SteelAttack said:

I'm always here. Sorta.

So am I.   Though I  may be gone for a few days.  Going back to Cyprus tomorrow and will need to be sorting out several things right away... Starting work at a new place.  Moving out of my current place and into a new flat.  Trying to find new wheels ... etc etc  But I will be back on as soon as possible.  And hopefully I'll get my consoles set up soon too for some online gaming with you lot

Haven't seen Leo or Aspro for days.  Hope Leo hasn't been flooded by Irene.  After the fire in his last place just months ago, this would be the last thing he needs.  Anybody seen him online anywhere else (PSN, XBL, GGD etc)?

Oh my!  I do really want that

bugsonglass said:

Haven't seen Leo or Aspro for days.  Hope Leo hasn't been flooded by Irene.  After the fire in his last place just months ago, this would be the last thing he needs.  Anybody seen him online anywhere else (PSN, XBL, GGD etc)?

I saw Leo pop up a few times on PSN yesterday. He seems okay. NYC got spared from more of the hurricane, which was frankly very overhyped. Even afterwards they keep adding total numbers of all the states hit to make the damage seem so severe. In 2005 Hurricane Wilma cut through south and central Florida and did significantly more damage in that small area than this did as it went up the East Coast.

We haven't had a big hurricane in this country since 2005 when Katrina and Wilma both hit. The media was just trying to make a story . Nothing gets ratings like a good disaster, and hurricanes are really the only kind that give you any warning that you can plan a tv schedule around.

I told you guys that Hurricane was nothing.

SteelAttack said:

You're Floridian, though. Like Conan was born on a battlefield, you guys were born in the middle of raging Cat 5 storms. These east coasters aren't used to these things.

Yup. Category 1, dont worry, its a bad storm flooding is all you have to worry about. Cat 2, will get some damage on outside stuff, your house should be fine. Cat 3, ok this one you should prep, board up some stuff but your house should survive. Cat 4, uh maybe you should get out. Cat 5, HOLY SHIT RUN!

So, which one of our Gears of War junkies will get the 2400 MSP season pass?

I'm here. I've been around. The hurricane turned out to be a big nothing for ME at least, but a lot of areas around me weren't so lucky. Two or three weeks ago my mother's basement apartment flooded in a pretty bad storm and we've been cleaning up since. Just when things were getting back to normal, Irene showed up. We prepared, got her furniture up on bricks and got everything off the floor... and this time she DID NOT flood! There were literally people KAYAKING in the STREET down the block from her home, but SOMEHOW she was spared. There are many areas around me that don't have electricity still, there are many traffic lights out, many stores are without electricity. I can't get certain types of food or frozen/refrigerated stuff yet either. I didn't lose my power once thru the whole storm. I stored my consoles in a trunk and got everything away from my windows; they actually had multiple Tornado spottings around my area also, so I felt the extra precaution was necessary. One of my favorite beaches on Long Island was pretty badly damaged. Whole lifeguard stations were moved, streets and homes were flooded along the beach; it was generally a mess. Luckily I haven't heard of any serious injuries.

Truth be told, my inactivity here has nothing to do with the storm. I'm ---REALLY--- upset about Aspro. I think he and I have probably the most similar attitudes when it comes to gaming; we'll pretty much play anything interesting. Without him here, I've lost A LOT of motivation to post. The site over the last year and a half has gotten to be... weird. We used to be able to disagree in a friendly way. Now, there's a lot of criticism going on, a lot of unnecessary trolling. When it comes down to insults... that's where I draw the line. I might as well go hang out back at Gamespot. I understand Iga. He'll never change, but when it comes to his honesty, explanations and objectivity... I can look past his trolling. Others... well... since day one they have picked fight after fight and have come across as rude and condescending and there just used to be no place for it here. I came here to ESCAPE that kind of attitude. We've been buddies since WAAAY before this site; maybe people who are new just don't seem to "get" that, or maybe they are just used to public spectacles like NeoGaf... I dunno. This place is feeling less and less warm and fuzzy and like my internet "home" than it used to and THAT bothers me.