Rendclaw

let's face it, there are few RPGs we play for the storyline. Its the game engine, graphics, combat, or just maxing out our characters before we finish it.

oh it HAS to go dark.... I think Rise of the Empire will feel more like the end of ESB when all is said and done... The good guys limping away while the bad guys increase in power... with Yoda and Obi-wan going into hiding as the Jedi Order get obliterated, it only stands to reason that people are going to walk away either marking out for the Vader debut (majority) and/or feeling uneasy. starvenger: Oh I liked the general idea of the Yuuzhan Vong, but considering how the Jedi Order at that time was going, they *had* to be Force-immune to make it work.

So until someone can give me some cold, hard fact, I'm going by what I know. I remember a story involving God of the Smarks a few years back... it was when Chris was still with WCW and they were still doing the shows from Disney-MGM in Orlando.. A couple of friends of mine ran into him at a club (they were marking out of course), and had some drinks with him.... he had already had a few and said that he hadn;t gotten laid in months, and he had an eye on someone in the club. They basically talked him into getting some that night.... another friend ran into Booker and Stevie Ray during his shift at a supermarket shortly after they won the tag belts from Luger and Sting... It was good to be a wrestling fan in Orlando during those days....

A month is nowhere near enough time to even begin to pull RAW out of the toilet it has flushed itself down.... hell, I don't even think a year would be enough time.

I heard an interview with both Hardyz on Between The Ropes last week, and while Matt sounds happy with the direction he is going on, Jeff *at the very least* sounds burned out. The last time I saw Jeff really into what he was doing as when he was getting that push after getting his ass kicked by Taker... after that something in him changed and he got increasingly sloppy as time went on. I know what its like do deal with depression, both internally and with others. Its a nasty, nasty thing to go through, either way. I hope he figures out what is best for him, whether its to stay in wrestling or to do with his other interests.

That why I am so down on the new trilogy, Spider... its following the original trilogy FAR too closely in formula. The Jedi Academy novels were horrible, the Corellian Trilogy was almost as bad.... I cannot understand how people love the second Han Solo trilogy (which they should make a TV series out of) and crap on the original one which was written in freaking *1979*, and STILL blows away 75% of the novels put out by contemporary authors. One of Lucas' main problems with the Han Solo character was that he had no history. Hell, Brian freaking Daley gave that character a history and Ann Crispin fleshed it out and gave it massive depth. I spoke my piece about the NJO, and nuff said. (Admitted Stackpole Mark)

Holy shit! Someone gave me props! Fuck Lucas. And while we're at it, fuck HGH, too. And Michael Jordan. Jordan?? Whoa, back up there.... I seem to remember you givng him major props when watching a DVD of Ultimate Jordan Whassupwitdat?? Unless of course, you;re mad at him for retiring.

The Jedi Academt Trilogy? I don't care what it ties in with, it was horrible! Just rancid! It was like the author went through the RPG books and said "That looks cool" and threw in names and places for no good reason. I kept reading, thinking "It can't be as bad as I think." But it was worse. I don't mean to attack you really, everyone has the right to read whatever they want, I jst can't imagine anyone who both likes to read and has seen Star Wars recommending Anderson's series ever. I was actually gonna say that if they had cut it down to a single book or a duology it would have been much better but I didn't. If they kept it to the Exar Kun/Kyp Durron/Jedi Academy plot I think it would have been more cohesive. But considering that Durron and the Jedi Academy are rather pivotal in the NJO series, I can't say that everything was bad about it. I also think the Wedge subplot helped to whet my appetite for the X-Wing series, so there may be some bias at play. Still, if you've already read "I, Jedi", there's probably no need to read the trilogy. I, Jedi is the best single Star Wars novel out there right now, bar none. I have always been a major fan of Michael Stackpole since he was writing Battletech novels. That respect only increased with his X-Wing novels, but I, Jedi was the blow off. I would put his Dark Tide books up there, but I have refused to read anymore of the New Jedi Order books since Chewie was killed off and turning Han into a pathetic boozer. To me, it was simply unforgiveable. Killing off any of the main characters was justa bad move, but as one of my gaming friends said, "Salvatore wrote it! Chewie will come back when he gets around to writing another one!" Nah, too late for me.

That does it, Rudo, you're the site's official booker... now all we need to do is have Dames make it official

The idea of Benoit finally "had enough" has a lot of merit, for how many years has he done the job and watched his own career stay stagnant, even take a step or two back while putting over everyone and his mother? It just has to eat at the guy, although going home to Nancy helps, I'm sure. When he *can* go home, that is.

Rudo, and I say this with no sarcasm or malice, *you* should be a booker someplace. That was an excellent way to develop an angle for Chris. That rocked. Heh, I say we make Rudo TSM's official booker. All in favor?

The match I would love to see is RVD vs. Muta... they both had such innovative offense, especially Muta in his prime, when he came to the NWA for awhile, when he was taking on Ric Flair.. For tag teams, I would say the British Bulldogs (pre-Matilda) against the Midnight Express (Eaton/Lane)

I think that a transitional title reign would really hurt Booker in the long run. Forget about the belt itself, because in his never-ended quest to keep it (by hook or by crook, or by whispering in Vince's ear), HHH has devalued it. Ric Flair came close to doing it himself with his "hold on to the belt for a year, drop it to the hottest face, then gain it back in 1-2 months" routine. That in itself was the one thing that used to royally piss me off about NWA/WCW when Flair was "the man", never mind the fact that he did not win clean a hell of a lot more than he did. But I digress. But now we are seeing that same routine with HHH, but only a whole lot more ruthless and a lot more vicious. And that's just backstage. But as much hating as I do on him for his antics, I blame Vince more for falling for it. But I guess its hard to think on your own when you've got your daughter whispering in one ear and your future son-in-law in the other.

God, can you just imagine the chaos if that happened? The sad thing is, as much as I dislike Turner, it would prolly be better for pro wrestling in general if it did happen. By the way, Booker is only slightly less better than RVD at this point in his career. Booker back in his Harlem Heat days would be just as good as RVD if not better. ::sighs as he thinks about RVD and Book as a tag team::

Even during his heel days, I always liked Edge... I became a fan for life when he cut a promo on Christian referring to character development... That was only furthered by his ladder match with Eddy that he talks about.... I know its an unreasonable thing to want, but I wish that he and other talent in the company could be a little more open with their lot in WWE, though I have to say that his commentary is about as close to shooting that one can get without being fired.

Everything about the WWE is overpriced, and has been for years. I refuse to pay 35-50 bucks for their PPVs, because quite frankly there has not been a match that would make me want to shell out that kind of scratch.. and to the lowest, hottest hell with their "merchandise". I forget where I saw a rant on the crap they sell, but it was an informative one. It has been said a million times by a million different people, but its true. They're looking to fleece the sheep who mindlessly buy into whatever crappy storylines they float out there, making a ton of money off the PPVs and the "merchandise".

People have been chanting for RVD ever since he was on loan from ECW. We can hash and rehash everything about X wrestler, but it all comes down to politics. Someone is jealous of another's heat, and he goes out of his way to keep the rising star down.... Someone or someones (plural).

He also should be USED more. Put him up against mid-carders and let him run roughshod over them, to build up interest again. Vince's idea of saving "major talent" debuts (pauses for a moment to laugh at the idiocy of Nathan Jones falling into that little category ) until the next PPV is ludicrous. Goldberg coming out and spearing Rock was a passable start, but he should have wrestled the following week and every one until the PPV, so people could start getting behind him again. Once again, Vince is the supreme cocktease.

I am SO praying that this is a work.

I'm assuming you mean against Barbarian at WM6.... I've always like the way he sold that. Hell, Barbarian looked like he hit that move flush... then again getting a top rope flying clothesline from a 320-pound behemoth like the that, getting flipped over and balled on the back of your neck SHOULD be a matter of course. Selling, schmelling. Too bad Kane's look so damn weak by comparison these days... only flying clotheline that compared was Taker's back in the day, and only because he jumped *up* so high... For true old school, we won't even talk aboutthe Masked Superstar's flying neckbreaker clothesline.. I still mark out for that move.

Empire was my favorite all the way around. Jedi always seemed like it was rushed, a lot of things slapped together... not given a slow build like Empire was, and few resting stops like ANH had. The CGI additions to the movies added to the experience, except for the dreaded "Greedo short first".. Props to Jay Spree for directing me to the petition website to get that scene removed... doubtful that Lucas is going to do that, but that was a ridiculous scene.

One Steiner Bros. match I remember, Rick Steiner stiffed a jobber so hard with a Steinerline, he broke his nose... Rick immediately pinned him after a moment of "okay, now what do I do?" I remember another one where they DDT'ed a jobber from the top.... no wonder wrestlers need spinal fusions nowadays with sick ass bumps like that...

If someone wants to try it or has it, I want a Low-Ki banner...can anyone help?

I live in Michigan and I have never heard of the Butterfly. Where is it?

Okay, since that thread about arcade games came up, I got to thinking about all the games I've played since the age of six or so (damn, thats near 30 years now), and came up with a top five (hell, I spend eight hours a night monitoring info systems and most nights the mind does tend to wander), and I was curious about your top fives: 1: Street Fighter II Champion Edition: Ever since I played SF II and got good enough with Chun-Li to beat the game with regularity, I had been hoping that Capcom would come out with another version where I could play Sagat, and about a year later, they did. Mastering that lanky bastard took time and a lot of it, but until SSF II Turbo came out, I was pretty much unbeatable, and then when SF Alpha came out, I had to go back to using Ryu and Chun-Li because they altered him so much. 2: WWF Wrestlefest: This game to me is best arcade wrestling game since Mat Mania/Mania Challenge. It was fun, it had two modes of play which were both challenging, and more importantly it had a staging system of moves, in that you started with basic moves, which progressed to more damaging moves as you went, all the way up to the wrestler's finishers. (I think this might be a way to make the current generation of wrestling games better, but I digress). The first time LoD put me up in the Doomsday Device, I about crapped my pants. 3 (tie): Super Basketball/Double Dribble: I have a passion for basketball, and I loved playing these games when they came out in 84 and 86, respectfully. Until I found out about emulation a few years ago, I thought I'd never see these games again. 5: (tie) Mat Mania/Mania Challenge: These wrestling games were on the simplistic side, but still a lot of fun.... my only major complaint was that they needed more wrestlers in both incarnations.... if I was a game designer, I would make a wrestling game in this vein, with tons of moves for each wrestler to make them unique. It would make a ton of money, I am sure. Anyway, those are mine.... what about yours?