Westley

Just add the left bracket and slash to the closing tag [/

My advice to you is to spend LOTS of time in the Shadow Shard. Not running the missions, but exploring the shard itself and hunting enemies. Why? Because not only is the scenery beautiful and weird, but the enemies all have a chance to drop purples. And you don't have to exemplar and lose powers.

OH NOES! NOT TEH EXPEEZ!

Sorry, I just don't care about XP in AE. They could take it out entirely for all I care. If I run an AE arc, I run it for the fun and the story, not for "rewards". The arc itself is my reward.

Wow, just reading those few posts in the CO forums... there is so much anger and hate over there. I wonder why?

Bah, MMORPG.com will publish ANYTHING these days. Here's proof.

Oh boy, here we go again.

Caverous, I'm just going to do the helpful thing instead of get into the same debate again. The BEST way to always have a team is to MAKE THEM YOURSELF. Here, this guide should help you out a bit and ensure that you are NEVER teamless.

I wasn't talking about power in the literal sense, like having the ability to hire or fire someone or make more or less money than them, I was talking power as in the power to affect other people's emotions.

I don't understand how you can take almost everything I say in a way other than the way I intend...

Yes, but if people could learn to take LESS offense then other people would have less power OVER them. BECAUSE offense lies entirely in the mind of the offended.

Here's an example just made up. Let's say that purple people exist. They had lagged behind the rest of the world technologically and thus were labeled as being 'stupid'. A typical setup for offense to occur, right?

Well what if they do as *I* propose and make the decision that they will no longer ALLOW themselves to be offended by being called stupid. In fact, they know that they lag technologically behind the rest of the world, so the purple people all get together, have a conference, and make the decision that they will no longer be offended by being called "stupid".

Fast forward 10 years after taking this stance and practicing it...

A racist "insult" standup comic (let's call him Shecky) decides to try to make fun of them. Shecky stands in front of a crowd of purple people and says "purple people are so STUPID, that they couldn't pour water out of a boot with instructions on the heel!"

The purple people just stare at him blankly. Some of them simply look confused, while others give a little grin. This confuses Shecky, he was expecting some sort of rage or hurt. He just stated that the people standing in front of him were STUPID, and they didn't give him the reaction he was expecting.

All he can do is sheepishly walk away.

See, they decided to take away that POWER from other people. And that's what offense is all about, POWER. So why LET people offend you? Why GIVE them that power over you? Trying to pass laws and social mores to prevent the "offensive" things from being said just gives them MORE power when they ARE said.

I say, just take away their power, don't let yourself be offended. It will lead to a much happier life for everyone EXCEPT the racists, bigots, etc... who will be shouting into the wind pointlessly.

That's all I'm trying to say.

You misinterpreted that quote. Because as you can see, it's exactly what I've said here, I'm very consistent. I never said anything about a democracy. The point that I was making with THAT quote, specifically the part about:

Hell I don't care if I'm at 12 red jellybeans... as long as it's stable.