UndeadRufus

Just to nitpick, it was 777.68 points, or 6.98%. People who cling to absurdities like numerology are typically all too willing to round up or down to suit their wishes.

Stef,No epic words of encouragement or anything, but you've been a positive influence on my own thinking these last several years. I wish you all the best as you deal with this medical matter. Here's hoping you knock down cancer like a bad argument.

David C. Pack is a professional nonsense merchant, whom I've occasionally seen come up in the context of prophetic doom claims. That he makes terrible theistic arguments is no surprise. The article begins by presupposing the Christian deity and invoking scripture, which is a complete non-starter, and I think most serious theistic philosophers would agree at least on this point. What follows is a string of ignorant assertions, hand-waving and appeals to ignorance. The short list includes: evolution denial; teleological arguments; word gymnastics (e.g. defining "faith" as "absolute confidence"); question-begging; thermodynamic confusion [1, 2]; general misunderstanding of the scientific method, scientific theories and the scope of science; the infamous "explosion argument." As someone else mentioned, all of this stuff has been dealt with thoroughly many times over.

This is a sign of change, because the industry is growing. The more people playing video games, the more "mainstream" the industry becomes. So you can expect a higher percentage of games to cater to so-called lowest common denominators. While I don't like that, it isn't necessarily a bad thing or a sign of impending market failure. With the advent of Kickstarter and widespread indie development per se, the spirit of that golden age you mentioned is, I think, still alive and well. Some of the most fun I've had in years has been just recently with the old-school dungeon crawler Legend of Grimrock. It will never be a Call of Duty, obviously, but the market for less flash and more substance isn't going anywhere, particularly on PC. I agree with your general assessment of things -- I'm highly skeptical of the upcoming console generation and deplore the nickel-and-dime DLC business model -- but I'm optimistic (greater economic concerns notwithstanding) about the game industry in general. As someone else mentioned, the tools for producing quality content are very accessible nowadays.