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NEW POPE! in General
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Thursday, April 21 2005 11:56 Profile Homepage #42
Spring, stop posting one line agreements. They're spam.

—Alorael, who returns you to your regularly scheduled papal discussion.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Does Spiderweb improve your English? in General
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Thursday, April 21 2005 11:53 Profile Homepage #29
Commas trip up native English speakers (or writers, as it were) too. I know I'm probably guilty, but there really isn't any good concensus among the literati as to what constitutes proper comma use and what doesn't. One day the linguistic partisans will rise up against each other and blood shall run like semicolons in the streets.

As far as pronunciation goes, and this observation is general rather than Spiderweb-related, I've found that there are many words that appear almost exclusively in writing. Improving your vocabulary by reading can also result in some funny pronunciation.

—Alorael, who will again state that he is always amazed by the non-native English speakers on Spiderweb. He is impressed by their fluency when compared to the foreign language skills of the stupid Americans. Gringos speak languages. Dead.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Moderator Board - What are they up to? in General
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Wednesday, April 20 2005 18:41 Profile Homepage #37
If I had changed my moniker as often as I do from the day I joined, I would have well over a thousand. I only started a little less than a year ago, though, so it's lower.

All the guesses have been wrong so far, for what that's worth.

—Alorael, who will even be generous and give a cookie to anyone who comes within ten monikers. And another cookie to anyone who can name the monikers he's had for two or more days!
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
When nothing happens... in General
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Wednesday, April 20 2005 18:38 Profile Homepage #22
Breaking the code of conduct by avoiding filters is a great way to promote change!

Misc. was closed precisely because Spiderweb couldn't handle the space and bandwidth issues of massive amounts of worthless posts. Most people don't want such quantities of garbage anyway. If you do, I invite you to join satellite boards or find another corner of the internet that will welcome your spamming proclivities. Spidweb doesn't.

—Alorael, who finds melancholy reminiscing about Misc. entertaining when the reminiscer joined after the section was axed. If you didn't meet pointless polls face to face, don't talk about the joys of Misc.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
99% of all Statistics are made up. in General
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Wednesday, April 20 2005 18:30 Profile Homepage #30
You're not a newb anymore when the generic stupid newbie insults stop and the insults tailored to your specific brands of stupidity begin.

—Alorael, who also draws the line at the point where you stop dropping names and start being a name that is dropped.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Moderator Board - What are they up to? in General
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Wednesday, April 20 2005 14:40 Profile Homepage #33
If you're implying what I think you're implying, you're wrong. I don't share. And if you're not, well, I still don't share. Brownies are too tasty to be distributed among the masses.

—Alorael, who would be happy to give out cookies to anyone who earns a cookie. You can start by guessing the total number of monikers he has had up until the point of this post!
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
NEW POPE! in General
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Wednesday, April 20 2005 14:36 Profile Homepage #32
A perfectly good but old pope could be elected if the cardinals believe that it is in the Church's best interests to have a short papacy. I believe it has happened before and it doesn't seem unreasonable.

—Alorael, who is sure all kinds of strange things have happened, possibly including extremely young popes. There is certainly a persistent story about Pope Joan. But in general, yes, popes are now old. And yes, they die when they're older, but that should be obvious.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
to who made the exile 3 wlukethrur in The Exile Trilogy
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Wednesday, April 20 2005 14:25 Profile Homepage #2
Day 110 for the orb quest sounds familiar, but if you don't manage to get the quest to appear sooner, you're not doing something right.

I believe ending the roach plague triggers the theft of the orb, but it could be another plague.

—Alorael, who would also like to know which of the many E3 walkthroughs was in error. He can't fix it, but it would be good to know.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
99% of all Statistics are made up. in General
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Wednesday, April 20 2005 14:17 Profile Homepage #21
quote:
Originally written by Drakefyre:

I've known for a while that my posting has slowed considerably. There was a time when I would have been number one on that list.
There was a long time when we were posting at about the same frenetic rate, but I don't think you ever posted significantly more than I did. You slowed your spa—ahem—posting before I did.

—Alorael, who has to revel in what claims to fame he has. He doesn't even have a valid excuse for posting less like, oh, a soon to be released scenario.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Hello to all! in General
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Wednesday, April 20 2005 14:11 Profile Homepage #5
Welcome back, Ø! Our memories aren't quite that short!

—Alorael, who was disappointed to find that this topic was not an appropriate place for the line about sanity and doors.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
How? in General
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Wednesday, April 20 2005 14:08 Profile Homepage #6
This topic has served all the purpose it has ever had, which is to say none.

—Alorael, who will kill the spam about spamming and wallow in irony.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
good websites in General
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Tuesday, April 19 2005 17:10 Profile Homepage #3
The New York Times

The Onion

—Alorael, who likes news, be it true news or news only slightly less true than that presented by Fox.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
NEW POPE! in General
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Tuesday, April 19 2005 17:07 Profile Homepage #20
I think asking the Pope to fix secular problems is a tall order. Yes, I know that's part of the job description, but I'd rather have competent politicians to do it and maintain a healthy separation of church and state.

—Alorael, who knows that that is definitely not the Pope's job. And there's something to be said for advocating from the pulpit when the cause is right. It beats letting evils go ignored.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
99% of all Statistics are made up. in General
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Tuesday, April 19 2005 17:03 Profile Homepage #8
I knew I wasn't the fastest poster anymore, but I didn't realize I'd slipped that far! And Thuryl is number one? Wow!

—Alorael, who would like to congratulate Thuryl on posting that much without making it noticeable through spam. May your dazzling intellect continue to stun puny mortals!
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
A2 - Where to spend extra cash? in The Avernum Trilogy
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Tuesday, April 19 2005 16:58 Profile Homepage #4
No need to post again a few minutes after a previous post.

You can get Barter from Tor just east of Fort Draco, but money doesn't seem to be your problem anyway.

Look for some expensive equipment if you don't already have blessed everything. There are some interesting places to purchase fancy gear, most of which I do not recall.

—Alorael, who vaguely remembers an efreet blacksmith. Maybe look around near Erika? There are definitely some efreets there, but the definite ones aren't friendly.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Do you think there is a Hell? in General
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Tuesday, April 19 2005 09:46 Profile Homepage #270
quote:
Originally written by Gizmo:

The New Testament, however, has a fragment within one generation from its original composition, whole books within about 100 years from the time of the autograph [original manuscript], most of the New Testament in less than 200 years, and the entire New Testament within 250 years from the date of its completion.
That's not the problem. The NT could be copied with extremely high accuracy from the time of the first written copy, but that first copy was written some time after the events it recorded.

quote:
In addition to the many thousands of New Testament manuscripts, there are over 86,000 quotations of the New Testament in the early church fathers. There are also New Testament quotations in thousands of early church Lectionaries (worship books).
That's more meaningful, but how early are these early church fathers and how reliable are the quotations of said fathers quoting NT?

quote:
In fact, in these scrolls discovered at Qumran in 1947, we have Old Testament manuscripts that date about a thousand years earlier (150 B.C.) than the other Old Testament manuscripts then in our possession (which dated to A.D. 900).
And even the Dead Sea Scrolls were penned long after the events of the OT. Copyist accuracy is good, but there's still no evidence that the original was accurate or even factually based. Thuryl's point stands.

[Edit: Saying God's tyranny is not tyrannical because God is perfect presupposes God's perfection, which is the subject under debate. If you don't start with that assumption, his tyranny is of course by nature tyrannical. Only by assuming that God is incorruptible and infinitely good can you prove that his reign is good, and that circular logic holds no water with anyone who disagrees with you.]

—Alorael, who also would say that the errors in translation are far more likely to introduce changes in meaning than errors in copying. If Moses could get horns of light, as absurd as that seems, what else could have changed in nonsensical ways? Even if you have no understanding of Hebrew yourself, a quick comparison of, for example, the KJV and NRSV will show how different translations can be.

[ Tuesday, April 19, 2005 09:50: Message edited by: Justice by Travesty ]
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Party Making- What is your ideal starting party in The Avernum Trilogy
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Tuesday, April 19 2005 09:32 Profile Homepage #4
I usually make my first two characters my big, meaty fighter-types with variations. My other two characters are mage and priest spellcasters and tend to have very low intelligence until both their casting skills are high enough to cast almost everything.

—Alorael, who changes the minor details much more frequently. This is in part due to adjustments towards perfecting his party and in part due to his tendency to forget the exact specifications of his characters.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Do you think there is a Hell? in General
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Monday, April 18 2005 18:55 Profile Homepage #267
There have been many, many people who were, by our standards, psychotic. They have at times committed horrific crimes in the name of God based on the divine communication given to them and only to them.

Unless you too are insane (by my standards, admittedly, but I think society at large agrees), you will say that these people were crazy. They were probably also sick. Now I won't say that all experiences of contact with the divine are insanity, but what quantitative difference is there between what you experience religiously and what they do besides the result?

—Alorael, who would also like to point out that enough people somehow talk to God while following different religions that there is an obvious inherent problem with trusting such communication. Even if you only take the ones who are urged or encouraged to act righteously, how can you claim that your messages are true while other messages are false without falling back on circular logic based on the Bible?
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
When nothing happens... in General
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Monday, April 18 2005 18:46 Profile Homepage #14
quote:
Originally written by Coor'Melor:

I was unaware that you can "win" a forum... Is it like a huge Mmorpg in here? :confused:
Not knowing the rules of the game doesn't mean there isn't a game going on. I tap my nose knowingly at you!

—Alorael, who will say only that having the Xian Skull is a good first step. But even that is saying too much!
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
The International Contest of Spider Games shall now commence! in General
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Monday, April 18 2005 12:31 Profile Homepage #39
True, but it does the customer a disservice to divorce what you actually get with BoE (many excellent scenarios) from what Jeff produced (a fairly good scenario, a low mediocre scenario, and a plain old bad scenario along with a scenario designing kit and a way to play designed scenarios). The scenarios are the majority of what you're getting and virtually all of what you get if you don't aspire to scenario designing yourself.

Your real objection seems to be an Avernum-Geneforge-Exile complaint. You don't like BoE because of the engine. You must dislike E3 for the same reason, and E2 and E1 are worse. That's fine, but there are people who disagree with you on that, and so for them BoE is an obvious top choice.

—Alorael, who definitely prefers the BoA engine to the BoE engine. That doesn't change the fact that BoA does not and, at the current rate, is not ever likely to surpass BoE in sheer fun scenario hours.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Two years to the day. in General
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Monday, April 18 2005 12:19 Profile Homepage #117
I don't see how terraforming Mars is good for Earth. Even if we had the resources and the ability to fix all the damage we've done to Earth, I very much doubt that it would be funded (assuming the cost is enough to require substantial investment on a national or international level) until a crisis situation arose.

—Alorael, who doesn't buy into the speciation by genetic engineering argument that says that humans will divide into the superhumans with money to augment themselves and the poor who remain ordinary. Sure, that might eventually happen, but to the point of speciation? It seems doubtful.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
RWG in Richard White Games
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Monday, April 18 2005 12:14 Profile Homepage #40
One can be trained to distinguish among more shades of colors. Painters, for instance, are commonly able to tell the difference between two reds that are indistinguishable to the average person (so it's probably not that beneficial to their paintings anyway).

Neither artists nor the Irish claim that what we call green is in fact two different colors, foo and bar, as far as I know. If any do, they are either aliens or otherwise in an altered state.

—Alorael, who will now have to rethink some modern art. If artists can detect shadings too subtle for the lay observer, maybe some of those solid color canvasses are actually quite detailed. Maybe.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
When nothing happens... in General
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Monday, April 18 2005 12:10 Profile Homepage #6
Generally speaking, things "happening" on boards are bad and life as usual is good. No, there hasn't been any Tim fun or the like recently to break the monotony of discussion, but there also haven't been any bad flame wars, extraordinarily obnoxious and problematic members reminiscent of Tails or Shotts, or other such unsavory changes in routine.

—Alorael, who invites you to win Spiderweb anytime. That would be eventful.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
That blasted battle sound. in The Avernum Trilogy
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Monday, April 18 2005 12:03 Profile Homepage #2
Discussion of hex editing is unfortunately forbidden on these boards. Sorry!

—Alorael, who doesn't quite know what would maket the combat intro sound so offensive that it requires immediate excision. It's not that repetitive and irritating, is it?
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
The International Contest of Spider Games shall now commence! in General
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Sunday, April 17 2005 07:29 Profile Homepage #31
Okay, you're right. BoE's quality is lacking. It has bugs, errors, glitches, and other lovely problems that have caused the community to get so angry at Jeff. The scenarios themselves, however, are often very polished and high quality. So BoE the scenario designing tool is sub-optimal (but hardly subpar!) and the scenarios themselves can be high quality as well as high quantity.

Otherwise, yes, quality as some nebulous objective characteristic has improved steadily from game to game. Geneforge 3, Avernum 3, or BoA is the highest quality depending on what style you prefer and how much stock you put in BoA's capabilities.

—Alorael, who still prefers BoE to Geneforge. Quality and fun aren't the same thing, apparently.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00

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