Synergy

Has anyone determined how many stages of destruction a city or town undergoes in A3? I got the impression it was only two: the state you initially find it in—under some degree of attack by the local monsters, and a second ravaged/destroyed state if enough time passes. Are there any in-between stages anyone has noticed? Also, it appears only certain cities are set up to be attacked directly and others will not. What happens after 200 or 300 days? Surely not the whole of Valorim is laid waste.

I doubt I did. I'm a bit vague on how it all happened now. I just remember discovering this orb in a room, which was communicating with some empire mage or commander on the surface and he was surprised to see me (Pippin looks into the Palantir, anyone?) The more logical choice was to destroy it, so I did. But I was curious, so I went back to a saved game and saw what would happen if I chose the other option. Are we talking about the same orb/sphere encounter here? EDIT: I'm almost certain this was in the Scimitar Cave though, and later I was given the quest to destroy the orb I had already destroyed just for the heck of it.

Whereas I stumbled onto the orb in the Scimitar cave without looking for it before I had even been told or warned about it. I had no idea it was a challenge or a flukey thing to find.

Change all the ssss's in any random Slith's name to rrrrrr's, add a few m's and w's, stir well, and bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. (Serves four).

Was that a vent or a rave?

Quote: —Alorael, who wonders if Gorvifal's crypt was inserted in A3 only because Jeff couldn't have an Avernum without a spiral-shaped lair of the undead in one form or another. Gorvifal's crypt was more roundish, wasn't it? I know it's not exactly a crypt, but the somewhat more spirally Pit of the Wyrm is a truly challenging and freaky level which is my favorite dungeon in A3. It psyched me out like no other dungeon. The reward is certainly tremendous, and it is bitterly bought.

We have been chosen to test. We've been talking about submitting our signed Non-Disclosure Agreements which are our contracts with Jeff to beta test.

Not yet, Poit. I mailed my NDA since I didn't want to try to dredge up my fax software. I live about fifteen miles away from Spiderweb, so it should have been there by Wednesday or so last week. I'm not sure what happens next...I assume we will get an email about an URL to go to, enter a password and download the beta or something like that?

Heh, Eph, my eyes quickly began to glaze over trying to read that NDA myself. Not easy to chew through at all, and I had to look at it several times to feel confident I had not missed something critical. I might holler at you at some point if I get stuck or sumthin' if that's cool (privately of course) and you're welcome to do the same if you want. If anyone else knows this is not acceptable according to either the NDA or Jeff's wishes, please pipe up.

Skippy—ah, so I see. Now it all adds up. If you felt so inclined, you could hop on over to sevcom.com, select Classic Albums in the scroll box, find the Severed Heads album Cuisine and click on the MP3 for Skippy Roo Kangaroo. It's really very silly. What is it that makes so many Aussies so delightfully whacked, anyway? Ephesos—hey, good goin'! Your first time too it sounds like? I take it you got your NDA via email, so I'm not sure why you were asking me about the policy? You know what I'm really wondering now is whether it is permissible (or useful) to have private dialog with other beta testers during the testing? Or maybe Jeff sends lots of feedback to everyone about snags and issues people are encountering. I'd hate to get stuck with no FAQ to consult, heh.

The NDA focuses on keeping confidential all aspects of the game itself or anything specified as confidential (which didn't include the NDA itself), rather than the somewhat peripheral fact that one is involved in beta-testing. I was hesitant to say it, because no one else appears to be mentioning their confirmation, and I don't want to look smug either. I'm quite pleased of course, and I know it's also going to be a lot of work. I have mixed feelings about doing it, but am sure it will be worth it or I wouldn't have applied in the first place. I'm quite new around here still, so it feels good to be able to give something helpful to the community by doing this.

So...Skippy...very good. Did you know it already or did you have to Google it? I take it you noted the song ("Skippy-Roo Kangaroo") which inspired my inquiry regarding Severed Heads, a band originally from Sydney and now centered in Darlinghurst? Where is that? I didn't see it on my world map. What you knew and I did not was where Skippy the bush kangaroo orginally came from, so thanks for that trivia. Most amusing. Severed Heads are a very quirky, silly tongue-in cheek techno-pop-industrial-tape loop kind of band which have sounded like anything from a wall of looped noise to sort of New-Orderish. .... I asked about beta testing because I have been graciously invited to participate, and I am curious to know what I'm in for. I was expecting to not be selected and never got around to asking these questions in advance which would have been smarter.

Thanks 'roo. If I randomly mentioned "Severed Heads", would you know why? P.S. I counted 18 beta testers for BOA.

I meant to ask this a good week ago. I've been wondering a few things about the beta testing process, assuming this general information isn't confidential. Can anyone answer me the following? 1) How many people typically beta-test a Spiderweb game? 2) Is it actually fun? 3) Is it tedious and repetitive? 4) Is there a reward for the hard work besides the privilege? (i.e., a free copy of the game when you're done?) We now return you to your regularly scheduled deprogramming.

No denying it--a lot of people just plain love getting into a good verbal scrap. It is everywhere on Usenet and internet forums, no matter what the subject matter. I certainly enjoy a good debate myself. I don't enjoy acrimony, though I still sometimes get more heated than I want (like when playing through Canopy, heh). I choose, however, to not tolerate disrespect for others. Clearly TM possesses a fierce intellect, and apparently he is a tireless contributor and generous in a variety of ways as well. I think it's a shame to see such talent marred by disrespect and antipathy turned against people here. As much as I admire ability and creativity, I'm ultimately for the underdogs in life. I hate to see people with formidable abilities who are on top of their game turning their weapons with malice against other people. There is a conceit in that behavior which sickens me. It's also such a waste of energy that could be put to much more productive use. It is good for any of us in life to learn humility. I haven't crossed paths with TM myself. I'll refrain from forming any further opinion of him in the meantime. Everyone deserves a fair shake.

Quote: Originally written by Knot Eye: Quote: Originally written by Synergy67: Quote: Bring back TM So we can resurrect inane, blighty-tongued bickering and "improve" the dialog? He has created many scenarios in both BoA and BoX, and by removing him from the community we are hurting ourselves more than him. EDIT: Removed the more rude parts and a long speech.[/QB] TM is still making his scenarios, is he not? What's the difference? If you think that the lack of anything to do with a computer game "hurts" anyone, then I wonder what your values in and take on life must be. As fun or addictive as computer games can be, they are entirely unimportant, and in fact tend to detract from real living, real people, real relationships, real challenges with real rewards. TM is technically proficient at scenario building. Everything else I have observed about him gives me nothing else I can, in good conscience, celebrate or admire. It violates what I value to promote anger, rudeness, vileness, ego, and hatred. Life's too short to squander it on bad attitudes and bad energy. It may take a while to come to that conclusion, but it will come, even if only at the very end of a life.

Quote: Originally written by Kingy: This is possibly the most retarded thing I've read today. -------------------- Bring back TM So we can resurrect inane, blighty-tongued bickering and "improve" the dialog?

I had to boost him a star A) because it was just a bit clever and amusing, and he DID bother to concoct this writing for someone's entertainment. because he lives in Mukilteo...which is about 15 miles north of me (Kirkland) and where I take the ferry boat to see my parents on Whidbey Island, WA. P.S. Hey Christopher, did you appreciate Paulsbo and Bremerton in Avernum 3? Oh yes, and we got Townshend, one of the salesmen(?) somewhere too. (Inside jokes for Spiderweb locals).

The nice thing about Sickness Prone is that it doesn't seem to make any significant difference but you get the experience point boost. Drake--you had a no magic singleton, or were you describing two different parties? The first game I played before I got better at differentiating certain skills had the usual two fighters, a priest, and a mage, but the mage and priest wound up with good melee skills and ten strength and were quite useful at hammering away at foes. I often didn't bother to use magic at all in combat by that point. When using truly four physical fighters, some of the fun and challenge is focusing more on what it takes to get powerful weapons and armor. You save money not buying spells and Magery too.

Party formation is probably one of the more interesting discussions to have around here, because there are so many possible variations, making for very different kinds of games. I'm trying a new experiment replaying Avernum 1. We're going to be good little PC's which means no nasty mage magic is permitted. There will be no stealing things which are Not Yours. I have a melee fighter, a pole fighter, an archer/thief, and a priest. The archer gets nimble fingers. The melee fighter gets fast on feet and the pole fighter gets strong will. The two fighters and the archer are all sickness prone which leaves them with around +5% level up. The priest is sickness prone and has brittle bones--having no need to be a natural mage. I think his level up rate is around +30%! He is going to ramp up levels at a lightning pace and become very powerful. Everyone will have decent levels of bow skills eventually. I find archery to often be very effective and useful in Avernum, contrary to a number of opinions stated otherwise here. I understand archers were less effective in Exile, which may be part of the reason they get neglected. This party idea falls one short of another idea I have, and I wonder if anyone has attempted or suceeded with it: making a party of all fighters and NO magic at all, using only potiions perhaps. Can it be done? I may have to find out after this jaunt. All brute force and physical skill.

So, Drakester, would you say magic is significantly more altered or enhanced for Avernum 4 than any previous changes for the Avernums?

How we strive to put a face of reality on even our worlds of fantasy. We seek to wrap an imagined land around a real globe. We see faces and familiar objects in random ink blots. We instinctively recoil from the abstract and the unknowable. It's just a bit curious, doncha think? This has been... Random Wry Observation #537b.

Oops, with all due apologies, Ephesos, for the double post, I knew there was something in Canopy I forgot to pursue...some specialized weapon the snobby smith in the main castle would make for me if it was worth his bother. Funny, I poke around pretty thoroughly, but don't remember finding any mithril anywhere. I was in a hurry to get the hell out of there, though, heh.

Kel, yeah, Divine Warrior was fun. It seems like each new Avernum both adds and takes away something I like. I've peeked at Exile III spells and can see what some of these which people miss might be...Shockwave (if I recall) looks like fun to name one. And it's very odd to me that so many foes can Curse my PC's but I can no longer return the favor. Blister...sounds like an ambitious and intriguing project you're working on. 100 different spells though? Yikes!

Quote: Originally written by Ephesos: Wow... you really don't start short discussions, do you? That capacity seems to elude me despite my best efforts. ... So, with the differences in the similar priest and mage spells, the only real use for the lesser redundant priest spells occurs when you have no mage or only need to use a small about of spell points to finish someone off it would appear. Are there other practical reasons to use the priest version of the mage spells? What I was suggesting with Spray Acid was not to use it on inanimate objects, but that it could be designed to be especially useful on something like a Doomguard or a living statue which are made of dissolvable substances...or maybe you could use it on anything wearing armor to make any further assaults more effective (the armor has been damaged by the acid). What did you mean by super-broken items? Which scenario has Maximilian? I either haven’t played that one or didn’t keep it. I did keep the Adlerauge crossbow (insanely potent) from Mad Ambition and the demon sword from Canopy (which is not as normally powerful as a blessed greatsword) and a whole bunch of souped-up magical armor and jewelry. Resurrection: if I can be resurrected from dust for a bit of spell energy, life force, and alchemical ingredients, what good is it to assassinate Hawthorne or evil mage whats-his-name in Avernum 1? Surely their powerful priests could infinitely resurrect them as necessary, just like my one priest or a local healer is able to do for any of my PC’s when needed. This is why resurrection bothers me. It’s a non-sequitor never taken to its logical conclusion in the fantasy world. If resurrection is really possible, no death of anything living is necessarily permanent. And practically speaking, how many players actually use resurrection instead of just reloading a saved game and not dying at all? Ultimately, what’s the difference? Resurrection is really rather dispensible. I can see it as a carry-over from the D&D world which is really not necessary in a comptuerized game world where saving and redoing is quick and easy and expedient.