Sir David

I don't. I have no problem with save/reload - it just allows a player to be somewhat less cautious and can save quite a bit of time. The other kinds of cheating change the game in ways it was not meant to be changed, though, and to me, that kind of defeats the purpose.

Maybe it was scrambled, thus insinuating profanity. Ik3 may have been afraid that the establishment wouldn't appreciate him triggering the auto-censor. Kel's right, changing the word to "forget" was probably a good idea. Beamup, you may have stumbled upon the best way of playing, and everything may seem easy and boring now, but it will get harder. Contra mentioned the Shaper Crypt; I had a ton of trouble with that. It also depends on how you play the game - for instance, grovelling in submission to a servile leader will probably make the game quite a bit easier than manitaining your independence and killing the... well, I'll let you discover that on your own.

Not unintentional ones in the middle of big projects/RP's, though. I think we got enough enjoyment out of the PPP's in response to intentional purges here; freaking out and searching frantically for saved topics and such and starting all over several times on Polaris was kind of a pain. And a few accounts eaten here and there is far better than all being eaten at once. Whatever faults UBB has, I feel that my account is safer on Spiderweb than on Polaris. Good thing, too, seeing how much bigger Spiderweb is.

You don't need to be very strong to defeat them, you just need to be well-prepared. You know exactly where they are and can figure out what works best against them without too much difficulty - just try and try again, and run if you have to - I find that drawing them out and ambushing them can make up for a lack of sufficient skill points.

True, and if you keep some strong creations around, there will be more to share the diminished pain. Trinity, you're probably right about the Agent - I haven't had much luck with her compared with my others.

You definitely shouldn't neglect your creations, no matter which Shaper type you choose. I successfully implemented Trinity's "squad leader" approach, and my Guardian is my best character by far. Keep your combat stats up, to be sure, but it's always nice to have a meatshield that does more damage than it takes. Also, I almost always use some sort of unranged weapon - if you do too, you're definitely going to want a ranged creation.

Yes, if you're below 100 you should definitely sink some points into Intelligence. My Agent has several Drayks and still has enough essence for spells and such. Student of Trinity, are you by any chance a student of the school in Dublin by that name?

If what Thuryl suggested doesn't work, just save and quit. That's what I do. I don't know about your computer, but on mine, starting up again takes very little time.

I stay stick with Shapers - deciding how to interact with the race your race created is basically the point of the Geneforge series, and I must admit, I'm a bit of a traditionalist when it comes to sequels and prequels.

Yes, it is best to consolidate your storage areas - empty rooms in towns, preferably near shops with money, tend to be the best drop places. If I were you I would try to keep things divided into groups, such as weapons and armor, tools, special items, trade items, etc. There is a maximum number of items you can drop in one area, I believe, so dividing helps there, and it's also less frustrating when you want to find something.

It's best to leave more than 10 essence points, especially later in the game. I haven't played in a while, but 102 seems like a relatively new game to me - I think my chracter has at least 30 essence free, and I'm pretty sure he has five or six drayks. Having to go back to town constantly is annoying. Also, don't forget essence pools - there are pools throughout the game which recharge your essence and energy (or is it health?) when you stand close to them, as if you had entered town. When you find these pools, try to remember where they are - they can be very useful. They are also usually in relatively safe areas, which is why I use them to drop off heavy items which I can pick up before returning to town, but that's just a personal preference. EDIT: Forgot this was GF, not GF2.

Experiment with creations, choose the ones you like best, and make just a few powerful ones. I haven't played in a while, but I think I have three or four creations. Maybe two by this point. Works better for me.

He won't read it here, I know that. If you want him to see it, you have to email it. I think it's unlikely that it will have any effect on the game, but I suppose it's worth a shot. I really like the pack animal suggestion, by the way, but I have questions about that - would it take up one of the seven creation slots? Would it count as one of the three types of creations allowed at once? How strong would it be, and would it have any sort of attack? Would there be different levels, or would it be more like an ornk? You might want to specify some of that before sending it.

He won't read it here, I know that. If you want him to see it, you have to email it. I think it's unlikely that it will have any effect on the game, but I suppose it's worth a shot. I really like the pack animal suggestion, by the way, but I have questions about that - would it take up one of the seven creation slots? Would it count as one of the three types of creations allowed at once? How strong would it be, and would it have any sort of attack? Would there be different levels, or would it be more like an ornk? You might want to specify some of that before sending it.

There's something that none of you have mentioned yet, though, about this parallel. If there is a God as I believe, a purely good entity, Shapers are not his equal. First, Shapers are more like scientists than gods - they create with research, magic, etc., and they, themselves, had to come into existance somehow. They were created. Subsets of God, maybe, but not God himself. Second, Shapers are obviously not purely good. That should be self-explanitory. To rebel against pure good is pure idiocy; to rebel against the Shapers, however, is another matter entirely. DIOS/BSC (what do you want me to call you on Spiderweb?), your breakdown left out plenty of grey space. What about those, like me, who accept the divine, avoid the licking of testicles, go our own independant way, but allow God to guide us when he wants and work for him when possible? I wouldn't consider myself a fundie, but I wouldn't exactly consider myself an agnostic, either. There's plenty of space in between.