Julio Cezar

Cowboy, too bad your link on Baudrillard didn't mention "Symbolic Exchange and Death" (the only Baudrillard book I've actaully read). That's more about cyberpunk: death is the ultimate "sign" that can never be detached from its "value" - and that's why nowadays death is neutralized, ostracized, reclused in hospitals. And while I (edgerunner) can play my death against the system, the system cannot do the same against me.

And Sanctuary is a reference I always recommend to corporate players. ^__^

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C E Z

Not just a parody.

And not just "funny".

Cool link.

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C E Z

My current wallpaper here at the office is a photo of a coreography by AC Milan's supporters, raising a huge picture of the Champions League in front of their city arch-rivals Inter FC. The banner under the picture reads "WE realize YOUR dreams"

On my notebook, I have a cool portrait of Jason Kidd, taken from Slamonline.com.

Lots of icons, links, useful and useless files are scattered all around on both desktops. ^^;

Now that's an original subject for your 2004 calendar.

Sexy babes - and coffins.

Look here...

(And notice the September girl, wrapped in an american flag... O_o;)

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C E Z

Per me si va ne la città dolente

Per me si va ne l'etterno dolore

Per me si va tra la perduta gente...

...translated poems DO suck! I'm glad I never had to read Milton in italian.

Well, back to the test. "Nice" to see how homosexuality is treated as a moral sin. Let's see...

Look, mom! I'm a heretic!

The Dante's Inferno Test has banished you to the Sixth Level of Hell - The City of Dis!

Here is how you matched up against all the levels:

Level | Score

Purgatory | Very Low

Level 1 - Limbo | High

(Hey, this should mean I'm a good guy after all!)

Level 2 | Moderate

Level 3 | Moderate

Level 4 | Low

Level 5 | Moderate

Level 6 - The City of Dis | Very High

Level 7 | Moderate

Level 8- the Malebolge | Moderate

Level 9 - Cocytus | Moderate

I just know it's always worth checking this forum from time to time. ^__^

I knew of a bearded guy who did Shan Pu (Ranma 1/2), but this is probably worse. It's even worse then the dreaded Darth Pikachu.

Thank you, Karsten. I wish I was as optimistic as you are.

The "clean hands" campaign sure did a great job, but now that many years have passed, you get the feeling that little has really changed. "They" have just reorganized themselves and are now fiercely fighting back to regain their privileges. The names have changed, but it's the same kind of people... lobbyists, schemers, intriguers, party leaders and their henchmen... The same "clean hands" campaign is under heavy attack these times. Berlusconi would probably tell you that it was one of the most shameful pages in italian history.

Well, enough with Italy now. Every country in the world has its problems. ;

Uhm.

I'm an environmentalist.

I'm for democracy, even if it's not the perfect system since most people is ignorant, greedy, egoistic, and easily manipulated. ^^;

I respect all religions and beliefs, but I don't like when religion turns to bigotism or fanatism.

I am on the left side, but I am against communism or any other authoritarian government; which also means that I am strongly against censorship. I support freedom of thought and freedom of expression.

But I am against total freedom or anarchy. It could be the perfect form of government if all men were good, but, unfortunately, this is not the way things are. So, rules are needed for the purpose of protecting the weak and the poor, and ensuring that everyone gets the same opportunities.

Every individual should REALLY be equal in front of the law; money and power shouldn't count.

I am against the "100% free market" theory because such a market is no "free" at all. It's a jungle dominated by the big trusts, where the small investors and enterprises are locked out.

The needs of many are more important than the needs of one. But every "one" has the right to fight for his needs and his rights.

I am against death penalty. But I'd like to see criminals caught and punished - and not easily pardoned. Certainty of punishment is the biggest and most important deterrent against crime - in every human society. And preventing crime is more important than repressing it.

I'm against nationalism, chauvinism, imperialism, neocolonialism and many other -isms. ^__^

Yeah, I know what the guy's talking about.

That's why I said HE doesn't.

OK, I can understand too much well your opinion. In fact, I have felt like that so many times.

But it's not like he used violence to get there. He was voted by the people. So, you get what you asked for.

Also, I wouldn't really call him a traitor... he did exactly was I expected from him, after all! ^^;; He didn't fulfill the promises he made during in his campaign, but how many politicians do that?

An American journalist has observed that italians ought to recover their "democratic antibodies" and react to this situation. I agree with that. We put him there by electing him, we remove him by electing someone else. In the meantime, well, we deserve him.

From a Cyberpunk point of view, the situation is interesting.  Most students, most Rockers and many Media (CP2020 character classes) are against him, and try to "awaken the masses". Other Media, and most Corporations, back up his cause. His allies in the government are supported by the Armed Forces. Every side is accusing the other of trying to suppress democracy. And each of the two coalitions in the parliament is also torn by internal squabbles.

Add to all this the fact that Berlusconi has just entered a six-months mandate as president of EU... and that in the past he has been known for being much closer to Bush and Blair than to Chirac and Schroeder...

Hmmm, maybe I should start my next Cyberpunk campaign right from HERE!

You can say that!

THANK YOU for this thread! We Italians who still have a brain need your support! And we need it right now. So please VOICE your opposition! Let the world know you're not dumb and you can SEE what's going on in Italy. It's really frightening!

This is Cyberpunk coming true: Italy may possibly be the first TELEDEMOCRACY in the world.

Which, of course, is no democracy at all.

This guy, Berlusconi, owns property companies, insurance companies, banks, televisions, newspapers. Some of the television news that are aired in Italy every day are mere pro-Berlusconi propaganda. It's absolutely SCARY, I tell you!

You have to understand that Italy doesn't have strict anti-trust laws, like the ones the Americans have, and doesn't have laws that prevent a man from ammassing such an amazing power. So that's what allowed him to get elected.

His propaganda was simple: HIS. FACE. EVERYWHERE.

His answer to every question was "I can't tell you how right now, but we have the solution for this. TRUST ME."

Emilio Fede, a famous so-called journalist, now Berlusconi's most loyal puppet (he openly admits this), once told italian housewifes, in the news, that "if Berlusconi won't get elected, chances are you will lose your telenovelas."

Also, Berlusconi cleverly avoided and refused every public confrontation with his political opponents. He just kept on saying "Trust me, I'll take care of that". Everywhere.

So he got elected, with the support of upper-class voters, entrepreneurs, right-wing parties, neofascist, and the xenophobe ("Let's send this islamic scum back home!") secessionist party Northern League, which thrives in some rural and urban areas in the North.

Once in charge, Berlusconi really took care of business. He quickly proceeded to change or revoke a lot of laws so HE would not end up in jail for his crimes (he seems to have been proven guilty of bribing judges). And through his televisions and newspapers, he keeps telling us that this is for the good of the nation, and in the name of freedom and justice. What he said to mr. Schultz is nothing compared to the insults he consantly adresses at italian magistrates.

Of course, a lot of crimes and offences are getting decriminalized, workers and labor organizations are under attack, funds for culture and research have been cut, etc. It shouldn't also be a surprise that Berlusconi's party dominates in those areas where mafia and camorra are strongest.  

What's most fun is that Berlusconi says that the foreign press accusing him is "manipulated by italian communists", so we must not believe them. We just need to believe him when he tells us that everything is OK; and if some data are pointing in the opposite direction, well, those data are clearly manipulated. "Trust me."

He's constantly trying to assume new roles in the government and asking for more personal power. He clearly dreams of being the first president of an Italian Presidential Republic, like Bush is in the USA (we are a Parliamentary Republic right now).

Looks like the italians have learned very little from the fascist experience.

What really pisses me off is that he's also the president of my beloved Milan AC. See picture.

Now, I understand my opinions are clearly influenced by my political ideas, so you have to consider that. But I'd still like to know youur opinion on this. Wouldn't a goverment by Megacorporation in Cyberpunk2020 grow out from similar premises?

Bye!

>Show you age, tell me if you recall Automan.

Sure!

CEZ

(Born 30.01.1972)

Oh, come on. Anti-RPG Christian fanatics are just that. Fanatics.

Can you really argue with fanatics? No.

When their final word is "Yes, it's only a game. But it contains the spiritual teachings of witchcraft.", do you really have a sound, sensible answer to that? I mean, one they would listen to?

Me, I can only laugh.

See, they will just condemn EVERYthing which is not in strict accordance with their (dangerously) literal and narrow-minded interpretation of the Bible. I'd say their opposition to Role Playing Games is only a small part of the problem.

Some of the facts they invoke are incorrect:

"role-playing originated formally as a psychological tool. Most counselors and psychologists (including this writer) have used role-playing as a powerful way to transform human behavior and thought. Please bear that in mind as we continue."

False. D&D was born as a set of combat rules for the Chainmail miniature game. And role-playing is not used in psychology with the primary purpose of "transforming" the mind of the subjects.

Some other facts are twisted, or based on false assumption, like "he stabbed a girl BECAUSE he was a D&D player". Come on, can you really take them seriously?

This one is funny:

"D&D player (14 years old) Sean Sellers was convicted of killing his parents and a convenience store clerk in Greeley, Oklahoma (1/11/87) [...] His involvement in hard-core Satanism began with D&D, according to his own testimony. Praise the Lord; he became a Born Again Christian some time before his execution!"

Heheheheh! Damn right! That's where people with problems of self-esteem and personality end up: either they become satanists and exterminate their family... or they get brainwashed by Born Again Christians and become fervent anti-RPG activists.

Now let's put "The Number of the Beast" in the CD drive, crank up the volume (sorry, most esteemed colleagues) and get back to work...

CEZ

>Would WWII have happened when it did, in the manner it did

>and had the destructive consequences it did without Hitler?

>The answer is certainly no.

I agree.

>Now Mussolioni never managed to kill off half his population,

Well, he sent hundreds of thousands soldiers to war with little hope of succeeding, with obsolete and cheap equipment and weapons...

>There's also the fact that Mussolini did not engage in

>Hitleresque or Stalinist type mass murder (or if he did I

>haven't heard about it, please enlighten me)

He didn't, at least to my knowledge. He did introduce "racial laws" in 1928, but mostly because his alliance with Hitler almost forced him to.

The big difference was not between the two leaders (uncle Adolf and uncle Ben), but between the two countries.

It was Mussolini who created the first fascist nation in Europe, through violence and intimidation. When Hitler rose to power, he actually took Mussolini's fascist state as a model and adapted it for his purposes.

But Germany had the potential to become a world power: resources, industries, workers. Their industrial production in the '30s and '40s was absolutely impressive. Italy, on the contrary, was still a poor nation, which relied heavily on imports, with underdeveloped, agricultural areas in the south. When an embargo was declared against Mussolini's totalitarian regime, the italians were forced to grow wheat even in city gardens and squares, in order to have enough bread...

So it's no wonder Mussolini could not attain Hitler's heights, but I refuse to see him as a sort of "lesser evil".

>If something bad happens when you are young, you react

>emotionally to it.

Sure! It could be. It does make sense, after all. It's just that "everything" could be, as far as we know, and, anyway, I'm just not convinced that it all happened "because of" his failure as an artist.

Even if we admit that, we still have to understand the reasons that led him from point A - "being rejected as an artist" - to point B - "installing himself as a dictator advocating the superiority of the german people and nation and going to war against the rest of the world, exterminating minorities in the process". ;

These reasons (Germany suffering a humiliating peace after WWI, the inspiring example of Mussolini's fascism, the danger represented by emerging socialism and labor unions, resentment against the Jews and popular unrest in Germany, and so on) just seem more interesting and meaningful to me than the personal accidents that actually drove this particular man to become "Adolf Hitler". Given those historical conditions, chances are that, even if Adolf Hitler had not been born, we could have had another Third Reich, under another Fuhrer with another name.

(I'm not so sure about Italy. No Mussolini? No party!)

Of course, since nazism and fascism have a lot to do with the exceptional personalities of their leaders, historians are costantly digging into their lifes and habits in order to discover hidden reasons and feelings... I remember reading a piece of fiction where a very young Adolf was bullied and beaten by other kids (I don't know if there is some historical truth behind this). And Alan Moore dates Hitler's conception back to the same night Jack the Ripper...

Well, better leave that alone for now. ^___^

Wilphe is 101% right.

And this is true every time you face someone whose belief and behaviour seem incomprehensible to you. From Bin Laden to the Japanese. ^__^

You can think that Hitler was a madman, Mussolini a visionary and so on. But you have to understand why millions of people actually followed them - which is the real tragedy.

As for the theory about Hitler becoming what he became because of him being frustrated as an artist, well... it doesn't sound very convincing to me. In any case, the real reasons behind the emergence of fascism and nazism definitely lie elsewhere. The article submitted by FIX is pointing out one of them.

For a less scholarly approach, I suggest reading "The Three Adolf", the graphic novel by Osamu Tezuka.

M8Harry:

Thank you, that perfectly answers my question. I hope you didn't mind me asking explanations.

Even if you had told me that you did hate strangers, I wouldn't have called you a "racist". Instead, I would have asked you "what it is exactly that you don't like about them?" and I would have tried to explain my point of view.

I mean, racial hate exists, and that's a fact. My city, Milan, is rapidly becoming (has rapidly become?) a multiethnic, multicultural metropolis, and this change *does* bring problems, it's no use trying to ignore it.

It doesn't help that all those people coming from distant and different lands such as Peru, Eastern Europe, China or North Africa, tend to form closed communities, with little or no no real exchange and integration with the others (in a sort of way they have to, in order to help each other and survive). And obviously some of the people who where born here feel threatened. It can't be avoided. So if you want to fight racial hate, you can't just "go out and kill the racists", you have to talk with them and understand their feelings. That's why I wanted to know exactly your point of view.

Now, regarding the matter of warm beer: of course I was referring to lager and pilsner! In this moment, I have a Hoegaarden Grand Cru (belgian strong ale), a Westvleteren 8° (a very rare trappist ale) and a Kasteel (barley wine) waiting for me at home. Do you think I'm going to drink THOSE ice cold? ^^;

Actually, when I typed that line on warm beer, I was thinking "Well... Wilphe is going to flame me for this..." ^__^

BTW, Wilphe! I had a bottle of that Shepherd Neame Spitfire you once mentioned, and I liked it. I also had a Black Sheep Special Ale at a pub. Any other good English brew to recommend?

ROTFL! The Cockasaurus!

I'd almost be tempted... You know, my girlfriend is a cosplayer, she is good at making costumes and puppets, and she is crazy enough to like the idea. I really can't imagine what she could come up with, but, who knows... I may even like it!

And then I could enlarge the picture before sending it to you, so you'd think I'm a supermacho... :-O

No, really. I'm not doing it. But I do know someone who could. I'll ask them to pose for you. ^__^

In the meantime, you still can:

- search the web for the picture of a penis (should be an easy task) and paint it;

- find something whose shape looks like a phallus, dress it up like a dinosaur, and take a photo of it;

- draw your favorite Cockasaurus!

I'd like some explanations on this one, Harry. I just don't understand what you mean.

Do you mean there are those days when you are so frustrated that you could use a game in which you just slaughter people, a' la Carmaggedon?

Or do you mean that you sometimes get so pissed off - for your personal reasons - with strangers and minorities that you almost feel the urge to exterminate them?

Or maybe you just mean that there's a racist hidden inside each one of us, and that, in the very deep of your conscience, you too, sometimes, realize that you'd be happier living in a world where everybody is just like you?

In any case, please, don't fall prey to hate. The world needs more guns-loving racists as much as it needs more warm beer.

Started around 1988 or so. Began "serious" roleplaying in 1990.

But somehow me & my best friend never had the chance to play regularly during the years... we had problems finding other (dedicated) players and a place to meet.

To be honest, as I get older and older (I'm 31 now), playing RPG's becomes easier and easier: more people to play with (good luck my girlfriends loves roleplaying!), more places available, internet sites, etc. Not bad.

I don't know what to do on Valentine's day... Beside going to a nice restaurant with my sweetie, I mean.

I know I should buy her a present, but... fact is, Valentine day does suck! I didn't like it when I was single, and I like it even less now that I am.. "double".

Do you know the story about St. Valentine's Day in Japan? I'm sure  at least those of you who read manga do.

"St. Valentine's Day was imported to Japan in 1958 by a Japanese confectionery company. In Japan, it is only the women giving presents - mainly chocolate - to men, but not the other way around. Men are supposed to return the favours received on Valentine's Day one month later on White Day, a Japanese creation. White Day is believed to have been introduced by a marshmallow manufacturing company in the 1960s. The white marshmallows gave the day its name but other kinds of presents such as candy, flowers, etc. have become more popular over the years."

(http://www.japan-guide.com/topic/0003.html)

Every february, "chocolate madness" breaks out in Japan. You can find every possible kind of chocolate in every possible kind of store. Half of ALL the chocolate sold in Japan in a year is sold for St. Valentine's day!

Love has little to do with that: women workers are actually "expected" (read as "forced") to buy chocolate for their office bosses and co-workers. And even little schoolgirls have to bring chocolate boxes to their male schoolmates.

Read the whole funny story here!

After all, this is what St. Valentine's day is all about, all around the world. Really.

They. Want. You. To. Spend. Money. ^__^

Hey! I had no idea you knew my cat! When did the two of you meet?

Malek, I have seen your material for the Surrogacy campaign, and it seems remarkably good to me! You must be a brilliant game master, so I think you don't really need my advice... Anyway, let's see if I can help you.

It's a fact. Some players won't like being "abandoned" by the DM (that's how they feel in some way).

It happened to me, right some time ago, while playing Cyberpunk. A couple of players of mine complained that they didn't feel at ease in a Cyberpunk world (my first answer was: "Correct! That's exactly how it is supposed to be!") because they felt they didn't know enough about their world and the environment surrounding them. They felt they "didn't know what was the right thing to do".

I encouraged them to read the rulebook to get more information, and they wouldn't need anything else. I also told them to feel free to ask me "What does my character know about it, based on his experience", or even "What would a solo/fixer/corp do in such a situation".

If this doesn't help, you may need to adjust your adventure to your players and provide more... guidance. Many players actually like this. If you compare a RPG session to a movie, like it's often done, some players like to be co-directors and decide the way the plot is going; others just want to play the actors' role and jump from scene to scene, following a script, facing all the challenge the master throws at them. I like playing like that when I'm in a lazy mood.

If your players are like that (lazy, shy, not-so-confident or even plain dumb), have an intelligent NPC work with them, who could suggest which is the best move they may take. This could build some confidence as the players learn what their chacter can really do, and eventually they will be able to achieve their goals without the help of a "tutor". Of course the players should have to make sure this guy survives, for more than one reason... or else...

As for myself, I usually try to grant them full freedom and make up NPC responses on-the-fly. Despite this, I can usually find a way or another to lead them (not "force" them) into a situation which I think may be challenging, interesting or funny for them.

After all, the goal is always the same: having fun with a good story.

Hmmm... I'd like a sort of light-hearted comedy, with a rock soundtrack featuring at least one "old heavy metal" track, something like Blue Oyster Cult. Oh, and of course a happy ending would be nice. Thanks.