MTG Salvation

Quote from fadeblue »

To clarify, I was speaking from the point of view of the U.S. In the U.S., copyright law protects against the downloading of copyrighted materials. Admittedly, copyright law does vary from country to country, and Canada (and other countries) does allow downloading. However, the question is: why is the uploading of copyrighted material illegal if the downloading is not? If copyright does not protect from downloading, how does one justify protection from uploading? If I stole some merchandise, and I advertised this stolen merchandise, why do my actions constitute a crime when the actions of the knowing buyers do not? It is inconsistent to legalize downloading but criminalize uploading.

Has Canada ratified the WIPO Copyright Treaty?

I honestly have no clue how that rationalizing works. I'd say it's because uploading indicates an intent to break copyright, but then so does downloading. It really is insconsistant. Not that it matters all that much, I get to download legally so I don't dwell on the logic behind the legality.

But the odd time I do ponder it, it makes absolutely no sense. Like, none at all.

*shrug*

Happy Birthday!!!!! You can now come to Canada and legally drink!! That's always fun! Have a great one. Birthdays on Fridays are the best, you can party all weekend and get totally wasted. At least that's what I do.

Happy Birthday!!!!!

The only major mistake in the Mirrodin block was how WotC vastly underestimated the affinity mechanic. This 'little' oversight led to cards which all worked together which such ruthless synergy that the combined power has become too much for other T2 decks to handle.

Were there massively powerful cards? Sure, but they weren't really mistakes. Aside from perhaps Skullclamp, I think the cards that seem really powerful are a result of R&D pushing the line a bit. Once Skullclamp got the axe, no single card remained that was a source of problems. Sure there are some star cards which seem very potent, but they only appear this way because of the many synergistic cards backing them up.

Ravager itself is only fearsome with the backup of other artifacts. Same with DotV. Both are only great cards until you add in a pack of other artifacts that all work together to power insane levels of winning power. The problem isn't inherently Ravager or DotV, it's how all those cards work together (powered by the speed of the affinity mechanic) to win.

Mirrodin may have had a warping effect on standard, but it rocks for casual and T1. Once you get past the assiness of affinity, there's a trove of awesome cards waiting to be used.

I never posted on 'News, so you probably don't know me. But I've always loved that avy! Welcome!!

I second the suggestions of FF Tactics, Chrono Trigger and Xenogears, those are some of my favorite games ever. All three are near flawless and I still play them to this day, even if one is 10 years old and the other two are pushing 7. Classics.

I actually know few recent RPG's, so any suggestions I make would be a bit older, and even then I'm finding it hard thinking of any that haven't already been suggested.

But Chrono Trigger would be my ultimate pick. Great battle system, great graphics and music (for the time, of course), amazing story. Plus it has insane replayability which is good since it only runs about 20 hours each playthrough. But playing it over and over never gets boring, at least not to me.

I think an individual should be able to waive their right to life if they so choose. No one should be forced to remain living if they truly feel that they would be better off dead. It's a really sad state, but I think that if a person really feels that way and the intervention of loved ones isn't helping, the law should not stand in the way.

A person's life is their own to live as they so choose. If they choose to commit suicide, I feel that should be well within their rights. It's unfortunate, but that shouldn't make it illegal.

My sister's husband is Muslim and she's Roman Catholic, they have never had any problems. Neither converted though neither was especially religious to begin with (in particular my sister, who was baptized or whatever but never spent one more day in a church aside from the odd wedding or funeral). I suppose it's only an issue if you let it become one. And anyone who would let religion stand between them and the one they love has a whole other set of issues.

Take my uncle. He's devoutly Anglican and his girlfriend is Jewish. Our local Anglican church wouldn't marry them (I'm assuming it was based upon the interreligion issue, but I'm not completely sure on that) but my uncle refused to be married anywhere but in his church. They broke up a few months later.

Any relationship that cannot overcome a problem such as differing religions probably wasn't such a hot coupling to begin with.

Heh, thanks, Jon Stewart is the man. And this post will make absolutely no sense the next time I change my avatar. Oh well.

Wow! Have fun, I've heard Lisbon is really nice. Let us know if it is!

Their loss is our gain. Welcome poster with a higher post counter than me!

Raimi was adamant back in October that number 3 would be it and that he was getting out while the getting's good, ending the series on a high note. But in the past few weeks, he's been less sure and more "Well if S3 does really well then maybe..." which to me sounds more like hedging his bets than a solid deal. The studio of course wants more, why would they not, and so Raimi may not want to burn those bridges just yet.

So Spiderman 3 may very well be it. I haven't seen anything that leads me to believe Spiderman 4 is a definate, and I doubt we will anytime soon. Aside from that I still personally feel Venom is too complex a character to squeeze into one film. I suppose it could be done, but I'd rather he was setup in one then the focus in the next. But Raimi & Co could surprise me. *shrug*

As long as Usher didn't sweep, I was cool. Just getting to watch the Grammy's without having to watch Usher make an acceptance speech brought a smile to my face. Now if only Kanye "I'm Jesus, Really, I Swear" West hadn't won anything ....

As for Ray Charles, meh. I didn't hate him or anything, but does anyone really think he would've won so much if he were still alive? Cuz I doubt it.

As for things that actually made me happy. Yay for Zack Braff, although his award basically amounts to "Best Mixed Tape", but whatever. Boy deserves more awards, too bad his first big one was a Grammy. Considering he's an actor/director and all. And good work John Mayer, just too bad he won for "Daughters", probably his least interesting song. Boy's got talent, but none of it was used on that song. So naturally it's the song that wins. Whatev.

Performance-wise, none really wowed me. The Joss Stone/Melissa Etheridge tribute to Janis Joplin was good, but the "All-Star" rendition of "Across the Universe" damn-near ruined that sweet song. You'd think with that many talented people they'd be able to ace that song, but no. Otherwise, the performances weren't too awe-inspiring.

All-in-all, this year's Grammy's didn't suck, but they really did't blow up my skirt either.

Quote from yoyamime »

Isn't an echidna like a mole platipus thing?

No, Echidna, capitol E is from Greek mythology. (though there is an animal called an echidna, which is like a wierd Australian pocupine-mole thing that Sega was inspired by to create Knuckles back in the day) Taken directly from RC's post:

Echidna is the name of a half-snake, half-woman beast, child of Gaea. It is the mother of most legendary beasts from Greek mythology.

Anyway, these cards are superb, as have been all the colors revealed thus far. I love the Greek-flavor and the push of mono-colored play. It's like a reverse Invasion Block. Very, very cool. There's nothing I'd change, like at all. Kentros may be powerful, but I don't think anything that can be broken by Mirror Gallery is that bad. The card disadvantage inherant in any Mirror Gallery is enough to deter everyone but Casual players. And even then, getting extra lands isn't going to win games on its own.

Though Aeopus might need lesser power/toughness. As is, he's a game-breaker, capable of completely crushing enemy creature while drawing you a massive amount of cards every couple turns. Even as a 3/4 or 3/3, he's a champ. Though he doesn't have trample, so that's not too bad. No evasion is usually a good enough drawback on a beatdown creature. But Aeopus is still one to keep an eye on, it could go either way.

I would say that the prospect of East and West Kodamas being in Saviors is practically a given. That's not to say it's definate, Wizards has neglected to round out cycles before (the Towers of Mirrodin spring to mind), but this doesn't feel like one of those times. The whole block is flavor-driven, and it'd be unflavorful to talk about five ultra-powerful and sacred tree spirits and only deliver three. It'd just be cool to use all five Kodama trees at once. Like a giant Voltron of leaves and bark and stuff. Woo!

The Venom rumoes have been making the rounds since shortly after the first movie was released. He's probably the most popular Spidey-villain, but Raimi said back when S2 came out that he was more interested in sticking with the classic villains rather than adopt modern foes. There's still a chance of Venom appearing in the third movie (which is to be the last, at least it was last time I checked), but I don't see how he would fit in. There's already heavy foreshadowing of a Harry Osborn GG and Doc Connors appearing as Lizard. Neither of those are a guarantee, and it's odd that Raimi would talk about casting a villain since James Franco is Harry already. Hmmmm.

It'd be cool to see Venom, but I won't hold my breath. Though if Black Cat would just show up, I'd be excited. I love her.