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World building poll in General
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Friday, December 28 2007 21:20 Profile Homepage #57
A torus is a donut, not a ring, and ringworlds predate Halo by a lot.

—Alorael, who will also add that sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic and that high enough magic should resemble a sci-fi future. On the other hand, moderate magic and industrial-age technology is rather uncommon outside of Arcanum.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
price mistake??? in Nethergate
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Friday, December 28 2007 21:09 Profile Homepage #1
That's ironic. It's based on the old pricing of the games, and it's rather silly.

[Edit: Regression to hurgleblurglefnah!]

—Alorael, who notes that you can't even get Nethergate for $15 with another purchase. Well, maybe nostalgia can be very lucrative.

[ Friday, December 28, 2007 21:11: Message edited by: Somnosis ]
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Why is attempted murder illegal? in General
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Thursday, December 27 2007 11:59 Profile Homepage #28
You, sir, have been trolled.

—Alorael, who believes a third tour of duty is required before you are allowed to have your name in all capitals.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Avernum , Geneforge or ? in General
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Thursday, December 27 2007 09:59 Profile Homepage #2
The original Avernum trilogy (1-3) is probably the most open-ended and Ultima-like. The Geneforge games tend to limit you a bit more, and Avernums 4 and 5 railroad quite a bit, although it really works out just fine and you never feel terribly constrained (in A5, at least).

Fortunately, demos are available for all the games. They give you a very fair sense of what the games are like, so I highly recommend taking a few minutes or hours to test a few. At the very least try one of the first three Avernums, one of the Geneforges, and one of the later Avernums.

—Alorael, who also cannot recommend Nethergate enough. It's not in a series, and in world size it's the smallest of the games. It's fantastic, though.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
What video gmaes would you like to see made into movies... no Halo! in General
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Monday, December 24 2007 18:48 Profile Homepage #20
quote:
Originally written by Arancaytar:

Movies have been based on fantasy novels, and recently too. They haven't even always sucked - consider LotR.
But movies based on books based on games? I don't think the ever-conservative Hollywood powers that be are ready for that.

—Alorael, who actually likes the idea of Avernum serials a lot. It would work far better than a movie, and it actually could work just fine. Each major quest becomes an episode or two, you get in the episodes that fill in world background, some funny ones (GIFTS)... It has potential.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
What video gmaes would you like to see made into movies... no Halo! in General
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Monday, December 24 2007 13:16 Profile Homepage #13
Myth as a movie? Huh. It's a little light on characters on whom to focus the story, but it's a great story to work with. Then again, Homeworld runs into the same problem. Both have great plots, but they'd end up having to be background to some kind of personal story shoehorned in just to make the movie a movie with characters and all the usual movie trappings.

—Alorael, who thinks it's a good thing that the Myst books aren't puzzle-filled like the games. They actually could be quite good as movies, and the game series is popular enough for an audience to appear. Unfortunately, movies are made based on FPS, fighting games, and the odd action game.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
What video gmaes would you like to see made into movies... no Halo! in General
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Monday, December 24 2007 11:29 Profile Homepage #6
It shouldn't happen, and it won't happen, but I would be filled with glee if someone made a Zork movie.

—Alorael, who could see movies being made based on various Star Wars games. The movies would probably even be better than the latest to come from the mind of George Lucas.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
comic? in The Exile Trilogy
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Monday, December 24 2007 11:27 Profile Homepage #13
Not bad as sites go, and not bad as comics go. But we've now wandered a little too far from anything related to these boards, so I think this topic is over.

—Alorael, who wishes it a very merry Christmas free of any further discussion.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Bipolar in General
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Monday, December 24 2007 11:22 Profile Homepage #80
When you're not testing the very first therapy, the control is often another drug. That way you'll get drug effects in both groups, and you're also not guilty of malpractice on the control group. This is especially common with diseases like cancer, but I can't see why you wouldn't do it with psych too.

—Alorael, who is dubious about drug companies pushing drugs that aren't better than placebo. It happens, but it happens very rarely. Nobody can credibly suggest that the scientific method results in flawless science, but it's better than anything else that has been devised.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Why is attempted murder illegal? in General
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Monday, December 24 2007 00:26 Profile Homepage #12
It's the principle of the thing! We live in an alleged meritocracy, and we ought to properly recognize and reward excellence and diligence in all things. Even bad things.

—Alorael, who refuses to accept that awfulness is grounds for censure. Why, if that were the case, where would reality television be?
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Why is attempted murder illegal? in General
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Sunday, December 23 2007 23:31 Profile Homepage #10
quote:
Originally written by SGT. POCKY:

1. A free and just society is one in which a person is able to live their life however they wish as long as they don't hurt anyone else.
Yes.

quote:
2. We already have laws on the books for murder, manslaughter, and causing damage to other people's property.
Yes.

quote:
3. Victimless crimes are not crimes.
Yes.

quote:
4. Arresting people for "thought crimes" or "pre-crimes" would not exist in a free and just society.
No. Thought crimes aren't crimes, but actually attempted crimes are crimes legally, and I think they are morally as well. Thinking about something is meaningless outside of your own head. Trying to kill someone and failing falls into a different category entirely.

—Alorael, who in fact doesn't really see why attempted crimes and successfully committed crimes should be punished differently. In everything but the result, the crime is the same. The difference is purely a result of the victim's actions or random chance, or at best the perpetrator's incompetence. And speaking of incompetence, doesn't treating intent and action separately perversely reward failure?
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
OMG... HELP!!! in The Exile Trilogy
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Sunday, December 23 2007 12:39 Profile Homepage #5
More magic!

—Alorael, who has accepted that computer science, much like medical science, has its basis in voodoo, alchemy, and astrology. The veneer of science has built up towering edifices of reason, but underneath it all there are still chicken entrails in the moonlight.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Omaha Mall Shooting in General
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Sunday, December 23 2007 12:36 Profile Homepage #456
Yes, but it's pretty clear that Synergy rejects original sin. I have to say I agree. Now this is religion, so there's really no way to know that God is not arbitrary and vindictive, but both Synergy and I prefer to believe otherwise.

—Alorael, who should point out that it is discrimination to prevent something that only some people want to do. As long as religion is coming up, how about an example about religion: banning Judaism would affect a small minority of the population, but it is illegal because it is discriminatory, and it is discriminatory because there is no good justification for doing so and it negatively impacts a group. Banning same-sex marriage affects only homosexuals, but it's still unconstitutional until an overwhelming reason to do it can be shown.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
comic? in The Exile Trilogy
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Saturday, December 22 2007 09:10 Profile Homepage #6
Email spidweb@spiderwebsoftware.com.

—Alorael, who recommends finding Jeff, not fonding him. He prefers not to be fonded by strangers.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Bipolar in General
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Saturday, December 22 2007 09:08 Profile Homepage #43
Since you are not a scientist, have never been a scientist, and seem to be pretty much entirely disconnected from how science works, I'd appreciate it if you would stop ignorantly bashing science and the scientific process as soulless. I'm not even sure what you mean by the gender struggle in the lab, but I can assure you it's not there. The women who are biologists are women. And there is no crisis.

—Alorael, who can't believe he's even arguing this. For all your talk of living in the world you create, you've created a rather bleak, polarized world. "Exciting," you call it. I'd prefer scary and confrontational, and I'll stick with my world, thanks.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Happy Birthday, Drakey! in General
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Friday, December 21 2007 15:37 Profile Homepage #25
quote:
Originally written by Calphrexo:

quote:
Originally written by The Ratt:

Just so you know, the boards have only been around since 2001.
O rly?
---
Enjoy.
Since March 23, 2001, I believe, if you count the Ikonboard predecessor of the UBB, which began its existence in September.

—Alorael, who of course understands that Drakey has been on these boards longer than these boards have existed.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Bipolar in General
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Friday, December 21 2007 11:32 Profile Homepage #29
What we can do with nanotechnology is already amazing. The limit is, as SoT says, our understanding of what we're doing, not our ability to do it. Personally, I'd happily buy shares in the entire field of nanotech, but don't go looking for sci-fi-esque medicine anytime soon.

On Alec and Synergy's little debate:

Given how much more we need to do to understand neurochemistry, biochemistry, psychology, and plain ol' biology, and given how much counseling actually helps people, I don't think it deserves disparagement. Even if it's not entirely clear how it helps, it clearly helps, and that's good enough. It's especially good enough for science. Maybe one day everything will be managed with pills, injections, and diet, but it isn't yet.

On the other hand, I find Synergies addition of some metaphysical level over the purely physical reality accepted by science to be bizarre. It's harmless as long as it doesn't interfere with real medicine, and it amounts to nothing more than a spiritual belief no more or less outlandish than any others, but it doesn't match with scientifically established reality. Mind over matter works because of neurochemistry, nothing more. Minds are just piles of neurochemistry.

—Alorael, who doesn't see any need for there to be more. Anyone who finds existence as a collection of cells shooting molecules at each other depressing needs to think a little harder about how fantastically wonderful it is to be an emergent property of such a bunch of cells.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Happy Birthday, Drakey! in General
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Friday, December 21 2007 11:08 Profile Homepage #12
James has always been seven. James will always be seven. He's a lot like Calvin, really.

—Alorael, who wishes both Drakey and James the happiest of birthdays with many philosophical wagon rides and plenty of transmogrification.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
World building poll in General
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Friday, December 21 2007 11:04 Profile Homepage #33
Since a torus is just a doughnut shape, sure, go ahead and take the physically accurate name.

Souls seem to have become some kind of biospiritual currency. I'm not sure I like the concrete mathematical nature of it. Giving everything one soul and each soul a different amount of power behind it may be more traditional, but it also seems much closer to the usual use of souls than having seven of them. If there are going to be large collections, they really need another name, quite possibly the kind of name that is a made up word with several apostrophes in it.

—Alorael, who is fine with the idea of making a Polaris subforum for organization. Even if it's just a convenient repository for set information it definitely beats having the world slowly fall off the noticeable pages here until it gets pruned.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Two Questions: Possible bug... in Nethergate
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Friday, December 21 2007 10:51 Profile Homepage #1
The docs are wrong about health, and I believe the keys are all where they were before.

—Alorael, who certainly can't remember finding any keys in surprising places, keys missing from where they should be, or obviously changed key numbers.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
World building poll in General
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Thursday, December 20 2007 08:32 Profile Homepage #10
How about a world that is flat but inexplicably wraps at its edges?

—Alorael, who suggests as an alternative a sphere of infinite diameter so that it's effectively an endless plane. Or a giant Klein bottle!
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Omaha Mall Shooting in General
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Wednesday, December 19 2007 19:41 Profile Homepage #407
We've all sinned. We've also all made typos. We're not perfect. But when I bump into someone, it's my fault at that very moment. It's not God's, it's not my ancestors', it's mine. Accepting responsibility and making amends as much as is necessary and possible is exactly what morality is about. Turning to some spiritual third party doesn't help anyone.

—Alorael, who thinks this should end now. It's about as pure a religious argument as one can have, it obviously won't make any progress, and it's cluttering a thread that's already quite dense.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Omaha Mall Shooting in General
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Wednesday, December 19 2007 09:49 Profile Homepage #398
quote:
Originally written by Stillness:

Alo, It’s not just the promiscuity more common with homosexuals, but the nature of their activity. “Genetic material” (I’m trying to be nice for the babies or babyish reading) can penetrate the colon wall adversely affecting immunological response; look up the connection between saliva and yeast infection in women; look up rare bowel disease (aka gay bowel disease); look up over expanding and tearing of rectal muscles and colon lining and infectious disease that can result. They have an incidence of infectious disease about ten times higher than the normal population. Why? If the answer is partially promiscuity, then the question is still why?
I looked up gay bowel syndrome. Now please look up GRIDS (Gay-related immunodeficiency syndrome). There is no documentation of gay bowel syndrome since the 70's and the disease has been rejected. Damage is a possibility in all sexual intercourse; most gay men don't go around trying to cause muscle tearing. Saliva is not a particularly good way of transmitting yeast infections unless the transmitter has oral candidiasis, and oral sex is certainly less dangerous than any kind of genital penetration. You really don't understand the biology well enough to be pushing your agenda on this front.

Higher promiscuity among gay men is a cultural phenomenon, and a large part of that culture is a remnant of an era when homosexuality had to be clandestine and partnership couldn't be legally recognized, and it also reflects ties between new acceptability of homosexuality and aftereffects of sexual liberation, free love, and other happy 60's fun. Oh, wait... it still can't. Anyway, making it harder to have a permanent gay partnership exacerbates the problem.

quote:
[b]I really think that this is a little outside of the scope of this discussion, but you all are being fooled or fooling yourselves if you think homosexual sex = heterosexual sex. For non-promiscuous heterosexual couples with good hygiene the transmission of disease is next to nil. This reason is because they use their equipment according to the design (take “design” however you please).
[/b]

Among healthy couples of any sexual orientation the transmission rate is next to nil. Safe sex practices reduce the risk in any pair dramatically. This has nothing to do with the "equipment" and everything to do with how and with whom sex is performed, and your unsubstantiated biases don't change that.

quote:
Reproduction only happens with male-female pairing. And don’t talk about old people past reproductive age, or couples with infertility problems, or heterosexual couples that have similar intimate practices to those considered the norm in the homosexual community. None of those change the facts. All of us are here because a man and woman got together, not a group of people, or a homosexual pair
Not actually true. Reproduction requires male and female gametes and a woman to carry the pregnancy to term, not a man and a woman having sex per se. IVF, surrogate mothers, and other modern fertility aids have their place.

quote:
And the promiscuity mention above strongly indicates an adverse psychological component as well. So, they do not equate…not by a long shot.
Sure does. And as I said, the adverse psychological component is an artifact of the way homosexuality has been stigmatized and criminalized for centuries.

quote:
On the other hand, I truly believe that a homosexual individual, couple, and/or a group could provide a better home for a child than the state or even a dysfunctional nuclear woman-man family. But it is certainly not the ideal. Equating the two types of unions does not make for a logical case. What does seem to be a good case is arguing that homosexual marriage would make for less of the promiscuity more typical among that community. The argument for homosexuals adopting also makes sense.
The merits or lack thereof of same-sex families still have not been documented, so I'll assert that it is the ideal. The case is as logical as yours.

—Alorael, who finally will point out that disease is still largely irrelevant, as you yourself have noted. The government does not regulate consensual risky behavior (and lesbians are considerably lower risk than anyone else). Homosexual intercourse happens without marriage just fine, so marriage should, if anything, have a limiting effect. There's no case to be made on this basis.

[ Wednesday, December 19, 2007 11:24: Message edited by: Narrow Ways ]
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Arrows in Avernum 4
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Wednesday, December 19 2007 09:32 Profile Homepage #2
In other words, you can start shooting as soon as you equip a bow. That's a good thing, too, because bows are extremely useful in A4. It's even quite feasible to use them as your only weapon for melee combat too, particularly against enemies that parry and riposte all the time.

—Alorael, who will now offer a very small spoiler that has nothing to do with the plot and everything to do with mechanics. There's still reason not to train Bows in the demo. You can buy a couple of levels of the skill later without spending skill points. It's particularly helpful as a backup attack for casters.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Omaha Mall Shooting in General
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Tuesday, December 18 2007 21:50 Profile Homepage #393
Your point makes no sense. We are finely honed evolutionary machines based on thinking we are, each and every one of us, the center of the universe. Also, Synergy didn't call you worthless. You did, and he disparaged you comment.

For Stillness:
quote:
Originally from PubMed:
Infections associated with homosexual activity

Sexually transmitted diseases are common in all gay people with a high number of different partners.Their management is the same as in the heterosexual communityThe transmission of infection through vaginal and anal intercourse is no different, apart from HIVHepatitis A and Giardia are spread through oro-anal contactThe greater incidence of hepatitis B is an indicator of a large number of partners, not of specific sexual practices
So it looks like many sexual partners tends to be bad, but that's true of all sexual practices. Guess what? Marriage tends to include a reduction in the number of partners to two.
To Gizmo: Frankly, that's one of the reasons I can't quite stomach Christianity. My mythical ancestors from hundreds of generations ago do not affect the state of my soul. I was not created with terrible urges that can never be reconciled to righteousness. God isn't playing some sadistic shell game with humanity. When we sin, it's our fault, and we atone, but it's a personal error, not some systematic flaw in humanity.

—Alorael, who is still looking for studies of the effects of same-sex relationships on child-rearing, family stability, and the like. So far he's found nothing at all, positive or negative, from reputable sources.

[ Tuesday, December 18, 2007 21:56: Message edited by: Narrow Ways ]
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00

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