Gromnir

"Do you not remember me railing against how poorly the 3E ranger was front-loaded while IWD2 was in development?" in his defense, your wotc bashing were purged pretty quick... and then somebody from bis tried the old jedi mind trick on the board community in an attempt to make us all believe that you never did blast wotc in the first place. ... nevertheless, whatever josh's other faults may be, am doubtful that he would kiss wotc arse. maybe he is now smarty 'nuff not to public blast 'em on fergie's boards, but is also highly unlikely that josh does the lick spittle routine for wotc's benefit. HA! Good Fun!

"At face value, it's the sort of moral equivalence that equates stepping on ants to slaughtering people." how so? never made or even suggested such a thing. as we said, we eat meat and wear leather. nevertheless, how we treat the weak and defenseless says much 'bout us. you wanna create some kinda perceived equivalence 'tween ants and people? that is your problem, not Gromnir's. is the reason we find your bombing scenario laughable. you is trying too hard to interject something into observation that were never even implied. you wanna make some moral equivalence argument o' your own, but you is doing in a clumsy and bass ackwards manner. HA! Good Fun!

"You said that we can tell alot about a person/people by his/their treatment of animals." actually, what we said were that you can tell a lot about people based on how they treat the defenseless, and those weaker than themselves. Gromnir applied that pithy little bit o' tripe to People examples more than to Animals, no? you can't reach no conclusion based on such a general rule? no? well, then Gromnir clarification won't help none, 'cause is more a matter of conscience than anything else anyways. HA! Good Fun!

"Gromnir can clarify, if he'd like." already did. your bizarre link 'tween the mad bomber who bombs at midnight scenario and its link to where peoples fall on the side o' the fence 'tween what does and does not constitutes animal cruelty is... whacked. ... am not seeing a need to clarify further. HA! Good Fun!

what is your point? what is the correlation? *shrug* Gromnir ain't no PETA extremist. we likes a good steak as much as the next guy, and our closet has leather belts and shoes aplenty. kill animals for food and clothing? got no problem with that. when Gromnir were young we hunted a great deal... for food. gotta be some advantages to being at the top o' the food chain. even so, killing an animal is not same as torture. can accept the necessity or pragmatism o' killing critters w/o accepting inhumane excess. dog fighting and unnecessary cruel methods o' slaughter and a whole list o' other stuff that people does to animals on a daily basis may not be a matter o' Rights, but such sadism is offensive. if Gromnir is bothered by killing animals in unnecessary cruel manner, why would we thinks that blowing up humans with car bombs would be ok? no doubt you thinks you make a point. HA! Good Fun!

a capacity to understand and exert rights is no prerequisite for having rights. babies and people suffering from prolonged periods o' unconsciousness has rights... and Gromnir has met some boarder collies that is arguably as smart as vol. prove tomorrow that dolphins is as smart as people and they still wouldn't have rights. gorillas and chimps can communicate via sign language, after a fashion and yet they got 0 rights. why? one reason is 'cause rights... ain't. is a legal fiction that people, as a society, create and deem wholly necessary. the notion o' rights is one of humanities best lies. no people has decided that animals deserve rights. 2 times a year in the United States, the multi-state portion of the bar exam is offered to prospective lawyers, and almost invariably there will be 1 animal rights question on that exam. the question is always a trick question. no matter how clever the dolphin or chimp... no matter how cute the kitten or puppy, animals has no rights within any of these United States of America. however, it is always the way in which we treat the weak and defenseless that says the mostest 'bout us as individuals and as a society. anybody who has taken the most basic psychology course is no doubt familiar with prison guard experiments. and observe how somebody treats menials and you learn much 'bout them as a person. in spite o' what is Rights, there is always situations in which one person will have the ability and opportunity to mistreat other people, and how one reacts to such a situation is always worthy o' notice. how we treat prisoners and the retarded, and the weak... how we treat employees or those those who is defenseless... *shrug* animals got no rights. is probably good that they do not. nevertheless, it is Gromnir's pov that the humane treatment o' animals, while having nothing to do with rights, says a great deal 'bout us as people/People. HA! Good Fun!

am envious. 12-15 hours of our life were wasted playing how. inability to install would have been a boon (albeit one that we could not have appreciated w/o perspective.) go chew tin foil, or urinate on an electric fence... is equally enjoyable to playing how. HA! Good Fun!

silly? 'course it is silly. a bit like sheep arguing 'bout the morality o' wolfish behavior. sure, the predations o' wolves is o' intimate and immediate concern to the sheep, but all that dialectic 'mongst learned sheep not amount to a pot full o' spit, does it? tomorrow, you will still be sheep, and your most cogent and insightful arguments won't count for nothing if those wolves suddenly decide to eat you. nevertheless, given your relative impotence vis a vis wolves, it is of no surprise that you would be somewhat preoccupied with wolves and their immoral behaviors. move up the food chain a bit and it won't seem as silly... but if you is a sheep it is perfectly understandable why you is preoccupied with wolves. HA! Good Fun!

am gonna second josh's recommendation of pathfinder. #1 were ok, but 2, 3, & 4 were all pretty outstanding in very different ways. #5... given how much Gromnir pleads for moral challenges, shoulda' been right up our alley. we did like much o' 5, but it weren't as kewl as 2-4 for Gromnir. haven't played or seen #6 in the series as yet. some o' the iconics feat selections and attribute point distributions baffle Gromnir, but is not as if you gotta play with the pregenerated characters. rarely does Gromnir buy a prefabricated adventure. is only a couple o' wotc 3e modules we gots. however, we does have pdf versions o' all the available pathfinder: runelords stuff, and we is looking forward to crimson throne. HA! Good Fun!

"At any rate, I wasn't really talking about flying." am not surprised, but the thing is that 3d issues in open space is much more problematic than is the more easily plotted points on the map you no doubt created. dm sets up obvious places for ambushes and such ahead o' time, so he probably already knows relative heights and distances for fixed locations relative to other fixed locations. flight is different... is no relative fixed points save for the core o' the earth... and that not gonna help much, is it? figure out accurate distances and spell effects n' such is a problem when you add flight to mix, and if you is playing with a bunch o' Cal grads it can get annoying. *shrug* regardless, flight can be a problem for dms when players actually think in 3 dimensions. heck, given how much our players seem to abuse flight, we often set up encounters specific designed so that those players gotta stay on ground... for a change. HA! Good Fun!

"In cases where the situation becomes too complicated to track, why don't you just fudge it? " ... of course we fudge it. am not crazy. the thing is that eldar said he wanted players to think more 3d, and Gromnir has had nothing but fudge because of 3d. d&d evolved from mapped out 2d grids. as has already been noted, the 2d squares themselves cause issues for those concerned with movement.. hexes make easier, but you gotta fudge rules. wanna do z axis? fine, but as players learn what can be done with such an axis the rules force more fudge 'pon us. fudge it? hell yeah we fudge it... but we does kinda miss the simplicity o' d&d before more complex movement (especially z-axis movement) became the norm. HA! Good Fun!

am able to tell that you gots every limited grasp o' geometry... which is a good thing. is better that everybody in group is equally unsophisticated. however, all it takes is one joker to point out the flaws in a sand type approach... HA! Good Fun!

This is a respectable approach. unfortunately it not address any of Gromnir's problems. can have multiple critters and players occupying the same hex/square... at different altitudes and going in different directions. can be a chore simple to keep track o' folks with a 2d map. also, as noted previous, distance on the hypotenuse is annoying to us. take even a second to consider spell effects with a range o' 30' sphere... if you got multiple characters in air. can be a real pain in our arse. oh, and don't get us started 'pon gust o' wind (a spell we now see almost as often as fly) and some joker's suggestion that using vectors would be the only reasonable solution. HA! Good Fun!

really? 'cause Gromnir loathes 3 dimensions. as soon as players and monsters gain access to fly/flight, our peace as a dm ends. need a freaking degree in mathematics and a preternatural awareness o' spacial geometry to keeps everything straight... 30' on a 2d map ain't same as 30' at 45 degrees o' inclination. z axis nightmares. 2 dimensions is easy. 3 dimensions is a growing pain in our arse as movement becomes increasingly important. ... am gonna be so relieved when we gets a user friendly d&d mapping program that can handle 3d. HA! Good Fun!

the folks who write for The Enquirer is the kinda journalists who makes purposeful misleading headlines. is not a general practice 'mongst legit journalists. HA! Good Fun!

well yeah, you did. no frost giants in 4e monster manual #1 is not same as no frost giants in 4e. does anybody really believe that there ain't gonna be no metallic dragons in 4e? 'course not. is probably why you not say, "4e has red dragons but not gold?" is no statement that claims that frost giants is gone from 4e based 'pon linked material.. is only that they not in 4e monster manual. *shrug* is no real biggie for Gromnir. am understanding that death giants is important for another supported setting from wotc that we don't play. so, give limited 'mount o' space for giants in the new monster manual and somebody's fave is bound to get cut. similar stuff happened in 3e. had solars and planetars and hound archons, but no devas in the 3e monster manual. did that mean devas were dropped from 3e? nope. showed up in fiend folio. no frost giants in 4e monster manual. deal with it... 'cause given the huge volume o' d&d critters that has become part o' the creature catalog available to dms over past decades, we guarantee that more 1, 2, 3 & 3.5e critters will not be in the 4e monster manual than is. HA! Good Fun!

let us be fair. 4e will inevitably have frost giants, but the 4e monster manual will not. is leaving out such iconic d&d stuff as metallic dragons and frost giants from 4e monster manual kinda lame? yes. no doubt is simply a way to force folks to buy monster manual II. even so, is not as if d&d is abandoning frost giants altogether in favor o' death giants. is dozens o' legit reasons to be brassed off 'bout 4e... no need to create stuff. HA! Good Fun!

princess mononoke... not so much. japanese preoccupation with godzilla irritates us to no end. 'cause if you mistreat nature, eventually she will spit forth monsters to chastise you for your arrogance and your sins. didn't so much like the characters neither. spirited away, on the other hand, were fantastic. a bit obscure at times, but beautifully animated. a wonderful tale peopled by intriguing characters. sure, we still gets the near ubiquitous Nature themes, but those were secondary. didn't feel as if we had seen spirited away dozens o' times before, with ever so slight and meaningless variations in plot and character. HA! Good Fun!

It's impossible not to like Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann Feckin' impossible. hmmm. this is one o' those anime shows that were recommended to Gromnir. people always recommend anime to us 'cause they knows how much we loathe most anime. is some episodes o' cowboy bebop exceptions to Gromnir's no-anime rule? yeah, and sadly that is why some folks keep recommending their fave new anime to Gromnir... am like the life cereal "Mikey" kid, but for anime. is a kinda game for some people to find anime that Gromnir won't hate.

squares has one advantage: make it easier to draw very straight dungeoun hallways and make perfectly rectangular or square-shaped rooms. never underestimate sloth factor. 'course given the growing importance o' movement in 4e, one wonders why hex ain't utilized. in any event you can usually convert w/ only small difficulty if you got ruler and compass. HA! Good Fun!

there is no point in arguing. is no plausible or reasonable excuse for the theft or piracy o' a LUXURY good or service... ever. HA! Good Fun!

"Gromnir's reaction is typical of the Monarchy hating American whom see's such things as tyranny" you is kidding, right? we think the monarchy stuff is a joke; a very expensive joke. the aforementioned Restoration happened 'cause english were so damned attached to the Idea of a monarch. the monarchy, given how your govt. actually works, is some symbolic gesture with a big price tag. have the queen turn over a shovel full o' dirt at tart o' some big civil works project makes all the little brits in attendance feel better 'bout themselves. the rest o' nightshade's observation ain't really applicable, relevant or accurate. the english monarchy would be a quaint anachronism if you folks weren't so passionate 'bout it. HA! Good Fun!

point for josh... and harry. HA! Good Fun!

ps please keep in mind that Gromnir ain't being critical o' harry. is not his fault that he were born a royal and gets special attention. am thinking that it is great that harry wants to share in the troops situation. got nothing bad to say 'bout harry. is the folks who make the story into something... more. those is the folks we is disappointed with. if the only thing that makes this noteworthy is the aberration factor, then here you go: http://www.gigglesugar.com/242232 far more entertaining and unique. HA! Good Fun!

"But Harry's service is more notable specifically because it is something that tens of thousands of regular folks do." of course aberrations is notable. is the reason it is notable that bothers Gromnir. the guy is english royalty... which means what? distant related to william the conquerer? so what? doesn't make the service more impressive or honorable or courageous. means only that it is more rare... an aberration worthy o' note, but not o' any special consideration. "oh, he is so courageous." no more than any other soldier in a combat unit... and his story is less genuine courageous than the guys who agonize over leaving home 'cause they can't support both family and country. as to the notion that American elite avoid service... now josh is being disingenuous maybe... or maybe not. simple ignorance? heck, even now a military career is a big plus for political hopefuls. maybe josh would be surprised by just how many sons o' Congressmen actually has military service. sure, some has bush kinda nonsense, but to lump all in bush category is equal unfair. the thing is, every time a Congressman or fed Judge's child joins the military it not make the news, does it? is not noteworthy enough. only does we hear 'bout the son's service once that son Does something of worth, like become a public official, or if his service is particular noteworthy. mere joining o' a combat unit is not making national news... and for good reason. as we said already. good for harry... but bad on those who see something particularly honorable or noteworthy 'bout harry compared to the tens o' thousands. HA! Good Fun!