DCUO went free-to-play this week. That's less then ten months since launch, and after it did a massive server merge. I think they're having a rough time.

EDIT: And now I've got the full RFC for you to enjoy. Enjoy!

Had this idea pop into my head recently:
a small faction of fen and fendanes who use wavetech to search for 'mythical' and paranormal creatures/phenomenon.  Stuff like Bigfoot/yeti, lake monsters, ghosts, UFO sightings.  a mix of fans of X-Files (and simular shows) and fans of Ghost Hunters/Destination Truth/ect.
___________________________
"I've always wanted to be somebody, but I should have been more specific." - George Carlin

You're all familiar with the 'bacon explosion', and yes, it's wonderful.

This is our variant.

Step one.
Weave the traditional bacon mat, apply sausage. We used Jimmy Dean Sage and Jimmy Dean Hot. Worked good.

http://i.imgur.com/NCDCA.jpg

Step Two.
Apply one pound shredded cheddar, a medium cheddar works well, sharp would possibly work.

http://i.imgur.com/YQXox.jpg

(WARNING: THIS HYPNOTIZES THE DOG http://i.imgur.com/1H55j.jpg )

Step Three.
Cook a pound or so of bacon, cut or break or shred it into flinders.
Apply flinders to the cheesy mat from Step Two. Recommend that you
slightly undercook the bacon.

http://i.imgur.com/V7rnQ.jpg

Step Four.
Roll the bacon-sausage-cheese-bacon into a roll.


http://i.imgur.com/1zHgy.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/MBgvH.jpg

Step Five.
Insult and degrade the poor performance of your bacon.

http://i.imgur.com/NDlkn.jpg

Step Six.
Cook your bacon roll in the oven until it attains an internal
temperature of 180 degrees Fahrenheit. This prevents death. Recommend a
rack over a cake pan. A cookie tray is insufficient - this step
generated almost 3/4 of an inch of grease for us!

http://i.imgur.com/Uj8ZT.jpg

NOTE: Please refrain from making jokes about 'vigorously thrusting
your steely probe into the meat-hole' while temp checking your bacon.

Step Seven.
Slice and serve. Recommend unobtrusive breads such as plain english
muffins, sourdough, or white bread. Fried egg may be added for extra
yum.


http://i.imgur.com/GZWGC.jpg

Given the additional cheese - we call it the 'Bacon Meltdown'. It was delicious.

http://i.imgur.com/GZWGC.jpg
"No can brain today. Want cheezeburger."
From NGE: Nobody Dies, by Gregg Landsman
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5579457/1/NGE_Nobody_Dies

If one were to compare the overall conflict against Voldemort within the books to a trick archery shot, the components become clear. Voldemort is the target, Dumbledore the archer, Hogwarts the bow, and the Golden Trio are the arrow. For an arrow to fly true, it requires a weighted arrowhead to keep momentum, fletching to cause just enough drag to keep it on track, and a shaft to separate the two and lengthen the moment arm so they don't destabilize it by their own contrary natures. Hermione is then the obvious head, Ron the drag, and Harry gets the shaft. Of the three, I'd call Hermione most heroish, really.

Given that the arrow did strike bullseye after passing through various turbulence and obstacles, an archer making the shot could be called a hero, probably even more since he dropped dead while it was still in flight, but since the arrow was, in fact, human beings rather than scraps of wood and metal, he is a monster, and no less so than Voldemort who also twisted and seduced others into his service. Possibly more so since Voldemort did so with at least some form of consent on their parts, but that is offset by the general torture and murder perpetrated by Tom and his minions.

As for the Trio... who cheers for the arrow? Who mourns if it breaks on impact, so long as the strike was true? Harry was the viewpoint character, so we as the readers are coerced in a way into caring, but since I can't condone cheering the archer, nor the target, and least of all the crowd who stood by and watched, it should be no surprise that it requires major enough changes to the events that the last two or three books are invalidated and the above paradigm with them for me to enjoy an HP story.

- CD, Yeah, I know, it's been chewed over already, but it just kind of came together in the archery metaphor this afternoon and I wanted to share it

ETA: The above also explains why I feel the RW/HG couple would go nowhere, now that I think about it.

ETA2: You could even make an argument for Snape as the bowstring, pulled taught between two opposing points and used to drive the arrow forward by the power of that tension.
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows

At another forum I frequent, (WW's Exalted forum) a poster named Lula started a topic asking for people to review a pens and paper rpg system that he had written.  I asked if it would be ok to link to it from another forum as well, and was given the go ahead.  Here's the post from the Exalted forum:

Quote:Lula wrote:

---

Satellite of Love is the Homestuck/Scott Pilgrim RPG which I have been writing for a year or so now. This weekend I am playtesting it at Metatopia, a game design convention. I have a day or so left to edit it. I'd really like some help.
I'll
be available on various messengers all evening and most of tomorrow. If
you want to get in on this action, PM me your information or get at me
via messenger and I'll give you comment access to the text. You can also
talk about it in this topic if you feel like it.
Thanks in advance for your help. Let's get this Satellite into orbit.
Satellite of Love
EDIT: Needless to say, those of you whose advice I take go into the acknowledgements.

http://www.rr.com/news/to...tack_plot?cmpid=RRWMHero
A Georgia militia group is facing federal charges of attempting to manufacture and distribute ricin, a lethal nerve gas, in the New York and Washington areas.
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.

I volunteered to judge http://forum.daz3d.com/viewtopic.php?t=172489]a new-users' contest over on the Daz Forums, and we posted the winners' list today. The contest's theme: "Precious Moments".

It was very difficult deciding between the top three entries.

If you have a Daz3D account, please go take a look and offer all twelve of these folks some constructive criticism, remembering that they are new to 3D modeling. They all have potential to be excellent 3D artists (I wish I was as good as some of these new users), and I'd like to see them reach it.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

Unique Exocomps at Catgirl Industries

Not all Exocomps are equal at Catgirl Industries, some of them got special equipment by some Catgirls and acquired unique behaviour and quirks.

The Exocomp ‘Bigband'
A group of twelve Exocomps that were equipped with extra speakers for a special celebration. The Exocomps seem to enjoy playing different kind of musics and are known to sometimes play improvised themes.

Quirks:

• Chase Scene: when playing Yakety Sax, all persons close to the exocomps immediately begin to chase the nearest robot of the group. Instead of swarming out to catch them, they often form lines or silly patterns.
  (The discovery of this Quirk resulted in a totally tired out crew of Jenga. Cortana considers using the Exocomps for crowd control in the future)
  
• Just Pen and Office Clip: playing the MacGyver theme helps for quickly improvising simple mechanisms. Results do NEVER kill or injure anyone and can often not be reproduced.
  

• Experiments with the A-Team theme to help weapon research are inconclusive, but the chance increase to get a full slapstick effect.
  

• Its all training! When not working, the larger Exocomps can be sometimes seen lifting heavy things like freight palettes up and down. But only if someone is watching them.
  

• The big sisters are three times larger than the normal ones in each dimension, which gives them a volume of 27 times the normal model. They can lift and move up to 10 metric tons.
  
• All larger exocomps mount Zero-Point Energy Field Manipulator built by Cold Cat Spaceworks
  

it's a pretty obvious idea so I wouldn't be surprised if it's been put forth before:
Michael Jackson's Thriller as a 'Summon and Control Zombie Horde' effect.
I figure in most cases the zombies would be simulcrums, but in a world where there are actual Zombies wandering around it may actually summon some (which would be a problem when the song ends and they're still there, but no longer controlled).
On the other hand, if being attacked by zombies already, Doug could then take control of the ones in his AoE and either turn them against other Zombies on the perimeter of his zone, or make them walk off a cliff/into an incinerator/rock crusher/ect.
___________________________
"I've always wanted to be somebody, but I should have been more specific." - George Carlin