Extreme Pet Peevage

I've been reading Tamora Pierce's Protector of the Small series, and I have to say- PLEASE mix up your counterpart cultures. Don't just take the 'cool' parts of a culture, like kimonos and stuff, and then plop it down into your fantastic world wit centaurs and stormwings. For example, why in a world full of magic, ogres and ballisks is there a culture almost the same as Japan, down to extreme linguistic similarity, anyway? Be creative. Make up your own culture, or at least mix parts of different cultures- do people who live in the mountains really need to wear kimono? How did the influence of the pirates or the Easterners filter into their society? Really, folks!


Gaming Complaint Corner
This isn't a new philosophy on pirating- it's the same ol' 'we wouldn't have bought it anyway' argument. I don't have tons of income. Right now I don't really have any. Yet somehow I am able to suck it up, using coupons, the library, netflix, big fish games' game clubs, and ebay to satisfy my entertainment needs. I even manage to support Templar Arizona, one of my favorite webcomics by buying book versions. Why? for the sake of those who might stumble unto something in a bookstore, or find a new world on netflix. For all we crow about the internet, a lot of folks are getting their first taste on adult swim. You can't search for something you don't know exists.

Those kids who are now enjoying anime brought over here to make money will be our new generation. They'll be drawing the Scott Pilgrim of the future. They might even expand the range of manga and anime brought to the US. It was paying fan demand that brought Suppli back. The votes of people who free ride don't count.