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Out on this island, miles and miles beyond the far end of nothing... in The Avernum Trilogy
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Tuesday, July 3 2007 13:03 Profile Homepage #2
He's there to show nosy adventurers that sometimes they should mind their own business. Seriously. The hermit doesn't do anything useful for you.

—Alorael, who does think Jeff has a warped sense of humor for making you remember the unreachable island for when you get the Orb of Thralni only to get cursed for your efforts.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Message Board in General
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Tuesday, July 3 2007 13:00 Profile Homepage #13
If you didn't make it, surely the person who did can drum up some members? He or she must have had an audience in mind when the boards were created.

—Alorael, who thinks it's about time to plug Phoenix. It has a great community.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Swamp City in The Exile Trilogy
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Tuesday, July 3 2007 12:56 Profile Homepage #3
The Avernum Annotated Maps are your friends. Yes, the map covers Avernum, not Exile, but the differences are small enough that you can probably get by with it. And so can you father!

—Alorael, who thinks that's generally true of Exile. You're better off with the not quite identical but much more thorough Avernum walkthroughs.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Video Game Addiction in General
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Monday, July 2 2007 13:34 Profile Homepage #47
quote:
Originally written by Stillness:

Apart side effects which can be worse than the problem, I don't think chemicals are the solution for shyness. I'm a bit of an introvert myself. When I'm at a social event I force myself to get up, get out, and speak to people. It takes effort but gets easier with practice. It's very rewarding though.
Is it overcoming your shyness that's rewarding or is the best part of the experience what you get once you've overcome it? There's something in the former, but the point is the latter and if you can get that from drugs, maybe it's a good thing. And once you've done it a few times with chemical aid, maybe it won't be so scary to do it on your own.

quote:
Granted, some may be shyer than others, but drugs don't really make a problem go away.
Yes, they do. Not all of them, granted, but the point of, say, most cancer drugs is remission, not putting it on hold. But this is mostly making fun of what you said, not what you meant, and I'll definitely concede that the vast majority of psychiatric medications are long-term.

[Edit: Less revelation, more respect.]

quote:
They just give instant gratification. That is never as good as results that come from patience and effort. Natural trumps artificial.
Relief from social anxiety isn't instant gratification, and you've just begged the question. If the drug gives the same result as patience and effort, why does natural trump artificial? Don't get me wrong, I have the same gut reaction, but I'm not so sure it's justifiably correct.

quote:
If I just had to take something, I'd just go with tried and true alcohol to lower inhibitions. That's still a cop-out, but at least alcohol does not harm you in moderation.
If you're lowering your inhibitions, you're doing other things to your mind as well. Reduced shyness without alcohol's other effects could be rather worthwhile. And to take a real example rather than these hypothetical social drugs, is there anything wrong with the use of beta blockers to improve performance?

quote:
That's my opinion. I'm very much anti-drug/pro-nature. To each his own though.
—Alorael, who thinks everyone is entitled to an opinion on everything. It's always helpful to examine those opinions, though, because everyone believes many things for little or no reason. Medicine is one of the biggest piles of collective superstition left.

[ Monday, July 02, 2007 13:36: Message edited by: Pestle of Mortars ]
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Re Titus in Nethergate
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Monday, July 2 2007 13:20 Profile Homepage #8
A stud and a sot? Someone's getting all the best nicknames. But now I'm going to be really tempted to call you Studebaker.

—Alorael, who believes Drakey is still having his nap. It's a very long nap, but he's been working very hard and is likely all worn out.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Order Mage in General
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Sunday, July 1 2007 14:58 Profile Homepage #7
Yes.

—Alorael, recommends reading the Code of Conduct. Goodbye!
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Re Titus in Nethergate
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Sunday, July 1 2007 14:54 Profile Homepage #3
Stud?

—Alorael, who will have to store this one away for future reference.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Video Game Addiction in General
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Saturday, June 30 2007 23:43 Profile Homepage #42
The problem lies with the doctors who prescribe as well as the companies who manufacture. But I have a question. Assuming an extroversion-inducing drug works, and assuming it's not being forced on someone without their consent, what's wrong with it?

—Alorael, who certainly thinks there are times when a little extroversion is a good thing. Is chemical alteration/augmentation inherently undesirable?
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Vacations/trips in General
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Friday, June 29 2007 19:34 Profile Homepage #29
I'd never thought about feeling lighter in a plane before, but it's an interesting question. If you're flying around 3000 meters, or about two miles, above the Earth's surface, you'll feel about 0.1% lighter. That's less than the difference in weight you feel after eating a heavy meal. Or probably less than the difference after drinking a glass of water.

—Alorael, who can understand feeling lighter while a plane is descending. The actual gravitational change is too tiny for you to reasonably notice it, though. And this didactic moment has been brought to you by nothing in particular.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Favourite educational computer games in General
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Friday, June 29 2007 14:10 Profile Homepage #7
Games designed to be educational tend to be bad. Games that are good can be very incidentally educational.

—Alorael, who happens to have a friend currently working on making games that could be used as serious learning tools, but with emphasis on the game. And the target audience is college and grad school. He's very afraid of what political science might do to Civilization.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Avernum 5, June Update in Avernum 4
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Friday, June 29 2007 14:04 Profile Homepage #31
quote:
Originally written by Haakai-Tender Valcrist:

Quick Question: Is there an unscripted special encounter? Just curious..=)
All special encounters have to be scripted. Do you mean random encounters? Jeff has already said that he'll have some monsters return after you've killed them, as I recall.

—Alorael, who likes how the introduction picture evokes the splash screens of E3 and A3. He also likes the idea of getting stuck on a lift, because everyone who has ever been stuck in an elevator knows that the only thing that could make it work is getting shot at.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
cussing in General
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Thursday, June 28 2007 20:38 Profile Homepage #10
Because profanity is so ubiquitous and generally meaningless now, it's lost a lot of impact. I've never really used it much, and if I feel a very strong emotion I can usually find a more original and satisfying way to express it. Primal screams and waving arms work well.

—Alorael, who thinks there's an element of courtesy and professionalism too. Just like you wouldn't throw slang and contractions into academic writing, you probably shouldn't start cursing at length in front of someone else's children, your boss, or total strangers. There's no good reason for it, but cultural mores rarely make sense.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Video Game Addiction in General
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Wednesday, June 27 2007 14:09 Profile Homepage #24
quote:
Originally written by Synergy:

In the psych field, the definition of an addiction is "a pathological relationship to any mood-altering exeprience that has life-damaging consequences."
Psychiatry can use addiction to mean whatever it wants, but that's far more all-encompassing than even colloquial use. An abusive relationship fits, and not only by an accident of word choice. Listening to your music too loudly and causing damage to your ears is also an addiction. Hooray!

—Alorael, who thinks he may be a book addict. He reads a lot. A whole lot. It's an expensive habit, since he buys new books more often than he uses the library. It keeps him from interacting with other people. He feels unhappy and irritable if he doesn't have a book to read even when he is not in the act of reading it (or not, as the case may be). Solution: ban books! They're dangerous!
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Video Game Addiction in General
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Tuesday, June 26 2007 13:21 Profile Homepage #12
quote:
Originally written by Lenar:

Addiction is when one sees that an activity is becoming disruptive, wants to stop, and cannot.
So as long as you're happy with your substance use you're not addicted? I'm going to file that one away for the next time someone nags me about my skribbane habit.

Nioca, video game addiction is very unlikely to result in any profit for any part of the pharmaceutical industry. It's not as though anyone will be rolling out a miracle drug for non-substance addiction anytime soon. Psychiatrists might make some money and psychologists and assorted neuroscientists might get some papers published, but I don't think anyone's exactly a winner here.

—Alorael, who agrees with Kel's first paragraph and objects to the second. Compulsive gaming may be a mental disorder, but how does that make it an addiction? Enjoying gaming might make it an addiction, but a case could be made for sleep being addictive on the same grounds. Non-dependent addiction is thrown around very casually.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
General Forum Prune. in General
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Tuesday, June 26 2007 13:09 Profile Homepage #24
quote:
Originally written by Chicken:

I don't think inactive user prunes are ever done, or else I would've had a far higher member number by now.
The UBB occasionally prunes members by itself, but its criteria are ineffable. The result usually manages to eff the boards up anyway, though.

—Alorael, who thinks that's why inactive users are never pruned. It's a matter of letters, really. Although with careful pruning there could be bonsai members, which would be very nice...
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
RE: in Avernum 4
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Monday, June 25 2007 19:40 Profile Homepage #1
There's no official A4 editor like the ones that come as part of the other Avernum games or as separate programs with the Exiles. You can download a number of scripts that will help somewhat, including one in the forum header (and here), but it's not quite the same.

—Alorael, who can give instructions for getting that script to work if you want it. As a warning, though, it just adds some dialogue in Fort Monastery that essentially allows you to cheat. It's not pretty, but it works.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Video Game Addiction in General
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Monday, June 25 2007 19:30 Profile Homepage #1
But an hour or two of TV is normal. Hooray!

—Alorael, who is no psychologist and thus largely unqualified to weigh in on these matters. He thinks there's room for distinction between addiction and compulsion. And he thinks the vast majority of those who spend hours and hours slaughtering virtual foes suffer from neither.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Game-dooming mistakes in Exile 1 in The Exile Trilogy
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Monday, June 25 2007 13:26 Profile Homepage #14
Four brooches are enough to get you in, but you need the fifth to get back out. Having four results in your inevitable death.

—Alorael, who thinks Jeff has been fairly good at not creating inescapable traps. Aside from the brooches and certain plot-related bugs in A4 it's not easy to get yourself stuck.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Pylons in Rentors Keep in Avernum 4
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Monday, June 25 2007 13:22 Profile Homepage #3
To clarify Kel's comments a little bit, pylons and all other enemies that lob things at you have a range one space shorter than your range. That means you can stand just at the edge of your range and take potshots all you want. There's no risk to you, but it gets boring very fast and the pylons heal rather quickly when you're not in range.

It's quite possible to sneak through the pylons. It's even possible to do it without ever running around in combat mode. Just pick your path carefully and skirt the edges of all the horrible flaming death-dealing crystals.

—Alorael, who would really like to know which contractor Rentar-Ihrno hired for pylon construction and placement. They're eminently vulnerable to enterprising adventurers, a known threat, and they're not even well arranged.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
A3 Knowledge Brew/Monestary of Madness in The Avernum Trilogy
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Sunday, June 24 2007 18:31 Profile Homepage #1
I don't think Foxfire can be killed. She may have different towns to wander in once Bengaro has been demolished, but you can still find her somewhere near Lorelei.

—Alorael, who hopes you've already done the running around and talking in Lorelei so that Lyle has told you that Foxfire has the key. Otherwise finding her won't do you any good.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
It Is Done in General
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Sunday, June 24 2007 17:04 Profile Homepage #19
Ocean Bound is just boring. It's like Settlers without graphics, real strategy, or fun. Galactic Core has potential, almost, but in the end the AI is too stupid to make the game any fun and the rules aren't interesting enough to really make GC stand out in any way. It's spectacularly mediocre.

Lost Souls is the best of the bunch. It's a strategy game that isn't quite like any other I can think of, and it's based on capturing territory and using resources to build three different units. The AI is still pretty weak, but the concept was good. If there were a level editor and a way to play againt other humans I would have registered.

—Alorael, who thinks maybe someone should shamelessly plagiarize. The rules of the game are simple enough that even he could program it. AI is always tricky, but it would work fine as a free humans-only game.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
It Is Done in General
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Saturday, June 23 2007 15:03 Profile Homepage #16
Not true. You can't start polls either.

—Alorael, who is quite certain of that.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
*Plants flag* in Richard White Games
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Friday, June 22 2007 14:02 Profile Homepage #1
No. Actually, I think we're done with the post-closure happy fun time.

—Alorael, who will go do something about that. It may be the only useful thing he ever did as RWG mod.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
It Is Done in General
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Friday, June 22 2007 13:22 Profile Homepage #12
Farewell, RWG. We're all a little bit lost without you. I feel particularly diminished by the loss of the forum that I ran more or less as a private fief.

—Alorael, who on the other hand thinks it's nearly as appropriate for Exile to be on the bottom as it was for SubTerra to be down there. But the forum list seems so short!
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00

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