Profile for Zeviz

Error message

Deprecated function: implode(): Passing glue string after array is deprecated. Swap the parameters in drupal_get_feeds() (line 394 of /var/www/pied-piper.ermarian.net/includes/common.inc).

Recent posts

Pages

AuthorRecent posts
If You Were President... in General
Zeviz
Nuke and Pave
Member # 24
 written Thursday, May 4 2006 10:02 Profile Homepage #37
quote:
Originally written by TM:
quote:
3. How are you going to prevent "the rich" from replacing their American citizenship with foreign one? (Nobody smart enough to get a million dollars would want to live in a country that takes away most of his money.)
Property tax. Unless the rich want to live in Mexico.
In that case, every multi-million dollar mansion will become a "corporate office". Good luck writing a tax code that will be able to distinguish between a real office building and an "office building" that happens to include 4 "recreation rooms" (bedrooms) and a "small yard" (large garden).

quote:
quote:
Affermantive Action:
How many Asians are you going to kick out of universities to make room for Blacks?
Wo-ho-hoah, racism.

I wasn't thinking of kicking out Asian-Americans. I was thinking of kicking out Whites. (Or heaven forbid, increase spending and add more seats.)
I guess you were not aware of the context: Asian Americans are way overrepresented in California's top universities. In some of them they comprise over 50% of the student body, while their population in the state is far below 50%. So any racial quota you are going to impose will hit them much stronger than it hits whites.

quote:
You know, I went to a private school, and one time in class, Affirmative Action was brought up. And I swear, I was the only person in that room who was in favor of it.
Are you going to give up your chance to get into a good university to a less-qualified black person, or do you expect "those other whites" to do it?

Do I think that everybody should have an equal opportunity to get into a good university or a good job? Yes. Do I think that I should have less of an opportunity because my skin color happens to be the same as the skin color of some racists? No.

quote:
These rich, white, male, privately-educated pricks...
And you yourself are a poor African American from an urban ghetto? If you believe in equality so much, what were you doing in a private school?

quote:
My opinion is that white folks should get the **** over themselves. Now. ...
I agree. Let's start with you leaving your private school in a rich neighborhood and moving into an urban ghetto. You can't really expect others to do something you are unwilling to do yourself.

quote:
quote:
Disestablishing religion.
Considering that America already has stronger separation of Church and State than many European countries, I think we are doing fine on this point.
If a preacher in Europe says that we must assassinate Hugo Chavez, does anyone freak out? And yet if Pat Robertson says it, Chavez actually gets scared. Why is that?
Because it makes Chavez look like a great hero opposing evil American imperialists. If getting scared didn't help his poll numbers, he'd ignore Robertson just like he'd ignore any other lunatic.

quote:
If we aren't a christian nation, then why does bush quote the bible so often in justifying taking over Iraq?
Because it helps him energize his fundamentalist supporters and most people who are bothered by Bible quotes wouldn't support him anyway. If his poll numbers dropped after quoting Bible, he'd stop doing it.

quote:
Originally posted by Slarty:
It's just that it is by FAR the lesser evil, compared to allowing the effects of racism to persist without an attempt at making things better.
That point I disagree on. Asian Americans are doing very well despite facing almost as much racism as blacks. If people of all races are provided with equally good education (which isn't the case right now), the only thing racial quotas will do is perpetuate racism. Nothing would be as effective in training a generation of racists as giving students an impression that they failed to get into universities they wanted because minorities got preferential treatment. Did you take this damage into consideration when you think that affirmative action does more good than harm? And I have to ask you the same question I've asked TM: would you give up your place at your current university to a less qualified minority applicant in the name of affirmative action?

EDIT: That's interesting: the auto-censor removed the f-word in my quote of TM's post. How did TM manage to post it in the first place? Or was the auto-censor turned on literally a few minutes ago?

[ Thursday, May 04, 2006 10:15: Message edited by: Zeviz ]

--------------------
Be careful with a word, as you would with a sword,
For it too has the power to kill.
However well placed word, unlike a well placed sword,
Can also have the power to heal.
Posts: 2649 | Registered: Wednesday, October 3 2001 07:00
Power core in Geneforge Series
Zeviz
Nuke and Pave
Member # 24
 written Thursday, May 4 2006 09:34 Profile Homepage #2
Here is some generic advice for all damaging areas:

1. Stay in Combat mode all the time. Also stay Hasted to get through the area even faster.

2. Put on all equipment you have that protects from the appropriate damage type. (Energy in the case of Power Cores, if I remember correctly.)

3. Cast Augmentation to increase your max hitpoints.

4. Don't spend more time in particularly damaging areas than absolutely necessary. Most of such areas have a few rooms that kill you in 1 or 2 turns, so never spend more than 1 turn in a room like that. Being Hasted helps a lot.

5. If you are still getting killed, get a couple more levels of Endurance, or wait until later in the game, when your hitpoints and resistances are higher.

Good luck.

--------------------
Be careful with a word, as you would with a sword,
For it too has the power to kill.
However well placed word, unlike a well placed sword,
Can also have the power to heal.
Posts: 2649 | Registered: Wednesday, October 3 2001 07:00
RPGs vs. "Computer Games" in General
Zeviz
Nuke and Pave
Member # 24
 written Wednesday, May 3 2006 21:35 Profile Homepage #12
I guess it really depends on what your definition of "role playing" is. Even if you take the DnD definition, there are computer games that give characters similar level of freedom. (Going off the edge of the map is theoretically an option in DnD, but is likely to result in quick death, unless DM is feeling very generous.)

My definition of "role-playing games" includes all games in which my characters "live" in their world. In Diablo you interact with a couple of townspeople, but spend most of the time killing stuff in the dungeons. In Baldur's Gate, or Spidweb games, the amount of time you spend talking to NPCs is comparable to the amount of time you spend killing stuff. (You still spend a lot of time killing stuff, but town to dungeon ratio is about 1:3, rather than 1:20)

--------------------
Be careful with a word, as you would with a sword,
For it too has the power to kill.
However well placed word, unlike a well placed sword,
Can also have the power to heal.
Posts: 2649 | Registered: Wednesday, October 3 2001 07:00
If You Were President... in General
Zeviz
Nuke and Pave
Member # 24
 written Wednesday, May 3 2006 21:01 Profile Homepage #25
TM and Alec have some good ideas. My main disagreemensts are:

1. Just throwing money at the problem seldom helps unless you attempt to solve the underlying issues.

2. Where will you get the money in the first place?

Here are my opinions on issues you've raised. (Together with suggested money sources for all programs.)

Education.
I wrote a page-long rant here, but I'll save it for appropriate thread. Short summary is that American system is totally messed up and you need to completely reform it to get anywhere. (I've studied in both American and Russian schools so I can compare a system that works to the one that doesn't.)

Public Healthcare.
I completely agree. HMOs are as bad as government beurocracies already and America is already spending more money on healthcare per person than the countries with government healthcare do.

Get money for it by making people and employers pay premiums similar to the ones they do already.

Foreign Aid:
You have to invest enough money into the countries to help them fully develop their economies and educate the people and make sure the money isn't being stolen by corrupt officials if you want the aid to have any effect. Otherwise you'll just end up with 5 times more starving people when the generation you've just saved from starvation grows up and has their own kids.

Get money for it by cutting military budget. US shouldn't be the world policeman and the army doesn't need new genration of stealth bombers. Nobody in the world can compete against the current one. However, the mess in Iraq is likely to eat up a lot of resources for many years to come, so I don't see much foreign aid happening in forseeable future.

Affermantive Action:
How many Asians are you going to kick out of universities to make room for Blacks? Racial quotas never solved any problem and there is no way to set them without most people feeling discriminated against. Instead, I'd focus on helping all poor children regardless of race. If you give all poor people opportunites for education, loans to start their own businesses, etc, black people will do fine. And I don't know about your part of the country, but I haven't seen much racism in California.

Public transportation.
Yes, and get money for it by cutting oil and agricultural subsidies.

Massive tax hikes for "the rich".
1. Define "the rich".
2. Define "massive tax hikes".
3. How are you going to prevent "the rich" from replacing their American citizenship with foreign one? (Nobody smart enough to get a million dollars would want to live in a country that takes away most of his money.)

Strengthening welfare.
I partially agree, but you need to make sure that sitting on welfare isn't more appealing than taking a minimum-wage job.

Nuclear disarmament.
Alec gave a perfect argument for why we only need 20 nukes, instead of several hundreds.

Nuclear power.
Yes. Along with solar, wind, etc. And cutting our consumption will also be necessary.

Living Wage.
Yes, as long as you remember that 1000$ in a rural village will buy you a lot more stuff than 1000$ in San Francisco. So you have to set these wages on a regional level.

Labor unions.
I was under impression they are quite powerful already and are one of the main power bases of the Democratic party.

Disestablishing religion.
Considering that America already has stronger separation of Church and State than many European countries, I think we are doing fine on this point.

Global labor laws.
Yes, as long as you remember that 10$ in Malaysia can buy way more than 10$ in USA.

EDIT: Either this thread is moving very quickly, or I type very slowly.

On the question of nukes in the hands of countries like Iran, my main problem with them is making sure they will not end up in the hands of people like Bin Laden, who will be quite happy to start a nuclear war. Even Russian nukes scare me a lot, because I know how rampant bribery is in Russia and how much military equipment "disappeared" when Russian troops left East Germany.

Countries like Iran would be even worse than Russia at guarding their nukes. (Just look at Pakistan and its scientists who were helping anybody who'd pay.) And what will happen to Iranian nukes if there is another revolution? So with every unstable country going nuclear, chances of these weapons falling into the hands of someone who will trigger a war grow dramatically.

[ Wednesday, May 03, 2006 21:12: Message edited by: Zeviz ]

--------------------
Be careful with a word, as you would with a sword,
For it too has the power to kill.
However well placed word, unlike a well placed sword,
Can also have the power to heal.
Posts: 2649 | Registered: Wednesday, October 3 2001 07:00
Have I been playing too much Geneforge? in Geneforge Series
Zeviz
Nuke and Pave
Member # 24
 written Wednesday, May 3 2006 19:26 Profile Homepage #5
quote:
Originally written by Randomizer:

It's never too much until carpal tunnel syndrome in both wrists makes using the mouse impossible.

Although taking a break might be helpful. When you see the game in your sleep you are nearing the end.
Don't be discouraged by such a minor obstacle as carpal tunnel syndrome! Simply switch from mouse to trackball and continue until you can't move your fingers either. :)

--------------------
Be careful with a word, as you would with a sword,
For it too has the power to kill.
However well placed word, unlike a well placed sword,
Can also have the power to heal.
Posts: 2649 | Registered: Wednesday, October 3 2001 07:00
Stereotypically Yours in General
Zeviz
Nuke and Pave
Member # 24
 written Wednesday, May 3 2006 19:18 Profile Homepage #93
quote:
Originally written by Dolphin.:

t anyone that says they can do it - pics please.
Considering that I never posted my picture in any of the picture threads, I doubt attempting to lick my elbow would be a good first appearance even if I did decide to change my mind about never posting a picture here. :)

I do have to admit that my definition of "licking my elbow" was not much better than the one used in Inthrall's picture.

And to those who are dislocating their shoulder, don't try to turn your elbow first and then raise it. First raise the elbow to touch your face, then move the shoulder back as far as you can, bending the head slightly forward. Only then should you turn the elbow and you will not be able to turn it much, just enough to touch it with a tip of your tongue.

[ Wednesday, May 03, 2006 19:21: Message edited by: Zeviz ]

--------------------
Be careful with a word, as you would with a sword,
For it too has the power to kill.
However well placed word, unlike a well placed sword,
Can also have the power to heal.
Posts: 2649 | Registered: Wednesday, October 3 2001 07:00
Avernum 4 Traits and Skills Editor in Avernum 4
Zeviz
Nuke and Pave
Member # 24
 written Wednesday, May 3 2006 13:17 Profile Homepage #11
quote:
Originally written by Archmagus Micael:

Okay. You can get this new file you wanted uploaded Here.

A quesiton - is this meant to work on a WIN computer, or only on MAC? Because the file I just uploaded crashed on winXP.

- Archmagus Micael
Do you have the .Net framework installed? And is it the latest version? If not, I assume that might be the reason it doesn't work for you.

[ Wednesday, May 03, 2006 13:18: Message edited by: Zeviz ]

--------------------
Be careful with a word, as you would with a sword,
For it too has the power to kill.
However well placed word, unlike a well placed sword,
Can also have the power to heal.
Posts: 2649 | Registered: Wednesday, October 3 2001 07:00
a4 is the best game yet in Avernum 4
Zeviz
Nuke and Pave
Member # 24
 written Wednesday, May 3 2006 13:12 Profile Homepage #58
quote:
Originally written by Ephesos:

quote:
Originally written by Bomber:

What spycam??? :confused:
He's kidding. I think I missed the context, but he's kidding.
I think Salmon was replying to this:
quote:
Originally written by Spidweb:

...
And sometimes the customer is a paranoid schizophrenic who thinks that my game is spying on him. (Yes. It happened.)
...


--------------------
Be careful with a word, as you would with a sword,
For it too has the power to kill.
However well placed word, unlike a well placed sword,
Can also have the power to heal.
Posts: 2649 | Registered: Wednesday, October 3 2001 07:00
Stereotypically Yours in General
Zeviz
Nuke and Pave
Member # 24
 written Wednesday, May 3 2006 13:05 Profile Homepage #86
quote:
Originally written by Tyranicus:

That's physically impossible anyway, so don't worry about it. No one can lick their own elbow. I could lick other people's elbows if I so desired though. :P
It's only impossible if you try the obvious approach of bending your head towards your elbow. (In that case distance from shoulder to elbow becomes much longer than distance from shoulder to mouth.)

However, it's not very hard if you do it the opposite way: Hold your right arm across your chest, trying to touch left shoulder with right arm without bending it. (It's impossible to touch the shoulder that way unless you are far more flexible than normal, but just pull the arm in as much as you can.) Then turn the arm so that elbow is facing up. (You might have to move it further away from your chest.) Now you can just bend your head, raising the arm to be in front of your chin, and lick the elbow.

Looks like Inthrall already posted a picture of another way to do it, but that way makes you look a lot more silly than my way. :)

[ Wednesday, May 03, 2006 13:08: Message edited by: Zeviz ]

--------------------
Be careful with a word, as you would with a sword,
For it too has the power to kill.
However well placed word, unlike a well placed sword,
Can also have the power to heal.
Posts: 2649 | Registered: Wednesday, October 3 2001 07:00
A Few More Advance Words On Geneforge 4 in Geneforge Series
Zeviz
Nuke and Pave
Member # 24
 written Wednesday, May 3 2006 12:41 Profile Homepage #98
quote:
Originally written by Delicious Vlish:

... Allow the Guardian (type) class to hit multiple enemies in a single attack. Perhaps cranking melee skill would increase the chance of getting a hit on those standing in the immediate area around you. At higher levels of training, a good swipe with a sword would hit 5 or 6 foes around you, and then allow for quick action to allow for second hits or double damage or something, Also, allow the missile skill to allow for a chance to pierce with batons or thrown weapons. Also, batons are a lock and load type weapon. Heck, allow them to have 2 or 3 shots a round and give the Guardian even footing with the Agent in terms of damage output. A well made missile Guardian with piercing missiles could hold his own in terms of damage. And allow quick action to allow you to squeeze off an extra shot once and while.
...
This sounds like multiple attack modes from some other games and I agree that it would be good to see these in Gf5. (I suspect Gf4 is too far along in development to accomodate such changes.) What I mean by multiple attack modes is that your characters and creations would have an option to use a weaker attack that damages all nearby enemies. Ranged attacks would also have a weaker multi-target mode. Or a faster, but weaker attack. There are many possibilities here.

PS As for Serviles shaping themselves, I am not surprized that that's the direction in which the series is going. Considering the current state of Geneforge world, Geneforge-using ending of Gf1 no longer looks that bad. (Or at least it looks no worse than current state of the world.)

--------------------
Be careful with a word, as you would with a sword,
For it too has the power to kill.
However well placed word, unlike a well placed sword,
Can also have the power to heal.
Posts: 2649 | Registered: Wednesday, October 3 2001 07:00
Games in General
Zeviz
Nuke and Pave
Member # 24
 written Wednesday, May 3 2006 11:34 Profile Homepage #22
While I am against piracy, abandonware is a completely different matter. If it is impossible for me to buy a game from its original creator/publisher, I have no problem downloading it. (I know that it's theoretically possible to find anything on e-bay, but that wouldn't benefit the game's original creator/publisher in any way.) As for it being technically illegal, so is driving faster than the speed limit. And unlike downloading abandonware, driving above speed limit could hurt people, because it makes you more likely to have an accident.

--------------------
Be careful with a word, as you would with a sword,
For it too has the power to kill.
However well placed word, unlike a well placed sword,
Can also have the power to heal.
Posts: 2649 | Registered: Wednesday, October 3 2001 07:00
Music: a legitimate poll in General
Zeviz
Nuke and Pave
Member # 24
 written Tuesday, May 2 2006 20:19 Profile Homepage #21
quote:
Originally written by $ v. #:

For the people who put Other, I am kinda curious what your preferred genres are. I am guessing we have at least one vote for Hindustani music. What else?
I picked "other" (in addition to "classical") because I wasn't sure how to classify Russian and Jewish music that I like.

[ Tuesday, May 02, 2006 20:20: Message edited by: Zeviz ]

--------------------
Be careful with a word, as you would with a sword,
For it too has the power to kill.
However well placed word, unlike a well placed sword,
Can also have the power to heal.
Posts: 2649 | Registered: Wednesday, October 3 2001 07:00
US and Sudan in General
Zeviz
Nuke and Pave
Member # 24
 written Tuesday, May 2 2006 19:42 Profile Homepage #50
Regarding driving the other side into the sea:

Hamas, the Palestinian party whose platform is to "drive Israelis into the sea" won the last election.

The only party in Israel that advocated removing Palestinians from West Bank was outlawed and just wearing their t-shirt is a crime in Israel.

Any attempt to draw a moral equivalence between the Palestinians, majority of whom voted for the party advocating complete destruction of Israel and the Israelis, majority of whom agreed to completely ban the party that advocated removal of all Palestinians, looks wrong to me. You have to realize that not everything in the world is relative and sometimes "this guy's truth" and "the other guy's truth" aren't equally valid.

As for negotiations in the 90s, Israelis agreed to as many demands as they could, while Palestinians refused to bulge an inch. According to Dennis Ross, the mediator of the talks, Arafat refused to give a counter-proposal to any Israeli offer of compromize and instead added more and more demands. For example, the issue of refugees wasn't even brought up until Israel agreed to most Palestinian demands that were on the table at the time.

[ Tuesday, May 02, 2006 20:29: Message edited by: Zeviz ]

--------------------
Be careful with a word, as you would with a sword,
For it too has the power to kill.
However well placed word, unlike a well placed sword,
Can also have the power to heal.
Posts: 2649 | Registered: Wednesday, October 3 2001 07:00
US and Sudan in General
Zeviz
Nuke and Pave
Member # 24
 written Tuesday, May 2 2006 16:20 Profile Homepage #48
quote:
Originally written by The Worst Man Ever:

...From the brief research I have done on the subject, and please correct me if I am wrong:

In 1948, there was indeed an unprovoked attack by Arab states on Israel. The states were dictatorships and monarchies; characterizing them as 'theocracies' verges on insane. Israel won the war and, in so doing, annexed a substantial amount of what would have been Palestinian territory.
Yes, Arabs were the aggressors.

quote:
In 1956, Egypt nationalized the Suez Company, and in response, France and England essentially used Israel as a cat's-paw, attacking Egypt by proxy and managing to keep the Suez Canal open. Hardly self-defense.
Yes, Israel was the aggressor here.

quote:
In 1967 there occurred the Six Day War: for whatever reason, Egypt elected to blockade Aqaba, closing access for Israel to the Red Sea. Israel proceeded to launch a 'pre-emptive attack' on Egypt and seize the Sinai, along with various other territories they had a strategic but not legal reason to occupy. This was essentially a war of aggression on Israel's part.
Correction:
Arab countries violated every single term of the cease-fire: from Egypt kicking out international observers and moving its army towards Israeli border to Syrian artillery shelling Israeli farms from positions on Golan heights.

Considering that Egypt and Syria were still in a state of war with Israel and Egypt just kicked out international observers from border and moved its army there, while Syria was shelling Israeli farms, in addition to breaking all other terms of cease-fire (Egypt blocking Israeli shipment through international waters, etc.), cease-fire was dead. And when you are in a state of war and the other side breaks the cease-fire, attacking them doesn't sound that unreasonable.

Note that Israel did not attack Jordan, which didn't violate its part of the bargain. The only countries attacked were Syria and Egypt, who violated all cease-fire terms. Jordan declared war on Israel later, getting in on Egypt and Syria's losing war.

quote:
In 1973, mostly in retribution for the 1967 war, Egypt and Syria invaded, intent on reclaiming territories lost.
Yes, Arabs were the aggressors

quote:
After the cease-fire, a series of conferences eventually lead to recognition for Israel from Egypt - conditional on Israeli withdrawal from the Sinai.

The lesson to be learned here? Simple. In three/four/five wars (depending on whether you count the Suez Crisis as a war, or the War of Attrition), Israel at its zenith managed to, what? Seize a few thousand square miles of desert? It wasn't until they gave the ridiculous siege-mentality 'We have to get them or they'll get us' a rest and actually took Egypt to the table that they got anything done.
Correction:
Israel tried to negotiate after every single war. Arabs refused peace in 1948. Arabs refused peace in 1956. Arabs refused peace in 1967. Only after 1973, when Arabs gave up on destroying Israel did Egypt accept peace. In 1973, Arabs had the advantage of a surprize attack during the day of the year when almost all Jewish soldiers were in sinagogues, but still lost. Only after that did Egypt accept peace.

quote:
An auxillary lesson is that Israel had an exceptional amount of culpability in any given international war it fought in (except 1948 - granted).
Correction:
Israel was the one attacked in 3 out of 4 wars. That's a strange way of assigning "exceptional culpability".

quote:
That's auxillary because it doesn't make a whit of difference. You can't have security until you have peace, and someone who will only settle for victory will have to wait for peace until the other side - the Jews here, I suppose - is dead.

If that's how it's going to go - well, they have a word for when a country gets together and kills millions of a specific race because they believe it's the only way to keep them in line.

I'm sure you know it.
FYT
Israel tried to negotiate with Arabs countless times, but none of the offers were enough. The talks with the Palestinians in late 1990s were the classic example: whenever Israel agreed to Palestinian demands, new demands arose. Here is what Israel offered when Palestinians refused to continue negotiations and started their terrorist campaign:

- An independent Palestinian state, including
- Complete control of 100% of Gaza.
- Complete control of 90% of West Bank.
- Removal of all settlements from Palestinian controlled areas.
- Control over the Temple Mount and some suburbs of Jerusalem.
- Compensation for all refugees (both Palestinian and Jewish)

That was the offer to which Palestinians responded with current terror campaign.

And after this people still have the audacity to say that Israelis are the ones refusing to negotiate and trying to wipe the other side off the map?

--------------------
Be careful with a word, as you would with a sword,
For it too has the power to kill.
However well placed word, unlike a well placed sword,
Can also have the power to heal.
Posts: 2649 | Registered: Wednesday, October 3 2001 07:00
A Few More Advance Words On Geneforge 4 in Geneforge Series
Zeviz
Nuke and Pave
Member # 24
 written Tuesday, May 2 2006 14:53 Profile Homepage #74
quote:
Originally written by Delicious Vlish:

...
Nerfing Daze would hurt other classes far more than it would hurt the Agent. With out Daze, fragile Shapers run the risk of something beelining past their wall of creations and taking them out.
I guess this is just a question of playing style. Just like you argue that a correctly played agent would never get hit, I'd argue that a correctly played Shaper would never get close enough to battlefield for anything to get in range to attack him.

I did fine as both Guardian and Shaper in Gf2 with no mental and battle magic at all. I also got through half of Gf3 with a similar shaper (lost interest in the game after finishing Dhonal Island). You might be right that an Agent is generally overpowered, but I am wondering whether less experienced Agent players feel the same way.

[ Tuesday, May 02, 2006 14:54: Message edited by: Zeviz ]

--------------------
Be careful with a word, as you would with a sword,
For it too has the power to kill.
However well placed word, unlike a well placed sword,
Can also have the power to heal.
Posts: 2649 | Registered: Wednesday, October 3 2001 07:00
A Few More Advance Words On Geneforge 4 in Geneforge Series
Zeviz
Nuke and Pave
Member # 24
 written Tuesday, May 2 2006 14:32 Profile Homepage #72
quote:
Originally written by Student of Trinity:

Since I'm here right now I'll answer Major:

The thing with a properly built Agent is that all the examples are the same, because it's always her turn.

She's on permanent Speed and she has huge Quick Action. So she steps just into range of an unsuspecting enemy of almost any size, and hits it for enormous damage with, say, Searer. It's still her turn because she had at least 12 AP, so she has at least 5 left now. If she's feeling brave or confident she could attack again and go for a quick kill, but if she's cautious she retreats a few steps to get out of sight of her enemy, then her player taps "f" twice very quickly. Before her victim has had time to move, she's got a fresh 12 AP.
...
The bolded part here is an exploit of combat system, so if that's the main reason you are arguing for agent to be nerfed, just don't abuse this exploit. Fight-end button wasn't intended to give you infinite APs. It was intended to ... leave combat when fight is over. Since this isn't a competitive game, Jeff doesn't have to change the whole game to get rid of an exploit. Just don't use it if it makes the game too easy.

Since I haven't played Agent in Gf3, I can't comment on how she compares to other classes, but it sounds like most of your invinsible-agent strategies could be defeated by nerfing Daze (my Shapers and Guardians did fine in previous Geneforges with no mental magic at all), and stopping yourself from abusing fight-end trick. (Or Jeff not letting the player end fight while an enemy is chasing him.)

PS In general, I'd prefer it if Jeff added even higher difficulty level beyond Torment, instead of changing the game balance to make normal level challenging for the best players.

[ Tuesday, May 02, 2006 14:39: Message edited by: Zeviz ]

--------------------
Be careful with a word, as you would with a sword,
For it too has the power to kill.
However well placed word, unlike a well placed sword,
Can also have the power to heal.
Posts: 2649 | Registered: Wednesday, October 3 2001 07:00
Avernum V in Avernum 4
Zeviz
Nuke and Pave
Member # 24
 written Monday, May 1 2006 20:16 Profile Homepage #269
quote:
Originally written by Ephesos:

quote:
Originally written by Thuryl:

Man. Talking about the scenario like this almost makes me want to actually make the damn thing.
Do it! You know you want to!
I also would like to play this scenario. (Or pretty much any scenario you'll make, considering your past record.)

--------------------
Be careful with a word, as you would with a sword,
For it too has the power to kill.
However well placed word, unlike a well placed sword,
Can also have the power to heal.
Posts: 2649 | Registered: Wednesday, October 3 2001 07:00
US and Sudan in General
Zeviz
Nuke and Pave
Member # 24
 written Monday, May 1 2006 14:28 Profile Homepage #32
quote:
Originally written by $ v. #:

So, I asked you to convince me as to why, when you are surrounded, your only options are to "react" or to die. You made that comment in regards to Israel. You responded to my question by saying "I guess you've never been in a real fight before," comparing the situation around Israel to "a real fight" which I assumed referred to a personal brawl. I don't think the two situations are particularly analogous.
"Surrounded" should have been replaced by "under siege" in Infernal's statement.

Basically, here is what things look like to Israelis:

They live in a country where any unattended bag could contain a bomb and any Arab walking down the street could have a bomb under his jacket. I am not saying that is the case, that is just what things look like when there is an explosion on a bus, or in a restaraunt, or in another public place every few weeks to a few months.

Politically, the moment their state was formed all nearby Arab countried declared war and most of them still haven't made peace. In addition to several full scale wars, these neighbors proudly support terrorist organisations acting within Israel, so their aggressive rhetoric has to be taken seriously.

The previous times Arab countries attacked Israel, nobody came to its aid. Why would next invasion be any different?

PS This post was just an answer to your question to explain where Infernal was coming from and why her statements that sound so strange to us make sence to her. I am well aware that Palestinians have similar causes to feel distrustful of Israel and I am not interested in a discussion of whose grivances are more valid.

EDIT:
quote:
Originally written by Lord Torso:

quote:
Originally written by Zeviz:

quote:
Originally written by Lord Torso:

...
Well, there's still no especially pressing issue which would make them move to attack Israel.

I also don't know why Israel as a state is still allowed to exist.
I find the contradiction between first and second sentence quite amuzing.
I find it amusing that you think there is a contradiction. Israel should not exist in the state it is now, but that's no reason to remove the government by force or indeed to even remove the government.

And ad hominenm attacks aren't the best way to solve disputes. Inciting them, yes, but that's really not what anyone wants. Right?
1. What you originally said: "I also don't know why Israel as a state is still allowed to exist." (Emphasis added by me.) If this isn't a call for Israel to sease "existing as a state", I don't know what is.

2. "Ad hominem" is attacking the person, rather than the argument. The only thing I did was pointing out the logical contradiction within your post. I apologize for sarcastic tone of my remark. However, the remark's content itself is about as logical and impersonal as I could get in responding to a 2-sentence post.

[ Monday, May 01, 2006 15:01: Message edited by: Zeviz ]

--------------------
Be careful with a word, as you would with a sword,
For it too has the power to kill.
However well placed word, unlike a well placed sword,
Can also have the power to heal.
Posts: 2649 | Registered: Wednesday, October 3 2001 07:00
US and Sudan in General
Zeviz
Nuke and Pave
Member # 24
 written Monday, May 1 2006 14:03 Profile Homepage #28
quote:
Originally written by Lord Torso:

...
Well, there's still no especially pressing issue which would make them move to attack Israel.

I also don't know why Israel as a state is still allowed to exist.
I find the contradiction between first and second sentence quite amuzing.

--------------------
Be careful with a word, as you would with a sword,
For it too has the power to kill.
However well placed word, unlike a well placed sword,
Can also have the power to heal.
Posts: 2649 | Registered: Wednesday, October 3 2001 07:00
Doors in The Exile Trilogy
Zeviz
Nuke and Pave
Member # 24
 written Monday, May 1 2006 13:58 Profile Homepage #17
There are some BoE scenarios (I think later works by Alcritas are among them) where breaking into people's houses decreases your reputation, and bad reputataion not only makes things harder for you, but effects the ending as well.

--------------------
Be careful with a word, as you would with a sword,
For it too has the power to kill.
However well placed word, unlike a well placed sword,
Can also have the power to heal.
Posts: 2649 | Registered: Wednesday, October 3 2001 07:00
Xylgham udwlnit skretcko!1!! in General
Zeviz
Nuke and Pave
Member # 24
 written Monday, May 1 2006 13:48 Profile Homepage #101
quote:
Originally written by I Would Have Been Your Daddy:

I tried descrambling "dohesae fhosad xrazxar", but no luck.
...
Sounds like either made up language or intentional gibberish. Does this phrase have any meaning in any of the languages used in fiction books/movies?

--------------------
Be careful with a word, as you would with a sword,
For it too has the power to kill.
However well placed word, unlike a well placed sword,
Can also have the power to heal.
Posts: 2649 | Registered: Wednesday, October 3 2001 07:00
US and Sudan in General
Zeviz
Nuke and Pave
Member # 24
 written Monday, May 1 2006 13:42 Profile Homepage #21
quote:
Originally written by I Would Have Been Your Daddy:

I mean the countries and their leaders. The muslim theocracies you refrenced. They're not about to declare war.
In case you were not aware, most of them are officially at war with Israel already. And had been at war with Israel since 1948. Egypt and Jordan are the only two Arab countries that signed peace with Israel and Egyptian president who did this was assasinated when he returned home.

So I guess you are technically correct: they can't declare war on Israel, because that's kind of hard to do when you are already at war.

[ Monday, May 01, 2006 13:45: Message edited by: Zeviz ]

--------------------
Be careful with a word, as you would with a sword,
For it too has the power to kill.
However well placed word, unlike a well placed sword,
Can also have the power to heal.
Posts: 2649 | Registered: Wednesday, October 3 2001 07:00
A Few More Advance Words On Geneforge 4 in Geneforge Series
Zeviz
Nuke and Pave
Member # 24
 written Friday, April 28 2006 16:03 Profile Homepage #1
Sounds like it will be one of the best Spidweb games. :) Especially this part:
quote:
...
The game will be smaller in size than Geneforge 3, but with a much higher plot density. I've tried to make the game have a more intricate plot and more involved quest chains, battles, and characters.
...
The game still tracks your allegiance to one side or the other, but the system is now based far more on actions and less on conversation. A lot of encounters have a pro-rebel and a pro-shaper resolution.


--------------------
Be careful with a word, as you would with a sword,
For it too has the power to kill.
However well placed word, unlike a well placed sword,
Can also have the power to heal.
Posts: 2649 | Registered: Wednesday, October 3 2001 07:00
Languages in General
Zeviz
Nuke and Pave
Member # 24
 written Friday, April 28 2006 15:37 Profile Homepage #37
quote:
Originally written by i v. I:

What the heck?
Even using a liberal definition of "speak" -- say, "can communicate using said language without herculean strain" -- there are very few people here who possibly speak more than three languages.

Whoever speaks four or six or nine languages, you've got some splainin' to do!
I guess most of those was Aran:
quote:
Originally written by Charles Dexter Ward:

...
Edit: Also, my number of known languages fluctuates between 0 and infinity, so I checked all those boxes because I could. The poll is worthless anyway...


--------------------
Be careful with a word, as you would with a sword,
For it too has the power to kill.
However well placed word, unlike a well placed sword,
Can also have the power to heal.
Posts: 2649 | Registered: Wednesday, October 3 2001 07:00
What style of graphics would you like to see in Avernum 5? in General
Zeviz
Nuke and Pave
Member # 24
 written Friday, April 28 2006 14:04 Profile Homepage #27
I agree that A4 utilizes much more advanced graphical engine and is more modern. However, the best graphical engine in the world is useless if you don't have the graphics to put into it. Exile and Avernum series and BoE/BoA have a large number of graphics made by professional and amature artists. Avernum 4 doesn't. And it shows.

My opinion on the graphics is that their primary purpose is to tell me what objects they represent and to provide the atmosphere for the game. A4 graphics fail in that respect. Drakons don't look like Sliths and Shapers don't look like Avernum adventurers. Big circles on the ground don't look like traps. (At least not the kind of traps used in RPGs/DnD.) The captain of the guards shouldn't have a bucket of white paint dumped on him. (Or whoever dumped that bucket of paint would be in a lot of pain. :) ) And so on.

A4 could have the best graphics of any Spidweb game if Jeff hired several professional artists. Since he can't afford that, I'd prefer to see Spidweb games with an engine whose graphics Jeff can afford. Either Avernum or Exile style graphics are fine for me and while I personally prefer Exile-style graphics, it looks like majority prefers Avernum.

[ Friday, April 28, 2006 14:05: Message edited by: Zeviz ]

--------------------
Be careful with a word, as you would with a sword,
For it too has the power to kill.
However well placed word, unlike a well placed sword,
Can also have the power to heal.
Posts: 2649 | Registered: Wednesday, October 3 2001 07:00

Pages