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OBoE Suggestion List in Blades of Exile
Thuryl
...b10010b...
Member # 869
 written Monday, July 23 2007 06:12 Profile Homepage #39
It works fine for me too; I think it's a Windows-only bug. Still, as long as the bug exists for anyone, scenario designers have to design around it.

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Social Degradation and Religious Decay (Split from "Life on Europa") in General
Thuryl
...b10010b...
Member # 869
 written Monday, July 23 2007 03:16 Profile Homepage #253
quote:
Originally written by Stillness:

I don't think arranged marriage is all bad. Some work out fine. I think it's good for the husband and wife-to-be to have some decision making though. I certainly would not be for a Christian marrying someone of another faith because their parents made a deal.
Keep digging.

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Social Degradation and Religious Decay (Split from "Life on Europa") in General
Thuryl
...b10010b...
Member # 869
 written Sunday, July 22 2007 22:32 Profile Homepage #251
If you think that reducing the divorce rate is so important, does that mean you're in favour of arranged marriages? They're the least likely to end in divorce.

I still don't see why you used the specific example of school shootings to argue your case. If your chance of dying in a school shooting is one in a million, then it's unreasonable to spend more than one millionth of your life -- that is, a total of about 42 minutes in your entire lifetime -- taking any kind of precautionary measures against it. Anything above that and the costs clearly outweigh the benefits.

[ Sunday, July 22, 2007 23:54: Message edited by: Thuryl ]

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Social Degradation and Religious Decay (Split from "Life on Europa") in General
Thuryl
...b10010b...
Member # 869
 written Sunday, July 22 2007 21:50 Profile Homepage #249
quote:
Originally written by Stillness:

And it's not just the shootings themselves but the threat of them that looms over us now. Some decades ago threats were no big deal, now we have to take them seriously. That changes people. Do you think it doesn't?
It doesn't have to change you if you don't want it to. We've always lived in a world where death could come at any moment, whether we like it or not; spending one's life in fear of it seems foolish and pointless to me. If when I go to university tomorrow that one-in-a-million chance comes to pass and I'm fatally shot, so be it. What good will worrying do when everywhere you go and everything you do is about equally risky?

[ Sunday, July 22, 2007 21:53: Message edited by: Thuryl ]

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Original Graphic Sets? in The Exile Trilogy
Thuryl
...b10010b...
Member # 869
 written Sunday, July 22 2007 21:41 Profile Homepage #4
Some are. The Vahnatai obviously aren't. :P

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Social Degradation and Religious Decay (Split from "Life on Europa") in General
Thuryl
...b10010b...
Member # 869
 written Sunday, July 22 2007 21:22 Profile Homepage #247
What bigger problems, pray tell, are they symptomatic of? If a few dozen murders in a population of 300 million are the worst symptom you'd come up with, I'd say society is doing pretty well for itself.

[ Sunday, July 22, 2007 21:24: Message edited by: Thuryl ]

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Life on Europa in General
Thuryl
...b10010b...
Member # 869
 written Sunday, July 22 2007 21:16 Profile Homepage #56
quote:
Originally written by Stillness:

I was sad to see this topic die as I thought it was much more interesting than the religion one. I never really got the answer to my question of why some seem to be so hopeful. I figured my curiosity was not shared and so just let it go.
Most people, especially scientists, like the idea of a universe filled with interesting things. Life is an interesting thing.

quote:
Which brings up another question: What if the life we found elsewhere was exactly like it is on this planet?
Well, for starters, it'd be pretty strong evidence for some form of panspermia.

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Social Degradation and Religious Decay (Split from "Life on Europa") in General
Thuryl
...b10010b...
Member # 869
 written Sunday, July 22 2007 21:12 Profile Homepage #245
quote:
Originally written by Stillness:

When I was in school we didn’t have school shootings. If we did, they were very rare and not a major concern. All of a sudden, in my senior year of high school we need metal detectors. It was surreal. Now you won’t be shocked if you wake up and hear there was a school shooting.
You're still more likely to be struck by lightning than to die in a school shooting. Just because something gets into the news a lot doesn't mean it's a major problem in absolute terms.

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Original Graphic Sets? in The Exile Trilogy
Thuryl
...b10010b...
Member # 869
 written Sunday, July 22 2007 21:08 Profile Homepage #2
He means the original, version 1.0 graphics as opposed to the updated, version 2.0 graphics. The originals can be found here:

http://alec.desperance.net/e2/

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Win32 Scenario Editor in Blades of Exile
Thuryl
...b10010b...
Member # 869
 written Sunday, July 22 2007 20:43 Profile Homepage #1
The thing about bladbase.exs is that it contains the data for all the default items and monsters in the game. So if you're using nothing but custom items and monsters, you don't need it. If not, it's probably worth tracking down a copy.

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Avernum 5, June Update in Avernum 4
Thuryl
...b10010b...
Member # 869
 written Saturday, July 21 2007 20:48 Profile Homepage #93
He's already promised more character graphics than A4, especially for Nephilim and Slithzerikai. There may or may not be as many as in BoA.

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Harry Potter in General
Thuryl
...b10010b...
Member # 869
 written Saturday, July 21 2007 18:22 Profile Homepage #54
quote:
Originally written by Yama:

On the subject of spoilers -- perhaps I simply don't understand, seeing as I don't do Harry; but I don't get why they're such a big deal.

-snip-
Well, nothing said there is wrong exactly -- of course, people still sit through and enjoy Shakespeare plays despite knowing everything that's going to happen in them -- but there's still a unique kind of thrill from a plot twist that you didn't see coming.

Knowing major plot elements in advance will inevitably change the experience of a novel for the reader. If, for example, the reader knows that a certain character will die at the end of the novel, that cannot help but affect the way the reader relates to that character prior to that point. Now, a change can be for the better or for the worse, but it's still a different experience from reading the novel without knowing what's going to happen.

There are also those moments where the author tricks the reader in one way or another -- for example, by persuading the reader to accept some viewpoint at or near the start of the novel and then gradually deconstructing that viewpoint throughout the course of the novel. If the reader knows that this is going to happen, the reader will not accept the viewpoint in the first place and the impact will be lessened.

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Harry Potter in General
Thuryl
...b10010b...
Member # 869
 written Saturday, July 21 2007 17:41 Profile Homepage #52
quote:
Originally written by SNM:

Something's wrong with you. Her writing is easy to read, clever, and fun.
It also rips off Roald Dahl and Enid Blyton in approximately equal proportions.

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Harry Potter in General
Thuryl
...b10010b...
Member # 869
 written Friday, July 20 2007 18:45 Profile Homepage #30
And, of course, the ultimate:

"Wangs are only as powerful as the wizards who use them. Some wizards just like to boast that theirs are bigger and better than other people's."

Hell, even if you read it as "wands" it's obvious that Rowling knew exactly what she was writing.

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Social Degradation and Religious Decay (Split from "Life on Europa") in General
Thuryl
...b10010b...
Member # 869
 written Friday, July 20 2007 05:02 Profile Homepage #215
quote:
Originally written by Drew:

Is there really a meaningful distinction between "ethical" and "moral"?
Ethics implies a degree of social agreement and codification, and it can therefore be objectively determined whether an act is ethical or not (at least, it can if the ethical code is sufficiently well-defined). Breaching a code of ethics (for example, when a journalist reveals a source) is, by definition, unethical, even if some people believe it's the morally right thing to do under some circumstances.

If you want to define ethics as the explicitly codified norms of a group and morals as the unwritten ones, well, I suppose that could be a useful distinction. The problem is that when you start using one word to mean a whole lot of related but different things, it's bound to lead to confusion.

[ Friday, July 20, 2007 05:34: Message edited by: Thuryl ]

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Social Degradation and Religious Decay (Split from "Life on Europa") in General
Thuryl
...b10010b...
Member # 869
 written Friday, July 20 2007 03:15 Profile Homepage #212
quote:
Originally written by Student of Trinity:

Still, Thuryl's arguments indicate that utility only goes so far in support of morality: there are cases in which naive game theory would seem to prefer immoral behavior. This seems to me to undermine Thuryl's claim that morality is a meaningless concept.
Well, now, hang on there. By "immoral behaviour" do you mean "behaviour which is actually immoral by some absolute Platonic standard of morality written in the heavens", or "behaviour which my society regards as immoral", or perhaps "behaviour which I personally regard as immoral"?

If the first, your premise would seem difficult or impossible to prove. If the second, "unethical" seems a preferable term to "immoral". If the third, well, intuitions differ.

[ Friday, July 20, 2007 03:18: Message edited by: Thuryl ]

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Social Degradation and Religious Decay (Split from "Life on Europa") in General
Thuryl
...b10010b...
Member # 869
 written Friday, July 20 2007 00:40 Profile Homepage #209
I don't think the claim that religion can have an influence on one's beliefs and actions is particularly controversial even among atheists. :P

SoT is, of course, deliberately mischaracterising my position for humorous effect; it's rather a big leap from "one possible underpinning" to "the ultimate underpinning".

[ Friday, July 20, 2007 00:42: Message edited by: Thuryl ]

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Social Degradation and Religious Decay (Split from "Life on Europa") in General
Thuryl
...b10010b...
Member # 869
 written Thursday, July 19 2007 22:28 Profile Homepage #205
quote:
Originally written by Stillness:

It depends on the crime, but generally I would say yes I would feel guilty if no one (except God) knew.
Well, now, there's the crux of the issue, isn't it? If you think God knows, then that isn't nobody.

quote:
Let’s say you are stealing $100 from your grandmother’s purse. As you are removing the bill your grandmother walks in on you. You have a long discussion during which you tell her you are sorry and she promises you are forgiven and that she did the same thing to her grandmother when she was your age and they were closer after her grandma found out and she now feels closer to you. Immediately after saying this she drops dead because of a brain aneurism. The only person who will ever know you stole from your grandma is dead. You are a hardcore atheist. You have the house swept for bugs and cameras and there are none. Is there any guilt?

I think there is.
If you're paranoid enough to have the house swept for bugs and cameras, chances are you're paranoid enough to believe that there might still be cameras there even if you didn't find them. :P

Personally, I would think any guilt about the theft would be swamped by guilt about possibly contributing to her death, which it is reasonable to think that people might partly blame you for, even if you weren't responsible -- after all, you were the last person to see her alive, so people are always going to wonder if you did everything you could to get her prompt medical attention.

If guilt is caused by doing something wrong, then why do people who live through major disasters feel survivor's guilt even when they've done nothing wrong? It's because it's reasonable for them to believe that other people will wonder if they could have done more to save others. Your theory fails to provide a satisfactory explanation for this phenomenon.

quote:
Moral outrage from chimps?! I never cease to be amazed by animals. I wonder why they concluded it was moral outrage though and not simply envy, which is common for the “higher” animals.
As far as I'm concerned, the two are basically the same thing; one's just wrapped up in higher-sounding language than the other.

[ Thursday, July 19, 2007 22:36: Message edited by: Thuryl ]

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Social Degradation and Religious Decay (Split from "Life on Europa") in General
Thuryl
...b10010b...
Member # 869
 written Thursday, July 19 2007 09:52 Profile Homepage #197
quote:
Originally written by Stillness:

Let's say a person gets caught and everyone he hurt forgives him. By your theory he should no longer feel guilty, right?
Can you ever really be sure that you've been completely forgiven? Besides, even if you got away with it this time, what about the next time you do it? Someone who survives a plane crash with no injuries can still become afraid of flying because of the experience.

[ Thursday, July 19, 2007 09:53: Message edited by: Thuryl ]

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Social Degradation and Religious Decay (Split from "Life on Europa") in General
Thuryl
...b10010b...
Member # 869
 written Thursday, July 19 2007 07:00 Profile Homepage #193
quote:
Originally written by Stillness:

Your understanding of morality doesn't really match up with reality. People don't refrain from killing simply because they don't want to be killed or they fear the authorities. I think that plays a role, but love, empathy, and value for life are all involved as well.
People will tend to try to make agreements not to commit murder with the kind of person who seems likely to uphold those agreements, which means someone who appears to be the kind of person who wouldn't commit murder. The best way to appear to be the kind of person who wouldn't commit murder is to actually be the kind of person who wouldn't commit murder. All of that love and empathy stuff tends to help with that.

quote:
All these can be overcome to actually commit murder because we aren't driven by instinct. When a person does though, this can leave them with a scarred conscience. Your theory doesn't explain this well.
It's funny how guilt is so often directly proportional to the perceived likelihood of getting caught. Show me someone who felt guilty about something while being 100% sure he or she would never suffer any adverse consequences for it and I'll show you a liar.

[ Thursday, July 19, 2007 07:03: Message edited by: Thuryl ]

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Social Degradation and Religious Decay (Split from "Life on Europa") in General
Thuryl
...b10010b...
Member # 869
 written Thursday, July 19 2007 06:54 Profile Homepage #192
quote:
Originally written by Drew:

Or that Christianity necessarily has it right, or Islam, or Hinduism, etc.
In fact, any attempt to prove that some text is divinely revealed based on the claim that the advice given in it works is self-refuting: if a way of living works, then there's no need to find any justification for the fact that people practice it beyond the bare fact that it works. People in the aggregate will tend to find ways of living that are conducive to survival and abandon ways that aren't, if only because the ones who do the opposite are less likely to survive.

[ Thursday, July 19, 2007 06:55: Message edited by: Thuryl ]

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
GF 4 Registration key in Tech Support
Thuryl
...b10010b...
Member # 869
 written Thursday, July 19 2007 06:20 Profile Homepage #1
Have you emailed Spiderweb Software about the problem? That's probably your best bet.

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Social Degradation and Religious Decay (Split from "Life on Europa") in General
Thuryl
...b10010b...
Member # 869
 written Thursday, July 19 2007 06:14 Profile Homepage #187
quote:
Originally written by Frozen Feet:

To answer Thuryl's question, I think that "desire not to be murdered" gives birth to, or actually is, what we commonly call morality.
We already have a word for self-preservation. We don't need another one.

[ Thursday, July 19, 2007 06:16: Message edited by: Thuryl ]

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Social Degradation and Religious Decay (Split from "Life on Europa") in General
Thuryl
...b10010b...
Member # 869
 written Thursday, July 19 2007 06:04 Profile Homepage #185
quote:
Originally written by Stillness:

Morality
1. conformity to the rules of right conduct; moral or virtuous conduct.
That is not what one would call a particularly enlightening definition, now is it?

As far as I'm concerned, "morality" is a term so ill-defined as to be meaningless, and whenever one tries to pin its meaning down one ends up with a concept for which there is already another perfectly good English word, thus making it redundant.

quote:
Supposedly, laws are based on morality.
Says who? Laws are based on nothing more or less than the will of those who make them, and that will can be influenced by a variety of factors.

quote:
Universal laws are an indication that certain morality is universal. I’m curious about your non-moral (based on the definition above) reason for theft and murder being illegal.
Practically everyone has a desire to not be murdered which outweighs their desire to commit murder. In fact, their desire to not be murdered is strong enough that they band together with other people who do not wish to be murdered, make mutual agreements not to murder each other and set members of the community the task of enforcing these agreements. Thus, laws against murder are made. What has morality to do with any of this?

quote:
The evidence that we are programmed for certain morality harmonizes perfectly with the idea that we are made in the image of a loving Creator that wants what’s best for us.
So, wait, the fact that we're aware that we generally stand to lose more from being murdered than we gain from committing murder is evidence of the existence of God? Um.

quote:
It goes to my “the-Bible-makes-sense-to-me” argument. If we were hard-wired to believe in a flat Earth it would not.
But we are hardwired to believe in a flat Earth. Didn't you find it natural to assume that the Earth was flat and stationary before you were first taught that it was round and moving?

[ Thursday, July 19, 2007 06:24: Message edited by: Thuryl ]

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Anvil Recipes in Geneforge 4: Rebellion
Thuryl
...b10010b...
Member # 869
 written Thursday, July 19 2007 01:46 Profile Homepage #1
Well, the first thing you're going to need is a large amount of steel...

... oh, you want recipes for things to make on an anvil. Click here.

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The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure!
Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00

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