Goldengirl

Pablo Picasso would be disappointed. I, on the other hand, will happily indulge in some cake.

Excellent. Everything is progressing perfectly.

Congratulations in working according to the plan.

Strangely enough, we were talking about two-tier pricing structures in my microeconomics class this morning. There's market segmentation going on in terms of games. In the iPad market, there aren't a lot of close substitutes in terms of longer, developed RPG's, but there are plenty of near-substitutes that drives down the price of games there. In the PC market, there aren't a ton of games that get produced for PC anymore, meaning there's less market competition and more ability for Jeff to set his own prices. Moreover, since resale of the games between the two markets isn't possible (to the best of my knowledge) the segmentation between the two markets is maintained and an equilibrium between the two prices can't be reached.

In my defense, I didn't know that you had to look for cupcakes that are explicitly marked as vegetarian now. :-(

 

Edit: The college cafeteria actually had pancakes (the sweet kind) labeled as vegetarian today. That was mildly creepy.

A lot of ingredients in standard baking (milk, butter, etc.) use animal by-products and such. Some people define vegetarianism pretty strictly, and some people leave that definition (no animal by-products) to veganism. Your cafeteria is probably just erring on the side of safety.

Actually in my theatrical profession we tend to say that literature is also very much ambiguous.

I'd like to expand on this point to provide my insight into another reason why people write fanfiction. If we start from contentious point that the author is dead and that the show, book, or whatever other work is now in the possession of the community-audience, fanfiction can actually be understood to be an active act of interpretation that resolves underlying ambiguities in the work. The author (or set of authors in the case of a show) may indeed be dead, the show cancelled, the final word written in an unsatisfactory way, leaving a more definitive interpretation of the work up to the community-audience.

One fanfiction I read (out of a very limited number) was an append to the movie Inception, which I believe is the reason I'm taking the interpretation that I am. When the work ends on a cliffhanger as in that film, fanfiction is a natural way to satisfy the urge to know. Did the top keep spinning or did it fall? What happens to the children of the Harry Potter universe? Essentially, then, fanfiction can help tie up loose ends.

Of course, I don't think this is the only reason people write fanfiction, but I do think it's a reason people write a particular kind of fanfiction.

Zizek is definitely more something, I'll give you that much.

I'm actually drawing on a lot of Lacan for an essay I'm writing on Lee Edelman's conception of reproductive futurism and violence against queerness and its application to the Cultural Revolution in China as well as power struggles over Mao's "spiritual" descendant in leadership of the Chinese Communist Party. Do you think Lacan was more of a psychologist or a philosopher?

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.

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.