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Avernum 5, June Update in Avernum 4
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Wednesday, July 18 2007 13:20 Profile Homepage #87
You know, it's easier to fit in the tools required to shape your neck to fit the monitors. Just add the right disclaimers about home surgery (and how it's less risky than home welding on your neck).

—Alorael, who thinks maybe the world is ready for six monitors, two of which are square and four of which are rectangles with eight foot sides. And if there's any catastrophic mechanical failure, well, you're already encased in a box...
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Europa, God, and you, or Where it all fits. in General
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Tuesday, July 17 2007 13:29 Profile Homepage #78
I find Discordianism to be a much more compelling faith than the FSM, and the Invisible Pink Unicorn is a compelling underequine in the religious parody genre.

—Alorael, who has not eaten a hot dog any time recently, on Friday or otherwise. That's an important distinction.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Social Degradation and Religious Decay (Split from "Life on Europa") in General
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Tuesday, July 17 2007 13:17 Profile Homepage #144
quote:
Originally written by Stillness:

Also your attempt at turning my words around on me was poor, as my main point was that those who vehemently attack religion are in a religion themselves. It would be good if I didn’t think I was in a religion. It would also be good if I went around calling people stupid, idiotic, jerks. I do not. Not where I can hide in anonymity behind a screenname, nor in person.
That depends on your definition of religion. Of course atheism meets some criteria, but there are rather important differences between atheism and other religions.

No liturgy. No clergy. No revealed truth. No ritual. No non-negotiable beliefs. No higher authority. Atheism is a religion defined by absences, if you really want to call it a religion.

—Alorael, who was making another point entirely. Having his points missed is nothing new, though, and there's nothing to be accomplished by trying again.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Avernum 5, June Update in Avernum 4
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Tuesday, July 17 2007 13:11 Profile Homepage #82
quote:
Originally written by Spidweb:

I've heard rumors of these strange things called "3-D game engines" that intrigue me.
3D? From Spiderweb? As in graphics? What will the world be coming to?

—Alorael, who can at least look forward to being lost as frequently in a 3D world from Spiderweb as he is in 3D worlds brought to him by anyone else. At least RPGs usually oblige with some indication of north.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Multiplayer COOP. in General
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Monday, July 16 2007 14:00 Profile Homepage #4
I wasn't responding to you directly. Drakemoore pretty clearly meant something other than improvised hotseat games ("network"), and while your idea could be extended over a network in theory, I explained why it won't happen in practice. You agree. And I think this topic has run its lethargic course.

—Alorael, who can't see anywhere more useful for this thread to go. Most posters who could have contributed have deigned not to. There can be only one fate for topics such as this.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Europa, God, and you, or Where it all fits. in General
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Monday, July 16 2007 13:56 Profile Homepage #67
quote:
Originally written by radix malorum est cupiditas:

quote:
Originally written by Rid X:

The gospels wouldn't be calling for Christ's name to be accursed, and there's a perfectly good name that doesn't rely on acronyms.
Because they were written in Greek and Latin, not Hebrew. Why should they have known?
Because the writers of the Gospels are, according to the Gospels, eyewitnesses. They spoke the same language as Jesus, and that language was some kind of Hebrew-Aramaic. And again, even if the writers didn't know the language, Jesus surely didn't call himself by an epithet like that. Nor would his followers. So where in the line did it get introduced?

quote:
quote:
Also, my understanding is that that particular epithet is reserved for those who come close to being perfect embodiments of evil. Judaism may not recognize Jesus as anyone special, but he was hardly evil.
No, merely for anyone whom it would be preferable to not mention and forget ever existed.
Okay, then why would anyone consider it preferable to forget that Jesus existed? According to Christians, it's pretty important not to. According to Jews, he was simply a guy, and possibly a false messiah depending on how much of his reputation was his own doing. Other false messiahs don't get deliberaetely forgotten.

quote:
Latin translation of the Tanach, which translates Yeshu as Jesu, which you handily pointed out is where Jesus comes from.
You're assuming a converse here. It's possible to get Jesu from more than one word. In fact, given the similarity of Yeshu and Yeshua, the single syllable difference seems like a likely casualty of transliteration.

—Alorael, who still thinks this one ought to go to the classics experts. He also thinks this makes a good crazy theory, but it's fairly crazy and fairly irrelevant either way. Showing that someone (presumably Jews) didn't get along with Jesus doesn't do anyone any good.

[ Monday, July 16, 2007 13:59: Message edited by: Question Nothing But Kittens ]
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Social Degradation and Religious Decay (Split from "Life on Europa") in General
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Monday, July 16 2007 13:40 Profile Homepage #118
There are definitely proselytizing atheists. They tend not to go door to door, but most religions don't do that. There's not enough of a shared atheist "liturgy" for any common symbols, really, but I am fond of the big gold h-bar necklace.

Also, because it needs doing: I always find the antics and reasonings of the obstinate fundamentalists to be amusing. (I’ve seen video of guys preaching and must admit they are quite funny). You all imagine that your way is the pinnacle of thought and faith and that the majority of men now and throughout history are insane or deluded for believing in a spiritual realm realm other than yours, or perhaps none at all. You minimize the secular nature and desire for self-driven purpose in our race, even the one in yourselves. You brush off encounters that people have had with this realm as nonsense simply because you refuse to accept non-religious explanations. You exchange belief in evidence, experience, and reality for vain promises and blind faith. But you still have doubts. There is always a need to accept reality despite its disharmony with your baseless beliefs.

“We cannot do as we want but must do as religious authority bids no matter who is hurt.” “People who deny God are fools who cannot accept spiritualitiy or a higher power.” “Man was made by God, so unity can only be achieved by the promulgation of a universal belief in my God.” The people who believe this stuff are more adamant than I’ll ever be in pushing non-fundamentalism.” It’s funny when they can’t see that and attack the "atheists" for the same things they do/

What lies between God and me is a private matter. Trumpeting what you think lies between God and you is nothing more or less than spiritual exhibitionism. I find it distasteful and I find it an affront to the God in whom I believe.

—Alorael, who also finds it amusing that he can so blithely be dismissed as an atheist because he does not have faith in your God. His belief is apparently worth nothing at all because he does not loudly share it with others.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Europa, God, and you, or Where it all fits. in General
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Sunday, July 15 2007 19:04 Profile Homepage #51
Jesus is from Latin Jesu, which comes from Greek Iesous, which probably comes from Yeshua in Hebrew (or Aramaic). The gospels wouldn't be calling for Christ's name to be accursed, and there's a perfectly good name that doesn't rely on acronyms. Also, my understanding is that that particular epithet is reserved for those who come close to being perfect embodiments of evil. Judaism may not recognize Jesus as anyone special, but he was hardly evil.

—Alorael, who would very much like to see a citation on your etymology. It seems highly questionable and very close to religious bigotry. Yes, Jews are good at that too.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
For all of you who haven't noticed... in General
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Sunday, July 15 2007 08:42 Profile Homepage #16
Nobody will pay attention to the tutorial anyway. It's like reading the manual. It simply isn't done.

—Alorael, who wouldn't mind a bit more nuance in the fatigue system. It would be nice to have each discipline usable below a certain fatigue level, so that X causes 5 fatigue and can be used if you have less than 5 fatigue already while Y causes only 3 but can't be used unless you have 0 fatigue.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Multiplayer COOP. in General
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Sunday, July 15 2007 08:36 Profile Homepage #2
This is discussed in various forms regularly. A way to do what Iffy suggests over the internet is (barely) possible, but anything more complicated is not. Jeff is not in the business of programming for online anything, and he's carved his niche out in single player games. It's not worth his time and risk to make the games multiplayer.

—Alorael, who supposes it could be done as a kind of trial with open source BoE. He thinks the programming would be too difficult for too little interest, though.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Europa, God, and you, or Where it all fits. in General
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Sunday, July 15 2007 08:33 Profile Homepage #48
Sure thou canst. Thou simply needst a sufficiently difficult deity.

—Alorael, who is in favor of archaicism. You little thees, you!
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Social Degradation and Religious Decay (Split from "Life on Europa") in General
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Saturday, July 14 2007 12:41 Profile Homepage #86
Citing the Bible on life expectancy to a crowd that largely rejects Biblical literalism is not going to make any points. Except for legendary figures, there's no indication that humans used to live much longer.

—Alorael, who has had trouble finding life expectancies exluding infant mortality. In this case that's probably more useful data.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Europa, God, and you, or Where it all fits. in General
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Friday, July 13 2007 21:28 Profile Homepage #36
Philosophers and theologians have been coming up with rebuttals and counter-rebuttals to Pascal and his predecessors since they made their statements. I personally think of it as a wager that can't be made rationally. You are, to steal the words of Terry Pratchett and/or Neil Gaiman, playing "an obscure and complex version of poker in a pitch-dark room, with blank cards, for infinite stakes, with a Dealer who won't tell you the rules, and who smiles all the time."

—Alorael, whose personal belief is that God does not particularly care what you believe. How you act is far more important. But in the end, God's probably not handing out rewards and punishments based on some arcane scorecard and performance review.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Stand-up Comedy in General
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Friday, July 13 2007 21:19 Profile Homepage #3
If you're using gay as a perjorative, you need to find some other boards to inflict yourself upon.

—Alorael, who is not amused. Not even by stand-up comedy. Especially not bad stand-up comedy.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Avernum 4 on reflexive.com? in Avernum 4
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Friday, July 13 2007 21:18 Profile Homepage #6
There's a good chance that the game is properly licensed, but I'd bet Jeff would rather have credit given to the right company.

—Alorael, who on the other hand wouldn't be terribly surprised if this incarnation of the third party sales is theft. Any above-board seller should, in fact, give credit to the right company.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Seperated from a loved one. in General
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Friday, July 13 2007 14:20 Profile Homepage #37
Djur set a filter on Desperance to change "Alorael" to a much longer string about a Korean businessman. He made the filter very inclusive, so I had to be very creative with my name and never use the same characters twice.

—Alorael, who remembers those days. Oh, the wonderful feeling of being a renegade who posted on both Desperance and Polaris! Oh, the pride of enduring such scorn! And it made for some great stories.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Europa, God, and you, or Where it all fits. in General
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Friday, July 13 2007 14:18 Profile Homepage #33
Iffy, you're missing the really heavy-handed allegory. Stillness is not, in fact, saying a thing about driving. That said, I don't understand the point he's trying to make. It's better to believe and chance being wrong than not believe at all? From a utilitarian standpoint that's untrue: time wasted in incorrect faith is useless at best and counts against you in the afterlife at worst. You could be better off as an atheist for optimization.

—Alorael, who can believe in an interfering God without believing in obvious "act of God" miracles. But he's in the interesting quandary that he isn't sure whether physics can support non-determinism, and determinism is incompatible with an interfering God.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Social Degradation and Religious Decay (Split from "Life on Europa") in General
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Friday, July 13 2007 13:15 Profile Homepage #72
What statistics? I've seen a brief mention of a study in Moscow that showed that Jehovah's Witnesses have more stable marriages. There's no real information on the study, nor is there information on how many of the non-JWs were Christian (in Russia, probably most). Nor is there any information about whether those stable marriages are particularly good.

But all the same, I'm satisfied that I understand your views and that our positions are utterly impossible to reconcile. I say that men are better at some things and worse at some things in general. You agree. I say that in specific cases women may very well be better. You seem to agree. I say that some women may be supremely fit to lead. You agree that this is possible. Then you say that this is counter to God's will because that is what is written in the Bible.

So talent, aspirations, and all desires need to be set aside in the face of theology. You believe it, we don't. Fine. There's no point in discussing further.

—Alorael, who will only add that out of the five unhappiest marriages among people he's known, three were devoutly religious. One of those couples and the two less Biblish pairs got divorced and apparently experienced happier lives. Experience tells him that marriages are happier, though not more stable, without the influence of the church. But anecdotes are funny like that.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Social Degradation and Religious Decay (Split from "Life on Europa") in General
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Thursday, July 12 2007 19:31 Profile Homepage #50
quote:
Originally written by Stillness:

quote:
Originally written by Frolicking in Postaroni General:

a man or a woman cannot and must not be judged in any way simply based on sex.
I agree.
Great! Now how do you reconcile this with only men being the leaders of families or congregations?

—Alorael, who will cry foul if anything about a best suited role shows up. Even if you want to argue that men are on average better leaders, you've just apparently agreed that women can be better leaders.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Social Degradation and Religious Decay (Split from "Life on Europa") in General
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Thursday, July 12 2007 18:27 Profile Homepage #48
There are many differences between men and women, and we seem to be uncovering many more (and debunking a few) every year. The fact is, though, that many of the differences are a matter of statistics. To take an obvious one, men tend to be larger and stronger. But a woman can be larger and stronger than a man, or most men. The variation among individuals far outweigh the statistics.

—Alorael, who concludes that claiming that all men are equal to all women is absurd. Claiming all men are equal to all other men is absurd. But this is "equal" in the sense of "identical to" or "interchangeable with." The important sense of equal is the tabula rasa: a man or a woman cannot and must not be judged in any way simply based on sex.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Seperated from a loved one. in General
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Thursday, July 12 2007 12:57 Profile Homepage #34
What I may or may not have done with cow products is not a suitable topic for Spiderweb discussion, thank you very much.

—Alorael, who almost started this signature with "/\lorae|" for old times' sake.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Seperated from a loved one. in General
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Wednesday, July 11 2007 13:36 Profile Homepage #30
quote:
Originally written by Yama:

quote:
Originally written by Alorael:

I do several people who had "just friends" talks, though. Lo and behold, they're still "just" very good friends...
Did no one else notice this horrible entendre?
Not what I meant to type!

—Alorael, who can't see a double entendre, horrible or otherwise. He can only see the blatant and entirely unveiled statement.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Social Degradation and Religious Decay (Split from "Life on Europa") in General
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Wednesday, July 11 2007 13:31 Profile Homepage #22
A few relatively short points to cut through the slowly building quote ziggurats:

Christianity is no longer based on the Bible, and Christ can't be calling the shots because he's not here. Christianity is based on hundreds or thousands of sects, some of which are rigidly organized and some of which are adamantly disorganized. Christian morals and the morals expressed by the Bible are not the same.

I still don't buy your point on war. Yes, world wars that truly include the whole world (or at least most of it) are new. So is the ability to reach the whole world. I think technological and logistical advances are responsible, not some huge moral morass.

Cut the words however you want, you cannot deny that the Bible treats men and women differently. You can make a separate but equal argument, but you cannot make an equivalency argument. In my view, and in the views of many others here, anything short of moral interchangeability for men and women is unacceptable.

—Alorael, who thinks that gets back to one of the first points here. You say that morals are failing and the world is worse off because of it, or perhaps that the world is worse than ever before because of failing morals. Whichever way you order cause and effect, you're not going to get agreement. Many (most?) people on these forums do not believe that morals are declining or that the world is worse than it has ever been. The world is, in fact, in most ways at its peak.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Questions before buying in General
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Wednesday, July 11 2007 13:16 Profile Homepage #5
Avernum's music is endlessly customizable as long as you bring your own music player. I'm sure you've already noticed the lack of musical accompaniment from the demo. That doesn't change.

Graphics are exactly what you see in those BMPs. You can edit to your heart's content. In fact, you can find a lot of graphics made for Blades of Avernum that can be used to replace whatever you don't like in A1-3.

—Alorael, who supposes one could manage to "import" characters by duplicating them with the editor. As others have noted, though, it's no fun. Mauling your way through low-level enemies with an overpowered party gets old fast.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00

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