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 |
Recent posts
Pages
| Author | Recent posts |
|---|---|
| What's so bad about it anyway? in Richard White Games | |
|
Law Bringer
Member # 335
|
written Monday, August 8 2005 14:05
Profile
Homepage
Lost Souls is missing only a level editor and/or some form of multiplayer, really. Galactic Core is lacking the key element of fun. Ocean Bound is missing something, but after a close examination your brain is not in any condition to figure out what. —Alorael, who would rate them as "love to hate" games rather than "hate-worthy" games. There are worse out there. A certain camel herding game comes to mind... Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| Would Exile make a SWEET movie? in The Exile Trilogy | |
|
Law Bringer
Member # 335
|
written Monday, August 8 2005 14:03
Profile
Homepage
You'd have to take a lot out and put a lot in. Puzzles, exploration, loot gathering, and other staples of the RPG tradition make for bad movies. Random combat gets old quickly. The movie you would get out of them would have only a passing resemblance to the Exile games, although they could be set perfectly well in the Exile world. —Alorael, who firmly believes that most good books require a lot of tweaking to become movies and most games require at least ten times that much tweaking to become movies. Whether they work as books varies from game to game. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| If you could invite 4 people to a dinner in any form... in General | |
|
Law Bringer
Member # 335
|
written Monday, August 8 2005 13:58
Profile
Homepage
And do you know how many of those billions and trillions of aliens do or don't speak English? Be careful when you start throwing numbers around! —Alorael, who doesn't even like Babelfish for cross-language definitions. It picks one meaning and always applies it, no matter how inappropriate, for most words. There are online dictionaries for almost any language you're likely to be attempting to use, and they are better than Babelfish. Mostly. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| A Question about the Slith and Nephilim in The Avernum Trilogy | |
|
Law Bringer
Member # 335
|
written Monday, August 8 2005 13:53
Profile
Homepage
I'm just pointing out that creativity is the criterion of the day, there's no proven need for brains at all, and there is already literature with brainless creatures. Undead are just a cop-out. They're literally not life-forms, and they don't have to obey laws of physics, biology, or chemistry. They also tend to have pungent odors. —Alorael, who will accept that a sapient, civilized species could have no limbs and no telekinetic abilities at all if it had the ability to animate the corpses of other animals with the necessary anatomy to act as surrogate limbs. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| Know any good RPGs? in General | |
|
Law Bringer
Member # 335
|
written Monday, August 8 2005 13:46
Profile
Homepage
Realmz is buggy, finicky, prone to glitches and idiosyncracies, and painfully typo-ridden. It has balance problems, plot problems, and graphics problems. Then it was cloned carelessly as New Centurions. In the earliest versions of this bold "new" game, the nsame "Realmz" and Realmz bits and pieces were still left in. I'm not a Realmz fan. —Alorael, who spent less time using Froogle to look up Fallout 2 prices than he did typing this message and found prices well under $50. A few more seconds on Amazon would probably get you even better deals, especially if you're not picky about used copies. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| Love Hina in General | |
|
Law Bringer
Member # 335
|
written Monday, August 8 2005 13:37
Profile
Homepage
This is Spiderweb. Everyone has something to say about Love Hina whether they know it or not, and even those who don't care to share their comments or feel stifled by the Code of Conduct can always slip in a totally irrelevant post. —Alorael, who gives extra points to those whose posts are self-referential. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| How experience works in Avernum 2 in The Avernum Trilogy | |
|
Law Bringer
Member # 335
|
written Monday, August 8 2005 13:08
Profile
Homepage
Then it probably does adjust for the highest level in your party before distributing. Avoid Becca until your levels are high enough for it to be reasonable. —Alorael, who believes A1 and A2 apply the penalty or bonus to each point as well. If you get 10 experience points and have a 30% penalty, you could get anywhere from 0 to 10 points, though 7 is the average. A3 finally made the adjustments static and reasonable. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| 1000 posts! in General | |
|
Law Bringer
Member # 335
|
written Monday, August 8 2005 13:04
Profile
Homepage
I have to have my orders shipped from a number of locations as no producers grow enough individually. Bigail has some very fine crops, and so does California. —Alorael, who wouldn't stop watching the races yet. A post deficit of several hundred may seem insurmountable, but several members are gaining by several hundred posts each month. It will be interesting to see who gets to 20,000 first (in 2009). Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| Odyssey the legend of Nemesis in General | |
|
Law Bringer
Member # 335
|
written Sunday, August 7 2005 20:11
Profile
Homepage
The BoE scenario editor is free. It's the ability to play the scenarios you make that you pay for. Anyone who believes that a scenario can be made without any testing is deluded, though, and anyone who believes that other people will do the alpha testing is also deluded. The Exile games are indeed free if all you want is the demos. I still don't understand. —Alorael, who doubts that there will be any hue and cry over the remaking of a game that has already been released for free. If you really care, you could email Richard Rouse and ask for permission. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| A Question about the Slith and Nephilim in The Avernum Trilogy | |
|
Law Bringer
Member # 335
|
written Sunday, August 7 2005 08:51
Profile
Homepage
This entire discussion has been about sapient species. Of course they need intelligence! Not brains, because nobody has proved that a brain is the only possible thinking organ and ghosts can think in fantasyland just fine. Underwater, flippers are more useful than legs but hands are necessary for that manipulation. In low gravity, or even in normal gravity, wings or other means of flying can replace legs, but hands are still necessary. No matter where you are, you need some ability to manipulate your environment with precision and deliberate control, and hands are really the best way to do that. Or telekinesis, of course. —Alorael, who wouldn't say that the plausibliy demonstrated is the limit of the proven in science. Special relativity seems very hard to prove, but Einstein proved it despite having no practical way to demonstrate it. If someone proves or disproves multiple universes on paper, fine. (It can still be shown to be a flawed proof later, but that has less to do proofs being inherently unreliable than the fact that scientists love trying to find the errors in theories so they can be fixed.) Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| How experience works in Avernum 2 in The Avernum Trilogy | |
|
Law Bringer
Member # 335
|
written Sunday, August 7 2005 08:42
Profile
Homepage
Experience is divided evenly among members of your party and then modified for each character by traits so that those who have, for example, Elite Warrior and Natural Mage will take much longer to gain levels than characters with Cursed at Birth and Totally Inept. The amount of experience you get is reduced as you gain levels, so that killing goblins because absolutely worthless for a level fifty party. —Alorael, who doesn't know if the amount of experience gained is modified by highest level or average level. If the former, and the former seems equally likely, having Becca in your party could be crippling. Try depositing her somewhere you can leave party members and see if experience picks up. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| Human cloning in General | |
|
Law Bringer
Member # 335
|
written Saturday, August 6 2005 22:23
Profile
Homepage
Could you ever have the rights to anyone else's genes? And aren't there better artificial babies than clones? How many Donald Bradmans could you have before he single-genomically became a form of cricket steroids and regulatory agencies start banning his genes from play? —Alorael, who is willing to accept that once species are restored or sustained by cloning, it's only a small leap until there's genetic tweaking to restore variety to the gene pool. If nothing else, you could get exciting new possibilities like Canis rufus with bright green fur! Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| If you could invite 4 people to a dinner in any form... in General | |
|
Law Bringer
Member # 335
|
written Saturday, August 6 2005 21:57
Profile
Homepage
A Roman peasant from the reign of any stable and sane Emperor, a medieval French serf from just before the Hundred Years War, a Chinese peasant from the Great Leap Forward, and a modern-day inner city American ghetto dweller. The conversation and complaints would be enlightening. —Alorael, who would also be very tempted to do a little research and find history's four best chefs. Sure, the table talk might not leave you feeling ensmartened (not a word, don't use it), but the food would be unbelievable. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| RWG FAQ in Richard White Games | |
|
Law Bringer
Member # 335
|
written Saturday, August 6 2005 17:53
Profile
Homepage
16. t ~ø 17. I didn't catch that last one. 17b. Right, it has to be a question. What was that last one? We wish we knew. 18. Is there some tie among the communications exchanged on these forums, Richard White, and the horrible beings enumerated in the Necronomicon? At least two of the three are linked. We leave it to you to figure out which. 19. Is this forum a thinly-veiled front for evil in its purest form, or is it just a bit unhinged? Thinly-veiled? Just a bit? We hate to answer a question with a question (though answering it with two is all right), but there's really no call to become insulting! 20. Is it one person or many answering these questions, which use the first person plural? Yes. 21. I'm frightened. 21b Er... I'm frightened? We don't know. Speak to a trained professional to determine whether or not you are frightened. 22. No, I mean... Look, should I be frightened? Quite probably. —Alorael, who is not responsible for the above post in any way. He blames it on the as-yet unnamed "we" that claims to be communicating with the also unnamed questioner. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| Every Living Thing To Get A Barcode in General | |
|
Law Bringer
Member # 335
|
written Saturday, August 6 2005 17:45
Profile
Homepage
Do you object to having a Social Security number? A number on your driver's license? We've been living with identifying numbers for years. Having them in a place where they wouldn't get lost would be a relief! —Alorael, who just pities the poor bureaucrats who are forced to barcode each and every ant. It's enough to make you give up your sinecure and take up honest work, it is. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| Random software question in General | |
|
Law Bringer
Member # 335
|
written Saturday, August 6 2005 17:39
Profile
Homepage
Windows Media Player runs on Macs, but some enhancements are missing. Microsoft is like that. (I would guess, with little knowledge, that some enhancements are also missing on Windows. Microsoft is like that too.) I needed to download some things to get 3ivx working with quicktime on a Mac. http://www.3ivx.com/ is, unsurprisingly, the place to get them. —Alorael, who is too lazy to worry about having more than one movie player. Therefore he is willing to expend the effort to find all the necessary bits and pieces to make Quicktime work. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| Favorite car in General | |
|
Law Bringer
Member # 335
|
written Saturday, August 6 2005 17:34
Profile
Homepage
 —Alorael, who will settle for something that goes when he presses the gas, stops when he presses the breaks, doesn't use too much gas doing it, and keeps both itself and him intact. The rest is just bells and whistles. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| avernum 1 easter egg? in The Avernum Trilogy | |
|
Law Bringer
Member # 335
|
written Saturday, August 6 2005 17:32
Profile
Homepage
There's no big secret in A1, and the references to subsequent Avernum games are more foreshadowing, not easter eggs. —Alorael, who pleads guilty to topic resuscitation (but not necromancy) for purely pedantic reasons. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| Our President in General | |
|
Law Bringer
Member # 335
|
written Saturday, August 6 2005 17:29
Profile
Homepage
The president is a representative, and he holds the majority of executive power. He's only a figurehead because someone needs to be. The president is analogous to the UK's prime minister, not the monarch. —Alorael, who doesn't object to fighting terrorism because it's evil. Whatever word games you want to play, that's really the reason everyone objects to it whether or not you decide to expand the definition of evil. Using evil as a catchall term for anyone different is very different and very dangerous, though, and Bush always seems to be on the verge of doing just that. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| 2D vs 3D, the Battle for Entertainment! in The Avernum Trilogy | |
|
Law Bringer
Member # 335
|
written Saturday, August 6 2005 17:15
Profile
Homepage
There's nothing wrong with 3D graphics, but rotating cameras make me get lost, first person views irritate me, and isometric sprites suit me just fine. —Alorael, who would still rather have isometric and better gameplay than nifty graphics to hide inherent boringness. Nice graphics and nice gameplay together are best, of course. Throw in low system requirements and you have a sure impossible winner! Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| Phobias in General | |
|
Law Bringer
Member # 335
|
written Saturday, August 6 2005 17:11
Profile
Homepage
You were biking at 80 kph? That's impressive! I suffer from phobias regarding injections and incisions of all kinds, a dislike of water bordering on phobia, the common fear of public speaking that really isn't phobic, and such a crushing Greek phobia that I can't bear to find the proper terms for any of these. —Alorael, who also has a non-phobic fear of blood-sucking insects because they have a truly unfair predilection towards chowing down on him over the opportunity to munch on others. It's really not fair. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| Death to Anama!!! in The Avernum Trilogy | |
|
Law Bringer
Member # 335
|
written Saturday, August 6 2005 17:05
Profile
Homepage
The basic tenets of the Anama aren't so wrong, although they take it to extremes. Magic is dangerous in the hands of people like Rentar-Ihrno, countless insane necromancers, demonologists, and the odd Jordan/Bojar. A more careful licensing system and tracking of all wands, crystals, alembics, and other paraphernalia of the mage would go a long way. The rest of the crazy Anama cultism is just cultism. Cults are bad even when they control entire islands and have fancy churches. —Alorael, who wasn't willing to give up Major Blessing for Avatar. Having a large party will do that. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| 1000 posts! in General | |
|
Law Bringer
Member # 335
|
written Saturday, August 6 2005 17:01
Profile
Homepage
quote:Just congratulated a lot, really. Congratulations, Toenail! —Alorael, who also uses large quoted blocks to mask his spam. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| A Question about the Slith and Nephilim in The Avernum Trilogy | |
|
Law Bringer
Member # 335
|
written Saturday, August 6 2005 16:59
Profile
Homepage
Even Buddhism is forced to nod to the illusion of our separate existences. Trying to do anything with total unity would be difficult and, to most Western audiences, baffling. The wizard argument is the same as telekineses, except it goes farther. That's fine, but it also makes for an implausible alien. For whatever reason, while we swallow magic without a protest, magical creatures who can do everything effortlessly are found objectionable. Maybe it's our ingrained Puritan work ethic belief that everything should require effort, even magic. Anyway, following magic through to its absurd conclusion results in creatures that don't need any physical features, since all organ functions can be carried out magically. A blob of protoplasm is a perfectly acceptable sapient species. Or no body at all, and you have a ghost, wraith, spirit, or soul. Both have been done. Again, suspension of disbelief and practical use are the limits, not imagination. —Alorael, who is unaware of any proof of multiple universe theory. It seems by nature to be unprovable, though that has never stopped physicists before. His last check on the subject, which wasn't recent, seemed to indicate that multiple accessible or detectable universes have been discredited. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
| What's your religion? in General | |
|
Law Bringer
Member # 335
|
written Saturday, August 6 2005 16:51
Profile
Homepage
1. Unitarian Universalism (100%) 2. Liberal Quakers (95%) 3. Secular Humanism (89%) 4. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (86%) 5. Reform Judaism (81%) 6. Sikhism (69%) 7. Neo-Pagan (68%) 8. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (65%) 9. Bahá'í Faith (62%) 10. Theravada Buddhism (62%) 11. Nontheist (59%) 12. Jehovah's Witness (55%) 13. New Age (54%) 14. Orthodox Judaism (53%) 15. Jainism (48%) 16. Mahayana Buddhism (46%) 17. Taoism (45%) 18. Orthodox Quaker (45%) 19. Islam (45%) 20. New Thought (44%) 21. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (39%) 22. Scientology (36%) 23. Hinduism (35%) 24. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (34%) 25. Seventh Day Adventist (29%) 26. Eastern Orthodox (25%) 27. Roman Catholic (25%) —Alorael, who is a Reform Jew. He'll accept that everyone should be a Unitarian, he has associated with and deeply respects the Quakers, specifically Liberal ones, and he's perfectly happy with humanism. Protestantism is a little anomalous, but okay. And then, in number 5, his own religion half by choice and half by default. It shows. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |