I have a mid-engine sports car with 4 wheel steering and a working 4 speed gearbox all wheel drive and a working suspension. That's what a technics should be.

Agreed, though I'm glad they phased out studded bricks in the Technic lines.

I guess the real problem is that Lego can't make a living selling nothing but $75+ kits, so we see a lot of simple and/or mediocre sets produced because they're cheap and sell well.

: (It's really hard to dust, though)

If you can't get it with compressed air, it ain't worth getting.

;p

But yeah, that's what I mean. Technics should be all about the mechanisms.

Edit: I took a picture because I like it. Vroom vroom.

I don't feel like I play more than I want to, if that's what you were getting at.

That, right there, is the key to this entire argument.

Are any of us playing more than we want to?

I don't mean to sound callous, but if anyone answers that question with "yes", I would say "that's your own fault".

Yes, Destiny clearly has hooks in place designed to keep players coming back. Big surprise. Forget about beer & cigarette commercials... The entertainment industry has been "manipulating" consumers for decades. Every cliffhanger ending, celebrity guest appearance, crossover special, heck even "sequels", are all designed to manipulate is into watching/playing/reading something we might otherwise skip. Videogames have taken things to another level, but can we blame developers? We're the ones demanding more time from their games.

At the end of the day, every minute we spend playing Destiny is a conscious choice. We need to take responsibility for how we spend our time. I see Destiny's manipulative hooks, and concede that they work on my (just hit 565 hours). But I find the hooks FUN. I'm genuinely enjoying myself.

So... I can infer that you don't think Bungie doing that is good either then? Or is this different?

If you're asking if I'd answer the same if your question had been "do you think it's a good thing that Bungie is doing that?" (where "that" is "consciously manipulating its audience to sell more product") - sure. I would.

I don't think it's a BAD thing that they're doing it - in truth, I don't really care that they're doing it. I think it's the standard way of doing things, and I think MOST sellers (of ANYTHING) try and manipulate their audience to sell more product. (I'm not upset about beer companies doing it, either.)

In short - I'm pretty apathetic about it. I know it's happening, in the abstract I'd be fine if it weren't happening, but it doesn't really affect me in any real way. (I don't feel like I play more than I want to, if that's what you were getting at.)

When I was a kid, I was aware of Bungie, and liked their games. I still was critical and able to make complaints up to Oni. Halo came out though and I lost all credibility as a consumer able to really criticize Bungie. I thought Reach's story retcons were crap, but deep down I am pretty sure I think Bungie can do no wrong. Many of us may not want to admit it, but are the same way.

So, a lot of us arguing against Chris doesn't necessarily mean much (though Claude has logically and laconically excelled in these types of disagreements without needing to dip into his Bungie fandom reserves) coming from an already biased crowd. :P

There's a difference between having a bias and letting a bias interfere with honest, rational debate. Is it possible that someone is letting their pro-Bungie bias get in the way? Sure. But I'd rather you point out specific people or arguments than blanket a whole group because of the site they are posting on.

So, a lot of us arguing against Chris doesn't necessarily mean much (though Claude has logically and laconically excelled in these types of disagreements without needing to dip into his Bungie fandom reserves) coming from an already biased crowd. :P

So... do you think it's a good thing that beer commercials are doing that?

Nope.

Not true- I've sampled many beers. The first time I was excited to see what all the fuss was about.

They all taste like piss.

Refreshing piss. :D

Lego Technics are all over the map in terms of quality. If you look here, you'll see that design quality correlates strongly with price, rather than year. And I think you're selling some of the modern sets short, like this one, this one, and this one.

I did say "most". ;)

(EDIT: This is still unbeatable, though)

Back in my day, they were beasts. To this day I am extremely proud to have the Ducati bike and the Ferrari F1 car on display in my room, yet I'd be ashamed to have most of those listed in the link...

Lego Technics are all over the map in terms of quality. If you look here, you'll see that design quality correlates strongly with price, rather than year. And I think you're selling some of the modern sets short, like this one, this one, and this one.

And I know full well how brain matter works and gets changed, I got to do some of it college. It's why I have worries about how strong you can actually do this stuff. I think I have said enough I don't need to get into my points again as to why the cola stuff actually is relevant.