Actaeon

After several years in Boulder, I have come to appreciate small town life even more. The absence of chain stores and restaurants, the easy walk to everything (grocery store, dentist, vet, etc), the tendency to run into people you know in the store or on the street...

 

I'm spoiled, though. Proximity to Aspen gives me access to a range of arts and culture to rival most small cities, without having to live there. I'd probably be more down on rural life if it were otherwise. Although the public land would probably win the day, even so.

 

Edit:

Aren't all the Geneforges already in more or less the modern engine? Other than the action point system, I mean.

The second question is, admittedly, not terribly well thought out. Experience helps some, "urban" can be Rome or it can be Pittsburgh. Small towns range from Maycomb, Alabama (or a nonfictional counterpart) to Aspen, Colorado. Perception plays a huge roll, and polls are helpful for measuring perception.

 

If Slarty had designed the poll, I'm sure it would be more complete. As it is, I will rely on the forum itself to explore the nuances of the terms.

It is possible that such a poll has been conducted before, but as the demographics of the board are plastic, I see no harm in posting this.

 

There is, I'm told, a innate desire in most human beings to move to the city, a place that, they say, is full of possibilities. I don't see it, but I suspect I'm the odd man out.

 

So I'm curious. Where have you ended up? Is it where you would have chosen for yourself, given a choice?

 

 

If you want to get that technical, it is well to remember that all presents are really slightly in the past. If you have posted in response, you have already finished reading the thread, as well as your own post. "Currently" might more accurately refer to the moment your post is being read. However, unless we discover the technology for psychic paper, or a quantum wave function as per Alorael's post, it would be rather difficult to accurately reflect that.

Each of Spiderweb's games comes with a sizable free demo. Try downloading the earliest game (whose graphics you can handle) from each series, and seeing which strikes your fancy.

 

I also wonder if one of the "recommend a game to play after Avadon" threads could be made into a sticky.

It actually used to be that way for any trip across the Atlantic. I think they got rid of it altogether, though. Maybe someone sued them. I suspect that's why they stopped offering "Creed" as an alternate search for "the worst band of all time". You can still use "the answer the life to universe and everything" as an actual number in the built in calculator, though.

Actually, I agree entirely. As the even more shunned minority that prefers Wheel of Time to Song of Ice and Fire, I think Martin makes it hard for readers to root for the heros, either because they're homicidal maniacs, or they're liable to die in the next chapter. I would not, however, council someone against the series until they'd had a chance to assess that for themselves. Cormac McCarthy's work is blacker than Martin's, but also widely regarded as brilliant.

I think "lots" might be overstating it for the sex, but the violence is pretty substantial. And I did not mean it as a necessarily negative thing. While most older fantasy rather glosses over the brutality of medieval warfare, Martin wants us to see the faces of the dead. It's harsh and unflinching, and that's precisely what has set the series apart.

So long as you don't get too attached to fictional characters or mind lots of violence and sex, you should enjoy it.

Don't be cross, Amanda,

Amanda, don't be cross,

For when you're cross, Amanda,

I feel an albatross

Around my neck, or dank gray moss,

And my eyes assume an impervious gloss.

Amanda, Dear Amanda,

Don't be cross.

 

Do not frown, Amanda,

Amanda, do not frown,

For when you frown, Amanda,

I wamble like a clown,

My mouth is stuffed with eiderdown,

And I spatter coffee upon your gown.

Amanda,

Dear Amanda,

Do not frown.

 

Don't clam up, Amanda,

Amanda, do not clam,

For when you clam, Amanda,

I don't know where I am.

What is it that I did you damn?

Shall I make amends for a sheep, or a lamb?

Amanda,

Dear Amanda,

Do not clam.

 

Please be gay, Amanda,

Amanda, please be gay,

For when you're gay, Amanda,

The stars come out by day,

The police throw parking tags away,

And I want to kick up my heels and bray.

Amanda,

Dear Amanda,

Please be gay.

 

-Ogden Nash

Yet, for some reason, my attempts to make "Narg" the top choice for favorite character in one of their polls was fruitless. All the rebel votes went to Bella.

 

Edit: Also, kudos for the double spoiler. I'm resisting the temptation to see how many of them you can nest before the universe implodes.

BUT if we managed to lure those three to some strange new satellite board (Despolaris Vale), the rest of us going begin the long task of catching up to them.

I wonder which day of the week would be ideal? Sunday, I guess, since we'd get a weekend in first, and most of the people predicting it would be off at church, anyway.

Ah. Right. Contributing to the theme. Try first of each series, and find out what suits you. It's nicer to visit them in roughly chronological order, and easier to progress with the engine rather than losing features as you go along.

 

Edit: At the risk of making an enemy of Tyran, I must also throw my personal support behind Geneforge. It's the game that brought me here.

It may take weeks without sleep and all sorts of tech savvy, but someday, I will beat Tyran to the punch.

There's Ballotopedia for that. It leans libertarian, if anything, but seems generally to give good coverage. Otherwise, I'd say it's the job of the media to provide information for the system to work, but of course that's not happening.

That's a depressing, if accurate, outlook. I certainly hope that everyone out protesting at least bothered to vote. Doing so gives you a greater right to complain, I think. Myself, I'd like more to vote on, and don't entirely understand why it's usually considered so burdensome. Most likely, that's a function of youth that will wear off in time.

Andraste, TM, and myself share a birthday. I'd leave it to Aran to hammer out the actual numbers, but I think the statistics are in favor of that sort of thing when a community contains (theoretically) thousands of people.

 

Edit: Actually, I think birthdays were part of the database at Ermarian back in the day. I don't remember which was the most common, though.

 

Post Edit: A little browsing brought me back to this.

A brief survey of the internet found my no answer to what's probably not a terribly bright question: why are their no federal level ballot measures in the United States? Could we not handle it? Is there no precedence? Is the legislature just so good at it's job that we don't need anything of the sort?

 

You all seem politically savvy. What am I missing?

How could Alorael be otherwise? Posting neglect could result in someone claiming postcount dominance in a matter of... decades.

Also nice to see you. I was (and remain) and minor poster when you faded away, but nevertheless knew your name and counted you among the major players.

Edit: Just finished "At the Mountains of Madness" by HP Lovecraft. Before that, "Blood Meridian", by Cormac McCarthy. Time for something light.

No, but at http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheHerosJourney you'll find many that are. Careful, though. TV Tropes is one of the internet's greatest time sinks.

 

Edit: Eliminated unnecessary bits of the URL, then added this unnecessary bit of commentary.

Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd

Negotiations and Love Songs - Paul Simon

Harvest Moon - Neil Young

Come Away With Me - Norah Jones

The Softer Side of Coltrane

Yo Yo Ma Plays Ennio Morricone

 

 

I'm with Aloreal on the classical bit. The third Brandenburg is my favorite, though it's not the one they shot into space.

 

Tchaikovsky's 5th, Suite Bergamasque, and Chopin's nocturnes all stand out as sets of work worthy of consideration.

Practically anything CAN be a double entendre if you make it so, though.

Agreed. The one non-video spiderweb chat I attended was an enjoyable escapade.

Also, Spiderwebbers would probably be good at postal chess. Although we tried Diplomacy once and it didn't go great.

Edit: I failed in my quoting. I clearly haven't posted much since the UBB change.