Messages

1

Off Topic / Re: Doctor Who -- Season 7 Discussion Thread

« on: 23 May 2013, 12:14:22 »

While I enjoyed "The Name of the Doctor" it seemed to me that there was a distinct lack of Silence Falling on the field of Trenzalore.

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Off Topic / Re: XBox One

« on: 22 May 2013, 14:00:54 »

Without getting into the DRM or always on or backwards compatability issues I was left with the impression that Microsoft really, really, REALLY wants us all to watch a lot more TV.

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General Discussion / Re: Field Manual 3145 Cover

« on: 22 May 2013, 13:57:36 »

So does that cover art count as Malice aforefront?

(Sorry about that one.)

Between this and the colour maps, the wait for the print edition will be quite a long one...

But they've already done Malicious Intent.

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General Discussion / Re: Field Manual 3145 Cover

« on: 22 May 2013, 13:07:20 »

I see a RAF logo on the right torso of the center 'Mech. I wonder if this is Remnant or Fortress?

Can't wait to find out.

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Off Topic / Re: roosterboy's 2013 comic book conclave

« on: 17 May 2013, 08:02:18 »

James Asmus confirmed that Gambit is canceled as of issue 17.

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Off Topic / Re: Ender's Game Trailer.

« on: 09 May 2013, 09:51:56 »

Even assuming the first film is a major success, I don't think adapting Speaker for the Dead is going to be a very easy task. You do away with giant chunks of what makes the first film popular and bank everything on audiences being able to get behind talking CGI piggies.

Were I a Hollywood type and it Up To Me, I would look at cribbing something together from the Shadow series of novels (but with less Anton's Key stuff) with a heaping of Ender in Exile mixed in. Speaker, Xenocide and Children of the Mind are too highfalutin to get adapted properly.

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The Successor States / Re: If Joshua Hadn't Been Doubled

« on: 02 May 2013, 21:14:01 »

Another thing to consider is that there was a period of time where False Thomas was not exactly on the outs with ComStar (and more importantly, the Real Thomas Marik) but not exactly behaving as the proxy ruler they had expected him to be. It may be that False Thomas didn't try sending Joshua to Terra because he knew the boy would be just as much a hostage there as he would be on New Avalon, and that Joshua's chances for treatment were as good if not better on New Avalon because the FedCom had a really good reason to keep the boy alive, whereas ComStar did not.

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The Successor States / Re: Democracy in the Successor States

« on: 26 April 2013, 12:40:24 »

Except there are a lot of democracies / republics in BT at the planetary level. Prior to its dissolution, the FWL remained a republic at the interstellar level. The Captain-General, prior to their 31st Century emergency powers, had limited influence over most operations of the nation.

Unless you split hairs on the definition of "democracy," they're quite common in BT and the House Sourcebooks and Handbooks have said so. Explicitly and directly, and I quoted one on that matter earlier. I also gave direct examples of planets with "democratic republics."

I keep coming back to the size and communications issues. It's not a direct correlation, I admit, but when you look at colonial-era America you have a nation comprising a relatively small population spread out over an enormous distance, such that communications from the capital (Philadelphia) to major metropolitan hubs like New York City might take 4 days to 2 weeks depending on weather conditions, and heaven help you if you have to get word from Boston to Charleston in a timely fashion.

So is there a upper limit on how large an American style, representative star democracy could be? What I keep imagining as viable is a nation that has sufficient JumpShip assets so that any system is within a double jump of the capital, meaning emergency communications are never more than the time it takes to transmit the message from the surface to the jump point and vice versa. Increase the pool of dedicated JumpShips and you increase the potential diameter of the nation via the introduction of command circuits.

Naturally, in a post-Succession War Inner Sphere there probably aren't that many JumpShips available for just communications duty, but I don't see why something the size of the Terran Alliance, St. Ives Compact or post-Tukayyid FRR wouldn't be viable.

(And yeah, given that all of those are ex-realms at this point, that might not be the best of examples...  )

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The Successor States / Re: Democracy in the Successor States

« on: 23 April 2013, 08:10:19 »

During the Jihad years, I harbored secret hopes that the Democracy Now! movement in the Lyran Alliance would ultimately result in an explosion of pro-democratic ideals (even as I knew from the Dark Age material that there was no real hope of any change to the map). Instead, Democracy Now! went down in flames because we can't have nice things.

Now, I find myself hoping that if House Davion is truly on the ropes that Filtvelt manages to finally tap all the unused riches of the Davion periphery and grows into an industrial power capable of playing the role of arsenal of freedom to its spiritual forefathers.

Again, I know. Nice Things, cannot to be having them.

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Off Topic / Re: roosterboy's 2013 comic book conclave

« on: 18 April 2013, 09:18:59 »

I knew about the Captain Marvel/Avengers Assemble crossover, but as far as I know Captain Marvel at least is doing reasonably well and isn't about to be cancelled.  I guess we'll see when August solicits come out.

AoA and X-Treme are definite cancellations. Astonishing X-Men is also part of the "X-Terminated" crossover but I'm not sure of its future. There's a new volume of (Adjectiveless) X-Men coming out soon from Brian Wood/Olivier Copiel which may render Astonishing even more superfluous than it already is.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for Gambit's solo series.

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Off Topic / Re: roosterboy's 2013 comic book conclave

« on: 18 April 2013, 05:46:11 »

Marvel published ~70 or so issues. Their license from the toy company (Hasbro?) expired. No more ROM.

But Marvel can still use the Space Knights, as they've appeared in things like Annihilation: Conquest.

Were the Micronauts licensed characters as well? I know Marvel still uses the Microverse but the last appearance of the 'nauts I can recall was back in the late 90s (in the first Cable series).

So we're seeing the axe fall over at Marvel.  Age of Apocalypse, XXM and Captain Marvel all are apparently getting canned.  Kind of a shame on the last two, they started out shaky but had become pretty enjoyable.

I've read that some of the survivors of X-Treme X-Men will be folded into Uncanny X-Men. It's too bad, but not surprising.

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The Periphery / Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread

« on: 18 April 2013, 05:41:06 »

Pretty fringy even for BattleTech.

What we lack in numbers we make up for with obnoxiousness, er, enthusiasm.

Yeah, that's it.

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The Periphery / Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread

« on: 17 April 2013, 18:07:30 »

I never really saw us as NOD...

Crazy Tesla Coil wielding Red Alert Soviets, maybe.

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The Periphery / Re: 3145 Periphery

« on: 12 April 2013, 11:01:29 »

Everyone seems to have missed the bit about where the Ravens decided to open negotiations with the Outworlds rather than take them outright.  The Ravens stumbled across a detatchment, challenged them to a Trial of Possession for their JS/DS/whatever.  And the OA fighters fought them to a tie.  They gained massive prestige from it, and the Ravens treated with them sort of as a equal rather than tried to subdue them.

Oh sure, they were all charm and Big Romantic Gestures in the beginning, but now that the relationship is a given they've dropped the act and are sitting in the proverbial armchair on Alpheratz watching lacrosse (Clanners love lacrosse, you know) and yelling for the Outworlders to bring them another beer and a sammich. And all the Alliance's old friends won't talk to them anymore because they got tired of getting lectured about how "you just don't know the Ravens like I do"...

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General Discussion / Re: IlClan sourcebook - Just realized something.

« on: 10 April 2013, 13:13:24 »

I still don't understand why people think it would mean anything other than what it's always meant. Wouldn't that be the logical assumption?

Because logic is a little bird chirping in the meadow?

(Really, at this point we've all been conditioned to expect the conspiracy or the prestige or the tweest or whatever. Things being as they seem? We'll never see that coming...)

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The Periphery / Re: 3145 Periphery

« on: 10 April 2013, 07:47:52 »

Which is really kind of odd. The only time in the book she's mentioned as going a little extreme is on New Hessen. The earlier novels have her dealing with her issues, but also confronting and putting them behind her. The traits provided in the ER are rather...well.

I would note that they say she's just a "regular" level politician, not that she's necessarily bad at it. After all, she renegotiated the treaty with Jessica Marik, and did it without giving away anything about Andurien.

Wait.

Heir to multiple realms? Middling politician? Friends with nobility of other Great Houses?

Danai is the CapCon's Victor Steiner-Davion.

The Wheel truly does turn.

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General Discussion / Re: What are you most looking forward to in FM:3145?

« on: 10 April 2013, 07:39:13 »

"Nothing interesting happened in the Niops Association." 

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General Discussion / Re: IlClan sourcebook - Just realized something.

« on: 10 April 2013, 07:35:22 »

It's easy to be ilClan when you're the last Clan standing, or refuse to recognize the legitimacy of any tainted Inner Sphere based dissenters.

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General Discussion / Re: TRO 3145M & Era Report 3145 first read (spoilers)

« on: 09 April 2013, 11:21:59 »

I don't see the Protectorate signing up to an anti-Davion campaign; the whole point of their separate existence was to get away from the militarism/paranoia of the Taurian state, and I can't seem them being in a hurry to give that up so quickly. And in any case, the new leadership on Taurus seems to be more level-headed this time around, with no indication of suffering quite the same fixation with the Federated Suns.

Now, a healthy dose of concern about the Capellans (or to a lesser extent, the Combine) is quite another matter entirely. (They may not take the same action as the Filtvelt Coalition, but the lesson would be the same one; if the Suns fall to the Dracs and Cappies, there'd be little to stop either power from going after them next.)

Relations between the Protectorate and the Federated Suns were at one time going so well that the Protectorate hosted the First Davion Guards as part of a unit exchange.

And if you're a member of the Concordat junta you have to be watching the Capellan juggernaut steamroll the Federated Suns and wonder when those same troops might be coming across your own borders...

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General Discussion / Re: MechWarrior Comic in October?

« on: 04 April 2013, 07:50:28 »

I wouldn't want an adaptation of an existing novel. After all, we have the existing novel. Why rehash old material when we've been chomping at the bit for years now for new fiction?

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Off Topic / Re: roosterboy's 2013 comic book conclave

« on: 04 April 2013, 07:00:25 »

Agreed. How did we not know about this? This is a definite addition to my pull list for at least the first issue.

It occurs to me that given the advance schedule the comics business uses that there may be solicts and/or previews for this by GenCon.

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Off Topic / Re: roosterboy's 2013 comic book conclave

« on: 03 April 2013, 12:40:15 »

Very light week for me this week:

All New X-Men #10 - The Uncanny X-Men visit the Jean Grey School. Verbal confrontation ensues. Uncomfortable truths are told. Students defect. Also, Mystique, Sabretooth and Lady Mastermind rob a bank.

Transformers Spotlight: Trailcutter - If you are concerned about how well the recently announced MechWarrior comic will turn out, you should check out this oneshot focusing on one of the wallflower characters from More Than Meets the Eye.

And that's it.

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General Discussion / Re: MechWarrior Comic in October?

« on: 02 April 2013, 09:27:54 »

I can't find any examples of what fallout looked like on the inside. Anyone got any links?

All I remember is thinking that at least the Hollander looked like a Hollander, which made it instantly superior to the Blackstone era comics, where a Crusader most assuredly did NOT look like a Crusader (except maybe possibly on the cover).

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Off Topic / Re: Dumb World of Warcraft Question: Mages

« on: 02 April 2013, 06:20:21 »

In addition to learning all of your spells by leveling up, you will learn all of you specilization talents automatically. This can be awkward to remember when changing between specs, but its straight forward enough in practice. And since all three Mage specs are fairly close (each has strengths on different boss fights), don't feel pressured to use one you don't like.

Lies. Go Frost or go home.

(I kid. Mostly.)

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General Discussion / MechWarrior Comic in October?

« on: 01 April 2013, 13:07:18 »

Saw this from a report on IDW Comics' 2013 schedule:

Also coming up: MechWarrior, in October 2013.

Barber: "If you like some of the political action, and the personal stories, that we're doing in the Transformers books these days, I recommend that you check out these books."

(John Barber, the person quoted above, is the editor of IDW's Transformer books and the author of the monthly Robots in Disguise title.)

And yeah, my first thought was, "Remember what today is, dude!", but then I looked at the article date, which was March 30.

So, is this a thing? A real, actually going to be published thing?

Because that would be awesome. The Transformers books are really, really good (if I had my pick, I'd give a MechWarrior series to Barber's fellow TF writer, James Roberts, but that's just me) and IDW has spent a lot of effort in deepening the world building in that universe - so I imagine they could do something similar with a property that already has a lot of detail.

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Off Topic / Re: bioshock infinity

« on: 01 April 2013, 06:22:04 »

Nope. It's... hard to explain, but there's no reason to know anything at all about the previous two games in the series. It exists in its own separate universe. Suffice to say, the ending ties the entire game together in a nice little bow... while leaving room for the future, as long as you give it a lot of thought and watch the after-credits bit.

Oh- and that reminds me, don't skip the credits. It's 2013, you all know better than to skip the credits in a game or movie.

I finished last night. My mind, it definitely asplode.

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Off Topic / Re: roosterboy's 2013 comic book conclave

« on: 27 March 2013, 09:40:44 »

So, today's buy list:

Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol 3, #1 - Nice enough start, don't like Tony's cosmic Iron Man suit. But it has Rocket Raccoon and Groot!

Transformers: Robots in Disguise #15 - Eh, the more that gets revealed, the less impressed I am. I really liked the premise of this series - pursuing a new start after the end of the endless Autobot/Decepticon war, but now it appears that we're right back to status quo. Maybe it's just because More Than Meets The Eye is such a good book - I keep wondering what James Roberts could be doing with RiD's cast...

Age of Ultron #3 - Ugh. There's decompressed, and then there's 'all oxygen has escaped the room'. There's a "twist" at the end, I guess.

Uncanny Avengers #5 - Havok's leadership is questioned about five billionty times, Wasp, Wonder Man and Sunfire join the "Unity Team", and Rogue kills a dude on camera. I'm not sure why I bought this, given how disappointed I was with the first arc, other than the tease at the beginning about picking up some plot threads from Uncanny X-Force's Dark Angel Saga. Also, the art was really pretty.

Young Avengers #3 - I really want to like this more than I seem to be liking it, because I really like Kieron Gillen's work. I'm not sure if it's the art or just my general 'meh' attitude towards Wiccan and Hulkling, who are the main characters for this introductory arc.

Wolverine and the X-Men #27 - I buy this because I'm stupid. I should stop.

Uncanny X-Force, Vol 2, #3 - Another title that seems unnecessarily decompressed. And just weird. (Did the world really need 3 Famtomexes? Famtomexii?) It's nice that Bishop is back, I guess, but it's so random (and random in a bad way as compared to later in this list) that I can't work up much more reaction than, "well, that happened."

Gambit, Vol 5, #10 - A nice, tidy little caper book that delivers what it advertises. Competent, unpretentious. It's gonna get canceled, I know it.

X-Men: Legacy, Vol 2, #8 - This title also relies heavily on the random, but does it the right way. Whereas with X-Force I feel like the writer is just throwing crazy! extreme! things at me to see what sticks, with Legacy there is a real feel that yes, this is all leading somewhere. As with More Than Meets The Eye, I can go back to older issues after each new one and see things with a fresh perspective. It makes me feel smart even having missed stuff, and I like that.

Bottom line for the week: I need to stop buying stuff I hate.

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Off Topic / Re: roosterboy's 2013 comic book conclave

« on: 25 March 2013, 06:59:27 »

The Summers Tribe hasn't married into the Magneto family tree yet, right?  I imagine when they do it'll create a singularity that sucks the entire MU into it. 

There you go!  Marvel's next big summer event! 
 
"The Avengers and the X-Men team up to prevent Thanos from bringing Hope Summers and Speed of the Young Avengers together in matrimony and save the entire Marvel Universe!  Face front, True Believers!  This one will change everything forever*!   Excelsior!"

*Well, until the next big crossover event ignores it,  undoes it,  it's retconned out or Mephisto comes for their marriage too.

Havok + Polaris. (I know, it depends on whether whoever is currently in charge agrees this week that Polaris is Magneto's daughter...)

Except that's old and busted, so Uncanny Avengers is giving us Havok + Scarlet Witch.

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Off Topic / Re: roosterboy's 2013 comic book conclave

« on: 21 March 2013, 10:43:43 »

Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye remains my favorite book, but All New X-Men and Uncanny X-Men Vol 3 continue to impress me. I still think Bendis needs to work out a few character voices but I like where he's taking things so far. The only concern I have is in the dual use of Mystique in ANXM and Wolverine and the X-Men. Her motivations seem at cross purposes, at the moment. (And frankly, WatXM is very close to wearing out its welcome with me.)

Cable and X-Force and Avengers were also good reads this week.

Did anyone give the GI Joe reboot a try? I saw that the second issue was out but didn't pick it up.

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Off Topic / Re: Star Wars Episode VII will be directed by...

« on: 19 March 2013, 06:50:51 »

And why would Palpatine lower himself to using a "Jedi Weapon"?  He had such disdain for them at Endor.

Because he wanted to show them that not only had he beaten the Jedi, but that he could beat them with their own tools and traditions?

20 years down the road he had nothing to prove.