Cordeos

I literally sprinted through the final few levels because I found fighting aliens so annoying. I never even looked into Crysis 3, wonder if it was better than 2?

There is a planned patch to make sure easy and medium missions are always available but start paying less. You can always just go out and raid ships for items or money, also unlocking better subverters and armor piercing guns/melee weapons at stores is a must.

Its third person when not scoped but first person when scoped, in 3 and 4 higher difficulty levels have realistic wind physics and bullet drop to compensate for. That is what I have heard as well, The new Ghost Warrior game is sitting on my wish list till it drops below $10. I really enjoyed Sniper Elite 4 and highly recommend it.

Have you played any of the Sniper Elite games? I loved the hell out of 4, but starting with it made going back to 3 very hard, never even bothered going further back to 2 or 1

I am coming at this from a more socialist point of view than Dem Soc, but there is a lot of overlap in our thoughts on these topics: I would be very cautious about blaming Brexit, Prop 8, bathroom bills on 'the popular will'. There were elites on both sides and tons of money got funneled into these campaigns. It wasn't the masses vs. the enlightened technocrats. I don't see the issue with economic populism especially considering what we currently have is economic corporatism. Why shouldn't the people have more of a say in how wealth is distributed and how much power corporations have over our economy and government? As for trade protectionism, there are serious issues with 'free trade' deals as they are currently structured. Often they are backdoor ways to limit governments power over companies. The TPP for example would have limited the US's ability to implement the Paris Climate Agreement even before Trump pulled us out of it. The Single Market in Europe puts limits on nationalization of industry. We on the left oppose these trade deals because they allow companies to more easily race to the bottom on wages, worker safety and pollution controls by moving between countries and getting them to compete against each other to have the weakest legal checks on corporate power. 1) Even the worst unions are more democratic structures then the best corporations. A union is by definition an organization of labor, of those on the bottom of the economic ladder. Corporations represent the interests of the 1% and of corporate power over the democratic will and best interests of the populace. It is in a companies interest to maximize its profits by lying about climate change, implementing as few safety measures as possible , paying its workers as little as possible and being taxed as little as possible. Workers and unions don't share those interests. 2) Breaking up and preventing monopolies would go some way to preventing the centralization of profit among the few. Some industries can and should be nationalized. 3) I don't see an issue with truly democratic government dominating markets it gets involved in. We would be far better off if government dominated the healthcare space. 4) Subsidies and contracts should be given in ways that benefit society. Stop giving money to anti-union anti-worker companies, ones that hide their profits overseas, ones that pollute. If all the fossil fuel subsidies we currently give out were shifted to green energy a lot of good could be done. 5) Again anti-monopoly laws would help here. As well as reforms to the legal system to mitigate the power wealth has there. 6) I don't think the differences between the states are as large as you are implying. All need more infrastructure spending, better wages and worker protections and better environmental protections. Obviously all power should not reside in a centralized government and the elimination of corporate power and influence would be just as beneficial to currently existing state and local governments as it would be on a federal level. 7) Dem Socs and Socialists in general argue for a strong democratic state. I am not an anarchist and am not able to properly represent their views. 8) I assume you are talking of the problems of Stalinist type communist states? Avoiding the accumulation of power by individuals and balancing the power of different democratic institutions is important here. I would never advocate for state unions or a one party state.

Democratic socialism as represented by Sanders or most of the center left European parties is more of a band aid to try and fix the problems created by capitalism than a fix for many of deeper problems. Part of the concept of permanent revolution as I understand it is that you always need to be pushing for more reform, for tweaks for new programs for granting of more rights and protections. The ACA was a mediocre first step towards fixing our healthcare system but failed to solve the deep issues with our healthcare system. Even a universal healthcare system in the US wouldn't solve the problem caused by rampant profit seeking by pharmaceutical and medical device companies. In the same way that stronger unions, bigger unions and even union representation on corporate boards will not solve all issues with wages and worker protections. The party I am a member of, Socialist Alternative, has worked in multiple cities on issues like the minimum wage, housing protection, unionization of workers and getting party members elected to local positions. We see none of this as an end in its self but a means to chip away at corporate power, expose the center leftism of many democrats and a way to empower the working class. We also see none of these fights as ever truly won. A $15 minimum wage has been passed in several cities and states but its not really enough for many larger cities and without tying it to inflation it will soon enough not be enough anywhere, so we must be ready to fight for higher wages again. Our goals are revolutionary, but you cannot just sit around and wait for the revolutionary situation to happen and then swoop in to lead it. We must destroy the destructive and exploitative systems that run our country and our world, but the more we are able to show the possible better way the easier that is going to be. The more you expose how capitalism doesn't care about those at the bottom the more willing people will be to fight it.

I spent all day being pretty terrible at Saltybet. Thanks guys for pointing me towards it

My favorite parts of Crysis 1 were using the suits abilities to take down soldiers. Once the aliens showed up I lost all interest. I would love a Far Cry style game with a Cyrsis suit, where you have to take down a bunch of bases and can decide how to mix stealth, speed and strength to do that.

I beat the game last night after discovering I had purchased it despite not remembering doing that.

I tried the Beta a little last night, feels like a competent shooter. was Destiny 1 built around arenas and corridors or are there more open environments? I plan on playing the PC Beta more tonight my battle.net name is Cordeos #1528 if you want to friend me or whatever.

I have heard that that Littlefinger scene was written first and then they wrote backwards from there, it seems likely this is the method for the show. Write an epic scene and then figure out how to justify it

What about Codename: Gordon?

Dino Park Tycoon was a great game

I finished Defenders I thought it was ok

He picked Joe in an alternative timeline

Why do they make all these robots with really slippery feet? Seems like a lot of them would benefit from some grip

Kim never getting promoted during all 7 seasons is sad, but kind of hilarious

Just finished Warriors of God: Inside Hezbollah's Thirty Year Struggle Against Israel. Its a really interesting and balanced history of Hezbollah. They are one of the most important forces in the Middle East today and have been involved in many crucial events. Hopefully the author publishes an update relating to what Hezbollah is up to in Syria. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11400597-warriors-of-god?ac=1&from_search=true

I started watching Patriot on Amazon Prime and am really enjoying it. Its a dark comedy spy show with a great cast.

I have started trying to meditate and it has been helping somewhat with my difficulties getting to sleep. Clearing my mind is still difficult, but I'm getting better at it. Here are some nice, guided, secular meditations if you are interested in giving it a try http://marc.ucla.edu/body.cfm?id=22&oTopID=22

I would say no, there is a long history of single life multiplayer deathmatch type games. It also lacks procedurally generated levels.

you will be happy with that speed when you try to get to mastery 20 in Marrakesh

I played some GORN yesterday. Its pretty fun, a lot harder than I expected. Had an interesting movement solution, you can either use the default which involves pushing on the touchpad and swinging your arm or just touching the touchpad and sort of gliding, far less disorienting than I expected.