Arch-Mage Solberg

That's pretty cool! I'll have to try that sometime. It'll definately come in handy. Post # 546 P.S. Welcome to Spiderweb Software...Please leave your sanity at the door!

Originally Posted By: Lilith Originally Posted By: CRISIS on INFINITE SLARTIES I also think it would be easy to make the argument that not all of our personal identity is really essentially us, that a lot of things are indeed tied to the physical state of the brain and get lost with our bodies, but that some essential things hang out with consciousness instead. honestly this just seems like wishful thinking to me. how do we pick and choose what parts of us are really us and what parts aren't? It's like that with the Bible! You have one group saying that they believe one part of the Bible but this other part. Or that they agree with what one part says but not some other spot. I was under the suspicion that the ENTIRE Bible is God's Word. If you can trust what He says in one spot...why not the other? You can't just say that you believe that God is Love and Forgiveness without also believing that God is Justice, Jealous, and Patience. Post #545

Originally Posted By: Trenton Uchiha, rebel servile. skip one, try two. 1 only has what? 40 spells? and none of them are sommuning. BUT, on a brighter side of exile 1, the demo is awsomly huge, because you can go ANYWHERE from fort exile, to the long river and lake on the west side, you can go from the tippity top near motraxes cave all the way down to the tower of magi, then all through the honeycombs, and as far left as almaria! I agree with the vastness of Exile 1's demo. You can easily get up to 20 hours of playtime before you've done absolutely everything you are able. Post #544

Originally Posted By: FnordCola God's consciousness is described in human terms all the time in the Bible. Random example among many: "Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God." -Exodus 34:14, NIV. Jealousy is a human emotion, herein ascribed to God. Are these descriptions metaphorical, using human attributes to describe similar but less comprehensible divine attributes? Quite possibly. That's one reading, while another is that God has human-like qualities. Neither is objectively right or wrong. Attributes normally ascribed to humans, but also ascribed to God are called anthroprmorphisms. We are made in God's image, is it any wonder that we are handed down some of God's attributes. We cannot really comprehend what God's attributes are really like so we discribe them with the attributes that we, ourselves, experience. In reality, what we call man's attributes seen in God, is really God's attributes seen in man. The attributes we experience are to some lesser degree than God's. Post # 543

Someone tries to write a story based on the first Geneforge and people beg for more. While I do the same for the first Exile/Avernum game and am handed nothing but sarcasm and ridicule. Here is the forum I'm talking about. Post #542

It was just a quick little retort I typed a the time. Did it have value...probably not, but I said it anyway. That may or may not be what you thought I would say but there it is. Post #541

I've never had a custom title and frankly I'm fine with that. Custome titles seem due to those who have given something towards these forums or Spiderweb Software in general. I don't post often enough to give me a better post count, and I've never made a scenario (either BOE or BOA). Some of my posts, I admit, were completely off the wall. Looking back, I consider myself very lucky to not ever have been BANNED (even if one or two times I seemed to deserve it). One thing I hate about my current title is that it says Sorceress...that's a title for a woman. I'm a man and would like to be called a Sorcerer! Obviously this is just a generic title meant for everyone around this postcount, but it just seems a little weird, huh? Post #540

First off I want to appologize for not writing sooner. I see that this forum was busy since the last time I was on. I will try to offer my explanations and rebuttals as I'm able. There's quite a few things to talk about and close to 25 posts since my last one so let me pick a few and get to typing. Originally Posted By: Erasmus However, I don't see it as chance but rather as eventuality, given enough unwitting attempts, our type of life happened, and might happen or might have happened already or might will happen elsewhere. p.s. I don't believe those are the only two solutions, I believe the vector could be longer Most of life is built upon two choices; Live or die, get married or stay single, work or don't work, etc. I might get a little carried away with the choice thing sometimes but when looking at it head on this really is a choice of either one or the other. If I asked you if you believed, there's only two answers you can give me: yes or no! You either believe or you don't. No matter why you do believe or no matter why you don't believe, there's only two choices. You can say that you don't believe because it doesn't make sense, but isn't that a choice you just made. You listened to the arguement, thought about it, and rejected it. Obviously the same can be said for the reverse, also. this that Originally Posted By: Tyranicus Originally Posted By: Arch-Mage Solberg Originally Posted By: Alorael So for atheists, it's really much more comforting not to believe! Comforting! Living in fear of the tiniest chance that we might be right. So let me get this straight, you believe that the universe came into being by chance and that when you die, nothing happens (by nothing I mean spiritually). Is this correct? I believe it would be a lot more comforting to be a believer. (I'm just stating my opinion) As a Christian, do you live in fear of the tiniest chance that the Muslims might be right, and you are going to Hell? Nope, not one bit! Originally Posted By: Dantius In all fairness, when comparing what are, IMO, the two strongest arguments for theism and atheism (Pascal's Wager and the Problem of Evil, respectively), atheism really has a much better case, especially when you take a second to realize all the little holes PW has in it, especially compared to how totally ironclad the PoE is. Originally Posted By: CRISIS on INFINITE SLARTIES Right. What I was trying to say was that theism implies belief, and Pascal's wager does not actually involve belief, so whatever it argues for, I would argue it's not theism. I've read a little about this on Wikipedia. In all honesty, I've never heard of this until now. He's saying "that even if the existence of God cannot be determined through reason, a rational person should wager as though God exists" and for those who don't sincerely believe he tells them "to live as though they had faith, which may subvert their irrational passions and lead them to genuine belief." What is this? The first part says that 'if' there's no solid evidence, then one must wager one of two ways; for or against the existence of God. Pascal tells us of the enormous benefit of betting in favor of God's existence. The second part (as said by Lilith) pretty much says 'that you could fake it till you made it.' That is about as far from Biblical teaching as one can get! I do not think that Pascal's Wager should be someones arguement for Theism! Post #539 P.S. Sorry about the length.

Originally Posted By: Erasmus Originally Posted By: Arch-Mage Solberg So let me get this straight, you believe that the universe came into being by chance and that when you die, nothing happens (by nothing I mean spiritually). Is this correct? You seem to keep insisting of adding the word chance into your description, this is not true for all atheists, the universe(multiverse, hyper-verse etc...) just came to be, not by chance but by a method we do not know anything about (yet or even ever). For the pure atheist, who does not believe in the existence of the super natural and the spiritual, the "soul" is the sum of his genetics and his life experiences stored in our muscle memory (reflex), organ damage and the brain, and when we die our body rots away eaten by bacteria, virus and carrion and continues the cycle of life (assuming one wasn't cremated or dies in space). It is all about chance or luck. If any of the varying characteristics of our universe was even a little off, human life could not exist. If the Earth was either a little closer to or farther away from the Sun... If the size of the Earth were either smaller or larger by as much as 2,000 miles... If the moon's gravitational pull were too large or small... The fact that humans are alive is due to either one of two solutions. 1. That some intelligent omnipotent, omniscient, living, loving holy being (who I believe is the God of the Bible) created the universe for the sole purpose of us inhabiting it. 2. The unthinking universe somehow came up with the perfect ingredients to produce life. You say that I keep 'insisting' that chance had something to do with it. Maybe it's you who 'insists' that it's not! HERE! Post #538

Originally Posted By: Let me Alorael that for you. Uh, okay... The website uses sophisticated software to analyze your internet connection, your location, and your posts to determine your age. If your age cannot be determined with 95% certainty, Spiderweb Software's agents are sent to figure it out. They are equipped with suits and dark glasses, but standard protocol requires them to don an appropriate disguise before coming within 15 miles of a target. So that's who those guys were. I was starting to get worried about them, but if they're from Jeff, they can't be too bad...can they? Post # 537

I put down the Sorcerer's Stone to read this book I found at the library. It's called The Biblical Basis for Modern Science by Henry M. Morris. So far I'm only on page 63, but it's a fasinating read! Post # 536

Originally Posted By: FnordCola To put it another way, there is a distinction between believing in a deity and worshiping said deity. To me, a lot of Gods as defined by various religions (though certainly not all) don't really sound like very nice people, let alone entities worthy of reverence and religious awe. And then there's that whole pesky problem of evil, along with various related issues. I like how Ernst Bloch puts it: "It would ill become the distorted system that somehow guides the transformations of things as they exist in nature to tolerate every earthquake, shipwreck, war, and then be distressed only by the sinful perplexity of the human heart." Considering the fact that we do live in a sort of "distorted system", we just have to live with the fact that we do live with a lot of calamity and still have to worry about morality. We live in a world of conundrums. Why do bad things happen to good people or good things happen to bad people. All I know is that since the Fall of Adam and Eve at the Garden of Eden, Satan has ruled this world. The world is being controlled by the evil one. Man was created by God to have dominion over the world, but in sinning he handed dominion over to Satan. That should explain the conundrum I mentioned earlier. Originally Posted By: Let me Alorael that for you. But, you see, believing in God as an atheist is likely to mean believing in an eternity of torment after that. That's a really good point Alorael, the Bible is really clear on that part. If you don't believe that the Only Begotten Son of the Living God came to Earth, lived a perfect sinless life, sacrificed Himself on the Cross, and then rose from the dead three days later...you will go to Hell. Jesus preached on Hell several times always describing it as a place of torment. Originally Posted By: Let me Alorael that for you. So for atheists, it's really much more comforting not to believe! Comforting! Living in fear of the tiniest chance that we might be right. So let me get this straight, you believe that the universe came into being by chance and that when you die, nothing happens (by nothing I mean spiritually). Is this correct? I believe it would be a lot more comforting to be a believer. (I'm just stating my opinion) Post #535

I remember playing this scenario many years ago. It really does have a nice storyline. One thing I found weird was that even though the people of Independence City had abolished magic, when your characters get in the fight at the theatre...nothing happens. When I say nothing happens I mean that no one is running around for the guards to catch the characters for using magic. Everything goes on as normal. I was expecting a little something more. Anyway, still a great scenario. Post #534

I wonder if Jeff has used names from the British TV show Last of the Summer Wine? If he hasn't, I wonder if he has any plans to do so? Post #533

Originally Posted By: CRISIS on INFINITE SLARTIES Again, I suggest leaving this subject alone. Message received! Originally Posted By: CRISIS on INFINITE SLARTIES Again, I know you're not trying to attack anyone's religion. But evaluations of the "devotion to good" or "damage-dealing" of any religion, past or present, simply don't belong here. That's like kerosene for a flame war. I have absolutely no plans to start flame wars. I will try to watch what I say from now on. How about I get us back on topic from which I derailed us from? Originally Posted By: Lier Beneath the Silent Skies Well, then what's the big deal about believing? I, personally, find my faith in God rather comforting and stable. I feel a scense of ease knowing that God hears my prayers. I feel secure knowing that one day when I shed my mortal coil and arrive in Heaven and meet Jesus, it was worth it. Of course, this is just how believing in God is to me. Individual results may vary! Post #532

Re-reading the Harry Potter series. Post #531

Originally Posted By: *i Solberg, I think the part that is subjective and could be construed as an attack on Catholicism is where you stated it has done the most damage. Since you have no objective way of quantifying damage to science or other smaller Christian sects, this becomes merely a matter of opinion. I don't think you crossed any line, but you are starting to encroach into that gray zone where discussions could easily turn into offensive. I definately do not want to offend anyone. My previous remarks refer to the Catholic church as it was run many years ago. The Catholic church today is better run and devoted to good. Maybe when I said earlier that they 'the most damage' I should have said 'some damage'. Post #530

My main party I usually used during the game consisted of 2 fighters, 2 mages, 1 priest and 1 lockpicker/trap disarmer/alchemist. My LP/TD/A was a pacifist. He did not fight which hurt his experience on that part, but he picked locks and disarmed traps for his experience. The levels between that guy and the other five were ridiculous. The other five would be around 25 and the other guy would be around 17. All I'm saying is that the pacifist trait isn't entirely bad. Although, I would have to say that it does hurt the character more than it helps. Post #529

Originally Posted By: CRISIS on INFINITE SLARTIES That's a pretty subjective appraisal. Also, it is pretty easy to read that as an attack on Catholicism. I don't think that's your intent, but regardless, it's not cool here. Please move the topic AWAY from criticism of specific religions, so it doesn't need to be locked. I'm sorry if my post seemed to attack the Catholic church. My intent was never to attack. Whether subjective or not, my intention was merely a brief history lesson. I don't see how it could be subjective when you look back at the history and can read about what happened. I will use better judgement in the things I write from now on on these matters and also make my intentions clear. Post #528

My nephews and nieces had their last day of school yesturday. It was only an hour long just to get their report cards and then come back home. Post #527

Originally Posted By: CRISIS on INFINITE SLARTIES It's one thing to say that many Christians supported the advance of science. And it's easy to argue that the spirit of Christianity is very compatible with honest, objective science. Pope John Paul II made that argument at length, for example. However, it's a little silly to suggest that the Catholic Church is the only organized Christian religion to ever stand in the way of science. I know that the Catholic church was not the only organized Christian religion to stand in the way of science, but it is the largest and has done the most damage...to science and other smaller Christian sects. Post #526

Originally Posted By: Locmaar Please note that there was and is a good deal of Christianity involved in refusing to believe what scientists found out about our macroscopic and microscopic world. You make it sound as though scientists halted progress due to disbelief. That's twisting what happened quite a bit. I wasn't saying that science was halting itself. I was just making a list of past events. Also it was not Christianity that attemted to halt science, but the hierarchy (sp?) of the Roman Catholic Church to be exact. Originally Posted By: CRISIS on INFINITE SLARTIES Originally Posted By: Arch-Mage Solberg For years, people believed the world to be flat, that has been proven false. Actually, _this_ has been proven false. The world was understood to be round going back to classical times, and this knowledge became fairly widespread by the mid-first-millenium CE. So I should've said "that while 90% of the people 'knew' the world to be flat, the other 10% of people 'believed' that the world was round and those 10% were eventually proven right". That's what I thought I said, but without so many words. Post #525

Originally Posted By: Harehunter Check out my maps at my Avernum 4 Annotated Maps. Wow...simply amazing work Harehunter! Have these been around for a while, I believe I've seen them before? Post #524

Originally Posted By: loyal servile of sasuke uchiha Another question I should add on. What is jeff rewriting? I mean the movment in avernum 1 was pretty awful, I like the ^>v< keys movment for exile three. It was pretty annoying to have to move with either the mouse or 7 9 1 3 on the keypad That's weird, I only use the numeric keypad for movement of the characters. Very simplistic. Post #523

Originally Posted By: Wordplay Kills Download at night when nobody wants the phone? —Alorael, who could also suggest looking for other places to download and a handy USB drive. No internet access at school, at work, or at a library? The other problem is that it isn't my computer or phone line or house for that matter. It's my aunt's house. I live next door, but when she goes to bed I have to leave so she can lock the door. Post #522