Prompted by a short debate I had with a unit. An issue that most commonly pops up about Union vocoders is: "You can't hear an accent through a vocoder." However, as I am about to demonstrate, this is not the case, or cannot be assumed.

The Purpose
The aim of vocoders is to mask someone's voice so that they will not be individually identifiable if they removed the vocoder. Hence, due to the job Civil Protection uphold, they require a vocoder for the following reasons.

• To appear more intimidating. - A masked individual with a deep-sounding voice sounds very threatening and therefore helps Civil Protection maintain order through fear.
• To further help mask their identity. - It is possible for Civil Protection units to take off their uniform and go off duty. Due to the violent nature of their work, if a third party can identify them whilst they are off-duty, this could endanger the unit.

What It Does
Basically it's a device fitted into the frontal part of the mask that applies certain filters on to the user's voice as they speak into it. More specifically it:

• Reduces pitch
• Uses a formant filter
• Adds various filters that further garbles the voice

Accents are not defined by the warping of these things. It is the fashion in which a dialect pronounces phonemes/vowel sounds etc. For instance, in the English accent(s) the "schwa" sound is most pedominant (For more information on schwa see this video.)

As an example, take a listen to the audio in this video, even with vocoders the voices have their own distinct accent, they may be harder to make out, but they are still heard, the more predominant the accent is, the easier it is to identify.

Arguments Against
A common argument made against this is that all Civil Protection and Overwatch sound American in Half-Life 2. This is because Valve only had American voice actors for the English version of the game. Just as like the Russian version of the game only has Russian voice actors of which you can hear their accents clearly.

An argument I managed to come up with is that the user's voice could be being fed back through a text-to-speech translator, with the translator detecting what words are being said and re-saying them out of the mask. In this case, everyone's voice would have the same accent. However the voice would be completely monotone all the time. Through listening to Overwatch and Civil Protection throughout the game, they express panic and visciousness in their tone e.g. "That's a grenade!" and "Take him down!" If the mentioned method was being used, their voices would show no emotion whatsoever.

The final argument I hear is that the Combine's technology is vast, surely they can mask an accent. You could use that argument for anything to justify anything. I could say the Combine's technology is vast, surely they have an ion cannon in space, we don't know there isn't an ion cannon, and they just haven't used it yet, however we assume they don't unless evidence is put forward that suggest they do, because that's how burden of proof works.

Conclusion
Yes, accents can be heard through vocoders. Does this present a threat to the anonymity of units? Not really, accents are shared by thousands of people and you wouldn't be able to distinguish between two of the same accent, or be able to distinguish a unit speaking without a mask via the sound of their voice through a vocoder due to the effects the vocoder puts on.

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Name: Dr. Adrian Holmes
Gender: Male
Height: 6'3"
Age: Early 50s
Occupation: City Administrator for City 45
Qualification(s): Psy.D. and Ph.D. in Psychology
Nationality: English
Closest Physical Resemblance:
Sexuality: Straight
Status: Alive

Background: Anti-social was often a word thrown around when people, friends, colleagues, described Adrian. "The only reason people can stand to be around him is because of his undeniably stone-cold logic and reason," his Psychology professor at Oxford was quoted. "No matter how obnoxious you may find him, he understands people better than anyone. If you doubt him, he'll make damn well sure you don't, indirectly or otherwise." Other psychologists have often tried to dissect Holmes, dug into his past, trying to uncover some deep dark secret that may discredit him. Not a scrap has been found, not even the slightest hint of autism. He was brought up in a upper middle class family in Oxford, parents were always there for him, wasn't abused, and neither was he bullied. He was too smart for the bullies, in fact he was more likely getting in trouble for reducing them to tears. He just disliked people, and was often found alone with his thoughts.

When asked why he wished to become a psychologist, he answered, "The mind is the most complex living mechanism within a human being, and to me, the most fascinating thing in the world. Everyone is walking around with one, therefore everyone is a walking puzzle. I get a kick out of solving puzzles, and what can be more complex than the human mind?" Critics have claimed that Holmes is a sociopath due to his cold demeanor and supposed lack of empathy. Others have pointed out that he wouldn't be so good at his job if he didn't feel empathy. Holmes indirectly dismissed the claims, scoffing, "Everyone's a psychologist!" It's not a surprise Holmes gained enemies, after he gained swift popularity due to his sky-rocketing success rates, powerful and important men were turning up at his door for psychological help. Problem is, Holmes tells it like it is, he bows to no one, a few of these men did not like what Holmes had to say and set out to discredit him. With not much success.

When the Portal Storms hit and businesses started boarding up their doors, Holmes did too, and disappeared. Not that anybody was concerned about him, people thought it was the end of the world, the country's top psychologist wasn't going to save them. He locked himself up in his expensive home and waited it out. His home was pretty secluded, he barely heard the war that was raging on outside. Didn't even turn the TV or the radio on. He just sat in his favourite chair with the blinds closed, shut his eyes, leant back and divulged in his favourite pass time. Dreaming. It was the only other thing that made him happy, the other being psychology of course. It was a little secret of his. He often shut himself up in his mansion-like house when he got home from working and simply dreamed. He could live his wildest fantasies and experience impossible things, the only time he could be truly free from the constraints of reality.

There was a knocking at the door. Holmes opened his eyes, immediately performing a reality check. He pinched his nostrils together and attempted to breathe in. He couldn't, so he was definitely awake. He barely managed to get to his feet until there was an almighty explosion and the door was thrown off its hinges followed by stamping boots and mechanical voices. Soldiers piled into the room, and Holmes was back into slumberland faster than he originally anticipated, involuntarily of course. Next thing he knew, he was sitting in a parliamentary office facing an ominous looking individual wearing a mask. His voice was completely emotionless. "<:: I am correct in thinking you are psychologist Dr. Adrian Holmes?" He spoke oddly.
"...Yes." Adrian replied, staring back almost as emotionlessly as the mask stared back at him. "<:: The Union has judged your expertise to be beneficial. You will accept our offer of a City Administrator position."
"I don't understand."
"<:: You are not aware."
Adrian simply stared back at him blankly. The masked man pressed a button his desk and the blinds on the window to the right of the office opened. Adrian's mouth dropped a fraction at the scene beyond. He was in London but... Not London. The street was filled with masked soldiers and odd looking military vehicles and... It was too much to take in, Adrian turned back to the figure at the desk, looking at his hands. They were not disfigured, neither did he have too many fingers. He was certainly in reality.
"<:: Your planet has been chosen for assimilation by the Universal Union. You will accept our offer of a City Administrator position."
"What will this position entail?"
"<:: You shall oversee the citizen populace of City 45 along with your associates and assist in propaganda."
"I don't have a choice in this do I?"
"<:: Negative."
Adrian let out a quick sigh, "Very well then."
"<:: You shall first receive mind alteration before moving to City 45."
"Mind alteration? If the state of my mind is altered from what it is now, then the expertise that you sought to exploit will become useless."
The masked man is silent for a short while.
"<:: You make a valid point, there is an alternative." He proceeded to pull out a magnum from underneath the desk, shooting Adrian in the right thigh. Adrian yelled out, collapsing from his chair and blacking out from shock.
"<:: Treat his leg, I want him to be able to barely walk with it."

Personality: A generally serious looking man, he does however have a profound witty sense of humour, usually mocking and sarcastic. He isn't afraid to tell it like it is, coupled with his overall dislike for people it is easy for him to make enemies.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilUmZPgJ9Ik

Here is a somewhat laggy yet hilarious little skitty montage of the crap me and Spitfire (a friend) get up to in Battlefield 3.

Hello, I am the media guy and secondary mapper for a mod called Fabulae Occupationis. For my Media Studies at A Level I have decided to make it my project also. Hence, I would like some feedback for the teaser trailer posted.

All I want you to do is watch through it and answer the questions below, the more answers I get and the more detailed the answers, the better. You should watch it without doing any prior research into the mod.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsldBEqiqGA" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsldBEqiqGA</a>

1. What emotions were evoked (if any) during this teaser and at which parts?

2. What genre do you believe the game ot be from watching the teaser?

3. What did you like and dislike about the teaser?

4. Did the teaser make your interested in the game, and if so, why? If not, give your reasons also.

Participation in this is much appreciated.

Hello peeps, for Halloween i've done a 2 hour and 45 min playthrough of White Night, a mod for Amnesia: The Dark Descent. A lot of time (especially when rendering and uploading the damn thing) and effort has gone in to making this so I would like to share it with you folks.

http://www.youtube.com/user/trvius?feature=mhee#p/u/5/HRkNrdadFXo

Fun fact: If you leave the video and go back to it, your previous place in the video will be saved!

Comment and thumb it up if you like it

Cheers.

If you've finished Portal 2, this is a fantastic music video made by a friend of mine using the ending song "Want You Gone"

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25ClYY5mwbc" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25ClYY5mwbc</a>

Make sure to give him some thumbs up, he's worked really hard on this.

Yep, time to bring up something to have a good discussion about. No, i'm not suggesting it's removed, I just want to explore the pros and cons of this system.

Guess i'll open with how /roll is used.

The most times people use /roll is when RPing a fight. One person will attempt a move upon another and they will both use /roll to determine the outcome of the action. If the person attacking rolls a higher number than the defender, then the attacker's move is completed. If the defender rolls higher than the attacker, then the attacker's move fails, and the defender can block/counter, whatever. Repeat this process until someone "wins".

Some may argue that it gives everyone a fair chance to "win" in a fight, and helps prevent powergaming, because it establishes a proper system to go by.

However, /roll does not take into effect any physical or environmental characteristics. With this system, it is possible for a malnourished hobo to completely destroy a commander. Which is ridiculous, the commander would win hands down no matter how lucky the hobo was feeling that day.

/roll doesn't take into account the element of surprise either. For instance, you notice two people fighting, and one has the other pinned against a wall and decide to intervene. In real life, the attacker wouldn't notice you are there, as they are too busy beating up the guy against the wall. But with the roll system, they can magically grow eyes into the back of their head and suddenly stop what they're doing, dodge your attack and proceed to kick both your and the other guy's ass, simply because he gets lucky rolls.

Well, what's the alternative? You may ask.

Before /roll was implemented into RP scripts, RPers would operate with a mutual understanding of each other's characters' ability of fighting. For instance, the 6"4 heavy set knuckle head would obviously outmatch a 5"2 lightweight dirty faced hobo. And this would be assumed by both unless there are special circumstances. (E.g. The hobo isn't actually a hobo and is just fronting as one, and is actually stronger than he looks) So the attempts system would be used without /roll, and both characters would receive hits at their own discretion. Because RP isn't about winning every fight, it's about RP. Simple as.

This way of doing things requires trust, however. If one of them were so inclined, they could simply powergame and land all of their hits, and dodge all attacks. Going back to the hobo vs. commander scenario. You would think "Well, the commander would NEVER be hit by a hobo unless they were surprised." It wouldn't matter if the commander was hit or not, they wear heavy amounts of armour and a mask. The hobo would break his hand if he managed to land anything, and the commander would hardly even feel it before most likely snapping the hobo's neck.

So there you have it.

Discuss.

I'm raising this issue due to the current spurt of punchwhoring that has been occuring on the server.

First of all, let's take a look at what punching actually does.

It provides a damage factor onto the target player, eventually causing them to be knocked out and eventually killed.

This essentially makes you spawn with a weapon.

You do not need to actually punch someone OOCly if you're roleplaying a fight. The target should react to being hit by using "/me". Not by their health bar going down by being punched using unholstered hands. This simply encourages bad RP.

If you do not want to remove punching, then at least compromise. Remove the damage factor completely from punching, and simply blur the target's vision for about 0.5 of a second and "sway" the view slightly.

This should hopefully resolve the issue of punchwhoring by a degree, otherwise admins just need to be more vigilant.

I was punchwhored twice today, once until I was dead, and none of the admins did anything about it. Big turn off to serious RPers.