Profile for Slarty
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| 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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| These pretzels are making me thirsty. in General | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Friday, May 26 2006 04:37
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I didn't ignore your gentle requests last night. :P -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| Dan Brown Book... in General | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Friday, May 26 2006 04:23
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I recommend going back to the Greek, and using the very sensible plural of "Christoi." -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| Why I did not like Geneforge 3 in Geneforge Series | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Friday, May 26 2006 01:55
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Well, who else is there to use? Litalia's gone either way. Rahul's clearly not mobile, and the drakons are a big load of boring. Anyway, it seems more reasonable to take the Shaper ending, as that includes less power escalation for either side of the war. The more power escalation there is, the harder it is to come up with any kind of middle ground route. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| Why I did not like Geneforge 3 in Geneforge Series | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Friday, May 26 2006 01:43
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Jeff has already said that G4 will include more major NPCs reprising their roles than previous games did. Khyryk is the most obvious choice for one of these, by far. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| These pretzels are making me thirsty. in General | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Friday, May 26 2006 01:32
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 This one was more of a collaboration than the ChronoCross thing. Uhh... enjoy! Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| Why I did not like Geneforge 3 in Geneforge Series | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Friday, May 26 2006 00:41
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quote:*cheering* I don't suppose this path is one that you actually have to figure out for yourself, rather than just being directed to do A, B, and C by some kind of Bob figure? One of the things that I will always remember about Exile II was the sense of triumph it was repeatedly able to evoke. Seeing Prossis's face light up was meaningful -- after the trauma of going through the Black Waters, being coldly received by the Vahnatai, and being subjected to scrying. And the major quests, those were not simple "go here and fight boss X" quests, they were involved. Completing them required interacting with a diverse number of the people of Exile. It required figuring out what was going on, gathering information, and positioning myself in a key position to do something that could actually have a far-ranging impact. And they had a meaningful impact. I replayed the game for probably the sixth time last year, and reading the ending dialogue STILL made me smile. Obviously things are different with the moral ambiguity of Geneforge, which was almost totally absent from Exile. But G1 and G2 both managed to maintain some of this sense. The problem with G3, for me, was not that there was no "right" way to act. That's refreshingly realistic. The problem was that there was no really successful way to act. Sacrifice is good and well, but it should have a point to it. Deciding to destroy or repair the spawners in the cave at the end of the island several islands in a row and then assassinating one leader or another, without having much effect on the war... it's just not a rewarding play experience for me. Anyway, this was not intended to be a criticism of G3, so much as an exhortation to make the player's actions interesting and meaningful, as well as painful. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| Rebalancing between games in Geneforge Series | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Friday, May 26 2006 00:05
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The poison attack isn't that powerful. The poisoning is comparable to a Venom Baton, and the attack itself is comparable to a regular Vlish attack -- except it doesn't slow. The real problem is that Terror Vlish cost three times as much as regular Vlish. They are a few levels higher, but they also have a reduced attack bonus, so they aren't really any more powerful. The one thing they have going for them, IMHO, is that their attack does poison-elemental damage -- it's not just a physical attack that also poisons. This is useful against a few enemies, like mages and gazers, that resist most forms of attack, but not poison. [ Friday, May 26, 2006 00:45: Message edited by: 84,000 Stupas ] -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| Dan Brown Book... in General | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Thursday, May 25 2006 23:36
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The existence of Jesus doesn't contradict Ash's statement about bizarre theological issues. If anything it confirms it! Jesus, taken to be the son of God, absolutely presents lots of bizarre theological issues. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| My God can beat up your God! in General | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Thursday, May 25 2006 23:26
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Kel: Mishnaic Hebrew (basically Hebrew once Aramaic became dominant in Palestine) bears some parallels to Medieval Latin in that it was definitely used for religion, and was definitely not the dominant language of everyday life. But that doesn't mean it wasn't spoken. Figuring out the exact dates during which an ancient language was spoken is very difficult. Figuring out when it was dominant is easier, as you can determine that with some confidence just by looking at the corpus of preserved texts. But when most of the population wasn't literate, and when most of the writing that was done was done on material that can't survive 2000 years (see below about epigraphy), it gets a little harder. I'm not familiar with all the evidence involved, but I believe some of it relates to the linguistic changes that continued to take place in Mishnaic Hebrew, which are not characteristic of a language used only for scholarly and religious writing, and not widely spoken. Aramaic was certainly dominant, but we simply do not have the kind of records that we do for Medieval times that make it so obvious that Latin was not in popular use. Infernal and Kel: Kel's right that the existence of those documents in Hebrew doesn't prove Hebrew was spoken. However, they certainly don't prove the contrary. Regardless, the period up for debate runs from about the 3rd century BCE to the 4th century CE, so none of those documents are even relevant! TM: TM is kind of right, and kind of not. Hebrew was the second language, but that doesn't mean it was unknown. Typically it would be more natural to do that kind of preaching in Aramaic. But I could also understand doing it in Hebrew to try and push the Jewish thing. I don't think it's very likely, but it's not as open and shut as TM and his use of italics suggest. Kel: Epigraphy does not really give a plain indication of what language was spoken during a time period. Everyday people might write on walls but they wouldn't inscribe them. Different sorts of things would be inscribed in stone or metal than would be written down; accordingly, when multiple languages are in use, the language that was appropriate for those things might not be the language that was appropriate for most speaking. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| Why I did not like Geneforge 3 in Geneforge Series | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Thursday, May 25 2006 11:10
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There seems to be a rough consensus that Khyryk is the best part of G3. His dialog options are great. They also are very different from the standard iloveserviles vs. ihateserviles options. They aren't even on the same continuum. Include more of those, by all means! -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| My God can beat up your God! in General | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Thursday, May 25 2006 10:58
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Actually, there is some disagreement among scholars about what languages were spoken in Palestine at that time, and what languages Jesus spoke. A good summary of the reasons some suggest Hebrew was spoken is here. The new theory is perhaps less certain than the article suggests, but it does seem to be the best one available. That said, Aramaic was *definitely* spoken there, so it's likely that Jesus used Aramaic heavily even if he also used Hebrew. That said, this is a really picayune part of arguing about biblical texts. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| Geneforge 3 in Geneforge Series | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Thursday, May 25 2006 08:49
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quote:This is simply not true. An Agent will always be a few points ahead of a Shaper (given the same skill point investment) in each spell skill AND in spellcraft -- about 4-5 points ahead total once you've plugged a few levels in. Agents also get 50% more spell energy, which helps with the upper level spells. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| My God can beat up your God! in General | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Thursday, May 25 2006 08:37
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"The New Testament has been preserved in more manuscripts than any other ancient work... The sheer number of witnesses presents unique difficulties." -- An interesting article from Wikipedia Edit: Pre-empted by an essay from Kel. Thanks for that essay, btw. As someone whose forays into this kind of analysis have been mostly restricted to non-texts (oral transmission of folklore) it was useful. [ Thursday, May 25, 2006 08:41: Message edited by: 84,000 Stupas ] -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| Why I did not like Geneforge 3 in Geneforge Series | |
|
Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Wednesday, May 24 2006 22:25
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Hurray! Honestly, the dialogue choices weren't much worse in G3 than in previous games. And I liked them in G1. It's just that longtime Geneforge fans found themselves answering the same questions for the kazillionth time. Hurray! -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| A Poll for My Sake in Blades of Avernum | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Wednesday, May 24 2006 20:39
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Since 4 people voted for "None" (well, 5, but the fifth one is the same person who checked off all the scenarios) I think it's safe to assume the Karl Gottfried and Katothen votes are also for "None." -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| Rebalancing between games in Geneforge Series | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Wednesday, May 24 2006 20:16
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The formulas for damage and hit rate for ANY type of attack made by any character are very simple. Base hit rate is determined by type of attack and has mostly stayed the same throughout G1-3. Basic rule of thumb: 60% physical, 60% fire, 70% magic/acid, 80% ice. Then add 5% per point of attack bonus. Enemy ability to dodge can affect this, I believe reducing it by 5% per point of Dexterity -- not sure. Base damage is attack specific, with an additional amount per level of attack bonus. In G3, Firebolt has a base of 1-4 and gets an additional 1-3 per level of attack bonus. The enemy's armor or resistance is then applied to the total amount rolled. To get your attack bonus: PC Melee attacks: Bonus = Strength + Melee Weapons + Level of equipped weapon PC Missile attacks: Bonus = Dexterity + Missile Weapons + Level of item used PC Magic attacks: Bonus = Spellcraft + Battle Magic + Spell Skill Creation attacks (melee OR missile): Bonus = Strength + Appropriate attack Skill Attack skill is a hidden stat, but it is generally in line with creation power level. Not always, though -- Fyoras have a better melee attack skill than Plated Bugs do. Note that the descriptions for many of the stats involved are inaccurate in both the manual and the game. Strength and Dexterity come to mind. Also, note that the attractive thing about missile weapons is that they tend to have higher base levels compared to spell skill. They won't be scaled back anytime soon, though. They are -- at best -- mildly more powerful than magic, but they have the huge restriction of being limited to what items you collect and save. Reapers are nice, but even they are typically weaker than a Gazer. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| My God can beat up your God! in General | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Wednesday, May 24 2006 17:21
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quote:How the heck is proliferation supposed to be an argument FOR a document being in its original form? Even if you have five thousand manuscripts that are substantially the same -- which I am skeptical of -- what that suggests is just that a certain version got massively proliferated. However, the document could already have changed before being proliferated. There's no reason to assume, just because something got copied, that it's in its original form. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| Rebalancing between games in Geneforge Series | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Wednesday, May 24 2006 13:48
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So, after being inspired to start up another G3 game, I was poking around the scripts, looking at how the game balance has changed. I didn't realize just how widespread the changes have been. It's not just melee weapons that were weakened. Here's a list of damage per level across games: Spells and creation attacks were also weakened (especially compared to G1), though melee weapons took the worst hit. This brings up a few interesting points. For one thing, whatever effect the weakening of melee has had on guardians, it's completely nerfed most battle creations. If you look at their stats, Clawbugs and Battle Alphas are pretty much complete crap next to comparable Magic and Fire creations, despite being more expensive -- and that was much less true when physical attacks hit harder. Thahds get a HP bonus that's noticeable early and Rotghroths get bonuses to strength and quick action, though they still don't impress me. This also reveals just how Vlish became so overpowered. Originally, all their attacks were noticably weaker than those of a Fyora of comparable level; that was to make up for the powerful slowing effect. Now their melee attack is on par with a Clawbug's, while their missile attack is stronger than a Roamer's, and as good as Ice Spray with a more consistent crippling effect. Drayks have also gotten somewhat better. Reapers are spectacularly good in G3. I knew that, I just didn't realize how good. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| Geneforge 3 in Geneforge Series | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Wednesday, May 24 2006 02:50
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They have neither the sprawling, messy power of a shaper, nor the elegant efficiency of an agent. Of course, if this poll had happened after G2, guardians would have gotten lots of votes, thanks to being broken. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| Why I did not like Geneforge 3 in Geneforge Series | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Wednesday, May 24 2006 02:47
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I agree with most of what's been said, but I want to point out that the first two games were a lot better on this front. The Awakened were crazy in G2, sure, but not in G1. G1 also had some respectable Sholai. In G2, there was a non-aligned option. Although it was never explicitly outlined, it had its own ending, and I found playing it quite satisfying. Also, I think it's interesting that Jeff has only made ONE game in the past decade that hasn't made you pick sides, and that was arguably Jeff's least-plotful game -- Avernum 4. (The lack of picking sides in the other Avernums was predetermined based on Exile.) Nethergate and G1-3 make you pick, as does one of the mainline scenarios in BoE/BoA. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| a4 is the best game yet in Avernum 4 | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Tuesday, May 23 2006 19:00
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quote:Clearly, you have never worked in business, or any kind of service occupation for that matter. There are plenty of changes Jeff has made in the past ten years that I don't agree with. But even by my standards, he still does a better job than pretty much anyone else out there. There are people who are much more deserving of whining and moaning than he is. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| My God can beat up your God! in General | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Tuesday, May 23 2006 18:29
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*deifies Salmon* -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| Walkthroughs in The Exile Trilogy | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Tuesday, May 23 2006 17:17
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There are still a bunch of Exile series pages out there. Do a google search. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| Character builds in Geneforge Series | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Tuesday, May 23 2006 17:14
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quote:This is of course very true. I meant to imply G3, and I certainly meant to imply higher difficulty level. On Easy and Normal pretty much any character can be successful. That's nice, because it allows you to be flexible and try stuff out and have fun, but it also makes this kind of list pointless. So let's stick to G3, tougher difficulties. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
| Ghosts of Stalin in General | |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Tuesday, May 23 2006 16:58
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Pezestroika. -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |