Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this column are those of the participants and the moderator, and do not necessarily reflect those of the GIA. There is coarse language and potentially offensive material afoot. Note to self: check in to snow plow driver as alternate career. Don't say we didn't warn you.

I've developed a theory over the past year that any kind of illness or disease is the analog of some specific crime. Those of you unlucky enough to have a close friend or relative go through some sort of terminal disease know exactly why they're like capital crimes, for example. And while I'm sure there are any number of comparisons that could be made between stuff like arson and degenerative palsy, the most that many people ever have to go through is the occasional theft (cold) or robbery (broken bone).

So having this mental construct over the past week has helpfully allowed me to understand exactly what was happening even as it happened; namely, that I was beaten up, my lunch money taken, kicked around some, spat on, rolled through dog crap, jumped up and down on for a while, and had some curse words shaved in my head for good measure. None of which made the flu any more pleasant to suffer through, but at least it made my intermittent bouts of delirium extra colorful.

Enough bellyaching. (Really. I'm so sick of puking I could... well, you know.) Ed did a seriously bang up job whilst I was gone, so major kudos to him for that. And that's all I got for now, so...

Onward.

A "virus fighting game"? What exactly are you thinking about here: do you get to pilot a lone white blood cell against a superflu virus, or is it more of a post-apocalyptic 2D street fighter thing? (Randall Flagg Vs. Tom Cullen! Round One! Fight!)

No thanks on both counts - The Stand has the kind of truly epic quality that most RPGs don't even come close to touching, and it'd be a mortal sin to turn it into anything but an RPG. Just think of it - a modern day RPG without the slapstick of Earthbound or the psychobabble of Megami Tensei... a chance to make shotgun rounds really count for something for once. My god, it'd be beautiful.

Of course, you have a far better chance of actually surviving Captain Trips than of such a game ever happening, but it's nice to dream, as always.

You know, I honestly don't care one way or another about live actors staying or going. Most of them are far more annoying than they're worth, on-screen or off, but it's not like their antics can't be avoided with a little effort.

On the other hand, I would like to avoid having game characters tied up in the same kind of crap that movie stars seem to be. When you think about it, there's a big advantage in having a game character be just a game character - they don't get involved in failed marriages, bad sitcoms, drug busts, they just do their thing in the game and that's it. On some level it probably is easier for me to believe in a character if I know I won't see that character spewing out inane chitchat on Letterman a few days later. Leave celebrity to the celebrities.

I've already written a huge rant as to my feelings on GIA vs. RPGamer, and why I won't get further into it. However, I don't think it's unreasonable for Ed to get involved with the argument for a couple of reasons. First off, he's far more closely involved with news and content than I am, which means defining what we are and how we differ from others is something he has to do as part of his job here. Second, while we definitely appreciate you thinking that we're leaps and bounds ahead of the competition (we agree!) RPGamer is without a doubt our nearest competition, and we get compared to them by a huge number of people all the time.

And in one important area, that comparison is legit. You said earlier that RPGamer was targeted towards the hard core fans, and you're right, but so are we... or at least, I have trouble figuring out who else would be interested in the RPG minutia we publish every day. The truth is that RPGamer and the GIA represent two fundamentally different ways of being a hard core gamer, and while you can certainly take a live and let live approach to the whole thing, there's gonna be an element that's constantly fighting to validate why it's right and the other approach is wrong. Which is part of what being a gamer is all about in the first place, when you think about it.

Not a lot to say in response, except I've never really understood these numbered public schools. It just seems too damn regimented - you can't come up with a name, so you go with a number, and stick on an abbreviation that makes it sound like you go to school at a zip code or PO Box. Honestly, how difficult is it to swipe the name of some dead white guy, or, in these more enlightened times, the name of some dead African-American or Hispanic individual? Even if I'd never heard of the person in question, I'd still far rather be able to say a name than dredge yet another number out of my already over-numerated brain.

Non sequiturs. Never leave home without them.

I had the same thought myself yesterday. At this point, the questions seems a bit moot though, since FF9's soundtrack sounds pretty good to me, sound quality-wise, and those bits that do fall back on bleeps and bloops can legitimately be chalked up as nostalgia, this time around.

To be fair, I'd say just about all of us here on staff do already practice what we preach. I've had game reviews published in the Daily Texan (a college paper, but one of the best in the country) and once got the New Orleans Times-Picayune to do a story on Street Fighter II. I know that there are a couple of other staffers out there with similar records, and we're all moving journalism closer to where we'd like it just by making the site what it is.

But that's us - it's kinda unreasonable to suggest that you should personally have to go out and fix something just because you see a problem with it. Gaming will never be more than a hobby for most people, and that's fine, because there is more important stuff out there. For those who do get more involved with it, I'm sure most would far rather make games than write about them. And it doesn't matter how good a writer you are - no paper in the world will make a full-time position equivalent to book critic or movie critic until it becomes bloody obvious to everyone how important games are. Which is happening, but it'll still be a while before we have a gaming equivalent of Elvis Mitchell or something.

Closing Comments:

Sorry this is so late, but I'm still a little lethargic. Hopefully tomorrow will be better. Free topic day tomorrow, see you then. Adios.

-Chris Jones, betrayed by his immune system