. It has all the signs. Multiple occurences during a short period of time as well as a neat and tidy moral for all the kiddies - If you do it to much, you'll go blind...er..die.