The Almighty Doer of Stuff

I've gathered links to several interesting starter locations for new players in The Almighty Agency of Real Estate (located in the Merchant City of Dukkan) for those who want to get started building bases without having to explore for a suitable location first. Some of them have villages, some feature prebuilt structures stocked with utilities, and some are mostly untouched. Take a look! Also, our server spawn point is currently uninspiring, but we are working on building it into a fancy Welcome Center. Please bear with us with the understanding that our utilitarian spawn hut is not representative of the level of skill of our playerbase. If you want to see what we're capable of building, check out Xanadu, Dukkan, the Stamp Society, and the various other player bases accessible through the Inception link hub. There's a portal to Inception right at spawn. Please join us and have fun! (And I know Neb said this already, but to prevent further disaster, I'll repeat it: This server is non-player-vs-player, non-stealing, and non-griefing. It's cooperative in nature, and friendly. The only exception is the Exile map which is designed specifically for PVP.)

Well, Jeff has remarked on numerous occasions how lucrative remakes are for him. Minimal writing, mostly just needs engine design and programming. He said in a recent blog post that A:EftP was so successful that he just didn't think it was worth waiting for the rest of the series.

Try that, except save AFTER hitting the "Make Towns Friendly" button (I think that's the label), not before.

After Avernum 2: Crystal Souls, the next game he's going to make is the fourth rewrite of Exile: Escape From the Pit.

I'm hoping to get some Grandpa's Pine Tar Soap and a bit of money. I'm also wishing for Ashley to get the permanent job she's been trying to get for years, because if she doesn't get it it means someone else has and she'll be out of work.

congratumalations, alomarael

Do you have this one, Drakey?

If you want more detail about the origin of the Fluffy Turtles meme, the original Fluffy Turtle that started it is my plush tortoise, Inspector Peanut.

Black Forest cakes are chocolate cake with whipped cream frosting, cherry filling, and chocolate shavings covering the sides. Minecraft cakes appear to be yellow cake with only one layer. Many people assume the red spots to be strawberries.

Happy birthday, Enraged Slith!

I'm very sorry for your loss, Valdain. I don't remember much about Deathknight, having spent much less time here in recent years than in years past, but I recall that he was a pleasant presence on our forum. I'm fascinated, preoccupied, with death, especially the parts about the power of people to heal and move on after a tragedy. I've written a few poems about it, including one that's on my website (see my signature). It's called "A Song For the Grave", if you're curious. I wrote it to be a condolence to the grieving survivors, although my grandmother said it was morbid and depressing. I don't always see eye to eye with my grandmother, nor do many other people. I just meant for it to be solemn but consoling. If a poem would console you, here it is: http://ados.ermarian.net/poetry/songgrave.html I wrote another poem called "The Swhump Goblin Funeral Song" for my novel. It's much more of a celebration of life and a whimsical acknowledgement of the circle of life than "A Song For the Grave". I try not to show it to too many people for fear of ruining my chances of publishing my novel, but it's my favorite poem and I'd be willing to share it with you given the circumstances, if you so desire. Poetry helps soothe many people. Not everyone, but if you're one of them, by all means I would like to let you see it. PM me if you want to read it. Again, my condolences. Your brother will be missed.

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...Really? But doesn't Dikiyoba ALWAYS wear a hat? Aran, you must be especially oblivious. *slips hand into Aran's pocket, steals valuables*

Alas, Bobby Henderson, our Great Prophet, doesn't care about our little community and refuses to use good forum software or update it. He thinks it's a hassle. Thus we have this system, where new members must post in a certain thread, get the post approved, then post in any other thread and get that post approved, before they can become part of the community.

This community has lasted a good long time, which is a good thing. The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster's forums? I'm concerned about them. There's a group of about fifteen people (maybe) who post regularly, and we have almost no new members. If they even manage to get past the extraordinary anti-spambot measures, they rarely last more than about ten posts, sometimes as much as a hundred, but then they leave. Add to that that two longtime pillars of the community have cancer, one has a degenerate neurological disease that will eventually render him blind, one is a terrible alcoholic, the chief administrator rarely appears due to studying for her Ph.D., and many of the regulars slowly drift away, and it seems like our once-vibrant community is going to die. And it's strange, given that the FSM is just as popular as ever (Adrian Foster of the Houston Texans just came out as a Pastafarian in an article he wrote about parenting), yet the message board community is shrinking. Is it the increasingly difficult anti-spambot measures? Is it the inconspicuous link to the forum from the main site? Probably both. But why do spambots attack FSM Discussion so much more than they do here? The mods complain that every day they delete hundreds of spambots and clean up massive amounts of pornography. I don't understand it. Does that happen here? Why does this community continue to grow and evolve while FSM Discussion does not?

Approaching the 12-year mark myself, I must say that Spidweb's games have lost their magic for me, sadly. I was really never into them to begin with, actually. Way back when, I played Exile III's demo, poked around a bit in Upper Exile and Krizsan Province, got frustrated, and quit. Then I discovered Blades of Exile (in about 1999 I believe), and fell in love with the idea of making video games for a living - a dream which more or less wasted my youth up through my first year of college, before I realized it just wasn't in me. To this day I've still only finished three minuscule joke scenarios. It was only this prospect which kept me here, and the games were more or less of a side distraction. I suppose it isn't entirely accurate to say it was wasted though. I did learn a lot about the writing process and sort of developed a writing style for myself. Now I dream of earning money writing fiction and poetry and, although that's likely to be a pipe dream given how little I actually read (or do much of anything, really), I still hope to assist my fiancée, Ashley, in completing her first novel and maybe more. She's a far better writer than I've ever been, even after all these years spent here. Do I regret coming here? Not quite. I suspect that regardless of what hobbies I had chosen in my youth, I would still have ended up pursuing an exciting career in bagging groceries and stocking shelves. I probably wouldn't have met Ashley, and I definitely wouldn't have met some of the wonderful people here and at the Calamity Refuge. The community helped me grow up, guiding me through my youthful foolishness and autistic awkwardness and rudeness, into a somewhat polite, pleasant, kind and compassionate person. So thanks, folks. Many happy returns to everyone who has loved this place.

Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111111111!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111!!!111!!!!111!!!!!!!!!!1111!!111!1111!!11111!111!!111!111!!111!11111!!111!!111111111!!!!111lol We need more scenarios. Thank you! Finish! Finish! Finish!

Yes, that was the joke. Congratulations.

I've never read Lewis Carroll, but what has seeped into my head from my limited contact with his work has been a huge influence for me, along with Edward Lear and Dr. Seuss. I need to get around to reading "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass" at some point. Also, I'm not strictly looking for poetic combat. There's lots of poetry in it, but the story is told mostly via prose. I'm also not looking for strict realism. This is a world with magic. I'll check out R.A. Salvatore perhaps. I'd like to revisit "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" again first considering how long it's been, but I'll put it on my list. Thanks, guys! I'm still looking for more recommendations.

I am looking for fantasy novels, novellas, short stories, etc. which include well-written combat scenes, focusing on a small party of combatants. I have read very little fantasy, or indeed very little of anything. I have read "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings", although I stopped just before the ring was destroyed, having been distracted by something or other. I have also read the Everworld series of novels by K.A. Applegate. I don't remember how interesting or well-written their combat scenes were. I may have to reread them if the combat scenes were of high quality. The reason I'm asking about this is that I'm attempting to write an absurdist, poetic, fantasy adventure novel featuring such combat. However, most of my experience with fantasy adventure stories is in the form of RPGs, where combat is performed rather than described. My novel calls for combat scenes, and without a frame of reference for what passes as good combat description, my novel is doomed to failure. My novel is probably doomed to failure anyway, because, as I said, I read very little. My fiancée, Ashley, is writing her own novel, which I think may be destined for glory. I've suggested to her that she coauthor my novel with me, since she is much better at writing fascinating characters and descriptions, whereas my forte is poetry and coming up with whimsical ideas. Unfortunately, neither of us knows how to write combat. So, does the community have any suggestions for literature which could inspire me in this area? Alternately, do any of you have particular tips that you use in your own combat writing? I would really appreciate the advice. Thanks!

exile 3 took me 872 hours to beat man, that libras-squiggus courier quest was fun!

The Lightning item ability no longer has a useful functionality it used to have. It used to be that you could set an item to a missile type and give it the Lightning ability, then set it back to a melee weapon type. Then, when you struck an enemy with it in combat, it would do the same lightning effect as though it were a missile, upon the target. It no longer does that. Also, the item ability Slow Wearer does not slow wearer. If it's set to item strength 4 or below, it does nothing, and above that it prevents all combat movement, saying the wielder must clean webs. This was tested with an encumbrance 20 weapon so normally the wielder only got 1 AP, but regardless it's not functioning as it should. It should slow the wearer, not cover them with webs, and in either case there's no status symbol.

I love how New Jersey has towns called Brick and Wall. Today, I got myself cleaned up with a shower, shave, and nail trimming, and went for a long walk in the 95F heat, and so far have been eating less today than I usually do. I'm even trying to get back to eating just three meals and two snacks, rather than four or five meals plus snacks. I'm trying to take Independence Day as an opportunity to free myself from the bondage of my own bad health habits, and maybe even get back on my chore-performing duties. The biggest struggle tends to come in the evenings and in the early mornings. I didn't have an early morning today, but hopefully my evening will be healthy instead of full of too much food. Independence Day doesn't have to just be about fireworks and grilled meat. It's a celebration of what's good about our country, even if there's a lot of bad, and it can be an opportunity to advance the former and diminish the latter if we make it so, whether it's through community action or even if it only affects our own personal lives. Americans have a bad reputation for being fat, lazy slobs, and if I can advance toward a state of non-fat-lazy-slobness, I'm improving our country a tiny bit. Each Independence Day I watch the Boston Pops Fourth of July Fireworks Spectacular on TV. Yesterday I responded to the super-beefed-up security measures on the Esplanade this year with a long rant at Calamity Refuge about how and how not to fight terrorism. I see now that it didn't really make any sense, but I'm still going to watch this concert like it's the last one, because due to declining support and frustratingly-increased security it may well be. I'm excited about my favorite parts, "The Stars and Stripes Forever" and the "1812 Overture". I just hung up our (slightly tattered and rather weather-beaten unfortunately) Star Spangled Banner in front of our house, and I also display it proudly on my webpage. My uncle-out-law insists on affixing the patriotic stickers he gets in the mail from the Veterans of Foreign Wars to the envelope of any card or letter my fiancée sends me, because when he first found out I was a pinko commie bleeding-heart atheist liberal, he assumed that meant I hated this country, but that's certainly not true. Now that he knows he still puts the stickers on though. They make me smile.

I'm not sure what that emoticon expresses. Are you being sarcastic, or do you really think it's really nice? If it really is really nice, I encourage using it wherever you think there will be interest.