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Displayed name	Slarty
Member number	261
Title	Raven v. Writing Desk
Postcount	3560
Homepage	http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/slartyvsdesk/
Registered	Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00

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House Unshaperlike Activities Committee in Geneforge 4: Rebellion
Slarty Raven v. Writing Desk Member # 261	written Thursday, December 14 2006 05:44 Profile Homepage #4 Basically, the Geneforge series has had two major ethical continuums: 1) Creation Rights vs. Shaper Authority 2) Power vs. Moderation #1 has been there all along in the form of the sects, and was the main focus of the first three games. In G1, we did have #2 with the Trajkov question, and the dilemma of what to do with the Geneforge. In G2, there was the contrast between the megalomanaical Barzites and Drakons, and the only slightly power-crazy Zakary and Awakened, though the only truly moderational presence was Aodare's kill-them-all ending. In G3, #2 was discarded almost entirely in favor of #1, which I think is one of the reasons the game seemed to flat and ethically frustrating. In all three games, however, the sects sort of subsumed #2 into the #1 question. With the sole exception of the Barzites, there was a single continuum, with the loyal sects exercising restraint in power-grabbing, the Awakened exercising less restraint, and the Takers and Rebels exercising none whatsoever. In G4, the creation of the Trakovites splits the question wide open, and for the first time since G1 we really do have two ethical continuums. I have to imagine that I am not the only one who was dissatisfied with G3 in this regard, and relieved and refreshed to see the Trakovites surface. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 \| Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00
Nothing Plus Nothing Equals Nothing in General
Slarty Raven v. Writing Desk Member # 261	written Wednesday, December 13 2006 20:16 Profile Homepage #65 Erasure...? That... well, I'm very sad to see that's where you've ended up. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 \| Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00
Nothing Plus Nothing Equals Nothing in General
Slarty Raven v. Writing Desk Member # 261	written Wednesday, December 13 2006 05:09 Profile Homepage #41 The frustrating thing about arguing with you, Synergy, is that you treat debate as a contest of assertions made without evidence, where the strength of your belief in your position justifies it. As I see it, intelligent debate needs to include: 1) evidence, and 2) discussion of the reasoning used to reach your conclusions. That's why it can be a learning experience for both parties -- they share evidence, and they share ways of looking at the topic critically. You don't provide evidence. You make assertions which, as others have commented, use a lot of vague language. You refuse to define things more clearly. And when your reasoning comes under critical examination, you ignore the particularly darning parts of others' posts, modulate your rhetoric and make new assertions, shifting the presentation of your original point but nonetheless just re-asserting it without addressing criticisms. This is no way to debate. I have backed you up at times in the past, but if you want my honest opinion, you're a cartoon character who has just dashed off a cliff. You might want to jump back before you look down, realize where you are, and plummet into a big chasm. quote: Originally written by Kelandon: What I ended up doing, after that, was telling him that I thought that a bunch of what he had just said was idiotic, and then he unzipped his pants, pulled out some New Age buzzwords, and started waving them around. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 \| Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00
Nothing Plus Nothing Equals Nothing in General
Slarty Raven v. Writing Desk Member # 261	written Tuesday, December 12 2006 21:33 Profile Homepage #18 Synergy, you are making some legitimate points. However, what you state far, far oversteps the boundaries of those legitimate points. Yes, many theories in contemporary science will someday be replaced with theories that provide superior explanation, and some things that most of us take for granted will be revealed to be not quite what we thought. That absolutely does NOT mean that the whole human endeavor of learning about the world through science, and constructing theories to explain how it works, is bunk! The fact that theories are not perfect and may someday be replaced with better theories does not mean we should treat them lightly any more than the mortality of individuals means we should treat them lightly. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 \| Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00
Avernum 5 Early, Early Notes in Avernum 4
Slarty Raven v. Writing Desk Member # 261	written Tuesday, December 12 2006 20:08 Profile Homepage #99 The only line connecting the Silvars in the games is this one: "You enter the village of Silvar. Coincidentally, Silvar is the name of one of the largest cities in Exile. Who knows? Perhaps it was founded by a homesick person from here." The timeline is fairly solid on these points, so I think it is safe to conclude that Silvar the Avernite city was not named after Silvar the surface village. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 \| Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00
"Powergaming" Harmony Isle in Geneforge Series
Slarty Raven v. Writing Desk Member # 261	written Tuesday, December 12 2006 19:42 Profile Homepage #5 The purity officer gives the acid-drip sword as a reward for the canister, IIRC. You don't want to miss that unless you never ever intend to melee. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 \| Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00
Ridiculous droppings in Geneforge 4: Rebellion
Slarty Raven v. Writing Desk Member # 261	written Tuesday, December 12 2006 19:34 Profile Homepage #20 I think the issue here is less likely to be the RNG than the display of fatuous numbers. Adequate pseudorandom number generators are not hard to come by. Seeing as Jeff once studied statistics in grad school and is clearly competent with simple algorithms, I doubt he would find them difficult to handle. We know from the Armor % display feature that not all displayed numbers are accurate representations of anything. I experimented with to-hit a lot in G3 when I tried to duplicate the A4 99% dodge build, and it failed because to-hit calculations do really weird things in Geneforge when they approach either extreme. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 \| Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00
Ridiculous droppings in Geneforge 4: Rebellion
Slarty Raven v. Writing Desk Member # 261	written Tuesday, December 12 2006 09:17 Profile Homepage #11 What does it do? I mean, does it generate reasonably pseudorandom numbers, or not? -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 \| Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00
Avernum 5 Early, Early Notes in Avernum 4
Slarty Raven v. Writing Desk Member # 261	written Tuesday, December 12 2006 08:55 Profile Homepage #93 It is stated in the game in various places that Southern Valorim (a.k.a. Krizsan) was settled fairly recently. I don't have the references here. I settled on approximately 813 for the EE timeline date, and I know I relied purely on solid canon for that number. One of the amusing things about that is that it means Silvar in Exile was founded earlier than Silvar in Krizsan Province. "Why not? Avernum was settled in approximately 10 years (767 IE for the first people, 777 IE when Avernum was established), and it's probably only slightly smaller than Valorim." Um, Avernum was not SETTLED in ten years. The date the Kingdom was founded probably has more to do with either rallying Avernite troops to fight, or the effects of early military victories against Grah-Hoth and the sliths. [ Tuesday, December 12, 2006 08:58: Message edited by: Everything Remains To Be Done ] -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 \| Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00
Ridiculous droppings in Geneforge 4: Rebellion
Slarty Raven v. Writing Desk Member # 261	written Tuesday, December 12 2006 08:43 Profile Homepage #7 quote: Originally written by wz. As: Given that it already happened, the probability is 1. This is not just nitpicking — you didn't set out in advance to try and get three of these things in a row. If you started a game and thought, gee, I wonder if I'll get three thahdskin tunics off the next thahds I see, that would be a little more impressive when it actually happened. I hope that what you meant was: "you didn't set up a controlled experiment and test for thahd drops." How is intention relevant to this kind of test? And if it is relevant, how they HECK is it desirable to have that potential bias? You're right that I was only recounting an anecdote, but did I ever present it as anything else? Single random data points are not statistically significant, but they are not meaningless, and they are certainly not any less significant than single deliberately chosen data points with an equal lack of context. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 \| Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00
Bug report - G4 in Tech Support
Slarty Raven v. Writing Desk Member # 261	written Tuesday, December 12 2006 05:21 Profile Homepage #0 If you use the stairs to the jail in Southforge Citadel when you have seven creations, you get a message that says "Error: couldn't place party when entering zone" and the game quits. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 \| Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00
Cheating/Editors in Geneforge 4: Rebellion
Slarty Raven v. Writing Desk Member # 261	written Tuesday, December 12 2006 04:52 Profile Homepage #11 I thought the other games capped stats at 30, including items, and did weird things (i.e., reduced stats sometimes) if you equipped and then took off a stat booster with that stat already maxxed out. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 \| Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00
Ridiculous droppings in Geneforge 4: Rebellion
Slarty Raven v. Writing Desk Member # 261	written Tuesday, December 12 2006 04:45 Profile Homepage #4 Incidentally, has anyone ever gotten a random item drop, then reloaded and not gotten it? Or vice versa. I keep forgetting to try this and see if it works -- as I have never heard of anyone getting a random drop by repeated save and reload. I wonder if they are set when the creatures are spawned on zone loading? -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 \| Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00
Is the Shaper Camp unbeatable? in Geneforge 4: Rebellion
Slarty Raven v. Writing Desk Member # 261	written Tuesday, December 12 2006 04:41 Profile Homepage #12 The sentinels have a leadership option at 10 leadership that makes them let you leave. Does that help with the stealth or the alarms? -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 \| Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00
Servile cursing monsters in Geneforge 4: Rebellion
Slarty Raven v. Writing Desk Member # 261	written Tuesday, December 12 2006 04:25 Profile Homepage #1 All creations have a chance of becoming scared and rogue if they are very hurt, the enemy's as well as yours. I've never seen that happen on a parry, though. Can you be more specific about what creations it's happening to? What's your Parry score and what is your weapon? At any rate, I'd be extremely surprised if being a Servile had anything to do with it. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 \| Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00
So this is goodbye in General
Slarty Raven v. Writing Desk Member # 261	written Monday, December 11 2006 07:30 Profile Homepage #3 quote: Originally written by Arancaytar: If I want to have any chance at getting my Bachelor next year, I have to get off my posterior right now. quote: Originally written by Nikki x: *hugs Aran longer than everybody else. But in only a completely heterosexual way...* ... -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 \| Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00
Ridiculous droppings in Geneforge 4: Rebellion
Slarty Raven v. Writing Desk Member # 261	written Monday, December 11 2006 06:49 Profile Homepage #0 I decided to try a new run as an Infiltrator. (The tipping factor was getting annoyed at having to change my sphere of sight every time I attack an enemy. Now I remember why melee was always deprecated in Geneforge.) Anyway, the first Thahd I killed dropped a Thahdskin Tunic. The second Thahd I killed dropped a Thahdskin Tunic. And the third Thahd I killed also dropped a Thahdskin Tunic. And I didn't pump Luck above 2. Further Thahds have not, so the game isn't broken, but geez. What are the odds? If only I have this luck when collecting Glaahk Eyes. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 \| Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00
The Insidious Infiltrator in Geneforge 4: Rebellion
Slarty Raven v. Writing Desk Member # 261	written Monday, December 11 2006 06:21 Profile Homepage #31 "+X Levels of damage" basically gives you the same damage bonus you would get from +X Melee Weapons, +X Missile Weapons, and +X Battle Magic, but not the to-hit bonus you would get for those +X's. As for the armor formula: there is no formula. As I have been saying repeatedly, it's just layered multiplication! If you wear one piece of 40% armor, you take 60% damage. If you wear one piece of 20% armor, you take 80% damage. If you wear both, you take 80% of 60% damage, which is 48% damage. The stat screen however will display 60% armor, which is totally and completely bogus. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 \| Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00
Nether Arts in Nethergate
Slarty Raven v. Writing Desk Member # 261	written Sunday, December 10 2006 21:10 Profile Homepage #4 Was that spell basically the equivalent of Avatar? I'm trying to remember. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 \| Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00
The Insidious Infiltrator in Geneforge 4: Rebellion
Slarty Raven v. Writing Desk Member # 261	written Sunday, December 10 2006 20:26 Profile Homepage #24 As Thuryl mentioned, there is no 10-cap on magic. Actually, I don't think there is a 10-cap left on anything except shaping skill, and Jeff mentioned that that 10-cap was unintentional. I have no idea how Damage Shield works. I do wish I did. I imagine it either affects the numbers by subtraction (raw, like Vampiric Touch) or has a small effect on all damage separate from regular resistance-based reduction. Okay, here's a sample armor calculation. I am making up the equipment numbers, it doesn't seem worthwhile to look up real ones. Say we are wearing: 34% armor 12% shield 6% gauntlets 6% hat 5% ring 4% boots 2% belt This adds up to a total of 69%, which will display on the status screen. The actual damage taken is 66% x 88% and so on, which comes out to about 46%. Protective spells seem to reduce damage by about half (again this is based more on my memory of A4), so with buffs, damage taken will be about 23% of max. Now let's pretend we have much lighter armor: 12% armor 8% shield 3% gauntlets 3% hat 0% ring non-armorous 3% boots 2% belt (...they don't have hats in geneforge, huh. Well, that's why this is a demo :) ) This adds up to a displayed total of 31%, less than half the armor of the above equipment. The actual damage taken is about 72%, so with buffs you end up taking 36%. That's an extra 50% damage. Not insignificant, however 1) If the heavier equipment requires multiple points of Strength, multiple points of Endurance will get you WAY more ability to take blows 2) more importantly, you get an extra 1/2 damage against physical attacks, but take a negligible amount extra from magic, fire, ice, etc., and nothing extra from poison, acid, or mental attacks. So you can endure thahds and drayks better, but are not much hardier against cryodrayks or wingbolts. --- In other news... I have been thinking about your whole approach and I am starting to think you may be right that the Infiltrator is as good as the Servile. However, the Infiltrator makes a worse Servile. The problem is that due to your rather zealous promotion of her and my ordinal orientation, we've been looking at two classes doing the same build rather than doing two different builds with different strengths. Essentially, the Servile IS better with the numbers, but spells can trump numbers, just like creations can. Incidentally, is there anyone here who doubts that the missing sixth class, the Magic strong Combat weak one, would undoubtedly be the best class by a mile unless its essence score was unexpectedly nerfed? -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 \| Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00
9 9 9 ? in General
Slarty Raven v. Writing Desk Member # 261	written Sunday, December 10 2006 19:58 Profile Homepage #9 This reminds me of an old Square One music video, "Nine Nine Nine" -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 \| Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00
The Insidious Infiltrator in Geneforge 4: Rebellion
Slarty Raven v. Writing Desk Member # 261	written Sunday, December 10 2006 08:29 Profile Homepage #13 You're right, I think, that we have fundamentally different approaches to this, even with the same build. I would never think about "indulging" so impulsively with a commodity as precious as skill points. No doubt my optimizing seems equally compulsive to you. I do question however the use of wearing such heavy equipment. You just don't get a very good return out of it, if you have to pump strength in order to wear it. Because all the defensive multipliers stack by multiplication, the actual damage reduction is not tremendous; since Endurance gives such good returns now (for an Infiltrator, it's twice what it used to be for an Agent IIRC) that seems a much better defensive investment. If there were no good light armor, that would be one thing, but there is great light armor that gives you bonuses in other areas. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 \| Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00
I just remembered where I had seen glaahks before. in Geneforge 4: Rebellion
Slarty Raven v. Writing Desk Member # 261	written Sunday, December 10 2006 05:35 Profile Homepage #4 Maybe Glaahks are the true "turgid, fleshy sex drones of Almaria"... -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 \| Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00
The Insidious Infiltrator in Geneforge 4: Rebellion
Slarty Raven v. Writing Desk Member # 261	written Sunday, December 10 2006 05:32 Profile Homepage #10 quote: Originally written by Synergy67: I will be adding no more Strength or Endurance for the rest of the game. I could have done without either if I really felt it was critical to pump the Intelligence, but the build is so successful anyway, I can indulge a little. Your last build ended up with 18 strength at the end. Totally unnecessary! You had +10 from items, and you don't need nearly that much to wear the best stuff, so I'm just curious why you're willing to sink so many skill points there. Endurance, too. 12 or 14 of those points were just getting you up to the Str and HP that a Servile starts with -- more than enough to make up the difference in magic skill costs. There is also the question of why you are pumping Dex at all. Given your investment in magic, missile weapons aren't going to be too critical, and at any rate I'd expect you to get more mileage out of an extra point in Battle Magic. Your Int is perhaps higher than I'd expect, too. What exactly are you spending 230 essence on in every zone? -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 \| Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00
Avernum 5 Early, Early Notes in Avernum 4
Slarty Raven v. Writing Desk Member # 261	written Saturday, December 9 2006 21:04 Profile Homepage #59 Wait a second. Xian Cow. ... -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 \| Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00

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