Alorael at Large

Spiderweb has no plans for any continuation of the Avernum series and its docket is full for the neck several years, so if any sequels do come they're a long way off. —Alorael, who thinks the community here is always interested in exploration of Jeff's worlds. In fact, the community was at least at one time so interested in filling in the gaps that it created histories, dynasties, and even continents. The most lasting legacy of all that is the name now generally agreed-upon for the world of Avernum, Ermarian, which is entirely a fan fabrication.

Australia was established as a colony first, and the use of convicts for labor was convenient. You'll note England didn't stop executing people for capital crimes! The Empire doesn't either; it's the incovenient in-betweeners who they don't want around but can't really justify killing who get sent down. But unlike Australia, Avernum isn't a colony. It gets no desirables, has no harbor, and any resources extracted can't be sent home. For banishment to make sense, some combination of conditions must be true: the portal has to be not all that expensive to maintain once created (maybe it's the one made for the First Expedition?), the Empire must have considerable desire to not execute but to not simply imprison, and transporting prisoners to the portal must be reasonably cheap and easy. For the first, well, maybe. Portals are literally magic. For the second, I can see trying to avoid mass murder to limit the spread of rebellion, which seems to be a perpetual problem for the Empire. And if the portal's cheap then it's cheaper than imprisoning someone for a long time since you provide no food, no water, and no guards. Which goes into the third: it doesn't have to be cheap to move people around, just cheaper than locking them up forever. What really seems strange, though, is that any benefit of not killing people would be gained by sending them into an uncertain but presumably grim fate from which no one returns. Is it really that much better? —Alorael, who settles on "Hawthorne was crazy and didn't need to make good decisions" as the final justification. Which actually explains a lot of the nature of the Empire, really.

Empire discovers caves. Empires sends powerful bands into the caves to see what's up. They all die. Empire decides that this makes it a perfect dumping ground for undesirables, who will presumably die quickly and miserably. (This is better than execution? Or was this intended to be worse than execution?) The banished include powerful mages, who make the caves more habitable and are part of dealing with the endemic demon problem. Somehow, at some point, the Empire decides it's a good idea to check what's going on, just in case, and then has at least some permanent spying operations in Avernum. —Alorael, who thinks the history doesn't really add up. But that's okay. If you don't look too closely it's fine, and if you are looking that closely you're probably the type to cobble together fanon to justify the whole thing.

I think the First Expedition expected monsters, and they got them. And, to be fair, that's also what their interactions with the sliths seem to have amounted to, although that could be a matter of only having a hammer and seeing everyone as nails. But the caves were very much seen as a hostile, alien environment. They were supposed to be over-equipped to deal with any problems. (And they were, but the problems seem to have been poor leadership and terrible decision-making, which the Empire especially just couldn't really work around.) The First Expedition couldn't turn conqueror because they expected no one to conquer. They weren't colonizers because the caves were not a fertile, welcoming land. If they'd found something amazing down there maybe they would have been followed by someone else, but just disappearing confirmed the Empire's opinion that this was a bad place and perfect for dumping bad people. —Alorael, who now adds to his ponderings whether the Empire-Avernum war would have turned out differently if the Empire's best stuff hadn't gone missing and if it maybe hadn't suffered a cultural setback in discovering that being a really awesome adventurer gets you sent on a suicide mission. Or exiled. It's possible that Avernum got to be so great because everyone with the potential to hit level 50 and take on entire armies for the value of their gear was sent down there for attitude problems or horrific criminal behavior. Which would actually explain a lot about the sociopathic nature of the lying, stealing "heroes" Avernum gets saddled with, judging by the reports on these forums.

No game in either trilogy explicitly says what interaction there was between the First Expedition and the sliths. We don't know who provoked whom. But given that the expedition managed to provoke Motrax, one of the more friendly and laid-back dragons, into either killing them or just casting them out, they certainly weren't good at diplomacy. Arrogant and slaughtered indeed. As an aside, though, the First Expedition wasn't there as conquerors, nor were they really there as diplomats. They were explorers. Encountering anything intelligent, much less in huge numbers, probably came as a giant shock. And then they handled it terribly. But that's not really what Avernum has against the sliths, that just sets up the tone of how sliths treated later humans. When the first exiles to Avernum showed up, the sliths attacked. And kept attacking, relentlessly, until all of the hostile bands were killed off. And then, in A6, they're attacking, very successfully, again. Yes, the few sliths in Gnass were friendly to Avernum, but to the majority of humans sliths were a terrifying hostile force. It's probably to Avernum's credit that they integrated Gnass as well as it did. I also think you're overstating the racism: sliths were among the few sent up to Upper Avernum and seem to do fine. They're respected, and even part of the highly secret Bunker. The fact that they don't appear in large numbers is probably more due to the fact that they're simply aren't very many sliths as part of the Kingdom of Avernum. But what evidence is there that the ones who are are treated as second-class citizens? —Alorael, who really finds it remarkable how well Avernum deals with friendly members of species with whom they've had major conflicts. The nephilim start out as more or less an opposing nation-state within Avernum, but they're eventually integrated, at least somewhat. (And remain prone to banditry, but then, so do the humans.) The sliths of Gnass remain in Gnass and don't suffer any massive waves of anti-slith violence. The vahnatai nearly get Avernum destroyed because they don't distinguish between Avernites and the Empire, then join forces, then go on a human-killing rampage, then turn on Avernum in force. Avernum still maintains diplomatic relations and a somewhat tense peace with the ones who are left (i.e. not the diehard Rentar followers). The Empire kills non-humans as a matter of course, but Avernum seems surprisingly willing to recognize that an enemy made up entirely of one species does not mean that species is entirely made up of enemies.

They're unwelcome in Avernum because the majority of the sliths start interacting with humans by massacring the First Expedition and continue in that vein until the death of Sss-Thsss. And then, well, the sliths of Gnass don't really have much to do besides collaborate with Avernum. Their numbers are tiny, they're still unwelcome in their homeland, and Avernum at least tries, sometimes, to give them a fair shot. —Alorael, who could try to draw interesting parallels between the Empire's age-old official policy of wiping out nephilim and the intermittent slithzerikai impulse towards wiping out all the humans. Maybe it was just murderousness that made them assault the First Expedition, but maybe they got a very accurate view of what the Empire would do and have a firm belief that it's better to do than to be done unto.

Spoiler-free here, but if A3 had had a plague of chitrachs I think A4 would have been a very different game. —Alorael, who can only assume that some things are so unforgivable no one would dream of it. Except Jeff and his Eastern Gallery.

That's probably about right. The Humble Store is explicit about how it divvies up proceeds, and their split is 75% to the company, 10% to charity, and 15% to the Humble Store itself. —Alorael, who has to wonder if part of why Steam is so careful with the information is that it doesn't give everyone the same deal. A big company could very well walk away if asked to give up a sizable chunk of its income. An indie outfit might be willing to pay a premium for the legitimacy and exposure of Steam.

A post got eaten. In brief, a well-functioning and equitable society needs good education, which means good teachers. They need to be trained in pedagogy specifically, the profession should be highly competitive, and they should be well paid. Yes, in part because they work hard, but more importantly because money motivates, and what a lot of countries lack now is motivation for the best and brightest to teach. And you can't mandate prestige, but money does buy a fair amount of it. —Alorael, whose ideal state is not far off from Excalibur's, really. Some differences, but a similar framework.

I'm usually good at getting rid of the background when copy-pasting. —Alorael, who will unveil the mystery. Em-dashes are a single button combo on a Mac and require a modicum of memory for the alt-code on Windows. Since he doesn't use Windows much he doesn't actually remember the 0151 code, and thus it's easier to just copy than look it up on the occasions he's browsing on a PC.

It's a well-designed game, and yes, there's a lot of skill, both in choosing the right cards to use and in selecting phases judiciously. I'm in the definite minority in feeling only lukewarm towards it. Somehow it just hasn't won me over. —Alorael, who deeply misses Isotropic's online Dominion. The official Dominion site is distinctly inferior even leaving aside the money-grubbing.

My objection to risk is not that it's too random, really, but that it's too boring. There's almost no tactical depth, and there's not a lot of strategic depth either. The game plays out very similarly every time you play, with only a little randomness to shake things up. And it's simply not interesting enough; the decisions are too small and too similar. —Alorael, who takes Small World over it because even with little randomness (easily adjusted to no randomness if you really want) it still has far more decision-making and more widely varying games.

Of games I own or have played in the last month or so: Favorite Dominion: I feel like every game is strategic but very different. The balance is, by the nature of the game, very robust. The randomness is fun without overwhelming planning. On the downside, there isn't much tactical thinking going on. Lots of Fun Small World: Like Risk, but actually really fun and pretty quick. Highly varied between games. Sometimes ridiculous combinations appear, but it's fun even when you're losing. Ra: The entire game is a series of auctions. It's unlike anything else I've played, it's fascinating, and I enjoy it thoroughly. Innovation: My internal jury is still out on whether this is deeply tactical or just random, and whether there's any strategy if you're well-versed or if it's entirely moment-by-moment tactics. Kind of the opposite of Dominion, maybe? Still very fun and a game that's actually good with two players or lots of players. Seven Wonders: I've gotten a few games in. I'm not very good, but I find the game fascinating. Android Netrunner: Unusual in that it's for two players. Deck building without deck buying. Maybe too random but always a good time. RoboRally: Improved by alcohol, but still fun without impairment. Operating robots poorly is more entertaining than you think! Lords of Waterdeep: Actually quite low randomness, which I like in a game. Always interesting and surprisingly different. Fun Settlers of Catan: Needs no introduction, really. It's strategic, it's a little random for my tastes but good strategy overcomes it, and it's quick and accessible. Puerto Rico: I'm pretty sure different strategies are not equal, but it's still a nice game and, as best I can tell, the progenitor of role selection. Tokaido: Kind of relaxing. More interactive and tactical than it initially looks. Very quick and fun. Meh Ascension: Wishes it were Dominion. Isn't. Building a deck from semi-random elements is not so good. The expansions have only made it more random. Game of Thrones: It's over-complicated Dominion-Risk. Lots of complicated moving parts, but not enough real complexity to justify it. And it takes forever with new players. Race For the Galaxy: Okay, but I'm not so keen on it. Like Puerto Rico the card game. I think the randomness is way too high on this one, and there's a lot of complication without complexity, but I've only played a half dozen games. Battlestar Galactica: Complexity justifies the complicatedness, but oh boy is it complicated. Game takes a very long time. Interesting, but not worth the effort, really. I'll just sit it out, thanks Citadels: I acknowledge that this is an interesting and well-designed game, but I don't enjoy it. The role-selection is interesting; the actual building leaves me bored. Pandemic: With an asterisk. As a multiplayer game it's bad. As a solitaire game with one person playing multiple roles it's actually okay. Maybe expansions improve it? Carcassonne: Good play relies heavily on memorizing tile distributions. It's not actually that much fun if you don't know them, and it's still not that much fun once you do. Bang: It's a party game, but it's not even entertaining for large groups. Bleh. —Alorael, who has to cut himself off from starting on games he hasn't played for too long.

I didn't realize until you brought it up, but it does look like Jeff's saying that, doesn't it? But I don't think he is. The Spiderweb store will remain in operation, at least for a while, but orders will be simpler. No discounts for owning previous incarnations of the remakes. —Alorael, who thinks the dissolution of Spiderweb's in-house store would get a slightly more eye-grabbing topic title.

—Alorael, who has a slightly more recent picture for this thread. Here he is, looking all mysterious and broody.

I now intend to use administrative tools to meta-godmode. I can not only flout the will of the majority, I can modify posts and even accounts to back me up! —Alorael, who can't believe he's been missing out on this prime example of abuse of power. And he's sure everyone else is excited too, because if anyone isn't that's easily rectified with a little bit of enhanced interrogation post editing.

A little birdie told me that this is a good time to start refreshing constantly. —Alorael, who does not mean that literally. Please do not refresh constantly. But do keep an eye out for the next day or two!

I don't know. Spiderweb has all of the Jeff Vogel games, of course, but it also published Richard White's games, and it may well have done nothing but distribute codes. If they were able to produce codes they could always register their own, but for all I know Jeff doesn't even have any of the games and would have to scrounge around the internet for demos to register. —Alorael, who is quite sure Jeff has no interest in selling GC or the other Richard White Games games anymore. They were never exactly popular, and most of the money was supposed to go to someone who may not actually be reachable anymore. And they're distinctly different and pretty universally seen as worse compared to Jeff's games, so he may not want that stuff diluting the Spiderweb brand.

It's this map, and what's on the right is less interesting than what's below. —Alorael, who of course had to go searching for it as soon as that histomap was posted.

I think the only film from this year may have been Guardians of the Galaxy. Literally the only one. I'm not really qualified to review it, you know? —Alorael, who narrowly missed going to see Selma with a woman named Selma who lived in Selma during the events of the film. That would have been worthwhile.

Microscope becomes not very fun if you have a huge group, at least in my experience. It would be fun and interesting to have several Microscopes going at once in groups of 4-5. The game works great online except for the actual roleplayed scenes, and I'd imagine those are no worse than any regular RP. Bonus points for reasonable rules to limit stupidity and an overarching structure that makes it not matter so much. —Alorael, who could also see a couple of bad apples really making Microscope not fun. Sure, you can ignore apocalyptic catastrophes destroying everything you've built, even if they're recurring, but eventually it gets old to know that every history you make ends in fire and ruin because someone likes kicking sandcastles.

I haven't been a prolific forum RPer and, honestly, probably won't be one now, but it's not like forums or RP have changed at all since the invention of, oh, UBB code. Spiderweb culture might be different, but it also can keep changing. The only way to find out is to try. Nalyd is onto something about GMs, though. The slower the medium, the more time becomes important. Play by post loses the logistical overhead at the cost of being really, really slow. A GM will bottleneck that even more, and I think that's too big a cost. You could have some kind of executive oversight, but doing that by committee in an OOC thread might work too. —Alorael, who is just opining without basis. Carry on.

What seiðr is this? —Alorael, who offers his congratulations to the pile.

Geneforge really gets difficult because one square of movement costs less than 1 AP and it's really not obvious how far you can move. —Alorael, who would just like a little number by the cursor saying how much moving somewhere will cost, taking into account planned route as well. That would solve all the little irritations.

Unless you don't need a laptop and want to save money. Monitors come pretty cheap. Even the lowest end desktops will still cost a few hundred dollars more. —Alorael, who more than anything would love to have a monitor with the graphics card built into it to allow his mobile computer to become a reasonable gaming desktop when hooked up. Sadly you can't do that.