Profile for Omlette
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Displayed name | Omlette |
| Member number | 517 |
| Title | Shaper |
| Postcount | 2314 |
| Homepage | |
| Registered | Tuesday, January 15 2002 08:00 |
Recent posts
Pages
| Author | Recent posts |
|---|---|
| On the Reading of Books in General | |
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Shaper
Member # 517
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written Friday, December 5 2003 06:00
Profile
There are two reasons to like horror. Firstly, a general state of sick-mindedness that revels in blood, gore, and murder. This is more common than you may think. Secondly, the fact that proper, suspense-horror authors can scare you witless just through the atmosphere they create and without putting a single action scene in the book. That's why I like the horror I do like-because I like to read clever books, and well-written horror is some of the cleverest literature around. In the order of Ian Banks, who is also an extremely clever author, and makes everything in the book actually work towards creating the right atmosphere. And it works, too, which is why he's so good to read. Not that I'd recommend him, mind you. Anyone who reads Wasp Factory and really likes it needs their head examined. But I defy you to put it down two-thirds of the way through and not come back to it. -E- -------------------- Let them eat cake! Polaris Boards: The System is Up. Perennially. Posts: 2314 | Registered: Tuesday, January 15 2002 08:00 |
| On the Reading of Books in General | |
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Shaper
Member # 517
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written Thursday, December 4 2003 08:13
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Recently, I've been reading a lot of Sharon Penman. Historical novels, and very good ones (I don't know how they'd appeal to an American, though, but being English I find them very interesting.) Before that, Patrick O'Brien, Isaac Asimov, Diannah Wynne Jones. All of whom are geniuses (should that be geneii?) -E- -------------------- Let them eat cake! Polaris Boards: The System is Up. Perennially. Posts: 2314 | Registered: Tuesday, January 15 2002 08:00 |
| Will there be an Avernum Online? in General | |
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Shaper
Member # 517
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written Wednesday, December 3 2003 12:26
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Actually, as TM says, it's fairly obvious that it wouldn't be a feasible project for all the reasons that are almost always dragged out at this point and doubtless more. People who post topics like this are thus guilty of speaking before thinking, if they think at all. -E- -------------------- Let them eat cake! Polaris Boards: The System is Up. Perennially. Posts: 2314 | Registered: Tuesday, January 15 2002 08:00 |
| Undead Topics Need Loving Too (aka "Give Me Your First-Born") in General | |
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Shaper
Member # 517
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written Friday, November 28 2003 07:27
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Let the spam rererererererererererererererererererererererererererererererererecommence. -E- -------------------- Let them eat cake! Polaris Boards: The System is Up. Perennially. Posts: 2314 | Registered: Tuesday, January 15 2002 08:00 |
| .sit in General | |
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Shaper
Member # 517
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written Friday, November 28 2003 07:21
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I think SD's question has just been answered as eloquently as anyone could possibly have desired. -E- -------------------- Let them eat cake! Polaris Boards: The System is Up. Perennially. Posts: 2314 | Registered: Tuesday, January 15 2002 08:00 |
| SPAMSPAMSPAMSPAMSPAM in General | |
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Shaper
Member # 517
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written Friday, November 28 2003 06:42
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Well done Ruthie! -E- EDIT: well, they both have 'queen' in their names. And I'm stupid. Yes, that too. -e- [ Friday, November 28, 2003 12:27: Message edited by: Omlette ] -------------------- Let them eat cake! Polaris Boards: The System is Up. Perennially. Posts: 2314 | Registered: Tuesday, January 15 2002 08:00 |
| How old are ya? in General | |
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Shaper
Member # 517
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written Friday, November 21 2003 04:00
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Yes, we have had several. And yet again, the poll creator has neglected to think of making the divisions smaller around the centre of the obvious age bands. -E- EDIT: i cna spele -e- [ Friday, November 21, 2003 04:00: Message edited by: Omlette ] -------------------- Let them eat cake! Polaris Boards: The System is Up. Perennially. Posts: 2314 | Registered: Tuesday, January 15 2002 08:00 |
| I'm Back in General | |
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Shaper
Member # 517
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written Thursday, November 20 2003 01:35
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Actually, I remember at least 3 versions of this topic posted by JF ~3 months ago. And Zxquez, you were banned by posting continuous caps profanity in every topic. If I recall, you claimed it was because you didn't like your n-million accounts becoming an in-joke. -E- -------------------- Let them eat cake! Polaris Boards: The System is Up. Perennially. Posts: 2314 | Registered: Tuesday, January 15 2002 08:00 |
| Tories, LibDems or Labour? in General | |
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Shaper
Member # 517
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written Thursday, November 20 2003 01:29
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However, their deputy prime minister is a cat. And personally I don't want to vote for any of them. Labour have proved that they can't govern a country, the Lib-Dems have done likewise simply by publishing a manifesto, and the Tories...well, if Michael Howard doesn't turn out to be a good leader, they're pretty much out of the running. So he better had, really. -E- -------------------- Let them eat cake! Polaris Boards: The System is Up. Perennially. Posts: 2314 | Registered: Tuesday, January 15 2002 08:00 |
| Who knows if theres gonna be a Geneforge 3? in General | |
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Shaper
Member # 517
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written Tuesday, November 18 2003 13:32
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Supposedly, the 'roos also have a nasty habit of clawing out peoples' stomachs when they kick. Nice thought for the day... -E- -------------------- Let them eat cake! Polaris Boards: The System is Up. Perennially. Posts: 2314 | Registered: Tuesday, January 15 2002 08:00 |
| The title in General | |
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Shaper
Member # 517
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written Saturday, November 15 2003 15:53
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And Radiant's, though I forget what it is... -E- -------------------- Let them eat cake! Polaris Boards: The System is Up. Perennially. Posts: 2314 | Registered: Tuesday, January 15 2002 08:00 |
| ESRB ratings, and which ones do you think spidweb games would get? in General | |
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Shaper
Member # 517
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written Friday, November 14 2003 14:07
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-E- -------------------- Let them eat cake! Polaris Boards: The System is Up. Perennially. Posts: 2314 | Registered: Tuesday, January 15 2002 08:00 |
| The Matrix in General | |
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Shaper
Member # 517
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written Friday, November 14 2003 03:05
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Not necessarily. In the cave allegory, the people are tied up, not allowed to move, heads held in position. That's like the Matrix: the people can't leave the Matrix without help (in the form of red pills...). But when someone does leave the cave/matrix, and returns to tell people about it, how can they believe something they can't even understand? How can they understand something they've never seen? -E- -------------------- Let them eat cake! Polaris Boards: The System is Up. Perennially. Posts: 2314 | Registered: Tuesday, January 15 2002 08:00 |
| Computer issues in General | |
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Shaper
Member # 517
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written Tuesday, November 11 2003 13:34
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Does the start menu appear? If so, click 'run' and type 'iexplore' to open Internet Explorer without going through explorer. If you've got WinXP, a similar button is available on the close programs window. -E- -------------------- Let them eat cake! Polaris Boards: The System is Up. Perennially. Posts: 2314 | Registered: Tuesday, January 15 2002 08:00 |
| ESRB ratings, and which ones do you think spidweb games would get? in General | |
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Shaper
Member # 517
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written Tuesday, November 11 2003 13:19
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Elspeth? Not really-the same conservatives would probably side with the Empire's banishing them... -E- -------------------- Let them eat cake! Polaris Boards: The System is Up. Perennially. Posts: 2314 | Registered: Tuesday, January 15 2002 08:00 |
| ESRB ratings, and which ones do you think spidweb games would get? in General | |
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Shaper
Member # 517
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written Monday, November 10 2003 12:24
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quote:The 'angry Christian fundamentalists' are not concerned with the presence of demons so much as the idea that if they're in too many computer games, the whole concept of demons being what they are in Christian theology (ie, fallen angels, and very much more powerful than any computer game I've seen implies in that there shouldn't be a way to even hurt them without reference to God) is trivialised to the point where people don't see demons for the threat they are. I've never quite seen the logic in that as valid, but I can see where they're coming from, at least... -E- -------------------- Let them eat cake! Polaris Boards: The System is Up. Perennially. Posts: 2314 | Registered: Tuesday, January 15 2002 08:00 |
| introduction to advanced RP'ing... can i have one? in General | |
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Shaper
Member # 517
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written Saturday, November 8 2003 13:58
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But she came back as a man, which was also fun. And LF, please don't dig up that can of worms. -E- -------------------- Let them eat cake! Polaris Boards: The System is Up. Perennially. Posts: 2314 | Registered: Tuesday, January 15 2002 08:00 |
| Graphics or a good story? in General | |
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Shaper
Member # 517
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written Saturday, November 8 2003 13:51
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I'll just point out that another important factor in a game is balance. Not just in strategy games, where it's obviously no fun to have one race that no-one plays because they're useless, but it's equally important in other games. In RPGs, a skills list cluttered with skills that aren't actually useful, and which no player will get except maybe in their first play-through, or just a certain character class that always turns out the most powerful (like Baldur's Gate nerfing bards and druids, for example...), is just irritating. And FPS games where all of the weapons except two are useless and everyone goes straight for, say, the rocket launcher because you can't kill anyone who's got one with anything else...and even Mortal Kombat style games where there's one fighter with an uber-move that will take down anyone else... -E- -------------------- Let them eat cake! Polaris Boards: The System is Up. Perennially. Posts: 2314 | Registered: Tuesday, January 15 2002 08:00 |
| introduction to advanced RP'ing... can i have one? in General | |
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Shaper
Member # 517
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written Friday, November 7 2003 12:05
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I've read that, and it does seem totally unnecessary. Leaving everyone else's actions completely and entirely out of your posts is all very well if everyone's able to post 2-3 times a day, but here at least they aren't, so it isn't. -E- -------------------- Let them eat cake! Polaris Boards: The System is Up. Perennially. Posts: 2314 | Registered: Tuesday, January 15 2002 08:00 |
| Computer Advice Please in General | |
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Shaper
Member # 517
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written Friday, November 7 2003 12:02
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Get Winrar. It's free (well, trial, but IIRC you can just keep clicking 'register later', and even if you can't it ought to be good for as long as you want it...), and it can create spanning archives, which is essentially that 'cut it up and put it back together' thing, spread over a number of floppy discs. -E- -------------------- Let them eat cake! Polaris Boards: The System is Up. Perennially. Posts: 2314 | Registered: Tuesday, January 15 2002 08:00 |
| A LAST MESSAGE, ALORAEL, WITH NO PROFANITY!!! in General | |
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Shaper
Member # 517
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written Thursday, November 6 2003 13:12
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Yes, but the other member of said staff (Linda) only really does stuff like board updates, so effectively Drakey's the sole admin, and as such is the one who banned PE1, and changed his sig. -------------------- Let them eat cake! Polaris Boards: The System is Up. Perennially. Posts: 2314 | Registered: Tuesday, January 15 2002 08:00 |
| introduction to advanced RP'ing... can i have one? in General | |
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Shaper
Member # 517
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written Thursday, November 6 2003 12:58
Profile
There's no fixed method, but there are a few general guidelines I can give you. Please note that I will be making this up as I go along, although not completely out of the blue... 1) When you create your character, don't do so as if you're starting a computer game. Descriptions like 'He is a water mage with 3 level 1 spells, 14 HP and 200 gold coins' completely prevent your character from sounding real, IMO. 2) When you create your character, personality is more important than coolness. If your character is created from a how-few-ways-can-I-leave-for-him-to-get-hurt perspective, chances are that they'll end up, not only as god characters, but also without a personality and thus with no function. (I remember a very early post from Dolney along the lines of 'Alex draws his sword and attacks four of the demons, killing them. I'll leave the last one to you.' That is not how to RP.) If you start with maybe a basic premise about your character (their gender, main ability, and age) and then just go and develop their personality/history, you'll have a far more interesting character who can actually contribute to the storyline rather than hacking away at enemies as they are identified. 3) Never create problems/difficulties/plot twists and fix them so that only you can solve/complete them. This is very important for the simple reason that it's easy to do-people assume that the story they have started can be logically carried on by anyone, but in fact what they want to happen is so specific that the other person can't work it out. 4) Never make a subplot, especially one involving only part of the party, and even more especially involving just you, take precedence over the main plot, especially if the completion of the subplot is irrelevant to the main plot. (An example would be when Undine sneaked off to avenge a vendetta against a salamander in Join Us: he killed the thing in two posts and rejoined the party without making us wait for a week for him to think up a good battle scene, but developed his character significantly in the mean time.) 5) Never make your character more powerful than others'. In particular, if someone is a specialist in something and you are not, never ever make yourself better at it than them. It sounds obvious but it doesn't seem to be...(for example, if you're a general mage fighting an ice mage, for some reason, and he shoots an ice bolt at you which you parry with a flame wall, his ice bolt still gets through because he's an ice specialist and you aren't a flame specialist.) 6) Most importantly, never make other peoples' characters do or say major things. (A major thing is 'So, will you come and assault this castle with me?'...'Yes, certainly', wheras a minor thing would be, say, the other person saying something along the lines of 'carry on' to punctuate a speech, if you follow.) -E- -------------------- Let them eat cake! Polaris Boards: The System is Up. Perennially. Posts: 2314 | Registered: Tuesday, January 15 2002 08:00 |
| Scholastic Interests in General | |
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Shaper
Member # 517
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written Thursday, November 6 2003 07:56
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IMO English classes over here are focussed too much on literature and too little on grammar. The basic assumption is made that grammar does not need to be taught at all, which is slightly illogical, after all... -E- -------------------- Let them eat cake! Polaris Boards: The System is Up. Perennially. Posts: 2314 | Registered: Tuesday, January 15 2002 08:00 |
| New RP: The Greywraith Clan in General | |
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Shaper
Member # 517
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written Thursday, November 6 2003 02:13
Profile
OOC: Sorry for the delay... IC: As Aran sat, eyes closed, the crystal began to change. Where before it had been uniformly colourless and clear, oddly shaped, it began to take on a colour. Vague shapes moved in its centre, briefly obscuring the view through the crystal-a view that itself was changing in colour in an interesting manner-first red, then a deep blue, and then an almost transparent green, and finally a colour that seemed to be all colours at once, changing and swirling as at last the form in the crystal takes shape, not as a man, but a wolf. The wolf's mouth moves, but it is Aran who speaks. 'Why have you awoken me?' The voice, clearly not Aran's, is harsh and almost feral, strong and commanding, and yet not stern or angry, merely curious. The party, amazed at this spectacle, is unable to form a coherent answer. Yet before any of them have, the crystal wolf speaks again. 'Humans have changed their souls? This should not be possible-humans are a weak species, their aura is dim...yet you are humans, are you not? And your auras are...brighter than I remember. Please, how long has it been? I remember so little, and this awakening is sudden and unpleasant.' Again, none of the party answers-how can they? Yet the wolf appears to have gained the answer again, perhaps from their thoughts, perhaps by considering it in its own mind. 'Alas, the time has been long. The world has changed, and changed again, and my people should have been left to their rest.' The voice turns sad, wistful. 'It was such a vision-we would escape the destruction the humans caused, returning to the earth in full communion. Yet it seems that the arm of humanity has grown longer than we ever dreamed it could.' Arch pipes up at last. 'Come, we're not all bad.' A low growl issues from Aran's throat, disturbingly inhuman. Then the wolf is silent for a time. 'I cannot disagree. Yet it seems to me that the good caused by those of you who have the good will is outweighed by the evil of those of you who have the evil will, here as always.' The party is silent yet again-the validity of the wolf's point cannot be denied with groups of Greywraiths marauding around the island, destroying all they find. Now Gerhalt speaks up. 'That we cannot deny, but there is a more urgent matter. We need to undo whatever the Greywraiths have done, the...soul change? I do not know if that has any effect on your fellows, but the effect it has on the world of the humans is immense.' 'You are right. It is necessary that my fellows are released from their ties. The thought that our achieving of harmony would be used of others to create disharmony, is...horrific.' The wolf's voice is no longer curious, it is angry. 'Here is what you must do. You must take me to my fellows, and I will awaken them. Then they will throw off the ties of the humans, and destroy them utterly. We will make a ward, so that no human shall ever set foot on this island again.' As the wolf speaks its voice becomes louder, and the shifting colours in the crystal become more and more red. As it finishes, it slowly begins to calm. 'I must release you now. I will be unable to communicate with you unless at your instigation, for I refuse to submit to the indignity of changing one of your souls, and having part of my being submit to your whim. However, now that I am awoken, my power over the earth is restored, and I can use it even as I once could. Do not think of trying to use me as my fellows have been used, for my retribution can and will destroy you.' At that point, a voice comes from behind them: Raitt has arrived during the course of the conversation. 'Before you leave, sir, I must ask one thing: how shall we call you?' 'Sir? I am no male! Know you nothing?' As the party reacts with varying degrees of surprise, the wolf answers his question: 'And you may call me Freyla.' -E- -------------------- Let them eat cake! Polaris Boards: The System is Up. Perennially. Posts: 2314 | Registered: Tuesday, January 15 2002 08:00 |
| The Point of it all... in General | |
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Shaper
Member # 517
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written Wednesday, November 5 2003 14:05
Profile
After much (arguably) deep thought, I've come to the conclusion that the point Merc is trying to make is valid. His method of trying to get it across managed to alienate more people than not, but if you think about it the flame war started when PE1 made his stupid post. Merc supported PE1 to an extent, which has made him lose credibility but does not IMO invalidate his point. Yes, we do need some amusing topics and half-decent RPs. (Well, maybe need is too strong a word, but it would be nice.) Unfortunately, these things don't just appear because we want them to. The up-side is that they can appear. We could have funny topics and really good RPs (the former more easily than the latter, I suspect) if people were willing to put a bit of effort in. These boards are a community in most meanings of the word. However, in any normal community, people don't just sit around chatting all day, people get out and do stuff. This one could benefit from the same. Thank you. -E- -------------------- Let them eat cake! Polaris Boards: The System is Up. Perennially. Posts: 2314 | Registered: Tuesday, January 15 2002 08:00 |