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Everything posted by Punctuation rains from the heavens
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Geneforge 5 Joining the Bandits?
Punctuation rains from the heavens replied to Vinlie's topic in Geneforge Series
There are 5 joinable factions in G5. Bandits are not one of them. -
But scrambling member names seemed both limiting in audience, and probably too easy. Instead, I've chosen to celebrate the remake of Geneforge 1 by scrambling the names of 18 major characters from the Geneforge series. ...and one Spiderweb member, just to keep things interesting. Have at it! Can you untangle all 18 Geneforge characters? DOLANNERAYAVTRGYNZDO GTYAMAMERNAIWKARAHIL ILNHAIAAOLERTLCEZTAR AHHNRLTAARHHSBANTWPD ERKAORLIOAAZGITYHERI SADNRNTHEKKRCMNJTIAR TSGAGLAE
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It's probably permission to write to where save game files are stored. Geneforge doesn't actually ask you that itself, by the way -- the box you see is either from Windows Defender or your antivirus software, which jumps in to double check when an app requires write permission to a sensitive area. Geneforge 1 is old enough that it may still have been dropping saved games in the system folder somewhere, rather than in a user folder, which could be why you don't see this with the others. (Nethergate is older still, and still used individual save files rather than save slots.)
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Geneforge 4 Quessa-Uss back room?
Punctuation rains from the heavens replied to Vinlie's topic in Geneforge Series
Hmm. Do you have the same issue in other browsers? If so, do you want to post a quick screenshot? -
Geneforge 4 Quessa-Uss back room?
Punctuation rains from the heavens replied to Vinlie's topic in Geneforge Series
Try clearing your cache. I believe some of the icon loading logic shifted slightly in an IPB update, fixing a few uncommon problems that had existed with them before. -
aetuzcu, I notice you said you killed "the" Altered Giant. Normally, the following sequence of events takes place: 1) Kill first Altered Giant 2) Enter grassy area, which is empty 3) Spring trap - gate closes (with you INSIDE), six Altered Giants appear 4) Turn wheel (in hidden passage on north wall) to reopen gate 5) Push button just north of gate to open the next passage Is there ANY possibility that you entered the grassy area in combat mode? Perhaps even while fighting the first Altered Giant. I ask because in your screenshot, there is a giant visible in the grassy area -- but there will not be a giant there until the trap has been sprung. If you wandered into the grassy area in combat mode, then left before ending combat, that could have caused this. It's possible that the trap will only trigger at the end of a round of combat, or maybe even when combat is over (probably to avoid having party members end up on different sides of the gate). Alternately, if you triggered the trap, thought you were stuck, and used a cheat like "exitzone" or "backtostart" to get out, that could also create this predicament. Or, if you visited the Final Gauntlet earlier in the game, but then used "backtostart" instead of reloading from your save at Sulfras's cave, that could also explain things. https://homepages.uni-regensburg.de/~mim09509/Avernum/AvernumEscPit/Towns/FinalGauntlet.html
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Geneforge 1 kickstarter?
Punctuation rains from the heavens replied to Taris36's topic in Geneforge 1 - Mutagen
Pity about Evasion. Anatomy was a lot more interesting -- with the GF1 Guardian being able to do tons of damage, but also being more vulnerable due to having to be in melee range (and enemies also having stronger melee attacks). -
First time archer build
Punctuation rains from the heavens replied to Drugut's topic in Avadon Series
Ranged weapons are generally pretty good in Avadon, and excellent in Geneforge. (They are mostly sub-par in Avernum.) If you want an actual archer with bows and arrows, definitely pick Blademaster, and put all your stat points into Dex. -
Goagh-Nar help
Punctuation rains from the heavens replied to Rob A's topic in Nethergate and Nethergate: Resurrection
On that note, this topic is locked. @qwerttz, welcome to the forums! I know it is not screamingly obvious when a thread is super ancient, but the date is always listed -- please try not to comment on really old posts unless you have relevant information to add. Thanks! Ok, mod hat off. -
Apples are sweet, but games are...
Punctuation rains from the heavens replied to Warrior Mage's topic in General
"The first version of Rosetta, introduced in 2006 as a component of Mac OS X Tiger, allows PowerPC applications to run on Intel-based Macs. The second version, introduced in 2020 as a component of macOS Big Sur, is part of the Mac transition from Intel processors to Apple silicon." -
We could argue how much room there truly is for a "lowly Hand" to question Redbeard's choices, but I'll grant that the player, at least, can do that to his face a few times without anything bad happening to you. But that "lowly Hand" is expected to be treated with absolute obedience by those outside Avadon. Those outside Avadon clearly fear retribution being visited upon them if they too openly express disapproval of Avadon's actions. No matter how "lowly" you may feel within Avadon as a Hand, the PC is not Everyman within the Pact. This is emphasized so heavily in the games. The PC's power situation, including their ability to speak and express opinions freely, has no bearing on the power situation of the vast majority of Pact citizens -- certainly including the malcontents. And, um... I mean, I'm not sure that option is "realistic" for every Hand -- there are after all only three Hearts, and many Hands. But it's certainly zero percent realistic for Pact citizens who are not an appendage of Avadon. You're going to hate me for saying that this immediately invoked, for me, "the solution to poverty is to work your way up from nothing" -- but the system dynamics are exactly the same. If the grossly unfair situation that puts you at a great disadvantage isn't being addressed, you should simply work your way up to the top of the system from that point of great disadvantage. "Realistically."
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This. But even moreso: This. I think the "options" being imputed to the Farlands (as well as discontents with the Pact) in this thread are incredibly unrealistic in light of the power dynamics at play. As for this: The worlds are different, the circumstances are different, even some of the laws of nature are different. No question. There's no 1:1 relationship of anything here, and you're quite right that you can't just blindly superimpose one on the other. But system dynamics are system dynamics; power and ethics are about applications of principles, and those principles are abstract -- they apply across different instances, real or imagined, and can certainly apply across different worlds. I drew analogies above because I was struck by some similarities in the power dynamics, in particular. There may well be circumstantial differences extreme enough to lead you, or anyone, to draw different ethical conclusions about those situations -- I even noted some while making the comparisons. If you want to say "Despite the similarity in power dynamic, I evaluate these completely differently because X" I'd be genuinely interested. Or "I think you're off your rocker about the power dynamics being similar, because Y." Those would be great conversations. But "fantasy can't ever be applicable to politics" is just baloney. (It's also, FWIW, just historically untrue of modern fictional medieval fantasy settings. Tolkien famously objected to allegorical reads of his works, while stating that they are applicable to the politics of his time; he invoked structural sociopolitical problems that culminate when "some Orc gets hold of a ring of power". Other authors have been more explicit.)
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I'm probably not being fair, but in the context of current U.S. politics, this is pretty much how I read some of these points: "Do the protesters have legitimate grievances with the government? Absolutely. Are their actions justified? Nope." I realize that the Farlanders do things far more serious than just protesting, but the above paragraph contains lots of elaboration on what the Farlanders do, and zero elaboration on what the grievances are that lead to them taking these actions. You're trying to say their actions aren't justified, that they're disproportionate, but without any consideration of what the proper proportion actually would be. If complaining about their grievances doesn't lead to change, their options are either to say "oh well" or to escalate things. Since you agree the grievances are legitimate, what do you think they should do, given that their complaints are shut down in a second when they are even heard at all? "All we've done for the last 20 years is elect men, mostly old men, who reject policy changes that a majority of the population supports. There's no alternative!" This is a ridiculous fallacy. The game only depicts one political situation and one government structure, therefore it's the only thing that could exist? There's no possible way to set up a council that works better than Hanvar's? There's no possible way for a Keeper (Redbeard included, but presumably someone replacing him, since he is unwilling) to address any of the grievances at all without the Pact falling apart, just because Redbeard thinks there isn't and therefore hasn't tried? You might think the alternatives won't work, but that's basically pure speculation, and the alternatives certainly exist. And they certainly aren't any worse for the people who die, or whose loved ones die, under Redbeard's regime. "We were just attacked, if you are loyal to the U.S. you can't question anything the President is doing" Again, I realize that "question" and "kill" are very different, but Redbeard basically makes "questioning" unavailable as an option, by being so unresponsive, and suppressing dissent to the degree that he does.
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Approximately six years, based on the handful of chronological references in the games. It was very disappointing to see Kyass gone. His entire settlement was not in Exile:EFTP or Avernum 1, it was new content in A:EFTP. A2:CS doesn't really have that kind of new content, unfortunately. I can't quite tell if you're asking for build advice or not. If you are, I wrote a fairly compact primer here, and you can find more info in A2:CS Strategy Central.
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U.S. Presidential Election, 2020
Punctuation rains from the heavens replied to Callie's topic in General
Edgwyn continues to say a lot of things that were, indeed, conventional wisdom on politics in the U.S. at one point -- but no longer apply, and haven't for a great many years. The 1992 U.S. and the 2016 U.S. were extremely different countries, and HRC is a very different politician from WJC. I think what you're suggesting here is broadly impossible . As far as the Bernie-Trump matchup, lots of people love to speculate on that point, and there's no shortage of opinions. People have done polls on such a theoretical matchup, and while that's obviously nowhere close to the same thing as a whole long campaign season, I still find those more substantive than random opinions. There were a profusion of factors that led to this loss. 100% agreed on the second point being one of them, but 0% agreed on the first. The difference between her performance and Biden's isn't that she failed to turn out independents, it's that she failed to turn out the base. You don't turn out the base by moving towards the center. Still waiting for the evidence or argumentation behind this continued assertion. https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/12/public-option-vs-medicare-for-all-debate-biden-buttigieg-sanders-polls.html -
U.S. Presidential Election, 2020
Punctuation rains from the heavens replied to Callie's topic in General
Just to be clear, this is not a universal American value -- it's a hotly contested one, as it has been throughout the country's history. (It was, for example, one of the arguments made in defense of slavery.) Definitely true that it has a stronger following here than in most places. If you're actually prettying up the wording, then absolutely. But "social democrat" is widely used across Europe (and beyond) for political parties that have little to nothing in common with the repressive authoritarian states you're referring to. "Democratic socialism" in that context isn't a misuse of the words, and it's not prettying up anything, it's another use entirely -- and frankly a more accurate use, and a more globally consistent one. Let's be very direct here: while you're talking about a real effect, and there are some immigrants with that association to "socialism", the far more widespread bad association in the U.S. is one largely restricted to older Americans, and it's the direct result of McCarthyism and the era of repressive government actions associated with it. I'd also note that exactly the same argument can be made about "democratic" given the un-democratic countries that insert that into their name. -
U.S. Presidential Election, 2020
Punctuation rains from the heavens replied to Callie's topic in General
it doesn't make sense to a lot of people here either. but the short answer is that it has more to do with culture and with power dynamics than it does with policy. (us/them power dynamics on the right, and organizational power dynamics on the 'left', both reinforced by the 2 party system and single pass voting (which also reinforce each other)) -
Hi ka1yhi, Can you please copy and paste the exact email address you sent your requests to? It sounds like your emails may not be making it to Spiderweb. This will help us find that out. Thanks.
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Okay, I guess this can have one last update. Lucca Elizabeth Warren Simone de Beauvoir Robo Princess Leia Buffy Summers Zhuge Liang Henry Agard Wallace Bernie Sanders Micah Uncle Iroh Jean-Luc Picard Zeniba Lady Gaga Erika Redmark Zuko Mary Poppins Socrates Sylak Eowyn Captain America Aragorn Katara Frog FDR Plato Graham Nelson Empress Prazac Abigail Adams Honor Harrington Lisa Simpson Kierkegaard Thanos (comics) R2-D2 Ereshkigal Aristotle Magus Jiji Diogenes the Cynic The Kangxi Emperor LBJ Aang Kiki Lord Havelock Vetinari Yubaba King Arthur Cleopatra (Shakespeare) Peter Gabriel Orson Welles Mary Shelley Eisenhower Epicurus JFK Kathryn Janeway Kamala Harris Puddleglum Professor Oak Sherlock Holmes Ayla Cleopatra Jones Harry S. Truman Redbeard Zaphod Beeblebrox Julius Caesar Blaise Pascal Olga of Kiev Boudica Cicero The Doctor Toph Julius Martov Lord British Queen Elizabeth I Inanna Melanchion Mao Zedong Faramir Dumbledore Starrus Gladwell Manfred Redmark Bob the Builder Billie Holiday Ken Burns Eeyore Marle Le Petit Prince Multivac Sokka Pat Paulsen Joe Biden Seth MacFarlane Khan Noonien Singh Werdna Mal Reynolds Queen Elizabeth II Clifford the Big Red Dog Aslan Sir Topham Hatt James T. Kirk Pete Buttigieg Denethor Amy Klobuchar Tucker Carlson Henri III Ayn Rand Cleopatra (real) Daddy Warbucks Pat Sajak Cardinal Richelieu Ozzy Osbourne Sulla Lavos Pilgor the Goat Curious George Kikuchiyo Miss Piggy Lyndon LaRouche Captain Ahab Tiamat Lady Macbeth Benjamin Sisko Darth Vader Evil Abed Crassus Pompey Spider Donald Duck Rand al'Thor Caligula Yosemite Sam George Jetson One of the 7 dwarves (Disney) Guybrush Threepwood Boris Johnson Julie d'Aubigny Zapp Brannigan Donald Trump Pol Pot Grima, Wormtongue Yogi Bear Shaper Rawal Kylo Ren Harcourt Fenton Mudd George Wickham Mike Pence Ivan the Terrible Genghis Khan Morgoth The White Witch Hawthorne Hitler Emperor Palpatine Dorikas Elizabeth Báthory Kefka Smaug The Allied Mastercomputer
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U.S. Presidential Election, 2020
Punctuation rains from the heavens replied to Callie's topic in General
If you're comparing U.S. politics to a hot dog, the analogy makes a lot of sense. And no, the end result composition of a hot dog is not ok. -
The reality is that much of fantasy combat is unrealistic. Maybe it's unrealistic to dodge a fireball or an explosive ordinance -- but not any more unrealistic than it is to take five direct slashes from a bladed weapon, each causing physical injury, and at the end be (1) alive, (2) with no systemic impact on your fighting ability or any other ability, (3) with no chance of lost or incapacitated limbs or other injuries. It may be legit unrealistic according to the combat paradigm you have gotten used to. I say this with all empathy; I experience it too sometimes. But that is still a paradigm far removed from reality. So "unrealistic," like "flaw," is a bit of a grand proclamation, IMHO.
