nikki.

Because the cost of the thousands of typewriter ribbons this would need is prohibitively high?

Wait, you're Canadian?!

Well, this is a post in the First Avernum Trilogy, so it's not really relevant to discuss 'later games' such as Avernum 5 or Avadon. OP, drinking alcohol in the original trilogy has more or less the effect you might imagine. It becomes harder to hit, and easier to be hit.

Hey, peteralexanderjex, I've edited your post to remove some of your more choice language. In future, can you try to be a bit more family friendly, please?

I actually have a BA in English, and achieving it was a lot harder than simply sitting around discussing 'good' literature for three years. I actually feel mildly insulted that all of the time and effort I poured into my degree is being waved aside because 'consuming tasty morsels of prose and having a natter about them' is all anybody thinks students of English do. I'm also insulted that courses like History and Philosophy seem to get a pass, whilst English does not, but that's by-the-by. SoT, I recall that you once asked me the point of studying English by suggesting that I could get the same amount of knowledge, and the same academic experience, from joining a book club. As such, I don't imagine you'll be particularly receptive to my post. For everybody else though, here's why English is an important subject - equally as important as any other academic field in which one can attain a Bachelor's degree. First, I don't think anybody has accurately described what precisely is required in order to get an English BA - a fact which is bewildering considering the only reason we're here is to discuss how valuable a field/subject it is. The consensus seems to be that English students read a lot of 'useless' stories and plays, and then talk about them, and write about them in order to understand them better. The skills we learn and use in order to do this talking, writing, and understanding are the only valuable parts of an English degree, and the sad fact is that these skills can be learned from any course, including the ever-popular Physics. Nothing tangible is ever really learned, and the knowledge that is gained from literature exists purely to benefit the individual. In short, the impression I'm getting from a large majority of this thread's responses seems to be that an English undergrad learns to argue, and to defend against counter-arguments, and to read texts that are essential fine cuisine - consume them and move on to the next course, boys! In reality, English, I'd argue, is actually an amalgamation of several disciplines. It is a study of people, and places, and events. It is a study of deeply complicated and important philosophical questions. It is a study of myths and beliefs, of cultures and contexts. And, of course, it is a study of language, and form. Taking a class on Shakespeare will, as Kel says, help you to understand Shakespeare's writing all the better, but it'll also give you an insight into what life was like in the 16th Century in the same way that a piece of non-fiction will help a History student do the same. Reading Dickens (if you can stomach it!) will offer an insight into Victorian Britain, whilst other texts, including science fiction and SOME post-modern fiction will offer glimpses of the future (as an aside, Modernist and Post-Modern fiction can, of course, offer 'nebulous guides' to the future, but so could a Realist text, or even a limerick. Modern and Post-modern literature are defined by their formal features, rather than simply being 'about' modern or post-modern issues, as I'm sure Slarty knows). Furthermore, we don't just learn about solid events, or fictional characters, by studying literature - we also learn about the human condition more widely. Issues including depression, insanity, gender, sexuality, parenthood, fear, love, and religion are all woven into the fabric of the novel - sometimes explicitly, and sometimes tucked away, hidden upstairs in the attic (Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, for example, both deal with colonialism and the treatment of black characters in 19th Century Britain, even though neither texts are really 'about' this issue). English, then, is a study of people rather than a study of literature - it just so happens that our source materials are novels and plays, poems and essays. English, at a degree level (though I'd argue it begins even earlier) is an exploration of our world and our lives through the eyes of characters that may have existed centuries in the past, or future. Literature attempts to answer questions including 'who we are', and 'why we're here', questions that are very much relevant today. In addition to the vast amounts of reading I managed to cram into my three years, I also analysed a wide range of texts, applied critical and literary theory to them, extracted minute passages and applied them to contemporary culture, researched science, history, politics, and religion, and learnt about language, methods of communication, and ideology. Yes, studying English is enjoyable. Yes, a lot of the skills I've learnt from my course could've been acquired form other undergrad courses (though I'd like to think I can write, and construct an argument better than a graduate of a Maths or science course), but English offers a unique view of humanity and our past that other subjects might touch upon, but never quite capture.

Yeah, this is pretty much why I think Jeff is reluctant/unwilling to release another Blades game. These things BREAK. Even after a super-long development time, BoA is still stuffed with bugs. Bugs that aren't ever going to be fixed. Jeff has his editors, sure, but he knows how to use them in order to not end up with a buggy, broken mess. If he were to release his tools, they'd be broken in a matter of hours.

Since school finished I've been going through my books and reading the best ones, and the ones that got away from me in favour of required texts. After being woefully disappointed in Wilkie Collin's The Frozen Deep (a Victorian novel through and through, and severely lacking for this), and re-reading Nabokov's Despair (one of the greatest books I've ever read), I finally got around to reading The Bell Jar. Now, I'm not really a fan of Plath's poetry; I find it unreadable after a while, though I've never been able to put my finger on why. The Bell Jar, though, was excellent. It had me hooked just a few pages in, and I finished it as soon as I could. I'm not sure if my love for the book comes from sympathizing completely with Ester, or appreciation for the form, or what, but I'll definitely look a lot more closely at my copy of The Colossus in the coming weeks.

Congrats on finishing!

In before the bento box.

I didn't try pepper on my food until I was... in my twenties. So, no.

I like both just as much as the other, and I like my popcorn to be both at once (except I don't care for popcorn too much, so I rarely eat it).

Yeah, Alex, Marl and I all had nicknames for each other, but I'm not sure they ever spilled across from our private conversations and on to SW in any meaningful way. For the record though, Archmage Alex was 'Brody', Marl was 'Lenny Latina', and I was indeed 'Mutey'.

Swans are pretty evil too, I'm told. Probably the link with royalty, making them think they're better than other fowl.

Triumph, who is ever on-the-ball with this kind of thing, has already linked this post in the G5 Strategy Central.

Except nothing in any of Jeff's worlds would honk like a car, or roar like traffic.

Ahh! I was going to bump this thread, or Triumph's thread here next week, but I may as well just post it now. Last Monday I submitted my undergraduate thesis for marking, and last Wednesday (the 8th), I submitted the last ever regular piece of coursework in my undergraduate career. I don't want to jinx myself, but I'm hoping to do as well as it's possible to do, and hopefully secure some sweet, sweet scholarship money for a Master of Arts course. It's been a pretty very bumpy ride, and even getting to school was a big deal, so I'm pretty proud of myself, even if everybody and their aunt seems to have a Bachelors degree these days. I don't much like to blow my own trumpet, but yeah. This means, too, that I'm reading precisely what I want to, rather than prescribed texts. So, I'm working my way through the complete Sherlock Holmes stories, and I've got Ted Hughes poetry lined up next.

Jason Engle is pretty good - I used his work in Discord, and they're the source of TGM's portrait pics.

Well, I guess that the random stranger is completely regular, No shaping or magical power, not real intellectual prowess, nothing. And then you're an arrogant god-guy with the ability to craft life with your hands. Seems more likely you'd get uppity with him than somebody who is on the same level as you.

As the various AIMHack campaigns here have attested, even when members do live in time zones outside of North America, they are more than willing to stay up late (as I have many times), or wake up early (as Lilith often does). I can't imagine that organising something would be that difficult. Of course, there's also the option of just playing with people who can make particular times, and not playing with people who can't make those times. I mean, c'mon.

It was obviously brought up to the surface from Avernum, where, eventually, it was sent through the Nether Gate, before ending up on Lynaeus.

...okay. I don't think we need to continue down this avenue. Dartzndolls is very fond of Silke. Let's leave it there please. On topic: I ended up finishing Avadon as a hand, because I was pretty much trying to be just rather than loyal. When I finally get around to Avadon 2 I'll probably end up running a character like springacres's Paladin.

You need to upload the file to an online image hosting site, such as TinyPic or Imgur. Once you do that, you'll have a link which can be posted anywhere on the internet.

Yeah, the closest I could see is this: which is admittedly pretty close. Luckily, though, it's the not right-facing like the swastika the Nazi Party used, so we're all good.

I'd love to do a live version, actually. The only reason I haven't calendared is because realistically, I'm not free at all right now. I've only participated in the rounds I have because I've been taking breaks from writing assignments. I could colour in the odd hour here or there, but it wouldn't be helpful, I imagine, since even after lord knows how many years of writing, I don't know when I'm going to be most productive, and essays have to come first right now. I'd be interested in doing this later in January though, or even stopping by one that has been organised if I found myself with the time.

Yeah, at some point I imagine he'll stop making new games and just ensure the older ones continue to run for a bit. Then, he'll probably stop completely, and I reckon at that point, SW will just stop being an active company.