Profile for The Immortal
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Displayed name | The Immortal |
| Member number | 4 |
| Title | BANNED |
| Postcount | 6936 |
| Homepage | http://www.geocities.com/terrorsmartyr/ |
| Registered | Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00 |
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| Who are you? and What's your IQ? in General | |
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written Wednesday, June 1 2005 14:06
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quote: -------------------- 人 た ち を 燃 え る た め に 俺 は か れ ら に 火 を 上 げ る か ら 死 ん だ Posts: 6936 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00 |
| Is the Lyceum broken? in Blades of Avernum | |
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written Wednesday, June 1 2005 13:59
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EZBoard server errors, apparently. This will mean nightmares for CSR. -------------------- * Posts: 6936 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00 |
| Scenario Contest ends tonight. in Blades of Avernum Editor | |
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written Wednesday, June 1 2005 12:28
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Yay! I have become a small iotum happier. ^_^ By the by, who is doing the judges- beta-testers? Staff? Random, semi-coherent hobos? (Just looking for who to bribe is all. ;) ) -------------------- * Posts: 6936 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00 |
| Scenario Contest ends tonight. in Blades of Avernum | |
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written Wednesday, June 1 2005 12:28
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Yay! I have become a small iotum happier. ^_^ By the by, who is doing the judges- beta-testers? Staff? Random, semi-coherent hobos? (Just looking for who to bribe is all. ;) ) -------------------- * Posts: 6936 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00 |
| Question about design contest. in Blades of Avernum | |
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written Wednesday, June 1 2005 09:04
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I haven't submitted yet, but I'm not sure how Spidweb can keep four scenarios out of the running. That'd be like having a BoE contest without Alcritas. -------------------- * Posts: 6936 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00 |
| RP: The Empire Always Loses in General | |
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written Tuesday, May 31 2005 20:50
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A well-concealed, black-robed human stands at an overly-cautious distance from the raid, thinking to himself. "Well. This is surprising... But if what Red said was true, then... No. I suppose I'll wait until they disperse. Can't be too cautious." One day later, when the stragglers are well and dead and the nephilim have abandoned the fort, a small cadre of black-robed men sneak in like vultures and leave the place corpse-free. A few moderate-sized crates of vittles arrive on Homurr's doorstep a day later. -------------------- 私のバラドですそしてころしたいいらればころす Posts: 6936 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00 |
| What's your sex? in General | |
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written Tuesday, May 31 2005 20:09
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quote:Jigga, please. I get my shizzy from the source. -------------------- 人 た ち を 燃 え る た め に 俺 は か れ ら に 火 を 上 げ る か ら 死 ん だ Posts: 6936 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00 |
| RP: The Empire Always Loses in General | |
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written Tuesday, May 31 2005 18:08
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"Wait up, Saccio!" The plump abbot stops in his mis-managed pace and opens the door. "Why, Lucius... You look--" "How the hell did someone from the lands of the dead manage to get in here?" "Why, you're absolutely correct. This smell is--" "I want the guards of this place to be awake, got it? Goddamn, you're one hell of a fatass to be the leader of the monastic order." "Right, yes sir, High Priest Lucius. With your bles--" "Wait up, fatzo. I actually have a job for you." "Sir?" "Tell the deadies that we'll give 'em some lumber for fortifications and a royal smathering of jewelry for as many corpses as they can spare." "Very well, I'll send my three swiftest delegates to run there." "Running? These aren't those..." Saccio pulls out three black stones and rubs them. One monk in black leaps through Lucius' open window, while the other two run up the stairs. Their movements are lightning-quick. "Dart. Ra. Eben. Go to Gebra and ask for corpses of all shapes and sizes. Offer them lumber and jewelry, of which we have plenty and are willing to offer decent portions of. Be swift. Come back alive with their response. Go with the Divine." The three dash out of the building almost without sound. "Lucius, I assure you, this task is complete." "Very well. You are dismissed, Saccio." "Then with your blessings, Father, I go." The abbot moves much more confidently than before. He has a smirk on his face as he moves. -------------------- 私のバラドですそしてころしたいいらればころす Posts: 6936 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00 |
| PC personalities in Blades of Avernum | |
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written Tuesday, May 31 2005 13:38
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"Where a designer makes virtually all choices for a player, the player is limited in interacting with the game in a compelling manner, neither engaging my intellect or my curiosity." How does blank space "engage your curiosity"? Curiosity happens within the nuances of creation. Alcritas' Arc is perhaps the scenario with the greatest penchant for curiosity, and it's very controlling. Geneforge is incredibly open, but it's plainer than white bread. You'll have to qualify this point a bit better than that. "Likened to art, an artist does not simply create art and them tell the masses what it must mean. Art is presented and allowed to create responses in people, some intended some unintended. Player creativity in a game engine can be likened to response to art, it is an interpretation of the vision." (Already responded to this, but...) That will happen regardless. Even if I seem to basically explain what's going on "behind the scenes," I can still be deceiving you. (RoR, for instance.) If a controlling scenario happens with EVERYTHING explained, though, you are not preventing from reacting to it- perhaps you will not react in a way that causes pixels to fly, but you will have interaction on a mental level, which is vastly more critical as you grow tired of slaying the same dragons and getting the same reactions. "Repeatability also has value, such as using different combinations of characters/solo vs. group effort, attempting to win using handicaps (and finding that different scenarios respond to different handicaps). This has as much (or more)value in providing new experiences as playing entirely new scenarios." Thuryl already said that there are time constraints. Besides, even in Canopy (which is BoA's most restrictive scenario), you can go in and do it different ways. But then I have another question- what do YOU get from doing that? Is it *fun* to go through the same exact motions in the same exact world, interacting with what is essentially yourself? Art becomes less intellectually engaging proportional to how much of it you have to paint yourself- you'll interact with it either way. Your side of the dialogue between player and designer will never be lacking. Asking the designer to create with a handicap of open-endedness creates a discrepancy between player's dialogue and designer's dialogue. "The difficulty I have is with an insistence that a certain path is the only path to walk. Such force strikes me as belligerence and intolerence." The difficulty I have is with an insistence not to acknowledge the better ways of doing things- I don't think you can have this argument both ways. The designer needs to be king of designing, since the player is the king of playing regardless of the situation. (And really- who have I "forced" to design in this way? Based on the scenarios currently released, nobody.) -------------------- * Posts: 6936 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00 |
| Who are you? and What's your IQ? in General | |
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written Tuesday, May 31 2005 11:50
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My IQ is yours plus one. -------------------- 人 た ち を 燃 え る た め に 俺 は か れ ら に 火 を 上 げ る か ら 死 ん だ Posts: 6936 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00 |
| PC personalities in Blades of Avernum | |
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written Tuesday, May 31 2005 10:16
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You, personally, have played some of the greats. I expected more. And I don't fault newer designers for making what they can. But nevertheless! The degree to which this community remains totally uneducated about BoE is amazing. Maybe you're right (although I can't entirely but it)- if people played BoE's masterpieces, they might not be able to do much better. But the inability for people to even go out and play and be influenced by that stuff is stifling to any sense of hope in this place. -------------------- * Posts: 6936 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00 |
| Karma and Bush, and also the WTC in General | |
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written Tuesday, May 31 2005 10:13
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Oh, Saddam was definitely hiding terrorists. Not Al-Qaeda terrorists (who, again, are bitter enemies), but terrorists nevertheless. I'm just not sure that generating corpse piles for the sake of preventing corpse piles on wild assumptions is a good reason for going to war is all. -------------------- 人 た ち を 燃 え る た め に 俺 は か れ ら に 火 を 上 げ る か ら 死 ん だ Posts: 6936 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00 |
| RP: The Empire Always Loses in General | |
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written Tuesday, May 31 2005 10:05
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IC: "Lucius, sir, they don't want us to use nephil corpses, and they still want the food." "..." "Sir?" "Wretched furballs. Fine, exhaust the supplies of corpses below them. They should be fresh enough to be... Somewhat feasible." "So you will use the corpses of humans, sir?" "Well, why not? It can be a way of securing a less-painful position in the Valley of Pathos. It'll be... An act of charity." "Fine. And what of the furballs? Do we still give them food?" "They let us wander their lands. Keep their type pacified, indeed. Food? Let them have a menagerie of givings. I don't want to have any difficulties for a while, you see..." "Sir, I understand completely. Then with your blessings, sir?" The lesser priest leaves the office. Lucius leans back in his chair and begins contemplating. ---- OOC: Giz, your faction ain't really feasible. Why not make one that has a defined location, a defined leader, defined exports, defined government, et cetera? See Alec's nonhumans rule above. And apologies- I'll try to be very conservative with this obvious scheme I'm hatching. -------------------- 私のバラドですそしてころしたいいらればころす Posts: 6936 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00 |
| PC personalities in Blades of Avernum | |
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written Tuesday, May 31 2005 09:55
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Kel, you're not familiar with the story? Streila is the first thing I ever did with the editor- at all. You're also not a first-time designer. And you're half-right with your last comment. But that ain't it either. This community is rapidly gaining a penchant to put out scenarios that, put bluntly, are failing to amuse me. Maybe I'm pampered- I hit all of the BoE greats, ones which hit on all cylinders. Now, there ain't nothing flowing out of the faucets. Maybe the future will have better works. I sure as hell hope so. EDIT: And Thuryl is dead-on with his Bertold Brecht interpolation. [ Tuesday, May 31, 2005 09:56: Message edited by: Dervish Malachai ] -------------------- * Posts: 6936 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00 |
| RP: The Empire Always Loses in General | |
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written Monday, May 30 2005 21:48
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(I'm separating these two posts for what should be obvious reasons.) ---- A typically matted and destitute nephilim walks into the Great Hall whilst carrying an atypically ornate and small sack of gold, whilst carrying a large, burlap bag. "Chief... Chief!" "What? What is it? And what are you carrying?" The nephil dumps his heavy load, letting the bag open. Red, plump apples tumble across the floor. The chief seems a bit astounded. "Where did you get these ripe fruits?" "I... These men in robes, they gave it to me. They also gave me this, and told me to give both to you." The nephil reaches into his fur and produces a small note written on paper lined with gold leaf. Dear Chieftain of the Ratbane Clan, These apples grow well in Bigail. The offer we have for you is a generous one; at the simple cost of your freshest of corpses, you will no longer have starvation which creates more of them. Our spies know where your cemetaries are; if you allow us uninhibited access to them, we will give you payments in food healthier than any you could grow on your own proportionate to the corpses we unearth. Think over this offer well. We will consider it extended if you post a sentry at the graveyard's entrance with three spears in his hand. We do not want to negotiate unnecessarily or use coercion to have our deal; hold four spears if our offers are inadequate, and hold any other number to stop the trade. We will not contact you in person. Consider this deal and respond accordingly. Signed, Red Ribbon PS- I prefer to remain anonymous. I trust you understand. By the by, the gold this messanger carries is yours for the taking. We gave it to him to convince him to do this job for us. Shao's Legion a similarly written letter from a bribed messanger as well, offering lumber. Shogarde's Commune received a letter offering wheat in exchange for ships. ---- OOC: Which continent is the Shogarde Commune located in? And "Local Shaman Lore" is not a sphere of influence- a city or province might be, though. -------------------- 私のバラドですそしてころしたいいらればころす Posts: 6936 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00 |
| RP: The Empire Always Loses in General | |
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written Monday, May 30 2005 21:30
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quote:...woah. Have you been playing my unreleased scenario? :P -------------------- 私のバラドですそしてころしたいいらればころす Posts: 6936 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00 |
| Karma and Bush, and also the WTC in General | |
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written Monday, May 30 2005 20:31
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Your shouting is irritating. If you want to retort extra-well against something, respond to it in a clever way. Furthermore, your prevalence of sequential exclamation points is profoundly degrading to the points you're trying to make!!!!!! By the way, I find the fact that you have an avowed fascist in your signature amusing. "International law, that Saddam personally agreed to said he was required to let them search! What's so hard to underestand about this? And YES, if the UN comes over here and says something like "we have evidance you're developing biological weapons" then, YES, we have to let them search, and if they don't, YES, it would be a breach of international law, and YES they can attack us for it!" Mu. Well, okay. Maybe that's TOO esoteric of a response. What I'm saying is that the law ain't going to always be correct, but Saddam followed the spirit of it anyway. I would like to think that among the two commands of "destroy your gas" and "let us see if you destroyed your gas," the former is more imperative. Saddam removed the need for inspectors by destroying the nukes. If I jaywalk to gun down an innocent bystander, I won't be arrested for the jaywalking. "Again, what the hell? Did you read what I said?" Yeah. Do you understand its consequences? (And BTW, it doesn't help that its wording is incredibly vague.) "Let me say it again: they can BASE their decisions on whatever ideology they want, they can't FORCE you to follow one." Like I said! Making us kneel on mats facing a specific direction is something Abdullah Walker Mohammad can make us do within the law, insomuch as he can't force us to specifically utter praise for Mohammed. "You can complain all you want about him believing in God, and basing decisions on religious thoughts, but that is not illegal! Find me one law that says it is!" So? "He cannot say "you have to believe the same thing I do," he can't institute "national pray to Jesus day" and he hasn't done anything like that!" Right. He just makes us follow all of Jesus'® tenets soely on the basis that they are His™. "He can base decisions and policies on Star Trek if he wants to, as long as he doesn't require all Americans to watch it at 9:00 every night!" But if he can only base his forcing-us-to-wear-jumpsuits legislation with the hyper-coolness of Mr. Spock, then he lets religion control legislation and therefore curbs freedom! "Democracys are not inherently good, that question doesn't make sense. Any democracy can be made bad, by definition of a democracy!" So then why is it a valid moral measuring stick? This isn't a debate about legality- if it was, we could conveniently crack open our blue books and find all of the answers. "WFT? "Barely killed?!" You try telling that to someone who lost a loved one and see if you are still physically cabable of making an argument against it after that!" Why don't you go to Iraq and try the same thing? For the sake of 3,000 people, we killed well over 20,000. (And that is a very conservative- in multiple definitions of the word- estimate.) Unless you assume that an American person's death is worth over six Iraqi persons' deaths, then the war was not a reciprocal action. "That doesn't mean anything!!!!!!!! That's totally insane!!" OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! "That's like saying that in World War 2, there were 61 million casualties, but not nearly that many were killed by Germans!" See, the Axis powers also attacked us first. (And before you say it, I don't want to HEAR any patented misfactuality about Iraq and Al Qaeda, who are sworn enemies.) See, the Axis powers killed what makes Saddam's punishments look like a pittance. See, Saddam's favorite method of killing (air-gassing) was never feasible before the war because he couldn't fly there. See, the majority of people who died in Iraq did so due to UN food sanctions. There are a few differences. "That is INSANE!!" WOW!!!!!!!! "You want to try to get moral on us? What matters here is that every weak in Iraq, they uncover another mass grave with hundreds of men, women, and CHILDREN, who were tied up and shot in the head!!" Then please, justify making more of these on our behalf. "Yes, call me crazy, but I don't have a problem with some army guys being killed to save CHILDREN FROM BEING SHOT IN THE HEAD!!! In fact, of all the things a soldier could die from, I think the best is to stop children from being killed! If I had to die, but a few hundred children wouldn't have their parents executed in front of them and tossed into a hole full of bodies before being shot and thrown in themselves, I would feel pretty damned good about it being me dying!!" ROAR!!!!! BTW, my civilian count is only civilians, not army officials. In fact, "coalition" (ie. Britain + America, now that Japan and Spain have left) casualties are minimal. What you are saying, on the other hand, is that it's okay for women and children to be shot in the head (or maybe just blown up) to prevent women and children from being shot in the head. I like your logic, Mr. Goebbels. -------------------- 人 た ち を 燃 え る た め に 俺 は か れ ら に 火 を 上 げ る か ら 死 ん だ Posts: 6936 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00 |
| RP: The Empire Always Loses in General | |
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written Monday, May 30 2005 19:59
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Divinity's Followers System of Government: Absolutist Theocracy Government Legitimacy: Moderate Government Stability: Extreme Location: Isle of Bigail Sphere of Greatest Influence: Sharamik Territory: Isle of Bigail Fiscal System: Ecclesial, all citizens bequeath an otherwise unthinkable amount of capital out of faith Fiscal Status: Very Good Economic Growth: Moderate Standard of Life: Monastic Imports: War Materiel, Cotton Exports: Food, Lumber, Furniture, Propaganda Population: 80,000 Recognized Species: Human (Non-humans are UnSaved) Populating Species: Humans Army: 20,000 Comparative Technology Level: Fair Army Training: Good NOTE: Whereas the Followers don't have any cannons and their personal armaments are mediocre, their monks are well-trained in the martial arts, and their prayer corps is formidable. A standard army exists, but only comprises 60% of the military. Army Discipline: Undying Diplomatic Status: Extremely amicable. High Priest Lucius is easily bribed by goods and services. Traditional Enemies: The Empire, admittedly liberalistic nations, non-corrupt nations Major Problems: Whistleblowing Clergy, Sex Scandals, Other Religions, Peasantry Withholding Possessions Flag Description: The flag of Divinity's Followers has a palm with fingers facing upwards, colored gold. The background is black on the top half and red on the bottom half. ---- The Divinity's Followers are essentially a state-sponsored cult. The citizens live either in crowded areas in cities, or crowded barracks on the expanses of farmland. The priests make incalculable wealth and live in mansions, whilst the commoners toil thanklessly in the belief that they will be saved, engendered in them from birth onwards. The populace is extremely forgiving of the clergy's wealth, and will mobilize for any task upon command. [ Monday, May 30, 2005 21:32: Message edited by: Dervish Malachai ] -------------------- 私のバラドですそしてころしたいいらればころす Posts: 6936 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00 |
| Karma and Bush, and also the WTC in General | |
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written Monday, May 30 2005 19:26
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"What crack are you smoking?!?!" You're right. I don't know why I waste my time posting here. Time to take another drag... "search for how many times saddam kicked out inspectors, or refused to let them inspect some places. He NEVER let them go where they wanted and do what they wanted. I've done research on this, search the UN records like I have." And what of it if someone wanted to search for WMDs in the Pentagon, and also demanded entry into a slew of places? Even Bush admits that there were no weapons there. Why you feel compelled to argue that Saddam did not comply with the UN command to disarm on the basis that he didn't let nose-pokers go everywhere is beyond me. But I suppose we poked explosive noses all over, so phooey with that... "I am an atheist, I have never EVER felt any kind of religious pressure of any kind by the government at all. People are allowed to have their beliefs, if Bush, or anyone else in the gov't wants to say "God bless you," "God bless America," or "God damn it," he can. There is no law that has ever been written that prevents any leader from doing that." If this were only about saying things, I guarantee you, the problem would be far more trivial. It's more about Bush using exclusively religious bases for multiple pieces of administration that are curbs to our freedom. Oppression Theology (opposite to Liberation Theology) is still oppression. Oh, I'm not saying that he's being oppressive about religion, he's being oppressive with religion. (PS- Thank you for reminding me that atheists can be fundamentalists too.) "Any leader in this country can base his decisions and ideology on whatever they want, they can base their policies on their own ideas, the Bible, the Koran, Mein Kapmf, the Necronomicon, or the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, it doesn't matter. That's the whole point of our ENTIRE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT!!! What they can't do is force us to believe, act, or think, the same things as him, or coerce us to believe, act, or think the same way. If you don't like the way he does things, don't vote for him! That's how a democracy works!!!" So essentially, I don't have to be praying, but at 6 AM, Noon, 6 PM, et cetera, I had better kneel to Mecca for five minutes as per government mandate? Saying "the thoughts are free" can justify virtually anything up to and including concentration camps. (PS- Have we forgotten about the Nazi Rule from the book of fallacies, people?) So yeah- don't believe in a god. But our government will avowedly espouse its principles, make confining legislation based on its commandments, and force that religion in everything except for name on you. Oh yeah- and just out of curiosity, what makes democracy inherently good? (Not that we live in one, but nevertheless.) "Not that any country listens to international law." Ow. Hand me the gauze, I'm suffering from accute irony. ... Ben, I am not going to repeat myself, but I will do you the favor of telling you when I have already responded to the exact same statements you have made previously so you can go back and read them for (apparently) the first time. "If he had that capacity, he would have used it, and he probably did. As cfgauss said, he consciously kept the UN weapons inspectors out of many areas. I wonder why that was." He kept them out because not every nation wants inspectors peering into its secrets which could very well compromise its security, especially considering that Iraq knew we were going to be entering a war. But furthermore, he had the capacity- making crude but effective chemical weapons ain't difficult. (Heck, I could make mustard gas if I wanted to- I wouldn't even have to enter a science and surplus store!) "Let me say that oil was far from the reason we went into Iraq." This is absolutely correct. Bush needed the boost of being a war president to win in '04. PS- Interesting fact. Did you know that Saddam had always vowed to make Iraq the enforcer of OPEC mandates, and that he invaded Kuwait after it essentially reneged a treaty it signed into? I wonder what the significance of invading the enforcer of OPEC would be. "It was to unseat Saddam Hussein and his gang of terrorists and actively save the lives of millions upon millions of people without having to do it on our home soil after more important buildings are destroyed." Are you stupid or something? The WTC attack only barely killed 3,000 people. The Iraqi war has cost easily over 20,000 in Iraqi civilians. http://www.iraqbodycount.net/ (And note that they link to the news outlets that cover all of the deaths- although many of them are Al-Jezeera, and I suppose they just make corpses from their imagination, so phooey with that.) Are you telling me that an American life is worth over 6 Iraqi ones? Hmm. For some reason, "imperialism" is wrestling within my mind. "All I'll say here is: sepukku?" You are woefully undereducated. "Are you being forced to follow any religion? No." I bet you feel REAL comfortable saying that, what with you being in the majority forcing its way on the rest of us. Ah well, church attendance won't be mandatory until 2010 at least, so phooey with that. "I'm pretty sure that someone said a while back that atmospheric pollution of greenhouse gases is preferable to radioactive nuclear waste." That someone was you (which is almost a 100% guarantee that it's wrong), and I already responded against that thoroughly to boot. "Er, active murder? How do you get that from people dying because there isn't enough land to support the population? Not that we need to worry about it in our lifetimes anyway." Do you even read your own posts? You were proposing active murder to meet energy needs. "I never knew coal was radioactive." You never knew a lot of things. That's why I'm here. "Okay, well there you go. Enjoy. Now you can have your fun reading what I said and formulating clever manipulations of them to contradict it all." That's like saying that evolution is a clever manipulation of the creation story. ... oh wai -------------------- 人 た ち を 燃 え る た め に 俺 は か れ ら に 火 を 上 げ る か ら 死 ん だ Posts: 6936 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00 |
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written Monday, May 30 2005 12:16
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"Designers who preach creativity for themselves and limit creativity for players code stagnancy directly into their “artwork”." Do you write books and then praise the author of the paper you wrote upon? When you yourself are the only source of stimulus in an environment for the sake of "openness," then you begin to become redundant. The inclusion of anything in anything is because you react to it- But the greater your reaction, the more precognizance is involved. A game is entertaining due to its unexpected happenings. A dragon is exciting when it is new, and Canopy's spells are nice. But eventually, you will know your own reaction to these things and they will cease to be entertaining. "As a player, to try an unintended (by the designer) strategy and fail is far better then to be compelled to follow the directions of the controlling “artist”." This is totally not what was said (I was talking about plots, not gameplay), but I still have to ask- "why?" In art, would you like it if all paintings were mandated to have half of the space be empty for you to fill it in? But then, it's your taste that is reflected back at you. "This gives the gameplay meaning and richness, and repeatability. It becomes a struggle to find the winning strategy, or to beat the design with a unique strategy." Again, this is off-topic. But as for repeatability- you still have the same reaction when you read the words and look at it from a different angle. I assure you, I have played to my heart's content and then some- "Repeatability" is not something I value. The experience has been had, and I have absorbed its nouveau nuances. "Inasmuch as one compares himself/herself to an artist then one must also look at an artists response to created art – it is put on display and is allowed for others to determine its meaning." But it is the artist's vision. Perhaps the viewer can identify with the vision- and maybe rightfully so. Maybe by design. But above all else, it should be evocative. Art is worthwhile only insomuch as one responds to it- and obviously, art should be interpretable in many different ways. But it should be the artist's vision. No artist, when painting, will actively consider the viewer's desire to interpret whilst painting. Similarly, no designer should consider the player's desire to retroactively slay goblins or have unmitigated freedom. "Rarely does an artist create a work and then tell the public exactly how that art is to be interpreted, where it is to be displayed, the audience that should view it, conditions of display etc." You're wrong on the last count- artists will determine the conditions of display very often. Some art deserves to be viewed on a rainy day or with red lighting or in a white room, and who is the viewer to disagree? But your main point has no bearing on BoA design. For instance, Canopy has lots of crap crammed in. Doesn't mean that it explains itself. (Roses of Reckoning was me being incredibly pissed off. Nobody seems to have picked that up either.) NTH especially evidences the fact that despite my best efforts, I can't explain myself even when I try. "In an open gaming community such design could be, and should be, interpreted as intolerant, heavy handed and filled with self-importance." I am incredibly intolerant to players who want the generic D&D fantasy. That is why I stuck around. That is why I'm here. Stop reminding me of everything that has gone so drastically awry here. But moreover, of course it should be self-important. I am the designer, and the impetus for the work. If I am not the source of inspiration and motivation, than it is not art, it is fanservice. Vogel designs for the masses, and more money to him for it. I do this for free, I do this as volunteer work, and I do this for enjoyment. (Or I did do it for enjoyment, although limited returns is sinking in rapidly...) I do this for myself, as damned well I aught to. If a person does not design for one's self, then it is an exercise in futility. "Designing for oneself is very different from designing for others. Design scenarios that meet your needs, expose them to others if you wish, but don’t be pissed off if they don’t come to the same conclusions/accept your interpretations." Don't be pissed? Don't be pissed when a community comes to a crux, stops providing unique experiences, and reverts to infantile works where Kill Ogre, Win Prize becomes a tenet of design rather than an ill-fated parody? [ Monday, May 30, 2005 12:59: Message edited by: Dervish Malachai ] -------------------- * Posts: 6936 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00 |
| PC personalities in Blades of Avernum | |
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written Monday, May 30 2005 09:53
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"the primary purpose for the majority of users is to create an interactive, entertaining environment and to share that environment with others." Explain to me why it should be interactive. "Control freaks who need to force their view of merit on others, well they lack maturity and/or self-confidence." God, I totally agree! That whole literature thing is for little kids and should totally be ignored. "I note this also comes through in the quality of writing in their posts. If you cannot defend yourself, make infantile barbs at others to deflect the argument away from one's own inadequacy." And ad hominem is totally a valid argument. (I challenge you, though- find me a single instance where I have just attacked someone. Usually, I only do so whilst being flat-out ignored in the points made previously. Sometimes, I'll do it because of the points' repugnancy. But never unto itself. So go ahead- find one time when I've done this.) ... I don't think you people understand. I don't opt to saying that very often since it is 99% of the time very egotistical, but you honestly do not understand. The "interactive world for you to play in" ideal is all well and good- but I and most other experienced players/designers have well and truly supplied our own adventures many times over. It becomes incredibly boring to have to provide one's own reactions to things, because as the player remains the same, so do all other emotional, intellectual and/or literary stimuli. The reason why "control freaks" exist is to provide the player with a different take on things- a different human being, different reactions, different ideologies. People get used to fantasizing without a proactive designer; open-endedness becomes stagnant unto itself and this stagnancy makes a controlling plot the mechanism of escape. Or, put another way, you can write your own books and stories for eternity, until that too becomes a chore. Active designing is a breath of fresh air. And I honestly think you people don't understand this. -------------------- * Posts: 6936 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00 |
| Karma and Bush, and also the WTC in General | |
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written Monday, May 30 2005 09:45
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"Okay, let's say there were no WMDs in Iraq. Let's say we left Saddam Hussein and his terrorists alone. Let's say we were still combing the mountains of Afghanistan in search of Osama Bin Laden. Does that mean that Saddam would never have generated enough power and technology to build WMDs?" He had that capacity, as evidenced by his chemical trucks and actions of Chemical Ali. He didn't use that capacity, as evidenced by the pervasive lack of WMDs. He actually followed the commands of the world when asked- unlike a certain American president who shall remain nameless to protect the guilty. "Those two African countries are were not near as much as a threat as far at terrorists go." How Christian of you- "Screw the other guys unless it benefits me in some way." I suppose the Africans will have to ravage some of your white women before you even think of looking in their direction, hunh? Or what if they have a hidden supply of underground deuterium? The point is that, nationality be damned, the same amount of money dumped in Iraq could have actively saved millions upon millions lives in a far more effective way than your war without the intense machievellian side-effects. "Of course, if Bush were a Muslim, I wouldn't be supporting him as I am now, and my family'd probably be living in Canada." I was thinking you'd sepukku instead, but the Canadians will politically outnumber you, so I suppose the nonsense would be diluted either way. "However, Bush does not force you to pray to God before every meal or anything either, does he? I just said that he bases his Presidency on religion because that what he believes is right. You may choose not to support his religion or anything he believes, but he is the President, elected by a majority of American voters, and griping about this sort of thing is not going to help." That is a theocracy. What does "freedom" mean? It means, "the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action." I wonder what anonymous tenet will be violated by pushing religious values onto a person's life? If you can find a justification for some of the religiously-based nonsense your impotent avatar preaches on a regular basis, I'd like to know. PS- Bible verses do not count. If you force religious tenets on people, son, you violate the constitutional ammendment of freedom of religion because those people not of your religion are now coerced to follow its ways. Apparently, you don't understand this concept until it comes time to pray in public schools (which I honestly don't care about) or put your religious teachings in your courthouses (which is disgustingly imperialist). "What do you suggest we do then? America as it is needs electrical power, needs food, and needs gasoline, and currently, we cannot meet those needs without polluting, heating up the Earth, and killing people, if that's the way you want to think about it. If there's another, more efficient way to provide the energy we need, tell me right now." Nuclear. (Although admittedly, I did not tell you this right now. I told you this a goddamned page ago, but you seemed to have developed dyslexia in the interrum.) "As the population of our Earth nears capacity, people are going to die, and there's no denying. It's just a natural cycle." Good attitude. I'm not sure how it justifies active murder, though. "I'm not going to deny global warming. But for now, it's inevitable." Especially when there's no source of power whose only real wastes are steam and materials less radioactive than coal. oh wai EDIT: As a forewarning, I actually want you to directly address the points I make whilst not repeating yourself or disregarding what I have said in other places. [ Monday, May 30, 2005 09:46: Message edited by: Dervish Malachai ] -------------------- 人 た ち を 燃 え る た め に 俺 は か れ ら に 火 を 上 げ る か ら 死 ん だ Posts: 6936 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00 |
| Who are you? and What's your IQ? in General | |
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written Monday, May 30 2005 09:12
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The majority of the world is, granted, pretty dense all-around. (For reference, I enjoyed reading the Atlas as a youngling, and could rattle off capital cities, major cities, rough populations, et cetera. It also took me a while to figure out that the USSR had broken up because of how old the text was.) EDIT: PS, Marlenny is hottt. And also, what you need to realize is that Thuryl is only super-good at science. It's not particularly difficult to outdo him in other subjects that he doesn't care about- for instance, he's not fond of math much, obscure philosophies take second place to genital deformities (which are, admittedly, near his foreground), and sticking his dick into the nooks and crannies of literature is also not a forté. [ Monday, May 30, 2005 09:18: Message edited by: Dervish Malachai ] -------------------- 人 た ち を 燃 え る た め に 俺 は か れ ら に 火 を 上 げ る か ら 死 ん だ Posts: 6936 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00 |
| Super Smash Brothers Characters in General | |
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written Sunday, May 29 2005 21:53
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I'm not sure how I'm supposed to respond when you are "coming on" your Playstation whilst "having fun" with it and telling me NOT to be euphemistic. I mean, really. -------------------- 人 た ち を 燃 え る た め に 俺 は か れ ら に 火 を 上 げ る か ら 死 ん だ Posts: 6936 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00 |
| Whee in General | |
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written Sunday, May 29 2005 21:50
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quote:Smile for the half-elf. -------------------- 人 た ち を 燃 え る た め に 俺 は か れ ら に 火 を 上 げ る か ら 死 ん だ Posts: 6936 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00 |