Messages

31

Wiki / Uploading Images

« on: April 02, 2011, 01:08:18 AM »

I having been having a bit of trouble uploading images to the Wiki and I was just wondering what programs, formats, or tricks you use.

32

BM General Discussion / Re: Nice One, Tom

« on: April 01, 2011, 09:47:47 PM »

My first thought was how much gold I could create by manipulating taxes and then doubling my tax production. 30,000 gold in one tax... not impossible.

Coria knows what I am talking about 

33

Helpline / Re: Academy Usefulness

« on: March 29, 2011, 07:22:08 PM »

I must admit that I haven't trained any of my characters recently, but I have previously trained characters up to 60% and my experience has been far different.

I find it is best to train for about 3 to 4 hours at a time when you are at the lower levels and 5 or 6 as you progress. I don't know why you are having such a bad experience but this might help.

34

BM General Discussion / Re: What you really wanted to do in BM but never did

« on: March 22, 2011, 10:51:52 PM »

What I really want to do in BM but haven't (yet): operate a functional continental "bank".  I think it can be done.  It would just require a lot of capital, and you'd definitely have to be selling something to attract the kind of demand required to sustain it.

"bank" is a bit ambiguous, so I don't know exactly what you mean by this. I have talked about starting a bank which would be able to issue loans and work as a swiss bank for those tax heavy realms. If worked right I think it would be possible to have a cross continental bank that would allow individuals to transfer wealth from one Island to another, but I don't think tom would like that. If you want to discuss it further I would love to work with both of you on it.

35

Dwilight / Re: Dwilight IC and OOC updates and news!

« on: March 21, 2011, 11:48:30 PM »

It sounds to me like the original government of the US, in 1776. It didn't work too well.

and the US government is so great now.

36

Dwilight / Re: The Crusade against SA

« on: March 21, 2011, 11:44:51 PM »

Is there reason for concern?

37

Background / Re: Human Nature

« on: March 20, 2011, 09:38:15 PM »

Well put. My only point of disagreement is that I believe that human nature is definable and can be seen in action across time and culture, but in regards to what you have said about this specific case. I cannot disagree. The culture of most realms is defined as medieval and many players RP outside that without solid justification. But when you stated the consideration so matter of fact, I thought that you were of a different opinion. I was defending the way I RP one of my characters: Ulrich.

So what do you think regarding my character Ulrich. He grew up as a spoiled nephew of his rich uncle, and his family is insanely wealthy. He has always had a very high opinion of himself and believes that he deserves anything he wants. Along those lines, he is an arrogant, selfish young man who is also a womanizer. He is also a bit of a coward, and commands archers because he is afraid of the front lines of battle. That is his character, and it only shows up in RP's. When he sends letters or reports to the realm, he portrays himself as brave, noble, and moral. In your eyes is this a fair Medieval character? or is his rogue character to far from historical accuracy? 

38

BM General Discussion / Re: What you really wanted to do in BM but never did

« on: March 20, 2011, 06:32:53 PM »

Let's just say Merlin isn't the only one with a grudge against the Igelfeld family

Establish  bitter rivalry between my family and others... check! 

To do:

Exact revenge on Coria and Corian leadership with one character while having another try to repair bonds and redeem family honor in Coria... In progress. It will take a while from both sides, but I think it will be interesting to try.

39

Feature Requests / Re: Judicial Punishments with Teeth

« on: March 20, 2011, 02:12:47 PM »

What if judges were able to do formal reprimands that could then go into the players family history. That would be something people would like to avoid I think, and any abuse of it could be explained by the noble in question. 

40

Background / Re: Human Nature

« on: March 20, 2011, 02:01:15 PM »

Let me ask that we keep this civil, let's just discuss the argument. I may be misreading things or presenting things poorly and if so I apologize. 

Doesn't matter WHY they changed. Only matters THAT they changed. People respond to, as I said, cultural mores and institutions. Economic considerations can drive changes in behavior, duh. That's what I said. You disagreed.

Let me state that disagreeing with someone does not mean you necessarily take the contradictory point, of course I don't think that external factors have no influence on behavior. If you want to stab at that strawman feel free, it won't fight back. The way I see this is that you are arguing that cultural mores and institutions govern human behavior. I am saying that mores and institutions influence human behavoir and are one factor in the determination of behavior along with human nature.

I get this from you original post that stated,

PART of the fourth is intended. Rights and freedoms. That bothers me some, but not tons. What DOES bother me is the highly modernized sexuality of especially women, but some male characters as well.

Now I know, and I assume you know some women characters who do not have highly modernized sexuality, and apparently many male characters that don't ether. So it seems to me that you are arguing that the social mores predominant during medieval time should be strictly followed by all characters because the social mores and social institutions govern behavior.

I could be mistaken here, but if you accept that mores and institutions only influence behavior and do not determine it, than you also shouldn't have a problem with some characters, discretely through RP's being sexualized. As I stated earlier:

But I would argue that regardless of the time or society, people are the same. The rules they will play by change but they will still seek to satisfy their instinctual desires. Just as we have people today who conduct activities that society considers wrong, so did the medieval societies. The 'evil' we see today is not new to our society, it may be desires manifesting themselves in different ways, but the conduct of people does not change.

I admit that the final phrase is poorly executed, it should state the human nature does not change, but I believe the intent is understood from the rest of the paragraph and if this has mislead you to understand that I am arguing that social influences have no baring on behavior I apologize. 

Regarding a definition of human nature I feel most people have a basic understanding of the term. to define it further would simply open a new vein of debate as it enters the realm of religion and presuppositions, lets try and keep things as focused as possible.

Regarding anthropology you are correct, I have not read much. My education involves much more classical Greek and roman literature, philosophy, and rhetoric. So although I do not know about the selfish society you speak of, I am quite aware of the recorded teachings on morality from ancient Egypt up through Islam, and from the eastern philosophers to the western ones. So although you might be able to point to some isolated village, I can show the breath of history and can tell you that all of these cultures have moral codes, and the codes seem highly correlated.

But before we discuss this, lets first make sure that we are understanding what each other are debating for. I am stating that human nature influences behavior along with social mores and institutions. And I think you may agree with me given your previous statement. But what I originally saw you stating is that you believe mores and institutions govern or dictate human behavior. If you could clarify your position it would be most helpful.

41

BM General Discussion / Re: New Religion Advice

« on: March 20, 2011, 12:54:05 AM »

Otherwise, I have just a few suggestions: 

• Go with your instincts and make it 'unique and different from other religions within dwilight', but also unique and different from other RL religions. 
• Don't define everything too proscriptively.  Leave space for people to add their own colour.  It won't be quick in coming, but if/when it does it will be worth it.
• 'Actual in game actions they can do to progress further' is a good idea.  In SA we have an oath people can take to become (I've lost track of what they're called now, but they used to be:) guardians of the temple.  Players seem to take that personal oath seriously to the point that for some it's a major character point.

That's it for now.  I may think of some more. 

Should I be helping another Dwilight religion form?  No, of course not 

Thanks, indeed let me know if you think of more. I do like the oaths idea and will probably instill that somewhere along the line. And I am carefully trying to keep everything rather loose at the beginning. As the founder, I am going to present doctrine through sermons and lessons, but I am going to try and keep it rather vague and make the interpretation of it an important aspect. The only things that are really concrete at this time are the pilgrimages and the importance of the Zuma.

42

Background / Re: Noble clothing

« on: March 20, 2011, 12:13:48 AM »

As much as that is tending towards a "no fun allowed" approach, Vellos, I have to admit my undying love for you because of that statement.

BUT as we all know, every single realm in battlemaster is not only a great provider of its own silk with giant, beautiful cities, but filled also with endless expanses of woodlands, bustling trade routes, enchanting rivers, frozen wastelands, really tall mountains and extremely bountiful fields. In fact we only have the trade to keep our image up to date with other realms, since we are all incredibly wonderful and self-sufficient places able to supply any good known to man, including up to 70 kinds of alcoholic beverages that are better than yours. Oh, and the peasants never get in the way of nice views. There is a law against that kind of thing.

So poo on you, the nobles in battlemaster can continue to obtain all the luxuries they could ever think of and make outlandish fashion statements at the drop of a hat.

I sense you are being a bit sarcastic in this comment, but it leads to an interesting question. If your family is insanely wealthy, should that be reflected in your clothing?

Personally, whenever I make a claim about my characters appearance, I take four things into consideration: family wealth, personal status (knight, Lord, etc.), purpose of current journey, and realm culture. All of these should (I think) play some part in determining appearance . What do you guys think?

43

Background / Re: Human Nature

« on: March 19, 2011, 09:13:08 PM »

National Survey of Family Growth indicates that, even in the last five years, rates of sexual activity have changed significantly; notably abstinence in the US has risen, while exact preferred sexual acts have also changed.

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nsfg.htm

Change is confirmed in data from National Survey of Sexual Behavior:

http://www.nationalsexstudy.indiana.edu/

QED.

This change can be attributed to a wide variety of factors, chief among them economic considerations. You also have abstinence education being taught in more schools. These kinds of societal influences will change the way people behave but will not change their nature, and if the culture reverts back to the way it was five years ago, so will the populace. As I stated earlier, culture and social norms highly influence the way people act, and what you have just provided is an example of that.

To look at the kind of sexual change you have indicated simply shows that people's behaviors change over time, it does not show that their nature changes. The sex studies are micro level changes in society and what you would need to demonstrate to show that people change is a macro level change, something that wouldn't revert back if the surrounding culture changed. Show me a time when most of the people in a society didn't have sex, that would be a proof. 

Here are some other areas that demonstrate how people have always been the same: Morally, people have always thought it best to not be strictly selfish. The culture in which a person resides will go a long way in influencing their beliefs about who one should be unselfish towards and to what level, but selfishness has never been seen as a good trait. Along those same lines, people have always thought that one should look after their offspring and care for the future generations. Honesty has always been considered a virtue, and cheating another person is never so. These are the kind of things that underlie human nature and they are the things that simply do not change.

44

Background / Re: Human Nature

« on: March 19, 2011, 01:06:09 PM »

You argue that people ARE the same. I argue that people COULD be different. Burden of proof on you.

I don't know what rules of engagement you are referring to but my position cannot be proven just as I cannot prove the sun will rise tomorrow. I can make very strong inductive arguments about it, but an inductive argument never constitutes a complete proof. Uniformity cannot be proved, but it can be disproved.   

What would be proof would rest squarely on your side as if you could prove that at some point in the past people were different than it would mean that they have not always been the same.  You could use deductive arguments which are by their nature proof establishing entities. 

I can provide a preponderance of evidence for my viewpoint, but proof is only in your court.

45

BM General Discussion / Re: What you really wanted to do in BM but never did

« on: March 18, 2011, 10:16:04 PM »

As far as Merodak goes, my character has already realized his "gross" ancestry. It didn't take long after he arrived in Coria's capitol for me to see that he hopefully gained a reprimand from the Darkan leadership. (Did it work? Just wondering...)

Nope  apparently the Darkan leaders saw nothing wrong with Merodak's behavior because not a word of reprimand was sent. Funny actually, I think if it were any other realm on the island he would have been.