Aran

Originally Posted By: Rechtawthgin: Aran's impersonate Click to reveal.. (How to make a Sentry Gun )) Click here ----------- -Sentry Ahead, Nightwatcher Off-topic: I haven't even used that avatar in years, but my first thought on seeing it was "WHA? Did I post this and forget about it?"

Originally Posted By: Randomizer Bombadil from a plot development view point was the first time that Frodo stepped up as a hero to rescue Sam from Willow and to attack the barrow wight. Before that he was drifting along as a deliveryman holding the Ring until it could be turned over to someone else. All of the Fellowship of the Ring is split between background information and the rise of Frodo as hero. The willow and barrow-wight technically could have been included without Bombadil; I think they even might have been if not for length and distraction. Bombadil himself, though, is essentially a cartoon character.

I don't like popularity contests, but among my favorite posters are Alorael, Dikiyoba, Sylae, Lilith, Nikki and Tyran (write-in). And take comfort, Tyran; I was also omitted. Instead there seems to be some impostor named Arcanaytar. Never heard of that guy, but he sounds kind of dangerous. I guess his mission is to arcanate John Connor? (Can't understand how "Arcanaytar" is supposed to shorten to "Aran", though. ) Next: Arctanayar, shortened to tan-1.

Quote: That's disgusting. It's like being the director of Harry Potter and saying you didn't like the part where Snape kills Dumbledore so you just leave that out. I didn't like a lot of the changes either, but Tom Bombadil and the Scouring of the Shire are bad examples because the former would have ruined the mood and the latter would have ruined the ending. Quote: Really, though, how do you get excited for this year's third when it's starting to look like it will barely cover Bag End to Rivendell? Where do you get "Bag End to Rivendell" - linear estimate? I suspect that most of the extra stuff comes from showing the Gandalf side plot (Dol Guldur, Sauron, etc.) between the time they entered Mirkwood and the Battle of Five Armies. If he's going to do that, then the plot structure starts to resemble LotR, and the Parting Of The Fellowship would be a natural end for the first part. (Actually, that would make part one similar to Fellowship Of The Ring: Leave the Shire, go to Rivendell, enter a cave in the Misty Mountains, get attacked by orcs goblins orcs (dammit), advance to next savepoint, get split up.) The second part could then deal with the concurrent Gandalf/Dwarves/Bilbo plots in Mirkwood, possibly even up to the battle of Esgaroth. The third one would have the Battle of Five Armies (and stuff leading up to it).

I sort of prefer this system more. It's true that merely using a "sound" strategy still risks losing, but an even better strategy will anticipate the risks, include contingencies and backup tactics, and decrease that risk. A sufficiently relatively superior strategy (at least from fair starting conditions) can lead to a virtually certain victory. As you mention: Quote: (For this reason, in Wesnoth, I try to make sure I always have extra units that can attack in case the front liners keep missing). Part of a sound strategy.

Originally Posted By: Admiral Alex Ants? Bees? Termites? Humans? Got it in four! Originally Posted By: Dikiyoba "Hey, I'm awesome. Also a dinosaur. Get over it." Dikiyoba hasn't been paying enough attention to dinosaurs to know the latest details, but that's the general gist of it. Sure that no non-avian species remains? The elusive Dikiyora scribens comes to mind.

I confess, I am a spammer. I can't help it. *cries on Nikki's shoulder*

You can play games on them? I thought they were just for talking to ghosts. (...) But seriously, there are already Android versions for the newest Spiderweb games: Would they really require radical changes to work on this kind of platform?

86% Jill Stein, apparently. And actually 54% Ron Paul, because we agree on the Middle East, Patriot Act, and internet control. However, I laughed at the "Should the US have bailed out banks in 2008" question: My "No" and Ron Paul's "No, remove the federal reserve and return to the gold standard" were apparently matched, as were "Yes" and "Yes, but the government shouldn't spend money on it" on the global warming question. Needless to say, we were diametrically opposite on immigration, science, gun control, and the UN. http://www.isidewith.com/results/29797683

Originally Posted By: Dintiradan And why buy a book when what's online is not only free but much more convenient to read? I understand the 1,000 True Fans concept, but I still get the feeling that one of these days, the goose is going to realize that I'm not paying her for her golden eggs, and is going to just fly away. The audience is just that big. My sites earn around $1 for every 3000 hits (so around $2 per month until the relaunch, after which I didn't put the ads back everywhere). Considering a popular webcomic might get millions of monthly visits, they could generate thousands, even without counting merchandise.

Wouldn't think that has much bearing on the matter; don't US sanctions prevent them being sold there anyway?

Originally Posted By: Homage maybe we can all do a thing? http://whenisgood.net/r25rsdt Yeah, we'll do a thing. It's a thing in progress. Respect the thing. (Mind you, I just remembered I'll be presenting on Monday, and probably have to work all weekend. However, I'll be free come the 25th of July.)

They were in dire straits financially when they first went online, I remember. The big breakthrough came after that.

Originally Posted By: Lilith John Dies at the End is an example of one that got popular enough to end up being published as a printed book (and made into a feature film, even). I heard about that... it's finished? I must see this. O_O (I remember spending October 2004 reading the serial... likely linked to by someone here.) I also guess that the film will look like it was inspired by Supernatural, which is funny since the story predates that show by far.

It surely would. For example, I could be in this Saturday or Sunday at any weird hour you name. (By the way, is it at all possible to find out who's online without having to start the game, like in a web interface? Idling around the clock would be a bit distracting...)

Originally Posted By: The Mystic for one am not among them. In fact, if I were a gambler, I'd put down some serious money on the end of the world not happening in my lifetime. I'll take that bet. Will pay you back as soon as, you know. Originally Posted By: Peachie Pie All the people who've said this to me, mind you, are young college students, if that changes anything. I guess it's just a twisted power fantasy sort of thing for some folks. I'm sure they'd feel completely different in the face of a real crisis. Until a man is twenty-five, he still thinks, every so often, that under the right circumstances he could be the baddest [...] in the world. If I moved to a martial-arts monastery in China and studied real hard for ten years. If my family was wiped out by Colombian drug dealers and I swore myself to revenge. If I got a fatal disease, had one year to live, and devoted it to wiping out street crime. If I just dropped out and devoted my life to being bad. - Stephenson

Lucky I just woke up, or I'd have missed it this time too.

No mention of Order of the Stick or Schlock Mercenary or El Goonish Shive yet? Also, Dresden Codak. There are several others on my list, but most of them have been mentioned already.

Originally Posted By: Lilith man literature about the end of the world is really not a new thing at all. look at norse mythology or hinduism or literally any culture that has a flood myth This. It's a trope that's been around long enough to have a real name outside That Wiki; in Greek even: Eschatology. How and when the world ends is a natural thing to contemplate, along with the way it started. Interestingly, there seems to be a widespread conviction among people that the world will end in their lifetime - around 15% expressed that in a world-wide poll, and I'd be surprised if people haven't believed this, in one form or another, for centuries. Nuclear war, the rapture, the zombie apocalypse, the machine uprising, the technological singularity... it might be different ways, but the End Of The World As We Know it is always scheduled in our time.

Originally Posted By: HOUSE of S Escape Velocity: Novah? I swear I made that joke at some point. (Doesn't make it better, of course... ) Edit: Wow, over four years ago.

I know this story; I think it was on the Daily WTF some time back. Quote: The password field of the user table was also the primary key field making it impossible to have duplicate passwords, and they were stored unencrypted to make the verification process easier. This is... awesome. The only way to improve on it would be to tell users which other account has the password they tried to enter.

"Male / Other"? I can follow the reasoning that leads to this, but it still looks weird. (To everyone wondering about the actual percentage of female members: That the "Female / Other" categories are joined into one category for privacy means that one of the two categories is really small. There are quite a few (though not many) binary-identified women here, so it's not "Female".) That there are more non-straight males than non-males is a demographic phenomenon I've seen in several forums that held a census, notably on NationStates. I like "religiosity". Not familiar with "Formal" fields of study. Does that include stuff like Philosophy (which I'd expect in Humanities), or Computer Science / Math (which I'm used to classing as sort of a Natural science)? (Oh, and as an addendum: I missed the census myself, sadly.)

Originally Posted By: Tyranicus Originally Posted By: Dintiradan Originally Posted By: Triumph There is no i in Alorael...or is that team? My mind is blown. So full of win.

On the other hand, for more long-term planning we could do something like a Doodle or Google Docs thing. I know I won't hang out on the server all weekend, but if I know people will be there at a certain time it'd be different.