Xaiya

First of all, unless created like so, these creations are non-sapient and thus cannot have an alignment since they lack the ability to do so. They're either following their masters or mindlessly going around doing whatever comes to them instinctively. And even if they did have the ability, you're labeling entire species as one particular alignment, which can have really awful implications for who you are if this is taken completely seriously. It probably makes more sense to label characters one-by-one. Geneforge, however, has an actually engaging story with characters that often aren't so easy to define, so for many labeling may be difficult.

7. Name of a spell, skill, trait, ability, etc. from any Spiderweb game: Nature Lore 9: Name of a Spiderwebber (you must use their usual nickname and not their current PDN): Nalyd 10. Something you never want to see on these forums again (you may not list a person): Nothingness

There's a lot of ways to go about fanfiction (and yes, having fun is of course a possible aspect. I also have fun reading some of the good ones). There's an example of a particularly interesting one of Harry Potter that's a what-if, basically. I'm pretty sure only two characters are actually different initially, but that's enough to completely change everything about the story. There's some issues, yes, particularly in the beginning where Harry seems a bit too good at retaining all that information for an 11 year-old, but it's still a good example of one way to take fanfiction. Hell, Harry Potter has issues of its own canonically, which the fic lampshades to all hell. There's no real ceiling. There's a lot of things that can be done with established stories, and not just fantasy ones. The basketball example is a tad misleading. Writing isn't (necessarily) a contest. You aren't (again, necessarily) competing with other writers. It could be more akin to playing an instrument, such as the guitar or piano. I doubt you actually meant that, but instruments are probably a better example anyways. It also goes along with your comparison of writing with established characters (practicing with established music), though I still feel that fanfiction has a lot more ways to explore said established characters/settings than you think. More than anyone alone can think of, probably.

Incidentally, there's also the reverse. If there's a pony in existence (probably withholding flash game created ones), there's a humanized or objectized form or whatnot of it. Hell, there's kitty versions of the mane6.

Jeff is actually really great about customer service last I checked. You probably could've gotten a new key, or perhaps instructed on which files to patch. He doesn't make people pay twice. I've known of many people who have gotten new keys because they lost their old ones to time and computer changes without paying for a new copy. You might need to provide some evidence in the email, but otherwise buying two copies is a little silly unless he's changed his policies. Correct me if I'm wrong. I'm sure he appreciates all the extra money he's getting, though.

May you fullfill your position with honor, Alorael, and may you florish in your more demanding activities, *i, even if I don't really know either of you.

I see this quote and immediately think of the many times I've said to myself that I'll do [insert assignment here] tomorrow or whatnot.

My wishlist: Pretty much just the financial side of dealing with college. As much as I'd like more shiny things, each shiny thing I get at this point is just going to make me feel worse with all that looming over me. I have enough to amuse me in my spare time and procrastination cycles. The secret is far more complicated than simply not talking about it.

Fanfiction can be pretty good for creative writing exercizes and easier access to feedback (even though unfortunately most commenters don't say anything useful). While most of my out-of-class writing has been in the forms of various RPs, I had started on a fanfic of my own several months ago as a writing exercize. Unfortunately, a couple months ago I realized how much needed to be re-written and because of that and class I haven't touched it since, but perhaps at some point I will. Of course, being a writer of fanfiction can also come with some stigma since fanfiction is almost always crap, so there's that, even if it is a tad unfair as some fanfiction is surprisingly good if you shift through the literary horrors. The major downside to fanfiction is one I've noticed from reading writing that, while not terrible, is not particularly great. And regardless of that, there are those who will comment praise and such. I'm guessing they're just people desperate to see writing of their favorite characters doing such and such, or meeting such and such, or whatever, but it's still extremely harmful as it can trick the auther into thinking their writing is better than it is. While there are those you can seek out for decent feedback, it doesn't make the problem any less bad. I'm glad I realized this early on, but not everyone does if from what I observed is any indication.

And with that, the prettiness of the forums have doubled!

I vote we throw [Argument Item A] and [Argument Item B] into a pit and see what happens, of which Argument Item A/B are any of the two above mentioned items.

Perhaps the most optimal spammer is one who can rapidly post concise statements that only look like they're saying something useful.

From what I've heard, the tradition is to leave your porchlights on if you're willing to hand out candy. Though then again, if someone's out, they kinda need their porchlights, so I'm not sure how well that thought works. It works well enough in a specific neighborhood nearby where I live, though, so everyone from around Bailey and such just drive all the way there to have their kids trick-or-treat. It probably helps that it has a suburban feel to it without being all the way down to near Denver. My guess is that if you want to take your kids trick-or-treating that you want to know where the optimum area is. I haven't done anything Halloween for years, though. The highlight of my day will be Calculus.

Oh yay, here we go again. First discovered SW from some random demo disk containing Exile III. Loved it, and was eventually able to play the whole game. Years later, I rediscovered SW games thanks to my brother, and at some point I felt it was smart to join up at the forums.

No. Anyways, I remember Jeff commenting on where he came up with the name Avernum, but I can't for the life of me remember where.

Not quite. Even taking into account the large number of mods that you would have to track down and download at the versions the server is using, there's also the matter of the configurations and such that would need to be edited to work with the server. It's much simpler to simply download the technik launcher and locate and download sopris. If you want to add an additional client mod, such as Optifine, download the mod and manually move the files from the mod into the modpack.jar (not minecraft.jar). In addition, you will need to edit bibliocraft.cfg and edit B:IsOptifineInstalled=false to be B:IsOptifineInstalled=true This is just for Optifine. For a different client mod, you might need to edit a different (or even the same) config file to make sure there's no compatability issues. And for everyone: If you want optifine and you can't get it to work, I can put up the modified .jar and .cfg if need be.

In most games, I like music when it's done well. However, in Spiderweb games, I think the ambient noises work very well. Actual music would feel a tad out of place.

Only one way to remedy that.

There are logs of you talking about it, and there is sufficient evidence. Even with that though, another big factor has been your attitude. No one is going to take you seriously when you're reacting like this when you're clearly in the wrong. So please, quit trying to stir up pointless drama. Sopris is generally a very friendly server. That, of course, changes when you blatently steal and otherwise act not so friendly.

I, for one, welcome our new... subjects.

They weren't so much hot topics as one of the more popular ones among random uninformed newbies who thought they had a unique idea, which would be followed through a (eventually) practiced and collective no from everyone else. I'd consider that a hot topic the way I would threads from spambots during the time we had them. Now, as interesting as a fan-made BoG is, it's clear uninformed newbies have moved on from that topic. I wouldn't cite it as evidence that the forums are dying.

I've seen worse activity here. These forums will survive for quite a while, barring some huge event like the apocalypse or something.

I was never quite certain why I was standing there. Day in, day out, one little square and the name "Guard" defined my life. Before, there was nothing. After? I had no clue. Occasionally a group of adventurers would walk up to me, but I would have nothing interesting to say. I'm not even sure what was so uninteresting about it--all I know is that it was nothing worth outputting. One day, I detected a theft which a group of adventurers committed. Everything changed. I walked out of my spot for, as far as I know, the first time in my life. I walk up to them, and I instinctively attack. All too soon, I finally discover what really comes after the life of a town guard... Nothing. Not even a corpse is left; nothing shows that I even existed besides the various items which have probably already been sold to some obscure merchant.

You aren't much of a lurker if all of this surprises you.

This thread in a nutshell.