Profile for Or else o'erleap.

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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

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Author	Recent posts
Europa, God, and you, or Where it all fits. in General
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Wednesday, July 11 2007 13:05 Profile Homepage #6 I'm very happy to see agnosticism finally used in the unknowable sense rather than the more common but less correct uncertain sense. —Alorael, who is an agnostic deist. He does not believe in any evidence for the existence of God (yes, with a capital G), but he does believe in God. He also believes everyone is generally better off not believing in God, or at least not believing in religion. Although he's still (barely) religious. Hm. He may need to get his theological priorities straight. Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Are the characters in Golddale named after the Characters of Babylon 5? in The Exile Trilogy
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Wednesday, July 11 2007 13:01 Profile Homepage #2 And Trainspotting in Shayder. And some other references. —Alorael, whose favorite is still the very subtle naming of the various provinces of Valorim after the women of Jeff Vogel's life. Because nothing says healthy relationships like overrunning someone with monsters. Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Life on Europa in General
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Tuesday, July 10 2007 13:37 Profile Homepage #29 Maybe this topic should be split into aliens and religion? On disregard for human life: I think that's untrue. In fact, I think that's remarkably untrue. Human life was cheap in the early 20th century. Human life was literally for sale in America into the mid 19th century. The North and South fought a huge war over, among other things, slavery. Let's look at the death tolls, too. The American Civil War was an unprecedented bloodpath. The Battle of Shiloh killed more men than all previous American wars combined. WWI's carnage dwarfed its predecessors'. The Holocaust was like nothing before it or since, although the "since" is mostly due to lack of organization and infrastructure. I'll agree without qualm that wars have claimed more and more lives. I dispute that it's due to any change in morals, though. The difference is mostly in weaponry. You can only kill so many people with swords and spears. Guns make that easier. So do standing armies. Automatic weaponry adds on, and so do bombs. We don't want to kill each other any more now than we did millenia ago. We're just better equipped for it. —Alorael, who on the contrary thinks that aside from the right-wing reactionaries liberal democracies have made amazing leaps in tolerance of and completely acceptance of very different people. Racism is at least ostensibly censured. Sexism is already dropping dead. Rigid insistence on one right way to live is slowly dwindling. It's a decline in Judeo-Christian morals, but it's a great advance in humanism. Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Return to the pit? in The Exile Trilogy
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Tuesday, July 10 2007 13:17 Profile Homepage #5 Years ago Luthien played through A2 on torment with two singletons: Hapless, who was Cursed at Birth and Completely Inept, and Avatar, who was a Divinely Touched Elite Warrior. His report seemed to be that the latter is much, much harder to play. —Alorael, who still can't manage a singleton on normal difficulty even with reasonable traits. Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
No Geneforge in Geneforge 4: Rebellion
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Tuesday, July 10 2007 13:14 Profile Homepage #6 You'd know that you have to use the Geneforge if you'd played through the first ten minutes of the game. Reasonably enough, because the game absolutely requires you to use it, the game assumes you've used it. Dodging it with dodgy codes has absolutely no effect. —Alorael, who thinks maybe your character should start out even more pathetic than an ordinary first level character so the Geneforge seems to have some effect. Or maybe it could finally justify why even without using canisters your characters gains power so quickly. Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Life on Europa in General
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Monday, July 9 2007 19:48 Profile Homepage #2 Maybe life out there is really weird. The only molecules that have the complexity for life are carbon-based, as far as we know, but that could be because the only life we know is carbon-based. To answer some questions, though, life obviously doesn't need oxygen and can exist in an enormous range of temperatures even on Earth. Water's the big question, though, as the article points out. It has to be compartmentalized because that's what life is, really: self-replicating, self-contained bundles of reactions. Something entirely homogenous can't be alive, and something without cells (or equivalent structures) can't be alive. —Alorael, who thinks life on Europa would change society in that people would go alien-crazy. Research and the media, especially the entertainment media, would explode. Otherwise, life would go on. At least until Jupiter's engineered transformation into another star. That would have some pretty big effects. 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 Monday, July 9 2007 13:01 Profile Homepage #18 quote: Originally written by Ceylon: Definately forget about her. The friends thing really doesn't work. This seems to be a common sentiment, but it's also pretty strange if you think about it. If your friends move away they may move down on your friends hierarchy, but it's not hard to keep in touch and stay friendly. You can drift away from friendships even without any distance issue, but it's rarely sudden. You just see less and less of each other until the only contact is the much-touted Christmas card. Romantic relationships that end, on the other hand, tend to end dramatically and completely even if there's no physical separation. If you're no longer dating, you're no longer speaking. But I'd expect romance to require at least as much friendship as anything else! I'm not sure if the problem is discomfort and inability to adjust to "just friendship," bitterness that comes with any ended relationship, or just some kind of unfortunate culturally accepted way to break up. I do several people who had "just friends" talks, though. Lo and behold, they're still "just" very good friends who get along fine and see each other regularly. —Alorael, who supposes the remaining explanation is jealousy in future romantic partners. It's an ugly thing when you can't see friends because of your [youthful gender-specific noun]friend. Maybe cutting all contact is a way of dodging that. Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Return to the pit? in The Exile Trilogy
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Monday, July 9 2007 12:50 Profile Homepage #2 E2/A2 is better, but E1/A1 is also quite good. It has less of a story, but it introduces you to everything in the caves and some very important characters. E1 is much cruder than its sequels, though, so if you don't have anything against the Avernum engine I'd recommend switching to A1. —Alorael, who on the other hand sees nothing wrong with playing E1 if you have it registered and don't mind the age. You'll miss out on the story of the sliths and Lost Bahssikava, but they're never mentioned again in the series anyway. Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Tomb of the Taskmaker in General
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Sunday, July 8 2007 20:35 Profile Homepage #13 Taskmaker is from 1989. That's before E1. Tomb was made in 1997, so it's only a little older than Nethergate. —Alorael, who doesn't see any reason to jump on Iffy for asking. Sure, all knowledge can be found on the internet, but that's no reason not to ask on forums too. Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Message Board in General
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Sunday, July 8 2007 20:33 Profile Homepage #57 Polaris began in April 2002, and I'm pretty sure it had a horrific Ezboard by May. Lady J only appeared in May, and I think it took her a month at least to start hosting things. —Alorael, who has evidence, too. Nothing on The Kavern in July. Both Phoenix and Polaris by September. There's no way to know which came first and there's no longer any proof of the older Polaris incarnations, but there were at least two forums before the Kavern ones. Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Message Board in General
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Sunday, July 8 2007 15:17 Profile Homepage #53 Polaris predates Phoenix and The Kavern. I think Phoenix was the first Kavern forum, but I'm not sure. Either way, Polaris ended up sharing the same host before moving on for reasons I can't remember. Possibly Lady J's disappearance along with her site? —Alorael, who should remind everyone that Polaris is forever even if its location isn't. It too is ever-changing! Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
I'm a bot! in General
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Saturday, July 7 2007 10:10 Profile Homepage #2 We're done here. —Alorael, who thinks it's time for someone to do either the robot or the banned dance. Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Video Game Addiction in General
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Friday, July 6 2007 21:06 Profile Homepage #126 quote: Originally written by Stillness: I can't imagine a psychiatrist not recognizing that some people's attachment to games is very unhealthy. Do you all think a person can be addicted to pornography? And now we're playing fast and loose with jargon again. Is an unhealthy attachment the same as an addiction? As a non-psychiatrist, I think addiction is a more useful term when it's applied to physical dependence on a tangible substance. Compulsive porn watching and compulsive videogaming are certainly problems, but I don't see why the are necessarily in any way related to, say, heroin addiction. —Alorael, who would like to remind you that addiction is the only disease you can be blamed and censured for. Except for any other problem that's not obviously physical. Mental illness is treated very, very badly, by and large. Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Trial of Resilience in Avernum 4
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Friday, July 6 2007 21:00 Profile Homepage #2 Just letting the creature attack you isn't good enough. You need to make sure it's hurting you. The more the better, actually. It's easiest if you send in one character without any cold resistance or armor to take all the abuse and then heal regularly. —Alorael, who admits to giving up on the trial when he first reached it and only bothering to complete it when he hit the fourth trial and remembered he'd skipped the third trial because he hadn't yet finished the second trial. Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Transfer characters from one computer to another in Avernum 4
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Friday, July 6 2007 18:20 Profile Homepage #2 It's not quite that easy, but it's close. In the Avernum 4 Files folder, there are folders called Save0 through Save19. They correspond to the save slots in the game. You need to copy an entire folder. Or, to make things easier, just copy all the folders. —Alorael, who doesn't understand why the saves are so immensely bloated, but they are. It's actually probably nearly as easy to transfer the entire Avernum 4 folder and not worry about which pieces you need. Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Party Composition in Avernum 4
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Friday, July 6 2007 13:15 Profile Homepage #4 As far as races go, there are two rules. Firstly, any archer should be a nephil and any polearm user should be a slith. Secondly, anyone and everyone should be at least a little bit of an archer. That means a party with three or four nephilim is set up nicely. —Alorael, who slightly prefers swords to spears but thinks its nice to have someone designed to use each. A nephil with a sword gets both a shield and nephil Gymnastics to make tanking easier. A slith just hits things. Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Video Game Addiction in General
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Friday, July 6 2007 13:01 Profile Homepage #117 The only difference between natural and artificial is origins. Natural "drugs" can have side effects, toxicities, and interactions. Exercise is probably going to do you nothing but good (there are exceptions!), but don't, say, start taking St. John's wort if you're on other medication. —Alorael, who supposes you could go off all other medication. As long as you're happy being your own unqualified doctor, fine. He'll admit that many doctors vastly overprescribe for non-ailments, especially antibiotics, but once you get into serious illness territory it's reasonable to look for a second opinion and unreasonable to decide that you know best. 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 Friday, July 6 2007 12:53 Profile Homepage #67 There are cliffs, but you can no longer jump off them. As it turns out, adapting height for the semi-Geneforge engine wasn't so hard. Gravity would have to be completely rewritten, though, so now everything floats. —Alorael, who has no explanation for this post and who will make no apologies. Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
CAN'T GET SPELLS IN AVERNUM 3 in Tech Support
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Thursday, July 5 2007 12:53 Profile Homepage #3 I think Diki probably has the problem right. When you buy spells, you're buying them for one character only. The default selection is the first character, who's usually a fighter. Check each character's spell list and make sure your first character doesn't have spells that some other character was supposed to get. —Alorael, who can't think of any other good reason spells wouldn't work. Failure to buy them in the first place seems unlikely. You'd normally notice. Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Video Game Addiction in General
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Wednesday, July 4 2007 07:00 Profile Homepage #75 If you're going out and finding prescriptions for yourself, you're probably not doing yourself any favors. If your doctor recommends a prescription, though, I'd say you should at least strongly consider taking it. Drug companies want money, but doctors don't profit from finding the ones that can help you. The system and the doctors aren't perfect, but completely rejecting medical expertise is baseless paranoia. Also, if you think all drugs are addictive and/or highly toxic, you have not been paying attention to many drugs. Drugs have to be tested for safety. The flawed ones that slip through clinical trials get a lot of publicity, but most really are as safe or as dangerous as the label says, and the doctor had better know what's on there. —Alorael, who certainly wouldn't put himself on long-term drugs without any thought. Most long-term drugs are given for very serious conditions, though, and the small risk of toxicity is going to be more than balanced by the increase in quality of life and health. Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
A3 Mystery Island in The Avernum Trilogy
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Tuesday, July 3 2007 16:28 Profile Homepage #5 Don't stop asking questions! You have learned how to get to your island, after all. When you get to the inaccessible areas, you can ask about them too. —Alorael, who considers them even more solid evidence that Jeff is an evil man who enjoys tormenting those who play his games. Or maybe he's just a tormented man who lives in a generic dungeon. Take your pick. Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Ave 3 end game in The Avernum Trilogy
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Tuesday, July 3 2007 16:22 Profile Homepage #2 The evil Rentar is supposed to escape, but your party is supposed to be magically rescued. Did you get a special message about getting killed, or did you just die? The former would be an ending I've never heard of, and the latter would be a terrible bug. —Alorael, who finds the idea of A3 ending with your party dropping dead and Rentar-Ihrno flitting off to wreak future havoc somehow hilarious. It has a very Scorched Earth Party feel to it. Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Video Game Addiction in General
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Tuesday, July 3 2007 13:22 Profile Homepage #61 quote: Originally written by Stillness: You don't like dancing?!? You're probably too uptight. Relax a little. Feel the music. Says someone who likes dancing. Is it totally inconceivable for someone to feel differently? For the record, although I can't say I love dancing, I don't hate it. I do hate, or at least strongly dislike, most dance music. Feeling the music isn't always a good thing. quote: Originally written by Synergy: So, if we find we are strong on the Introvert side, we might want to consciously push ourselves, gently, to find comfortable ways to connect more with others. Our vitality and longevity is dependent upon in ultimately. Introversion isn't the same as having avoidant personality disorder. It's quite possible to connect well to others and still find people, especially lots of people, draining. —Alorael, who thinks social interaction is very important. Enjoying social interaction is also very important. Reveling in it and always choosing social over non-social activity is not necessary. Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
A3 Mystery Island in The Avernum Trilogy
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Tuesday, July 3 2007 13:08 Profile Homepage #1 There's a little bit of land on the Bigail maindland that sticks out slightly south of the rest of the land. It's only two or three spaces, and it's north of the eastern edge of the island. That puts it northeast of where you're trying to get to. To reach the gremlins, you need to start on the westernmost bit of that land and fly southwest. —Alorael, who normally gives advice about moving diagonally here. Many laptop users never notice that you can move in eight directions, not four. Since you're already using the mouse, though, that's probably not an issue. Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00

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