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Posted 14 years agoI'm drawing up another Siparid. You know, the raptor people? Anyway, I'm currently torn between illustrating him in traditional battle armor or in a modern dress uniform.
Either would be a good fit, but I wanted to test the waters first and see what people wanted to see.
Either would be a good fit, but I wanted to test the waters first and see what people wanted to see.
Flip It Good
Posted 14 years agoWell, the 'skills' post was perhaps a bit demanding, not to mention something I should concentrate on personally. This, however, should be a bit different...
For anyone familiar with the Realm of Sejhat, I'm a fan of taking expectations and turning them on their heads at least somewhat. People seem to have expectations of fantasy settings, some of them understandable but some of them also cliche. A good example of an understandable expectation is that a protagonist in a fantasy setting has to overcome both unfamiliarity and peril to reach an ultimate, usually decisive goal. An example of a cliche is that the protagonist must do this in a loosely medieval setting and achieve his goals by smashing zombie, gnoll, and orc skulls while wearing absurdly huge shoulder pauldrons and carrying a sarcastic/timid talking animal on their shoulder.
You should already know some of the cliches. The super-evil bad guys with no motivation other than to be evil. The blacksmith's son who ventures forth from his peaceful village to become a fabled warrior. The sword that would take 10 normal human beings just to lift. Hapless villagers whose only apparent function is to stand around waiting for a passing adventurer. Incredibly annoying children sugar-coated and double-deep-fried in optimism. And Unicorns, freakin' Unicorns.
If you were building a fantasy realm of your own, how would you take some of the more tiresome cliches and flip them around to throw readers an entertaining loop? Without entirely eliminating them, what would you transform, and how? If you go into a summer movie about some sort of classical mythology or contemporary fantasy theme, what do you cross your fingers and hope the creators do... or DON'T do?
For anyone familiar with the Realm of Sejhat, I'm a fan of taking expectations and turning them on their heads at least somewhat. People seem to have expectations of fantasy settings, some of them understandable but some of them also cliche. A good example of an understandable expectation is that a protagonist in a fantasy setting has to overcome both unfamiliarity and peril to reach an ultimate, usually decisive goal. An example of a cliche is that the protagonist must do this in a loosely medieval setting and achieve his goals by smashing zombie, gnoll, and orc skulls while wearing absurdly huge shoulder pauldrons and carrying a sarcastic/timid talking animal on their shoulder.
You should already know some of the cliches. The super-evil bad guys with no motivation other than to be evil. The blacksmith's son who ventures forth from his peaceful village to become a fabled warrior. The sword that would take 10 normal human beings just to lift. Hapless villagers whose only apparent function is to stand around waiting for a passing adventurer. Incredibly annoying children sugar-coated and double-deep-fried in optimism. And Unicorns, freakin' Unicorns.
If you were building a fantasy realm of your own, how would you take some of the more tiresome cliches and flip them around to throw readers an entertaining loop? Without entirely eliminating them, what would you transform, and how? If you go into a summer movie about some sort of classical mythology or contemporary fantasy theme, what do you cross your fingers and hope the creators do... or DON'T do?
I Nearly Peed Myself
Posted 14 years agoWith laughter.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2UXDn_bB20
The first four seconds pretty much sum up while I don't skate :p
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2UXDn_bB20
The first four seconds pretty much sum up while I don't skate :p
MLP Banner! (plus childhood anecdote)
Posted 14 years agoWay back in 1991, I think, my sister dredged up a My Little Pony doll from someplace and gave it to me as a Christmas present as a practical joke. The effect was heightened by the fact that she hadn't gotten me anything else to compensate for this, and because of the fact that I gave her something nice. As a result, I kinda hated her for a week and promptly (but quietly) got rid of the MLP. I don't remember which one it was.
Now I'm thinking I should have kept it.
FATE! Y U NO LEEV ME ALONE?!
Now I'm thinking I should have kept it.
FATE! Y U NO LEEV ME ALONE?!
Red Orchestra 2
Posted 14 years agoVerdict: Don't bother with it, or at least not yet.
Even if you've played the first one, the second is a little problematic. The sticky cover system is next to useless and will usually get you killed as you get hung up on windowsills, the odd brick on the ground, low walls, and so forth. Most maps are structured with lots of open space, which sounds a bit strange if you played Red Orchestra 1, but in this case it causes the combat to quickly congeal into a large-scale game of whack a mole.
Here's how it plays out: You enter a match -- unless Punkbuster is working properly and fucking you. There are two types of server: Empty and Full. The ones with the best ping are, of course, empty. The full ones won't let you in. As you scroll down the list, which takes several minutes to populate, you may see the odd server that is neither empty nor full. Doing so usually means giving up on finding something with decent ping on the understanding that you might play this game that you have recently bought.
Once you have entered a server, you will generally see a variety of choices. "A-ha!" You might think, if you played Red Orchestra 1, "An assault class slot is open! I must be in luck!". Knowing that the trusty Pa-Pa-Shah or the Stig-44 will soon be yours, you get ready to mow down dozens of fools. Then, with your class selected, you spawn and realize what kind of mistake you've just made.
I should note that there are several combat classes in the game: Assault focuses on sprinting, grenades, and rapid-fire weapons that are effective at close range. Rifleman and Elite Rifleman offer long-range accuracy, and in the case of the latter issues you with a semi-automatic rifle. A Light Machine Gunner is issued with a weapon that can only be used in two positions: while lying prone, or while resting on cover. Squad Leader gives you the ability to throw smoke grenades, call in artillery, aerial recon, and be a moving spawn point. Marksmen are effectively snipers, issued with a weapon with telescopic sights.
All of these sound useful. Then there's the details. Only two marksmen are allowed on each side (sometimes one). This slot is immediately filled by someone who doesn't know what they're doing. Light Machine Guns, being only useful behind cover or while lying prone, are occasionally useful for murdering people in their spawn area, but otherwise leave you a slow-moving thug with a useless lump of iron in your hands as you plod the two miles from your spawn to the front line-- only to get shot.
Squad Leaders are great at laying down smoke, which all members of the opposite team immediately point their guns at, as invariably waves of people will try to run through it. When they emerge from the smoke, they die without even knowing where the enemy is. They are also very good at laying down artillery on indestructible objectives and their own men.
Since all kills seem to take place at hundreds of yards or more, the assault class can be effective on a handful of maps, but is usually fucked into a cocked hat, running from one useless bit of cover to the next and praying with increasing intensity as the enemy gradually surrounds, pins down, and murders him.
This leaves the riflemen, who are now the kings of the battlefield. Their weapons can (and do) reach across the entire map. All you have to do is point it toward an open area and shoot at those little moving blobs in the distance, or play a game of whack-a-mole as the enemy pops behind, above, and around cover. Given a little high ground, you don't have to run towards the enemy at all. All you have to really do is spawn, go upstairs, find a cozy window, and murder people for the rest of the day. If you get killed, it will be only by other riflemen.
Now, Red Orchestra is famous for having tank combat as well as infantry combat. The tanks look fantastic, function to a high level of realism, and so on, but there is one big flaw: There's only two of them.
Do you want an IS-2 tank? Well, you get a T-34. Perhaps you wanted the StuG, the Tiger, or the Panther? Well, you get the Panzer IV. There are only two tanks in this game, and most of the tank maps are billiard-table affairs where you spend most of the time hunting down tiny scraps of cover and little lumps of earth to hide behind, wait, fire at the enemy, die, and repeat. The lack of variety in armor means that tactics boil down to a very simple and boring formula: Find an enemy and try to shoot at their sides. Since it can take 10-20 minutes to even find the enemy, most of your time in a tank will be spent (probably realistically) jerking off and/or building a music playlist best suited to your current predicament, like an audio book of Tolstoy's "War and Peace".
I can't condemn Red Orchestra 2 for its attempt to make a realistic combat experience. You realize, soberingly, that war of this type was essentially waiting around, eating, diddling yourself, and camping until suddenly the hand of fate bitchslaps you dead, and in many servers you don't even get a killcam to see who or what killed you. You don't get penalized for dying in this game beyond having to hike 5 miles back to the combat zone from the spawn area. Again, I'm sure that this is realistic, the notion of endless hiking and jogging until you catch a bullet, but it's not particularly fun, either.
Perhaps it's an accurate portrayal of war itself. It is so far removed from the frantic pacing, spectacular kills, and urgency of most war games today that Red Orchestra 2 seems to be wrong. Perhaps it's right. Perhaps it's a way to teach you, for $50, that war is in fact a long string of dull and tedious activities that ends in a pointless, terrifying, and sudden death. With the exception of windowsills that conspire to kill you and the crazy thruster-limb animations of the combat troops, or the fact that the map will literally kill you instantly if you take one step too far, Red Orchestra 2 encapsulates the rigors and tribulations of war like no other game.
Yet it seems to have forgotten that it is a game, and should therefore be fun.
This is a point not lost on Red Orchestra 1. The variety of combat styles, the structure of the maps, and the overall function of the game seemed better suited to having a good time. Death was still just a breath away, but the game would actually reward you for flanking the enemy instead of rushing in head-first. You didn't have to worry about being killed by wacky cover because sticky cover didn't exist. You didn't have to worry about getting killed for trespassing on the enemy's territory. You didn't have to worry that the enemy would drop constant artillery barrages on your own spawn point.
If nothing else, Red Orchestra 2 has accomplished one thing: It underscores the charm of Red Orchestra 1. I'm probably not the only person who will soon uninstall Red Orchestra 2 and reinstall Red Orchestra 1 to feel the magic again.
Even if you've played the first one, the second is a little problematic. The sticky cover system is next to useless and will usually get you killed as you get hung up on windowsills, the odd brick on the ground, low walls, and so forth. Most maps are structured with lots of open space, which sounds a bit strange if you played Red Orchestra 1, but in this case it causes the combat to quickly congeal into a large-scale game of whack a mole.
Here's how it plays out: You enter a match -- unless Punkbuster is working properly and fucking you. There are two types of server: Empty and Full. The ones with the best ping are, of course, empty. The full ones won't let you in. As you scroll down the list, which takes several minutes to populate, you may see the odd server that is neither empty nor full. Doing so usually means giving up on finding something with decent ping on the understanding that you might play this game that you have recently bought.
Once you have entered a server, you will generally see a variety of choices. "A-ha!" You might think, if you played Red Orchestra 1, "An assault class slot is open! I must be in luck!". Knowing that the trusty Pa-Pa-Shah or the Stig-44 will soon be yours, you get ready to mow down dozens of fools. Then, with your class selected, you spawn and realize what kind of mistake you've just made.
I should note that there are several combat classes in the game: Assault focuses on sprinting, grenades, and rapid-fire weapons that are effective at close range. Rifleman and Elite Rifleman offer long-range accuracy, and in the case of the latter issues you with a semi-automatic rifle. A Light Machine Gunner is issued with a weapon that can only be used in two positions: while lying prone, or while resting on cover. Squad Leader gives you the ability to throw smoke grenades, call in artillery, aerial recon, and be a moving spawn point. Marksmen are effectively snipers, issued with a weapon with telescopic sights.
All of these sound useful. Then there's the details. Only two marksmen are allowed on each side (sometimes one). This slot is immediately filled by someone who doesn't know what they're doing. Light Machine Guns, being only useful behind cover or while lying prone, are occasionally useful for murdering people in their spawn area, but otherwise leave you a slow-moving thug with a useless lump of iron in your hands as you plod the two miles from your spawn to the front line-- only to get shot.
Squad Leaders are great at laying down smoke, which all members of the opposite team immediately point their guns at, as invariably waves of people will try to run through it. When they emerge from the smoke, they die without even knowing where the enemy is. They are also very good at laying down artillery on indestructible objectives and their own men.
Since all kills seem to take place at hundreds of yards or more, the assault class can be effective on a handful of maps, but is usually fucked into a cocked hat, running from one useless bit of cover to the next and praying with increasing intensity as the enemy gradually surrounds, pins down, and murders him.
This leaves the riflemen, who are now the kings of the battlefield. Their weapons can (and do) reach across the entire map. All you have to do is point it toward an open area and shoot at those little moving blobs in the distance, or play a game of whack-a-mole as the enemy pops behind, above, and around cover. Given a little high ground, you don't have to run towards the enemy at all. All you have to really do is spawn, go upstairs, find a cozy window, and murder people for the rest of the day. If you get killed, it will be only by other riflemen.
Now, Red Orchestra is famous for having tank combat as well as infantry combat. The tanks look fantastic, function to a high level of realism, and so on, but there is one big flaw: There's only two of them.
Do you want an IS-2 tank? Well, you get a T-34. Perhaps you wanted the StuG, the Tiger, or the Panther? Well, you get the Panzer IV. There are only two tanks in this game, and most of the tank maps are billiard-table affairs where you spend most of the time hunting down tiny scraps of cover and little lumps of earth to hide behind, wait, fire at the enemy, die, and repeat. The lack of variety in armor means that tactics boil down to a very simple and boring formula: Find an enemy and try to shoot at their sides. Since it can take 10-20 minutes to even find the enemy, most of your time in a tank will be spent (probably realistically) jerking off and/or building a music playlist best suited to your current predicament, like an audio book of Tolstoy's "War and Peace".
I can't condemn Red Orchestra 2 for its attempt to make a realistic combat experience. You realize, soberingly, that war of this type was essentially waiting around, eating, diddling yourself, and camping until suddenly the hand of fate bitchslaps you dead, and in many servers you don't even get a killcam to see who or what killed you. You don't get penalized for dying in this game beyond having to hike 5 miles back to the combat zone from the spawn area. Again, I'm sure that this is realistic, the notion of endless hiking and jogging until you catch a bullet, but it's not particularly fun, either.
Perhaps it's an accurate portrayal of war itself. It is so far removed from the frantic pacing, spectacular kills, and urgency of most war games today that Red Orchestra 2 seems to be wrong. Perhaps it's right. Perhaps it's a way to teach you, for $50, that war is in fact a long string of dull and tedious activities that ends in a pointless, terrifying, and sudden death. With the exception of windowsills that conspire to kill you and the crazy thruster-limb animations of the combat troops, or the fact that the map will literally kill you instantly if you take one step too far, Red Orchestra 2 encapsulates the rigors and tribulations of war like no other game.
Yet it seems to have forgotten that it is a game, and should therefore be fun.
This is a point not lost on Red Orchestra 1. The variety of combat styles, the structure of the maps, and the overall function of the game seemed better suited to having a good time. Death was still just a breath away, but the game would actually reward you for flanking the enemy instead of rushing in head-first. You didn't have to worry about being killed by wacky cover because sticky cover didn't exist. You didn't have to worry about getting killed for trespassing on the enemy's territory. You didn't have to worry that the enemy would drop constant artillery barrages on your own spawn point.
If nothing else, Red Orchestra 2 has accomplished one thing: It underscores the charm of Red Orchestra 1. I'm probably not the only person who will soon uninstall Red Orchestra 2 and reinstall Red Orchestra 1 to feel the magic again.
10 Years
Posted 14 years agoI'm probably not the only one writing a journal on the subject, but I've decided not to reminisce about the day and what I experienced during it. Instead I will focus on what has happened since then.
The reasoning behind this is, I think, a logical one. "Never Forget" is a handy little credo that fits neatly onto a bumper sticker, and having been involved in some of the naked profiteering of 9/11 sympathy, I can say with a degree of certainty that it is nice to be able to at last stop, look back, and make a very personal judgment on what happened that day without everyone trying to blow it in your ear.
Life for me since that day has been... well, dull. In an American way. Finished up college, got laid off 3 times, waiting for the fourth, but otherwise living as well as I could be and occasionally having the privilege of leaving the country. The events of 9/11 changed America, I suppose, but I don't think they changed my life or the lives of many individuals for that matter.
It sounds disrespectful. Then again, the chief object of terrorism is to instill the maximum amount of fear for a comparatively small effort. Yet we live, we work, we move forward, and while some may condemn people for not breaking into tears at the very thought of the World Trade Center, I think it's more of a testament to America and the world's resolve that we just kept pushing forward in spite of it all.
In those ten years we have been subjected to some brutally medieval concepts of how society should be "in a post-9/11 world". In Egypt they banned that most heinous and hideous terrorist practice, belly dancing. In the United States we learned that it's OK for total strangers in blue uniforms to make 3-D scans of your tits or testicles in public places-- so long as they're being paid minimum wage. In Western Europe, a few newspapers tried to call out a few Islamic snafus on the carpet, which resulted in the usual death threats and riots. In Iran, men and women were gunned down in the street for text messaging.
Yet good has emerged from the bad. The reactionaries had our hearts... for a while. It seemed that we were ready and willing to plunge ourselves into the past, casting a fearful gaze at the future and clinging to old delusions, but neither terrorism nor right-wingism can stop change. We've seen full-scale revolutions blossom and prevail in the Middle East and North Africa. We've seen natural disasters far more destructive than any terrorist attack, yet we've watched as people have come together as a global community to confront these crises like never before. As the public awakens to the future and how it looms closer than ever, they are also awakening to the strength of mankind and the need for responsibility.
The man behind the 9/11 attacks is dead. The men behind the attacks on American credibility are still at large, and writing books about how they could do things better if they simply had more time, clinging to old delusions now just as they did while in office. The war goes on, but through the haze the future is starting to emerge.
10 years ago, the worst thing the terrorists did to the world was something they might not even have intended to do. They set out to destroy America's sense of safety, but instead they temporarily short-circuited our brains, making us flee to a non-existent medieval fantasy where barbarians were everywhere and the only salvation was mindless subservience to kings and plutocrats. We're coming back now. Roleplaying is over, and when you think about it, living in reality isn't as bad as living in the dark fantasy world of another person's fear.
Here's to the victims of 9/11, and the victims of the war on terror, regardless of nationality, faith, occupation, or wealth. Nothing's going to bring them back, but we shouldn't try to become them either.
The reasoning behind this is, I think, a logical one. "Never Forget" is a handy little credo that fits neatly onto a bumper sticker, and having been involved in some of the naked profiteering of 9/11 sympathy, I can say with a degree of certainty that it is nice to be able to at last stop, look back, and make a very personal judgment on what happened that day without everyone trying to blow it in your ear.
Life for me since that day has been... well, dull. In an American way. Finished up college, got laid off 3 times, waiting for the fourth, but otherwise living as well as I could be and occasionally having the privilege of leaving the country. The events of 9/11 changed America, I suppose, but I don't think they changed my life or the lives of many individuals for that matter.
It sounds disrespectful. Then again, the chief object of terrorism is to instill the maximum amount of fear for a comparatively small effort. Yet we live, we work, we move forward, and while some may condemn people for not breaking into tears at the very thought of the World Trade Center, I think it's more of a testament to America and the world's resolve that we just kept pushing forward in spite of it all.
In those ten years we have been subjected to some brutally medieval concepts of how society should be "in a post-9/11 world". In Egypt they banned that most heinous and hideous terrorist practice, belly dancing. In the United States we learned that it's OK for total strangers in blue uniforms to make 3-D scans of your tits or testicles in public places-- so long as they're being paid minimum wage. In Western Europe, a few newspapers tried to call out a few Islamic snafus on the carpet, which resulted in the usual death threats and riots. In Iran, men and women were gunned down in the street for text messaging.
Yet good has emerged from the bad. The reactionaries had our hearts... for a while. It seemed that we were ready and willing to plunge ourselves into the past, casting a fearful gaze at the future and clinging to old delusions, but neither terrorism nor right-wingism can stop change. We've seen full-scale revolutions blossom and prevail in the Middle East and North Africa. We've seen natural disasters far more destructive than any terrorist attack, yet we've watched as people have come together as a global community to confront these crises like never before. As the public awakens to the future and how it looms closer than ever, they are also awakening to the strength of mankind and the need for responsibility.
The man behind the 9/11 attacks is dead. The men behind the attacks on American credibility are still at large, and writing books about how they could do things better if they simply had more time, clinging to old delusions now just as they did while in office. The war goes on, but through the haze the future is starting to emerge.
10 years ago, the worst thing the terrorists did to the world was something they might not even have intended to do. They set out to destroy America's sense of safety, but instead they temporarily short-circuited our brains, making us flee to a non-existent medieval fantasy where barbarians were everywhere and the only salvation was mindless subservience to kings and plutocrats. We're coming back now. Roleplaying is over, and when you think about it, living in reality isn't as bad as living in the dark fantasy world of another person's fear.
Here's to the victims of 9/11, and the victims of the war on terror, regardless of nationality, faith, occupation, or wealth. Nothing's going to bring them back, but we shouldn't try to become them either.
Wal-Cology
Posted 14 years agoAnyone ever played Sim City 2000?
Remember the arcologies? They were essentially ultra-high density population centers designed to satisfy all of the consumer, entertainment, residential, and employment needs of a population within a single superstructure. Today, most theoretical arcologies are strictly high concept designs, pretty pictures and flights of fancy designed to inspire architects and urban designers, offering a glimpse of a never-quite-within-reach future.
That's the problem with arcologies. We have the technology and the means to build self-contained mini-cities, but not the financial will or the public trust to do so. However, I think the reasoning behind this is not because people mistrust the concept, but because most of the ideas are simply too ambitious and crazy to be within reach.
Then I recently walked into a brand new super-duper-giga-Wal-Mart. As I perused the selection of clothing, groceries, electronics, and so on and so forth I came to the realization that this Wal-Mart was, in fact, a perfect testbed for a living, breathing arcology. All it needed was a conjoined series of residences, and voila! It would be a basic, but functional arcology!
Could this be the future? Can arcologies grow from a single super-duper store and become the new settlements of the 21st century? Is Wal-Mart, an object of my personal hatred for years, in fact the harbinger of the next urban revolution? While I am almost loathe to admit it, they are the only singular corporate entity that has gotten so close to the concept of a true arcology.
Imagine it. What starts off as a successful yotta-Wal-Mart (that's Wal-Mart * 10^24) in a city or neighborhood near you adds residence to the substructure, followed by more complex and specialized office structures for services such as clinics, small businesses, and so on. Then, on top of this initial 'seeding' layer of residences and offices comes a second tier of commercial space designed with entertainment, as well as a local government center-- a 'town hall', if you will, with adjacent police and emergency services.
If this self-contained town succeeds, it can conceivably continue to grow vertically into a massive urban complex with tens or even hundreds of thousands of residents who, if they so chose, would never have to leave the confines of the arcology.
This "Wal-Cology" solves some of the fundamental problems of the arcology concept. First, it mitigates cost. If the population, resources, or demand are insufficient to support an urban complex, the wal-cology will simply remain in its pupal state until conditions change. This quiets the fears that such a massive investment will prove to be a financial bust. Second, it allows for modular growth based on the fabric of the local community. For example, a Wal-Cology in Memphis, Tennessee could be modified without much effort to contain a country music community as well as a superstore for the firearms and heavy ordnance so popular in the American South. A corresponding Wal-Cology in, say, Albania could be equipped with a multitude of auto dealerships and docking bays to showcase the thousands of stolen vehicles arriving from much of Western Europe at any time, facilitating the trading process and regulating tariffs with minimal overhead. With modular development, each urban area can remain true to its local culture and therefore a viable and enjoyable place to live, not to mention a profitable one.
It also stands to reason that Wal-Mart, as the foundation of the future urban renewal, would stand to gain a great amount of political, social, and financial power in the coming decades as Wal-Cologies spring up around the world. Therefore, your benevolent overlords encourage you to continue spending money you don't have on cheap crap you don't need. The global economy and the future of mankind depends upon it!
Remember the arcologies? They were essentially ultra-high density population centers designed to satisfy all of the consumer, entertainment, residential, and employment needs of a population within a single superstructure. Today, most theoretical arcologies are strictly high concept designs, pretty pictures and flights of fancy designed to inspire architects and urban designers, offering a glimpse of a never-quite-within-reach future.
That's the problem with arcologies. We have the technology and the means to build self-contained mini-cities, but not the financial will or the public trust to do so. However, I think the reasoning behind this is not because people mistrust the concept, but because most of the ideas are simply too ambitious and crazy to be within reach.
Then I recently walked into a brand new super-duper-giga-Wal-Mart. As I perused the selection of clothing, groceries, electronics, and so on and so forth I came to the realization that this Wal-Mart was, in fact, a perfect testbed for a living, breathing arcology. All it needed was a conjoined series of residences, and voila! It would be a basic, but functional arcology!
Could this be the future? Can arcologies grow from a single super-duper store and become the new settlements of the 21st century? Is Wal-Mart, an object of my personal hatred for years, in fact the harbinger of the next urban revolution? While I am almost loathe to admit it, they are the only singular corporate entity that has gotten so close to the concept of a true arcology.
Imagine it. What starts off as a successful yotta-Wal-Mart (that's Wal-Mart * 10^24) in a city or neighborhood near you adds residence to the substructure, followed by more complex and specialized office structures for services such as clinics, small businesses, and so on. Then, on top of this initial 'seeding' layer of residences and offices comes a second tier of commercial space designed with entertainment, as well as a local government center-- a 'town hall', if you will, with adjacent police and emergency services.
If this self-contained town succeeds, it can conceivably continue to grow vertically into a massive urban complex with tens or even hundreds of thousands of residents who, if they so chose, would never have to leave the confines of the arcology.
This "Wal-Cology" solves some of the fundamental problems of the arcology concept. First, it mitigates cost. If the population, resources, or demand are insufficient to support an urban complex, the wal-cology will simply remain in its pupal state until conditions change. This quiets the fears that such a massive investment will prove to be a financial bust. Second, it allows for modular growth based on the fabric of the local community. For example, a Wal-Cology in Memphis, Tennessee could be modified without much effort to contain a country music community as well as a superstore for the firearms and heavy ordnance so popular in the American South. A corresponding Wal-Cology in, say, Albania could be equipped with a multitude of auto dealerships and docking bays to showcase the thousands of stolen vehicles arriving from much of Western Europe at any time, facilitating the trading process and regulating tariffs with minimal overhead. With modular development, each urban area can remain true to its local culture and therefore a viable and enjoyable place to live, not to mention a profitable one.
It also stands to reason that Wal-Mart, as the foundation of the future urban renewal, would stand to gain a great amount of political, social, and financial power in the coming decades as Wal-Cologies spring up around the world. Therefore, your benevolent overlords encourage you to continue spending money you don't have on cheap crap you don't need. The global economy and the future of mankind depends upon it!
Otakon Ho!
Posted 14 years agoNo, it's not some sort of cosplay concept.
This will be my first time ever going to Otakon, so I'm trying to keep an open mind while reining in the more ridiculous expectations. I'm heading out tomorrow, so I imagine I'll be out of contact until sometime on monday.
Will this trip produce any artwork? Tough call. I'm going purely as a visitor, but if I actually manage to complete anything I start sketching it'll end up around here at some point.
This will be my first time ever going to Otakon, so I'm trying to keep an open mind while reining in the more ridiculous expectations. I'm heading out tomorrow, so I imagine I'll be out of contact until sometime on monday.
Will this trip produce any artwork? Tough call. I'm going purely as a visitor, but if I actually manage to complete anything I start sketching it'll end up around here at some point.
Expectations
Posted 14 years agoQuick question. No long essay this time, promise!
What is more important to you in genre fiction? That the story meets your expectations or that it exceeds them?
By genre fiction I mean just that- genres. Sci-fi, Fantasy, Alternative History, Murder/Mystery, Paranormal, Steampunk, and the like.
What is more important to you in genre fiction? That the story meets your expectations or that it exceeds them?
By genre fiction I mean just that- genres. Sci-fi, Fantasy, Alternative History, Murder/Mystery, Paranormal, Steampunk, and the like.
Bronies
Posted 14 years agoWhat this is I don't even.
Can someone help me out here? I'm starting to feel even more un-hip than usual. So un-hip that my bum's about to fall off.
Can someone help me out here? I'm starting to feel even more un-hip than usual. So un-hip that my bum's about to fall off.
Sejhat Hot Potato
Posted 14 years agoI've long intended the Realm of Sejhat to be a place where the player character is faced with more dynamic and weighty quests than, say, "Kill 50 wyverns using only a ladle". It's a world of active revolutions and rebellions, with both old and young nations facing tough choices.
So here's a sample question for you:
The Ikonid Fleet is in poor condition after a protracted battle against a constant stream of foreign smugglers and pirates. The Maenid Empire has long depended upon the Ikonids to protect the waters and southern archipelagos of the Elven lands. Without a navy, the Maenid Empire has been forced to accept an embarrassing and shameful peace with Orcs and Beastfolk, and since the entire world knows that the Elves no longer have a meaningful navy pirates and brigands are migrating towards their waters with an eye toward profit and trouble.
The issue is clear. Rebuilding the Ikonid Fleet is a top priority, enabling the Elves to project enough power to prevent themselves from being at the mercy of their continental rivals. The Maenids and Ikonids agree that the new fleet must be a modern one fitted with hull designs and armor sufficient enough to match rival ships. This will require an immense amount of timber to be gathered quickly, preferably from as few sources as possible.
The most ideal source of strong timber is the Partheni Forest, a verdant and ancient woodland conveniently situated on a river, which would enable timber to easily be transported to a shipyard. The problem is that the Partheni Forest is a sacred grove, an ancient and hallowed place known to be populated by spirits both benevolent and malevolent. If the fleet is to be rebuilt, the forest will have to disappear or at least be irreversibly mutilated by clear-cut logging.
The consequences of cutting down the forest will be many. The lands in and around the forest will be virtually ruined, and anyone sent to cut down the trees will face the retaliation of forest spirits and local citizens alike. Aside from concerns about tradition and the overall preservation of nature, the lumberjacks and carpenters face very real danger from the forest's residents and will have to be protected heavily in order to have a chance of survival. However, the reward for completing the new fleet on time will be the protection of maritime commerce as well as improved revenue for the Maenid Empire as trade and the corresponding tariffs flourish.
A more cautious approach, selecting trees for harvest as opposed to clear-cutting the landscape, is more expedient when it comes to protecting the land, but it also will put the construction of the fleet behind schedule. The fleet will be completed, but its late arrival means trouble as pirates and smugglers set up base in the archipelago. If anything, the later the fleet arrives the more it will be at risk. On the bright side, this option fulfills the primary need of building the fleet while placing the loggers and shipbuilders at less risk from the dangers of the forest.
There are other, less sacred stands of timber than the Partheni Forest as well, yet none of them are within easy reach of a shipyard. Choosing to import the timber from sources abroad will take the longest period of time and place the construction of the fleet far behind schedule. However, this deals no damage to the sacred grove and therefore will be greatly appreciated by the local populace and the fleet's laborers, who would otherwise face disease, curses, and danger while cutting down trees. Unfortunately, delaying the new fleet's construction so badly means that smugglers and pirates will have ample time to establish themselves and dig in. The new fleet will be hard pressed to remove the blight of piracy, and many sailors and soldiers will likely die as a result of the intense fighting.
Which would you choose, and why?
So here's a sample question for you:
The Ikonid Fleet is in poor condition after a protracted battle against a constant stream of foreign smugglers and pirates. The Maenid Empire has long depended upon the Ikonids to protect the waters and southern archipelagos of the Elven lands. Without a navy, the Maenid Empire has been forced to accept an embarrassing and shameful peace with Orcs and Beastfolk, and since the entire world knows that the Elves no longer have a meaningful navy pirates and brigands are migrating towards their waters with an eye toward profit and trouble.
The issue is clear. Rebuilding the Ikonid Fleet is a top priority, enabling the Elves to project enough power to prevent themselves from being at the mercy of their continental rivals. The Maenids and Ikonids agree that the new fleet must be a modern one fitted with hull designs and armor sufficient enough to match rival ships. This will require an immense amount of timber to be gathered quickly, preferably from as few sources as possible.
The most ideal source of strong timber is the Partheni Forest, a verdant and ancient woodland conveniently situated on a river, which would enable timber to easily be transported to a shipyard. The problem is that the Partheni Forest is a sacred grove, an ancient and hallowed place known to be populated by spirits both benevolent and malevolent. If the fleet is to be rebuilt, the forest will have to disappear or at least be irreversibly mutilated by clear-cut logging.
The consequences of cutting down the forest will be many. The lands in and around the forest will be virtually ruined, and anyone sent to cut down the trees will face the retaliation of forest spirits and local citizens alike. Aside from concerns about tradition and the overall preservation of nature, the lumberjacks and carpenters face very real danger from the forest's residents and will have to be protected heavily in order to have a chance of survival. However, the reward for completing the new fleet on time will be the protection of maritime commerce as well as improved revenue for the Maenid Empire as trade and the corresponding tariffs flourish.
A more cautious approach, selecting trees for harvest as opposed to clear-cutting the landscape, is more expedient when it comes to protecting the land, but it also will put the construction of the fleet behind schedule. The fleet will be completed, but its late arrival means trouble as pirates and smugglers set up base in the archipelago. If anything, the later the fleet arrives the more it will be at risk. On the bright side, this option fulfills the primary need of building the fleet while placing the loggers and shipbuilders at less risk from the dangers of the forest.
There are other, less sacred stands of timber than the Partheni Forest as well, yet none of them are within easy reach of a shipyard. Choosing to import the timber from sources abroad will take the longest period of time and place the construction of the fleet far behind schedule. However, this deals no damage to the sacred grove and therefore will be greatly appreciated by the local populace and the fleet's laborers, who would otherwise face disease, curses, and danger while cutting down trees. Unfortunately, delaying the new fleet's construction so badly means that smugglers and pirates will have ample time to establish themselves and dig in. The new fleet will be hard pressed to remove the blight of piracy, and many sailors and soldiers will likely die as a result of the intense fighting.
Which would you choose, and why?
Halo: Covenant
Posted 14 years agoDone as a follow-up to this journal --> http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/...../#cid:20022071
The year 2563
It's been just over a decade since the formal end of the Human-Covenant War. For Humanity it is a time of reconstruction and reconciliation. For the Sangheili, however, it is a time of desperation.
Once they were the chosen children of the Covenant. Warriors. Crusaders. Elites. Now after the ruinous consequences of the Human-Covenant War they stand alone against their former masters. Sanghelios, their homeworld, is the last bastion of the Separatists. The Prophets and the Jiralhanae press against them daily at the fringes of their star system, but patrols and fortified asteroids can only last so long against the relentless weight of numbers, and a new fleet is coming to wipe away the Sangheili once and for all. The agenda of the Prophets is clear: The Sangheili are to burn for their treason.
Yet all is not well among the other races of the Covenant. The ever-tightening grip of the Prophets on the races of the Covenant and the naked tyranny of their Jiralhanae favorites has brought many of the races on the verge of open rebellion. If the Sangheili are to survive they must find a way to rally the races of the Covenant behind their banner and drive the fight to the Prophets' doorstep once and for all.
You are a lowly conscript, Minor Sal Kelli. Thrust into the ranks with only basic training and forced into menial work once thought suitable only for the Unggoy, you are content to fulfill your military obligations and return home to obscurity, but fate has other plans. Soon you will find yourself at the forefront of your people's desperate efforts to turn the tide of battle. The road ahead is difficult, yet the Humans once proved that the bravery of a few can save countless billions.
CHANGES:
Sangheili
More than a decade after the Great Schism, the once noble and professional armies of the Sangheili are now filled with raw recruits and conscripts. The children of the Human-Covenant war now nervously join the ranks of its veterans. They are motivated, but as always they are outnumbered and time is running out. There is increasing dissent among the Councilors and Kaidons, even conspiracies to topple the Separatist leadership and surrender to the Covenant.
- Sangheili now vary considerably in quality between professional troops and raw recruits, down to weapons and tactics
- Females are now fully integrated into the military, from the front lines up to command
- Human refugees now appear in Sangheili vessels, especially in more menial or technical functions on ships
- Small alterations to equipment and armament inspired by the simple, but effective technology of the Humans
- Multiplayer classes: Special Operations, Zealot, Ultra
Unggoy
As the lowest caste of the Covenant, the fact that the Unggoy retain a great deal of pride and cultural identity goes largely ignored by the indifferent Ministries of the Prophets, who only truly show concern when Unggoy mischief becomes a military problem. Having lost by far the most people in the Human-Covenant war only to be rewarded with more demand for troops, resentment among their people has simmered to a boil. To the citizens of Balaho, civil war is not so much an idea as it is a fact of life. Though Balaho, the Unggoy homeworld, now contains a relatively small portion of the Unggoy people it remains their seat of government and culture. The poverty and loss of life imposed upon their people has split the residents of Balaho between loyalists and separatists, but a fundamental reorganization of the rebel forces means that they now pose a serious threat to the loyalists, and by extension the Prophets. Anyone wishing to deal a serious blow to the Covenant will have to start here, as a few small pushes in the right direction could motivate all Unggoy to resist the jackbooted tyranny of the Prophets and Jiralhanae.
- On their homeworld of Balaho, Unggoy do not wear protective suits or breathing apparati, revealing their true appearance.
- The frightening effectiveness of human automatic weaponry against Unggoy has inspired rebels to reverse-engineer various human armaments for their own purposes, including submachine guns and rocket launchers
- Unggoy are now more professional troops, and therefore more formidable allies and/or adversaries less likely to flee in a fight
- Makeshift Unggoy battle vehicles such as Technicals and Jipnis provide speed and firepower at a cost of protection
- Multiplayer classes: Suicide Trooper, Special Operations, Deacon
Kig-Yar
During the Great Schism, the mercenary Kig-Yar sided with the Prophet and the Loyalists, yet with the end of the Human-Covenant War came restrictions on their freewheeling, privateering ways. Perhaps more damaging than any requests for military aid, heavy tariffs and subsidy cuts imposed in the wake of the war stirred bitter, bilious grumbling among the mercantile houses of Eayn, their homeworld. Their livelihoods thus stressed, many returning veterans have found that heavy taxation means fewer paying jobs as traders and mercenaries. The Kig-Yar respect no monarchs, find little value in faith, and find morality to be situational at best, but the one rule of their society has always been revenue above all else. Promises of money will not be enough to earn the loyalty of the Kig-Yar. A charitable 'donation' from the Sangheili, on the other hand, should garner their attention long enough to contribute their idle mercenary companies to fight against the Prophets and the Jiralhanae.
- Travel to Eayn uncovers details about Kig-Yar society, in particular the powerful military/commercial interests of their people
- Kig-Yar mercenary skirmishers operate more independently than Covenant loyalists, operating as cohesive squads and laying down fire as they withdraw
- Kig-Yar snipers now work in pairs and will cover each others' advance or withdrawal until one is killed
- The 'Harpy' is a new high-speed two-seater vehicle introduced by the Kig-Yar armed with a dual needler and a semi-automatic anti materiel rifle
- Multiplayer classes: Sniper, Skirmisher, Marine
Yanme'e
Though the Yanme'e fought for the Loyalists during the early years of the Great Schism, disaster after military disaster against the disciplined Sangheili forced them to withdraw from battlefield duties collectively at the behest of their hive queens. While they technically remain members of the Covenant, they haven't contributed any new soldiers to the fight for four years, wearing on the Prophets' patience. The queens have remained largely out of contact since their withdrawal from the fight, and the drastic nature of their withdrawal seems to indicate something larger than a political disagreement with the Covenant. Rumor has it that a disease that renders queens infertile is spreading gradually from hive to hive, and that if left unchecked it could spell doom for the Yanme'e as an entire race.
- Travel to Palamok reveals that the disease sweeping through the Yanme'e hives and colonies is real, and as a result they deploy for battle only very cautiously
- Some drones can now drop ECM modules, sabotaging enemy shields and cloaking
- Elite Yanme'e drones now use active camouflage
- Tactical focus changes from saturation to aerial support
- Multiplayer classes: Interference Drone, Bomber, Stealth Drone
Mgalekgolo
Many of the mysterious, cryptic Mgalekgolo sided with the Sangheili during the Great Schism for reasons that are still not well understood, though Sangheili myth has it that they felt a cultural 'bond' with their race. Though the Mgalekgolo, colloquially called 'Hunters' by Humans, continue to be feared adversaries, they have distanced themselves from much of the fighting. The most obvious reason for this could be that they don't wish to throw their lot in against the Sangheili until it is absolutely necessary to do so, but others have proposed that the information they gained during the Human-Covenant War has inspired them to explore new forms, secretly combining into enormous numbers like massive supercomputers, researching new ways to gain dominance over the other races. Though the Mgalekgolos' aims are unknown, their indifference in the fight is being paid for in Sangheili blood. If they are to mobilize against the Prophet and the Loyalists, they must first uncover why the worms have recently become so secretive.
- Travel to the Mgalekgolo homeworld of Te reveals a variety of new 'constructs' showing an evolution from the traditional platforms
- The 'Twiga' is a new aircraft fitted with a powerful new plasma beam weapon whose firing is restricted by overheating
- Mgalekgolo heavy infantry fighting style remains largely unchanged
Human
In the aftermath of the Human-Covenant War, much of Humanity devoted itself to repairing the terrible damage wrought upon it by the Covenant. While many humans resent the aliens for their role in the destruction of so many lives, most keep their opinions quiet as you'll find no greater advocate for galactic peace at present than the UNSC . Many human refugees from the conflicts survived in hiding in small pockets and outposts throughout Human space, and with the formal declaration of an alliance with the Sangheili many of those refugees streamed into Sanghelios where they have stayed and toiled in ghettos. Many refugees serve directly alongside Sangheili as menials and engineers on battleships, willing to accept low-level work in exchange for a living. Human mercenary groups hemmed together from the refugee community also fight and engage in skirmishing or reconnaissance operations on behalf of Sangheili forces. While the UNSC recognizes the alliance, it is unlikely that they will be able to directly aid the Sangheili in their fight for survival. The refugees, on the other hand, provide a useful source of guerilla fighters well-versed in unusual tactics both on land and in space.
- Aiding the ship HL Arbalest in fighting off Jiralhanae boarders enables the use of the ship's unique contraband MAC cannon for orbital fire support
- Terran Legion auxiliary troops wear armor loosely based off of Sangheili designs, but carry weapons familiar to the UNSC such as battle rifles and sniper rifles
- Modified Warthogs can now carry the M7 Beowulf, a fast-firing version of the original M6 Grindell 'Spartan Laser'
- Modified battle rifle now comes equipped with a grenade launcher
- Human soldiers now attempt to use their light weaponry to maximum effect, using cover and sprinting to attempt to outflank tougher enemies
- Multiplayer classes: Shock Trooper, Grenadier, Recon, Engineer
Jiralhanae
The warlike Jiralhanae are simultaneously the newest race to enter the Covenant and one of the most fiercely loyal factions to the Prophets, who in recent memory gave them the Sangheilis' caste to secure their devotion. Four decades of continuous galactic warfare have made their already aggressive race more and more bloodthirsty towards supposed enemies of the Covenant. Their presence is quietly hated by all Covenant races, but no one dares speak openly against them, lest they be flattened into pancakes by their gravity hammers. As their continued dominance over the rest of the hierarchy is completely dependent upon the Prophets, they will never rebel against their leadership. The only option, then, is to assemble enough allies to overwhelm them and bring the rule of the Prophets to an end.
- Jiralhanae boast universally higher quality equipment and training, especially among the Honor Guard
- Jiralhanae now have a 3-tubed incendiary rocket launcher called the Type 60 Immolator
- The Type 25 'Brute Shot' is now equipped with smart munitions, increasing its effective range
- Broad authority means that Jiralhanae will try to prevent your efforts to unify the Covenant under the Sangheili
- Multiplayer classes: Secret Police, Honor Guard, Shock Trooper
The year 2563
It's been just over a decade since the formal end of the Human-Covenant War. For Humanity it is a time of reconstruction and reconciliation. For the Sangheili, however, it is a time of desperation.
Once they were the chosen children of the Covenant. Warriors. Crusaders. Elites. Now after the ruinous consequences of the Human-Covenant War they stand alone against their former masters. Sanghelios, their homeworld, is the last bastion of the Separatists. The Prophets and the Jiralhanae press against them daily at the fringes of their star system, but patrols and fortified asteroids can only last so long against the relentless weight of numbers, and a new fleet is coming to wipe away the Sangheili once and for all. The agenda of the Prophets is clear: The Sangheili are to burn for their treason.
Yet all is not well among the other races of the Covenant. The ever-tightening grip of the Prophets on the races of the Covenant and the naked tyranny of their Jiralhanae favorites has brought many of the races on the verge of open rebellion. If the Sangheili are to survive they must find a way to rally the races of the Covenant behind their banner and drive the fight to the Prophets' doorstep once and for all.
You are a lowly conscript, Minor Sal Kelli. Thrust into the ranks with only basic training and forced into menial work once thought suitable only for the Unggoy, you are content to fulfill your military obligations and return home to obscurity, but fate has other plans. Soon you will find yourself at the forefront of your people's desperate efforts to turn the tide of battle. The road ahead is difficult, yet the Humans once proved that the bravery of a few can save countless billions.
CHANGES:
Sangheili
More than a decade after the Great Schism, the once noble and professional armies of the Sangheili are now filled with raw recruits and conscripts. The children of the Human-Covenant war now nervously join the ranks of its veterans. They are motivated, but as always they are outnumbered and time is running out. There is increasing dissent among the Councilors and Kaidons, even conspiracies to topple the Separatist leadership and surrender to the Covenant.
- Sangheili now vary considerably in quality between professional troops and raw recruits, down to weapons and tactics
- Females are now fully integrated into the military, from the front lines up to command
- Human refugees now appear in Sangheili vessels, especially in more menial or technical functions on ships
- Small alterations to equipment and armament inspired by the simple, but effective technology of the Humans
- Multiplayer classes: Special Operations, Zealot, Ultra
Unggoy
As the lowest caste of the Covenant, the fact that the Unggoy retain a great deal of pride and cultural identity goes largely ignored by the indifferent Ministries of the Prophets, who only truly show concern when Unggoy mischief becomes a military problem. Having lost by far the most people in the Human-Covenant war only to be rewarded with more demand for troops, resentment among their people has simmered to a boil. To the citizens of Balaho, civil war is not so much an idea as it is a fact of life. Though Balaho, the Unggoy homeworld, now contains a relatively small portion of the Unggoy people it remains their seat of government and culture. The poverty and loss of life imposed upon their people has split the residents of Balaho between loyalists and separatists, but a fundamental reorganization of the rebel forces means that they now pose a serious threat to the loyalists, and by extension the Prophets. Anyone wishing to deal a serious blow to the Covenant will have to start here, as a few small pushes in the right direction could motivate all Unggoy to resist the jackbooted tyranny of the Prophets and Jiralhanae.
- On their homeworld of Balaho, Unggoy do not wear protective suits or breathing apparati, revealing their true appearance.
- The frightening effectiveness of human automatic weaponry against Unggoy has inspired rebels to reverse-engineer various human armaments for their own purposes, including submachine guns and rocket launchers
- Unggoy are now more professional troops, and therefore more formidable allies and/or adversaries less likely to flee in a fight
- Makeshift Unggoy battle vehicles such as Technicals and Jipnis provide speed and firepower at a cost of protection
- Multiplayer classes: Suicide Trooper, Special Operations, Deacon
Kig-Yar
During the Great Schism, the mercenary Kig-Yar sided with the Prophet and the Loyalists, yet with the end of the Human-Covenant War came restrictions on their freewheeling, privateering ways. Perhaps more damaging than any requests for military aid, heavy tariffs and subsidy cuts imposed in the wake of the war stirred bitter, bilious grumbling among the mercantile houses of Eayn, their homeworld. Their livelihoods thus stressed, many returning veterans have found that heavy taxation means fewer paying jobs as traders and mercenaries. The Kig-Yar respect no monarchs, find little value in faith, and find morality to be situational at best, but the one rule of their society has always been revenue above all else. Promises of money will not be enough to earn the loyalty of the Kig-Yar. A charitable 'donation' from the Sangheili, on the other hand, should garner their attention long enough to contribute their idle mercenary companies to fight against the Prophets and the Jiralhanae.
- Travel to Eayn uncovers details about Kig-Yar society, in particular the powerful military/commercial interests of their people
- Kig-Yar mercenary skirmishers operate more independently than Covenant loyalists, operating as cohesive squads and laying down fire as they withdraw
- Kig-Yar snipers now work in pairs and will cover each others' advance or withdrawal until one is killed
- The 'Harpy' is a new high-speed two-seater vehicle introduced by the Kig-Yar armed with a dual needler and a semi-automatic anti materiel rifle
- Multiplayer classes: Sniper, Skirmisher, Marine
Yanme'e
Though the Yanme'e fought for the Loyalists during the early years of the Great Schism, disaster after military disaster against the disciplined Sangheili forced them to withdraw from battlefield duties collectively at the behest of their hive queens. While they technically remain members of the Covenant, they haven't contributed any new soldiers to the fight for four years, wearing on the Prophets' patience. The queens have remained largely out of contact since their withdrawal from the fight, and the drastic nature of their withdrawal seems to indicate something larger than a political disagreement with the Covenant. Rumor has it that a disease that renders queens infertile is spreading gradually from hive to hive, and that if left unchecked it could spell doom for the Yanme'e as an entire race.
- Travel to Palamok reveals that the disease sweeping through the Yanme'e hives and colonies is real, and as a result they deploy for battle only very cautiously
- Some drones can now drop ECM modules, sabotaging enemy shields and cloaking
- Elite Yanme'e drones now use active camouflage
- Tactical focus changes from saturation to aerial support
- Multiplayer classes: Interference Drone, Bomber, Stealth Drone
Mgalekgolo
Many of the mysterious, cryptic Mgalekgolo sided with the Sangheili during the Great Schism for reasons that are still not well understood, though Sangheili myth has it that they felt a cultural 'bond' with their race. Though the Mgalekgolo, colloquially called 'Hunters' by Humans, continue to be feared adversaries, they have distanced themselves from much of the fighting. The most obvious reason for this could be that they don't wish to throw their lot in against the Sangheili until it is absolutely necessary to do so, but others have proposed that the information they gained during the Human-Covenant War has inspired them to explore new forms, secretly combining into enormous numbers like massive supercomputers, researching new ways to gain dominance over the other races. Though the Mgalekgolos' aims are unknown, their indifference in the fight is being paid for in Sangheili blood. If they are to mobilize against the Prophet and the Loyalists, they must first uncover why the worms have recently become so secretive.
- Travel to the Mgalekgolo homeworld of Te reveals a variety of new 'constructs' showing an evolution from the traditional platforms
- The 'Twiga' is a new aircraft fitted with a powerful new plasma beam weapon whose firing is restricted by overheating
- Mgalekgolo heavy infantry fighting style remains largely unchanged
Human
In the aftermath of the Human-Covenant War, much of Humanity devoted itself to repairing the terrible damage wrought upon it by the Covenant. While many humans resent the aliens for their role in the destruction of so many lives, most keep their opinions quiet as you'll find no greater advocate for galactic peace at present than the UNSC . Many human refugees from the conflicts survived in hiding in small pockets and outposts throughout Human space, and with the formal declaration of an alliance with the Sangheili many of those refugees streamed into Sanghelios where they have stayed and toiled in ghettos. Many refugees serve directly alongside Sangheili as menials and engineers on battleships, willing to accept low-level work in exchange for a living. Human mercenary groups hemmed together from the refugee community also fight and engage in skirmishing or reconnaissance operations on behalf of Sangheili forces. While the UNSC recognizes the alliance, it is unlikely that they will be able to directly aid the Sangheili in their fight for survival. The refugees, on the other hand, provide a useful source of guerilla fighters well-versed in unusual tactics both on land and in space.
- Aiding the ship HL Arbalest in fighting off Jiralhanae boarders enables the use of the ship's unique contraband MAC cannon for orbital fire support
- Terran Legion auxiliary troops wear armor loosely based off of Sangheili designs, but carry weapons familiar to the UNSC such as battle rifles and sniper rifles
- Modified Warthogs can now carry the M7 Beowulf, a fast-firing version of the original M6 Grindell 'Spartan Laser'
- Modified battle rifle now comes equipped with a grenade launcher
- Human soldiers now attempt to use their light weaponry to maximum effect, using cover and sprinting to attempt to outflank tougher enemies
- Multiplayer classes: Shock Trooper, Grenadier, Recon, Engineer
Jiralhanae
The warlike Jiralhanae are simultaneously the newest race to enter the Covenant and one of the most fiercely loyal factions to the Prophets, who in recent memory gave them the Sangheilis' caste to secure their devotion. Four decades of continuous galactic warfare have made their already aggressive race more and more bloodthirsty towards supposed enemies of the Covenant. Their presence is quietly hated by all Covenant races, but no one dares speak openly against them, lest they be flattened into pancakes by their gravity hammers. As their continued dominance over the rest of the hierarchy is completely dependent upon the Prophets, they will never rebel against their leadership. The only option, then, is to assemble enough allies to overwhelm them and bring the rule of the Prophets to an end.
- Jiralhanae boast universally higher quality equipment and training, especially among the Honor Guard
- Jiralhanae now have a 3-tubed incendiary rocket launcher called the Type 60 Immolator
- The Type 25 'Brute Shot' is now equipped with smart munitions, increasing its effective range
- Broad authority means that Jiralhanae will try to prevent your efforts to unify the Covenant under the Sangheili
- Multiplayer classes: Secret Police, Honor Guard, Shock Trooper
Halo Stuff
Posted 14 years agoI have a confession to make.
I've never been a huge fan of the Halo series.
Don't get me wrong, I've played through at least a couple of the titles, engaged in multiplayer, and actually purchased one of the titles, but in spite of the contributions and ideas the franchise has contributed to the gaming community I've never been able to immerse myself in it or fall in love with it. I might be one of those rare gamers who best likes his experiences served with engaging stories and populated with interesting characters.
Particularly in the realm of first person shooters, common wisdom seems to dictate that story is unimportant when every possible moment of the game is filled with people shooting at you, but sooner or later all the bullets and streaking globs of plasma fail to distract me from the often awful truth that there is no substance behind it all. While in this respect Halo stands stronger than, say, Call of Duty, it has lots of room for improvement.
It's clear now that the impending Halo projects are focused on either revisiting the first game or carrying on the story of the Master Chief, a character who I never particularly liked in spite of the fact that his survival was annoyingly essential to my continued progress in the game. In my experience there are two kinds of successful protagonists in first person shooters: The 'silent loner' who navigates the world as a practical mute, allowing the player to fully transport themselves into the game (E.G., Gordon Freeman) or the 'talker' whose dialogue and reactions to the events going on around them dictate how we feel about the character and story.
The 'silent loner' depends on a strong supporting cast of characters with depth and personality to compensate for the relative blank slate of the player character. The 'talker' requires a careful balance of sympathy from the player as well as the ability to execute the fantastical, allowing us to vicariously experience something we never could in real life through a plucky protagonist.
Sadly, the Master Chief tries to be both and accomplishes neither. He talks on occasion, but nothing he ever says really makes the player appreciate him as a human being. At the same time, there is little in the game world to compensate for the relatively bland Master Chief. With the possible exception of Cortana (I stress 'possible'), you never get the impression that anyone fighting for MC is really essential. 'Sarge' is a walking stereotype and the Arbiter offers similarly few surprises. Just about no one evolves or changes throughout the course of the game. By the end of it all, no one has really learned anything through their experiences.
The Halo franchise has made three earnest attempts to breathe a little life into the games, but all of them have focused on the 'badassery' of humans and largely excluded what I think would make fabulous storytelling material: The Covenant.
Before I continue, there's an old rule about science fiction: Science Fiction is about people. A lot of people read this as 'about humans', but it doesn't take a genius to interpret the the phrase's alternate meaning: "Science Fiction must appeal to the human condition".
Thus far, the lore surrounding the Covenant has been... somewhat sloppy. From game to game, it changes so drastically that it can at times confuse the player. For instance, "Hey, didn't these guys side with the Elites? Now they're against them? Wha happon?", or "The Prophets hate Humanity because they're damned dirty apes. As a result, they hired damned dirty apes (Brutes) to help exterminate them. Que cosa?"
The Halo universe has no shortage of races. It has no shortage of characters. It almost certainly has no shortage of ammunition and exotic death-flinging goodies. What it lacks is actual 'character', something for the player to become a little emotionally invested in. True, saving the Earth is a big deal, but when the Earth of the future is populated entirely by insipid cliches, there are occasional moments where you actually want the Covenant to win and wipe us from the universe. I mean, at least they have pretty colors. Given another moment of thought, however, you quickly find out that the Covenant races are roughly as flavorless as the humans by your side. It's constantly made clear to you that they're all either A: Religious Zealots or B: Idiot Cannon Fodder.
The events that drew Halo 3, and the 'big story', to a close could usher in a new storyline. Surprise! Humanity wins, Covenant loses. But what does that mean for the Covenant, or really anyone for that matter?
So here's an idea. About a decade has passed since the Covenant lost the war against the Humans. It's been a complete fiasco, a disaster. The races of the Covenant are diverse, but they all accepted the religion of the Covenant in exchange for technology, spacefaring capabilities, and the subsequent promises of vast wealth. Instead, everyone from the Sangheili to the Kig-Yar to the Unggoy have poured vast fortunes and lives into a war that went bust. The Elites rebelled, seceding from the Covenant altogether.
Now, the Covenant is falling apart from the inside. A fissure has formed between those races and individuals loyal to the Prophets and those that want complete autonomy. The Elites, having won their independence, have found themselves and their homeworld to be the latest target of the Covenant. Alliance with the nearly shattered humans has done little to aid them. The prophets gather a battle fleet from their reluctant, war-weary allies to decisively cleanse the Sangheili in one clear message to all: This is the price of betrayal.
The Sangheili have to act quickly. They know they cannot stand against the combined might of a new fleet in their weakened state. Their only hope is to stir up rebellions among the other races, building a new Covenant to stop the old.
You are a young Sangheili warrior caught up in the race's desperate efforts to mount a defense against the coming storm. Despite your lowly status and your inexperience in war, events soon conspire that will place you at the tip of the spear. The Sangheili cannot afford to turn away any allies, from Human refugees to the lowly Unggoy, from heretics to rebels. The Humans once fought for their survival and for their freedom as a species. Now you must do the same, bringing a final end to the Old Covenant.
I've never been a huge fan of the Halo series.
Don't get me wrong, I've played through at least a couple of the titles, engaged in multiplayer, and actually purchased one of the titles, but in spite of the contributions and ideas the franchise has contributed to the gaming community I've never been able to immerse myself in it or fall in love with it. I might be one of those rare gamers who best likes his experiences served with engaging stories and populated with interesting characters.
Particularly in the realm of first person shooters, common wisdom seems to dictate that story is unimportant when every possible moment of the game is filled with people shooting at you, but sooner or later all the bullets and streaking globs of plasma fail to distract me from the often awful truth that there is no substance behind it all. While in this respect Halo stands stronger than, say, Call of Duty, it has lots of room for improvement.
It's clear now that the impending Halo projects are focused on either revisiting the first game or carrying on the story of the Master Chief, a character who I never particularly liked in spite of the fact that his survival was annoyingly essential to my continued progress in the game. In my experience there are two kinds of successful protagonists in first person shooters: The 'silent loner' who navigates the world as a practical mute, allowing the player to fully transport themselves into the game (E.G., Gordon Freeman) or the 'talker' whose dialogue and reactions to the events going on around them dictate how we feel about the character and story.
The 'silent loner' depends on a strong supporting cast of characters with depth and personality to compensate for the relative blank slate of the player character. The 'talker' requires a careful balance of sympathy from the player as well as the ability to execute the fantastical, allowing us to vicariously experience something we never could in real life through a plucky protagonist.
Sadly, the Master Chief tries to be both and accomplishes neither. He talks on occasion, but nothing he ever says really makes the player appreciate him as a human being. At the same time, there is little in the game world to compensate for the relatively bland Master Chief. With the possible exception of Cortana (I stress 'possible'), you never get the impression that anyone fighting for MC is really essential. 'Sarge' is a walking stereotype and the Arbiter offers similarly few surprises. Just about no one evolves or changes throughout the course of the game. By the end of it all, no one has really learned anything through their experiences.
The Halo franchise has made three earnest attempts to breathe a little life into the games, but all of them have focused on the 'badassery' of humans and largely excluded what I think would make fabulous storytelling material: The Covenant.
Before I continue, there's an old rule about science fiction: Science Fiction is about people. A lot of people read this as 'about humans', but it doesn't take a genius to interpret the the phrase's alternate meaning: "Science Fiction must appeal to the human condition".
Thus far, the lore surrounding the Covenant has been... somewhat sloppy. From game to game, it changes so drastically that it can at times confuse the player. For instance, "Hey, didn't these guys side with the Elites? Now they're against them? Wha happon?", or "The Prophets hate Humanity because they're damned dirty apes. As a result, they hired damned dirty apes (Brutes) to help exterminate them. Que cosa?"
The Halo universe has no shortage of races. It has no shortage of characters. It almost certainly has no shortage of ammunition and exotic death-flinging goodies. What it lacks is actual 'character', something for the player to become a little emotionally invested in. True, saving the Earth is a big deal, but when the Earth of the future is populated entirely by insipid cliches, there are occasional moments where you actually want the Covenant to win and wipe us from the universe. I mean, at least they have pretty colors. Given another moment of thought, however, you quickly find out that the Covenant races are roughly as flavorless as the humans by your side. It's constantly made clear to you that they're all either A: Religious Zealots or B: Idiot Cannon Fodder.
The events that drew Halo 3, and the 'big story', to a close could usher in a new storyline. Surprise! Humanity wins, Covenant loses. But what does that mean for the Covenant, or really anyone for that matter?
So here's an idea. About a decade has passed since the Covenant lost the war against the Humans. It's been a complete fiasco, a disaster. The races of the Covenant are diverse, but they all accepted the religion of the Covenant in exchange for technology, spacefaring capabilities, and the subsequent promises of vast wealth. Instead, everyone from the Sangheili to the Kig-Yar to the Unggoy have poured vast fortunes and lives into a war that went bust. The Elites rebelled, seceding from the Covenant altogether.
Now, the Covenant is falling apart from the inside. A fissure has formed between those races and individuals loyal to the Prophets and those that want complete autonomy. The Elites, having won their independence, have found themselves and their homeworld to be the latest target of the Covenant. Alliance with the nearly shattered humans has done little to aid them. The prophets gather a battle fleet from their reluctant, war-weary allies to decisively cleanse the Sangheili in one clear message to all: This is the price of betrayal.
The Sangheili have to act quickly. They know they cannot stand against the combined might of a new fleet in their weakened state. Their only hope is to stir up rebellions among the other races, building a new Covenant to stop the old.
You are a young Sangheili warrior caught up in the race's desperate efforts to mount a defense against the coming storm. Despite your lowly status and your inexperience in war, events soon conspire that will place you at the tip of the spear. The Sangheili cannot afford to turn away any allies, from Human refugees to the lowly Unggoy, from heretics to rebels. The Humans once fought for their survival and for their freedom as a species. Now you must do the same, bringing a final end to the Old Covenant.
Andrew Freep's Amazing Stories: How They Really Got Osama
Posted 14 years agoI recently met a most fascinating individual named Andrew Freep. He's a wizened old man who, among other things, worked as a janitor in the White House for over 30 years! I asked him about why he didn't seek out other employment opportunities in all that time, to which he simply responded that no one does cupcakes like the White House. Besides that, we all know that the current job market sucks. We sat and talked for hours about that fascinating residence, the abode of the Commander in Chief, and in that time I learned some absolutely fascinating facts and trivia about our nation's history. I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that any of his stories are true. This is one of them.
How They Really Got Osama
This is a little embarrassing. I really shouldn't. Well, alright, if you insist.
I started here way back at the end of the Carter administration. You know? Wait, you don't know, do you? He was the peanut guy! You know, hehehe? Peanuts? No? How 'bout the oil crisis? Nothing, huh?
Anyway, it don't matter a bit, 'cuz he and I crossed paths just once. He asked me to be the pallbearer at his pet rock's funeral. After that, there was the really wrinkly guy. I hear they named an airport after him. After that guy, it was 'ol four-eyes... Anyway, I'm ramblin'!
What I'm gettin' at is that I've seen some presidents come through here, and let me tell you it is not fun when they get replaced. Desks get glued shut, people scratch obscenities on the walls of the men's room, and then there was that one time when Ollie North upperdecked the Oval Office's toilets! All of 'em! I ask you, how can one human being contain that much shit? And guess who gets to clean it up? Huh-yeah! Me, that's who!
Then the new guy comes in, looks at the goddamn mess, and the answer is always the same. "Take the week off, Andy. We'll handle this." I don't like other folks messin' with my system, so I usually insist on sticking around. Most people don't seem to know this, but did you know that there's some kind of ceremony that most presidents do when they take office?
See, they grab all of the documents from the former president they can find-- papers, sticky notes, composition books with doodles in the margins, scraps of construction paper with color crayon, and so forth. They gather all this stuff up and carry it to a secret room in the basement, then the president strips down naked and does this funny little jig around an effigy of Abraham Lincoln while masked men throw the documents down some big, lava-filled pit. I imagine it's mostly just ceremony, but still, those documents are never seen nor heard from again.
Anyway, that's the tradition. I think Harry Truman started it, believe it or not. Not all presidents do it, either, but most I've seen keep up the tradition. Not this new guy, though. Mr. Obama came in on his first day, looked around, and immediately started a party. There was one problem, though. All his guests had gone home after the inauguration, so he needed to find a few hundred guests, and quickly. I guess he wanted to keep it lively and academic, cause he must have called in every gay hipster for 10 square miles.
So these gay guys are all over the White House, doing gay stuff, you know? Chatting, drinking appletinis, admiring the artwork, getting in pseudo-academic discussions about the character of wine, waxing fucking nostalgic about their college days, and so on. Thing is, all of George Dubya's papers are still lying around, and before you know it the cell-phone cameras are snapping pictures all over the place. Hell, it wasn't my job to try and stop them, so I didn't. Let 'em have their fun, I say.
Where was Obama during all of this, you might ask? Well, as far as I can tell he disappeared into the master bedroom with Michelle for about a week. Apparently he had a bit of catching up to do after all that time on the campaign trail. What, you think I had to go in and clean up the mess afterwords? I gave the job to the new guy! I'm not messing around with that shit.
Since the Commander in Chief wasn't present, the gay guys made off with all of Dubya's papers. This is a bit of a fiasco, as Obama had been president for all of a week now and already there had been a big information leak from the White House. Obama must've been in a polite mood, however, cause he personally went and wrote to all the guests saying that they could keep the pictures as long as they sent him copies.
Well, he got the copies, the originals were incinerated, and that was that for a while. 'Course, after a couple of years Obama reopens the files. I figure he just had a really bad day. Happens to all of us. I also figure that he was more curious than anything else. One just doesn't go looking for wisdom in the documents of George W. Bush.
Anyway, he called me over to have a look at this one document. Actually, it was a yellow sticky note. It just read, "OBL", and had some numbers underneath it. Coordinates, I think. Then, underneath, there was the word "airstrike" with a question mark next to it, circled over a couple times by a red pen. Under that, it was pretty much standard stuff. Bacon, milk, bread, eggs, toilet paper...
Obama and I talked a little about Bush Two, and that's when I remembered how bad the guy's memory was. I mean, he was really, really forgetful. You know why he almost never left the U.S. during his eight years of office? You'll love this. He kept forgetting the phone number for Air Force One! I remember more than once he was all excited about dropping in on the troops in secret, shakin' a few hands, and then he'd get all frustrated when he couldn't remember who to call in order to fly there. Anyway, the guy tried writing down just about everything, but it didn't help. He'd just forget where he put the note!
So anyway, Obama wanted to see if he could really do something about that guy. You know, that guy who's always on the news! Salt 'n pepper beard? Turban? Violent, cunning hatred of America and Western ideology? Oh, what's his name? It's so easy to forget these things. I can see why 'ol Dubya had such trouble.
The prez said that he wanted to know if that note was what he thought it was. I said, "Hey, why not drop a bomb there and find out for sure?", but he gave me this funny look. He definitely wasn't gonna play this one like Dubya.
Then, just for grins I said, "Why not drop the Seal on them and see what happens?" I was talkin' about the presidential seal, of course. I guess the guy misheard me, cause the next day there's this big woop-woop about the Navy going in and blasting the hell out of that turban dude. I hadn't seen such a commotion since the day Bill Clinton woke up with a big hangover and was absolutely convinced that Republicans had stolen his genitals.
I'd like to say that there was more to the story, but that's it, bud. I'd liked to have told you some cock 'n bull story about espionage and intrigue and exhaustive detective work by the CIA, but as it turns out it all comes down to some pictures on a gay guy's cell phone.
I hear they're gonna let 'em get married at some point.
How They Really Got Osama
This is a little embarrassing. I really shouldn't. Well, alright, if you insist.
I started here way back at the end of the Carter administration. You know? Wait, you don't know, do you? He was the peanut guy! You know, hehehe? Peanuts? No? How 'bout the oil crisis? Nothing, huh?
Anyway, it don't matter a bit, 'cuz he and I crossed paths just once. He asked me to be the pallbearer at his pet rock's funeral. After that, there was the really wrinkly guy. I hear they named an airport after him. After that guy, it was 'ol four-eyes... Anyway, I'm ramblin'!
What I'm gettin' at is that I've seen some presidents come through here, and let me tell you it is not fun when they get replaced. Desks get glued shut, people scratch obscenities on the walls of the men's room, and then there was that one time when Ollie North upperdecked the Oval Office's toilets! All of 'em! I ask you, how can one human being contain that much shit? And guess who gets to clean it up? Huh-yeah! Me, that's who!
Then the new guy comes in, looks at the goddamn mess, and the answer is always the same. "Take the week off, Andy. We'll handle this." I don't like other folks messin' with my system, so I usually insist on sticking around. Most people don't seem to know this, but did you know that there's some kind of ceremony that most presidents do when they take office?
See, they grab all of the documents from the former president they can find-- papers, sticky notes, composition books with doodles in the margins, scraps of construction paper with color crayon, and so forth. They gather all this stuff up and carry it to a secret room in the basement, then the president strips down naked and does this funny little jig around an effigy of Abraham Lincoln while masked men throw the documents down some big, lava-filled pit. I imagine it's mostly just ceremony, but still, those documents are never seen nor heard from again.
Anyway, that's the tradition. I think Harry Truman started it, believe it or not. Not all presidents do it, either, but most I've seen keep up the tradition. Not this new guy, though. Mr. Obama came in on his first day, looked around, and immediately started a party. There was one problem, though. All his guests had gone home after the inauguration, so he needed to find a few hundred guests, and quickly. I guess he wanted to keep it lively and academic, cause he must have called in every gay hipster for 10 square miles.
So these gay guys are all over the White House, doing gay stuff, you know? Chatting, drinking appletinis, admiring the artwork, getting in pseudo-academic discussions about the character of wine, waxing fucking nostalgic about their college days, and so on. Thing is, all of George Dubya's papers are still lying around, and before you know it the cell-phone cameras are snapping pictures all over the place. Hell, it wasn't my job to try and stop them, so I didn't. Let 'em have their fun, I say.
Where was Obama during all of this, you might ask? Well, as far as I can tell he disappeared into the master bedroom with Michelle for about a week. Apparently he had a bit of catching up to do after all that time on the campaign trail. What, you think I had to go in and clean up the mess afterwords? I gave the job to the new guy! I'm not messing around with that shit.
Since the Commander in Chief wasn't present, the gay guys made off with all of Dubya's papers. This is a bit of a fiasco, as Obama had been president for all of a week now and already there had been a big information leak from the White House. Obama must've been in a polite mood, however, cause he personally went and wrote to all the guests saying that they could keep the pictures as long as they sent him copies.
Well, he got the copies, the originals were incinerated, and that was that for a while. 'Course, after a couple of years Obama reopens the files. I figure he just had a really bad day. Happens to all of us. I also figure that he was more curious than anything else. One just doesn't go looking for wisdom in the documents of George W. Bush.
Anyway, he called me over to have a look at this one document. Actually, it was a yellow sticky note. It just read, "OBL", and had some numbers underneath it. Coordinates, I think. Then, underneath, there was the word "airstrike" with a question mark next to it, circled over a couple times by a red pen. Under that, it was pretty much standard stuff. Bacon, milk, bread, eggs, toilet paper...
Obama and I talked a little about Bush Two, and that's when I remembered how bad the guy's memory was. I mean, he was really, really forgetful. You know why he almost never left the U.S. during his eight years of office? You'll love this. He kept forgetting the phone number for Air Force One! I remember more than once he was all excited about dropping in on the troops in secret, shakin' a few hands, and then he'd get all frustrated when he couldn't remember who to call in order to fly there. Anyway, the guy tried writing down just about everything, but it didn't help. He'd just forget where he put the note!
So anyway, Obama wanted to see if he could really do something about that guy. You know, that guy who's always on the news! Salt 'n pepper beard? Turban? Violent, cunning hatred of America and Western ideology? Oh, what's his name? It's so easy to forget these things. I can see why 'ol Dubya had such trouble.
The prez said that he wanted to know if that note was what he thought it was. I said, "Hey, why not drop a bomb there and find out for sure?", but he gave me this funny look. He definitely wasn't gonna play this one like Dubya.
Then, just for grins I said, "Why not drop the Seal on them and see what happens?" I was talkin' about the presidential seal, of course. I guess the guy misheard me, cause the next day there's this big woop-woop about the Navy going in and blasting the hell out of that turban dude. I hadn't seen such a commotion since the day Bill Clinton woke up with a big hangover and was absolutely convinced that Republicans had stolen his genitals.
I'd like to say that there was more to the story, but that's it, bud. I'd liked to have told you some cock 'n bull story about espionage and intrigue and exhaustive detective work by the CIA, but as it turns out it all comes down to some pictures on a gay guy's cell phone.
I hear they're gonna let 'em get married at some point.
Joggle Your Noggin: The Slum Problem
Posted 14 years agoThis one's comin' out of left field, folks, so be ready!
Fun Fact! About 5 years ago, UN-HABITAT released a report stating that roughly 327 million people in Commonwealth nations (formerly the British Commonwealth) live in slums. That's 1 in 6 citizens, and conspicuously a number that exceeds the entire population of the United States.
To address the issue, we first have to look at what exactly a slum is. According to UN-HABITAT it is a run-down area of a city characterized by substandard housing, squalor, and a lack of tenure security (legal protection for tenants). This broad definition for what a slum is indicates the tricky nature of the issue, for just about every slum in every city presents unique problems.
Slums in Johannesburg, Mexico City, Mumbai, Rio De Janeiro, and Nairobi all have different characters and cultures, and while they share the common problems of explosive population growth and stress on the city infrastructure no two situations are alike.
Historically, cities have taken different approaches to problems with slums. In London's East End in the 19th century, living conditions were arguably some of the most dreadful in the world, yet enlightened problem solving and focused attacks on crime and public squalor revolutionized the way cities are structured. Some cities have taken the approach of simply zoning off areas as off-limits and channeling the growth of slums away from city centers. Others have actively tried to 'starve out' slums, discouraging growth by cutting off city services such as law enforcement, electricity, and even fire protection.
Choosing to deal with the problems of slums by ignoring them has proven disastrous in certain cities, but on the flipside some expensive efforts to improve conditions have also failed spectacularly. Cities in the developing world and the developed world alike have attempted to eliminate slums through the construction of massive public housing projects, only to discover too late that the resulting explosion of crime and/or disease leads to their abandonment.
Many poor areas that could be called 'slums' choose not to be, for by definition slums lack tenure security. Thus, the residents of an area recently declared a slum could quickly find themselves the victims of a military or police crackdown and a rash of forced evictions. Forcing people out of their homes does not alleviate, but rather exacerbates urban misery, and as such many slumlike areas refuse to be called such as a matter of self-preservation.
The world's slums are growing. Whether it's the result of political unrest, overpopulation, industrialization, or a combination of these factors, the fact remains that the proliferation of slums is a growing issue that will only rise in importance in the coming decades.
This is neither a new problem nor a neglected one, and artists and architects alike are trying to tackle the problems of slums or cities with poor reputations. In some cases, adding structure and fully integrating slums into a city 'grid' can be successful. In other cases, allowing slums to exist and develop, loosely connecting them to cities while allowing civic autonomy has also proven effective. Fundamentally the problem of slums is a human one, and must be solved according to human wants and needs.
So here are some questions for you: Do you know of any slums or slum-like communities in your city? If you were a city planner, would you take a structured or an unstructured approach to improving conditions in slums? Would you even try to improve conditions, or only react when matters threaten the rest of the city?
Most of us were weaned on a diet of supermen and warriors, tales of people who swept in and saved the world from big villains and big problems, but how do we approach the problem of improving life for as many people as possible, knowing that there aren't enough resources to make everyone truly happy?
Fun Fact! About 5 years ago, UN-HABITAT released a report stating that roughly 327 million people in Commonwealth nations (formerly the British Commonwealth) live in slums. That's 1 in 6 citizens, and conspicuously a number that exceeds the entire population of the United States.
To address the issue, we first have to look at what exactly a slum is. According to UN-HABITAT it is a run-down area of a city characterized by substandard housing, squalor, and a lack of tenure security (legal protection for tenants). This broad definition for what a slum is indicates the tricky nature of the issue, for just about every slum in every city presents unique problems.
Slums in Johannesburg, Mexico City, Mumbai, Rio De Janeiro, and Nairobi all have different characters and cultures, and while they share the common problems of explosive population growth and stress on the city infrastructure no two situations are alike.
Historically, cities have taken different approaches to problems with slums. In London's East End in the 19th century, living conditions were arguably some of the most dreadful in the world, yet enlightened problem solving and focused attacks on crime and public squalor revolutionized the way cities are structured. Some cities have taken the approach of simply zoning off areas as off-limits and channeling the growth of slums away from city centers. Others have actively tried to 'starve out' slums, discouraging growth by cutting off city services such as law enforcement, electricity, and even fire protection.
Choosing to deal with the problems of slums by ignoring them has proven disastrous in certain cities, but on the flipside some expensive efforts to improve conditions have also failed spectacularly. Cities in the developing world and the developed world alike have attempted to eliminate slums through the construction of massive public housing projects, only to discover too late that the resulting explosion of crime and/or disease leads to their abandonment.
Many poor areas that could be called 'slums' choose not to be, for by definition slums lack tenure security. Thus, the residents of an area recently declared a slum could quickly find themselves the victims of a military or police crackdown and a rash of forced evictions. Forcing people out of their homes does not alleviate, but rather exacerbates urban misery, and as such many slumlike areas refuse to be called such as a matter of self-preservation.
The world's slums are growing. Whether it's the result of political unrest, overpopulation, industrialization, or a combination of these factors, the fact remains that the proliferation of slums is a growing issue that will only rise in importance in the coming decades.
This is neither a new problem nor a neglected one, and artists and architects alike are trying to tackle the problems of slums or cities with poor reputations. In some cases, adding structure and fully integrating slums into a city 'grid' can be successful. In other cases, allowing slums to exist and develop, loosely connecting them to cities while allowing civic autonomy has also proven effective. Fundamentally the problem of slums is a human one, and must be solved according to human wants and needs.
So here are some questions for you: Do you know of any slums or slum-like communities in your city? If you were a city planner, would you take a structured or an unstructured approach to improving conditions in slums? Would you even try to improve conditions, or only react when matters threaten the rest of the city?
Most of us were weaned on a diet of supermen and warriors, tales of people who swept in and saved the world from big villains and big problems, but how do we approach the problem of improving life for as many people as possible, knowing that there aren't enough resources to make everyone truly happy?
Hey Congoers!
Posted 14 years agoI'm not at Anthrocon this year. Sorry!
Additionally, I'm not in the Congo.
Additionally, I'm not in the Congo.
It Will Explod!
Posted 14 years agoPlease, do not correct me. I am a native Anglophone, and therefore am incapabull of grammur and speeling mistakz.
Anyway! I seem to have exploded my video card, which is causing some difficulties in the use of my gaming- er, coloring rig. Either way, it looks like I'll be out of the art scene until at least tomorrow, when shipments resume. The explosion also partly explains the delay in the comic.
It also also explains the sudden surge in writing projects I have taken up.
It also also also explains why I'm stupid enough to post something on FA on a Sunday. No one is here! Y'all must be at church.
Anyway! I seem to have exploded my video card, which is causing some difficulties in the use of my gaming- er, coloring rig. Either way, it looks like I'll be out of the art scene until at least tomorrow, when shipments resume. The explosion also partly explains the delay in the comic.
It also also explains the sudden surge in writing projects I have taken up.
It also also also explains why I'm stupid enough to post something on FA on a Sunday. No one is here! Y'all must be at church.
Apocalypse Again!
Posted 14 years agoI've spoken with my friends at length about this topic, though I don't think I've ever mentioned it here. I imagine that for every person who believes that the world is supposed to end... yesterday, there are about 10 or 15 who think that the idea is ridiculous. Even so, the obsession with the end times ebbs and flows and has likely toyed with humanity since the beginning.
I'm not going to argue about the validity of certain apocalypse theories, as there seem to be 3 types of people when it comes to these discussions: People who believe the theories to be true, people who believe the theories to be fake (and GAY! lolololol), and the devil's advocates who enable the believers without actually believing the theory themselves.
No, I'm not one to fall in lockstep with the current apocalypse theories. Why should I, when I can make up perfectly good apocalypse theories on my own! Well, folks, as if you didn't have enough to worry about... here goes nothing!
1: NINJA APOCALYPSE
We all know about the zombie apocalypse. Some space virus or military research project or supernatural energy goes horribly wrong, killing folks and resurrecting them as nearly mindless brain-eating shades. You could say that there have even been popular representations of a vampire apocalypse and at least one clown apocalypse in film alone. Yet one of the most venerated pop culture symbols of mystery and death hasn't gotten its fair share at this whole apocalypse thing: the Ninja.
So here's how it works. In the year (arbitrarily chosen), as an unexpected result of nuclear contamination, a retrovirus tailored at a Japanese research facility to create the perfect super soldiers mutates into a highly contagious airborne pathogen. The JSDF and the facility staff try desperately to contain the outbreak, but since the contaminated transform into ninjas in a matter of minutes the soldiers and scientists don't stand a chance. Those unfortunate to survive ninja attacks wind up becoming ninjas themselves.
Before long, Japan is quarantined. Shipping and air traffic are prohibited. It doesn't take long for the country to slide into darkness as the entire population is left to its fate, but in the mad rush to escape the country ninjas manage to infiltrate the exodus of refugees, hiding in peoples' purses and wallets, crouching in the shadows, or disguising as inanimate objects, etc. Before long, the ninja apocalypse ends up all over the world, and just 2 weeks after the first reports only scant pockets of human survivors remain, desperately clinging to life amidst a sea of ninjas. The best hope for the survivors will be to wait for the ninjas to turn on each other and wait for them to die off.
2: PLAGUE OF INFOMERCIALS
Plagues of locusts, rats, crows, frogs, lice, and even pimples have long conjured up apocalyptic sentiments. Unlike many theories, the reasoning behind the despair is understandable- if locusts eat all of the crops in your country, it's gonna feel a helluva lot like the end times in a week or two. However, in these modern times we are an interconnected global community, neighbors. No plague of vermin has thus far proven capable of wiping out the world's food supply, and so when famine strikes a part of the world it is at least curbed by the efforts of philanthropic neighbors.
Yet this has made us complacent to the danger of plagues. Plagues can take many forms far beyond famine, and this will be made none too clear by the long drought called the Plague of Informercials.
In 2013, only two gigantic media corporations exist, and both are owned in secret by the same guy, who is more engrossed with buying politicians with his absurd fortune than running the company. Somehow someone misreads a memo about advertisements and paid programming. Instead of the normal ratio of about 20 minutes of programming to 10 minutes of commercials, it is read as 10 minutes of programming for every 20 minutes of commercials. This creates a sudden problem- there simply aren't enough advertisers to fill 20 minutes of commercials with 15-60 second advertisements. This forces them to resort to longer advertisements: the dreaded infomercials.
It starts off as a simple annoyance. Ratings dip somewhat, but the sudden increase in ad revenue encourages the mass media to not just adopt the new format, but actually expand it. Programming shrinks to 5 minutes per half hour, then at some point it disappears altogether as Billy Mays (rebuilt as an A.I. construct) and Vince struggle for dominance over the airwaves. A similar thing happens to both newspapers and internet mass media sites as the news is wiped out by huge advertisement placards promising huge penises, perfect bellies, credit score checks, mortgages, and free MMOs.
This quickly results in a state of panic, paranoia, and superstition. Without an awareness of current events and deprived of news as well as entertainment, the global community splinters into millions of inward-looking communities seeking self sufficiency and isolation. Those incapable of turning off the television gradually go insane or vegetative as the endless stream of insipid commercials saps away their will to live. Credible information becomes a valuable commodity as heresay and rumor abound, and before long wars break out over scraps of land and resources between the millions of city-states. Central government ceases to exist as a credible entity in the void of information as they have lost all contact with their citizens. Global corporations and banks collapse in droves, driving up an already bad unemployment rate. Crime correspondingly increases, and life for the average citizen becomes as violent as it was in the medieval period, if not more so.
After a while, the corporation realizes that it's not making as much revenue as it hoped since all of its advertisers are bankrupt and/or dead. They switch back to a more conventional programming format, but it's too late. Humanity's population has halved, the world's governments have collapsed, and the mass media is now just as irrelevant. It takes centuries and countless wars to restore true statehood to some areas of the world.
3: POLITENESS
In the early 21st century, society had come to terms with the idea that Politeness, and associated polite behavior, was a lost cause. Replaced by its opposite, Rudeness, people had more or less come to terms with the change and carried out their daily tasks with sarcasm, bile, and the occasional rant. Traffic accidents and fatalities gradually declined as people became accustomed to bad driving. Religious disputes became irrelevant because people realized that there are many ways to be faithful, but only one true way to be an asshole. Wars began to abate as people moved their paranoid, xenophobic behavior into online forums and games rather than battlefields. Famine became less of a problem as the world community decided to stop 'feeding those assholes in the Horn of Africa', forcing many Africans to migrate to greener pastures where they had a fighting chance. While some would argue that being rude, selfish, and vile was a bad thing, most agreed that it served humanity's interests so long as it was the status quo.
Yet apocalypse is the story of equilibrium and balance, and before long a disturbing trend arose among infants: Politeness. Scientists attempted to explain the appearance of politeness, thought to be extinct, as a genetic mutation incurred by 'some asshole messing with corn genes'. Disturbingly, it was later diagnosed that 40-50 percent of newborn infants exhibited polite behavior, refusing to cry in public places, making friends with babies of different skin color and nationality, and generally not vomiting on peoples' faces or chests. As the children grew, their polite inclinations became all too apparent, so much so that people began to panic.
Not wanting to hand the world over to a generation that might actually want to share it with their fellow man, the leaders of the Rude world took ever increasing measures to try and indoctrinate the Polite into a more acceptable format of social behavior, but these efforts actually seemed to inflame the reborn instincts of Politeness. Contrary to Rude men (Assholes) and Rude women (Bitches), the polite generation referred to their men as "Gentlemen" and their women as "Ladies". Politeness proved contagious, as even Assholes and Bitches could not allow themselves to murder their own children, thus forcing them to become more polite.
Eventually, the Rude had seen enough. In their eyes, Humanity was not instinctively a polite race, and that therefore made Polite people non-human, even sub-human. The resulting war carried all of the evils of a civil war, except that it took place all over the world. The war entered a deadly chapter when a stalemate forced the Rude to employ 'trolling', effective propaganda efforts intended to incite rage among the Polite. The Polite countered with 'gifts', free tokens of goodwill that demoralized and crippled entire Rude communities with guilt.
These two weapons programs eventually grew, and while there was peace for a time both sides worked busily to create and stockpile their ultimate weapons. For the Rude, it was The Ultimate Insult, an epithet so incredibly awful, tasteless, and inflammatory that it would cause a Polite man (or woman's) head to burst. For the Polite, it was The Ultimate Gift, a token of goodwill so powerful that its denial would make one look like such a douche and incur such extreme guilt that one's genitalia would implode in shame.
In the end, both sides deployed their weapons at once. The Rude succeeded, their weapon killing countless Polite people of all walks of life. However, they were unable to stop the deployment of The Ultimate Gift, which caused death by guilt and total infertility among the Rude, dooming what remained of mankind to extinction.
The end!
I'm not going to argue about the validity of certain apocalypse theories, as there seem to be 3 types of people when it comes to these discussions: People who believe the theories to be true, people who believe the theories to be fake (and GAY! lolololol), and the devil's advocates who enable the believers without actually believing the theory themselves.
No, I'm not one to fall in lockstep with the current apocalypse theories. Why should I, when I can make up perfectly good apocalypse theories on my own! Well, folks, as if you didn't have enough to worry about... here goes nothing!
1: NINJA APOCALYPSE
We all know about the zombie apocalypse. Some space virus or military research project or supernatural energy goes horribly wrong, killing folks and resurrecting them as nearly mindless brain-eating shades. You could say that there have even been popular representations of a vampire apocalypse and at least one clown apocalypse in film alone. Yet one of the most venerated pop culture symbols of mystery and death hasn't gotten its fair share at this whole apocalypse thing: the Ninja.
So here's how it works. In the year (arbitrarily chosen), as an unexpected result of nuclear contamination, a retrovirus tailored at a Japanese research facility to create the perfect super soldiers mutates into a highly contagious airborne pathogen. The JSDF and the facility staff try desperately to contain the outbreak, but since the contaminated transform into ninjas in a matter of minutes the soldiers and scientists don't stand a chance. Those unfortunate to survive ninja attacks wind up becoming ninjas themselves.
Before long, Japan is quarantined. Shipping and air traffic are prohibited. It doesn't take long for the country to slide into darkness as the entire population is left to its fate, but in the mad rush to escape the country ninjas manage to infiltrate the exodus of refugees, hiding in peoples' purses and wallets, crouching in the shadows, or disguising as inanimate objects, etc. Before long, the ninja apocalypse ends up all over the world, and just 2 weeks after the first reports only scant pockets of human survivors remain, desperately clinging to life amidst a sea of ninjas. The best hope for the survivors will be to wait for the ninjas to turn on each other and wait for them to die off.
2: PLAGUE OF INFOMERCIALS
Plagues of locusts, rats, crows, frogs, lice, and even pimples have long conjured up apocalyptic sentiments. Unlike many theories, the reasoning behind the despair is understandable- if locusts eat all of the crops in your country, it's gonna feel a helluva lot like the end times in a week or two. However, in these modern times we are an interconnected global community, neighbors. No plague of vermin has thus far proven capable of wiping out the world's food supply, and so when famine strikes a part of the world it is at least curbed by the efforts of philanthropic neighbors.
Yet this has made us complacent to the danger of plagues. Plagues can take many forms far beyond famine, and this will be made none too clear by the long drought called the Plague of Informercials.
In 2013, only two gigantic media corporations exist, and both are owned in secret by the same guy, who is more engrossed with buying politicians with his absurd fortune than running the company. Somehow someone misreads a memo about advertisements and paid programming. Instead of the normal ratio of about 20 minutes of programming to 10 minutes of commercials, it is read as 10 minutes of programming for every 20 minutes of commercials. This creates a sudden problem- there simply aren't enough advertisers to fill 20 minutes of commercials with 15-60 second advertisements. This forces them to resort to longer advertisements: the dreaded infomercials.
It starts off as a simple annoyance. Ratings dip somewhat, but the sudden increase in ad revenue encourages the mass media to not just adopt the new format, but actually expand it. Programming shrinks to 5 minutes per half hour, then at some point it disappears altogether as Billy Mays (rebuilt as an A.I. construct) and Vince struggle for dominance over the airwaves. A similar thing happens to both newspapers and internet mass media sites as the news is wiped out by huge advertisement placards promising huge penises, perfect bellies, credit score checks, mortgages, and free MMOs.
This quickly results in a state of panic, paranoia, and superstition. Without an awareness of current events and deprived of news as well as entertainment, the global community splinters into millions of inward-looking communities seeking self sufficiency and isolation. Those incapable of turning off the television gradually go insane or vegetative as the endless stream of insipid commercials saps away their will to live. Credible information becomes a valuable commodity as heresay and rumor abound, and before long wars break out over scraps of land and resources between the millions of city-states. Central government ceases to exist as a credible entity in the void of information as they have lost all contact with their citizens. Global corporations and banks collapse in droves, driving up an already bad unemployment rate. Crime correspondingly increases, and life for the average citizen becomes as violent as it was in the medieval period, if not more so.
After a while, the corporation realizes that it's not making as much revenue as it hoped since all of its advertisers are bankrupt and/or dead. They switch back to a more conventional programming format, but it's too late. Humanity's population has halved, the world's governments have collapsed, and the mass media is now just as irrelevant. It takes centuries and countless wars to restore true statehood to some areas of the world.
3: POLITENESS
In the early 21st century, society had come to terms with the idea that Politeness, and associated polite behavior, was a lost cause. Replaced by its opposite, Rudeness, people had more or less come to terms with the change and carried out their daily tasks with sarcasm, bile, and the occasional rant. Traffic accidents and fatalities gradually declined as people became accustomed to bad driving. Religious disputes became irrelevant because people realized that there are many ways to be faithful, but only one true way to be an asshole. Wars began to abate as people moved their paranoid, xenophobic behavior into online forums and games rather than battlefields. Famine became less of a problem as the world community decided to stop 'feeding those assholes in the Horn of Africa', forcing many Africans to migrate to greener pastures where they had a fighting chance. While some would argue that being rude, selfish, and vile was a bad thing, most agreed that it served humanity's interests so long as it was the status quo.
Yet apocalypse is the story of equilibrium and balance, and before long a disturbing trend arose among infants: Politeness. Scientists attempted to explain the appearance of politeness, thought to be extinct, as a genetic mutation incurred by 'some asshole messing with corn genes'. Disturbingly, it was later diagnosed that 40-50 percent of newborn infants exhibited polite behavior, refusing to cry in public places, making friends with babies of different skin color and nationality, and generally not vomiting on peoples' faces or chests. As the children grew, their polite inclinations became all too apparent, so much so that people began to panic.
Not wanting to hand the world over to a generation that might actually want to share it with their fellow man, the leaders of the Rude world took ever increasing measures to try and indoctrinate the Polite into a more acceptable format of social behavior, but these efforts actually seemed to inflame the reborn instincts of Politeness. Contrary to Rude men (Assholes) and Rude women (Bitches), the polite generation referred to their men as "Gentlemen" and their women as "Ladies". Politeness proved contagious, as even Assholes and Bitches could not allow themselves to murder their own children, thus forcing them to become more polite.
Eventually, the Rude had seen enough. In their eyes, Humanity was not instinctively a polite race, and that therefore made Polite people non-human, even sub-human. The resulting war carried all of the evils of a civil war, except that it took place all over the world. The war entered a deadly chapter when a stalemate forced the Rude to employ 'trolling', effective propaganda efforts intended to incite rage among the Polite. The Polite countered with 'gifts', free tokens of goodwill that demoralized and crippled entire Rude communities with guilt.
These two weapons programs eventually grew, and while there was peace for a time both sides worked busily to create and stockpile their ultimate weapons. For the Rude, it was The Ultimate Insult, an epithet so incredibly awful, tasteless, and inflammatory that it would cause a Polite man (or woman's) head to burst. For the Polite, it was The Ultimate Gift, a token of goodwill so powerful that its denial would make one look like such a douche and incur such extreme guilt that one's genitalia would implode in shame.
In the end, both sides deployed their weapons at once. The Rude succeeded, their weapon killing countless Polite people of all walks of life. However, they were unable to stop the deployment of The Ultimate Gift, which caused death by guilt and total infertility among the Rude, dooming what remained of mankind to extinction.
The end!
Vucari- seeking inspiration
Posted 14 years agoWhen crafting the Vucari, I've attempted to use 18th/19th century Russia as a cultural influence, but I've run into a bit of a problem. I simply don't know a lot of details about the politics, society, or even the role of religion and wealth at the time. Another issue is the anatomical difference of the Vucari from Humans- they are largely carnivorous, something that has surprisingly large implications to their society. Their elevated senses of hearing and smell are also things I'm having a bit of trouble imagining, or at least employing in fiction. Does anyone have any thoughts or suggestions? Any anecdotes?
Fun Math Today! RIAA edition
Posted 14 years agoToday's math exercise is dedicated to the RIAA, who recently tried to sue Limewire for 75,000,000,000,000 dollars (that's less than the global GDP, to put it in perspective)
My last post brought the article to everyone's attention, but I've had a couple people propose that if the world is to pay the RIAA its rightful dues we should do so in pennies, so as to truly underscore the magnitude of the sacrifice they have asked of we, the human beings of the world.
75 trillion is an amazingly inconceivably huge number, even of small objects like pennies. Lemme try out a little mass calculation...
75,000,000,000,000 USD = 7,500,000,000,000,000 pennies
A modern penny is 2.509 grams. x 7,500,000,000,000,000 = 18,817,500,000,000,000 grams
18,817,500,000,000,000 grams = 41,485,486,186,639 lbs
A-ha! Now, before we go on it pays to note that modern pennies are almost entirely made of zinc, not copper (some 97.5% in composition). The annual mining production of zinc is 12,500,000 tons. I don't know what amount exists in current stockpiles- but let's just suppose the RIAA insisted on freshly minted pennies.
12,500,000 tons = 25,000,000,000 pounds
41,485,486,186,639 / 25,000,000,000 = 1,659.419
We would have to mine zinc at its current rate for 1,659 years in order to obtain the raw materials necessary to pay the RIAA in new pennies! Oh, and in all that time we wouldn't be allowed to use zinc for anything else.
HOWEVER! Do not despair! As there are currently about 140,000,000,000 U.S. pennies known to be in circulation, we could cut that time down if everyone emptied their pockets- provided the RIAA is forgiving enough to accept old pennies of any condition.
Let's also have a look at transportation. Some commenters mentioned that said pennies should be delivered on a semi truck, but it must be all too clear now that it would require several semi trucks to supply the RIAA with its pennies. How many? Let's examine it!
Let's imagine that the RIAA wants the pennies delivered on standard flatbed trucks, the 18-wheeler variety so popular in the United States. There are many types of semi-trailers, but one set of regulations capping the amount of weight that can be carried on American roads. Generally speaking, the maximum weight allowance on U.S. roads is 80,000 pounds, but when you factor in the weight of a semi-trailer and semi-truck the acceptable weight of a payload is considerably less. Generally speaking, the maximum weight for a semi-trailer payload is 39,000 pounds- with some exceptions in certain states.
We determined that 7,500,000,000,000,000 pennies weigh 41,485,486,186,639 lbs.
41,485,486,186,639 / 39,000 = 1,063,730,415
Thus, it would theoretically take one trailer over a billion trips from the mint to the RIAA headquarters in order to deliver said pennies. Alternatively, it would require the whole payload to be loaded onto 1,063,730,415 trucks... and maybe a few more for logistical support of this massive convoy.
I don't have a statistic about how many active and functional semi-truck and semi-trailer combinations exist in the United States, but I'm pretty sure that the number doesn't exceed 300,000,000, which is our current national population. In order to make the delivery we would have to enlist the aid of truckers from nations around the world. In fact, there would have to be roughly one semi-truck + driver for every 7 individuals on Earth in order to complete the delivery in one trip.
Manufacturing and fueling a billion semi trucks would take such an enormous amount and such a wide variety of resources that I refuse to do the calculations. So there.
I am not a math wiz, so if I have made an error in the above article please inform me! I wish to get these statistics at least reasonably close so that we can all mathematically determine what a great collective of dolts the RIAA is.
My last post brought the article to everyone's attention, but I've had a couple people propose that if the world is to pay the RIAA its rightful dues we should do so in pennies, so as to truly underscore the magnitude of the sacrifice they have asked of we, the human beings of the world.
75 trillion is an amazingly inconceivably huge number, even of small objects like pennies. Lemme try out a little mass calculation...
75,000,000,000,000 USD = 7,500,000,000,000,000 pennies
A modern penny is 2.509 grams. x 7,500,000,000,000,000 = 18,817,500,000,000,000 grams
18,817,500,000,000,000 grams = 41,485,486,186,639 lbs
A-ha! Now, before we go on it pays to note that modern pennies are almost entirely made of zinc, not copper (some 97.5% in composition). The annual mining production of zinc is 12,500,000 tons. I don't know what amount exists in current stockpiles- but let's just suppose the RIAA insisted on freshly minted pennies.
12,500,000 tons = 25,000,000,000 pounds
41,485,486,186,639 / 25,000,000,000 = 1,659.419
We would have to mine zinc at its current rate for 1,659 years in order to obtain the raw materials necessary to pay the RIAA in new pennies! Oh, and in all that time we wouldn't be allowed to use zinc for anything else.
HOWEVER! Do not despair! As there are currently about 140,000,000,000 U.S. pennies known to be in circulation, we could cut that time down if everyone emptied their pockets- provided the RIAA is forgiving enough to accept old pennies of any condition.
Let's also have a look at transportation. Some commenters mentioned that said pennies should be delivered on a semi truck, but it must be all too clear now that it would require several semi trucks to supply the RIAA with its pennies. How many? Let's examine it!
Let's imagine that the RIAA wants the pennies delivered on standard flatbed trucks, the 18-wheeler variety so popular in the United States. There are many types of semi-trailers, but one set of regulations capping the amount of weight that can be carried on American roads. Generally speaking, the maximum weight allowance on U.S. roads is 80,000 pounds, but when you factor in the weight of a semi-trailer and semi-truck the acceptable weight of a payload is considerably less. Generally speaking, the maximum weight for a semi-trailer payload is 39,000 pounds- with some exceptions in certain states.
We determined that 7,500,000,000,000,000 pennies weigh 41,485,486,186,639 lbs.
41,485,486,186,639 / 39,000 = 1,063,730,415
Thus, it would theoretically take one trailer over a billion trips from the mint to the RIAA headquarters in order to deliver said pennies. Alternatively, it would require the whole payload to be loaded onto 1,063,730,415 trucks... and maybe a few more for logistical support of this massive convoy.
I don't have a statistic about how many active and functional semi-truck and semi-trailer combinations exist in the United States, but I'm pretty sure that the number doesn't exceed 300,000,000, which is our current national population. In order to make the delivery we would have to enlist the aid of truckers from nations around the world. In fact, there would have to be roughly one semi-truck + driver for every 7 individuals on Earth in order to complete the delivery in one trip.
Manufacturing and fueling a billion semi trucks would take such an enormous amount and such a wide variety of resources that I refuse to do the calculations. So there.
I am not a math wiz, so if I have made an error in the above article please inform me! I wish to get these statistics at least reasonably close so that we can all mathematically determine what a great collective of dolts the RIAA is.
O-Ho-ho-ho! Pfff-AAAH-haa-haa-haaaaa!
Posted 14 years ago75,000,000,000,000
No, that's not the U.S. National Debt- not even close. That's not even the global GDP- but according to the Record Industry it's the compensation they deserve for the 'injustice' of services like Limewire.
Sure, it's not new news, nor should it be a surprise that the Record Industry is so out of touch with reality that their next goal is likely to eat the world's windmills. Even so, I found it uncommonly amusing due to the sheer absurdity of it. Perhaps they should hold the next proceedings in a suitably crazy environment, like Charlie Sheen's braincase, or Libya.
http://www.crunchgear.com/2011/03/2.....-judge-absurd/
No, that's not the U.S. National Debt- not even close. That's not even the global GDP- but according to the Record Industry it's the compensation they deserve for the 'injustice' of services like Limewire.
Sure, it's not new news, nor should it be a surprise that the Record Industry is so out of touch with reality that their next goal is likely to eat the world's windmills. Even so, I found it uncommonly amusing due to the sheer absurdity of it. Perhaps they should hold the next proceedings in a suitably crazy environment, like Charlie Sheen's braincase, or Libya.
http://www.crunchgear.com/2011/03/2.....-judge-absurd/
Choose your weapon, Sir or Madam!
Posted 14 years agohttp://www.furaffinity.net/view/5454972/
I reviewed the character creation section and came to the unpleasant realization that I had completely forgotten a gender selection option. Having corrected that, I also gave some thought to another variable in the game universe. If your background gives you certain boosts and your command specialization affects your army, what's left to determine your own personal fighting style?
As such, I've put together six character class concepts that should appeal to radicals (those of you who tire of the same old gang of character classes) and royalists (those of you who believe in the purity and conceptual soundness of old favorites).
Naturally, I'll ask everyone what they would choose and why. If you wish, go ahead and take existing characters and see how well they fit into the class system.
I reviewed the character creation section and came to the unpleasant realization that I had completely forgotten a gender selection option. Having corrected that, I also gave some thought to another variable in the game universe. If your background gives you certain boosts and your command specialization affects your army, what's left to determine your own personal fighting style?
As such, I've put together six character class concepts that should appeal to radicals (those of you who tire of the same old gang of character classes) and royalists (those of you who believe in the purity and conceptual soundness of old favorites).
Naturally, I'll ask everyone what they would choose and why. If you wish, go ahead and take existing characters and see how well they fit into the class system.
Choose Your Side!
Posted 14 years agohttp://www.furaffinity.net/view/5388655
History has waited long enough. In times past society could look to the demigods, the Auspices, for resolution. In times past one only needed to follow their divine wisdom.
Yet the Auspices are dead. In this, the third century of the third era of Sejhat, mortals chart their own course and make their own wisdom. Our choices are ours alone, for better or worse.
The people cry out for liberation, for justice, and for opportunity- yet many lack the strength or vision to bring about true change. They need individuals of action and bravery to lead the way. They need heroes.
Yet what kind of hero is your decision to make. Will you be a hero of the Radical cause, a champion of the masses willing to sacrifice the establishment in the name of a higher goal? Or will you be a hero of the Royalists, protecting the culture and institutions of the status quo against forces that could destroy the foundation of all order?
History has waited long enough. In times past society could look to the demigods, the Auspices, for resolution. In times past one only needed to follow their divine wisdom.
Yet the Auspices are dead. In this, the third century of the third era of Sejhat, mortals chart their own course and make their own wisdom. Our choices are ours alone, for better or worse.
The people cry out for liberation, for justice, and for opportunity- yet many lack the strength or vision to bring about true change. They need individuals of action and bravery to lead the way. They need heroes.
Yet what kind of hero is your decision to make. Will you be a hero of the Radical cause, a champion of the masses willing to sacrifice the establishment in the name of a higher goal? Or will you be a hero of the Royalists, protecting the culture and institutions of the status quo against forces that could destroy the foundation of all order?
Lore: The Big One!
Posted 14 years agoIf you no like reading journal, just follow leenk -> http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5372375/
I talked with a number of friends who are arguably better versed in fantasy universes than I. The crux of the matter: If you create a fantasy realm and a fantasy story, it only seems natural that the protagonist should face a fantastical antagonist of epic proportions.
This isn't new stuff, really. Look no further than The Lord of the Rings for an example, or any popular MMO. Big problems, and the ability of the common hero to solve them, are the bread and butter of fiction.
I examined the problems facing the various lands of Sejhat and discovered something. As fun as it would be to have the option of bringing peace to a nation or aiding a revolution, you just can't beat the satisfaction of a good 'ol Nazi face punching. The existence of a Royalist/Radical conundrum in the story and the hero's ability to make a choice between one or the other for the good of their nation is compelling, yet not an end in and of itself.
Thus, revolutions and the fate of nations is only a secondary goal in Sejhat. The primary goal is much loftier, and you'll never guess it... That's right, it's saving the world.
Just about no one these days is surprised when the task given to them in a game is to save the world/solar system/galaxy/universe/as yet unspecified humungoid entity. What compels us forward is not simply the end objective, but the path to get there and the story that precedes it.
Thus, I have cooked up an explanation that should go a long way towards sorting out some of Sejhat's lore. It talks about the one true god of the realm, the creator Sejhat, and how he created demi-gods called Auspices in his image to help him carry out his will. It discusses how they betrayed him, mutilated him (you can't kill a true god), and then proceeded to kill each other over the course of the next 4,000 or so years.
I talked with a number of friends who are arguably better versed in fantasy universes than I. The crux of the matter: If you create a fantasy realm and a fantasy story, it only seems natural that the protagonist should face a fantastical antagonist of epic proportions.
This isn't new stuff, really. Look no further than The Lord of the Rings for an example, or any popular MMO. Big problems, and the ability of the common hero to solve them, are the bread and butter of fiction.
I examined the problems facing the various lands of Sejhat and discovered something. As fun as it would be to have the option of bringing peace to a nation or aiding a revolution, you just can't beat the satisfaction of a good 'ol Nazi face punching. The existence of a Royalist/Radical conundrum in the story and the hero's ability to make a choice between one or the other for the good of their nation is compelling, yet not an end in and of itself.
Thus, revolutions and the fate of nations is only a secondary goal in Sejhat. The primary goal is much loftier, and you'll never guess it... That's right, it's saving the world.
Just about no one these days is surprised when the task given to them in a game is to save the world/solar system/galaxy/universe/as yet unspecified humungoid entity. What compels us forward is not simply the end objective, but the path to get there and the story that precedes it.
Thus, I have cooked up an explanation that should go a long way towards sorting out some of Sejhat's lore. It talks about the one true god of the realm, the creator Sejhat, and how he created demi-gods called Auspices in his image to help him carry out his will. It discusses how they betrayed him, mutilated him (you can't kill a true god), and then proceeded to kill each other over the course of the next 4,000 or so years.
Who are you?
Posted 14 years agoOr, more importantly, who would you be in Sejhat? I'll bet you wouldn't be some custodian or street sweeper, or that stupid NPC whose only purpose in life is to blurt "Press B to jump!". No! You'd be a hero, naturally! But what kind?
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5352842
The aforementioned document should go some way towards explaining what possibilities exist in the Realm of Sejhat. Are you a Major Sharpe type who head-butts horses to death? Or are you more of a Count of Monte Cristo type who uses wit, guile, and charm to assemble your enemies into position before blasting their faces off with a Unicorne Howitzer? Whatever you choose is up to you- just don't get in a tussle about how this would be cooler with M-4 carbine rifles and Soap MacTavish. It's hard to convince the king to promote you when he thinks you're shit nuts.
How would you answer the five questions posed to you? The questions, extracted from the document, are:
1: What is your character's name?
2: What is your nation?
3: What is your race?
4: What is your background?
5: What is your combat school and specialty?
For previous participants I realize that step 5 may seem a bit redundant, but your choice may also change depending on what kind of character you crafted. Crazy go nuts, folks!
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5352842
The aforementioned document should go some way towards explaining what possibilities exist in the Realm of Sejhat. Are you a Major Sharpe type who head-butts horses to death? Or are you more of a Count of Monte Cristo type who uses wit, guile, and charm to assemble your enemies into position before blasting their faces off with a Unicorne Howitzer? Whatever you choose is up to you- just don't get in a tussle about how this would be cooler with M-4 carbine rifles and Soap MacTavish. It's hard to convince the king to promote you when he thinks you're shit nuts.
How would you answer the five questions posed to you? The questions, extracted from the document, are:
1: What is your character's name?
2: What is your nation?
3: What is your race?
4: What is your background?
5: What is your combat school and specialty?
For previous participants I realize that step 5 may seem a bit redundant, but your choice may also change depending on what kind of character you crafted. Crazy go nuts, folks!
