Profile for Or else o'erleap.
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Displayed name | Or else o'erleap. |
| Member number | 335 |
| Title | Law Bringer |
| Postcount | 14579 |
| Homepage | http://www.polarisboard.net |
| Registered | Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
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| Author | Recent posts |
|---|---|
| Helping Jeff advertise in Avernum 4 | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Thursday, January 12 2006 14:30
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I can think of three ways to set up RPGs: 1. No Bob. You wander around and do whatever. This is how A1 and most of A2 work. 2. Bob. Already described. 3. Self-Bobbing. Nobody is telling you what to do as your boss, but it's abundantly clear what the huge mission is and you're expected to do it. I don't really have any strong preference for 2 over 3 or vice versa. They're the same thing in different packages. 1 is at least different, but neither better nor worse. If you want more variety from Jeff, fine. If you prefer 1 or 3, fine. Those are both preferences, though, and not really radical changes in game design that Jeff is missing. —Alorael, who maintains that A1 has no plot. It has background. There are nephils and sliths and demons to fight, an Empire to humiliate, and other fun things to do. Your doing has minimal effect. Even the three chains of quests leading to the three endings are linked more by necessity than by causality. A2 is slightly better, because vahnatai involvement really is something you change, but the two versions of beating the Empire, Garzahd and the portal, are still a static situation that you do in a particular order because of technical requirements, not plot requirements. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| Displayed name duplicates... in General | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Thursday, January 12 2006 13:52
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Mod board topics are a great way to boost post counts. "Let's ban Aran!" "No." "Really?" "Yes." "Okay." They're great for those times that you can't post and then delete your posts in a forum you moderate. Not that I do that. —Alorael, who has never suggested that Aran be banned. That would be antisocial and unhelpful. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| Pied Piper Project 3: Revenge of the Boards in General | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Wednesday, January 11 2006 21:47
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Ha. An extra digit gives you a real leg (or finger) up on the competition in the world of piano. Unfortunately, most standard keyboard layouts aren't designed to take advantage of this. —Alorael, who hopes Aran gets a six-digit salary from a company that has its finger on the pulse of progress and knows who to tap for the best odds at clawing its way into the bold new future. That was a stretch. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| Helping Jeff advertise in Avernum 4 | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Wednesday, January 11 2006 21:38
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E3 had some tuneups to the Exile engine, or Exile paradigm, that were helpful. That happened again to a lesser extent in A3. A4 is a new thing entirely. A3's problem was that the story was marginally about Avernum but the setting was a forgettable and mostly generic fantasy surface world. The mystery of the vahnatai is neither difficult to unravel nor pressing. You just go on and kill plagues. The individual plagues are fine as quests, but very little ties them together in the plot or to the vahnatai at the end. Basically, the whole thing is a flimsy excuse for a romp through the wilds of Valorim. This isn't a bad thing, necessarily. Heck, I enjoyed E3 and A3. I like Jeff's style even when Avernum is mostly omitted. The underworld of Avernum is really what makes the series memorable to me, though. A4 has that, which is a big step up. More importantly, A4 has a fairly strong and quite linear plot. It's the most linear Avernum, in fact, with the exception of the brief interlude of Dark Waters in A2. In A4 you can do some stuff in the beginning, but you must help Fort Draco. Then you must help Formello. Then you must reach the Castle, which must be by way of the tunnels below Almaria. Despite all the temptations of the Great Cave, you must then rescue Ghall-Ihrno, find a box, and head west of Fort Remote. Then you're railroaded right along to the Abyss and the endgame. The plot isn't especially imaginative, but it's not terrible and it does its job of keeping you headed in the right direction. A3 never managed that. A1 has no plot, and it works almost entirely on exploration. A2 has a plot in the beginning, but then it goes on background too. I guess the real failure of A4 isn't that it has a bad plot, but that it's plot-driven without being miles ahead of other Avernums' plots. From what I know, Geneforge pulls this off. A4 doesn't, and it's failure to do so is even more striking because other Avenrums have "good" plots because they don't even make the attempt. —Alorael, who has rambled enough. A4's plot is okay, but not good, which makes it look bad. It does its job just fine and succeeds more than A3's plot, but A3 has less enforced linearity and is thus a less obvious plot failure. If you enjoy Avernum the setting instead of A4 the plot, A4 is fine. If you enjoy tactics, A4 is better than fine. If you enjoy half of the garbage RPGs produced, A4 is actually a large step up. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| suggestions... in Avernum 4 | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Wednesday, January 11 2006 21:26
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In the pylon fields west of Fort Remote it's possible to get through without destroying a single pylon, getting zapped by a single pylon, or using haste to dash past a single pylon. Patience and willingness to stay very close to walls most of the time will get you through. —Alorael, who could get only one member zapped by a pylon heading into the second fort. Those pylons aren't as evil, though, or maybe your party is just much stronger at that point. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| Holy Mac Windows Batman! in General | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Wednesday, January 11 2006 21:22
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There's also the story of the notorious purveyor of spam who irritated people to the breaking point. They showed up at his house and delivered enormous amounts of junk mail that shows up in your real, physical mailbox and more or less buried his house. I remember getting this from a reasonably reputable source, but I don't know exactly where or how much I've remade it in my mind. —Alorael, who believes someone did, in fact, try to produce a helpful "virus" that hunted down the virus of the day. It worked at that, but it commandeered the infected computer entirely to do so and then refused to let go. Then there's the mostly forgettable Mount Dragon, which involves attempts to engineer a virus that will spread immunity to influenza instead of sickness. Needless to say, it actually turns out to be a gruesomely virulent disease itself. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| Displayed name duplicates... in General | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Wednesday, January 11 2006 21:15
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I'm actually surprised I started that many topics. I stay away, mostly. Let he who is without sin cast the first post and all that. You might want to check New Silvar Inn v2.0. I think Saunders might have started that one with her dead account. The Personality Test might be mine, but I don't remember starting it. Huge Images, EraserHead, and the General mod poll are all official business. Proper behavior for cultists is close to it. That means as few as five of those threads may be non-official topics started by me. One of those is a post count topic and another is close to it. I really am a complete failure at contributing meaningfully. I'd start a "Should Alorael be Canned?" poll, but that goes against my poll-starting ethos. —Alorael, who is also somewhat worried by the proportion of threads initiated by him that are under the heading of RWG. That's really a bad sign. The fact that only one isn't General or RWG is even worse. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| Holy Mac Windows Batman! in General | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Wednesday, January 11 2006 15:36
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"Better" is comparative and says little about absolute quality or even quality on a scale of more than the two compared items. For example, I prefer System 7 to DOS. I would not choose to work with either if given a choice that included operating systems from the last decade. —Alorael, who can actually see a kind of twisted logic in thinking of computers like politicians. That might have to go into the required reading for everyone who wants to understand technology. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| Stunning in Avernum 4 | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Wednesday, January 11 2006 15:29
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Yes, I've lost more than 1 AP. I think I've lost up to 4, and I always kill Submission Fungi with bows and Bolts of Fire from out of range. What I'm claiming is that I've never been stunned for more AP than the character had, which those fungi could do, and that I've been stunned for no noticeable change in AP. —Alorael, who was unable to replicate such a lack of AP loss. He'll chalk it up to skribbane and pretend he never claimed it happened. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| Displayed name duplicates... in General | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Wednesday, January 11 2006 15:27
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quote:My thoughts exactly. —Alorael, who can finagle his post count, unique and unusual titles, and signature into plausible deniability. He already has a good name changing racket going. So... impersonation, here he comes! Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| Av4 Character Editor... will one ever be made in Avernum 4 | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Wednesday, January 11 2006 14:47
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Whatever the complaints, and there are some valid ones, the A4 engine is better than the older Avernum engines. Just fight a few of the more interesting fights and that becomes abundantly clear. All that's really missing is secret doors. And crate puzzles, if you're really a masochist. The graphics are always a wash. Jeff can't plesae the Exile-philes, the Geneforge-philes, and the Avernum-philes at the same time. I'm not complaining. The plot could have been better, but that's not an engine problem. —Alorael, who concludes that you should really play the game before complaining. Have you ever known Spidwebbers to do anything but gripe? Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| Holy Mac Windows Batman! in General | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Wednesday, January 11 2006 14:43
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Back to the original post, having the same Intel chips doesn't mean Windows programs will run on Macs. That will still take some work, and possibly some booting of Windows on the same machine, which defeats the purpose. On the other hand, not having to emulate all the hardware will make Virtual PC a thing of the past. Just running Windows is better. —Alorael, who doesn't really have high hopes there. Sure, it seems eminently possible and sure, running some Windows programs would be nice. On the other hand, he has a Mac because he doesn't want to be dealing with Windows. At all. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| Helping Jeff advertise in Avernum 4 | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Wednesday, January 11 2006 14:40
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I'm pessimistic about all upcoming Spiderweb games, but I'm less pessimistic than I am about most things, which makes me comparatively optimistic. Exposure to good stories does not tolerance of bad stories create. A4 isn't really bad, though. It's just not interesting or original. Bad requires a little more risk that really fails to pay off. As Kel says, other Avernums have been more interesting in the plot department, although I think that A4 is actually better than A3 there. At least things happen in A4! —Alorael, who has a lot of first posts on the second page. This makes sense, since he has a lot of posts, period. Actually, he has a vague impression that fewer than one out of every 25 posts he makes begins a new page, which is a little odd. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| Stunning in Avernum 4 | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Tuesday, January 10 2006 21:00
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Stunning comes in levels. When your next turn to act rolls around, you lose 1 AP and 1 level of stun until you aren't stunned anymore. If that's more than the AP you get in one round, the excess waits for your next turn. Or so I would imagine from Geneforge, anyway. In practice I've never been that stunned, and I'm pretty sure I've been stunned and not actually lost any AP. —Alorael, who may have imagined that part. Or maybe that was his fighters once they were able to get more than 8 AP and he just didn't notice that 9 - 1 = 8. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| Helping Jeff advertise in Avernum 4 | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Tuesday, January 10 2006 18:07
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Scorched Earth Party. Story About the Baby. I think highly belongs right next to that misanthropic. —Alorael, who doesn't consider misanthropy a bad thing, per se. Pick any random person and chances are good that he or she deserves to be disliked and possibly even reviled. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| Quick Note About Graphics in Avernum 4 | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Tuesday, January 10 2006 18:01
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I still happen to think that the Geneforge-style graphics are the best that Spiderweb has had. Even non-chitrachs don't change that, although a chance at real praying mantis types is great. —Alorael, who is also happy to have new knowledge of Linda's job. If she makes graphics, she's not out plotting evil and lead piping baby seals. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| dispel barrier please!!!! in Avernum 4 | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Tuesday, January 10 2006 14:14
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No. It's past the area right past the unregistered barrier. —Alorael, who would like to point out that the Eastern Gallery is in fact very large and you can spend a while wandering around there before heading down to Stump of Magi. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| Macbook Pro in General | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Tuesday, January 10 2006 14:11
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I think there's something in the Mac psyche that opposes large numbers on processors. Apple will avoid having real equivalence in the hertz department for as long as possible. —Alorael, who was nonplussed by the fact that one of the new models is 1.67 Ghz, just like the latest in PowerBooks. According to the old processor translations, that would mean that Apple made a new computer slower than older computers. Fortunately, the benchmark comparison loudly and omnipresently proclaims this to be false. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| Helping Jeff advertise in Avernum 4 | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Tuesday, January 10 2006 14:04
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Jeff is highly misanthropic and values his independence. Getting a few buddies to do some of the grunt work for his games is one thing. Putting together an outfit for real collaboration is very different, and I don't think Jeff wants to do that enough to try it even if he could. The only things I remember seeing anywhere are that Linda and Mariann do some of the town design. That's hardly a great deal of cooperation. —Alorael, who played Pillars of Garendall for a very short time. He was underwhelmed. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| View From the Bottom in General | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Monday, January 9 2006 18:03
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It's a new column, available here. Jeff is still a curmudgeon. There's no real insight beyond what should be obvious, but I suppose game designers may need the obvious, and it may need to be delivered via lead pipe. —Alorael, who misses the Grumpy Gamer. A hearty thank-you to anyone who can find those old articles anywhere but in the inconvenient cache of Google. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| Poor Man's Starbound? in Richard White Games | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Monday, January 9 2006 17:15
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I'm going to have to make an executive decision: just because a post is meaningful does not make it non-spam. In fact, this whole conversation is dangerously close to spam. :D :D ;) :P jk jk!!! :D :D ;) :P —Alorael, who just hurt his own soul. One should never double one's lifetime use of graemlins in a single post. Not even in jest. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| Poor Man's Starbound? in General | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Monday, January 9 2006 17:15
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I'm going to have to make an executive decision: just because a post is meaningful does not make it non-spam. In fact, this whole conversation is dangerously close to spam. :D :D ;) :P jk jk!!! :D :D ;) :P —Alorael, who just hurt his own soul. One should never double one's lifetime use of graemlins in a single post. Not even in jest. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| Blademaster & Sharpshooter in Avernum 4 | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Monday, January 9 2006 17:12
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For clarity, that means you bump a skill up one point, close the training window, and then reopen it. If you still don't have the special skill available, bump again. —Alorael, who found that to be one of the less fun elements of training. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| Nimble Fingers in Avernum 4 | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Monday, January 9 2006 17:07
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There are doors that require enormous amounts of Tool Use or bonus on Unlock Doors, but most traps stay with reasonably low requirements. A mage/thief only needs enough Tool Use to bypass traps. A quarter of those Tool Use points will be added to the power of Unlock Doors, and the rest of the skill points that would have been put into Tool Use can go into Spellcraft, Magery, or whatever other skills make your mage better at being a mage. Giving a thief the bare minimum in Mage Spells required to cast Unlock Doors is counterproductive. The bonus to the spell from Tool Use is less than the effect of Tool Use when picking locks, so the stacking is only useful on a character whose magical abilities, not thief abilities, are high. —Alorael, who has decided that any party that needs to get past many doors and traps is also a party that wants to get past barriers, which means a mage/thief will meet all your disarming, Unlock Doors, and Dispel Barrier needs. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| Avernum:4 vs Blades Of Avernum which is the best? in Avernum 4 | |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Monday, January 9 2006 14:31
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I have the same knee-jerk reaction to "I" instead of "me" even though most "me" in place of "I" mistakes don't bother me. I thnk it's because honest mistakes in English (or just not caring) don't bother me. I'm guilty myself. Pretension without actually using proper English is irritating. —Alorael, who can always avoid that by speaking in the third person. He doesn't think anyone mixes up third person subjective and objective cases, heself. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |