Dantius

Originally Posted By: Student of Trinity But I don't want debaters, who can make any position look good. I want the opposite of this. I want doctors without spin — people who can argue a position without trying to make it look good. I think I might be able to identify such people equally well in two ways: either force them to appreciate a repugnant position, without the opportunity of turning the argument around afterwards; or force them to advance their own position in gruesome terms, without the opportunity to show that the other side can be just as extreme. So for this I think it's important that there be only one essay. First, I'd like to open by saying that I'm not really clear on what you are looking for. Are you looking for someone smart enough to argue a position without acknowledging the opposition? Protip: These people make bad debaters. Or are you looking for someone who can argue a position despite its moral repungancy? Because that's just a matter of finding something worse that's related to what you're arguing to and pointing to it while saying "This is what happens if we don't __________". But I will assume that you want people able to accept that a position is morally repugnant and still argue it without resorting to the "well the other side is more badder, nyer nyer!" line of reasoning. In that case, what I would do is still administer the two essays. Administer the first essay on a very, very controversial topic on something there is heated disagreement in the field about and on which people would have very contested opinions. Have them choose one, and then write the essay. Then have the second essay given to the after they've finished the first one be "Write an essay arguing in favor of the position that you didn't support". Only consider the second one in their application, since that would be the position that they don't support (most people would first choose to argue the position that they like), as this would be indicative of their ability to advance the position they don't like without arguing against thee position that they do like, since most people aren't willing to rationally deconstruct and argue against a position that they hold dear. Boom, you have the person most suitable for your think tank.

Originally Posted By: Triumph Dantius, are these exams intended to encourage EVERYONE become run-of-the-mill politicians? Do we really WANT that? They are to encourage you to have the mental flexibility to be able to argue against or for point and positions that you may or may not support using a wide range of techniques including, but not limited to: falsification of data, obfuscation, manipulation of statistics, logical fallacies including argumentum ad populum and ad hominem attacks, and my personal favorite, perjury. These skills will have a wide range of applications in careers and career alternative including law, medicine, science, politics, engineering, business, teaching, manual labor, journalism, incarceration, and welfare queen/king, serving you well regardless of your career career path. In a word, yes. Very much so.

Originally Posted By: Øther There's a city called Buffalo? It is the capital of New York, isn't it? Either that or Albany. America has a continued (and ridiculous) tradition of giving state capitaldom to podunk towns in the middle of the state instead of large metropolis in said state (ex. Chicago/Springfield, Sacremento/LA, New York/Albany/Buffalo).

Originally Posted By: Student of Trinity I have sometimes thought that a good competitive entrance exam for some kind of elite think tank or college or something would be an essay on one of two topics, randomly assigned to all entrants. Half of the participants would have to argue in favor of the strategy "eat the rich" as a good solution to the world's big problems. The other half would have to support "nuke the poor". You aren't thinking clearly enough on this- almost, but not quite. A better solution would be to have those two questions be successive questions on the same exam. Both essays would then be graded by the same person so they could best evaluate how skillfully the applicate argued two completely opposite points, despite having argued in opposite of what they were trying to prove not five minutes ago.

Originally Posted By: CRISIS on INFINITE SLARTIES For example: "I like Buffalo" and "I like buffalo". One describes my appreciation for a city, another my appreciation for an animal. The meaning is different even though the context is identical. But the context is not identical. You just gave us a snippet of a conversation or an exchange. Had you given us the entire exchange, we would have been easily able to identify which type of Buffalo/buffalo you mean sans capital. What if instead of saying "I like B/buffalo", you had said "Buffalo is great!". Were we sitting in a restaurant arguing over what steak to order, we would know that you meant the animal (btw, buffalo is delicious, you just need to marinade it forever). If, however, you were discussing what tourist sites to visit in New York, we would know you mean Buffalo, NY. Without additional context, capitalization becomes meaningless -so you need to give us more context than a single sentence with a capital letter to distinguish what you meant.

Right, I've gotten all the results I'm going to get, and the session is scheduled for SATURDAY JUNE 26, 6:00 CDT! Originally Posted By: Seiðmaðr Yeah, cuz it's not like half the party decided to put points into the exact same skills as I did. Nalyd has a point. Eh, I guess your character can either just stay on the ship or leave the party on one of the planets, where he falls into the Plothole SPACE-Tavern (with Harsoh!) Unless, of course, you want to hand over control of that character to someone else. That would work too.

Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. ...you knew I was going to say that, didn't you?

René was torn. He could easily escape- but he had see and heard what the young woman had to say. Even if it might risk his life, he couldn't leave her to die and disrespect Reginaldo. Cursing most unlike a priest, he cancelled the Sanctuary spell and ran inside the entry of the shrine. "We don't have much time. Get inside to the Sanctum, this should delay him for a bit.." Kneeling on the doorstep, he quickly etched a large rune over the vestibule, so entrance would be impossible without touching some part of it. Anyone entering the shrine with intent to harm those rightfully within would be in for one hell of a surprise. Finishing up the spell just in time, he grabbed Jenny and pushed her into the inner sanctum of the shrine. But before he could enter, he heard the voice of the rider call out behind him: "You fools! Time of running is over! You've tried before, and failed! We'll settle this here, once and for all!" René heard a menacing creak of a large bow being drawn. He closed his eyes and muttered a quick prayer- in his haste to ward the shrine, he had forgotten to close the doors. "Come out. I might not dare enter a holy place, but my arrows care not of such obstructions." René sighed in relief. Without turning, he spoke: "You know, the first spell any military chaplain worth his salt learns to cast isn't a healing spell." "It's a spell to protect one from arrows..." The rider fired his bow, but he was too late. René had completed his spell, and the arrow stopped harmlessly ten feet away from him and fell to the ground. "My turn. Sunburst!" René gestured wily over his shoulder and a bright golden ray of holy energy was lanced at the Rider. René took advantage of this distraction to duck inside and close the door before checking whether or not his spell had actually hit. Speaking loudly enough for the rider to clearly hear, he turned to Jenny. "Quickly! Let's escape thought he back alley!" Grabbing a heavy candelabra from at table, he hurled it into the large stained glass window at the other end of the sanctum. The glass shattered. Muttering another spell, a two pair of footsteps appeared in the dirt outside the now-broken window leading away from the chapel. Pulling Jenny closer, René whispered: "There's another way out through the Catacombs under the village- it leads out of town into the graveyard or the forest or another shrine. Priests used to use them to escape and hide from armies. I see no reason we can't follow their lead." Pulling Jenny into a transept, René made a quick gesture ate a blank plane of wall. It slid aside, revealing a long, winding staircase down. The two quickly began to make their way down the winding staircase, and the door closed behind them without a trace. Long rows of coffins on either side led down the passage to an intersection. The only light came from globes of magical energy every hundred feet. René lead down the long rows and aisles of bone, until he lost track of how long they had been travelling, though he still knew their exact destination. Eventually, he stopped at a small unmarked door. "Here we are. This should be safe enough." Muttering another spell, the door opened in much the same way that the previous one had, revealing what lay beyond...

Originally Posted By: CRISIS on INFINITE SLARTIES they eventually turn into a barrage of complaints from a user with a chip on his shoulder. I am not locking this one because I think it's worth providing reasonable answers for the community at large, even if I am a little skeptical of Dantdring's motive for posting.) That's OK, I'm done here. And I have no comment on you impingement of my motives aside from stating that I have no comment on your impingement of my motives.

Originally Posted By: CRISIS on INFINITE SLARTIES [name omitted], your post above is a perfect example of "spam." It doesn't add anything new to the thread, and isn't funny or interesting or otherwise worth taking up everyone's time with. It isn't horrible, of course. But, remember that when you make a new post, it shows up on the Active Topics and Active Posts lists, which is how many people here browse the forums. When you post, you are effectively broadcasting what you say to hundreds of people. Before you post, ask yourself, "does everybody here really need to hear my voice on this issue, too?" The forums are NOT a chat room. I'm curious as to why, of all the mods capable of issuing official warnings, you of all people suddenly seem so concerned about how spam is flooding the boards all of a sudden. I can certainly see how someone could wander into the boards, look around, and think it is somehow okay to post *FACEPALM* or something because of your tendency to do so. Just an observation here. Originally Posted By: CRISIS on INFINITE SLARTIES Originally Posted By: *Logan* I of course won't let myself die like those crazy japanese... It's not difficult to see how the phrase "those crazy japanese" could offend somebody, is it? Honestly, if you put "gamers" between "japanese" and "..." the sentence magically becomes almost perfectly acceptable. It could have been an honest mistake on Logan's part.

Originally Posted By: {Cartouche} Actually, while the series begins and ends just fine the way Adams left it, he didn't consider it a complete and unalterable thing. He had mentioned thoughts about and maybe even concrete intentions regarding the sequel to Mostly Harmless, but then he died before writing anything. Wasn't some of his notes on the incomplete book published under the title The Salmon of Doubt? (hehe. Salmon. Did Salmon ever take the title "Doubtful Salmon"? I'm sure he did at one point...)

Originally Posted By: Matanbuchus Yeah, compared to the original source material of the Christian values, that's really bad. Well, I still have yet to see the World Net Daily headline screaming about how Avernum makes our kids satanic atheists and Geneforge makes them amoral evolutionists (wait, they push that line already...) and Nethergate makes them murderous pagans, so I highly doubt that Avadon will suddenly be the victim or righteous fury all of a sudden. It could, of course, still happen. Seeing as how fundamentalists can be famous for making moral panics out of roleplaying games(like D&D), I suppose that all that's stopping a moral panic about how Geneforge is reinforcing godless evolutionism in our kids is recognition. I wonder if "create a moral panic" would be an acceptable marketing strategy to push up Jeff's sales. With a little fury, the game would gain a lot of mainstream recognition. It wouldn't be the first time it's happened, either, and it surely wouldn't be the last.

Well, finding X would be easy. Just look for massively stylish retribution being dished out anywhere and you'd find him !

Originally Posted By: Triumph Originally Posted By: Nioca I downloaded the log, but the whole thing is in Times New Roman (i.e. not fixed-width). It makes the battle grids illegible. Plus, some of the symbols on the grid seem to have been corrupted. This MAY be on my end, but you may want to check the log to make sure it's not screwed up. I had the exact same problems when I tried to read the log. It's like...a rotten log. Yes, I know. The logs were saved in a Chrome HTML file, and that file handeled all the obscure special characters in the grids by assigning them a value based on regular characters, for example a-! seemed to be the code for the dark square, etc. I might go ahead and alter them based on my log and your combat movements, but again, that's a lot of work. I think it's due to file corruption or poor coding- viewing the whole thing in a fixed width font does nothing.

Okay. Do you know how much fun it is to edit a 45-page log? It's about as much fun as aborting a root canal with an unsanitary sledgehammer through your nose. I'm not even sure that I'm allowed to mix that many medical metaphors without at least two MD's, but I will go ahead with it anyways. In other words, it was an immense pain. But, the pain is done, and HEREis the final product! While running though the log, I also ran up some stats for the d20's (no d5's included) rolled in the session. The results were interesting. Click to reveal.. (Warning, data ahead!) n = 118 μ = ~11.5 σ = 5.38 mode = 9 Median = 11 Q1 = 8 Q3 = 16 1's = 5 20's = 5 Basically, I'm shocked that the party did this well. You averaged a point away from the mean, even after nearly 120 rolls, and what's more, you had 25% of all you rolls over 16! With only two critfails the entire session, it appears that the dice were greatly in your favor, despite claims to the otherwise. Yay. Now I do not have to get hit by a trout.

Originally Posted By: Velzan Decimation is to Destroy 10% of I was under the impression that decimate meant destroy all but 10% of, as in: "Napoleon's Russian campaign decimated his army, with less that 10,000 of his original 650,000 troops remaining".

Originally Posted By: Velzan there will be less spam postage by New Peoples. I find this hilarious. Does that make me a bad person?

Okay, my character, Father René, is a priest. Physical description: He's in his early to mid 50's, and is in pretty decent shape, but is hardly in his physical prime. He's average height and average weight, and keeps a very neat and small beard. He has short black/gray hair, as is his beard. Pretty much the only distinguishing feature is the fact that he's blind in his left eye (it's completely white and there's a scar across it). For clothing, René usually wears long and obscuring white robes, although he has no aversion to normal clothes As the story hinted at, he's a former military chaplain in an army and as a result is a very good healer. This would be where he faced/saw/met the Rider in the first place. He knows little to no attack magic (maybe three to five spells, tops), but commands a wide range of protection and healing magic, plus a few divine enchantments (aka blessings). The dagger is mainly for show and as a spell focus- he's old and weak enough that if he tried to use the dagger to fight anyone decently skilled in melee (cough Rider cough), he'd be obliterated, although if he went against some guards or bandits, he'd probably be able to hold his own. Although I'm sure some of you would be able to guess the theme song I'd pick for a priest, here it is: , by Richard Wagner (suprise! I almost went with a requiem, but that'd be too morose). Anyways, that's my character sheet. If you'd like a more detailed listing of spells, I suppose I could always whip one up, but I'm not doing that right now.

Father René sat in the temple garden. Despite the rapidly approaching storm, everything was peaceful and quiet. The fountains burbled softly and the birds were quietly chirping. His book of chants and rituals lay on the bench next to him. Taking out a small pen and a bottle of ink, he began to carefully gloss some of the more complex spells. This book would have to be simplified and compiled if he was ever going to have get the Archbishop to appoint him an Ecclesiarch. He marked down one note after another, and was so absorbed in his work that he failed to notice the that the birds had stopped chirping for a while. After several minutes he looked up. The silence was bothering him. There was not a sound to be heard- even the fountains seemed muted. Quietly capping his pen and ink, he stood up and opened the door of the temple. Peering out into the street, it was deserted. How strange. Shrugging to himself, he closed the door and headed to his chambers. René had bareley closed the door on his chambers when he felt, rather then hear, the door imploding. The tavern was just down the street from the small temple, and he strained his ears to catch the voice. THis was not, in retrospect neccessary. "I know you are here!" René reeled, collapsing against the door. He had heard that voice, that terrifying voice, somewhere before. He was sure of it. But where? The memory tugged on the pack of his mind, but he could not quite recall it. The voice spoke again: "This game has gone on for long enough! No more hiding! Come out and give me what is mine!" Whatever it was, he knew that that voice meant danger. He had to get out of here. Fast. There was no time that he could afford to waste. He pulled his thin mattress that served as his bed off of the ledge jutting out from the wall. Lying in a narrow recess carved into the stone was a long wooden case. He quickly pressed a rune on it and with great care removed the dagger within. It was a weapon he had gotten decades ago, back when he was a chaplain in the Royal Army. The long, twisting blade reached perhaps sixteen inches and was made of purified crystal, perfectly clear. The blue pommel stone glowed softly in the semidarkness. He slipped the blade into a sheath and concealed it under his robe. With his only significant worldly possession in his plain robe, he silently slipped out a window into the garden. Yelling and explosions from outside the temple filled the air. He cracked open the main door and peered out into the street. It was empty, save a young human woman running for her life. It was too far away for René to make out any facial features, but she did seem somewhat familiar. He turned away and intoned a low chant under his breath. A globe of force shimmered into existence around him and then turned invisible- the Sanctuary spell was complete, and he was safe. Now all he had to do was get out of here...

Yay for not-dead RP's! Okay, we're back in business now, I'm back from my trip, and everything is ready to go. The calender is here, please fill it out ASAP. This Saturday would be best, but i'd like to get it in earlier than that if possible. I promise cross my heart to have the log for Session 1 posted within 24 hours of now. Seriously. You can slap me with a trout if I don't.

(I submitted this an hour ago, but it didn't show up. If this looks like a doublepost to you, my bad.) This looks pretty interesting- I might want to do this. Are you still accepting new players?

Originally Posted By: Shadowcat She hasn't got one yet, no. She will have though! She will! Is this much in the same way that the beta for your scenario will be out by the weekend?

Originally Posted By: Tyranicus Originally Posted By: The Ratt How often do you turn your mouse off? Never. I certainly can't turn off my mouse. I was unaware that this was even possible. Then again, I do have the cheap HP laser mouse that came with my computer, so it's hardly very high on the quality scale.

Originally Posted By: 1 n33d n0 1n7r0duc710n pffff, why need to, from what i remember most of us are already extremely leftist. oh and happy B-day Alorael Except for, you know, me. Here's an abbreviated version of John Galt's speech. The real one is 95 pages in my version and it would probably crash the boards: Click to reveal.. (1000 words or less) For twelve years you've been asking "Who is John Galt?" This is John Galt speaking. I'm the man who's taken away your victims and thus destroyed your world. You've heard it said that this is an age of moral crisis and that Man's sins are destroying the world. But your chief virtue has been sacrifice, and you've demanded more sacrifices at every disaster. You've sacrificed justice to mercy and happiness to duty. So why should you be afraid of the world around you? Your world is only the product of your sacrifices. While you were dragging the men who made your happiness possible to your sacrificial altars, I beat you to it. I reached them first and told them about the game you were playing and where it would take them. I explained the consequences of your 'brother-love' morality, which they had been too innocently generous to understand. You won't find them now, when you need them more than ever. We're on strike against your creed of unearned rewards and unrewarded duties. If you want to know how I made them quit, I told them exactly what I'm telling you tonight. I taught them the morality of Reason -- that it was right to pursue one's own happiness as one's principal goal in life. I don't consider the pleasure of others my goal in life, nor do I consider my pleasure the goal of anyone else's life. I am a trader. I earn what I get in trade for what I produce. I ask for nothing more or nothing less than what I earn. That is justice. I don't force anyone to trade with me; I only trade for mutual benefit. Force is the great evil that has no place in a rational world. One may never force another human to act against his/her judgment. If you deny a man's right to Reason, you must also deny your right to your own judgment. Yet you have allowed your world to be run by means of force, by men who claim that fear and joy are equal incentives, but that fear and force are more practical. You've allowed such men to occupy positions of power in your world by preaching that all men are evil from the moment they're born. When men believe this, they see nothing wrong in acting in any way they please. The name of this absurdity is 'original sin'. That's inmpossible. That which is outside the possibility of choice is also outside the province of morality. To call sin that which is outside man's choice is a mockery of justice. To say that men are born with a free will but with a tendency toward evil is ridiculous. If the tendency is one of choice, it doesn't come at birth. If it is not a tendency of choice, then man's will is not free. And then there's your 'brother-love' morality. Why is it moral to serve others, but not yourself? If enjoyment is a value, why is it moral when experienced by others, but not by you? Why is it immoral to produce something of value and keep it for yourself, when it is moral for others who haven't earned it to accept it? If it's virtuous to give, isn't it then selfish to take? Your acceptance of the code of selflessness has made you fear the man who has a dollar less than you because it makes you feel that that dollar is rightfully his. You hate the man with a dollar more than you because the dollar he's keeping is rightfully yours. Your code has made it impossible to know when to give and when to grab. You know that you can't give away everything and starve yourself. You've forced yourselves to live with undeserved, irrational guilt. Is it ever proper to help another man? No, if he demands it as his right or as a duty that you owe him. Yes, if it's your own free choice based on your judgment of the value of that person and his struggle. This country wasn't built by men who sought handouts. In its brilliant youth, this country showed the rest of the world what greatness was possible to Man and what happiness is possible on Earth. Then it began apologizing for its greatness and began giving away its wealth, feeling guilty for having produced more than ikts neighbors. Twelve years ago, I saw what was wrong with the world and where the battle for Life had to be fought. I saw that the enemy was an inverted morality and that my acceptance of that morality was its only power. I was the first of the men who refused to give up the pursuit of his own happiness in order to serve others. To those of you who retain some remnant of dignity and the will to live your lives for yourselves, you have the chance to make the same choice. Examine your values and understand that you must choose one side or the other. Any compromise between good and evil only hurts the good and helps the evil. If you've understood what I've said, stop supporting your destroyers. Don't accept their philosophy. Your destroyers hold you by means of your endurance, your generosity, your innocence, and your love. Don't exhaust yourself to help build the kind of world that you see around you now. In the name of the best within you, don't sacrifice the world to those who will take away your happiness for it. The world will change when you are ready to pronounce this oath: I swear by my Life and my love of it that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for the sake of mine.

Originally Posted By: Geneforgeisformeyukkyu I heard the warrior is better than the guardian, so I wanted to know whether the shaper or the lifecrafter had better EP and SP gain. Does anyone know which has more EP and SP gain? Lifecrafter is objectively better; it has the exact same formula for HP, SP, and EP growth, but it starts with 6 EP more than the Shaper.