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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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Random Quiz in General
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Friday, November 25 2005 18:41 Profile Homepage #22 Dictionary.com cites the 1913 Webster's too. I also think that there's something significant to the fact that this thread is now the fourth Google hit for preambulate out of almost 700. Perambulate, on the other hand, has almost 60,000 hits. Which one is a word and which one is an unfortunately repeated error? —Alorael, who will never preambulate the corridors in the hours of repose in the boots of ascension. Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
what is your group make up? in The Avernum Trilogy
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Friday, November 25 2005 18:37 Profile Homepage #9 quote: Originally written by Icshi: It would look silly on my barbarian swordsman Woad. My nephils don't wear makeup, but they enjoy having their fur curled/straightened and their claws sharpened and polished as much as the next anthropomorphic cat. The sliths buff their scales until they gleam. —Alorael, who has found that the end of an Avernum game usually gives magic users ridiculous damage at the cost of only being able to launch a few volleys before some kind of magical refill is needed. Fighters may do less damage to fewer monsters, but they can keep doing it all day. (By the end of any Avernum, your fighters will be able to stand in the middle of a horde of angry enemies and laugh off blows that miss a lot.) Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Sci-Fi and fantasy authors... in General
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Friday, November 25 2005 18:32 Profile Homepage #30 Salvatore is the top of his sub-genre: don't come expecting deep characters, intricate plots, or subtle shades of meaning and you'll be very happy. He's not a great writer by any stretch of the imagination, but he's extremely good at what he does, and his bestsellers show it. Eddings is, in his way, a master of his particular area. He writes standard light fantasy with humor and style. There aren't really any surprises; you may not know what happens next, but you're not shocked by the outcome. Still, his stuff is fun, wholesome, and very good light reading. The only objection I have to Jordan is that he's gotten bogged down in too many plot twists and characters. His books plod. They're not padded, exactly, but they're so overwhelmed with things happening that in any book there's very little advancement in any specific plot. Since I have no objection to reading a lot, I have no real objection to Jordan. I just wish he would put an end on his series because I prefer finished stories to unfinished ones. —Alorael, who likes LeGuin a great deal. She has recently plunged into the propaganda pitfall, unfortunately. The latest Earthsea books in particular aren't about Earthsea so much as they are about pushing a message. Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Sci-Fi and fantasy authors... in General
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Friday, November 25 2005 12:33 Profile Homepage #25 Redefine main characters. As I said, Anthony at his best is not quite as good as Pratchett at his worst. I love puns, but you can only throw so many together before they stop being funny. Goodkind's first book was promising, but he has gone pretty steadily downhill from there. He's run into the Robert Jordan endless series syndrome, and his series isn't as good as Jordan's. He's got fewer compelling characters and a much less distinct world to fall back on. He's also become a crazed propaganda machine. —Alorael, who now has to wonder why only Donaldson can pull off a convincing contemporary, ordinary earthling in fantasyland. Kay writes a good series with it, but he just has his characters go native so quickly that the series could just as easily include no Earth at all. Other authors tend to do even worse. (If you have a strong constitution, find any fanfiction website and observe the percentage of ordinary people adaptations of stories. Then look at self-insertions. Ugh.) Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
what is your group make up? in The Avernum Trilogy
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Friday, November 25 2005 12:25 Profile Homepage #2 My first two characters are like Icshi's, and my second two are identical mage/priests. Avernum 4 made me strongly consider rethinking this arrangement. —Alorael, who always ponders making his casters into archers too. It never gets anywhere, though. That much magic takes a lot of skill points. Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Exile III multiplayer? in The Exile Trilogy
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Thursday, November 24 2005 17:54 Profile Homepage #4 Chess is a very different game. —Alorael, who feels like this is spam. The differences betewen chess and Exile are glaringly obvious. Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
ITS TURKEY DAY!!!!!! in General
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Thursday, November 24 2005 17:46 Profile Homepage #11 I'm not terribly fond of Thanksgiving food, but I love eating with assorted family, friends, and people who seem to wander in and go along with the rest of us. —Alorael, who can't think of anywhere else he can be involved in conversations about Bruce Springstein and various lesser artists, advances in internet technology, political skulduggery, academic skulduggery, and family skulduggery all at the same time. Well, except here, but this isn't quite a place and simultaneous conversations aren't the same when not shouted across a table. Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Sci-Fi and fantasy authors... in General
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Thursday, November 24 2005 12:12 Profile Homepage #21 Lord Foul's Bane has nothing to do with the book, however. There is no bane involved. There's not even all that much Lord Foul. —Alorael, who also thinks "Lord Foul" is the least imposing of the assorted apellations and titles that Lord Foul collects. He sounds more like a problem at a social gathering than a terrible force bent on, well, foulness. Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Sci-Fi and fantasy authors... in General
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Thursday, November 24 2005 09:54 Profile Homepage #19 Piers Anthony has some controversy associated with him. I personally think of him as a sometime pale imitation of Pratchett and sometime hack, but you're entitled to your own opinions. tSpring: No, I haven't read Runes yet. I hate starting a series that I can't finish, and Donaldson actually finishes his series, so I'll happily wait for The Last Dark in around 2015. —Alorael, who can't imagine what happened to Donaldson and his ability to name things. Honestly! "Shall Pass Utterly" and "The Last Dark" are not acceptable titles! This from the man who created Lord Foul? Okay, some things don't change. Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Exile III multiplayer? in The Exile Trilogy
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Thursday, November 24 2005 09:47 Profile Homepage #2 Yeah (heh), turn-based doesn't really lend itself to multiplayer well. It can work if you make turns very very short, but that has some problems associated with it for an Exile-style game, or you can make turns medium length (a few seconds) and have people suffer through movement. But basically Kel is right. Yea, Exile Online is an impossibility. —Alorael, who would like a show of support or disdain for EO. Yea or nay, no abstentions! Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Sci-Fi and fantasy authors... in General
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Wednesday, November 23 2005 23:30 Profile Homepage #12 Chalk up another "oops" for omitting Kay. Actually, I'm not sure he's at his best writing fantasy. The Fionavar Tapestry is nice, but it's not as good as his semi-historical fantasies, which tend to get better as the fantasy is turned lower. The Lions of Al-Rassan involves virtually no fantastic elements and is my favorite of his books. Michelle West, with or without the Sagara depending on much the same factors as Richard White's life, is good. Like Robert Jordan, she knows how to pile on characters and build a world, mix, and come up with rather hefty books. Unlike Robert Jordan, she can figure out when to stop doing so. —Alorael, who isn't sure either of them can go on his favorites list without diluting the word favorite beyond recognition. It's a tier that can't include everyone. He'll also admit to enjoying Robert Jordan's writing despite its flaws and length. At least his world has depth. Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Number words in English in General
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Wednesday, November 23 2005 21:26 Profile Homepage #32 I brought up this number issue with specific reference to billiards with my whole family gathered for Thanksgiving (or pre-Thanksgiving, actually). The response really let me know that none of us were adopted. Or maybe that nurture can overpower nature. But that's another argument. For further fragments! If I said that -iard came before -ion, I mistyped. -iard is the larger value. For saving words, I suggest using scientific notation in speech as well as in writing. When you start throwing around quadrillions you might as well just give powers of ten. They're equally inconceivable. —Alorael, who is still confused. A German friend learning English a few years ago was baffled by the lack of milliard. Is that or isn't that a common word in German? Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Sci-Fi and fantasy authors... in General
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Wednesday, November 23 2005 21:21 Profile Homepage #9 J.R.R. Tolkien, Robin Hobb, Tad Williams (I categorize all of his books as fanasy despite trappings) and Stephen R. Donaldson make the top of my fantasy list. Stephen R. Donaldson (yes, again) and Frank Herbert are the top of my sci-fi authors. China Miéville is more fantasy than sci-fi, but it didn't feel right to put him in with the others. Whatever he is, he's a favorite. Jack Vance is a top something. My internal jury is still out on the genre. He might be a mix like Miéville and a genre-hopper like Donaldson. Lovecraft is entertaining and influential, but I can't honestly call him a favorite. He's mostly light reading. —Alorael, who wanted to stick C. S. Friedman in somewhere and decided he really couldn't. He just respects anyone can can write a book that tells a coherent (kind of) story in which every chapter has a difference protagonist or perspective character and have the audacity to do it in genre writing, not true literature. Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Random Quiz in General
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Wednesday, November 23 2005 21:08 Profile Homepage #11 I pondered which vehicle was most likely to be used prior to travel on foot for nothing? Alas! —Alorael, who can't answer which day is most likely to see the beginning of colds without knowing which is the day of highest stress. Monday, Thursday, and Friday all seem like fair candidates. And then there's the hump day factor of Wednesday. Given all this, it's probably Tuesday. Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Number words in English in General
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Wednesday, November 23 2005 12:14 Profile Homepage #24 The only difference is that America does bi-, tri-, and so on based on 10^3n and Britain does it with 10^6n, making up the difference either by using thousands of -ions or by changing -ion to -iard for 10^6n-3. Either one is reasonable, although -ion and -iard confusion could be a problem. —Alorael, who at least understands the number system now. Billion is clearly from bi, two; trillion is from tri, three; and so on. Million logically has to be one, but in America's 10^3n system, n = 3 for billion, n = 2 for million, and n = 1 for thousand. That shift has been confusing. In Britain, though, since it's 10^6n, n = 1 for million, n = 2 for billion, and it's all nice and sensible. Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
A4 - The New Geneforge? in Avernum 4
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Wednesday, November 23 2005 10:02 Profile Homepage #26 Slow is still crippling as it's meant to be, but remember that you have a party of four now (unless you're playing a singleton). That makes slow less painful, and another adjustment also keeps battles from becoming absurd circular chases. —Alorael, who will also add that if you think getting slowed is bad, try slowing your enemies. Sure, a lot of the time they can haste themselves and each other, but when they can't you can cripple supposedly powerful enemies. Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Tell Me in Richard White Games
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Tuesday, November 22 2005 17:24 Profile Homepage #9 Like many aspects of RWG, you're better off not knowing what FAQ stands for here. There are some things man was not meant to know. —Alorael, who is also unable to represent the true FAQ via a two dimensional medium. Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
IMG Previews A4. in General
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Tuesday, November 22 2005 14:24 Profile Homepage #41 I think there's a difference between plot and world. E/A3 is set in a mostly generic fantasy world, and the plot is nothing special. Avernums 1 and 2, on the other hand, don't really have surprising or original plots, but I like the underground world. Chapter 2 of E2/A2 in particular is well done: plotwise, you're on a boat (mostly) going from point A to point B. The atmosphere is well done. Nethergate is the same. The plot is unexciting, but it meshes well with the world, which is fleshed out very well. The point isn't getting various items or preventing others from getting them. The point is the world you wander through on the way. Yes, it's a cliché: it's not the destination, it's the journey! —Alorael, who has found that his personal tolerance for bad plot is much higher than his tolerance for boring world. This holds true in computer games and even more so in reading material. A good writer can make even a fairly insipid book worth reading. A good game designer can make a game that limps along in story worth playing for the setting or, in many cases, solely for the mechanics. Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
A4 - The New Geneforge? in Avernum 4
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Tuesday, November 22 2005 14:03 Profile Homepage #21 Combat is closer to Geneforge than to Avernum. It took some adjustment, but I've come to like it. Fighting requires a little more tactical thinking and a little less charging and hacking now. —Alorael, who is happy to say that melee is far from useless, although trying to play with melee only is definitely a tough proposition. Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Number words in English in General
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Tuesday, November 22 2005 10:06 Profile Homepage #7 Wiktionary claims that the and correct in British English and incorrect in American English, but I can't find any other reference. Also note that milliard, which I believe is used in German, is or was also used in British English in place of a million, which means that a billion could have two different meanings. That's rather confusing. —Alorael, who has been led to believe that it is conventional to write out numbers up to ten or up to twenty, depending on who's doing the recommending, and that larger numbers should be written as digits. That would make it correct to write 101. Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
If you could, when would you... in General
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Monday, November 21 2005 23:50 Profile Homepage #32 The first gold was found at Sutter's Mill in January of 1848. You really should know that it was found before 1851, though, since the gold diggers were called forty-niners. You know, as in '49, which omits the leading 18? I was suggesting showing up and beating the rush, so to speak. Har har. —Alorael, who thinks it wouldn't be too difficult to get Bush aborted. Just Photoshop up some proof that he became a communist. The timing would be pretty good, and of course everyone knows that a time traveller bringing news of apocalyptic Red America must be trusted. Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
IMG Previews A4. in General
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Monday, November 21 2005 23:44 Profile Homepage #24 Actually, I'm not sure. I assumed without any evidence that dead characters got no experience, but that may not be true. They may get experience, they may not get experience but still cause the party to get only 1/4 of the total each (for a total of 3/4), or a party of four with three dead may end up giving that survivor a lot of experience. I'll look into that. The Silvarian Face Leaping Spider is not nearly as terrifying as the Formellan Face Leaping Spider. You have been warned. I don't think it's too much of a spoiler to say you get some insight into the world of Gazers in A4. It made me happy. —Alorael, who still rarely ends up walking around with less than a full complement of adventurers. Most threats able to take out one party member are then able to take out the rest. The only real exception is attacks from behind that kill the spellcasters. Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
IMG Previews A4. in General
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Monday, November 21 2005 15:47 Profile Homepage #7 Vahnatai creationism explicitly excludes the dragons. Gazers may be in a category of their own as well. This is not a spoiler. —Alorael, who still has to put the touches on his alternative theory of intelligent design by Richard White. It's internally consistent except when it isn't. Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Curse of the Faeries in Nethergate
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Monday, November 21 2005 10:17 Profile Homepage #3 You also get documented warning that killing people outside is a bad idea. The lesson is quite clear: no rampages! —Alorael, who has nothing to add except that it's possible, though more difficult, to finish Nethergate while cursed. Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
What books... in General
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Monday, November 21 2005 10:15 Profile Homepage #44 quote: Originally written by Jibun wo Ecchi Suru: Although technically, Beowulf really didn't have to be written. Since, you know, it wasn't. But, y'see, it was. It's a literary masterpiece (or whatever) as an epic poem, but it's also a physical document of literary and historical importance in a way that, say, the Kalevala and the Illiad aren't. —Alorael, who enjoyed Moore's style of writing. Guns of the South is a great book, probably better even if it's less original, but it reads quite differently. Bujold won't kill the space opera because sci-fi has a depressing tolerance for garbage (yesk, 90% of everything is crap, but most of the time that 90% is rejected). Still, if the space opera has to die, Bujold would be a fine note to end on. Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00

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