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Care in the Community in Richard White Games
Student of Trinity
Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
 written Monday, July 4 2005 15:15 Profile #35
As A.E. Housman explained, Valerie may just be building up resistance. Better watch out, Icshi.

quote:
There was a king reigned in the East:
There, when kings will sit to feast,
They get their fill before they think
With poisoned meat and poisoned drink.
He gathered all that springs to birth
From the many-venomed earth;
First a little, thence to more,
He sampled all her killing store;
And easy, smiling, seasoned sound,
Sate the king when healths went round.
They put arsenic in his meat
And stared aghast to watch him eat;
They poured strychnine in his cup
And shook to see him drink it up:
They shook, they stared as white's their shirt:
Them it was their poison hurt.
I tell the tale that I heard told.
Mithridates, he died old.


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We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty.
Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00
High shaping skill bug in Geneforge Series
Student of Trinity
Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
 written Monday, July 4 2005 05:49 Profile #5
Oversight, bug, or hateful feature, why doesn't Hume write to Jeff to get the word on whether it will be changed in future.

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We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty.
Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00
Harry Potter in General
Student of Trinity
Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
 written Sunday, July 3 2005 20:36 Profile #52
Uh, Spring: for Voldemort those may have been unavoidable necessities, but for J.K. Rowling they were arbitrary choices. She makes it all up, remember?

The series gets steadily darker, but I don't see that as a flaw. The threats were all mentioned from the beginning, but they get to seem more real and serious in a way that plausibly follows the heroes as they grow up. I don't object, but it does raise some issues about how suitable the series is for young children.

Kids who were just old enough for the first book when it came out could probably grow up along with them, but I don't see how that's going to work once the series is finished and a seven year old can burn right through them in a few weeks. We may have to think about how to let our daughter read them, once she can read.

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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
Harry Potter in General
Student of Trinity
Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
 written Sunday, July 3 2005 18:19 Profile #49
Roald Dahl, Enid Blyton, and Tom Brown's School Days, plus a string of British sci-fi involving superhumans concealing their powers from the ordinary humans among whom they live (Doctor Who, The Tomorrow People, even Ford Prefect if you push it). I suppose together these might account for my feeling of déja lu. They don't exactly make Rowling a rip-off artist, though: it's a fair stretch to Harry Potter.

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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
Care in the Community in Richard White Games
Student of Trinity
Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
 written Sunday, July 3 2005 12:30 Profile #32
That's one heckuva business model there, Icshi. Has Donald Trump heard about you?

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We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty.
Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00
Harry Potter in General
Student of Trinity
Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
 written Sunday, July 3 2005 06:02 Profile #44
Well, here's a Harry Potter question. The HP books all somehow seem familiar, even derivative, in general theme and concept. It seems like they are another installment in a standard genre.

I don't mean that as a bad thing. I think they are very good, and that if they are indeed instances of an established genre, then I think they will prove to be genre-absorbing, in the way that Treasure Island was for pirate adventures. (TI has a peculiar poetic preface, apologizing for having written yet another pirate story. And the baffled modern reader thinks: what other pirate stories? Today, it is nigh-impossible for a pirate story to be anything but an homage to Treasure Island. Yet far from being the first pirate story, it was actually the last pirate story.)

My question is, is this impression that Harry Potter is a familiar type of story really true? Is it just a type of story that seems inevitable in retrospect, but was really invented by Rowling? If not, what predecessors are there? Somehow I can't think of any specifically.

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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
Shaper Help in Geneforge Series
Student of Trinity
Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
 written Sunday, July 3 2005 05:08 Profile #10
I've never had the slightest trouble from focusing entirely on Magic creations. I make as many as I can, instead of evolving. As I gain skills and essence, I gradually replace all Artilas with Vlish, then add a couple of Glaahks to the Vlish, then upgrade them both to Ur-Glahhks, then go for as many Gazers as possible. In principle my army is vulnerable to physical attacks, but nothing gets close enough to attack. The only exception is late in the middle game, when my Vlish are beginning to fade; but Glaahks are quite good tanks, and they work fine as blockers.

That said, I'm beginning to think that there are also other ways to skin the cat.

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We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty.
Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00
Care in the Community in Richard White Games
Student of Trinity
Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
 written Saturday, July 2 2005 15:22 Profile #29
Welcome to the RWG forum, where 'Check your sanity at the door' isn't just a slogan: it's a vital safety precaution.

In other news, two words:

Hello Cthulhu

[ Saturday, July 02, 2005 15:25: Message edited by: Student of Trinity ]

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We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty.
Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00
Preprimary Poll in General
Student of Trinity
Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
 written Saturday, July 2 2005 12:33 Profile #71
This poll could cost Thuryl the victory, through a tortoise-and-hare effect, because it will give everyone the impression that he doesn't really need their votes. So folks who want him to win might vote for others to ensure that those others get the kudos of also being in the runoff.

Fascinating, Captain.

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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
Mod for Morrowind about Avernum in The Avernum Trilogy
Student of Trinity
Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
 written Saturday, July 2 2005 12:06 Profile #3
He's proposing to port Avernum to Morrowind. It sounds like a cool project, except that it also sounds like blatant copyright violation, effectively taking bread out of the mouths of Jeff Vogel's children, and all that.

An original Morrowind scenario inspired by Avernum, though, could be a different story -- unless it used so much directly copied graphics that it amounted to a copyright violation on BoA. In that case, I don't exactly where the moral and legal line(s) should be drawn, but I'm sure they're not so far away you can totally ignore them.

I do know that I'd be reluctant to put in the stupendous amount of work involved in this kind of project, if there was a good chance I would simply be participating in a crime, because I wouldn't want to end up feeling guilty about anything I'd worked that hard on, and I would want to be able to distribute the result freely to reap gratitude and acclaim for my efforts.

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We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty.
Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00
Lost Souls in Richard White Games
Student of Trinity
Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
 written Saturday, July 2 2005 07:27 Profile #0
This one is widely regarded as RW's nearest approach to game design success. I quite enjoyed its demo, but never got around to registering. Has anyone registered it? Are the extra levels worth it?

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We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty.
Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00
What do YOU want to see in G4? in Geneforge Series
Student of Trinity
Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
 written Saturday, July 2 2005 07:17 Profile #194
Suddenly I realize that the eventual Geneforge editor must be called "Shades of Geneforge".

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We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty.
Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00
Can anyone figure out this riddle? in General
Student of Trinity
Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
 written Saturday, July 2 2005 07:13 Profile #86
Alorael has proposed a fungible cow solution. Second oldest trick in the book.

I would not have bet much on the proposition that I would ever have the opportunity to use the expression 'fungible cow.' Life is full of surprises.

[ Saturday, July 02, 2005 07:14: Message edited by: Student of Trinity ]

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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
The Guardian, my personal experience in Geneforge Series
Student of Trinity
Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
 written Saturday, July 2 2005 05:56 Profile #10
You might be on to something with the Fire Shaping for Guardians, Travers. I think I never really tried that, beyond a few early Fyoras, because I had become so enamored with Magic Shaping while playing Shapers. Pushing for a couple of Drayks might really be a plan: they are certainly a good creation in every way.

I learned Create Rotghroth from Khyrryk, and toyed with the idea of making one or two, but never did. But by all accounts they are pretty tough, so they might be viable as well.

I guess I also agree with Hume that the game gets easier for Guardians the further you go -- well, after Greenwood, which is pretty easy. For my Guardian, Harmony was by far the toughest. Maybe a few fire creations would have made the difference.

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We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty.
Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00
Care in the Community in Richard White Games
Student of Trinity
Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
 written Saturday, July 2 2005 04:20 Profile #26
Well, it might be safe for the book, but I bet you don't warrant against anything that might happen to the dishwasher.

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We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty.
Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00
Can anyone figure out this riddle? in General
Student of Trinity
Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
 written Friday, July 1 2005 18:21 Profile #75
Hey, is System's Twilight by Andrew Plotkin? If so, I never got anywhere with it, but I've enjoyed most of his other work. The man's a monster. I recently finished his Praser 5 'maze', which is available from his website after being 'out of print' (as it were) for years. It is brutal; in fact there were two puzzles for which I cheated, by disassembling the code. One was, in retrospect, not so bad; but the other, I still have no idea why the answer is what it is. His IF is very good, too/though. Spider and Web, in particular, is an amazing experience. To anyone who has ever played it, one word will forever be charged with peculiar meaning.

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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
The Guardian, my personal experience in Geneforge Series
Student of Trinity
Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
 written Friday, July 1 2005 03:58 Profile #3
Folks, you've got to specify the difficulty level when discussing this kind of thing. So far everyone has found that Guardians are much trickier than the other classes, when playing on Torment difficulty.

Delicious Vlish was able to beat the game (including Monastery Caves) with a 'hunter' Guardian, but to do so he pumped missile weapons and dexterity to outrageous levels. I used a more traditional melee Guardian, and had much the same experience as Waylander. I didn't bother with Blessing Magic past Speed, and I took my time getting up to 100 Energy even for that: there are plenty of pods around. Blessing and Protection were of course standard. Augmentation was handy fairly often.

I agree with Hume that Parry is by no means useless: it acts as weightless armor. It just isn't the gamebreaker it was in G2. The Oozing Blade is good enough to pack for the whole game, but it is so bad against Rotghroths that you should carry the Claymore too, and switch back and forth.

I have never gotten creations to work well with my Guardians, in any Geneforge game, so I end up going solo. I tried bringing Alwan, but he was mostly a loss.

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We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty.
Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00
what instrument do YOU play? in General
Student of Trinity
Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
 written Friday, July 1 2005 03:46 Profile #14
Sounds like Thuryl is more extreme than me, but I also used to be pretty indifferent to music. I would put on a CD and quite enjoy it, and vow that I should do that more often. A couple of months later I'd do the same thing again.

But it turns out it was just that I have a very low tolerance for the effort involved in choosing a CD and getting it playing. Now I have an iPod and I use it almost every day.

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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
Can anyone figure out this riddle? in General
Student of Trinity
Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
 written Friday, July 1 2005 03:40 Profile #63
quote:
Originally written by Vote Arancaytar:


Who makes it, has no need of it.
Who buys it, has no use for it.
Who uses it can neither see nor feel it.
First answer: White Lightning corn liquor.
Second answer: a coffin

I bet the second one is supposed to be right, but actually I contest it. The buyer has an important use for the coffin, in getting a decaying corpse off their hands without violating social norms.

[ Friday, July 01, 2005 03:41: Message edited by: Student of Trinity ]

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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
RWG in Richard White Games
Student of Trinity
Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
 written Thursday, June 30 2005 15:48 Profile #175
No, I think I just got GC1. But there was also this patch, and after I installed it my computer quit smoking.

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We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty.
Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00
Care in the Community in Richard White Games
Student of Trinity
Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
 written Thursday, June 30 2005 15:44 Profile #22
Sell yours on e-Bay, and order a new copy from Amazon. Customers who ordered The Necronomicon also ordered:
Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics and The Complete Garfield.

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We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty.
Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00
High School Drama in General
Student of Trinity
Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
 written Thursday, June 30 2005 15:38 Profile #2
The limited male leads might be an issue, but maybe Guys and Dolls? Or will your prudes object to explicit gambling and implied drinking as much as to implied sex and violence?

[ Thursday, June 30, 2005 15:38: Message edited by: Student of Trinity ]

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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 good a countermeasure could this have been? in General
Student of Trinity
Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
 written Thursday, June 30 2005 15:29 Profile #22
I agree that the UBB-chat protocol is a drag, but if being forced to fight is counted as defeat, victories will be few.

If you tell me that my idea has been tried and worked poorly in practice, that's different. I was trying to investigate this today, but nobody played along. I never supposed it was a sure winner; I just found it interesting to explore.

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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
Can anyone figure out this riddle? in General
Student of Trinity
Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
 written Thursday, June 30 2005 15:03 Profile #50
That would have been good, if I could have done it! Well, good as a riddle; I think it would have made it too hard to be fun in a D&D game.

For the original D&D purpose of that riddle, though, I wouldn't have considered such a thing, because I always tried to maintain the pretence that the actual languages of the campaign were not English. (Along the lines of JRRT. How many people read the alarming appendix in which he reveals that Frodo was 'really' Froda, and so on?) So I tried to avoid puzzles that turned on English spelling, etc.

Sometimes I succumbed to temptation, though. I had one that went "Falls under darkness: rises into light. / Words that are not proper, speech that is not right / [would lead to a dire consequence that was obvious in context, sounded portentous, and ended in 'ight']." The answer I demanded was 'dew' or 'due', ('due' meaning 'proper' or 'right'). It was meant to be tricky because the proper and right line sounded like mere filler and threat.

I got away with some inordinately difficult puzzles simply because two of the players were my brothers, who tended to be able to guess my bizarre associations. Really, it was a fine line getting a riddle that would be hard enough that people would be pleased to get it, but not so hard that the game got stuck. It was so easy to make riddles way too hard; but it was so tempting to keep using riddles, because they were the only thing I found that took a lot less time to prepare than to play. Everything else was always far the other way round.

If I were in JV's shoes, I think I'd be very happy to stick with my red knives in heads. Just odd enough that even if you get it right away you feel a bit clever for doing so, but easy enough for most people not to get frustrated.

[ Thursday, June 30, 2005 15:19: Message edited by: Student of Trinity ]

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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
Can anyone figure out this riddle? in General
Student of Trinity
Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
 written Thursday, June 30 2005 13:59 Profile #48
That's definitely along the right lines; in fact, it is probably better than the answer I had in mind. Good job.

I had in mind 'fire', as the fourth that would complete the set. It isn't obvious that the last line is telling you to identify the missing fourth; but there are lots of old-fashioned riddles which are elliptical in this sort of way, so I figured I was within the bounds of riddletic license.

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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

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