Barrold

It's not a well known fact, but many of those put into the arena were promised a coupon to a full buffet and salad bar after their appearance. The inside joke of course was that it was not really a full buffet as it leaned heavily towards solely Mediterranean dishes, but it's an esoteric difference. BFS5

...but I don't wanna pee Dalem's pants. Even if he FedEx'd him to my house for this very purpose. Some things are just plain wrong. I demand the privilege of peeing my own pants should the inclination occur during the play of the CM:SF demo. BFS5

Is there a point when as the Americans you can say, "Fuggit, let's just nukem?" Back in Emrys day, everyone would have nuked everyone else had they the chance. Civil War? Nuke Petersburg. WWI? Nuke the Somme. WWII? Nuke Nuke Nuke. Pick a spot and drop a nuke. Now in these days of touchy feely warfare it's all about hearts and minds. I say kick some butt and the hearts and mind will follow. I know these views aren't popular... BFS5 Edit drunken malapropism [ October 09, 2005, 06:28 AM: Message edited by: Barrold ]

The proximity to current combat deaths brings an emotional reaction that the buffering distance of history tends to mute. On a philosophical level, death is death. Seeing the wounded guys at Walter Reed and reading about the atrocities almost everyday being perpetrated on the Iraqi people and our soldiers simply makes this setting feel different to me. I can see lots of people being very uncomfortable, but then again the America's Army game, which I haven't played, must certainly have U.S. casualties involved. I don't think I could ever play as a suicide bomber even as an intellectual exercise. It's not rational, it's emotional but it feels oogy when our guys our out there facing this in reality. Of course I am loaded so tomorrow I may feel differently. BDH

Does OS stand for Obviously Silly? BFS5

OK OK OK Gosh Dangit. I've made a decision. I've decided to buy the game on the assumption that it's going to be a quality product FOR THE SOLE REASON THAT BY PLEDGING TO DO SO THAT I CHEESE OFF A EUROWEENIE WHO RESENTS HAVING TO PLAY AS THE U.S.!! Of course my previous reservations still stand and I am a bit loaded but THIS DOES NOT SWAY MY FIRM STANCE ON PRINCIPLE! I have spoken, gimme the friggin game. BFS5

Good idea...now if the Euros go in and take out Iran so they don't give nukes to Islamic Jihad and the like, BFC would just have to make it a game. BDH

:eek: :eek: Now that gets my attention just for the graphics engine part. BDH

I am definitely not in the "I won't buy it" category despite my reservations. One of which is the fact that hearing about the casualties from IED in the area causes an emotional response and its representation in a game doesn't have the buffer of a distance of history. Nevertheless if the game is a compelling experience that garners excellent response, it would not right to skip the game solely on my initial reaction to hearing the setting. Especially if the volume of content and replayability makes it clear that its a real value. I'm open to being sold on the concept and the release of the CGW article and those details will likely go some ways. Let the selling process begin! BDH

As I have said, the rationale Steve has laid out is solid and I am certainly excited about the 2nd title as it should be a solid platform by that time. Of course then I'll be clamoring for the Eastern Front follow-up. BDH

Of the criticisms I have seen (and expressed) this seems a pretty lame one as to the reason for the setting. At their core, what is BFC if not a corporation whose aim is to make money? Unless the local food store starts taking moonbeams and fairy sprinkles for currency, their decision on earning revenue has to be a prime consideration as to how they spend their time. BDH

Maybe so, but where would there be the sense of urgency to dispose of someone who ousted the Assad dictatorship? If it were a revolutionary Islamic coup throwing out a relatively secular but run of the mill thugocracy, would there really be a coalition of M.E. states lining up to help? Would the U.S care unless the new dicks started to export their thuggery outside of their borders. If not, pounding the crap out of them a la Serbia sounds like a perfectly reasonable if expensive route. I could perfectly accept the U.S. getting tired of Syria's crap and giving the boot to the current dictatorship. I wouldn't expect any sort of assistance as envisioned in the BFC scenario though. But hey, if it's the greatest game ever made, I might just push the "I Believe" button and return to my normal state fanboy state. On the other hand, I have to be the first to play the race card as their are no people of color in that group of rifleman and we all know that the Army is entirely composed of economically conscripted poor minorities who are fighting for oil companies owned by The Man. BDH

I guess I don't buy the setting in that the U.S. is leading a force to return Assad back to power as it doesn't seem plausible that this "coalition" would come together to create another democratic nation in the middle east. Especially given the current state of the UN. Additionally, I am not sanguine on the staying power of this in terms of replayability. I would be keenly interested in seeing how the answer to practically every situation faced with organized resistance is not "plaster it with airpower". Granted the flexibility of CMx1 is not to be expected, but they're still fully viable games several years after release. Is a speculative Syria given the seemingly "on-rails" nature of this storyline going to remain interesting anywhere near as long? Maybe so. I am not going to leap to such a judgement though. Much will depend on the ability to edit or create scenarios with a wide variety of units. As for BFC's competency, this is not in question. Nor is their legacy of making excellently designed games. It is only a matter of subject matter and them making it interesting to me. Other settings would make this title and each module a must buy. This one is a wait and see. BDH Edit to finish a sentence

Disappointed...not exactly. I think Steve's rationale for the decision is understandable. I wish nothing but success for all of their products. Am I tingling with excitement to buy the first game? No and I might let it pass, but I am still likely to buy the Napoleonic game they're publishing instead while I wait for the second CM title. I think the screen shots look pretty good, but I'm just not too excited for the setting or the speculative story. So not a full 'Meh', but I'm trying to keep my mind open to see how it turns out. BDH

I'll go as far as reasonably healthy and reasonably smart. BDH

Holy Cow...long time no see Bluesman! BDH

I expect to be able to mod soldier's heads with this picture of Boy George. BFS5

What a horrible mix of emotions this sentence must bring about. Yes, you get to gut him, but he has to be in your home. Yes, he's leaving a pile of entrails to analyze, but all your liquor is gone and the property value is plummeting. It's almost a quandry. BFS5

Hmmmm...now I need to find something with entrails so I can take a reading of the tidings and portends. Boy if I had one of them Refresh Monkeys, it would be gutted I'll tell you what. BFS5

Only about a billion times! Not only will there be cordite, blood and guts, FEAR!, and fresh spring meadow, BUT the Space Lobsters of Doom: Guns or Butter module will bring both olfactory experiences to new heights of realism! Steve is from Maine, dontchaknow and the boy knows his butter. BFS5

I hope we get a coupon on the package for $5.00 off a large 3-item pizza from Dominos. BFS5

I'll bet some people got in some major trouble for what happened in those photos. BDH

6 years U.S. Navy including about 4 on the USS Nimitz (CVN-68) as an Engineering Laboratory Technician (Chemistry and Radcon stuff). Of course I stormed the beaches at Normandy, but it was a lot less dangerous when I did it in 1985 as part of a tour...but still, I could have tripped on something. BDH

However, the reverse could also be true. They may wish to "prove" the concept with a stunning WWII release and then build upon the features once the system is past it's shakedown cruise. BDH

How about health bars? Has anyone thought about health bars for armor? Man that would be cool. Once your Tiger started feeling the effects of like a hundred rifle bullets and it's hit points were getting lowered, the health bar could turn red and you would know to get it out of the way of the infantry! BFS5