Profile for Student of Trinity
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Displayed name | Student of Trinity |
| Member number | 3431 |
| Title | Electric Sheep One |
| Postcount | 3335 |
| Homepage | |
| Registered | Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
Recent posts
Pages
| Author | Recent posts |
|---|---|
| How evil would it be ... in General | |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Saturday, April 23 2005 13:21
Profile
You don't seem to be able to edit posts in a locked topic, but I think the displayed name of the originator does keep updating automatically, hence the idea. It seems fairly evil to me, or I would have done it. On the other hand, consider the separate degrees of evil of the two components of the evil scheme, deliberately launching topics that are bound to be locked, and changing one's displayed name very frequently. The first component is practiced not infrequently, and with apparent impunity, by several senior members of the community. The second is clearly, in itself, a thoroughly honorable practice, for Alorael does it, and Alorael is an honorable man. [ Saturday, April 23, 2005 13:35: Message edited by: Student of Trinity ] -------------------- It is not enough to discover how things seem to seem. We must discover how things really seem. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
| How evil would it be ... in General | |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Friday, April 22 2005 16:51
Profile
How evil would it be for two or more people - or even just one - to register as new users, just so that they could launch a few ridiculous spam topics, get them locked, and then continue a conversation between locked topics on the topic summary page, just by constantly changing their displayed names (which would show up, correctly updated, as the topic starters)? -------------------- It is not enough to discover how things seem to seem. We must discover how things really seem. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
| puresteel items in Geneforge Series | |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Friday, April 22 2005 16:47
Profile
The Puresteel Soulblade is in the Monastery Caves. If you can get it, you don't need it. But it's sort of nice to be able to get hold of one of those things without having to give any of, uh, your soul -- as you did in G2. -------------------- We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
| Does Spiderweb improve your English? in General | |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Friday, April 22 2005 15:55
Profile
"For to" instead of "to" has been quite correct in some English dialects, though to me it has a strong archaic flavor now. You still get it in some old folksongs, for instance. Semicolons totally rule: I frequently make unnecessary compound sentences, just for their sake. The only punctuation mark better than a semicolon is a colon used in the same way; the only thing better than a colon in a compound sentence is two or more colons used that way in the same sentence. Thomas Carlyle could pull it off every few pages, proving his absolute supremacy in English prose style: Huah! -------------------- It is not enough to discover how things seem to seem. We must discover how things really seem. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
| Lankin plot bug? in Geneforge Series | |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Friday, April 22 2005 15:40
Profile
This could maybe be fixed just by modifying Lankan's lines a bit, to something about how even though the present outburst of rogues has now been suppressed, the incident has made him realize that the Shapers cannot be trusted to uphold their part of the social contract, and that he therefore cannot now go back to the status quo ante rebellum -- or words to that effect. Maybe not quite as big a payoff in plot effect as one would hope for, in return for playing it preux, but if written well it might be satisfying enough in a bittersweet way. -------------------- We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
| Does Spiderweb improve your English? in General | |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Thursday, April 21 2005 04:56
Profile
A native speaker can also lose fluency from exposure to non-standard language. A couple of years in a German environment seem to have permanently scarred my spoken English with a couple of durable Germanicisms -- not from speaking German, of which I did lamentably little, but from unconsciously imitating the English of native German speakers. For instance, I frequently end sentences with, "..., or?", and begin with them, "I have to say ...". These verbal tics, although unusual and odd-sounding in colloquial English, are arguably not actually improper. But I also usually invert the order of indirect questions, making them like direct questions, which is grammatically wrong. That is, I say things like "I wonder why is this so" instead of the correct "I wonder why this is so". [ Thursday, April 21, 2005 05:00: Message edited by: Student of Trinity ] -------------------- It is not enough to discover how things seem to seem. We must discover how things really seem. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
| New Pope in Geneforge Series | |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Thursday, April 21 2005 04:43
Profile
Benedict XVI is unlikely to rescind the ruling that Catholics are forbidden to augment themselves with glowing jars of empathy-reducing magical goo. So, no effect. [ Thursday, April 21, 2005 04:44: Message edited by: Student of Trinity ] -------------------- We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
| When nothing happens... in General | |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Wednesday, April 20 2005 20:51
Profile
quote:Maybe if Fate also wills discovery of an actual Geneforge and subsequent domination of Earth by vlish, who award Jeff Vogel a posthumous Nobel prize for anticipation, and whose youngsters revere every Spidweb-related byte as holy writ. Otherwise, that's pushing it. [ Wednesday, April 20, 2005 20:52: Message edited by: Student of Trinity ] -------------------- It is not enough to discover how things seem to seem. We must discover how things really seem. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
| Does Spiderweb improve your English? in General | |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Wednesday, April 20 2005 15:38
Profile
I voted even though English is my native language. Anyone can improve their style. -------------------- It is not enough to discover how things seem to seem. We must discover how things really seem. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
| Middle of the road viewpoint in Geneforge Series | |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Wednesday, April 20 2005 15:28
Profile
I've always been able to bury my qualms about the moral status of my own creations under the ambiguity of their physical status. My theory is that my own creations are different from the rogues I meet, and are really just mindless robots made of essence. Here is my reasoning. It is clear that in the GF world there are creations of a wide range of durabilities. There are the 'fading creations' you meet on Harmony Isle in G3, and the fading Drakons that spring out of the crystals Barzahl gives you to assassinate Zakary in G2. There are the spawned creations, which form every few seconds while you are around the Spawner, but which must apparently dissolve spontaneously in your absence, because if you leave a Spawner and return, you don't find that it has filled the region with creations while you were gone. And there are the creations you make yourself, in a crackle and a flash, out of thin air. On the other extreme, there are Drayks that live for ages and beget new generations of Drayks, and Serviles that acquire wisdom and knowledge greater than those of most Shapers. Here is my theory for why there is this range of durabilities. There are a lot of vats in the Shaper world. Any kind of creation can apparently be grown in a vat. Why bother, if Spawners and shapers can make creations out of essence alone? I conjecture that vat-grown creations are permanent, potentially independent beings, but spawned creations are really just essence robots, which will fade away within hours or days if separated from their creator. Thus, I can let my own creations die, or reabsorb them, without guilt; and yet the moral issues of the games, concerning the treatment of permanent creations like Serviles, remain undiminished. Hooray! [ Wednesday, April 20, 2005 15:29: Message edited by: Student of Trinity ] -------------------- We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
| graphics in Geneforge Series | |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Wednesday, April 20 2005 14:56
Profile
The disruptive pattern Thahds are pretty odd, all right. Meeting them is like getting attacked by scarecrows. The old Thahd skin was pretty lame too, but if Jeff is trying to buff his Thahds, he needs to keep trying. The new Guardians look like umpires; I prefer the old bucketheads. And the new Spawners look tougher, which is fine, but they don't look as bizarre and alien as the old fringey ones, which is too bad. -------------------- We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
| weird start screen q in Geneforge Series | |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Wednesday, April 20 2005 06:36
Profile
I think the G3 start screen is there to make things easier for people who want to cheat at the game. Anyone who just really enjoys blasting all the GF creatures can do it without the trouble of playing at all. -------------------- We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
| Shops in Geneforge Series | |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Wednesday, April 20 2005 06:33
Profile
The Shaper economy is entirely online. -------------------- We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
| Recipes in Geneforge Series | |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Wednesday, April 20 2005 02:54
Profile
Sounds like the CMF recipe is wrong. Does the game ever tell you the recipe? Rotghroth fang sounds strange for mental focus, after all. They have speed and brawn, but are not noted for brains. Eyebeast eye does seem more logical. Anyway, it's worth trying to make extra Charms of Mental Focus. The more the merrier, I say. -------------------- We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
| puresteel items in Geneforge Series | |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Tuesday, April 19 2005 11:29
Profile
I always just tried to collect a complete suit of puresteel and lay it out in a suitably imposing trophy hall. In G2 the Pit of the Bound served well. I thought about putting it all on a strong Guardian and seeing whether it made him invincible, but never tried. -------------------- We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
| NEW POPE! in General | |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Tuesday, April 19 2005 11:20
Profile
Ah, ok. I don't know what name that doctrine would have, either, but it ought to have a notorious one. Ehhh, sadly, I suppose it might almost go by Augustinianism. But then in his old age Augustine is supposed to have anticipated Jansen, or come awfully close, so maybe there's a connection after all. -------------------- It is not enough to discover how things seem to seem. We must discover how things really seem. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
| NEW POPE! in General | |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Tuesday, April 19 2005 10:56
Profile
Ratzinger advocated Jansenism?? IIRC, Jansenism is the doctrine that grace is irresistable, and Pascal at least flirted with it, maybe even accepted it, but it was officially condemned by some Pope. This sort of thing is pretty famously subtle for nonspecialists, but it must be rather elementary for professional RC theologians. So on the whole I'd expect that the Cardinal who headed the official successor institution to the Inquisition would have been able to steer carefully clear of such a well-known heresy. As far as I'm concerned, though, Jansenism doesn't seem so bad. I mean, it would be nice if grace were irresistable. -------------------- It is not enough to discover how things seem to seem. We must discover how things really seem. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
| Do you think there is a Hell? in General | |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Tuesday, April 19 2005 10:32
Profile
Stories can get severely garbled within days. Thirty years is plenty of time for legends to grow from nothing. So I should put implicit faith in a story for which we only have fragments of 30-year-later copies of accounts written 30 years after the events they describe, just because all other ancient documents are so much worse? With this kind of logic, I could expect to sell this nice parchment deed to the Brooklyn Bridge, as long as I put it in a window display along with a pack of counterfeit bills made by a kid with a black crayon on green construction paper. -------------------- It is not enough to discover how things seem to seem. We must discover how things really seem. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
| Shops in Geneforge Series | |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Tuesday, April 19 2005 10:02
Profile
Ya know, it's just as well. Sell things, take the cash, and forget about them. The only things you really don't want to sell are priceless, and you can't sell them anyway. I wound up spending lots of effort shuttling extra gear between islands, just so that it could sit in a heap somewhere, waiting for the possibility of a Power Core type area where I would want to wear all possible energy resisting gear, or something like that. With 8 major artifacts now, and the possibility of enhancing all kinds of items, there is very little reason for stockpiling stuff that you don't want to equip by default, on the off chance that at some point you might need it. A couple of Tinker's and Infiltrator's items, and maybe a Shining Shield, are the only exceptions I can see to this rule. Hardly any of the body parts seemed worth keeping to me. Maybe a Guardian would want wands more, but my Agent had no use for them. Do you even make a profit by crafting wands and crystals for sale? Is it worth picking up Flawed Crystals? My singleton Agent didn't need to spend cash upgrading companions, or learning Shaping, so she had money to burn well before the end of the game. If you sell gemstones and body parts, I think you would be fine without bothering with any of the heavier loot. -------------------- We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
| Recipes in Geneforge Series | |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Tuesday, April 19 2005 09:50
Profile
Half an AP doesn't show up, but it does seem to exist. The 'quantum of action', the cost of moving one hex, actually seems to be 1/2 an AP. If you have 9AP base and haste, it shows 13 AP, but you can always take one step and stay at 13. Whereas if you have 8 AP and haste to 12, you do the same tiny movement and immediately drop to 11. -------------------- We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
| Three great Items (possible spoilers) in Geneforge Series | |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Tuesday, April 19 2005 05:11
Profile
The Emerald Chestguard needs Demon Claws, not a conduit shard. These are available in Pit of the Bound and in Demonic Depot. -------------------- We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
| Three great Items (possible spoilers) in Geneforge 2 | |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Tuesday, April 19 2005 05:11
Profile
The Emerald Chestguard needs Demon Claws, not a conduit shard. These are available in Pit of the Bound and in Demonic Depot. -------------------- It is not enough to discover how things seem to seem. We must discover how things really seem. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
| Middle of the road viewpoint in Geneforge Series | |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Tuesday, April 19 2005 02:54
Profile
Ah, but 'putting safeguards in place' seems easier said than done. The power seems so tempting, and even if the knowledge itself could be concealed, the fact that it exists to be rediscovered is now common knowledge to a continent full of magicians. Apparently, you cannot unring a bell. -------------------- We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
| Ahhh...School in General | |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Monday, April 18 2005 16:56
Profile
If you prove the Riemann Hypothesis, you will indeed have no academic career troubles. But there are lots of other careers, many both lucrative and fulfilling, that are a lot easier than that to get into. -------------------- It is not enough to discover how things seem to seem. We must discover how things really seem. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
| Middle of the road viewpoint in Geneforge Series | |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Monday, April 18 2005 16:51
Profile
Ha! A good point. The odd illicit necromancer here and there, the high incidence of reckless Shaper eccentrics, and the seemingly wilder mores of the historical Shaper mainstream, all seem to indicate that uncontrolled magic is a very real danger in the Shaper world. The Shapers have some reason to feel that they have a tiger by the tail, and can't let go. Indeed, G2 showed that the Awakened themselves got into dangerous augmentations, and even summoning demons, almost as soon as they got the slightest opportunity, out from under the ruthless Shaper vigilance. -------------------- We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |