When Will It End?

Have you bought a pair of decent tennis shoes recently? Did they cost $50, $80 or $100? I fully believe that every corporation out there participates in price fixing and maintaining a monopoly. How come, in the past 30 years, we’ve made technological advances the like of which have never been seen before, but still a AA battery costs a $1. Because it doesn’t benefit the corporations to pass the savings on to us. I’m so sick and tired of these multi-billion dollar companies who’s only goal it is is to get consumers to consume their crap with absolutely no regard for the impact it has on society. I love the latest argument the oil companies are espousing; gasoline cost less these days than it did in the 80’s compared to how much people make these days than they did in the 80’s. So, in other words, we have more disposable income so the oil companies are entitled to take our extra cash!!! I’m so sick and tired of these huge corporations turning a blind eye to their immoral and unethical practices all in the name of the almighty dollar. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for capitalism and succeeding in life, but where do you draw the line between benefiting the stock holder at the expense of society? I think it’s very sad the stuff that’s going on in China with the toys and pet food and medications. But look at what is happening to their executives. They are receiving death sentences or they are killing themselves. They are taking responsibility or their society is making them responsible. I predict that in the next decade or so, China is going to surpass every other country in the world for the quality and cost of their products. And guess what the big Western corporations are going to do? Pass the cost on to us! And we'll have no choice but to pay for it. It's either that, or go live in a log cabin and eat pine nuts for the rest of your life. It makes me sad.

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Quit Your Bitchin

I use to play Gears of War pretty regularly with a fun group of guys. We’d get on-line around 8:00 and play until the wee hours of the morning. There would be lots of solid team work during matches and in between there was often intelligent discussions about games, movies, beer, or whatever. But then things started going down hill. More and more younger people started playing, late teens and early 20’s, that blew the skill curve out of the water! It’s amazing how good people can get when they don’t have a job and are able to play video games for 10 hours a day! I started spending more time in “the waiting room” then I would playing. And then the complaining started. Noobs like me were trying to find excuses for why they were playing so poorly. Complaints of excessive chainsawing, frag tagging, active reloads, melee and so on were thrown about as if those things shouldn’t be allowed in the game! Some players were affectionately referred to, at first, as bulletproof, but even that became a stigmata. And then there was everyone’s favorite gremlin, LAG! What it was coming down to was that every match was deemed unfair by one party or another. But the only problems I ever saw were that people who play only 4 hours a week were expecting to beat people who play 30 hours a week and there was no more team work. And the former can be overcome by the latter. I guess the whole point of this is that nothing sucks the fun out of a game faster than having a bunch of whiners complaining about the game being unfair. Short of gliching and real lag, there is nothing in the game that is unfair. There’s just varying levels of skill and different styles of game play. Like the old saying goes, “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.” Don’t just complain about it and expect that to make a difference.

[4 Comments]

IsNotNull's Blog - 2old2play

When Will It End?

Quit Your Bitchin