Profile for Or else o'erleap.

Error message

Deprecated function: implode(): Passing glue string after array is deprecated. Swap the parameters in drupal_get_feeds() (line 394 of /var/www/pied-piper.ermarian.net/includes/common.inc).

Recent posts

Pages

AuthorRecent posts
Damn you Icshi! Damn you!!!!!! in Richard White Games
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Sunday, July 17 2005 10:39 Profile Homepage #19
On the contrary! HIs conditioning goes well. Soon the commander of Lord White's legions will be ready for the real galactic battles.

—Alorael, who cautions against any leaking of the schematics of the Space Hose Blaster and Turbolens weapons. The enemies of the almighty White must not be forewarned.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Official Election Final Round Voting in General
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Sunday, July 17 2005 10:37 Profile Homepage #65
It is, actually. Search Drakey's post for 335 and you'll find it.

—Alorael, who doesn't recommend going through the list by hand. Or by eye, as the case may be.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Just say no in Richard White Games
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Sunday, July 17 2005 10:35 Profile Homepage #71
RiB is an expression of indescribable hatred?

—Alorael, who doesn't like the term "indescribable hatred." With sufficient knowledge of language, you should be able to describe it. Probably in terms drawing heavily on anatomy, psychology, possibly chemistry, mechanics, and thermodynamics, and certain medieval practices.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
"Blades of Geneforge" in General
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Sunday, July 17 2005 10:32 Profile Homepage #40
quote:
Originally written by Unpleasantness for its Own Sake:

quote:
Originally written by Kelandon:

quote:
Originally written by Marlenny:

Actually, over 90% of SW's threads do not mention Hentai whatsoever.
Perhaps we need to remedy this.
Would it be an acceptable substitute to put 90% of the internet's hentai in one thread?

Secretly, Alorael loves having to lock RWG topics.
No, but I do love nested quotes.

—Alorael, who doesn't think pointing the camera at a face is second person either. It's still awkward third person. There has to be a distinct difference with no overlap.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
A long-expected Parting in General
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Sunday, July 17 2005 10:29 Profile Homepage #9
Even on the way out, Aran manages a goodbye post that isn't spam. Let us take note.

Goodbye, Aran, and good luck with your resolution to stay away!

—Alorael, who can see that for once the statistics themselves aren't the focus of the conversation. You know you're missed when you're more important than numbers.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
A Question about the Slith and Nephilim in The Avernum Trilogy
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Sunday, July 17 2005 10:23 Profile Homepage #48
I brought up the Gazers, actually (I can't really tell the difference!), and while they are intelligent and do show signs of cooperation, I haven't been able to find any sign that they have any civilization of their own. The same goes for the nagas.

The aranea do have a civilization. A primitive one, perhaps, but definitely civilized, complete with some degree of specialization.

—Alorael, who will point out that the problem has never been the bipedal part. It's the hands that matter, and nagas have them. aranea kind of do. Gazers and Eye Beasts probably don't, and I haven't seen any signs of civilization. (They're good candidates for magical tool manipulation, though.)
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Regrettable But in General
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Sunday, July 17 2005 10:19 Profile Homepage #98
quote:
From the Code of Conduct:
What constitutes a major transgression for a member:

+ Any communication that is intended to harass, belittle, humiliate, threaten or cause embarrassment to a fellow member.
If TM were a newbie and posted as he did, everyone would be clamoring for a ban. There is only so much obnoxiousness that can be tolerated, and the first ban didn't drive the point home. Being an oldbie doesn't give you a free license to flout the rules, insult anyone newer, and generally act in a way that is socially unacceptable even without the Code of Conduct.

I honestly don't understand the complaints. I can understand liking TM. He's not some horrible monster, and there's a reason he has been a respected member of the community for years. I can't see how anyone could support his reason spate of petty vitriol.

Kelandon is not required to like TM or Alec. In fact, in an election, it is perfectly reasonable to try to prevent the election of someone you believe would be unfit for the position. If Kel has personal enmity, he at least probably believes there is a good reason for it. If he likes them both but still sees them as unsuited to the role of moderator, he would reasonably do the same thing. I don't thinki Kel is petty enough to shoot down Alec just to get back at TM.

—Alorael, who likes tradition but not to the point of enshrining the bad with the good. Yes, it's sad when an oldbie leaves. No, it does not do irreparable harm to the community. A little bit more civility, at least, can go a long way.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
I win! in General
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Saturday, July 16 2005 18:55 Profile Homepage #1
Congratulations! Let us remember the good posts and not the bad on this day, except when the bad ones were funny, and may you revel in your added digit.

—Alorael, who is now inspired to work harder in pursuit of a new digit of his own.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
A Question about the Slith and Nephilim in The Avernum Trilogy
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Saturday, July 16 2005 18:48 Profile Homepage #45
quote:
Originally written by Micawber:

I'm saying that earth and a hypothetical planet X might start from similar conditions, but the minute the very first species evolves it will influence all the subsequent ones. The general forms of viable life on earth are not independent of each other, however the forms of life on earth are independent of those on planet X. It is fundamentally unsound to extrapolate from the variety of lifeforms on earth to predict the variety of lifeforms on planet X.
Now I'll echo Kel and point out that evolution tends towards fitness. While species might start out very different, in similar conditions animals will evolve analogously to fit the same niches. Planet X might have something that isn't a bird, but it'll be like a bird. And so on.

—Alorael, who of course assumes something of an infinite timeframe so that evolution reaches perfect fitness. There's no guarantee that the analogous evolution will have the same traits in the same order, or that it won't pick up side variations here and there.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Can anyone give me good beginner tips? in The Avernum Trilogy
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Saturday, July 16 2005 18:39 Profile Homepage #1
First, realize that classes just allocate your skill points for you for the first level. They have no effect during the game beyond that. Secondly, you'll eventually decide what you like and use all custom characters.

That said, Berserker is a decent starting package and the only one I'd consider using. For casters, while the premade classes are all right, I prefer making a pair of characters who have nothing but mage and priest skills boosted up so that they start with as many spells as possible. Their power suffers with low starting intelligence, but you'll be rolling in spell points and having two characters able to zap or heal (I prefer two melee and two casters) is useful.

—Alorael, who can answer more specific questions more specifically, obviously.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Difficulty obtaining special skills. in The Avernum Trilogy
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Saturday, July 16 2005 06:11 Profile Homepage #1
You can't get Pathfinder in Fort Dranlon. The hint book lies. Anatomy is definitely in the ToM. You get it for completing a minor and easily overlooked quest, I believe. Killing ogres or retrieving something from them, perhaps?

—Alorael, who ever so vaguely recalls the relevant mage for the quest being somewhere on the western side of the tower. Barge into libraries, lecture halls, closets, and bathrooms.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Possible name change? in The Avernum Trilogy
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Saturday, July 16 2005 06:03 Profile Homepage #4
If this shiny new engine causes significantly different gameplay, it will probably stay separate.

—Alorael, who anticipates an Avernum Trilogy 2 forum, not to be confused with Avernum 2 in the trilogy.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Human nature in General
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Friday, July 15 2005 19:43 Profile Homepage #62
If voting were required, I think most Americans would show up, vote arbitrarily, and leave. It would make very little difference statistically, but it would hardly help.

—Alorael, who is even more afraid that most Americans would be swayed, perhaps unconciously, by advertisements telling them what to think. Advertarchy is not a legitimate form of government.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
A Question about the Slith and Nephilim in The Avernum Trilogy
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Friday, July 15 2005 19:38 Profile Homepage #40
Okay, we have a lifeform that lives without tools. It finds its shelter, gathers or hunts its food... and you have, at best, a very primitive society. There is no reason to band together, and need for food dictates that the creatures should, in fact, disperse into smaller social units. Would such a race work? Yes. Would it be interesting? No more than a kind of alien caveman. If the species isn't humanoid, it's even more likely that it resembles an especially clever animal.

What definition of civilization are you using? I would say it requires large gatherings and specialization, neither of which are very possible without tools.

—Alorael, who suggests an illustrative example. Describe a race that meets your criteria.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Just say no in Richard White Games
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Friday, July 15 2005 08:54 Profile Homepage #59
When you're RW, you don't need to use a mouse. You can move cursors by your powers of unspeakable superiority.

—Alorael, who only wishes he were RW. Then he'd be beloved, and famous, and drifting out in space.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Lucien 'Thuryl' McMahon Is Naked in General
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Friday, July 15 2005 08:37 Profile Homepage #156
I think we're all missing something important. "Having" Thuryl's children does not mean "bearing" them. It also doesn't mean "raising" them. I can see a few people who want to add spice to their collection of stuffed and mounted hunting trophies, or perhaps some are experiencing a craving for some short long pig.

[Edit: I don't know what  is or why it's in my post.]

—Alorael, who wants to have Thuryl's children because the offspring of a Turing machine are likely to be quite remarkable.

[ Friday, July 15, 2005 08:38: Message edited by: Gummy Wyrm ]
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Official Election Final Round Voting in General
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Friday, July 15 2005 08:20 Profile Homepage #45
Thuryl: 12
Stughalf: 7
Arancaytar: 7

The two tied underdogs are catching up ever so slightly.

With 61 eligible voters total, 31 votes ends the election. Not likely to happen anytime soon.

—Alorael, who will still hold his vote in the hopes of tipping a critical balance or possibly getting a bribe.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
If You Had A Billion Dollars... in General
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Thursday, July 14 2005 17:59 Profile Homepage #34
quote:
Originally written by Mister Maoben:

The problem is, he who gets a billion dollars, loses a billions dollars eventually and is right back where he started.
A million dollars, sure. Even ten million. A billion dollars is a whole lot of money, though. You'd have to put serious thought into frittering it away or you might die of old age first, which is I guess what you meant with the time.

No, it takes a real expert to lose a billion dollars. Perhaps you should consult with Mr. Ebbers.

—Alorael, who knows people will suggest things like buying planes and cars and houses. All of those take time and effort to acquire, though. Wouldn't you get sick of speaking to salesmen and real estate agents eventually? Then what do you do with your remaining millions?
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Official Election Final Round Voting in General
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Thursday, July 14 2005 15:15 Profile Homepage #21
Not counting Alex, who didn't explicitly vote, or David, who can't, or Marlenny, who has some hanging chads, we have...

Thuryl: 7 votes
Stughalf: 3 votes
Arancaytar: 3 votes

—Alorael, who will remind you that you know you should have voted for Alcritas.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Just say no in Richard White Games
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Thursday, July 14 2005 15:10 Profile Homepage #48
Actually, it was done with blind guesses, patches, and patience. Hence the questionable quality.

—Alorael, whose Mac is incapable of opening garage doors. Apparently that will be added in OS 10.4.2.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Exile III: monsters's poll in The Exile Trilogy
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Thursday, July 14 2005 15:05 Profile Homepage #12
quote:
Originally written by Thralni:

The vahnatai are the most evolved race here.
I now get to air a pet peeve by asking what you mean by "most evolved." Everything has been evolving for just as long as everything else, so everything is the most evolved. Unless, of course, you subscribe to vahnatai creatonism.

—Alorael, who could see "most evolved" as "most adapted," except it isn't clear at all that the vahnatai are better matches for their environment than the sliths. The nephilim and humans, of course, are far better adapted to the surface, which is where they live.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Harry Potter in General
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Thursday, July 14 2005 15:01 Profile Homepage #148
quote:
Originally written by Spring:

Overwhelming — I highly doubt that you wrote all that. I think that you simply got it off another website. But thats irrelevant.
Since he quoted it, this is obviously true. And yes, irrelevant as well. It states his point just fine.

—Alorael, who is pretty sure Tolkien was a devil-worshipper. He did convert C. S. Lewis to "Catholicism," but everyone knows that that's only a thin front for Satan's minions.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
How many hours of sleep do you get per 24 hours, on average? in General
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Thursday, July 14 2005 14:46 Profile Homepage #41
The difference between sleep deprivation and starvation is that enough time without sleep and you'll just start dozing. You need either a very special constitution or helpful pokers to stay awake, or so I would guess.

—Alorael, who will now ruminate on the proven longevity benefits of near-starvation and consider what similar effects near-sleep-deprivation might have.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
A Question about the Slith and Nephilim in The Avernum Trilogy
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Thursday, July 14 2005 14:36 Profile Homepage #35
There's still a large advantage to having your manipulative organs (he he!) on the ends of maneuverable poles. There's a distinct problem with, say, hammering with your face.

—Alorael, who will look for articles citing the fact that only humanoid bipeds are capable of telekinesis on a level sufficient to support civilization.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Human nature in General
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Thursday, July 14 2005 14:31 Profile Homepage #47
quote:
Originally written by Ephesos:

Naturally, the improvements in communication and transportation have put an even bigger strain on the union as we know it. It put a strain on every culture that it touched. Because communication has improved so much, the people in power can press their advantage as much as possible.
I disagree. Closer contact keeps cultural isolation in check. The idea that half of the country could split from the other half was perfectly reasonable iin the mid-19th century, but today, when you can teleconference across the country and zip all the way across a continent in a few hours, we're neither culturally nor geographically isolated. California and Texas aren't really all that different despite the ideologies.

The real problem with referendums on everything is the fact that the average voter doesn't have time to understand every piece of legislation and doesn't have the legal background to understand a good portion of them. The result of referendums would be more real politics getting buried in ad campaigns and lies.

—Alorael, who adds his voice to Andrew's. America isn't pretty. The world isn't pretty. Democracy is the worst form of government except for all the others, to paraphrase Churchill. If you can't think of a better solution, stop complaining and start fixing from within. It's not just status quo bias; the onus is upon you (or anyone else) to devise a form of government that is better and still compatible with human nature as communist (totalitarian) utopia clearly isn't. There are certainly socialist systems that work just fine, but they're still just democratic mixes of socialism and capitalism.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00

Pages