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It grinds my gears when people don't adhere to the age restrictions in movie theaters and sneak in kids too young to see the film.
Case in point, som time ago I was seeing the new Aquaman movie with a friend, and while it was a fun enough superhero movie, much of my experience was
brought down by an idiot dad who brought a toddler into the theater. Aquaman is a PG-13 movie, and for a good reason, there is lots of violence and both humans and animals get killed on screen,
and even if it wasn't for the violence, the movie is 2.5 hours long and everything was in English with Swedish text and there was zero chance that a toddler would follow the plot or be able to sit still
for that amount of time, and much as I predicted, the toddler spent most of the time blabbing, wanting to be carried out, crying and ruining the experience for the rest of the moviegoers.

I genuinely think small children shouldn't be allowed into movie theatres showing movies above their age limit and any parent bringing them in anyway is doing bad parenting. I get being a parent is hard work, but it shouldn't be an excuse for ruining the day of other people who've paid for their tickets (and the toddler forced to sit in a dark room and watch a film they couldn't comprehend), and anyone becoming a parent should either accept that the next five years of their lives will consist of doing activities suitable for babies or find a babysitter.

I agree that small children that can't sit still and keep quiet (especially if they won't understand the language) should not be brought into the movie theaters.

I also feel that age restrictions are often set based on arbitrary rules.  If a movie is rated PG-13, for example, I wouldn't have an issue if a 10 year old or even an 8 year old were in the theater, as long as they can behave themselves.  After all, if their parent or guardian is there with them, then they are obeying the restriction that calls for Parental Guidance.  And not all children develop at the same pace.  There are other 8 or 10 year old children I would not want in the theater.

Then again, when I saw the Last Jedi in the theater, a grown adult ruined a key moment (the silent moment) by yelling out "Oh snap!" and making others laugh.  That grinds my gears.

I like #2.

Jesus Scares? 

Indeed he does, he's a zombie!

What do you get when you cross a snowman with a crocodile? Frostbite!

That was actually my Christmas cracker joke this year.

Happy birthday Scavenger!
Happy birthday dactylopus!

Thank you!

True, the punchline was lost in translation.  That irks me as well.

The thing that bugs me about it is how he has to spell out the subtext.  Subtext shouldn't need to be made a part of the telling of the story.

I'm not entirely convinced. The people who spend that kind of money on sneakers, they generally want to be seen wearing them.

At a certain point, yes, you're right.  I have purchased $20 shoes, and they wore out quickly and needed to be replaced.  I have purchased $100 shoes and they have had a much better lifespan.  They lasted easily as long as 5 pairs of the other shoes.  But craftsmanship can only be so good, and materials will wear out and break down.  I'm not sure I believe $200 shoes would last as long as 2 pairs of $100 shoes, etc.

It's always bothered me when people overuse acronyms while taking it for granted that everybody knows what they mean.

Oh my goodness, this is the worst!

I support the use of public domain assets of all kinds.

Do you mean The AGS Trove?
I just wanted to point that out, because it almost seems as though everyone forgot about it as soon as it started. And I still think it's a great idea.

Yes, among other sources.

I support the use of public domain assets of all kinds.

I had an interesting thought about participation as it relates to teams.  There are many reasons someone might not want to initiate a team, so what about a draft?  What I mean is that people can sign up for MAGS as an artist, programmer, musician, writer, or whatever, and then teams can be assembled taking one from each category.  Of course some categories may not get participants, so there's that to consider, but I still think it's an idea that could work.  And the team assembly can be done before the start of the competition.

So maybe this isn't for every MAGS, but maybe drafted teams could be an option for a MAGS rule in some future competition.

I like the idea of the Box Art Competition...

Ehm, actually i've already started, Dactylopus!

http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=56429.0

_

I see, but I've gone on to suggest alternatives that I think will make the competition better (in my opinion).  Primarily, removing the game selection and allowing people to either choose for themselves or make up a game on their own.

I really like this idea, maybe it can be done a little bit short, assign small random groups of the people that participate (2 or 3 people per group) and make some collaborative games like a mags

That could be one way to accomplish it.  Teams could take on rooms or areas of the game together creating the characters, sprites, and backgrounds.

[Draculator II: Byte of the Draculator]

I like some of the ideas here:

Are we gonna have a new Background Blitz anytime soon?

I do enjoy those, so I'd love to see it again.

Lastly, I'd love to see OROW come back.  Maybe some time this summer would be good?

I second that, July would be perfect for me

Very late, but I really want the OROW competition to stay alive as well. I could host one next summer maybe? Or someone else if they feel inclined. I really enjoyed hosting OROW 9 and wouldn't at all mind doing it again. I think it has to be summer though which makes my timing for coming back to these parts of the internet pretty bad.

BTW: Is OROW 9 the latest one? That was 3 years ago now Time flies.

Yes, I believe OROW 9 was the most recent.  There always seems to be a sizable gap between these competitions.

I'd love to see OROW again.  It's tough, because I have limited time and would only be able to give about 3 days to the project, but I've always enjoyed the competition either way.

Summer seems far away, maybe having a competition in winter would be good?  And maybe we could have a TWOR (Two Weeks One Room) or something like that?  Just a suggestion for those lacking time.

I'd like to start a competition for "box art cover"...

I like the idea of the Box Art Competition...

Maybe going with a theme like most of the other competitions would be better than a specific game. Or maybe something like the game pitches.

This is a good suggestion.  I think that the competition will draw more participants this way, and people can be more free to create anything.  Like a Game Pitch Competition, but instead of using words to pitch the game, you simply use a single image of the front of the box.  No words aside from the title.  So, like a Box Pitch Competition.

Or everyone should be free to choose any game from the archive that they did not create.  This makes it less redundant, adds freedom, and encourages people to go looking through the archive for the game they choose.

Both ideas could work.  2 Box Art Contests...

There has already been a box art illustration workshop:
http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=48770.0 and
http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=48852.0

Would be nice to have another one.

Don't forget the Monster Workshop:

http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=48324.0

I'd be open to more Workshops.  They are fun, and they motivate me to actually work.  I need all the motivation these days.



And finally, here's another suggestion I'd like to throw out there.  I know it's a long shot, but it could be great:

How about a collective project?  Like Draculator II: Byte of the Draculator...

http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=44731.0
http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/site/games/game/1491/

Of course, there would have to be a project lead, someone who has the time and patience to put all of the pieces together.  If I had the time, I'd volunteer, but I do not.  I'd gladly participate, though.  I think many would.

So how about it?

josiah, I saw that animation quite a while back. Thought it was funny that the very last scene looks like a limp penis laying on the desk.

I don't usually see that much blood around a limp penis.  Am I doing something wrong?

I just go if they aren't physically handicapped then they must be mentally handicapped, but still pisses me off.

That's always my reaction, too!

I think they thaw a little and shift during transport.  But either way, it has always ground my gears as well...

I doubt that... They would be stored flat and therefore any bump in the road wouldn't do much. Also, frozen goods are usually not allowed to thaw majorly at any point during transport by existing companies.

By which I mean: Any company that lets its frozen goods thaw out to a major degree before reaching the consumer probably doesn't exist anymore.

I'd say the original post is spot on saying that the initial prep is at fault.

Fair enough.

I think they thaw a little and shift during transport.  But either way, it has always ground my gears as well...

It reminds me of an absurd animation I did many many long times ago:

[imgzoom]http://oi67.tinypic.com/ix9zzk.jpg[/imgzoom]

I tried to animate a funny GIF some time ago, and I thought I could post it here:

I love it.  It's so ridiculous!

These companies want you to use the self service, so they can hire less people, which is exactly what has happened. I guess having more tills is useful for breakdowns and Christmas time when they hire temps, but I absolutely refuse to use self service, and in the case of some shops I've been in where NO tills were open, I made the on hand staff member scan everything through, and if they start trying to teach me how to use it I'd tell them not to bother.

I prefer self check-out actually.  I can handle my own items.  I just hate long lines.

Oh don't even get me started on traffic stuff. Not much can piss me off faster than morons in traffic

Same here!

I can't tell if you are happy, or if you are laughing at me.

Well I'm certainly happy.  Thanks for posting!