Goldengirl

There was a gaming app that I used to play on when I was in primary school, and it was called Real Arcade. It featured demos of various games, including Geneforge and Geneforge 2. I played these and fell in love, and then finally noticed the website on the title screen. I followed the link and fell into the rabbit hole, and I have yet to emerge.

Son of the Revolution by Liang Heng is a memoir written for Western audiences about the Cultural Revolution and its aftermath. It reads like a novel, and it's excellent. I'd recommend it to anyone studying Chinese culture or history.

Sociopath is a term of art. Please be more careful about how you refer to people with mental illnesses in the future. Thank you.

Just because murder is legal doesn't mean it's without consequences. For instance, in the societies that Tevildo mentions, there tend to be vendettas and such that make consequences for killing in a very lethal way. It's even a pretty popular trope in fiction.

Jonathan D. Spence's Gate of Heavenly Peace is a pretty cool literary history of China during a loosely-defined revolutionary era (~1890 to 1980). It's pretty hip.

I'm working on cornering the trowel market. Once I have a monopoly, I plan on selling them and making massive profits. Foolproof!

I've definitely seen the fora a lot more dead than this. Between people in the midst of new school years and the dead time between game releases a lull like this is inevitable. I can't see Spiderweb going gentle into that good night.

In addition to reading a book, you should exercise so you can cultivate a strong mind and a strong body.

Ignore, for the moment, the troubling assumption of a mind/body duality. Let your body cleanse that confusion by working out.

"We live at a critical juncture," Dr. Andrews stated boldly, as the powerpoint displayed the name of the class - History of the Pre-apocalyptic Era. "Currently, the last generation that lived during the fascinating era before the apocalypse is dying out; this is one of the last generations who faced the zombies as an existential threat. Our common heritage as human beings to understand our history as a people, society, and culture is now what is facing the threat. Therefore, it is our duty as historians to try and save us much from the previous era as possible. We live at a critical juncture..."

Wait, Melinda thought absentmindedly as she looked at her notebook. Didn't he already say that? How annoying. This isn't high school, you don't need to repeat every little thing.

"...will be assigning you each partners to conduct interviews at elderly homes to recover as much anecdotal evidence as possible concerning the tumultuous events of the zombie apocalypse..."

Great. Partner assignments, AKA someone slacking off while I do all the work to get a good grade.

"...and in the end you'll come together with your partner to build a narrative of the apocalypse that answers the following prompt: in what ways were political, social, cultural, or economic institutions and practiced changed by the zombie apocalypse, and in what ways did they stay the same? Be specific."

No thanks. Melinda's decision was resolute. Gen-ed requirements were fine, and all, but she was much happier learning something more relevant to actual life. After Dr. Andrews went through the syllabus and dismissed class, she turned in a drop request to the academics office and switched into a political sciences course on modern international relations. Zombies and the people that fought them were a thing of the past.

Is it better to be feared or loved? According to the moderating team, apparently, the answer is to be loved. I'm glad that we don't have a very Machiavellian group of moderators and administrators, despite the argumentation Emperor Tullegolar brought up back in the day (I believe that was the last major discussion we had about the moderating staff). Those were wilder times, and Spiderweb has calmed down through culling and vigilance into a community that doesn't need as harsh of actions to maintain its civility. Less exciting, as some would say, but I'd propose that it's also more alluring to new members. That is the goal, isn't it?

I'm feasibly in, I just don't know how much time I'll be able to devote to leisurely reading. I've got a lot of school-related texts to go through, as well as a backlog of books I've been meaning to read - once I get to them. I really like Cloud Atlas, though, so I suppose I can try and make time for this.

This made me look at the date and realize suddenly how close I am to my own ten-year anniversary. That's a weird feeling.

Congratulations on ten years well spent!

I feel like zombie horror has been played out already and Lovecraftian horror thrives on more audiovisual oomf than Jeff can provide. But there's one thing that Jeff already made that comes close to survival horror: Avernum 2, chapter 2. Play up the need for food and other supplies and the isolation in a hostile, unknown world does all the rest.

Ah yes, Alorael as the constant fan of the Black Waters scene.

Jeff has come close to this many times. Avernum 5 was the closest to being an entire game on this premise. Geneforge 1 also came close to this premise. Other scenes throughout the games, such as the alien beast hunt in Avadon or the ending sequence of Avadon. I actually wouldn't say a game along these premises is too far out of Spiderweb's realm, especially since the scenes that approach that in Jeff's games tend to be well-liked.

Subterra is still available from Crystal Shard, along with a modest collection of other games, here.

Richard White has not been active since tomorrow, years ago. If you don't have the implants, it's probably not worth pursuing.

I'm taking a history of revolutionary China course (1890-1950), beginner's badminton, pre-calculus, and an intermediate microeconomics course. I'm also a TA for a global history survey class (1492-present) being taught by the chair of the history department.

On some of the descriptions for these 'junk items', there are some gems of Jeff's funny writing styles. Stay vigilant, gamers.

If anyone would have that "great purpose or great drive" though, wouldn't it be the servile cultists? They've got absolute focus and discipline along with a large amount of magic that the Shapers can't explain. Yet, as far as I'm aware, there are no cultist ghosts.

Undead beings ARE rare in the entire series, that's true. In fact, where they show up it tends to be in the remnants and remains of proto-Shaper civilizations. Shades (of many variety) are more common, but it's made clear that they are magical constructs, not actual spirits.

Religion and theology has always been a bit brushed under the rug in Jeff's games. Avernum has a bunch of churches, but they are all, to the best of my knowledge, concerned with this world and how to act ethically upon it. Some cults in various games worship demons. However, it's demonstrated in this game that there is a separate demonic plane embroiled in constant warfare, and that the cultists are capable of successfully summoning demons from that realm. Interestingly, demons and the lands they come from are more or less the same in each game they appear in. Anyway, though, based on this evidence I think the issue canonically cannot be broached.

The issue, then, when there is no satisfying answer from the text is to place the question in the hands of the reader. We are left with the responsibility for deciding whether or not Serviles have souls.

If anything, there's less alcohol present in the games. It used to be that PC's could get drunk on nasty mushroom ale. Now the bottles and goblets are just scenery, occasionally serving as minor plot points, like Alwan using wine as a pain reliever in Geneforge 5.

When I saw this thread had been revived, it was with a small sense of dread realizing I probably posted a sophomoric poem. Looking back, I'm content with the selection I made. Here's another.

I think we all realize that a movie would cut out side quests galore. However, even if a director got rid of all the side quests, there'd still be too many major quests to make a good movie, even if it was one movie per game. For instance, you mentioned removing the Slithzerikai War. Unfortunately, though, that's a critical component of the world of Avernum as a setting, as well as a pretty important plot point for future games.

You also mention story arcs, and to be honest, that's where I think Avernum as a movie falls apart most. The game doesn't really have an overarching story. Your party is dumped in the caves, they kill things and get attention for being good at killing things, and then a few powerful organizations in Avernum have them kill a few powerful foes. Avernum 2, what with the Empire War, makes a lot more sense as a film.

Yeah, none of this is true. If you have some kind of evidence, then by all means I'll eat my words.

 

Besides, Avernum would make a pretty terrible movie.

Plot spoilers ahead on why Avernum would make a bad movie.

I believe I'm referencing an idea Alorael had, which is that Avernum would make a pretty good TV series. The exact reason it would make a lousy movie (so many unrelated quests) would be the exact reason it'd make a great TV show. Writers wouldn't have to clobber the audience with details about the back stories and personalities of each party member all at once, either.

I feel like the plot of Avernum 2 would be much better transferred to the format of a movie, with some creative licensing. The aforementioned TV series could continue in detailing all the other events of the Empire War. There's plenty of detail, and some of the stuff that gets cut from that hypothetical movie could be featured there. Avernum 3 and 4 probably would be back to the TV show, again because of lack of central focus. Vahnatai plagues are too regional to form a strong plot line. Avernum 5, though, has enough central focus to make a good film out of it. I'm unsure about Avernum 6.

Of course, these are all just my flights of fancy.

The debate on the definition of evil has been something that has been a sore topic in philosophy for a long time. Are some things always evil, as Kant suggests, no matter what their circumstances? Is evil in the eye of the beholder, as Nietzsche posits? Are actions evil because of their intent, as the deontologists believe, or their consequence, as the (consequential) utilitarians believe?

Let's imagine an adventurer in D&D who does nothing wrong, per se, while doing classically good things (by the D&D definition) such as killing bandits, defeating necromancers, etc. However, this adventurer always refuses quests that involve saving slaves; we'll say it's because the adventurer is lawful. In fact, the adventurer willingly uses weaponry made by slaves, paying money to slave owners for this gear. Slavery is one of those things most people regard as evil; does the adventurer's actions make them evil, because they're helping to finance slavery?

I mean, this question takes a lot for granted. For instance, do we count replay time for different factions/sides/whatever or just time to do one playthrough? Do we stick to the bare bones of what we HAVE to do, or do we include all the option quests? How carefully do people actually read the text? I think that's why there's such a large range in howlongtobeat's data.

[Forgive the double post, but I have one last episode in the saga of the three alien visitors]

The transfusion of knowledge was incredible. Humanity was astounded by the vast extent of technological achievements these aliens had at their disposal. Communication between world governments and the alien trio was at first stilted and slow, even after purely visual means of communication were utilized. The aliens seemed to have a profound misunderstanding of all aspects of human culture they had encountered in their studies before their terrestrial visit; they switched languages casually and frequently, forcing governments to hire a wide range of polyglots who laboriously translated the aliens' communications word by word.

Finally, though, the humans managed to get the aliens to write in one language solely, though Western politicians were dismayed to discover that the language the aliens eventually chose was Farsi. From their spaceship orbiting the moon, communications were sent back and forth constantly, with Iran now dominating the conversation between the two species. An actual landing on the Earth was arranged, though the Iranian diplomats were unable to convey the concept of national boundaries to the aliens. Despite all intentions to land outside of Tehran, the strange trio instead landed in Kuwait. An international crisis emerged as American military officials refused to transport them to Iran, an issue which the aliens themselves seemed ignorant of. After one full day of wandering a beach that was cleared of any other visitors by the American military, the aliens resolved the crisis by setting up a broadcasting center that ran a video blog on the Internet. There, they continued their discussions with world leaders.

Their hunger for knowledge was insatiable, and soon teams of professors of history, literature, philosophy, and all manner of social studies and humanities were brought in to discuss matters with the aliens. In return, the aliens almost flippantly offered technological and scientific information, presented at rates so fast that the scientific community's collective heads were spinning. They offered the information so fast, and on topics ranging from the arcane to the obvious, that actual applications of the information were slow to come. The theories that had been devised by the alien civilization, dubbed the Scientists rather crudely by humans since the aliens didn't have individual or collective names for themselves, were fascinating and sometimes their applications were immediately obvious. Theories, though, were all that were offered.

Then, all of a sudden and without any further contact, the aliens left. Their intense interest in cultural and anthropological issues had apparently been sated. Human curiosity, though, is not so easily satisfied. After twenty years of muddled efforts to make the alien theorems bring utility to humanity, the European Space Agency managed to develop an engine with faster-than-light speeds. Combined with Japanese breakthroughs in replicating the advanced communications techniques that had allowed the aliens to discover humanity, a roughly international crew was assembled that sent a mission to restore contact.

Upon arrival at the solar system that had been colonized extensively by the aliens, there was shock. Rather than the prosperous and vaguely utopian worlds of technological and scientific progress that had been hinted at by the three travelers who had named themselves after cities, they found burnt and wasted planets marked by massive craters and detonations. Later investigations managed to piece together a rough narrative of what happened:

Armed with an extensive (and now corrected) understanding of human culture, Edo, Sydney, and Damascus shared their findings with the rest of their civilization. The result was disastrous; the public was voracious in their consumption and replication of human ideas, lacking anything resembling the social and cultural constructs that were regarded as archetypes on Earth. Governments, terrorist groups, armies, churches, knitting clubs, slaveowners' organizations, corporations, and the whole host of human organizations emerged and spread, enforcing practices they had stolen from humanity without knowing why they did so. The worst, though, occurred when the aliens began to practice war in a way far more savage than anything humanity had ever done. Borrowing the Schmittian idea that only states could engage in war, they experienced rapid centralization of all organizations under state governments; the states fought to fight, and their combat was a war of all against all, indiscriminate violence to completely eradicate the other. Military technology, previously completely ignored by the civilization, rapidly reached and surpassed human levels, reaching a zenith when an entire planet experienced a simultaneous nuclear reaction of all molecules below its atmosphere.

The war only ended when the last two groups, geologists and a group of haiku enthusiasts, simultaneously destroyed each other. The vestiges of civilization were all that remained, the ruins of a society that thirsted for culture but drank from bloody waters. Humanity was left with the sobering possibility that they were, again, alone in the universe.

I saw this topic and thought that Slarty may have returned. Nevertheless, I took the test again to see what changed.

My sense of extraversion has remained high, but my agreeableness has dipped to being low instead of average. I think this is a result of my sympathy waning; I'm still very trusting, however. Cooperation is high, but everything else is low. For conscientiousness, there was no change. Neuroticism is now average, which I attribute to a stressful year at college rather than my more relaxed time last summer. Immoderation remains high, but my anxiety and depression scores have both creeped up a little. Openness stayed high, though I'm decidedly less open to emotionality than I previously scored. I think this may be because I don't care too much about what others are feeling, though, rather than any change in my attitude towards my own emotions.