Hi all! Let me ask you a question. Most of you, I'm sure, are downloading stuff online for free. computer games, radio shows, movies, shows, through torrents.
Now, if there was no torrent, you'd probably buy most of this stuff, right? If you can buy a book on Amazon, or a book store, but it's also free for download... you'd download it. If a show is available in a 7$ podcast, but also free on torrent, you'd download it for free.
Now, you don't cause losses to anybody, because you don't take a produced object and remove it. But you deliberately get, for free, something that you would have bought. The more this stuff is out there for free, the more you hurt people you like. Singers you like, games producers you like, etc.
Are you thieves?
Oh, and I do the same. But it's still worth struggling with the question.
Hello all. We made it. We're in the final 18. Horray!
When I was in the end of my last game, I started thinking about this whole tengaged thing, and the timezones, etc. And I started wondering... Can I do anything to make this game feel more like a real big brother house? Can I find some theme or something that would bond us all? Don't get me wrong, alliances will be made, people will do what they gotta do, and 14 of us are gonna shamefully go home before the final four are up. But in the meantime I really want on some level to make us one group of 18, and feel like a real big brother game, in a way.
We all got lucky, as this is a very diverse house. People from all sorts of countries, religions, and backgrounds. Islam, Christianity, Atheism, Agnosticism. UK, US, Israel, Ireland, Brasil, Italy, Russia. And I think also the phillipines. Correct me if I'm wrong. Adopted people, and at least one bisexual.
So that's the material we got to work with. Now, what about the timezones? What about work and school and the fact that we're on in different times?
Well, my idea is this: We each come up with themes that we introduce to the rest of the housemates. This way people can respond to one another or talk about things that were discussed 10 hours before.
Like religion, politics. Etc. We already had several discussions about politics and adoption.
Today happens to be April 19th. That's the date of the attack on Wacco, if you're familliar with that. It's also the date of the attack in Oklohoma City. Timothy McVeigh, who was in Wacco, was disgusted by it, and decided that it is his duty, as an "American Patriot", to attack the US government. So he and his friend, Terry Nichols, blew up an FBI building. Since then there were all sorts of conspiracy theories involving white supremacists and Islamic fundamentalists who cooperated with McVeigh and Nichols.
You guys have any thoughts on US domestic terrorism? Terrorism in general? The government?
I'm freaked out, in this day and age, of people monitoring the net and getting the wrong idea about stuff I write. So let me make it clear: MCVEIGH IS SCUM! I'M GLAD HE'S DEAD!
If it's too heavy, you can put my topic aside, and come up with one of your own. This is not me trying to make the forum political. This is me trying to make the game into something that will connect the surviving husemates, and make the game more exciting.
Tell me what you think. Here, or in the game itself. Check out this forum for more topics, a lot lighter and cooler than the one I just suggested. Again, the only reason I suggested this topic, is because today is the 19th.
Maybe I'm jumping the gun here. It LOOKS awesome. It looks like an entire show (a complete first season and even a second season) that is like big brother, only with sims. And the voice of the host... it's so funny, because I used to listen to two podcasts who had a character with that voice. And recently I started listening to something called "The Conservative Funhouse" and this morning they played that exact voice. So it takes me back to another era.
You guys should totally check out an old 1950s-60s episode of the Twilight called "Time enough at last". It's about a guy who wants some time for himself, and sorta gets his wish. Cool ep.
As you can see from my page, I'm older than the average community of tengaged. Between work, and trying to get a degree, especially with multiple deadlines all coming the same time, it's hard to have time for both business and pleasure. So it would be stupid to play in the near future. I hope in a week or two things will look better.
Anywho... I have a bachelor degree in International Relations + in Sociology & Anthropology. Sounds pompous, doesn't it? Yeah, I don't even FEEL like a guy with a degree.
Right now I'm doing a graduate degree in American Studies. What a crazy country. It's sort of like Survivor. A bunch of renegades and refugees from a civilized country find themselves on this huge mass of land, having to start over. Castaways who are stranded for a few centuries, and do pretty well for themselves!
Anyway, I love the whole international relations stuff (that's why I persued that field). I love all of the politics. The variables involved. I love the fact that it's not just the guy with the black hat vs. the guy with the white hat, but a bunch of different groups, people who switch alliances, subgroups who fight among themselves, etc.
That's why I watch Big Brother (soon from 3 different countries) and that's why I'm on tengaged.
It's cool that while I'm in my late 20s, I can find myself as the old (wise?) man here sometimes. Hehe.
Okay, so... it's my first post here. I'm interested to see what goes on next in the game (once I'll have the time and energy to start another one).
I've done two games so far. I enrolled in really bad times. Had tons of studying to do. The second game was a big big mistake to enroll. At least that mistake got me to be in first place. haha. At least that.
It was interesting to see how people gradually grew more open, and how I grew more open myself, as the games started drawing to a close. I think that in the last game I played, ( 8326, I believe) I managed to get lots of my allies to the finals. Five out of the final 6 were members of the same alliance. The sixth was a nice guy who I was forced to fight against, by circumstances, but supported him toward the end. He got 2nd place and won it fair and square. I assume that because so many of us were friendly, and so little backstabbing was going on, that we were all so comfortable opening up about the 9 game days we've gone through.
I'm fascinated to see how I might be able to turn these casting games into games where the feeling is more similar to the feeling of housemates. How all 20 of us, or 18 of us (since it's hard to connect in the first 12 hours)will feel as if we're a part of the same house. I want that despite the necessary alliances, and necessary secrecy, that on some level we'll all talk to one another, through some common thread or team. I got a few ideas. Guess when I'll have time to play again, I'll go for it.
