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See, there's this concept called sarcasm....
Yeah, I know. But it wasn't purely sarcastic. It was an attempt to point out how horrible those rules were, and you can't use that kind of extreme sarcasm to say a rule is not good.
True, it wasn't purely sarcastic, but the sarcasm was there. Thisis, of course, one of the problems with a written conversation vice a spoken one - in speaking, our voices can convey more subtle differences that can turn a phrase from serious to sarcastic. And, in truth, I did not intend to imply that the rule was not good, simply that I was tired of everything seeming to be some kind of templeted-out-the-wazoo monster or item.
And for those of you who don't like what some of us have to say - just don't read it.
So, you want me to retroactively not read somthing? How would I know I don't like it without reading it? Or are you saying that I shouldn't say anything if I don't agree? Like you said, this a way to rant about annoyances. If you bring to light or do the thing I find annoying, I rant about it. And it works for you, too. If you don't like what I say, either ignore it, or rant about how it irritates you. You know what? I hate when people say not to disagree with them. You can dislike what I say all you want.
Yeah, I don't know what I was thinking when I wrote that particular horse-hockey sentence. Just ignore it as a product of delerium induced hysteria.
By the way, you wouldn't happend to receive a paycheck from WotC would you? Just checking.I fail to see the relevance. You seem to be implying that either A)working for WotC is the only way to have an opinion, B) I am a sycophant of some sort defending the Corporation, or C)You have recveied check from them, which makes you right.
All three are wrong.
That was a fun rant, too. I do enjoy this thread, and I look forward to your counterrant.
I was actually shooting for option B, intending that whole sarcasm thing again. Damn, I wish we had headsets and speakers so we could all talk to each other, but then I'd never get anything else done. Oh well. By the way, as far as option C goes, I wish....
Anyway, enough on this bit. I see that, since last I checked, the thread has expanded vastly. Time to look at what some other folks are b#&#$ing about....later.
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I love ranting, so I'll go again!
How come there isn't a great graphics computer RPG that a DM can run in real time for players far away? You know, something like Neverwinter Nights that your gaming group can log into and the DM can control all the bad guys/NPC's/dialogue and make up stuff on the fly...basically a way to play D&D "live" with real people, but using the fancy graphics of those computer RPGs....I have so many friends who used to game with us that could play in that type of game, but can't play in real life because they live too far away, or can't devote the time, etc. A game where you can make up stuff on the fly or even buy pre-prepared adventures and locations to drop into the computer graphics reality.
Best of both worlds--the flexibility and unlimited potential of a tabletop RPG with the remote access and fine graphics of a computer RPG? Why the hell not?????
Quite frankly, I don't want to join Ghostorb or some of those other online games because I'm intimidated by the interface and because I don't want to learn anything new...I don't have time and I just don't give a s!#%! Same reason I won't play DDO, didn't play any MMORPG and won't ever play any MMORPG--too much work, too much to learn, I don't like computers all that much anyway...I want a simple computer interface with decent graphics that I can DM from for my friends who live far away, with no audio fadeout, disconnects, all that other bulls!#%.
Bandwidth? Processing speed? What's the problem? I tried having a buddy join my Wednesday night game via chat, but the audio and video sucked so bad, even though we both had cable modems. We tried to use speakerphones for the audio and Yahoo Messenger for the video, but it still sucked...he had to stop joining us because he felt like he was in a game with his ears stuffed full of corn and watching the battlemat through a straw. It really made us realize that 70% of the enjoyment of D&D comes from being with your friends and family to play a game.
Amen Brother!
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I hate people who can't spell "rogue" properly. Seriously. No, seriously. I may have never met them, but I hate them personally.I didn't want to be the first grammar/spelling nerd, but now that you've opened the gates....I really really freakin' hate the constant misuse of the obviously elusive "to - two - too". Not to mention the complete lack of understanding of "there - their - they're". From a book and language based game I really expect more out of the community. It doesn't hurt to go back and re-read your post. Since this is all text, it is quite difficult to communicate voice inflection and such, which is why people get angry at others due to miscommunication or just completely don't understand what in Hades someone's talking about.
The rant thread is certainly an exception, in that it's quite difficult to deliver a good rant and edit your missive simultaneously.
Now that I think about it. I really hate when I find spelling and/or grammatical errors in published products. Yeah, I know that these people work hard, and that they have a lot of stuff they have to read through and review, but its still annoying.
While I'm at it, does anyone else out there feel that the grammar editing feature on stuff like Micrsoft Word sometimes gets things wrong? Sometimes, there's stuff I write that I'm pretty darn sure is OK, but the damn program wants to change things around. Aaarrggh! Damn program! Just stop smoking crack and tell me my stuff is OK.
And speaking of smoking crack... two of my girlfriends friends have gotten engaged recently, and she's telling me this while also saying that she doesn't want to pressure me. AAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!
...I feel much better now.
Now that I think about it. I really hate when I find spelling and/or grammatical errors in published products. Yeah, I know that these people work hard, and that they have a lot of stuff they have to read through and review, but its still annoying.
I'm an editor for a major scientific publishing company and you are right, it is very unprofessional to print a product with significant copyediting mistakes. It leads me to believe a few possibilities from a few different sources:
1. The publisher skips key steps in the publishing process.2. They farm out their copyediting to freelancers who can be sloppy. The better the copyeditor, the less potential mistakes go to print.
3. The authors are either not able to review their pageproofs or they don't care to.
4. The authors themselves are poor writers. The manuscripts that come in with the least amount of problems from authors are most likely to have the fewest mistakes to edit. These problems should be picked up on the developmental side, so if you have a marginal developmental editor working on the text, the quality of printed writing will suffer as well.
Hope this helps.
As ever,
ACE
I hate people who can't spell "rogue" properly. Seriously. No, seriously. I may have never met them, but I hate them personally.Okay, so I guess the rouge rogue prestige class is a no go for you?
..the rouge rogue uses his subtle, gently accenting face paints to gain a +4 circumstance bonus to hide and diplomacy checks........
Wow...now that was funny.
The same people are as likely to misuse dual and duel.
"I will be duel wielding scimitars while I am dualing you!" :p
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Wow, Stop paying attention and look at all the posts. Sebastion, Hope you see this one, refers to several posts ago
So, by your definition (games must have a winner or loser), MMORPG's are not games. ;-)
The definition of a "game" is hard to pin down. I come from a background in theatre and I don't concider D&D as much of a game as a storytelling experience or improv with guidelines. Thus the "my gaming is the right gaming" comment. If you like the more "game" aspects, great. I prefer the story part. I just hate the people who act like they are the authority and if you don't game under their rules interpretations you are stupid. Me? I ignore rules all together if there is a strong story reason (I emphasis the STRONG). I'm not much of a computer gamer so I can't honestly talk about MMORPG's. I'm not even 100% sure that I am thinking of the right thing cause I'm not sure what MMORPG stands for. And of course I have no desire to single anyone out, I've just noticed it a lot when reading various forums. In a way, I think part of the problem with the game nowadays it the lack of story. The source books are constantly spewing forth more rules options but there is very little in the way of story. When I started playing, I was introduced to the game by some older kids that had played all the classic adventures where a large number of the classic monsters and characters originate from. I wish there was something more like that with this edition rather than new rules that every DM and their brother will interpret differently.
The same people are as likely to misuse dual and duel.
"I will be duel wielding scimitars while I am dualing you!" :p
Becareful guys... Some of us use english as a second (or even third or fourth) language. You wouldn't want to offend anybody. I myself have a hard time with witch/wich/which, but mostly just which and wich.
Ultradan
I hate people that can't type the damn language! If you're going to post on a messageboard that's hosted in the "Yoo-Ess-of-Eh" then you should post in American, dammit!
Geez, you come here and steal our avatars, fill our boards with your socialist bull$#!t, and expect us to rollover and let you do this? My foregamers took this messageboard fair and square from the native posters and we learned to type correctly...
All kidding aside...
I've never used "wich" except when joined with "sand."
I've seen some atrocious spelling and grammar on these boards, but I don't think anyone has ever been really insulted because of it. Ultradan makes a good point about those who don't speak English as a primary language. I have a great deal of respect and admiration (and have said so in many posts in the past) for anyone who is able to play D&D in a non-English language while using English sourcebooks. My hat is off to all of you.
I don't consider myself a non-native English speaker any more, since I learned English at age 11 and have been in the U.S. since 1978. I have the 1e German Player's Handbook (Spielerhandbuch) and I get a headache just looking at it.
As a high school teacher I've seen some absolutely terrible spelling and grammar. I once had a student turn in a thesis paper written in "IM-speak." The word "you" was just one letter. I asked him to hand in his real paper and he stared at me blankly.
(Keeping with the rant theme...) While I hate the downward spiral in grammar and spelling in the typical American student I too must say that for all those D&D players out there from all over the world who choose to post here: I thank you. Most of us Americans would never dream of posting on a French, German, or Italian board. So thanks for asking your questions and offering your insights.
Tag.
As a high school teacher I've seen some absolutely terrible spelling and grammar. While I hate the downward spiral in grammar and spelling in the typical American student...
It isn't just in the USA: You should see the students here in quebec write in french. In fact, many young adults I've met on jobs can't even write a single coherent sentence. And I work in government offices. It's horrible.
Ultradan
Okay this is my first post on paizo so before I let off my rant I'm going to post more of dense post. First off I'm good friends with dragonnerd sexigolem and have known saern since birth im in their play group along with 2 other guys. And just to let saern know ahead of time i mean no offense in the things im saying i just fell i have the right to defend myself.
To start at the begining I do not taunt the other players in the group thats more stephan (no offense you know id say this to your face)cup of tea. And also I am not "an immense braggart" again thats more stephan's area of expertise. It irratates me that you think thats what i do cause belive me its far from it. Me being one of the players with extreme luck when rolling the dice(god's gift i cant help that-lol) besides its only the stat rolls cause my HD rolls are far from good. I have no problem with point-by system the only problem i have with it is that you rant on and on about how sexi is the only one who supports it when i dont recall being asked at all. I support it and hell if your tired of us rolling good go for it im behind you. there is no constant haggling stephan is hard headed and stubborn and will not stop until you either accept it or give a a real good reason why he cant do something besides the two that get way overused i will admit it sometimes irrates even me but its stephen i mean you should be used to it by now o and befoe i forget here are the two reasons.
(1)im the DM(to avoid further arguements good excuse just slighty overused and needs to be replaced with something else I suggest trying The devel told me to next time)
(2)Its magic that one gets me everytime makes me want to kill a bear with my bare hands
I will agree i do get stubborn but only at times that really tick me off like in the AoW campaign when me and stephen wanted to scale down the roof to break through the window to kill the necromancer whose name is illuding me right now and you wont let us because you like the way it was set up. Which i didnt have a big problem with at the time it didnt piss me off until afterwords when i see that everything would have happened the exact same way (minus the execution part but you didnt have that planned anyway).
I do belive that me and stephen again have both offered to do a campaign but everytime we do you say we have to many going right now or i dont think i want another one. so dont even say we wont or there would be no DnD for a while it may be delyaed for a week or so because i'm involved in everything under the sun at our school plus im talking to the navy guys cause i plan on joining that but i would glady try out a campaign if nothing else to see what you go through.
The whole frenzied beserker thing looked like fun figured id give it a try and dont even complain about me not knowing what i was going to be i told you straight up i had no clue up until like 3 days before the session. The whole 14 INT thing see if i wouldny have been recoverying from the night before(hangover, wow was i in hell, explaining the "bestial" yell to you were giving me a headache B#$%@IN at me)plus thinking about the basketball game plus where i was going to get the money to pay for Savannnah'sbirthday present ($90 for a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt aaaaa) i proably would have asked if i could have gotten it drained somehow because being able to speak perfect common after being raised in the woods for the better part of your life i wouldnt see as easy.
I completely agree with the whole gay thing there really was no reason for him to do that and i didnt say it nor am i guilty by association because im his best freind and one of the few people who know how to deal with alot of the things he is going through/says.
I cant hepl the whole spell thing either that was all me i knew the complete divin wouldnt have many spells in there but guess what it does so dont even complain about that its not like we had the spell compendium handy (which by the way thanks dragonnerd for buying way easier to look up spells now)and i wasnt looking at just spells i was looking at the prestige classes to. I did plan on roleplaying out the venerable wizard to by the way before i changed it.
ok im done with the defense no its time to start a new one for the things that irrate me the most
By the way no hard feeling Saern i just decided i needed to defend myslef and if you really have that big of a problem with something im doing tell me sometime when im over at your house belive me ill listen (just dont try to start another b~$~&in/yelling fight because belive me ive got the upper hand 18 years of training due to DAD and i will win without trying)
everyone's favorite ranger
Jherrith
ok now its time for me to rant yippie. I'm not sure about anyone else but fire is fun i klnow that sexi golem will agree with me 100% with me on this since the whole rolling through the fire and singing off my leg hairs incident. anyone that disagree's with me can go rot in the firery pits of hell with another fire bug satan himself.
I really hate mr ***. . i have never seen anyone be so lazy he puts me to shame and im lazy. another teacher i dispize is *** that one balled bastard thinks and almost does control 89.6% of the senior class and that really ticks me off.
here is something else blind dates via intternet or friend of a fried those hardly ever end good and you know what i say to match.com KISS MY WHITE A$$ ILL GET SOMEONE MYSELF, and if im gonna pay to met someone ill buy a hooker
Another thing i hate ill agree with sexi on this is thjow expense these books are i cant buy any of them because he cost to damn much. and you know aht i think about the draganomicom i think its a big book of sh$%@%^@. its whole lot of made up stuff that iss pretty much usless there isnt a good prestige class in there and the Saern will agree with me on this in that prettyu much the only good thing in the is the treasure charts.
Another thing i hate is making a charcter getting attachted to him. going through the painstacking process of making up a back story making the character picking my feat skills and then buying equipment then sitting through a 30 min world description (which i typically enjoy and find useful) just to go through a battle some dialoge then the DM deciding they dont like where that campaign was going then scraping it before it got a chance to go anywhere.
I also hate the fact thats its 2 am right now and because i fell asleep earlier watching soem dumb show on t.v im not tired and i wont be until tommrow until i got to sleep. well i think im gonna go now take some nyquil and knock my self out
well sry about any type-o's im tired if you have a problem take it up with my secretary
later
jherrith
Hey, Jherrith, haven't seen you on in a long time here! Good to hear back from you on the boards. Sorry for that, I just needed to let out steam, and I have to be honest, trying to run the game and deal with Stephen is intimidating. I'm sorry I labelled you wrong- won't happen again. That's why I never asked about point buy, knowing that Stephen would probably throw a fit.
Also, I don't think I'm the one that said we had too many campaigns going- I believe that was Sexi. And the end of the last campaign was his fault (no offense Sexi!)- but that's described on another thread (the Bait and Switch one).
Also good to see you got an avatar appropriate to the the mighty Jherrith. The Cube with Eric didn't work so good.
The problem is that I typically need a few minutes to sit down and think a few things through, which is hard to take at a game, to come up with a good reason about why something does or doesn't work. Even that doesn't always affect Stephen. That leaves the quickest, easiest way with "I'm the DM, so it goes." It sucks, but if it's the only choice I have, well, I must take it. I think "It's magic" is less heavy handed, but I try not to use it anymore than necessary.
And yes, again, kudos to Dragonnerd for the Spell Compendium!
EDIT- Oh, and while I'm sure now one else has a CLUE what you're talking about in regards to *** and ***, it's all true. If any of you other folk on Paizo ever see a fat, waddling man coming towards you in a sweater that looks to date from the earlier half of the last century, and innately feel the very air in your lungs is about to be consumed by some waste of the very organic materials it takes to maintain his physical form (and god knows there's nothing BUT a physical form to him- his true name is Apathy), and this fiend looks amazingly like a human spliced with a badger, turn and flee, unless you have a gun, in which case, please do the world a favor and take the monstrosity out of his own misery. Technically, this "thing," Mr. ***, is a "teacher" at our school, but I've yet to learn a thing from him in the three years I've had to contend with his belligerent idiocy. Can you tell I don't like him? ;)
Yea i decided it was time for me to get on here after I found out that dragonerd you and sexi were all on here i decided it was about ime for me to join up. Dont worry about it i just wanted to clearify that i was being wrongly labeled and was being guilty by association. If you want to go for point buy i will be nehind you after some...okay alot of complaining. yea im well aware that the last one was all sexi's fault but i had a glorious last stand cowaring behind a stone table barracade.
And thx for understanding where i was coming from.
The Great Jherrith
(just dont try to start another b#@#@in/yelling fight because belive me ive got the upper hand 18 years of training due to DAD and i will win without trying)
Wow.
Yup, I'm going to resurrect this particular thread.
I HATE it when my only gaming store in town succumbs to the great green god (no, not the GGG on these boards) known as money and doesn't even try to support RPGs anymore. The store is infested with Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh and collectible crap games - RPGs are sentenced to a dull life on a small bookshelf gathering dust in the back of the store, next to the boxes and boxes of MtG commons and lands...next to the piles of Game Trade Magazine, who nobody reads because they can't think of anything beyond the next booster packs for the latest "fashionable" import from overseas because some marketing bigwig told somebody who has cash that This Will Be the Next Big Thing. And all the boosters will be $7 each, but only contain one card, but it's okay because it's a *special* card, with lots of shiny foil and bad art. But it's COLLECTIBLE!!!
The sucky part is I remember this exact same store, exact same owner 9 years ago. When he had long hair. And didn't even own the store yet. And didn't have a wife and kid (I'm convinced she frowns on gamers in general - she wasn't a very nice person when I met her). And he used to be a gamer. And used to be able to get your special orders in a reasonable amount of time. Example? The second I heard about the Dragon Compendium, I told him "I want this", on October 26th, last year. To date, I still have not received it, nor has he even bothered to order it (but it's okay, I've ordered it from Paizo...all is better now).
GRRR@!@#^%^!$@*$^@$!!!
(In retrospect, that was two rants...collectible crap games and my FLGS going over to the not-good dark side. But I feel better now.)
...but I've yet to learn a thing from him in the three years I've had to contend with his belligerent idiocy...
This doesn't get better after school, unfortunately. I've had to stop myself from saying "Were you dropped on your head as a child? Did they let you out of your cage before you got your kibble? Did it not occur to you that maybe, just maybe, you should have told someone you didn't know how to do something, instead of making it up as you go along?" to some of our phone operators when they do something fantastically stupid. Same phone operators who have been there for years. As my friend says "The Star Trek Enterprise is on a five-year mission in their brain, looking for a live synapse...and they ain't found *a four letter word for fecal matter*!"
Grr...silly operators...
Oh, and I really, really dislike it when people take 40 steps to do something that should only take maybe two or three. I've seen this a lot in a working environment. Work smarter, not harder, people! Geez!
More work ranting ahead...
FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY, IF YOU CAN'T REMEMBER SOMETHING, WRITE IT THE HELL DOWN! GAHHHHHHHHHHH!
My posts constantly disappearing into the great black void!
Enemies - I have enemies devouring my posts!
Director of Narrative
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Lillith Wrote: This doesn't get better after school, unfortunately. I've had to stop myself from saying "Were you dropped on your head as a child? Did they let you out of your cage before you got your kibble? Did it not occur to you that maybe, just maybe, you should have told someone you didn't know how to do something, instead of making it up as you go along?" to some of our phone operators when they do something fantastically stupid. Same phone operators who have been there for years. As my friend says "The Star Trek Enterprise is on a five-year mission in their brain, looking for a live synapse...and they ain't found *a four letter word for fecal matter*!"
Grr...silly operators...
Oh, and I really, really dislike it when people take 40 steps to do something that should only take maybe two or three. I've seen this a lot in a working environment. Work smarter, not harder, people! Geez!
More work ranting ahead...
FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY, IF YOU CAN'T REMEMBER SOMETHING, WRITE IT THE HELL DOWN! GAHHHHHHHHHHH!
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This doesn't only happen in tech/desk jobs. I run a very busy kitchen and I've trained more cooks (and harassed twice as many waiters) in my time than I'd like to admit, and still even my best people STILL don't get some of the finer points. I've resigned myself to hiring people only expecting to have to get rid of them/expect them to quit. And it's totally a work smarter vs harder thing. Not that we don't have to work hard, but these fools make it harder on themselves by not working smarter. Ugh...enough...i'm off for three days. La dee da, la dee da.
You know what I can't stand?
DMs who whine and complain about some random rule or ability because they can't hack it, and then hide behind calling it "overpowered". It's pathetic how many people will cry about something like Vow of Poverty or Spiked Chain being unbalanced instead of forcing players to accept that different powers come with potential drawbacks. If you have a VoP character, that person is essentially a holy warrior-- with all the responsibilities and challenges that come from that. One of the best things you can do for a holy character is give them moral dilemmas that are appropriate for their faith-- the example someone cited of "Torture the bad guy or let innocents die" where they thought the act of torture was permissible is a perfect example of not understanding the character in question. Even a thousand years ago the answer to that would have been that torture is never permissible-- the idea being that the innocent would die but be rewarded in Heaven, and that the knight should not risk his soul under any circumstance. Read some of the Arthurian legends from the Middle Ages for more inspiration as to what was acceptable behavior for a holy warrior.
Spiked Chain is a great weapon, sure-- but can you realistically expect it to be remotely effective in an environment where there are obstacles, like a busy street or a forest? The weapon needs room to work, and without that it's a bad flail.
"My PCs can make a DC 300 in Intimidate! They're going to bully a dragon into being their pet! 3.5 is total crap!" No, the DM is total crap for not acknowledging that the skills are not rigid-- I don't care how high your Hide in Shadows is, standing next to a polearm at high noon will never, ever provide you with adequate cover, even if you can Hide in Plain Sight.
As far as magic items and so on, I can't begin to count how many times I have read people post here about such and such being unbalancing, etc., but ultimately the responsibility is on the DM to scale things appropriately and give out magic items that fit with the group's level. Yes, a group of four 15th level PCs is going to have a bunch of insane abilities, but a couple CR 15 monsters with even a basic sense of strategy (and for that matter, even goblins are smart enough to take the high ground and ambush from a distance) should be able to easily wipe out a significant amount of their resources.
Magic itself is one of those things that isn't maintained well by DMs either-- I always see people whine about high level casters being able to overcome any odds... well, yes, if I have one encounter a day and then get a good night's sleep, my level 18 Sorceror is going to be invincible. However, at that level I should probably be facing something a little more substantial, like a planar enemy and all the resources it might have available.
There is nothing in any of the rulebooks that can't be handled just fine if you, as the DM, prepare for it and think about it a little. The only thing that you shouldn't allow is something that you're not familiar with-- everything else should be fair game, assuming that it fits with your campaign world.
Finally, 28 point buys are sickening. I refuse to play a fantasy character who is worse than I am in real life at just about everything.
First, a work rant . . . have you ever seen a boss fired, even when a business was doing well, because a new efficiency expert was hired and told the board and the head honcho that even though you are doing well, you aren't doing well ENOUGH . . . so in comes a new manager, who changes tons of things, tries to do things that make your job at least twice as hard, buy hey, its okay, because he isn't the manager over YOUR departement, your department is just the end of the line that has to deal with anything that gets shifted out of the rest of the place . . . in the meantime, after a few months, when things start to go wrong within the Utopia that is the new Lean environment, old processes that the original, now unemployed manager did are reinstated, and everyone acts like they were still perfectly justified in firing the guy, even though he warned them that such changes as were effected wouldn't work long term?
How does this relate to D&D? I hate it when I have to come in and work my day off because we are so far behind due to missing our schedules and upsetting out customers, so I don't have as much time as I would like in preparing things as a DM . . . working 60 hours isn't so bad, its working 20 extra hours because someone else doesn't know a part of their anatomy from a void in the earth that upsets me . . .
Another gem- the barbarian has 14 Int, yet the player wants to say that he barely speaks common. Uhmmm...... hmmm.... NO! You're a freaking genius compared to the Joe onf the street, who speak perfectly well himself. So, no, you speak common just fine.
I actually did this once. In a 2e game I had a Barbarian (ravager kit) with a 14 intelligence, but didn't speak a word of common when he first joined the group. Instead, he learned it over time. He'd try to communicate, they'd not understand, he'd get sick of it and act, resulting in the characters (and players) thinking he was stupid. And then they found out otherwise.
Now, my rant:
I hate when people ask for advice only to turn around and tell me I'm wrong or flat disregard said advice. WTF?! It only makes matters worse that they also happen to be family members. Yeah, now I charge them for my professional advice. How ya like that, HUH?!
I hate when people whine and gripe because I decide I'm NOT going to DM one week after doing it three weeks straight. I have a friggan life, people! Go find something else to do and get out of my face! No, I don't care about the other DM's longest streak. Shut it. Deal.
I hate when I specifically tell people that I want certain party roles filled, then watch them all bob their heads and volunteer for one only to turn around and come to the table with something else. @#$!
I hate when people gripe about class balance in terms of character vs character. It's a COOPERATIVE game. It's designed that way. Find something else to play. Oh, hey, how about Mortal Kombat! Twit.
I hate when DMs cry about core classes being too powerful. Look first to your adventure design if they're stomping your monsters. Look to the players of those being outclassed. Are they meek and mousy? Are you giving them fair opportunities?
I hate when people complain about the number of Prestige classes, new core classes, feats, spells, magic items, and anything else that WotC and other companies decide to put out. You don't HAVE to buy it. You don't HAVE to use it. If you're took weak to resist the urge to splurge, it's not WotC's fault. If you're too weak to say "No" to whatever you don't like, it's not your players' fault.
I hate when posters /commonly/ (nobody's perfect) screw up, using "then" instead of "than" or "there" instead of "their" or "they're". If you're at least in junior high and don't have a basic grasp of your own friggan language, someone has failed you in your education. Probably yourself. If you don't care enough about what you're saying to take that little extra time to proofread, don't expect anyone else to. Someone got paid good money to code in the preview button. How about using it now and then?
I hate leet.
I don't hate people. I just hate the things they do.
...someone else doesn't know a part of their anatomy from a void in the earth that upsets me.
Were they trying to find that particular part of their anatomy with one, or both hands? I've heard that it makes a difference. *sarcasm sarcasm* :-P
First, a work rant . . . have you ever seen a boss fired, even when a business was doing well, because a new efficiency expert was hired and told the board and the head honcho that even though you are doing well, you aren't doing well ENOUGH . . . so in comes a new manager, who changes tons of things, tries to do things that make your job at least twice as hard, buy hey, its okay, because he isn't the manager over YOUR departement, your department is just the end of the line that has to deal with anything that gets shifted out of the rest of the place . . . in the meantime, after a few months, when things start to go wrong within the Utopia that is the new Lean environment, old processes that the original, now unemployed manager did are reinstated, and everyone acts like they were still perfectly justified in firing the guy, even though he warned them that such changes as were effected wouldn't work long term?
In todays world of buisness, it isn't 'how good you are' it's 'who you know'. I'm a strong believer of this.
And I also agree with you, most high-level execs are idiots! They usually have big diplomas, but rarely have real work experience.
Ultradan
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Knighterrant and Ultradan, I too have felt the pain of work idiots. I worked for 2years for a company in IT and everytime it came to be raise time, I got $.50-$1.00 an hour with a promise that my hard work would be rewarded when the economy picked up. My manager got 25K-45K in bonuses those years due primarily to my hard work and devotion to duty. I could hardly afford an apartment on my own. I am so glad that the wifey came along and allows me to forgo the workforce so I can stay with the kids now. If you don't own a business, the only person gettin' rich is the people takin' advantage of you.
and my new rant!!!
And I hate people who need every sentence posted to be properly punctuated and spelled all the time. It is a social board for D&D, not a college level english exam, so back off. Thought counts not grammar but I guess I am probably just wrong than;)
And I hate people who need every sentence posted to be properly punctuated and spelled all the time. It is a social board for D&D, not a college level english exam, so back off. Thought counts not grammar but I guess I am probably just wrong than;)
I'm kind of middle of the road in this regard.
Basically I want to read your post, so you have to get it to the point were I have some chance of following along. That means things like full sentences are a real plus and, generally speaking, if your going to maim the spelling of a word I should at least have a decent shot of being able to figure out what word you are going for. Beyond this I don't really care as long as I think your putting in some effort. If every third word is misspelled (or worse yet – missing) and there never is any grammar to speak of then I become distinctly less enamored with your posts.
None of this is to say my posts always meet the above criteria - I tend to toss them into Open Office before posting but if I forget then I usually end up with some gibberish thats essentially alphabet soup masquerading as a couple of paragraphs.
***RANT WARNING***
One exception to the above --- its clique, not friggen click, a click is what you do to your bloody mouse. If we are going to steal words from other languages we ought to at least respect our pilfered loot.
YARGH! RESPECT THE LOOT! SHIVER ME TIMBERS AND GIMME ME BOOTY ME HEARTIES! LANDLUBBERS!!! YARRRRGH! (Bwah. Sorry. Couldn't help it)
I'm with Jeremy. I don't expect perfection. I do expect not to get a headache trying to figure out what the heck someone's trying to say. The whole then/than and there/they're/their thing are pet peeves of mine and, IMO, mistakes made all too often.
While I'm at it, does anyone else out there feel that the grammar editing feature on stuff like Micrsoft Word sometimes gets things wrong? Sometimes, there's stuff I write that I'm pretty darn sure is OK, but the damn program wants to change things around. Aaarrggh! Damn program! Just stop smoking crack and tell me my stuff is OK.
Not only was I raised by and english teacher, but I am now an english major at college. Every time I write a paper, the spell/grammar check picks up things that are right and misses things that are wrong. So yes, Microsoft Word is distinctly retarded when it comes to error-checking.
I am hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobic.
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Here's my rant:
This one really steams me up. The great guys at Paizo are trying their hardest to create suppliments to the adventures published in Dungeon. They are overworked and underpaid as it is, and they go out of their way to create conversions for other worlds, more background, etc. However, every month, I see one particular poster (no names here) complaining about how the Paizo folks aren't getting the content online quickly enough. In my opinion, that's really uncool. The creators of such a great magazine should be thanked, not harangued. They really don't have to do it at all.
My Rant On Grammar, especially in regards to message boards.
There is a persistent complaint that some posters are ogres for insisting people post in normal English, using standard grammar and punctuation. I have some things to say to you.
I suggest to anyone complaining about having their grammar critiqued: see the thread on "Average Education of Readers."
Consider that a healthy amount of us are either college students, graduates, or hold advanced degrees; others professionally edit these magazines and manage readability. We have had it ground into our heads that it matters. aAnd you know what? It does.
No one minds a little misspelling, or some minor grammatical foibles. But it does get damn irritating trying to wade through nonsensical posts looking for meaning because the poster does not know how to write in English.
When confronted with a wall of text, lacking commas and periods, or any attempt at organizing a coherent thought, I give up and move on.
Attempting to use correct grammar is a sign of respect for others, making their reading easier. It is a sign of maturity. Nothing screams "I'm a prepubescent munckin!" like horribly written posts. It sounds bad.
Also, if you live in the USA, this knowledge is given to you for free. You have no reason to complain about something you have the ability to do correctly; if you don't know how, you didn't pay attention. This is not a matter of others being lenient: we are. We just hope you can meet us at least halfway.
You know what else? There are a number of non-English speakers on this board. First of all, they may not be able to untangle your horrible posts because they have learned English in a correct manner. Don't do them the disservice of scaring them off with your horrible writing. Secondly, most of them have taken the time to write clearly and grammatically. If they can do it, so can you.
Finally, do yourself a favor and try to write well. If you do it on this board, and everytime you write, it will become second nature. This is a benefit that will serve you throughout life, especially in later education. It's for your own good. No one is asking for Strunk and White (I do love elements of style, though). Do your best, and we'll appreciate it.
I'm sure this post wasn't grammatically sound in places. I can make my peace with that. All I ask is others TRY to write properly.
This one really steams me up. The great guys at Paizo are trying their hardest to create suppliments to the adventures published in Dungeon. They are overworked and underpaid as it is, and they go out of their way to create conversions for other worlds, more background, etc. However, every month, I see one particular poster (no names here) complaining about how the Paizo folks aren't getting the content online quickly enough. In my opinion, that's really uncool. The creators of such a great magazine should be thanked, not harangued. They really don't have to do it at all.
I would normally be the first and foremost defender of Paizo in many regards, but I just want to rebut part of this.
Paizo is a company that makes money off of its customers. If a customer feels they are being shorted, they are entitled to complain to remedy the situation. The people complaining are paying customers. The people at Paizo do work hard, and they are well aware they cannot please everyone.
However, there is no solution in "you shouldn't complain because they work hard!" The publishers are great, and they are thanked frequently on these boards and in letters. Occasionally people must criticize something to bring about a positive change. [i] I [i] think it is uncool to expect someone to not complain if they feel they have reason.
No one on these boards disputes that Paizo produces top notch stuff and works hard. We know it, celebrate it, appreciate it. But we also expect this high standard, and some of us are prone to critique their work if we feel neccessary, if only to affect a positive change. Some people need that online content, and it was promised to them, so they are trying to get it. The process will work itself out; it always does.
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Director of Narrative
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Luke,
I couldn't agree with your last two posts more. I too believe that one should post with at least enough grammatical/spelling proficiency to communicate the message. I have seen way too many posts in my short time here that didn't get to the right solution because the question was wrought with errors, and it took a day or two (too) to get the original question straight. I'm not a total grammar fascist, but rather a communication fascist. I'm from Texas and I don't see anything wrong with typing messages like, "I hope ya'll have a great game", "I'm gonna try and give ya good advice on Damage Reduction", or "That rule is as bent as a dog's hind leg". But g$~&!@n if most if not all of ya'll will understand what in Hades I'm sayin'. Its a communication issue exactly as you said.
And as far as the Paizo people go, yes, they're there to make money AND propell the game to new heights that we all have hoped/feared/never dreamed. But as you said Luke, it is perfectly reasonable for the consumer to voice their concerns. As a career I am a cook. I happened to find a restaurant small enough and privately owned that lets me be the Kitchen Manager (unofficial Chef) and still get to be on the line making food for my customers. And as many of you probably know, the customer has plenty of complaints when it comes to their dining experience. I consider it a good day when someone doesn't modify a dinner board special. Do they know more about that dish I created? Doubtful, but maybe. Do I care? Sometimes. Will I make the changes within reason? Hell yes. Because I do something that makes me happy (and pays the bills) and I want the people who indirectly (or directly) to pay me. And I think that is exactly what Paizo does. I've yet to have a bad experience from this company, and most of the ones seen on the Customer Service Message Board (which shows brass one for even existing) are just USPS related.
Wow. I rambled. It does feel good to get work and D&D out on the same breath. Not to mention AGREE with someone doing it.
You're exactly right. Since Paizo is a good company, they tend to listen to criticism if it is pertinent; so there is no need to stife that criticism.
I HATE that every other tv show or movie has some 90lbs poindexter getting pushed around for saying something geeky about D&D!
I'm about to pop a freaking gasket! None of my current D&D friends are weaklings or cowards! For a short time I was playing with a very troubled young man with a vast criminal record including assault with a deadly weapon (a broken car antennae if I remember correctly) and a very short fuse and demented demeanor induced by a past crack addiction. Not that I'm trying to glorify this kind of thing but my point is this is not a guy you want to piss off.
I know plenty of players that are in fighting shape! and if they aren't? Who cares! You have to be smart to play this game effectively and thats a big advantage in a brawl no matter how you slice it!
So? you wanna laugh at me when I get excited because my 14th lvl monk is a curly away from learning quivering palm!? DO IT! I DARE YOU! I'LL TEACH YOU A COLD HARD LESSON ABOUT MESSING WITH A 5 FOOT 5 BALL OF REPRESSED MENTAL TRAUMA YOU SLACK JAWED WORTHLESS PILE OF EGOMENIACLE SLOP! IN FACT I'LL BE DOING YOU A FAVOR! AFTER ALL IF YOU ENDED UP LIVING THROUGH HIGH SCHOOL THE REAL WORLD WOULD HAVE HIT YOU LIKE A TON OF BRICKS LEAVING YOU SUCKING THE TIN TEAT OF THE CHEAPEST BREW YOUR WELFARE CHECK COULD BUY YOU AS YOU GET THROWN OUT OF THE ONLY BAR THAT HASN'T THREATENED TO CALL THE COPS AND THEN YOU GET TO WAKE UP ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD TO THE SOUND OF A POLICE CAR PICKING YOU UP CAUSED YOU MISSED YOU COURT DATE! THEN YOU GO TO PRISON WITH REAL SYCOPATHS WHO, WHILE THEY HAVE JUST AS LITTLE TO LOSE AS YOU DO, THEY ACTUALLY REALIZE IT AND ARE MORE THAN HAPPY TO HAVE SOME FUN WITH A HUNGOVER BEERGUT WITH LEGS!!
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I been a gamer since 78'. I also been in more fights than I can remember. 10 years of martial arts including boxing and kickboxing. Did time, also due in great part to drugs. I am 5'8", 195LBS., been stabbed once, had a gun pulled on me once and I have broken many, many peoples bones for perceived slights. I hate the things that I did in my past, BUT I am a badass. I always see little wimps on tv playing gamers and I don't fully understand the logic behind that. In my group I have two reservist who both went on desert manuevers in the recent past and returned, a school teacher who trains in full contact combat with wooden weapons (some of the bruises he gets are 8-12" long and 4-6" wide, and very nasty looking), a security officer with homeland security and a couple others that are not exactly scrawny either.
my rant:
I hate D&D stereotypers!
FH
Ah FH I love boxing! But I don't have a local gym that has any rings and I can't find anyone else with an interest in it.
Let's hear it for badass gamers... there are definitely a few people around Paizo (not me) that you wouldn't want to run into in a dark alley at night. (Of course, the dice they're throwing have more than six sides.)
On an only tangentially related rant: you guys wouldn't BELIEVE how hard it is to find a decent powerlifting gym in Seattle. A major metropolitan city, and yet all anybody wants is their little hamster treadmills. Sigh....
Actually, now that I think about it, all of my friends who are hardcore into martial arts or body composition are also gamers - go figure. Maybe it's because both gamers and ultimate fighters secretly want to be action heroes. : )
Seriously, though, I think that the correlation between gaming and staying in shape makes a lot of sense - for me, going to the gym feeds the same addiction as something like World of Warcraft. With either activity, I really enjoy 'grinding' (spending my time doing repetitive things in order to level up/improve my stats and abilities)... the only difference is that I don't have to haul my computer around to show people the results of the gym. : P
What, you don't think you will pick up any women at the club that might be impressed by your well developed set of encouters, or your fully defined stat blocks?
Seriously, though, I think that the correlation between gaming and staying in shape makes a lot of sense
While your point is taken, and proven (I also know many badass types), the truth is that I am in shape too: I'm round. My fellow gamers are also in shape: either round, or stick-like. I don't mind the out-of-shape or skinny stereotype, myself. It seems all too obvious for the most part, and it does seem more common than the weightlifter type; I think most people would be surprised at the number of tough guys and buff guys at a gaming table in many instances.
I am not offended by the dork stereotype, but I think it can be misleading. The truth is, many of us(I include myself) are dorks by many people's standards. However, I have known enough non-Dorks to play that the sterotype is misleading.
I think most people should not be offended by being called a dork, or a geek, or whatever, anyways. If that's who you are (I know it's what I am), be happy.
Back to the ranting: I hate it when I have to leave the gaming table to get my oreos. Damn that sucks.
What, you don't think you will pick up any women at the club that might be impressed by your well developed set of encouters, or your fully defined stat blocks?
Ya never know... with WoW suddenly taking the world by storm, more and more attractive gamer girls (and boys!) are coming out of the closet or getting into gaming for the first time. Admittedly, I live with 6 college students, but it's still not unusual to hear a girl in our house say something like "Dude, I'm totally going to make level 60 tonight", "when are you getting the next Battlestar Galactica DVD?" or "w00t! Sorry, sweetie, but I totally pwnt your ass!"
Speaking of which... is there anything hotter than a girlfriend/boyfriend that whispers sweet nothings in l33t sp33k? I contend that there is not....
No one in my gaming group is an arche-typical geek:
My wife (Silver on these boards) was a water polo star who disarmed an attacker armed with a rifle with her bare hands and has also cold-cocked two people in bar fights.
Two of my gaming friends have killed people in combat.
Two of our gaming group are police officers who have survived numerous street fights and a couple of gunfights. One of these had to have his face reconstructed after he beat three attackers single-handedly and got hit in the face with brass knuckles. All three of his attackers went to the hospital and the one with brass knuckles was permanently blinded when his eyes were gouged out this person (Ray'kal on these boards)
One played college basketball (My Sister-In-Law, Go Lady Miners!)
Two were high school wrestlers.
One served in the IDF in Lebanon before returning to the U.S.
I think most people should not be offended by being called a dork, or a geek, or whatever, anyways.
Honestly, I think that the dot-com boom was pretty much the death rattle of "nerd" or "geek" as an insult. If nothing else, a sizable percentage of the population has finally made the connection that (whether or not he's *actually* any good with computers), the goofy-looking kid in the Wrath of Khan t-shirt may very well write the code that makes him a multimillionaire tomorrow.
Plus all the frat boys and jocks play Halo now, anyhow. It's crazy.
So here's a question: while I've met a few counterexamples, the vast majority of gamers that I've encountered have been caucasian (not surprising, since I grew up a white-bread kiddie in the middle of a blindingly white suburbia). So what I want to know even more than who's a gamer badass is: who identifies with a different ethnicity?
Actually, while we're at it, anybody here Deaf? I'd love to see a D&D session run entirely in ASL....