Current system:  One very old and kluged Dell 2350
1.8g P4 CPU
512mb Memory (ddr 1 @ 2700, I think)
80+ g of HD space
NO PCI E slots, originally had on board ethernet and sound.  The ethernet died, the sound I 'upgraded' to a pci SB Audiaulogy  (not sure it was actually an upgrade anymore though)
On board intel graphics chip, also no longer used.  So out of the 3 pci slots it came with, I now have a ethernet card, the SB Audiaulogy, and a 256m ATI X1300 graphics card.
And I'm bloody tired of missing out on half of the tf missions because I move so slowly between zones and to and from mission maps.  The fastest fix, of course, would be to scrape together $60 or so and replace the two 256m sticks with a single 1g stick.
But thats just a band aid.  And still wouldnt help what I suspect to be the real problem at the moment, that the existsing PCI bus just cant handle the current level of buss traffic.  This is also based on an observation that I have the worst lag problems when a large number of noisy or graphicly flashy powers go off at once.  And when I ZC, its right about when the sound for the new zone or whatever should start playing...
So, obviously I need a new system.  And I need to balance cheap vs game performance, vs future upgradeabilty.
Help?
Hear that thunder rolling till it seems to split the sky?
That's every ship in Grayson's Navy taking up the cry-
NO QUARTER!!!
-- "No Quarter", by Echo's Children

Good
-

Propane Nightmares - Pendulum - 5:28

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2KC1P9s6-Q

Something's tearing me down

And down

Can't help but feel it's coming from you

She's a gunshot bride

With a trigger cries

I just wonder what we've gotten ourselves into

In a trail of fire I know we will be free again

In the end we will be one

In a trail of fire I'll burn before you bury me

Set your sights for the sun

Mind is willing

Soul remains

This woman cannot be saved

From the drawn into the fire

Mind is willing

Soul remains

This woman cannot be saved

From the drawn into the fire

Any danger

Bring it on home

Bring it on home

Bring it on home

Bring it on home

Much to weak to jump yourself

Heal the wounds or crack the shell

Lift yourself from once below

Much to weak to jump yourself

Heal the wounds or crack the shell

Lift yourself from once below

Praise the anger

Bring it on home

Bring it on home

Bring it on home

Bring it on home

In a trail of fire I know we will be free again

In the end we will be one

In a trail of fire I'll burn before you bury me

Set your sights for the sun

Bring it on home

Power - Superspeed with an aura of flame effect 'trail of fire' that can be
used offensively



Bad

Devil On My Shoulder - Billy Talent - 3:50

http://www.youtube.com/wa...cS5I&feature=related

As I get closer, my dreams get farther

I climb that ladder, but you kick it over

Thirsty for water, you give me vinegar

When I drink your medicine, it just makes me sicker

I dug a hole so deep

I'm gonna drown in my mistakes

Can't even sell my soul

'Cause it ain't worth shit to take

I got the devil on my shoulder (over and over)

And I just can't sink any lower (lower and lower)

The hounds of hell are getting closer (closer and closer)

I got the devil on my shoulder (over and over)

Follow the rainbow, my lucky omen

There ain't no pot of gold, just copper tokens

I found the key to life, the lock was broken

All my accomplishments, are best left unspoken

I dug a hole so deep

I'm gonna drown in my mistakes

Can't even sell my soul

'Cause it ain't worth shit to take

I got the devil on my shoulder (over and over)

And I just can't sink any lower (lower and lower)

The hounds of hell are getting closer (closer and closer)

I got the devil on my shoulder (over and over)

My horror story is nearly over

I said I'm sorry, but I was sober

I beg for mercy from my infernal friend

The one that drops the nails into my coffin

I got the devil on my shoulder

I got the devil on my shoulder

I got the devil on my shoulder (over and over)

And I just can't sink any lower (lower and lower)

They come to take me, take me over (closer and closer)

I got the devil on my shoulder (over and over)

Power - Either insanely powerful bad luck for Doug, or summoning of a literal
Devil to sit on his shoulder. Or both.

Depends...



Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up) - Florence And The Machine - 3:38

http://www.youtube.com/wa...QesA&feature=related

The
looking glass, so shiny and new

How quickly the glamour fades

I start spinning slipping out of time

Was that the wrong pill to take (Raise it up)

You made a deal, and now it seems you have to offer up

But will it ever be enough

(Raise it up, raise it up)

It's not enough

(Raise it up, raise it up)

Here I am, a rabbit hearted girl

Frozen in the headlights

It seems I've made the final sacrifice

We raise it up, this offering

We raise it up

This is a gift, it comes with a price

Who is the lamb and who is the knife

Midas is king and he holds me so tight

And turns me to gold in the sunlight

I look around, but I can't find you

(raise it up)

If only I could see your face

(raise it up)

Instead of rushing towards the skyline

(raise it up)

I wish that I could just be brave

I must become a lion hearted girl

Ready for a fight

Before I make the final sacrifice

We raise it up, this offering

We raise it up

This is a gift, it comes with a price

Who is the lamb and who is the knife

Midas is king and he holds me so tight

And turns me to gold in the sunlight

Raise it up, raise it up

(repeat)

And in the spring I shed my skin

And it blows away with the changing wind

The waters turn from blue to red

As towards the sky I offer it

This is a gift, it comes with a price

Who is the lamb and who is the knife

Midas is king and he holds me so tight

And turns me to gold in the sunlight

(repeat)

This is a gift

[color= 10pt; line-height: 115] [/color]

[color= 10pt; line-height: 115]Power – Either a pretty blatant ‘Get The Attention
Of Local Spirits/Deities!' song, or Body of Gold power. [/color]

Thoughts, anyone?

Assuming the server hasn't been hammered into oblivion, since the link has been slashdotted...

Drivethru RPG: http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_i ... fredly.com]Gamers Helping Haiti $20 Donation with Coupon

Doctors Without Borders - a group that was doing well by doing good in Haiti before the earthquake - gets (at least part of) your $20.

You get $1,481.31 worth of RPG PDFs, in a couple of days. (Three days, tops, because they're rationing the connection. Remember what I said about this being slashdotted...) http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/rpg_haiti ... i#prodlist]Product list

This is a win-win situation.
--
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

Theres something that has been sitting in the back of my brain in regards to AE and new content for CoH.  I've noticed time and again that that once you've gone through alot of the content, it's mostly old hat and, for some, not all too interesting if you can start to memorize the missions.  Also, Wouldn't folks love to see content geared towards their own characters?
In these regards, my brain thought it might be interesting to have other people write AE arcs for other player's toons.  In a way, allowing a randomness for character advancement you may not find in either repeat grinding, writing your own toon's AE arcs, or just writing Fic (Not that there's anything wrong with Fiction...just sayin...)
Would anyone be interested in doing this sort of thing?  Or even one or two people to test the idea and see how it works?  I'm not suggesting we have folks make endless grind/farm maps or fill a map with bosses just to challenge someone.  but rather, content driven stories for one shot runs geared towards specific characters.  Try to help put that RPG feel back into the MMO
What do folks think?

Found this browsing the CoH LJ group.

http://xenonsworld.blog.ca/2009/11/25/a ... s-7454169/
Funny!

Just a shout out - you got noticed by a member of the LJ CoH community.
And the alternate -Nette ideas are adding up. You should take a peek over there. ^_^

But that's okay, because I'm sure Mal blames me in return.

Since somebody put them into Fenspace by putting a "page does not exist" link on the "VVS Factory Ga-38" page, I figured I should start a writeup for this 'Dane organization.

This part is reasonably safe to run with, I think:

Quote:{{stub}}
The '''Solomon Space Agency''' was formed in the early days of space colonization in order to take advantage of the fact that the Solomon Islands have not signed the Outer Space Treaty. The agency's purpose is to commercialize space travel, space exploration, and space-related business on a large scale.

Headquartered on Choiseul Island (the northernmost non-atoll island of the Solomon Islands), the SSA maintains three launch pads, a fully-modern vehicle assembly facility, and a research compound dedicated to hardtech space travel.

Quote:== Solomon Space Agency known staff ==

=== Ground Crew ===
Isao Nasuda (Director)
Dr. Satsuki Asahikawa (Mission Crew Doctor)
Motoko Mihara (Chief Chemist)

=== Mission Crew ===
Yukari Morita (pilot)
Matsuri Morita (pilot)
Akane Miura (mission specialist)

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2010/ ... ious-chimp

The Washington Post is running http://voices.washingtonpost.com/comic- ... me_to.html]a poll as to which webcomic was the best of the 2000s. Nominations are closed, and some good strips (such as http://www.gpf-comics.com/]General Protection Fault) didn't make the cut. When I heard about the poll, I though, "hey, I'll just ignore the ones I don't read - that should narrow it down to two or three, right?" Silly me...

Here's the list:

• http://devilspanties.keenspot.com/]Devil's Panties
  
• http://www.comicssherpa.com/site/feature?uc_comic=csadf]Devin Crane
  
• http://webcomicsnation.com/ericmillikin ... pter=35647]Eric Monster Millikin
  
• http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php]Girl Genius
  
• http://www.daniellecorsetto.com/gws.html]Girls With Slingshots
  
• http://www.harkavagrant.com/]Hark! A Vagrant
  
• http://www.jesusandmo.net/]Jesus and Mo
  
• http://www.kevinandkell.com/]Kevin and Kell
  
• http://leasticoulddo.com/]Least I Could Do
  
• http://www.comicssherpa.com/site/feature?uc_comic=csfiq]Navy Bean
  
• http://www.newadventuresofqueenvictoria.com/]The New Adventures of Queen Victoria
  
• http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0700.html]Order of the Stick
  
• http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/]Penny Arcade
  
• http://www.pbfcomics.com/]Perry Bible Fellowship
  
• http://www.gocomics.com/pibgorn/]Pibgorn
  
• http://www.pvponline.com/]PvP
  
• http://questionablecontent.net/]Questionable Content
  
• http://www.redstring.strawberrycomics.com/]Red String
  
• http://www.schlockmercenary.com/]Schlock Mercenary
  
• http://www.sinfest.net/]Sinfest
  
• http://www.userfriendly.org/]UserFriendly.Org
  
• http://xkcd.com/]xkcd
  

robkelk Wrote:

Quote:How
would I compete against antimatter reactors using nuclear reactions?
Hrm...

Don't be there when it goes off.

Luckily for you, this is something that the Midnight is good
at...