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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Nethergate 2.0!, 2.0!,2.0! in Nethergate
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Tuesday, December 19 2006 08:29 Profile Homepage #13 While the Celts were blue, nekkid, and cool, Jeff has younger audiences to worry about. Besides, your characters aren't berserking all the time. That reminds me that the there's a certain berserker skill that leaves a lot to be desired. —Alorael, who also thinks that there's something wrong with the fact that every party of Celts ends up entirely clad in druid robes. Spiky-haired, blue crazy swordsmen don't do robes! Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Career Choices in General
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Monday, December 18 2006 23:39 Profile Homepage #0 This one's pretty self-explanatory. Inspired by the recent presence of science in Synergy's debate, Thuryl's pseudoscience, and Randomizer's physics poll, I think it's time we figure out what exactly it is that we all do or wish to do with our professional lives. This list is deliberately non-exhaustive and some people may choose more than one. If you are undecided about your future education and career, please don't choose all that apply. If you have decided on more than one, do mark them all. —Alorael, who really wishes the poll came before and not after this signature. It looks funny as it is. Poll Information This poll contains 6 question(s). 53 user(s) have voted. You may not view the results of this poll without voting. function launch_voter () { launch_window("http://www.ironycentral.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=poll;d=vote;pollid=wfCldQafFxxX"); return true; } // end launch_voter function launch_viewer () { launch_window("http://www.ironycentral.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=poll;d=view;pollid=wfCldQafFxxX"); return true; } // end launch_viewer function launch_window (url) { preview = window.open( url, "preview", "width=550,height=300,toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status,menubar=no,scrollbars,resizable,copyhistory=no" ); window.preview.focus(); return preview; } // end launch_window Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
XNA software tool in General
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Monday, December 18 2006 23:14 Profile Homepage #13 [quote=Rune_74] It can port stuff from computer to xbox with ease.[/quote Evidence? Porting tends to be not much fun. I don't refuse to believe it's possible, but I'd want to see someone making that claimi after having done it. quote: There are 10 million people that would have access to a game Almost all of them have computers, and thus access, already. They're not a new market, just a new way of reaching an old market. quote: ...as for the keyboard thing its pretty much moot if you just bind keys to a button...not saying it wouldn't take time to convert the interface but it could work. I think Geneforge uses more buttons than an Xbox controller has, and I know I'm dubious about using a controller as a mouse. quote: At the moment there are no rpgs for the live section on the 360. This software is not just for the 360 it is also for the pc That's a good reason. Being the only member of a popular category is fantastic advertising. quote: [qb]...does it need way better graphics to succeed? not necessarily...they have simple games on there, if its a good game it has a chance.[/qb It only needs great graphics if it's competing with major titles, which it's not and never can. Jeff's games either sell themselves as they are or they don't. No disagreement here. —Alorael, who has a new caveat. As long as Jeff could port a game or two before his competitors got many products to market it would be a good ad campaign. Otherwise it's still questionable. Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
XNA software tool in General
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Monday, December 18 2006 22:59 Profile Homepage #10 I still don't understand how it helps the indie developer. New market? Not really. Everyone likely to play Spiderweb games has a computer. New advertising? Not that I'm aware of. Better interface? Playing Avernum without a keyboard would be painfully awkward. Playing Geneforge would just be unpleasant. What's in it for Jeff? —Alorael, who could see doing it if it were a matter of a few hours or a few days at most. If it's going to take as much effort as a cross-platform port like Mac to PC, though, to compete with a tough audience for a non-target demographic, it's losing proposition. Jeff can use the time better in other pursuits. Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
House Unshaperlike Activities Committee in Geneforge 4: Rebellion
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Monday, December 18 2006 20:03 Profile Homepage #85 Causes and methods aren't the same. The Shapers may be tyrannical, but they or their equivalents would be the same without shaping. Monarch couldn't exist without creations, but look at Avernum for plenty of evil, mad mages wreaking havoc. The Shapers are no more immortal than the Empire. The Council is very killable, just like Hawthorne. The institutionis just as bureaucratically entrenched, but even so it's not impossible to remove. —Alorael, who has a new way to phrase the debate. Suppose shaping were replaced with guns. It's still a unique power, but would you argue that guns are inherently evil? How about iron armor? Or aircraft? Escalation of the tools of war is part of how the world works, even Geneforge's world, and at least shaping provides benefits as well. Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
XNA software tool in General
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Monday, December 18 2006 19:55 Profile Homepage #4 Actually, the "why not" seems like a fair question to me. I'm sure Jeff never will do it, but if it's quick enough to port and is still playable with an entirely different interface (dubious), it's a reasonable suggestion. —Alorael, who sees two barriers. The lack of a keyboard is a killer, and there's not much of an Xbox market that doesn't already have computers. Console gamers seem like the wrong target audience, too. Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
House Unshaperlike Activities Committee in Geneforge 4: Rebellion
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Monday, December 18 2006 17:30 Profile Homepage #78 The Shapers rule absolutely. That said, their rule doesn't seem particularly onerous. They probably collect taxes, but they also seem to provide services ranging from protection (yes, with creations) to production of food. Their competence is debatable, but their intentions are acceptable. Remember that nobody is really proposing democracy here. So the Shapes have power somehow, and they're set on maintaining it. That makes them like every other government, real and fictional. The Shapers are not particularly nice to their creations. Oh, they're not supposed to torture them, more or less by custom, but it's okay to be bossy. The rebels disagree with both the rule of the Shapers and their treatment of creations. Maybe earlier Geneforges clarify this, but I don't get the sense that the two issues are really connected except as a tenuous link between the human rebels and the servile, drayk, and drakon rebels. The rebels don't really provide a good alternative to dictatorial powers. They just want to be the ones dictating. —Alorael, who would like to point out that Avernum's Empire managed to maintain absolute power over an entire world for centuries at least without shaping. Being able to make an army instead of conscripting one is nice, but it's not essential. Shouldn't the citizens be happy they don't have to fight and die themselves? Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Help in The Avernum Trilogy
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Monday, December 18 2006 17:20 Profile Homepage #3 As it turns out, there are five pools. They correspond to the five buttons on the control panel in the middle of the upper level, each of which opens a portcullis on the lower level. —Alorael, who sends this merrily off to where it belongs. Off, off, and away! Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
how was your day in General
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Monday, December 18 2006 17:16 Profile Homepage #8 I refuse to entertain the thought of being related to any of you, even if we're only relatives in size. This topic dies the death of sniping. [Edit: Wawa, consider this your official notice of disapproval. Continuing to make short, meaningless posts will result in Bad Things.] —Alorael, who hasn't gotten to any of these before Aran in a while. It feels good! [ Monday, December 18, 2006 17:17: Message edited by: Elegance: Qwghlmian or Lojban? ] Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
help with logarithms in General
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Monday, December 18 2006 12:41 Profile Homepage #1 The first thing you need to be able to do is convert from logs with strange bases (let's call them a) to familiar bases (let's call them b, but you'll usually use either e or 10). Fortunately, there's a formula: Log{n}(x) = log{b}(x) / log{b}(n) So log{3}6 = ln(6)/ln(3) [Edit: Whoops, didn't finish.] Other things to remember are that aln(b) = ln(b^a) and ln(a) + ln(b) = ln(ab). You can use these to simplify equations into one log{n}(something) = log{n}(something else} and then cancel logs. Again, an example: log(x) = 3/2log(9) + log(2) log(x) = log[ 9^(3/2) * 2] x = 29^(3/2) x = 54 Finally , you can always turn plain old numbers into logarithms so you can combine terms. k = log{a}(k^a) Ex: 5 = log{2}(25) —Alorael, who is logging out in the manner of Thuryls everywhere. [ Monday, December 18, 2006 13:10: Message edited by: Elegance:: Qwghlmian or Lojban? ] Posts: 14579* \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Elegance is a function. in General
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Monday, December 18 2006 12:35 Profile Homepage #12 I was actually referencing the first post (the post here came before my response there), which has flowery language, often mistaken for elegance, that took me an inordinate effort to decrypt. I'm still not exactly sure what the specific question was or if it was just a general request for guidance. quote: Elegant as heck, but I missed it Then it's not elegant, is it? —Alorael, who now has his daily inspiration for a new moniker. Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Who will I be and who will I join? in Geneforge 4: Rebellion
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Monday, December 18 2006 12:28 Profile Homepage #5 If you want detailed information with a few spoilers, there's a nice link at the top of the forum. Other than that, I think this is pretty good and easy on the spoiler: quote: Originally written by Synergy; So, practically speaking, you will need 8 Mechanics just to do everything in The Forsaken Lands (Chapter 1.) 6 Mechanics is sufficient to do many things there, 7 to do everything but a very few mines. In Burwood Province (Chapter 3), you'll want to bump up to around 10 Mechanics to do most things. Meanwhile, you will eventually need 7 or 8 Leadership in order to be able to recruit certain help throughout the game. —Alorael, who thinks that gives you a good idea of how much to spend on the non-combat skills. A few points in luck are useful, but there's no need to go with more than a few. The benefits of putting skill points in shaping skills taper off after you have 10 points and you can get quite a few from items, but as a lifecrafter there's really no reason not to put at least four or five points in. The benefits of magic never end, so feel free to keep boosting your casting skills. Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Respect. in Geneforge 4: Rebellion
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Monday, December 18 2006 11:13 Profile Homepage #2 Agreed. Also, since conventional armies are a major part of conflicts even between shapers and morale is a major part of armies, who do you think wins? The army where the commanders tend to messily explode underlings who fail or the army where the commanders are sane? —Alorael, who thinks there is a precedent for this type of situations. See Galactic Empire v. Plucky Rebel Scum. Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Who will I be and who will I join? in Geneforge 4: Rebellion
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Monday, December 18 2006 11:06 Profile Homepage #1 If you're asking about which class to choose, that depends on how you want to play. The consensus seems to be that serviles and lifecrafters are the most powerful. The latter are good at making armies and buffing them. The former excel at killing things with pointy objects and explosive magic. Infiltrators are good at many of the same things as serviles, with more emphasis on blowing things up and less on stabbing them. If you want to know which faction to join, that's really a matter of plot preference. For purely mechanical differences, the rebels give you access to more advanced creations while the shapers give you access to more training in general and probably a little bit more nice stuff. The third faction doesn't seem like it would work well with any shaping character, but I haven't played through it so I don't know. You can work for both sides fairly well, but the results aren't quite the same and you can't get everything from more than one faction. —Alorael, who hopes he's answered the question you were trying to ask. Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Elegance is a function. in General
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Monday, December 18 2006 11:01 Profile Homepage #8 A case in point. —Alorael, who thinks the elegant language speaks for itself. Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
House Unshaperlike Activities Committee in Geneforge 4: Rebellion
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Monday, December 18 2006 09:35 Profile Homepage #70 That's what I said. The Trakovites have good points, but they mix them with baseless ideology. Ornks are great things. Abusing serviles is less good. Assaulting townsfolk with rotghroths because it's hilarious is terrible. The Shapers serve a purpose and serve it well. Unfortunately, they don't give some creations the rights and respect they deserve. (I know you don't think they deserve any rights, but that's because you deserve to be assaulted by rotghroths.) The rebels and Trakovites take the failiings of the Shapers to mean that the Shapers are entirely evil and that shaping is entirely evil, respectively. Neither one is true. —Alorael, who does think that the rebellion has gone a long way towards making the Shapers act evil. The rebellion's finest aren't all hugs and chocolate either, though. Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Merry Christmas! (Statistics 2006-12) in General
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Monday, December 18 2006 09:31 Profile Homepage #20 Now there are two forums for shameless, spamming: mods only and Blades contest judges only. Keep an eye out for skyrocketing postcounts, because you know that there are questionable conversations. A: That scenario is awful! B: lol yeah C. More like godawful amirite? A. QFT. B. lol yeah X: I hate Tully. Let's ban him. Y: k Z: No! He has done nothing wrong! X: I'll give you a quarter. Z: k Y: I want a quarter too... —Alorael, who has changed the names to protect the innocent. He uses innocent so loosely that it would, in fact, be "guilty" if used with any attention paid to specificity. Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Elegance is a function. in General
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Monday, December 18 2006 09:26 Profile Homepage #6 A very simple example comes from programming. If you can write a program with many lines of complex code or few lines of simple code, the latter is more elegant. The latter is also less resource intensive, which can be essential in a program that already pushes the boundaries of acceptable system requirements. —Alorael, who also thinks explanations are themselves examples. A verbose, tortuous explanation can easily end up confusing listeners, but a simple and elegant explanation delivers more elucidation more quickly. Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
House Unshaperlike Activities Committee in Geneforge 4: Rebellion
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Monday, December 18 2006 09:02 Profile Homepage #67 Slarty's hit on something there. It's worth separating the ideals and the methods of the groups. The Trakovites do have a point. People who are altered by canisters and shaping go aggressively crazy. On the other hand, shaping itself has produced valuable things like living tools, ornks, and other real progress. The Trakovites draw no distinction between good and bad shaping, or between good and bad shapers. —Alorael, who thinks an ideal solution would be Rebel-esqeu humane treatment of creations combined with Shaper training instead of canisters. The Shapers should not abuse their power as they apparently do, but they do need that power to remain an effective governing force and, equally importantly, to be able to stop the lunatic shapers who crop up perenially. Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Elegance is a function. in General
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Monday, December 18 2006 08:52 Profile Homepage #4 I'd rather hear the explanation than the one-liner, personally. I also have heard the utiliity elegance explained before, but the quote is new to me. —Alorael, who certainly likes it. He'd just like it to be relegated to the proper place of the pithy one-liner and not actually used for matters that require pith. Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Exile 3> Ancient Enemy Conceal Tunnel in The Exile Trilogy
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Monday, December 18 2006 08:49 Profile Homepage #36 The Beastslayer Blade isn't especially good. You'll only fight so many Alien Beasts and they're not especially difficult to kill with the many other powerful armaments you should have acquired. If you'd really like to arm yourself, it's a better idea to take the metal lumps you get as part of making Beastslayer and abscond with them. Carmine in Lennus will make you a far superior weapon, although it'll take a few days of waiting. [Edit: Well, slightly superior. It was boosted a lot in A3.] [Edit: Actually, all of the above was written with A3 in mind. You'll have fewer powerful weapons at your disposal in E3, but you still probably don't need Beastslayer.] —Alorael, who ended up getting the Beastslayer Blade and then never using it. Damage output isn't really a problem for most parties by the time they're facing alien beasts. Magic waveblades, the Alien Blade, and the Black Halberd are up to all your hacking and mangling needs. [ Monday, December 18, 2006 11:09: Message edited by: Viy ] Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Rising in Richard White Games
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Monday, December 18 2006 08:43 Profile Homepage #5 That is not dead which can eternal rise! ¡Viva la Core-ificación! ¡Hasta lo Blanco siempre! —Alorael, who thinks if you look deep inside yourself you'll know who is responsible. Not too deep, though, unless your implants are badly misplaced. Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Rising in Richard White Games
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Sunday, December 17 2006 18:56 Profile Homepage #0 The Blades Scenario Design Contest forum is now at the bottom, meaning that RWG is actually ascending (sort of) and that SubTerra is no longer poetically the lowermost forum. Discuss. —Alorael, who views this as a sinister sign of things to come. Oh, yes, very sinister. Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
House Unshaperlike Activities Committee in Geneforge 4: Rebellion
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Sunday, December 17 2006 16:18 Profile Homepage #57 Trakovites join in a long tradition of irrational hatred. They can justify the abolition of shaping with all kinds of excuses, but when it comes down to it they just don't like it and want it gone. —Alorael, who thinks he might agree if the choices were Shapers and crazed rebels who seem happy to put the world at risk in order to topple them. The problem isn't shaping so much as monolithic organizations with all the power. You know, Jeff's games seem to have a bit of a libertarian bent... Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Merry Christmas! (Statistics 2006-12) in General
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Sunday, December 17 2006 16:15 Profile Homepage #8 What? I remained decently in third. Dikisaurus would have posted more than me if you hadn't stolen all her responses, obviously. —Alorael, who will be posting with the same account as always. But it was a close thing! Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00

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