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October Posting Stats Thread in General
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Monday, October 23 2006 10:29 Profile Homepage #14
The 500 errors and blank pages aren't unusual, though. The UBB gets highly wonky when subjected to anything more than the most kind and gentle use.

—Alorael, who would really be less than heartbroken if this served as the impetus for replacing the UBB with decent forum software. Sorry Drakey, but as nice as administration on the UBB is it's antiquated junk that was at least half of that the day it was installed.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Good news! in Geneforge 4: Rebellion
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Monday, October 23 2006 07:55 Profile Homepage #69
I'm not sure what you think I mean by scouts, but I definitely have high dexterity creatures fanned out ahead of me to see where the bad guys are lurking. Yes, it's possible to see them before they see you, but more importantly the dexterity allows my guys to run away first.

—Alorael, who eventually gave up on that and switched to SoT's strategy. Heavy hitters hit first, last, and best.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
How to raise skills when level. in The Exile Trilogy
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Monday, October 23 2006 07:53 Profile Homepage #5
Some skills are more expensive than others. In fact, some are free in terms of cash (Luck). The cost becomes much less onerous later.

—Alorael, who considers trainers yet another reason to talk to everyone in every town exhaustively. You never know when you might need a little bit more aptitude.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Census Slartificus in General
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Monday, October 23 2006 07:49 Profile Homepage #5
Favorite adjective -- Vituperate
Favorite city founded before 0 -- Rome, Jerusalem, or Tenochtitlan
Favorite computer or video game released before 1990 -- The Legend of Zelda. If 1990 is included then I think my vote switches to Loom.
Favorite historical war -- Trojan War. Oh, historical historical? The Hundred Years' War.
Favorite method of execution -- Blood eagle regardless of its historical accuracy
Favorite philosopher other than Socrates -- Aristotle! Or maybe Karl Popper.
Favorite poet -- Blake
Favorite politican (living or dead) -- Dead.
Favorite scurrilous talk show host -- N/A
Favorite young children's book (i.e., a picture book) -- Where's My Cow?

—Alorael, who has too many favorites for too many categories. He needs to rank more fastidiously.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
A4 contradictions in Avernum 4
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Sunday, October 22 2006 20:28 Profile Homepage #11
Valorim may be the wilderness, but it has plenty of Empire officials and significant cities. Current plagues and chaos may mean a breakdown of law and order, but even then I don't think mages would have very permanent looking structures with signs advertising their unlawful services. And there's the library in Moon. Surely that's not legal?

—Alorael, who thinks that the plan was changed between E1 and E3 when making magic extremely rare would have made the game less fun.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Why can't the net be chaotic evil? in General
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Sunday, October 22 2006 20:28 Profile Homepage #13
Non-good and non-evil I can see, but anyone who can't see the internet as chaos incarnate is doesn't understand either chaos or the internet.

—Alorael, who admits that the internet isn't anything incarnate because there's no carn in it. But it's chaos made manifeste! No, it's not manifest either. Okay, it's quintessentially chaotic.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Good news! in Geneforge 4: Rebellion
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Sunday, October 22 2006 20:21 Profile Homepage #65
And as someone else has already said, it makes battle creations far more useful. Combat isn't all about artillery fire anymore.

—Alorael, who briefly found himself in an extremely bizarre glass cannon mode with a squad of scout creations, a squad of bodyguard creations, and a squad of instant hot, cold, sharp, and acidic death in between. Then he relented and decided that maybe some more Endurance would be helpful.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Crossbows in Avernum 4
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Sunday, October 22 2006 20:15 Profile Homepage #26
Armor wasn't actually that heavy and the weight was distributed well. Armored men were no more interested in dying of immobility than anyone else.

Besides, with a large enough visor and a shallow enough puddle you could keep your mouth clear of the water even when stuck face-down in the mud.

—Alorael, who imagines that knights probably could and did suffer nasty bruises from falling over, though. Getting wet would just be one more indignity.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Ever Wonder How Vlish Get Around? in Geneforge 4: Rebellion
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Sunday, October 22 2006 20:13 Profile Homepage #3
Shapers apparently have a different definition of "standard," "mammal," or "moist" if they think you need to keep your skin wet.

—Alorael, who already has a perfectly good explanation for Vlish locomotion. A wizard did it.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Notice: ermarian.net down for maintainance NOW in General
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Sunday, October 22 2006 18:25 Profile Homepage #43
Aran, you're obviously missing the most lucrative part of your bots! You should be charging money for services rendered. Not little things like being listed, of course, but maybe a few dollars to add (or subtract) some posts, and maybe a few more dollars to do the same to someone else. It's a goldmine!

—Alorael, who wonders what the optimal amount of corruption is for profit. Too much corruption and people don't pay attention, and that means fewer people paying. Too little and you're not able to cackle while tossing wads of bills in the air.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
The long awaited Census topic! in General
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Sunday, October 22 2006 18:20 Profile Homepage #25
Owning a cell phone doesn't mean being attached to it. I spend a lot of time without my phone for a variety of reasons. Sometimes I know I can't take any calls so there's no reason to have it. Sometimes I don't want to talk to everyone who might be calling. Sometimes, alas, it's just sitting under my bed.

—Alorael, who believes this may be tied to his use of his phone as an alarm clock. When turning it off he usually just smacks it and continues to smack it until it stops beeping. He then wakes up a good half hour later, in a rush, and forgets the phone where it's been knocked under some furniture.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Which game to play? in General
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Sunday, October 22 2006 17:06 Profile Homepage #68
Please don't double post. Edit instead.

—Alorael, who happens to have just replied to the question elsewhere on the very same subject. Now you should really know how not to let the armor drag you down. Those pieces of paper are another matter entirely.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
encumbrance and negative effects (exile 1) in The Exile Trilogy
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Sunday, October 22 2006 17:05 Profile Homepage #6
As has already been stated in this thread, Defense.

—Alorael, who frowns only lightly upon topic necromancy with a point. To forestall complaints, it's really no more productive for a new thread to be created with the same post.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Wouldnt an Exile/Avernum MMORPG be awesome? in General
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Sunday, October 22 2006 15:02 Profile Homepage #9
quote:
Originally written by Pope John XX:

Anyway, the E/A games don't have really great

1) Plots (although in an MMORPG you can't expect much anyway)
2) Settings (including races, time, organizations, etc.)
3) Combat Systems (including the spell systems)
Avernum doesn't have much in the way of plot on the whole, but it has enough fetch this, deliver that, kill him quests already that it's practically built for the world of MMORPGs. We already know that the mechanics would have to be entirely overhauled, so it's not a problem that the combat system wouldn't hold up.

On setting I entirely disagree. The Empire isn't so interesting, at least as far as we've seen it, but Avernum is good, particularly in the early days. Having people suddenly appear makes sense in the context of a portal, and having people fight monsters, establish towns, defend them, and so on works quite well in the early Avernum context.

—Alorael, who fortunately doesn't need to put much thought into this because MMORPGs are dominated by two things: huge budgets and free products. Jeff can't compete in one arena and has no incentive to compete in the other.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Good news! in Geneforge 4: Rebellion
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Sunday, October 22 2006 14:56 Profile Homepage #62
Stunning and slowing have both been changed quite a bit and in entirely different ways. Glaahks are still terrifying, and now they can always get to you and land that painful sting.

—Alorael, who thinks stunning was changed for the better and for the more difficult. That's a good thing, because stunning was rather broken before.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
The long awaited Census topic! in General
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Sunday, October 22 2006 12:13 Profile Homepage #16
You showered?
Last night.
You lost your cell phone? Where?
My phone is perpetually lost, and it's usually either under my bed or in my hamper.
You lost your keys? Locked them somewhere?
I've misplaced my keys, but they've never been lost for more than ten minutes.
You cut your hair?
It's been several months and I need a haircut badly.
You overslept?
Today. And pretty much every day. I haven't actually been late from oversleeping for nearly a year now, but I'm always rushing in the morning.

Current:
Mode of transportation?
Bike
Book you are reading?
I just finished Basket Case by Carl Hiaasen. Now I need a new book.
Model of cell phone?
Model? It's a phone and that's good enough for me.
Jewelry you are wearing?
None.
Game you are playing?
GF4

Fav:
Cartoon? you can include cartoons that you used to like.
Cartoons and I never really got along well.
Baseball team?
The Senators. I'm not much of a baseball fan.
Location?
/dev/null. Okay, it's not actually a location, but bear with me.
SW oldbie
Tie-my-shoe. Yes indeed.
SW newbie?
The invisible ones.

Have you ever?
Stalked someone?
No, and my answer would be the same if I hadn't.
Been in love?
Tragically.
Missed TM?
Yes, but I got a new scope.
Gotten lost?
My sense of direction is legendarily poor. I'm perpetually lost.
Thrown a pie at someone?
Can't say I have.

Random
First quote that pops into your head?
"You're not the boss of me!"
Name a red object in your room
The only red objects in my room are books.
Name a song that makes you sad
Fritz Kreisler's Concerto in C Major (in the style of Vivaldi): Andante Doloroso
If you could remove a person from history, who would it be?
Alexander Johnson. Doesn't sound familiar? Maybe I already succeded.
If you could call someone a 'best friend', who would that be?
My best friend, obviously.

—Alorael, who wonders what the statisticians could do with the Spiderweb census data. Or, more to the point, what TM could do with them.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
It's where the rubber hits the road. in General
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Sunday, October 22 2006 11:57 Profile Homepage #28
quote:
Originally written by Ghouloca:

So you consider yourself a newbie and a worthless waste of bandwidth? :D
My moniker was "Bandwidth Sink" only three days ago.

—Alorael, who is pretty sure that there is a fair crowd who considers him a newbie and an eminently expendable one at that. Sadly, many of them have gone on to greener and less censored pastures.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Happy Birthday to Me in General
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Sunday, October 22 2006 11:55 Profile Homepage #83
I find all products of that ilk literally distasteful. If I'm going to be eating something that makes millions of blood vessels cry out in terror, I'd rather it be something that's actually delicious. Aside from these intermittent episodes of dessert my junk food consists almost entirely of dried fruit and cereal.

—Alorael, who also has an immense fondness for oyster crackers. Just thinking about it makes him realize how long it's been since he had any.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Crossbows in Avernum 4
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Sunday, October 22 2006 11:51 Profile Homepage #21
quote:
Originally written by Ghouloca:

Why can't it be because it was expensive, heavy, AND ineffective?
What would TM say?

—Alorael, who is not terribly familiar with the mechanics of chainmail. He'd like to think that those wearing it would have avoided it if it were as ineffective as you think. It certainly wasn't comfortable enough for casual wear!
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
A4 contradictions in Avernum 4
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Sunday, October 22 2006 11:48 Profile Homepage #7
Most of them seem perfectly sane in A2, and you don't really get to talk to many in A3. The crazy ones are a lot of the mages and Crystal Souls. Mages of all types seem to go nuts with great frequency and most of the Crystal Souls that you encounter are not at their best.

—Alorael, who unrelatedly never really was able to reconcile everything said in A1 about the Empire's stranglehold on the teaching and use of magic and A3's ease of access to magic. Even A4 should have some mention of wizards heading into Avernum to get access to spells they can't get in the Empire.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
It's where the rubber hits the road. in General
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Sunday, October 22 2006 08:46 Profile Homepage #23
-X- has technically been here for over a year, but newbihood has nothing to do with posts or time and everything to do with perception. Others' perception.

—Alorael, who considers everyone with a gimmick a newb. Yes, every single person who posts stupid gimmicks is a worthless waste of bandwidth.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Turgid, fleshy in General
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Sunday, October 22 2006 08:43 Profile Homepage #26
You don't need to be wearing pants. You just need to have pants to drop. In fact, that implies that at least one character will not be wearing pants.

—Alorael, who believes that the Generic Dungeon is the closest thing to needing clothes that appears in the Exile/Avernum trilogy. I guess without any weather underground clothes become optional. Real men just grit their teeth and endure the lava.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Happy Birthday to Me in General
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Sunday, October 22 2006 08:42 Profile Homepage #78
But if it's not broken you're not supposed to fix it. Actually, I think maybe a different kind of fixing would provide a faster solution to our cacogenics problem.

—Alorael, who thinks the real solution lies in the hands of the Scorched Earth Party and their lead pipes. They believe in recycling too.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
(Insert Theme Music Here) in General
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Sunday, October 22 2006 08:39 Profile Homepage #18
Sex is a perfectly valid biological term. It's the gender that's fraught with dangerous sociopolitical implications.

—Alorael, who does think that "sex politics" could get a lot more attention than "gender politics." Then again, with Foley's record maybe sex and politics should stay strictly separate.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Crossbows in Avernum 4
Or else o'erleap.
Law Bringer
Member # 335
 written Sunday, October 22 2006 08:33 Profile Homepage #15
Where's TM when you need him? Alas!

—Alorael, who maybe should be worried about why certain TM-only comments sprang immediately to mind.
Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00

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