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[offended]

I find myself in consistent agreement with Andail when it comes to moderation, and have very little to add to his comments aside from this:

I have a sense of humor and even contributed once to a humorous CL thread (Matts Berglinn's ma santa shoes), but I rapidly saw it devolve into a vulgar display of who could be the most shocking.  It didn't help matters that Matts was actually offended by many of the paintovers, and this is exactly the sort of thing I want to avoid. 

I learnt early on that I had to separate my moderating self from my "real" self. I remember finding that Santa's shoes thread extremely humorous (at least in the beginning) just as I have always seen the hilarity in DG's and Helm's posts, in all their mockery and bile, but despite my affection for these members I've often found myself having to tell them off and prune their threads. 

I think I've managed to refrain from coming across as too bad-ass, especially since I receive pm's from inquisitive newcomers on a regular basis, asking for various advice. As long as these friendly messages outweigh the vengeful spam that follows a certain percentage of all moderation done, I'm a happy christmas elf.

If I recall correctly I was the one suggesting and endorsing that Darth should moderate the GiP board, and I can still back him up.
It isn't hard to read the rules before posting. If you can't be arsed to do so, you should expect being moderated. The rules apply to everyone, not only newcomers. I'd rather see a tidy, functional board than one where people are allowed to spam and clutter freely in their pursuit of - often undeserved - attention.

Sure, there seem to be a high amount of stickies, which could be reduced to help clarifying things...but too many stickies or too harsh moderation aren't the cause for the decline of this community, I frankly think it's silly to believe that.

I think it's a trend issue - a downward spiral tendency where older member leave the community to find more stimulating conversations elsewhere. This leaves the community with a higher percentage of young and not so eloquent or sophisticated members (no offense, but when you're 13 you're not as interesting to listen to, sad but true) which in turn fails to attract new members.

The forum would benefit from having more seasoned game makers participating in the everyday conversations. We need more professional input in the critics lounge and more experienced designing feedback in the GTD threads. And the "crazy" threads in gen-gen need to be funnier.
My 2 cents.

Heya DG

I don't buy the forum hospitality (or lack thereof) theory. When I joined the community was much more "lawless"; newcomers could be openly mocked and there was basically only one social clique which you either were a part of or quite painfully outside of. This may sound dramatic, but it is my recollection of it.
Ever since, the community has been gradually easier to grow into.

Also the moderation theory sounds like nonsense. Please direct me to one community of this size with such a small (almost empty) ban list. Most other forums I've been to are subject to very arbitrary policing where moderators administer justice any way it pleases them.
As much as our forums can be complicated (because they have very defined purposes, and can easily fall into disorder) it's not like posting wrong will lead to any severe consequences.

I think it's a question of trends. We're the generation who were young enough to experience these games when they first came, and still young enough to have the time and interest to make our own games. Sure, there are exceptions, and some members are middle aged, but the target audience of AGS consists of young people, but not so young that the age of adventure games died before they were able to play them.

I don't mind people preserving their traditions and languages and whatnot, but when it affects their immigrant policies it leaves a sour taste.
Haven't got any statistics right now, but I think when it comes to accepting refugees, countries like Switzerland don't really top the charts.

Oh thank you thank you.

My dad has a bald spot and my mum actually has a brush with her thick roll of hair.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think baldness is hereditary on the mother's side? So if your mum's dad is (or was) bald, then...er...get a hat?

Even though this has been corrected in this thread, I'd like to point out the quite apparent contradiction. If baldness is hereditary on the mother's side, what difference would it make if your mother's dad was bald? Your mother would consequently not pick up his genes either.

can you copy and upload the song? I'm pretty sure I could identify it

Sorry for being off-topic, but I felt Nacho's ramblings deserves some clarification.

If the USA had left South America alone in the first place, much of their problems wouldn't exist.
It has always been about protecting economical interests on USA's part. Especially in Nicaragua and Cuba, but in the entire region as well.

Any leader who's refused to let American companies buy and exploit every little resource they've got, has been economically and often militarily punished by USA; by terrorist factions funded by the American government or secretly by CIA (like the Somoza dictatorship or the Contras).

If there exist any sort of anti-americanism in that region today, it's nothing to do with "coolness" (I don't know where you got this from), it's because USA has more or less maintained a terror reign there, one of completely evil selfishness, one that more or less got Reagan removed, one that got USA sentenced to pay huge damages in the Hague tribunal (compensation they never paid, of course), and if those countries still opposing this americanism are poor it's probably related to trade embargoes and various sanctions carried out by the vengeful american state.

Too bad Chavez has sort of fallen from grace lately. I still value the function he and his likes have had in south america in the past, as some sort of bastion against USA.

Maybe those who haven't got a blog should start a thread about it?

You take a person who's on psycho-pharmacological drugs, give him some booze and a gun and it will end in blood shed?

Don't know, feels more like some governmental notice than a comic. It doesn't really make you laugh, anyhow.

anagrams are so 90's

Your "painted" style is better than the other one. Or at least it's got more potential. Comparing the two, the first one's got a far more solid, building-like feeling to it, it's more authentic and easier on the eye.
The reason you might still prefer the other one is because you've added spectacular lighting effects which makes it instantly more impressive, but with carefully applied lighting/shading, the handpainted one will end up much better, believe me.

There are still some minor compositional flaws to it, which I might return to during the weekend, if I get the time.

Hey Pesty, you're only a bit cranky because you don't drink. Take a look at these cheerful fellows!

My first reaction to this whole thing was "let's ban all guns", while my parents' reaction was "video games, music, movies, internet - all bad". Though after calming down a bit and learning that the gun was purchased completely legally and with a recommendation from his resident gun club (gun permits are generally very difficult to acquire here), I realized that guns are hardly a main cause of something like this.

I just learnt that Finland is the third most armed country in the world, counting by weapons per citizen (only USA and Yemen are worse), and that you can get a license at the age of 15. Although you naturally have better knowledge than me in this case, it seems unlikely that getting a license is very hard, compared to other countries.
Why were you calmed by the fact that he bought the gun legally? Isn't that a reason to worry?

Obviously, the fact that weapons are abundant and easy to obtain isn't a reason for why these things happen; the reasons are always psycho-social and cultural and multi-layered. But one must account for factors that might amplify the extent of the consequences.

Free in Sweden, except some fee of 10â,¬ per "session". Whether it's a heart transplant or flu treatment doesn't matter.
Sometimes the waiting time in the free municipal clinics are ridiculously long, and if you have a semi-serious affection (you can't wait for an appointment, but it's still not life threatening) then you might be left in the waiting room for half a day.
Dental care, on the other side, is not covered by the taxes, and is thus crazily expensive. I fixed a tooth some half a year ago and it cost me 300â,¬. It was a root canal, but still...

I can totally accept that people don't like to drink, and I like to think I'm not the kind of person who coaxes and urges whenever a person declines a drink or a beer.
My reaction was just aimed at those who consider drinkers inhibited and socially challenged people, in need of substances to become extrovert. This is true in many cases, but it's also a prejudice.
Some people just prefer the feeling of slight intoxication, because of how it affects your creativity and inspiration.

The people I usually hang out with in the weekends and go to pubs with are very socially skilled individuals, they easily connect with strangers and have an easy time finding girls (when they're not in relationships, of course). Still they - just like me - like to drink regularly. And they're normal, decent, intellectual people.

Yes, Loomy's got some good points here. I wasn't too impressed with the original sketch (having seen other art by you); there's no real plan to it, no lightsource or sense of depth, and the brush strokes tend to just sketch out luminous patterns instead of three-dimensional shapes.

The basic shapes are good - and it's overall a good idea to start out with interesting models and not just square boxes - but you need to apply heaps of details, colours and textures.
If those are meant to be windows, make them transparent or at least illuminated. Try painting some sort of pattern on the exterior. Make the reflections less distinct, as they will appear odd with the character walking around on them - unless of course you add a character reflection too, which isn't too complicated.