Profile for Zorro
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Displayed name | Zorro |
| Member number | 2717 |
| Title | Lack of Vision |
| Postcount | 186 |
| Homepage | |
| Registered | Thursday, February 27 2003 08:00 |
Recent posts
Pages
| Author | Recent posts |
|---|---|
| Spiderweb Hall of Fame in General | |
|
Lack of Vision
Member # 2717
|
written Tuesday, May 13 2008 03:48
Profile
Dear Spiderwebbers: We've had a long and often sordid history on these boards. Some of us remember fondly past events, like the mod election. Others would rather forget. However, I'm convinced the community should save some of its most famous posts, entering them into the Spiderweb Hall of Fame. Here is the first entry. It comes from the great Ischi, and his Cult of Richard White Codex, circa 2005. ------------------------------ [Here's the email I sent Jeff. I received his reply today and will post that as the next message in this thread.] -------------------- From: [me] Subject: A Touching Tribute: A Satire in Song Date: August 26, 2005 3:26:22 PM PDT To: spidweb@spiderwebsoftware.com Dear President Vogel, My name is Isaac, and apart from being a loyal Spiderweb Software customer and Irony Central devotee, I'm an active member of your Spiderweb Software Boards (http://www.ironycentral.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi) where I operate under the name "Icshi." I've also greatly enjoyed your book, *The Poo Bomb*. I couldn't put it down when first reading it, and it's certainly the funniest book I've ever read. I hope there's a follow-up book on the way. (You might be amused to learn that my copy is on the bookshelf between *The Essential Works of Lenin* and Hegel's *Philosophy of History*. Tellingly, of those three august tomes I've only read *The Poo Bomb*.) I would ask if you are be willing to autograph my copy, but apart from all the nuisance of packaging and shipping the book, there's always the risk that you would dip your finger in a nearby dirty diaper and scrawl JEFF VOGEL across the title page in big brown letters. A brown crayon would suffice. Fortunately I have no children of my own, and you will be pleased to learn that your book has had a large part in my decision to ensure things remain that way. Apart from the obvious reasons, I detested being a kid and would hate to inflict a similar condition on anybody else. As one of the handful of those who admit to enjoying Richard White's game *Galactic Core*--which, as you're no doubt aware, is distributed by your company--I've been the most sincere participant in the "Richard White Games" forum. For the last month or so, I've been working on a parodic duet between yourself and Mr. White to the tune of "When I go out of door" from the Gilbert & Sullivan operetta *Patience*. Exactly why I chose to do this is something I'm still not entirely sure of. Regardless of the motivation, once it was completed I posted it in the Richard White Games forum. It was favorably received by my fellow cretins down there, and it was suggested that I pass it along to you since you'd "get a kick out of it." But whether it'll be me who's on the receiving end of your kick remains a point of some anxiety on my part. The song is attached to this email in a pleasantly formatted HTML document. This HTML page contains all of the original text of my post in the Richard White Games forum--this includes a few prefatory comments, more information about the original operetta, and links to audio files of the accompanying tune. However, although you're probably familiar enough with your own life and work to understand your lines, Richard White's lines are something else entirely. Since very little is known about him, over the last few months we've been letting our imaginations run wild in senseless--and often tasteless--speculation. I've therefore drawn up this helpful "Exhaustive Semi-Chronological Short History of the White Cult" essay, along with some equally helpful links to the source material in question, in order to give you the background necessary to appreciate Richard's lines in the song. (The original source material needn't be read except by those conducting intensive nit-picking delving into the "facts" in order to find inconsistencies with my account.) -------------------------------------- A discussion thread in the forum got to speculating about who Richard White was and what he might be doing at the moment--and, above all, whether or not he was actually dead. http://www.ironycentral.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=13;t=0001 23;p=1 A board member by the name of "VCH" emailed you and asked about Richard's current life status, and was given a few interesting facts in reply. Apparently, you're still sending White's bank account occasional checks that are apparently being cashed, so that was quoted as evidence that he was still alive. However, one of the differing interpretations of this data was that Mrs. White was merely cashing the checks after having buried her husband in the back yard. http://www.ironycentral.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=13;t=000136[/ URL] There was also some speculation that perhaps Richard's disappearance could be explained more innocently. For instance, perhaps he went into a more profitable line of business, such as selling *Lord of the Rings* t-shirts to tourists on the street corners of Christchurch in his home country of New Zealand. [URL=http://www.ironycentral.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=13;t=000123;p=6#000146]http://www.ironycentral.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=13 ;t=000123;p=6#000146 Another board member by the name "Zorro"--whom I recently inducted into the Ways of White--related how he had called Spiderweb Software's business number to register Galactic Core, as it is no longer possible to purchase it on your website. During this telephone conversation with your employee(s) and/or wife he had asked you all if you were aware that Richard White had died. Zorro had no idea one way or the other--this was an admittedly cruel practical joke on his part for which he has since expressed sincere contrition. But he opened a can of worms by relaying this "jest" to the rest of us on the bulletin board. http://www.ironycentral.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=13 ;t=000123;p=8#000190 Some of the phraseology in these discussions was of the ambiguous and theologically-couched variety, so I inserted the innocent comment that the discussion was starting to sound like a debate on the existence or nonexistence of God. "The Cult of Mystic White" was accordingly created on the spot. http://www.ironycentral.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=13;t=0 00134#000021 Well. You can guess how wild things started getting from that point on. Some unfortunate parallels were drawn to the "late" L. Ron Hubbard, whose soul is apparently orbiting Saturn and still beaming bad novels back to Earth. http://www.ironycentral.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=13;t=0 00136#000011 Before we knew it, suddenly Richard was endowed with astral powers, a disembodied existence, and the posthumous ability to alter his own timeline--turns out he *did* die, but each day he ended up having died a different way. http://www.ironycentral.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=13;t=000138#00 0023 He also has the power to constantly edit and alter what he accomplished here on Earth during his lifetime. For example, we have proof that he was here on Earth at least a hundred years earlier than previously thought--Richard White edited a version of the complete works of Shakespeare in 1860. You'll have to admit, that's some pretty damning evidence! His appearance and age is also mutable. Some days, he was a nice young man. Other days, he was a sinister old man. He'll also be here long after the entire human race is dead, and He will dance on our graves. http://www.ironycentral.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=13 ;t=000123;p=9#000203 There's a massive and arcane system of ranks and titles among his Cult followers, but nobody's quite sure what they are--even myself, who's the nominal part-time founder of the Cult. The hierarchy--and even the existence of the hierarchy--seems to be in a constant state of temporal flux. I should add that the cult's official name is also in a state of flux, so it's never referred to by the same name twice. http://www.ironycentral.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=13 ;t=000134;p=2#000033 For a brief moment, doubt was sown in the minds of the faithful with the dissemination of the sordid conspiracy theory that you killed Richard (by throwing him off the top of the Space Needle in Seattle) in order to cash in on his lucrative game registrations. However, this theory has fallen out of favor with the Cult and is now considered "heretical"--not for being malicious or false, but for being so cliched. However, it's now commonly accepted that this *was* one of his deaths, just not one of his more interesting ones. So we tend to ignore it. http://www.ironycentral.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=13;t=000144 Also, since his games aren't exactly selling like hot cakes, we came to the conclusion that there is a Galactic Core 2 in the works. But this will be no ordinary game--it's really thinly-disguised brainwashing software. Whenever the program is run, an "ideological download" begins into the user's brain, twisting his mind into a thoroughly devoted, slavish cult member who would suddenly be "enlightened" and see Richard's game for the glorious everlasting gems of endless joy that they really are. Galactic Core 3 will be the White Rapture, when all his followers are turned into pure energy and set out on a *real* campaign of interstellar conquest. http://www.ironycentral.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=13;t=000139#00 0005 Later on, there was talk about the possibility of implanting White's prospective disciples with mind-controlling devices. Or more accurately, there was a security leak about the implants that are already in place. They apparently take the form of ordinary eyebrows. http://www.ironycentral.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=13;t=0 00143#000018 There's also a "RWG" (Richard White Games) FAQ now available which will help clarify a few points. It starts out very informatively, but soon deteriorates into incoherent academic bickering between prominent Cult members: http://www.ironycentral.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=13;t=000152[/ URL] And somewhere along the line H.P. Lovecraft's horror stories got thrown into the mix, and it's all been downhill since then. [URL=http://www.ironycentral.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=13;t=000139#000014]http://www.ironycentral.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=13;t=0 00139#000014 http://www.ironycentral.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=13;t=0 00152#000004 -------------------------------------- This outlines the majority of the salient "facts." It is now "safe" to read the song. I eagerly await your glowing accolade or outraged condemnation. Yours sincerely, Icshi -------------------- Pan Lever: Seventeen apple roving mirror moiety. Of turned quorum jaggedly the. Blue? Posts: 186 | Registered: Thursday, February 27 2003 08:00 |
| New Engine for A1-3 in General | |
|
Lack of Vision
Member # 2717
|
written Monday, May 12 2008 04:36
Profile
It is a good bet that Jeff will eventually update Avernum 1,2 and 3 to a new engine, but it likely won't be for some time to come. My guess is that he will finish G5 (the final game in the series) and A6 (the final game in the second Avernum trilogy) before updating A1-3. In terms of timing, Jeff takes about 1 year to make a new game, so the updates, if they happen, probably are 2 years away or so. The good news is the engine will be more polished by then, so the update will feel even more fresh. -------------------- Pan Lever: Seventeen apple roving mirror moiety. Of turned quorum jaggedly the. Blue? Posts: 186 | Registered: Thursday, February 27 2003 08:00 |
| What will scare the heck out of McCain in General | |
|
Lack of Vision
Member # 2717
|
written Thursday, May 8 2008 14:52
Profile
McCain has shown a steely commitment to only one thing throughout his political career: war. He's for it. He says, if elected President, he'll kick out Putin from the G8 and but other "pressure" on him. He wants to put "pressure" on China. He wants to create an alternative UN for democracies only, except for democracies he doesn't like (Like Venezuela). Oh yeah, and he wants war with Iran. And wants to continue the war in Iraq until Americans aren't being killed there anymore (a strange goal that could probably be accomplished more easily by, you know, leaving). All of this is perfectly consistent with the man who bucked his own party on Kosovo, who's only regret then was that Clinton didn't send in ground forces. Compare McCain's remarkably consistent, if insane, war policy to his domestic policy and I think it means he just doesn't care about domestic stuff enough to be consistent. He says he wants to do something about Global Warming and the environment, but then gets a zero score from the Sierra Club on his Senate votes. He is sometimes for and sometimes against Bush's tax cuts. He says he wants small government, but his only idea for reducing its size is to veto earmarks (which account for a tiny fraction of the Federal budget), while at the same time proposing new defense spending. Straight talk! But who knows? I could be wrong and he has some awesome governing philosophy so deep and powerful that it eludes me completely. When it comes to McCain's domestic agenda, I, like Willard, see no method at all. -------------------- Pan Lever: Seventeen apple roving mirror moiety. Of turned quorum jaggedly the. Blue? Posts: 186 | Registered: Thursday, February 27 2003 08:00 |
| What will scare the heck out of McCain in General | |
|
Lack of Vision
Member # 2717
|
written Thursday, May 8 2008 10:04
Profile
quote:Perhaps we should start over: what makes me think John McCain is a moderate? Don't just assert that he is - point to actual policy positions and (most importantly) votes taken in the Senate that reflect his moderate political governance philosophy. I asserted his reputation as a moderate is a artifact of inconsistency, not moderation. To prove my assertion, I gave you specific votes on taxes, but I could provide others, such as his on-again-off-again environmental record. Unless you start producing evidence to support your assertions, I think I might have to bring this argument to a close. EDIT: Gratuitous insult removed. I apologize for my crude behavior. [ Thursday, May 08, 2008 10:12: Message edited by: Masked Man of Inscrutability ] -------------------- Pan Lever: Seventeen apple roving mirror moiety. Of turned quorum jaggedly the. Blue? Posts: 186 | Registered: Thursday, February 27 2003 08:00 |
| What will scare the heck out of McCain in General | |
|
Lack of Vision
Member # 2717
|
written Thursday, May 8 2008 08:56
Profile
quote:No, that's called the media-supported narrative, or perhaps an affirmation of the conventional wisdom, but it is not common sense. McCain at one time says "A" and a few years later says "Not A". Unless you're a mind-reader, you don't have the slightest idea which of these are his real views. The press generally gives McCain a pass because he's fun dinner company and gives them lots of time to yak it up with him, but that gets us no closer to the truth. And neither does his voting record. If he was a moderate, then his stance against the first Bush tax cuts makes sense (because he favored a more modest tax cut less tilted toward the highest earners), if he's a conservative, then his votes to make the Bush tax cuts permanent in 2006 makes sense. He did both. You assert he is a moderate but offer no proof. Well, that isn't exactly right, you produce a list that shows he's all over the map in terms of votes. But of course, we already knew that, didn't we? He voted against the tax cuts and then for them. In both cases he repeated standard talking points for his vote, but never offered a reason for his movement from one side of the issue to the other. You can assert, with no evidence, that he has to do this to pander to the base of the GOP. Some one else can assert that he's revealing his true, conservative, nature. I have no reason to agree with you explanation over anyone else's, because neither one of you can produce evidence for what McCain really thinks. My own judgement is that McCain doesn't really care about domestic issues and thus is ideologically flexible to saying or voting any way that gains him an advantage. I think that's the case because when it comes to foreign policy, he clearly does have a consistent and coherent political philosophy. A dangerous and lunatic political philosophy based on fighting as much war as possible, but coherent nonetheless. -------------------- Pan Lever: Seventeen apple roving mirror moiety. Of turned quorum jaggedly the. Blue? Posts: 186 | Registered: Thursday, February 27 2003 08:00 |
| What will scare the heck out of McCain in General | |
|
Lack of Vision
Member # 2717
|
written Thursday, May 8 2008 07:09
Profile
quote:I see. I didn't realize you could read his mind and tell me which one of his stances on these issues is the real one. Where can I get my ticket to the straigh thought express? -------------------- Pan Lever: Seventeen apple roving mirror moiety. Of turned quorum jaggedly the. Blue? Posts: 186 | Registered: Thursday, February 27 2003 08:00 |
| What will scare the heck out of McCain in General | |
|
Lack of Vision
Member # 2717
|
written Thursday, May 8 2008 06:43
Profile
quote:By your definition of moderate voting record, a monkey randomly pushing the senate voting button would also have a moderate record. That is, to say the least, an infantile way of declaring a person a moderate. Also, it is silly to say that McCain thinks the Federal government should be small. He says that, but aside from for seriously small potatos stuff like the infamous bridge to nowhere, he never says what part of the Federal government is too big and he would reduce (and just saying "spending" is a dodge, about half the budget is in mandatory spending SSA and Medicare+Medicade. And he's said he'd INCREASE defense spending). Broadly speaking, 2007 Federal spending fell into three major buckets - Medicare + Medicade - 23.1% Social Security spending - 20.1% Defense (not counting Iraq and Afganistan) - 19% And John McCain has said he wouldn't touch those. He would, in fact, increase defense spending. Which means that he's already signed up for about 2/3 of the Budget (not taking into account the war spending). He said he'd look at reducing NASA's budget. Well whoopde-Frakin'-do, NASA accounts for about .4% of the budget. So even if he killed off the whole agency, he's doing next to nothing. Straight talk! But you don't need to take my word for it, why not listen to it straight from St. John of Arizona: At the Baton Rouge debate, McCain spoke as though he had always supported Bush's tax cuts, saying, "I think it's very important that we make the Bush tax cuts permanent. I voted to make them permanent twice already." It is true that McCain voted in 2006 to make the Bush tax cuts permanent. But he was against the cuts before he was for them, and his statements in the debate dismiss that fact. McCain voted against both sets of Bush tax cuts, in 2001 and in 2003. And on NBC's "Meet the Press" in 2004, McCain stated that he did not support extending all the cuts, though he did go on to say that he would make the so-called "middle class" tax cuts permanent. Or you could just watch him contradict himself on youtube here. Edit: Added discussion of Federal Budget [ Thursday, May 08, 2008 07:07: Message edited by: Masked Man of Inscrutability ] -------------------- Pan Lever: Seventeen apple roving mirror moiety. Of turned quorum jaggedly the. Blue? Posts: 186 | Registered: Thursday, February 27 2003 08:00 |
| What will scare the heck out of McCain in General | |
|
Lack of Vision
Member # 2717
|
written Thursday, May 8 2008 05:13
Profile
quote:My argument is that he has an inconsistent voting record, not a moderate one. A moderate voting record would be the voting record of a person with a moderate philosophy on governance. McCain's votes don't follow a moderate's pattern. They don't really follow a pattern at all. Come on man - focus - logic isn't that hard. EDIT: To quote from Apocalypse Now: Willard: They told me that you had gone totally insane, and that your methods were unsound. Kurtz: Are my methods unsound? Willard: I don't see any method at all, sir. [ Thursday, May 08, 2008 05:30: Message edited by: Masked Man of Inscrutability ] -------------------- Pan Lever: Seventeen apple roving mirror moiety. Of turned quorum jaggedly the. Blue? Posts: 186 | Registered: Thursday, February 27 2003 08:00 |
| What will scare the heck out of McCain in General | |
|
Lack of Vision
Member # 2717
|
written Thursday, May 8 2008 04:22
Profile
quote:You sir, are a very silly man. Silly because you've bought into a media-driven narrative that McCain is a moderate. He isn't. He's just been inconsistent over the years. He was against the Bush tax cuts, then he was for them. He was for campaign finance reform before he was against it. As near as I can tell, he just doesn't care about domestic issues very much. He certainly doesn't care about them enough to educate himself or even vote based on a coherent philosophy of governance. That doesn't make him a moderate - it makes him clueless. McCain does, however, LOVE war. He's consistently supported every war he possibly could, while piously saying he hates war. And yet, time and time again, war is his first resort. He thinks of diplomacy as some kind of weak version of cohersion. He talks about how awesome national sacrifice is. I've met plenty of guys like him. They well and truly believe being the warrior is life's highest calling. Fine as far as it goes, and perhaps the attitude you need to have to rise up the ranks of the military, but dangerous and delusional when it comes to actual foreign policymaking. In many ways McCain would be an improvement over Bush. He asks for accountability in a way that Bush would never ask. His minimal concern for domestic policies allows him to be idiologically flexible in a way Bush never could be. For these two reasons alone, he'd be better than Bush (heck, a fraking waffle maker would be better), but make no mistake - when it comes to matters of war and peace, the guy is the equivalent of a cross between a hermit and a rabid wolverine - best left alone and far away from others. -------------------- Pan Lever: Seventeen apple roving mirror moiety. Of turned quorum jaggedly the. Blue? Posts: 186 | Registered: Thursday, February 27 2003 08:00 |
| What will scare the heck out of McCain in General | |
|
Lack of Vision
Member # 2717
|
written Tuesday, May 6 2008 19:11
Profile
quote:I seriously doubt I would have seen friends die on the other side of the planet had Gore been president. To me that's a pretty real choice. And frak you to all Nader voters. [ Tuesday, May 06, 2008 19:17: Message edited by: Masked Man of Inscrutability ] -------------------- Pan Lever: Seventeen apple roving mirror moiety. Of turned quorum jaggedly the. Blue? Posts: 186 | Registered: Thursday, February 27 2003 08:00 |
| Alorael Facts in General | |
|
Lack of Vision
Member # 2717
|
written Monday, May 5 2008 17:13
Profile
Alorael once killed a man using only his bare sigs. -------------------- Pan Lever: Seventeen apple roving mirror moiety. Of turned quorum jaggedly the. Blue? Posts: 186 | Registered: Thursday, February 27 2003 08:00 |
| Wow in General | |
|
Lack of Vision
Member # 2717
|
written Monday, May 5 2008 13:47
Profile
quote:Doh! Screwed by my own logic! Alright! Alight! I relent! -------------------- Pan Lever: Seventeen apple roving mirror moiety. Of turned quorum jaggedly the. Blue? Posts: 186 | Registered: Thursday, February 27 2003 08:00 |
| Does anyone know? in General | |
|
Lack of Vision
Member # 2717
|
written Monday, May 5 2008 10:33
Profile
That depends what you're trying to convert from, and what OS you're using. Personally, I've found pocket DVD wizard to be very good for windows machines (if you want to rip your own DVDs to watch on an iPod). -------------------- Pan Lever: Seventeen apple roving mirror moiety. Of turned quorum jaggedly the. Blue? Posts: 186 | Registered: Thursday, February 27 2003 08:00 |
| Wow in General | |
|
Lack of Vision
Member # 2717
|
written Monday, May 5 2008 10:30
Profile
quote:Hey now! I claim the divine right of 2003 which trumps the divine right of 2005. If you argue with this rule, I will claim divine right again to trump your objection. However, rest assured that copying you was not one of my reasons for adopting MMofM. -------------------- Pan Lever: Seventeen apple roving mirror moiety. Of turned quorum jaggedly the. Blue? Posts: 186 | Registered: Thursday, February 27 2003 08:00 |
| New Beta Online Store + Discount On Newer Games in General | |
|
Lack of Vision
Member # 2717
|
written Friday, May 2 2008 18:58
Profile
quote:But then what happened to Richard White? Did he die again? All kidding aside, I think this is a mistake. You also don't support the Exile trilogy but still sell it. Why not do the same with GC? Edit1: I just noticed something odd Nethergate: Resurrection is $25 while Nethergate classic is $30. [ Friday, May 02, 2008 19:27: Message edited by: The Masked Man of Mystery ] -------------------- Pan Lever: Seventeen apple roving mirror moiety. Of turned quorum jaggedly the. Blue? Posts: 186 | Registered: Thursday, February 27 2003 08:00 |
| New Beta Online Store + Discount On Newer Games in General | |
|
Lack of Vision
Member # 2717
|
written Thursday, May 1 2008 19:39
Profile
Two questions: (1) How long will the online store feature the discounts on G4 and A5; and (2) what happened to Galactic Core? -------------------- Pan Lever: Seventeen apple roving mirror moiety. Of turned quorum jaggedly the. Blue? Posts: 186 | Registered: Thursday, February 27 2003 08:00 |
| Gender and RPGs in General | |
|
Lack of Vision
Member # 2717
|
written Thursday, May 1 2008 19:25
Profile
quote:The linked article below was, for me, particularly enlightening regarding the experiences of women gamers. It makes a couple of specific references to places in the 1st edition books that are, indeed, sexist. Probably the worst example being the "Harlot Table" in the DM's guide used to roll up what kind of prostitute the party encounters. Also, I think it isn't really much of a defense to say that in the real world, the strongest woman can't bench the same as the strongest man. In the real world, no one can summon a demon or shoot fireballs out of their fingers. So why suspend reality for those aspects of the gaming session, but not for a woman warrior being as strong as the strongest male warrior? I certainly don't mean any of this as a direct criticism of you; it is obvious (and to your credit) that sexism is absent from your gaming sessions. Article on women and RPGs -------------------- Pan Lever: Seventeen apple roving mirror moiety. Of turned quorum jaggedly the. Blue? Posts: 186 | Registered: Thursday, February 27 2003 08:00 |
| Gender and RPGs in General | |
|
Lack of Vision
Member # 2717
|
written Thursday, May 1 2008 05:51
Profile
Interesting posts everyone! I think there's a lot of truth that immature players are more prone to misogyny in their games. Fortunately, some people grow out of that phase. Unfortunately, not everyone does (much like Mr. Gygax never did as evidenced by his indefensible position on women in RPGs, of that truly horrifying example of female bunnies from FF). I hadn't considered the social pressures on kids to conform to sex roles, but clearly that plays a part, perhaps the single largest part. I guess I'm most happy about the fact that spiderweb was being non-sexist before it was cool to be non-sexist. I mean, my significant other loves fantasy/Sci Fi, but she didn't know it until discovering Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV series, Charmed, and Dark Angel. The reason is obvious to me now; she always loved it but most fantasy/sci fi fare turned her off because of its sexist content, so she assumed it was all like that. And she now enjoys geneforge because it is a game that doesn't insult her. So hurray for Jeff! -------------------- Pan Lever: Seventeen apple roving mirror moiety. Of turned quorum jaggedly the. Blue? Posts: 186 | Registered: Thursday, February 27 2003 08:00 |
| Unlockable Drackon Story!! in Geneforge 4: Rebellion | |
|
Lack of Vision
Member # 2717
|
written Thursday, May 1 2008 05:11
Profile
I, however, think the whole unlockable thing is nothing more than a foul plot to waste my time on a game I've already beaten. Want to make someone waste 3X the time on Diablo 2? Make three different levels which are exactly the same except "harder" (I put harder in quotes because you're using a more powerful character, so harder is just relative). If there's one thing that consistently irritates me about video game makers is when they use silly gimmicks like that to extend the life of their product. If you have some kick ass character class available, just let me play it, don't make me waste 10 to 20 hours using a less interesting class in order to use the more fun class. -------------------- Pan Lever: Seventeen apple roving mirror moiety. Of turned quorum jaggedly the. Blue? Posts: 186 | Registered: Thursday, February 27 2003 08:00 |
| What have you been reading recently? in General | |
|
Lack of Vision
Member # 2717
|
written Wednesday, April 30 2008 19:08
Profile
quote:I find Niall Fergusson has lost his mind. His last coherent book was the Cash Nexus. After that it's all been neocon bull****, with Colossus probably being the worst offender. -------------------- Pan Lever: Seventeen apple roving mirror moiety. Of turned quorum jaggedly the. Blue? Posts: 186 | Registered: Thursday, February 27 2003 08:00 |
| Gender and RPGs in General | |
|
Lack of Vision
Member # 2717
|
written Wednesday, April 30 2008 12:01
Profile
You know, we've come a long way from the old days of RPGs with blatant misogyny. In case you're too young to remember, the first edition AD&D game codified in the rules that women were weaker. Also, CRPGs sort of followed this trend, one example I remember was in the Bard's Tale, how you literally couldn't create female characters. So compared to those days, things have certainly gotten better. But I read a few topics in the Geneforge and Exile forums that made me think problems still exist. Some people say they're uncomfortable playing a female PC. To me this is both sad and weird. After all, they seem to have no problem playing a giant lizard or a kitty, but not a cooty-filled girl "ugh"! So what do the rest of you think? Is sexism in RPGs just an artifact that games are still primarily written for boys? Is it a reflection of sexism in society in general? One of the things I find refreshing about Jeff's games is their lack of sexism. But hey, I also have never had a problem playing as a kick-butt woman in a videogame. -------------------- Pan Lever: Seventeen apple roving mirror moiety. Of turned quorum jaggedly the. Blue? Posts: 186 | Registered: Thursday, February 27 2003 08:00 |
| Future Series - What Would You Like? in General | |
|
Lack of Vision
Member # 2717
|
written Wednesday, April 30 2008 10:00
Profile
Okay, I feel a little bad slagging on New Centurions (not a lot, but a little) since you liked it. Can I ask what you liked about it? -------------------- Pan Lever: Seventeen apple roving mirror moiety. Of turned quorum jaggedly the. Blue? Posts: 186 | Registered: Thursday, February 27 2003 08:00 |
| While We Wait for the Next Chapter in General | |
|
Lack of Vision
Member # 2717
|
written Tuesday, April 29 2008 17:43
Profile
Ah... I love the Spiderwebber community. I can leave for a year or more and come back, and all the inside jokes are just as fresh as TM's attitude (or is ET the new TM?). A big "wo-hoo!" to see Diki's stories continue to be updated. I always wondered: why is it when I appear in them, my role is always healing *****? -------------------- Pan Lever: Seventeen apple roving mirror moiety. Of turned quorum jaggedly the. Blue? Posts: 186 | Registered: Thursday, February 27 2003 08:00 |
| Future Series - What Would You Like? in General | |
|
Lack of Vision
Member # 2717
|
written Tuesday, April 29 2008 10:39
Profile
quote:Damnit! I'd almost managed to erase all memory of that pile of hyena dung from my mind, and now you've had to mention it. New Centurions was nothing more than a new skin on the 10 year old Realmz engine, and served up with a steaming side of fyora vomit to an unsuspecting world. And fantasoft asked people to pay $25 for it. Sheesh! -------------------- Pan Lever: Seventeen apple roving mirror moiety. Of turned quorum jaggedly the. Blue? Posts: 186 | Registered: Thursday, February 27 2003 08:00 |
| Future Series - What Would You Like? in General | |
|
Lack of Vision
Member # 2717
|
written Tuesday, April 29 2008 07:37
Profile
I have a screenshot from the next SW game, Galactic Core 2. At first, I thought the dead guy was Alo because of the round head, but with the hat, it clearly looks more like ET.  -------------------- Pan Lever: Seventeen apple roving mirror moiety. Of turned quorum jaggedly the. Blue? Posts: 186 | Registered: Thursday, February 27 2003 08:00 |