Posts by Lurker

  • Is torture ok?

    - The fact that others are doing it doesn't matter it any more or less correct or wrong for the US to be involved in. God knows what the fuck goes on in those secret prisons in Eastern Europe.

    - The US is signed to various treaties and agreements for the upholding of human rights globally ie. the Geneva Convention/Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

    - The US is using human rights as a reason they attacked Iraq for. Not only this, but the US government continued to support Saddam even after these abuses happened, until he put his troops on the Kuwaiti border.

    It's funny that human rights abuses only matter to the US governments when it supports or furthers their policy. Sudan? Most citizens couldn't even point it out on a map, let alone know there is a genocide taking place there right now.

    I want to know what happened to the US policing the world, not bullying it. I want to know where the US drew the line, and said "Fuck you, we'll do like we please." I remember a time when the US was a beacon of hope, a shining example of democracy done right and freedoms kept and exercised. Hah, so much for utopia. Not only have these things been lost and its reputation tarnished time and time again, the US is a nation with no shortage of apologists who will support their government to no end, no matter how bad it gets and no matter who they fuck over in the process.

    There are plenty of great, good-hearted people in the US. There are just too many who don't give a fuck.

  • Is torture ok?

    Here's what doesn't make sense: if these countries aren't doing anything illegal in the way of torture, why transfer them to the countries in the first place? By this logic, the US should just do the interrogating themselves.

    Condi may act the fool, but most people can see better.

  • Forum Features / Suggestions

    Quote from von*ferret

    I like the theme.Maybe it was the default one. But after what? 2+ years of viewing it like this its grown in my heart and now I love it. Changing it is like being white until you're 40 and than deciding you want to be an african american. no dice.

    Outside of the fact that this is just a webforum, you draw a strong and compelling comparison

  • Its the new mazy.net!

    Is that a custom theme or one by your colleague Michael Heilemann? He did one hell of a job designing k2/Kubrick. I'm personally hacking the shit out of K2 right now over at http://www.version2.iamcolin.com

    Anyway, the site is very good. I'm loving the graphics alongside the Wordpress-style sidebar/entries. You've also done a great job keeping the site constant across IE and FF, hard to tell the difference. Something you should definitely be commended for.

  • Mapcore official 'members'?

    Quote from von*ferret

    how does a sacrifice in features help mikezilla afford more money to spend on the site? We dont need to have an uploading feature. Yeah it would be cool, but I'd rather keep mapcore "ad" free than have these extra features.

    A sacrifice in features would make it easier to afford and easier to implement, I never said it would make him money... remember, these are just ideas. I can't help but get the feeling you're getting a little jumpy.

  • Mapcore official 'members'?

    Quote from von*ferret

    cg talk has quite the funding. If i'm correct, mikezilla graciously pays for this site out of his pocket.

    Yeah, there would obviously be huge hurdles to overcome, but with a sacrifice in features here or there it wouldn't be too taxing on the owners or community.

    Quote from von*ferret

    Most of the more "veteran" people have jobs and dont have a lot of time to spend at this site.

    I agree, but that's the beauty of communities, if we all pitch in a little, it has a snowball effect. I'm not suggesting that something like CGTalk would be attainable in the near future, small baby steps is always best, but it is good to have a role model to mould your community after. Whether or not you attain their status or number of features is a completely different monster. It all depends on where the people in charge see this site going and how they figure they'll going to get there. If they're cool with how it is now, grand, but if they aren't, it is handy know there are people out there with ideas that can lend a helping hand.

  • Mapcore official 'members'?

    It's not that there isn't a need or purpose for EOT, it does keep the garbage outside of the other forums, but it's really a catch-22: by having EOT, you're welcoming the content on your forums, and by not having EOT you risk having that content spill into the other forums.

    Personally, even though I think this impossible due to the forum software, the decision should be left up to the user to completely lock EOT out. For example, when I click "View Posts Since Last Visit" on the homepage, many of the posts are from EOT and these are posts (for the most part) that I have absolutely no desire to even view, let alone read.

    I think EOT speaks to a greater truth about what Mapcore really is though, a place for mappers to come and "hang out", share their work, and otherwise have fun. Not that there is anything wrong with this, but it's important to cater to your users' interests. I know there is a good portion of the userbase that wouldn't want anything like EOT on Mapcore, but there is another group of members that would likely visit much less if at all if EOT was removed. The situation can be compromised somehow, it's just a matter of getting everyone on the same page and following through in the correct manner.

    And while we're on the topic, just a word of warning. People like to keep adding new things to try and morph the community into a desired state, but that really isn't a use if you aren't going to follow through on the idea. For example, there are only 6 threads in the Spotlight Gallery forum, and in my opinion you can easily find double that amount of work that deserves to be there. I think a good idea would be to have a submission forum, and current Spotlight Gallery winners would vote on whether the piece of work is good enough for the award. You can go on and on and on and on with ideas about what to do with communities, but the best course of action is to follow through on current ideas and make changes where and when necessary.

    BTW: If you really wanted to push the boundaries, the mapping community could really use a CGTalk-esque community, where you can upload your maps and screenshots and get great constructive comments on it. In my opinion, a site like that would be invaluable to the gaming community and attract a huge userbase.