Bothrops

A pirate ship. Make a pirate ship. The answer is so obvious, I just don't know why anyone else didn't think of it. Sheesh! --Bothrops.

OK, now you've done it. I'm all intrigued by these higher-level headsets. Unfortunately, it's not easy to find a selection of these to try before buying. For gaming only (i.e., not movies or music), what can you guys report on the 5.1 vs stereo? Does it really give a more faithful localization? I gather that there are USB and analog plug versions of 5.1 sets. I gather in the latter case, that means having a rather beefy cable with many connectors. Is that right? How about an owner of each of the sets listed in the link that M2 posted stop by my house with them, so I can try 'em out for a bit. If you don't want to watch me do so, I can occupy you with washing my cars or cutting my lawn in the meantime... --Bothrops

It's been getting a lot of play recently, and not just because Lunk likes to be tucked in that way. I mentioned earlier that it's the latest fad. I'm happy to go along with that, even though I don't particularly like the map (and am terrible at it, though that doesn't stop me from liking other maps). But being a fad, it gets cued up often, and at prime time, and it does go on forever. The duration is what makes it hard to bear. As for asking on GC chat, it struck me this evening that the manner of asking may lead to misinterpretation on how responders feel about it. If someone asks, "does anyone mind if...?" and I answer "yes", I mean "Yes, I mind", not "Yes, go for it". So when asking about any map change, do make sure you pose the question so that a yes or no is interpreted properly. -- Bothrops

I'm all for audiophile quality. But for me, having a separate mic is just too much of a nuisance. I want the mic right there, not sitting on the table, in the way of my wild mouse gesticulations. So when I recently rolled my chair the wrong way and ripped the cord off of my old headset, I went looking for a replacement in that genre. I tried about 4 different models, including Logitech and Altecs, before I settled on the Plantronics Audio 90. These use regular mini plugs for the mic & speaker jacks, because I'm also not keen on the USB. I found them to be much more comfortable than the others I had brought home, and they sound pretty good. No, they don't sound as good as the Sennheisers that Chief reccommends, but they do prett well for locating sounds in game. The best part was that I found a Newegg deal where they were selling an unboxed OEM version of the same thing for $19.99, so I bought 2. Not sure if that deal is stilll available. But on this item, you can save 40-50% by ordering online. -- Bothrops

I see. You completely accept the gc rules, except when you don't feel like it. I'm speechless. -- Bothrops

Let me clarify: My announcements, including the threat to kick several of you, were an attempt to curtail the propagation of inappropriate language. I said several times it needed to stop, and IV was not the only one saying it. As I recall, at least 4 different people were carrying on with the "lame" theme. IV was banned for his confrontational attitude and how he insisted on trying to handle his complaint. I have no intention on debating the rules during gameplay. -- Bothrops

If only that were the whole story. However, first, you said it. Then others said it. Then I announced to everyone that they should keep their language clean. Then you said it again, and so did others, and you told me to, "grow up". Then I kicked you. Then you came back and questioned me further, asked "how is it swearing" (which is not at all the point), and then told me to "grow up" again. I then told you to take it to the forums and banned you for a few minutes while you did so. If you've played on GC servers before you have no excuse for not knowing the rules. If you look at the MOTD, or any of the banners posted around every map, you have no excuse for not knowing the rules. You should know what kind of language is appropriate in GC servers, joking or not. Nonetheless, not only did you break one rule and get admonished for it, you pressed the issue as if it's not only your right to flaunt the rules, but also to harrass the admin who attempts to enforce them. My job is to keep gameplay moving in an environment according to GC standards. You were interfering with that. Time for a break. Warn, warn, kick, ban -- more than fair warning IMO, but I'll happily be corrected if GC LAs disagree with my implementation. -- Bothrops

# 14960 "NPW_Ranger_Rage¹" STEAM_0:0:1343807 09:35 176 4 active Avoiding swear filter, despite frequent warnings. In fact, he escalated because of the warnings. - Bothrops

Ha! haha! I recommend begging, or wheedling. Or offering something in trade, like, "I'll take ballroom dancing lessons with you if you let me stay up til midnight at least 3 nights a week, and later on Fridays and Saturdays."

# 3066 "KARTKNEE" STEAM_0:1:6368827 12:12 72 0 active Repeated TKing at spawn. --Bothrops

And I'd suggest giving it a couple days into the the week, since sundays are generally light for Internet traffic in general. So an evaluation on monday & tues would be less likely confounded with that. -Bothrops

# 2581 "Windows<JeTTy>Fish" STEAM_0:0:8306280 38:07 102 0 active incessant swearing, verbal abuse, etc. Usual stuff. Thanks. --Bothrops

I did this, at the suggestion of a visitor on one of our servers. It did work, but for some reason, Server #1 wouldn't show up. So I switched the secure setting back, and things remain fine. Just wanted to let y'all know that was an option -- Bothrops

# 1225 "Oompa|Nooby" STEAM_0:1:5842097 25:46 64 0 active deliberate TKing, over and over and over

# 1155 "≈†CanadianTrooper†≈" STEAM_0:1:10031394 07:26 62 0 active Repeated swearing on the mics despite being asked by several gc to stop. Other verbal abuse. -- Bothrops EDIT: Banned

yeah; 2 cores doesn't mean the apps you care about runs 2x as fast. It'll be some time before you can count on results like that. Unless, of course, you're writing your own code. However, the thing I think you could reasonably get excited about is that they'll be introduced at about $500, which will affect the prices of all other chips currently on the market. That's why I keep recommending to people who are considering an upgrade (either AMD or Intel) to wait 'til these guys are released. --Bothrops

How long can you wait? Keep in mind that dual-core processors are due to be released very soon (allegedly a couple weeks), which will compress prices of all the current CPUs quite substantially. If you look at Athlon 64 prices over the last 2 months, they've been recently *rising* in price, which isn't uncommon before a big release like this (though there are other factors that play into that, too). I intend an upgrade from my Athlon XP 2800, but plan to hold off until this price change sweeps through. Hate to be too contradictory to the highly-regarded and ever-on-target Cujo, but finding 939 boards that aren't PCI-X isn't difficult anymore. Not only is 939 pretty commonly recommended as The Way To Go for the near future, it seems that you've a good bet that any 939 board you get will have the latest chipset BIOS, and save you the hassle of upgrading that right away. To see a list of choices, some pretty cheap, see this here list: This here list Final, probably minor, point: I've had many different motherboards, but between myself and a few other friends (including one who builds many computers/day), we've found the Athlon XP -era Gigabyte boards seem to run a bit warmer than many others. That may or may not apply to the 64s. --FBothropsy

That's a most useful bit of information! I feel that my life has changed because of it. --FBothropsy

I thought no such thing. I *said* that you were stretching when you took a comment clearly identified as a personal opinion as a statement about GC's attitude. Don't get all bent out of shape and snap at me because you're reading things that aren't there. -- Bothrops

He was describing his personal attitude, not necessarily what he felt should be GC policy. Please try to think twice and maybe even reread before reacting to this sort of misinterpretation. This sort of thing can probably be handled pretty easily, and certainly reliably, by a perl script that filters all server logs before they get tallied. However, no matter how easy it would be to write, it would still take some testing and would entail hassle on someone's part to make sure all the logs were "cleaned" before the tally (which also could be automated), and that may delay the updating of results. The bigger point, though, is that there are a lot of things that perturb the stats. In particular, the ranking methodology is thoroughly messed up by various factors, not just cheaters -- it's simply not designed for competition like FPS games, and especially not one that's team-oriented like CS. Unfortunately, people don't think about that much -- or let themselves believe that how good you are is entirely reflected in your K:D ratio -- and play primarily for rank stats, which encourages them to behave in ways that detract from the fun of the gameplay. IMO, tally stats are fine, but rankings (as currently calculated) are more than a waste of time. --Bothrops

I don't have any sentimental attachments to old maps since I just started playing CS with Source. (In fact, virtually all my time but for a few hours has been on GC servers). I'm also not a particularly good shot (at least not with any consistency), as most people know. Finally, when I am evaluating a map, I tend to think of how it compares to dust, which I consider to be fundamentally unbalanced and without much dimension. With that in mind, my impression of storm is that it's a bizarre layout of hallways and roads that seems very contrived and arbitrary. So, from the point of view of a CT vs. T scenario, it makes little sense. So from that perspective, it's not so appealing. The actual gameplay on the map, however, turns out to be reasonably fun. I'm convinced that CTs _could_ easily camp to take best advantage of the map, but the tendency towards impatience means that some folks seek out trouble, which means that certain chokepoints collapse, and the whole thing generally results in much more variable outcomes. Confrontations tend to occur in lots of different places, and no place seems to be all that easy to hole up in comfortably. Terrorists have several paths to the bomb sites, and usually have to work pretty hard to cut a path. This is especially true in the later rounds when they're facing snipers. Nonetheless, I'm often mystified at how defenses just seem to evaporate, and lo, there's a bomb plant. There's lots of room for squad tactics; i.e., a good leader can make a big difference on both sides of the map -- that's appealing to me. My first impression was that it would be a largely boring map, and that its other survivor candidates were much more interesting. However, having played on storm a bunch of times, both sides, varying team sizes, I found that it defies that impression. It's a good time. --Bothrops

Also his friend, P.O.S. STEAM_0:1:2118703 01:46 132 0 active This has been going on for a long time. Thanks

The labels are missing for those who are missing textures (i.e., they get the purple & black squares in place of the marker signs). I finally got tired of not knowing, especially since people would emphatically claim the opposite of what turns out to be the correct labelling... But the link to the maps that was in these forums is no longer valid. I eventually found the map, but it took a bit of searching thru google to get an actual download I didn't have to register for. Maybe we should try to set up long-term storage for the whole set of maps we're using. (If we have such a place, it's not obvious to me where that is) --Bothrops

After 20+ years of using these things pretty heavily, I can distill the sum of my experiences into a few points: * Given the other suggestions you've gotten, I can't help but put forth the panasonic 15.6v drill. Yes, it's more expensive than you said you budgeted for (~$200; in the range of the Porter Cable and Dewalt 14.4 drills, and less than the DeWalt 18v, but see below). The chuck is the finest I've seen on a handheld drill, and the power leaves the dewalt 18 gasping for breath. The battery charge lasts forever, esp. if you get the version with the 3.6 amp-hour battery. And the thing is both compact and beautifully balanced, a good deal shorter in length than other drills. Panasonic?? Drill motors?? I was dubious at first, but when the salesman promised me I could bring it back for a full refund after even 3 months if I wasn't happy, I couldn't pass up the trial. I was truly blown away by the performance of this drill. * No matter what you get, if you shop mail-order (like Amazon), you can usually stumble into a deal where you get free shipping, and maybe even $25 off (if you make a $200 purchase), and maybe another $30 if you sign up for a credit card. I'm not advocating them, just pointing out that if you give it a little time, several good deals may converge. * The agony of spending a lot on a really good drill motor is amplified by the cost of the replacement batteries. Before you buy anything, find out how much new batteries cost. Often it turns out to be a better deal to buy the whole drill + 2 battery kit. Battery technology is getting better all the time, but they will all still stop holding a charge after a couple years. (Note: there *are* places that do rebuilds at a pretty good price. That's worth checking into). This could be an argument for a cheaper drill, since you could arguably view it as, every few years, buying batteries and getting a drill motor for free, and you may end up spending less in the long run. This is a valid consideration, but in spite of that, I just bought myself a second Panasonic 15.6. (I also have 2 Dewalts, but rarely use them.) --Bothrops

browser screwup, complex incantation inolving the "back" button and chicken feet. -bothrops