OMG... this thread has been coming back so many times o.O
This thread is either poking on some touchy issue where people are drawn to post their thoughts, or people just love necroposting.

Anyways, I just had a thought. Some people have told me that people don't really pay attention to the rating system much. Then why not just ditch the whole rating system then? there's no point in giving ratings if people dont really check. I admit, I pretty much ignore the ratings, except they give me something to brag about. (Hey, guess what? Over the weekend, I read some 18+ manga! haha lol. ) But besides that, I don't really care about the ratings. I don't care about the ratings because I stay mature about the subject. I think what the country needs is not blocking out anime and ecchi material, but instead more maturity in it's people.

Granted, but then you fall into a coma.

I wish I had a three story house.

Here's a fun game for everyone here.

The rules are simple. In your posts, you simply "spoil" the previous poster's wish and then make your own wish below. here's some examples I've come across before.

Quote by Post 1I wish I had 1000 points

Quote by Post 2Granted, but it turns out you were playing golf

I wish I could kill people with my mind

Quote by Post 3Granted, but you are only able to use it on yourself

I wish I got accepted in to a really good college.

Quote by Post 4Granted, but you end up failing your classes.

So..... Let the game begin!

I wish I could turn invisible.

i forgot to check back for replies. Well, the mouse bottom is plastic, except for three pad-like things. i don't know what those pad things are made of, but they feel smooth like they are oily even though they're dry. My mouse pad is one of those standard rubbery bottom with a layer of fabric or something on top. My computer is a bit on the slow side sometimes (used 145 out of 181 GB of disk space, 2.2GHz, 448 MB of RAM)

i don't mind being a beta tester. I don't have any custom layouts as far as i remember. (I like to generally leave defaults they way they are :P )

Could someone teach me some techniques and stuff? I want to learn how to make sprites. I'm specifically trying to learn how to make sprites in RPG Maker XP's format.

here are some examples of RPG Maker XP's default available sprites:

By chikane at 2008-06-28

By chikane at 2008-06-28

By chikane at 2008-06-28

And for those who want to know what i'm trying to do, I'm trying to make sprites for a character that looks like this (without the sword):

By chikane at 2008-06-28

To be clear, I'm not asking for someone to make it for me. I don't expect anyone to make it for me (though it'd be nice if someone did). All I'm asking for is someone to teach me techniques and pointers on what to do.

Thanks in advance

is it just mine, or do optical mouses have a tendency to draw straighter lines? I'm trying to draw a smooth, light curve, but my mouse keeps making a series of short straight lines. In addition, the turning of the cursor is very unpredictable.

I've always had a hard time saying it because I am alwasy afraid of being rejected. Both times, I was right. I got rejected.

I think we can all agree that 'fear of rejection' is one of the possible reasons why it is so hard to say 'I love you.' straightforward in a confession.

As for the other side, returning the confession, I can't help there. I've never had a girl I love confess to me that she was in love with me, so i don't know what it's like to say it back. I would assume it's not as hard as saying it first though.

well, it depends on who.
- if it's someone i dont know, i don't care.
- If it's an aquaintance-friend (people you see, think 'oh, he/she is here.', say hi, and continue on your way), then i feel a little bit bad, but life is life, and life sucks. deal with it.
- If it's a good friend (people who I can talk with about everyday stuff), then I'll feel bad and appologize eventually.
- If it's a close friend (Very very very few friends are in this category. Right now there's only two people, three including my best friend. I can talk about my personal problems with them. If something ever happened to any of them and they passed away, I would be devastated for life.) I would feel really bad and I would appologize immediately. I try to make it up to them somehow within maybe a week or two.
- If it's my best friend (one person. I've known her since 4th grade, and we've been best friends since. I wouldn't mind dieing to save her life.), I would feel really bad and I would definately appologize immediately. I would make it up to her as soon as possible, preferrably within the next two or three days.

yeah. i'm really complicated, aren't I?

lol... read all the posts.

Well, while it is true that love overrides other factors, in this case height, I'm not settling for anything less than the girl of my dreams. For me, appearance and personality are both important, and I won't settle for either one or the other. Not ever. To me, height is just as important as any other detail about the girl. She has to be within a certain range. This shouldn't pose a problem though, because I am fine as long as she is within around 6 inches from my height. (This goes both ways, taller or shorter, leaving approximately a 12 inch range) The reason behind it is because it's going to feel really awkward trying to hug or kiss someone who is a lot taller or a lot shorter.

so yeah. in short, height is an important factor to me, but there is a pretty wide range in height that I am okay with.

ok. the computer wasn't in hibernation, because the power button's light was flashing. Also, it's probably not the monitor's problem, because even when i clicked on the keyboard, the computer wouldn't respond. it wouldn't get out from standby. Another thing: the fan at the back was blowing like nuts, nonstop for over 10 minutes until I turned off the computer

I have an HP pavilion a645c, running Windows XP home edition, and something happened that utterly pissed me off.

I went away for a awhile, and when I came back, it was on standby. No biggie. Just hit a button on the keyboard and it should spring back to life. Click. nothing. okay, maybe it didn't register the click. just try again. click. click. click. click. click. click. click. click. click. click. click. click. ok.... what the hell... I tried every button, a ton of combination things like ctrl+alt+del, I double... triple checked my monitor to make sure it hadn't died (HP had a monitor recall a while back due to monitors dieing out.)

Nothing would turn it on, and I lost about two hours of work and creativity.

In the end, I had to hold the on/off button on the computer to force shut down. Now that it's on again, I'm typing this post right away before it might happen again.

I have no idea what the hell just happened, and i'm hella pissed off right now. if it can die out like this, do I have to save every few seconds?

I know it won't do any good, but I have the urge to slam my computer with some textbooks or something. If it was something living and could feel my anger, I'd definately do it.

Anyone know what's wrong with my computer that just went into a short coma?

@moesucker: wow... you're really un-picky (<- is there a word for that?) when it comes to females

@XMango: see above, and more so. :O omg, aren't there tons and tons and tons and... (you get the point)... of people like that?

I was talking to a friend of mine a while back, and she told me this: "Most of the pretty girls out there are bitchy." I think so too. It's not easy finding someone with both great looks and a great personality.

Thanks, ArtificialRaindrop and Tsuji. I've learned quite a lot from you two.

Quote by ArtificialRaindropIt's not that uncommon for close friends to get boyfriends/girlfriends without telling anyone.

Quote by TsujiWhy should they tell you about what happens in their private life? I mean now, seriously? Because they're your friends and you have had a crush on them? They don't need to tell you anything about what happens in their private lives. Please do not be so self absorbed or selfish for yourself all the time. Again, don't take offensive, it's positive criticism. It's just that you can't expect them to tell you everything all of the time. They can keep it to themselves because they can. Nothing stops them from doing that. Not even you. That's just something I want you to realize.

Oh. I guess i'm really clueless when it comes to understanding people, both others and myself. yeah, you're right. why should my friends tell me their personal lives? it is 'personal' after all for a reason.

Quote by ArtificialRaindropIf that's the kind of attitude you have, how can you expect to keep one going if ever get into one?

Quote by ArtificialRaindropAnd while I know this doesn't apply in every case expecting to build a strong foundation of friendship over years isn't something you have to do before you date someone- before you marry someone

I really don't know what i will do. After all, being really, really particular about who I have a relationship with is something I've never been able to change. She needs to be someone who I will be able to trust with my life, which takes me years of close friendship. Appearance is really important to me. Cute and pretty, and some things that go more specific. After all, in the future, i'll be seeing her all the time, won't I? Personality is just as important - a beautiful, compassionate heart. Is there something wrong with looking for the right girl?

[EDIT] It seemed a bit unclear when i re-read my post. i realized i'm different from some or most others. I have three best friends, all three female, and I'd trust any of them with my life. But it takes more than a hell of a lot to be someone i consider a best friend. I'm more picky than some other people here, too. So it's going to be extremely difficult for me to get another best friend. [/EDIT]

Quote by TsujiThere are a lot of people who have had it a lot harder than you, and I never hear them complain like this. They share their much harder times they have had, but never selfishly complain about it. Again what I try to say is, try not to be so self absorbed, and see what you can gain, instead.

I agree with you. I know i'm pretty selfish in some ways, and I've foolishly believed in and hoped to live in a fantasy life. This is why I often (not always) prefer pessimism over optimism.

Quote by ArtificialRaindropIt sucks to be rejected. It hurts like hell. But giving up and making excuses or pointing fingers won't change anything. More than likely it will only make things worse and sink you in to a meaningless depression.

yeah. thank you for your time and your reply.

Quote by TsujiNever know until you try. The only thing is, you should never be desperately looking for a relationship, otherwise it will rarely work out at all. You have to take your time with it. It's like building a house. Built it with impatience and rush it, it will fall apart. Take your time and give it a very powerful foundation and build it with structure, and it will stand for much, much longer.
The thing is, the more you keep up that attitude, the more it will stay that way. Things can be more in your hands than you think. Just seize the chance, focus on what you can gain and not on what you are losing.

I understand. Thanks. Sorry, there's not much else i can say here.

Quote by TsujiAgain ShadowOchibi, I don't mean to be offensive, but I just thought I'd give you a spoonful of reality, which I think wouldn't do anyone a bit of harm.

Yes, and no offense taken, and thanks again. Reality is often a hurtful thing to realize, but avoiding the reality you live in is more devastating in the end. In the long run, a dose of reality could do any of us a lot of good.

at the beginning of this school year, my crush already had a boyfriend. hell, that sucks... but lucky as I was, there was another. that girl had been my friend for about 7 years now, and hell, she was cute and nice too. so yeah, i spent several days making a heart shaped box from scratch, got together some chocolates, made some cute sweet lines for a card with "[name], I love you." at the bottom. making sure everything was ready and just right nearly made me late for school. getting it sent to her third period class involved a very tight schedule, and i risked being late to my third period class just to get it done. I gave it all i had, putting all the effort i could to make sure things worked out right. In my note, i had asked her to meet me somewhere during lunch.

Lunch came, and i ran there. very shortly afterwards, she came, and we kind of chatted. It was a really awkward moment, since until then we had been just friends, so at times we couldn't find anything to say and just started laughing. after we talked for quite some time, things were going really well. We were in love... or so it seemed. when lunch ended, i offered to help her carry some of her stuff. She had a lot to carry. She said she was fine, and that i should get to class. I told her that it's no problem, since i usually run there anyways. Then the sentence came. THE sentence. The one that ended it all. The one that destroyed it all. The one that crushed my heart. "Sorry." she said, "I already have a boyfriend."

What...
The...
----.....

She already had a boyfriend? what was this? some sort of conspiracy? my crush last year got a boyfriend over the summer. No point asking her out or anything. Now this girl, too? Two of my three closest female friends get a boyfriend, and they don't tell me. The third is out of state. I swear, people in my school are looking at me and thinking "wow, that guy is having a hard time in life. aww.... let's just go ruin his life even more!"

Well, i've officially given up. I'm no longer looking for a relationship anymore. It's always pointless. a waste of my time. a waste of my efforts. plus, there are no other girls in my school that have a great personality, an (in my eyes) attractive appearance, and the many years of frienship and trust that need to be built up.

"Love is an illusion to cover up the harsh reality of life, and it exists when two people are deceptive enough to inflict this cursed illusion on each other."

Any comforting thoughts are definately welcome. Feel free to share stories of your worst Valentines Days, too. Please leave names anonymous. I don't want to feel responsible for any harrassment caused by this thread.

this question is only for the people who play, hopefully pretty well.

I'm running the stat 80/6/82/68. I'm a non-payer right now. I dont know which organic unit goes best with this stat. I'm just asking to see if anyone plays here in MT and if any good players have advice.

I'm thinking of getting a squad of Tyr-Magnus, Eris-Prima, or Kritsk-Magnus.

Here is some of the basic info:

Tyr-Magnus
9893 hp / 12 armor
375 damage / 2.5 second cooldown
16.5 attack range

Eris-Prima
5282 hp / 12 armor
160 damage / 1 second cooldown
10 attack range

Kritsk-Magnus
13912 hp (before corrosive burn's hp reduction) / 22 armor
390 damage / 2 second cooldown
4.5 attack range

So, to all the good Shattered Galaxy players here (if there are any), which is better with 80/6/82/68?

EDIT 1: lol sorry the poll is all jumbled up. I filled the option boxes vertically

EDIT 2: right now, i'm thinking of going for Eris-Prima

ok lol. My friend told me that they both are kind of starting their own relationships with other people. From what I understand, they still hang out at each other's house on the weekends and do random stuff.

yeah. those were his exact words.
"... do random stuff. hehe lol"

Gender doesn't matter. It's all about physical and mental capability. Another thing important is the mental capability to refrain from flirting and such distractions while on duty.

Quote by Imashitowaretowow!sure got lot of opinions to him!^^very great!but i think most important is be urself and dont afraid on them!i'm a girl too!so u can try chat with girls in here.

oh...oh no.... OMG i did not just...
How could i have missed that one? that one was one of the most often reminded tips!

yeah, this one is very important. There's no point in impressing a girl if in the end, you're only living a lie for her. Everyone knows that a lie will not last forever, and when that lie snaps, you've got to either cover it with a bigger lie, or get in trouble. Eventually, the chain of lies will lead to disasterous results, like her hating you like hell.

I could never tell my parents if i needed help with my personal life. There are only six people who i could ever ask for important help:

A guy friend, who's having an easy time in AP Psych. He's a really good friend, and in my opinion, he's nearly an expert at giving advice.
3 first cousins, all girls.
my crush. I can be very open about my personal life to her.
My best friend, also a girl

I'm sorry to say this, but i think she may be beyond help. Forget her. Don't stress out your life because of her.

Now. Why do i say that she's beyond help?
1. She's got STDs. No amout of help will undo that. You can control the symptoms, but once you have it, it stays.
2. She's 13 and she's been having sex? especially without protection? now, if that's not sick, i don't know what is.
3. She cuts herself. I sort of did that a few times, but only because someone hurt my heart and i couldn't take that kind of pain. From what she said, it sounds like she cut herself because her dad is drinking. She shouldn't hurt herself because her dad is ruining his own self.
4. her dad is having drinking problems? that's not a good role model, and not good support for the family. she was in a bad position to begin with, apparently.
5. going annorexic? what is she, stupid? even if she finds sex so fun at such a young age, how is she supposed to have the energy if she doesn't get a good diet and the right nutrients and stuff? I can understand her having sex with someone who already has the same STD as her, seeing as it won't pass to anyone else, but why would you want to go annorexic in order to have sex with the guy? You wouldn't even have a lot of energy, so what would you do? just lie there?
6. thinking of trying heroin? now that's just one of the dumbest ideas ever. If life is depressing, she should find something that will cheer her up, not make it more miserable and depressing.
7. She's going to (probably wild) parties for teens, and she's only 13. that's not too safe. She's having sex with a bunch of other guys? now that's just disturbing. enough said. and she's only 13 years old, having sex with those guys. now that's really disturbing, and too much said.
8. She's refusing your (and technically all of ours, too) help. no matter what you and we do, she will continue the previously mentioned bad habits and actions (2, 3, 5, 6, and 7).
9. She's annorexic and bulimic? I'm surprised she can still stand and walk, let alone have sex.
10. Okay. so far, i haven't been extremely pissed at that girl, but i guess this would be the final blow. So, not only is she annorexic and bulimic, she's pale and still continuing? now if she can't see through a mirror that her own life is draining away, she obviously doesn't care about herself at all.

I personally would have given up on her. Still, I honestly understand if you don't want to give up on her. Sometimes, friends just have that kind of emotional attachment, and it's really hard to let go. In that case, I suggest you continue to patiently wait for more advice.

I hope i've been of some help, either way.

i told a close female friend of mine about this, and she gladly put in her thoughts.

"Well, first of all, distance sucks.

Because the US girl is so far away, there is really nothing she can do except encourage her friend to stop her behavior before it's really too late.

I'm sure she's done all she can and I'm afraid short of visiting her friend in Japan, she's pretty much out of options."

wow, great advice, Mei-san.

well... first lets clear some basics up. I'm a guy, 16, and i've gotten quite a bit of advice. Not enough to help me get together with the girl i like, but enough to help others out.

I don't know how to make my advice a super fancy essay, so i'll just spill it out in bullet points. It's not really in any particular order, so you might have to figure what to say and do, and when to say and do it.

Talking to her:

- don't start off rambling on and on about yourself and what you do. Let her ask you first. That way, you know she wants to know about you.
- talk about her more. ask her about school. find out how much time she spends doing homework and how much time she spends doing fun stuff. ask to help out with her studies. talk to her about her interests. remember, she needs to feel that you're caring about her. offer to carry her stuff for her. offer to take her to lunch sometime to chat. offer to do other various things to ease her stress of everyday life. Ask her about any problems in her life. if you don't know yet, that question just might reveal whether or not she has a boyfriend already. Offer to help her out. In general, be nice to her.
- KNOW WHO YOU'RE DEALING WITH, AND BE CAREFUL. don't become so infatuated that you feel inferior and nervous about failing. when you chat with her, it should all feel natural and casual, like with any other friend.

Dating
(what the hell am i trying to do? give advice? I've never even gone on a single date yet! )

- one of the most important things is to remember what she likes. after you get to know her, you've got to remember it all. A date isn't a chapter test can cram everything the night before. You've got to be prepared. Decide on/Know how to dress to attract her. know what to bring for her, especially if your date is on the holidays or her b-day!
- Don't be nervous
- If you're going to a restaurant to eat, mind your eating manners
- Make a good public impression to her
- Offer to pay (keep insisting NICELY to pay), wherever your date is at. It could be movie tickets, a meal, tokens at an arcade, etc.
- Understand and know when she's hoping for a kiss from you. (this may be tricky. I've got no advice here not even a first kiss yet!)
- not too important, but remember. As long as you're not dating my crush, I wish you good luck. =)

As for maintaining a relationship, I have ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA. ha ha lol Once again, I've never had one yet. Good luck though.

Quote by PearceSheaI think that the US is not nearly as puritanical as everyone makes it out to be. After all, more porn is bought and sold on this soil than anywhere else; and this porn isn't censored as it is in Japan.

So, while we all seem to think it's fine to sell the stuff to 18+ (or 21+, as the case may be) people, US citizens tend to get more and more touchy as the intended age group drops below 18 and as the content gets more and more risque. The US has plenty of "ecchi" level of publications, Maxim being the first that comes to mind but, again, these publications are aimed at the 18+ crowd.

Please also keep in mind that, in Japan, ecchi things aren't as accepted as we all sometimes might think. A dirty-looking book may well get you dirty stares on the metro. While the threshold is certainly lower, there is still a pretty obvious threshold. Japanese stores get shut down all the time for carrying or selling underage kids aduly doujinshi. All the big stores won't sell most ecchi products, and those they do sell aren't advertised (specifically for fear of public backlash).

Moreover, add to this that the US is quite behind in accepting comics as mainstream media (let alone manga), though the market is far ahead of culture in this situation (I went to a new Borders the other day and noticed that the Manga section was the second largest print section in the whole damn store!). So people in the US are confused: comics were generally a fringe thing, often for like 12-14 year-olds and now you've got these manga that, from the look of the art, often looks to be aimed at a much younger audience, but has very adult (relativly speaking) content.

o_O oh... umm... huh. never knew that ^^;

i've never been to japan, so most of what i know is based on what others say and stuff.

I think it would do everyone a big favor if the games, magazines, manga, anime, and whatnot that the US imported from Japan were just left as is without modifying nudity content, and just stick an easily noticable rating tag on it. If parents would like to be protective of their child(ren), they they should follow the ratings.

I heard that some stores require ID proof to buy materials requiring a certain age limit. This, in my opinion, is pointless. Who knows? some high school kid could be getting adult material simply by asking a college friend. stores that check ID have no way of finding out who their products go to once it leaves the store.