David

I don't even understand where this "scratched when inside console" thing is coming from. The disc is held firmly in place in any sort of disk reader, how could it possibly be scratched? Unless you drop it from a 4 story building I don't see any damage coming to it. This probably comes from people trying to move it from horizontal to vertical positions when the console is on and reading the disk, which will obviosly cause problems...

Thanks for reminding me, I remember reading this a couple of days ago but I forgot about it. Fortunately I stupidly keep all my games forever, so I will be taking advantage of this.

No.

It may be patched. I know what you're talking about, and I was arrested as well in a quick test... Haven't tried it when in jail, though, which I think is a requirement.

The game is already ruined.

I remember when I played Oblivion, I didn't know Fast Traveling was even possible until I was like 100 hours in. I remember having to literally plan trips to dungeons on the eastern edge of the map, and it took what seemed like hours... Looking back though, this was probably the best and most fun way to play the game. Still remember how awestruck I was when I accidently clicked 'X' or whatever over a city icon on the map. As far as the review goes, I agree with everything besides art style. There's simply not a game with a better environment. I mean, snow even accumulates. Have you ever been out at night and stared up at the sky around Morthal? You see millions of stars, the different colored moons of the world, and even active and changing northern lights. You could MAYBE say FF13 was more visually sharp, though FF13 imo had very boring environments and it wasn't particularly realistic looking, whereas even the embers from fire in Skyrim look fantastic.

It's not about the Bible. It's a religious and moral principle followed by an entire spectrum of religions not even counting Christianity.Also, the whole attack on the Bible as a analogy to attacking the core of religion is stupid. 99% of Christians don't take the Bible literally, and those that constantly attack it don't understand its place in the religion anyways. The book is not believed to be literally written by God, nor is it the be-all-end all of most Christian religion outlooks (though some religions do take it literally, I'm talking about the general population). It's a book that's thousands of years old that features the writing of people from thousands of years ago who tried to teach morality from their beliefs and recount the history of the time through the only medium they could. Take it for what it is.

It goes against many religions, and people believe it brings a negative connotation to the "hallowed ideal" of marriage being between a man and a woman.

It really comes down to whether or not you view marriage as a religious construct or one based on society. If the religious entities that rely on marriage oppose same-sex marriage, it is seen has heavy-handed to force the acceptance of something that violates their religious code. The same can be said for those that want same-sex marriage in that they're denied something that is recognized by the state. Honestly, the most compromising thing I've heard involves doing away with "marriage" in the eyes of the government (don't eliminate it as a ceremony/religious significance/etc) and just stick completely with Civil Unions, which everyone already has access to and is essentially the same thing in all but word. People can go to church to "marry" in the traditional religious sense if they so desire and then call their civil union whatever the hell they want.Of course this all would eventually come back around and people would be pissed when same-sex couples called their civil union "marriage," but every solution is going to end up with that. No one will give a damn 50 years from now anyways.

What would we do without Fox News and MSNBC being complete partisan tools? Have a utopia, you say? But then we wouldn't have any hilariously biased articles to read.

It only looks long because each paragraph is 2 sentences. It's short enough for them to put it into one of those awful Skyrim books that has about 10 words per page.

Having a list of the TRR staff is a good idea, and something one of the Council Members can probably tackle. I understand the "View New Content" habit; on the old forum I actually just had that bookmarked and visited ONLY that page. And don't worry about bothering me, my job here is to help people out and half the time I'm bored with no requests.

That was one of the first things I tackled when we merged TRR into ES. Unfortunately, I found it was impossible to have the "Users Online" reflect the TRR ranks while still keeping the existing ES ranks. So in short, having that capability with the online list isn't a possibility. Fortunately, the ranks can easily be listed elsewhere. I could add them to the sidebar, though they're currently already in the header on the index. On the right-hand side, there's a drop-down titled "Clan Hierarchy." Clicking that and selecting a name will link you directly to the member's profile, where they can easily be PM'd with the click of a button.

Those are Elder Souls (the extended gaming community that TRR is a branch of) staff positions. TRR has it's own ranking system independent of the generic site ranks. The above are simply site-wide positions, e.g. Anarchy is a "Category Moderator" because he is in charge of the RuneScape community of Elder Souls as the Clan Leader of TRR. He's the only TRR member that is officially ES staff. The other ranks such as Council, Warlord, etc. aren't reflected in the member legend as they don't necessarily apply to the rest of the ES community (as other games are represented and don't have interchangeable roles).This is also why the Council and other TRR ranks have a "Member" icon under their avatar when posting in the ES forums, but a "Council/Event Team/Etc" icon in the TRR forums. Hope that answers some questions. It is rather confusing.

I thought I'd post this in case you haven't already read it in game. This provides all of the background on Skyrim's political situation and can provide a good backdrop for discussion in the Civil War debate. Author's Note: Much of what is written in this book is pieced together from documents captured from the enemy during the war, interrogation of prisoners, and eyewitness accounts from surviving soldiers and Imperial officers. I myself commanded the Tenth Legion in Hammerfell and Cyrodiil until I was wounded in 175 during the assault on the Imperial City. That said, the full truth of some events may never be known. I have done my best to fill in the gaps with educated conjectures based on my experience as well as my hard-earned knowledge of the enemy. The Rise of the Thalmor Although it is not well known, Summerset Isle suffered from the Oblivion Crisis as much as Cyrodiil did. The elves made war upon the Oblivion invaders, occasionally even crossing over to close down Oblivion gates. As a nation they had more successes than Cyrodiil did, although the limitless daedric hordes made the outcome a foregone conclusion.The Thalmor had always been a powerful faction within Summerset Isle, but had also always been a minority voice. During the crisis, the Crystal Tower was forced to give the Thalmor greater power and authority. Their efforts almost certainly saved Summerset Isle from being overrun. They capitalized on their success to seize total control in 4E 22. They renamed the nation Alinor, which hearkens back to an earlier age before the ascendency of man. Most people outside of the Aldmeri Dominion still call it Summerset Isle, either out of peevishness or ignorance. In 4E 29, the government of Valenwood was overthrown by Thalmor collaborators and a union with Alinor proclaimed. It appears that Thalmor agents had formed close ties to certain Bosmeri factions even before the Oblivion Crisis. The Empire and its Bosmer allies, caught completely off guard, were quickly defeated by the much-better prepared Altmer forces that invaded Valenwood on the heels of the coup. Thus was the Aldmeri Dominion reborn. Shortly afterward the Aldmeri Dominion severed all contact with the Empire. For seventy years they were silent. Most scholars believe there was some sort of internal strife in Alinor, but very little is known of the factional struggles that went on inside the Dominion while the Thalmor consolidated its power in Summerset and Valenwood. In 4E 98, the two moons, Masser and Secunda vanished. Within most of the Empire, this was viewed with trepidation and fear. In Elsweyr it was far worse. Culturally the moons are much more influential to the Khajiit. After two years of the Void Nights, the moons returned. The Thalmor announced that they had restored the moons using previously unknown Dawn Magicks, but it is unclear if they truly restored the moons or just took advantage of foreknowledge that they would return. Regardless of the truth of the matter, the Khajiit credited the Thalmor as their saviors. Within fifteen years, Imperial influence in Elsweyr had so diminished that the Empire was unable to respond effectively to the coup of 4E 115 which dissolved the Elsweyr Confederacy and recreated the ancient kingdoms of Anequina and Pelletine as client states of the Aldmeri Dominion. Once more the Empire failed to stop the advance of Thamor [sic] power. When Titus Mede II ascended the throne in 4E 168, he inherited a weakened empire. The glory days of the Septims were a distant memory. Valenwood and Elsweyr were gone, ceded to the Thalmor enemy. Black Marsh had been lost to Imperial rule since the aftermath of the Oblivion Crisis. Morrowind had never recovered fully from the eruption of Mount Vvardenfell. Hammerfell was plagued by infighting between Crowns and Forebears. Only High Rock, Cyrodiil and Skyrim remained prosperous and peaceful. Emperor Titus Mede had only a few short years to consolidate his rule before his leadership was put to the ultimate test. The War Begins On the 30th of Frostfall, 4E 171, the Aldmeri Dominion sent an ambassador to the Imperial City with a gift in a covered cart and an ultimatum for the new Emperor. The long list of demands included staggering tributes, disbandment of the Blades, outlawing the worship of Talos, and ceding large sections of Hammerfell to the Dominion. Despite the warnings of his generals of the Empire's military weakness, Emperor Titus Mede II rejected the ultimatum. The Thalmor ambassador upended the cart, spilling over a hundred heads on the floor: every Blades agent in Summerset and Valenwood. And so began the Great War which would consume the Empire and the Aldmeri Dominion for the next five years.Within days, Aldmeri armies invaded Hammerfell and Cyrodiil simultaneously. A strong force commanded by the Thalmor general Lord Naarifin attacked Cyrodiil from the south, marching out of hidden camps in northern Elsweyr and flanking the Imperial defenses along the Valenwood border. Leyawiin soon fell to the invaders, while Bravil was cut off and besieged. At the same time, an Aldmeri army under Lady Arannelya crossed into western Cyrodiil from Valenwood, bypassing Anvil and Kvatch and crossing into Hammerfell. Smaller Aldmeri forces landed along the southern coastline of Hammerfell. The disunited Redguard forces offered only scattered resistance to the invaders, and much of the southern coastline was quickly overrun. The greatly outnumbered Imperial legions retreated across the Alik'r Desert in the now-famous March of Thirst. 4E 172-173: The Aldmeri Advance Into Cyrodiil It appears now that the initial Aldmeri objective was in fact the conquest of Hammerfell, and that the invasion of Cyrodiil was intended only to pin down the Imperial legions while Hammerfell was overrun. However, the surprising initial success of Lord Naarifin's attack led the Thalmor to believe that the Empire was weaker than they had thought. The capture of the Imperial City itself and the complete overthrow of the Empire thus became their primary objective of the next two years. As we know, the Thalmor nearly achieved their objective. It was only because of our Emperor's determined leadership during the Empire's darkest hour that this disaster was averted.During 4E 172, the Aldmeri advanced deeper into Cyrodiil. Bravil and Anvil both fell to the invaders. By the end of the year, Lord Naarifin had advanced to the very walls of the Imperial City. There were fierce naval clashes in Lake Rumare and along the Niben as the Imperial forces attempted to hold the eastern bank. In Hammerfell, the Thalmor were content to consolidate their gains as they took control of the whole southern coastline, which was in fact their stated objective in the ultimatum delivered to the Emperor. Of the southern cities, only Hegathe still held out. The survivors of the March of Thirst regrouped in northern Hammerfell, joined by reinforcements from High Rock. The year 4E 173 saw stiffening Imperial resistance in Cyrodiil, but the seemingly inexorable Aldmeri advance continued. Fresh legions from Skyrim bolstered the Emperor's main army in the Imperial City, but the Aldmeri forced the crossing of the Niben and began advancing in force up the eastern bank. By the end of the year, the Imperial City was surrounded on three sides - only the northern supply route to Bruma remained open. In Hammerfell, Imperial fortunes took a turn for the better. In early 4E 173, a Forebear army from Sentinel broke the siege of Hegathe (a Crown city), leading to the reconciliation of the two factions. Despite this, Lady Arannelya's main army succeeded in crossing the Alik'r Desert. The Imperial Legions under General Decianus met them outside Skaven in a bloody and indecisive clash. Decianus withdrew and left Arannelya in possession of Skaven, but the Aldmeri were too weakened to continue their advance. 4E 174: The Sack of the Imperial City In 4E 174, the Thalmor leadership committed all available forces to the campaign in Cyrodiil, gambling on a decisive victory to end the war once and for all. During the spring, Aldmeri reinforcements gathered in southern Cyrodiil, and on 12th of Second Seed, they launched a massive assault on the Imperial City itself. One army drove north to completely surround the city, while Lord Naarifin's main force attacked the walls from the south, east, and west. The Emperor's decision to fight his way out of the city rather than make a last stand was a bold one. No general dared advise him to abandon the capital, but Titus II was proven right in the end.While the Eighth Legion fought a desperate (and doomed) rearguard action on the walls of the city, Titus II broke out of the city to the north with his main army, smashing through the surrounding the Aldmeri forces and linking up with reinforcements marching south from Skyrim under General Jonna. Meanwhile, however, the capital fell to the invaders and the infamous Sack of the Imperial City began. The Imperial Palace was burned, the White Gold Tower itself looted, and all manner of atrocities carried out by the vengeful elves on the innocent populace. In Hammerfell, General Decianus was preparing to drive the Aldmeri back from Skaven when he was ordered to march for Cyrodiil. Unwilling to abandon Hammerfell completely, he allowed a great number of "invalids" to be discharged from the Legions before they marched east. These veterans formed the core of the army that eventually drove Lady Arannelya's forces back across the Alik'r late in 174, taking heavy losses on their retreat from harassing attacks by the Alik'r warriors. 4E 175: The Battle of the Red Ring During the winter of 4E 174-175, the Thalmor seem to have believed that the war in Cyrodiil was all but over. They made several attempts to negotiate with Titus II. The Emperor encouraged them in their belief that he was preparing to surrender; meanwhile, he gathered his forces to retake the Imperial City.In what is now known as the Battle of the Red Ring, a battle that will serve as a model for Imperial strategists for generations to come, Titus II divided his forces into three. One army, with the legions from Hammerfell under General Decianus, was hidden in the Colovian Highlands near Chorrol. The Aldmeri were unaware that he was no longer in Hammerfell, possibly because the Imperial veterans Decianus had left behind led Lady Arannelya to believe that she still faced an Imperial army. The second army, largely of Nord legions under General Jonna, took up position near Cheydinhal. The main army was commanded by the Emperor himself, and would undertake the main assault of the Imperial City from the north. On the 30th of Rain's Hand, the bloody Battle of the Red Ring began as General Decianus swept down on the city from the west, while General Jonna's legionnaires drove south along the Red Ring Road. In a two-day assault, Jonna's army crossed the Niben and advanced west, attempting to link up with Decianus's legions and thus surround the Imperial City. Lord Naarifin was taken by surprise by Decianus's assault, but Jonna's troops faced bitter resistance as the Aldmeri counterattacked from Bravil and Skingrad. The heroic Nord legionnaires held firm, however, beating off the piecemeal Aldmeri attacks. By the fifth day of the battle, the Aldmeri army in the Imperial City was surrounded. Titus II led the assault from the north, personally capturing Lord Naarifin. It is rumored the Emperor wielded the famed sword Goldbrand, although this has never been officially confirmed by the Imperial government. An attempt by the Aldmeri to break out of the city to the south was blocked by the unbreakable shieldwall of General Jonna's battered legions. In the end, the main Aldmeri army in Cyrodiil was completely destroyed. The Emperor's decision to withdraw from the Imperial City in 4E 174 was bloodily vindicated. Lord Naarifin was kept alive for thirty-three days, hanging from the White-Gold tower. It is not recorded where his body was buried, if it was buried at all. Once source claims he was carried off by a winged daedra on the thirty-fourth day. The White-Gold Concordat and the End of the War Although victorious, the Imperial armies were in no shape to continue the war. The entire remaining Imperial force was gathered in Cyrodiil, exhausted and decimated by the Battle of the Red Ring. Not a single legion had more than half its soldiers fit for duty. Two legions had been effectively annihilated, not counting the loss of the Eighth during the retreat from the Imperial City the previous year. Titus II knew that there would be no better time to negotiate peace, and late in 4E 175 the Empire and the Aldmeri Dominion signed the White-Gold Concordat, ending the Great War.The terms were harsh, but Titus II believed that it was necessary to secure peace and give the Empire a chance to regain its strength. The two most controversial terms of the Concordat were the banning of the worship of Talos and the cession of a large section of southern Hammerfell (most of what was already occupied by Aldmeri forces). Critics have pointed out that the Concordat is almost identical to the ultimatum the Emperor rejected five years earlier. However, there is a great difference between agreeing to such terms under the mere threat of war, and agreeing to them at the end of a long and destructive war. No part of the Empire would have accepted these terms in 4E 171, dictated by the Thalmor at swords-point. Titus II would have faced civil war. By 4E 175, most of the Empire welcomed peace at almost any price. Epilogue: Hammerfell Fights On Alone Hammerfell, however, refused to accept the White-Gold Concordat, being unwilling to concede defeat and the loss of so much of their territory. Titus II was forced to officially renounce Hammerfell as an Imperial province in order to preserve the hard-won peace treaty. The Redguards, understandably, looked on this as a betrayal. In this, the Thalmor certainly achieved one of their long-term goals by sowing lasting bitterness between Hammerfell and the Empire.In the end, the heroic Redguards fought the Aldmeri Dominion to a standstill, although the war lasted for five more years and left southern Hammerfell devastated. The Redguards say that this proves that the White-Gold Concordat was unnecessary, and that if Titus II had kept his nerve, the Aldmeri could have been truly defeated by the combined forces of Hammerfell and the rest of the Empire. The truth of that assertion can, of course, never be known. But the Redguards should not forget the great sacrifice of Imperial blood - Breton, Nord, and Cyrodilic - at the Battle of the Red Ring that weakened the Dominion enough to allow the eventual Second Treaty of Stros M'kai in 4E 180 and the withdrawal of Aldmeri forces from Hammerfell. There can be no doubt that the current peace cannot last forever. The Thalmor take the long view, as is proved by the sequence of events leading up to the Great War. All those who value freedom over tyranny can only hope that before it is too late, Hammerfell and the Empire will be reconciled and stand united against the Thalmor threat. Otherwise, any hope to stem the tide of Thalmor rule over all of Tamriel is dimmed.

Here was my thinking. Just my thoughts, and its completely your choice: [*]Skyrim because it's at its peak right now, so I figured it would be the best time to review it. [*]Black Ops because v2 is coming out soon, so now would be a good time to review and bring up flaws that they can focus on for BO2. [*]DA2 for the reason you stated. [*]Uncharted 1 + 2 in succession because its the logical order. The series because I loved it, though its gone out of my mind since its been awhile... It would be a good refresher and I'm looking to buy 3 at the moment. [*]Infamous 2 for reason you said.

Exemplary are (well... were, since the rank is gone) either people who have donated and get the rank along with their subscription (what's now called Premiurm Member) OR have done something truly exceptional to the extent that they deserve a rank for it.Established/Veteran was based on like ~250 posts and a certain amount of months in the clan I believe.

Exemplary > Established/Veteran > Member > In-game recruit