SMA...but with Standards!

[Glaumring the Fox]

I base bm off of Shardik by Richard Adams of watership down fame. Read it

[Gustav Kuriga]

Personally, I highly doubt most people who play this also study Shakespeare in any significant way, and if they have, that's probably not what they base their characters on. *comment removed at the request of Tom*

[Arundel]

There are two main differences:

-Tolkien is high fantasy at its highest. BM actually tries to be low fantasy, despite some magical elements (e.g. daimons).

-The characters in BM are noblemen, which also happens to be the characters in most of Shakespeare's plays. Conan is also low fantasy, but a noble character based on Conan would be out of place in BM (as an adventurer, maybe). Macbeth, however, is perfect.

King Lear, Henry VI, and Richard III are all perfect examples as well from Shakespeare, in terms of SMA. Personally, I would suggest A Man for All Seasons, by Robert Bolt in 1960; based around Henry VIII's time. Fantastic play and present inspiration for my characters .

[De-Legro]

Personally, I highly doubt most people who play this also study Shakespeare in any significant way, and if they have, that's probably not what they base their characters on. And I, too, am tired of Anaris being a condescending jerk.

You just haven't learnt to see his charms

[Tom]

Personally, I highly doubt most people who play this also study Shakespeare in any significant way, and if they have, that's probably not what they base their characters on. And I, too, am tired of Anaris being a condescending jerk.

It would be nice if you could phrase that differently. Whatever your personal opinion of him, I'm happy to have him, aside from myself nobody is doing as much coding as he does.

[Vellos]

I have no formal credentials of any kind on any subject. Am working on my undergraduate degree in economics, so not medieval history. I just read a lot.

[Gustav Kuriga]

I appreciate his coding, and am thankful that he is part of the dev team. That doesn't mean he has to have such a condescending attitude when answering a response on the forums. I removed the comment relating to him, by the way.

[Anaris]

That doesn't mean he has to have such a condescending attitude when answering a response on the forums.

It was intended to be humorous.  Indeed, Vaylon seems to have an uncanny ability to read condescension into my posts where none exists. I generally try to simply ignore this.

[De-Legro]

It was intended to be humorous.  Indeed, Vaylon seems to have an uncanny ability to read condescension into my posts where none exists. I generally try to simply ignore this.

A problem with all forms of communication, but especially prevalent with with written English. Once you have a preconception about the behaviour of the other party, it is very easy to see evidence of it in nearly everything that is written

[egamma]

A problem with all forms of communication, but especially prevalent with with written English. Once you have a preconception about the behaviour of the other party, it is very easy to see evidence of it in nearly everything that is written

That's what a racist would say!

(I kid, I kid...leaving now)

[vanKaya]

A problem with all forms of communication, but especially prevalent with with written English. Once you have a preconception about the behaviour of the other party, it is very easy to see evidence of it in nearly everything that is written

Indeed.

I would also say that though it is more easy to misinterpret written messages, preconceived notions can have a significant effect on your perceptions of people in almost all social situations.

A good rule that I try to follow, online and in real life, is to always assume that the people interacting with me are not purposefully trying to be !@#$%^&s. This way people don't feel like they're stepping on eggshells when having a conversation with me out of fear that I may misinterpret something they said. Because let's face, trying to have a "politically correct" conversation all the time is !@#$ing boring.

Was Anaris being short? Yeah probably, but that doesn't mean he was purposefully being "condescending". I can't say that Anaris' no nonsense response to some questions haven't irked me on occasion, but if you assume that fundamentally he's a nice guy, his personality (or at least the online aspect of it) actually seems quite colorful, and in most cases very appropriate.

[Bedwyr]

Was Anaris being short? Yeah probably, but that doesn't mean he was purposefully being "condescending". I can't say that Anaris' no nonsense response to some questions haven't irked me on occasion, but if you assume that fundamentally he's a nice guy, his personality (or at least the online aspect of it) actually seems quite colorful, and in most cases very appropriate.

He's generally a very nice guy, and you also have to remember that he answers (and has answered for years) lots of questions, and has seen many many many discussions about the game both here and on the d-list.  Lord of the Rings and Battlemaster has come up a lot, and been shot down many a time (although personally, I think with the way the Invasions have been developed, it's a lot more reasonable comparison these days.  Picture BT as Gondor/Mordor, Dwilight as Rohan, and everywhere else as the Shire...)

[Perth]

Picture BT as Gondor/Mordor, Dwilight as Rohan, and everywhere else as the Shire...)

I always picture Terran (the 'Moot) as Gondor.

Asylon as Rohan.

And the rest of the oblivious dwilight continent unawares of what it is like living day in and day out in the shadow of Dragon's Roost (Mt. Doom). 

[vonGenf]

I always picture Terran (the 'Moot) as Gondor.

Asylon as Rohan.

And the rest of the oblivious dwilight continent unawares of what it is like living day in and day out in the shadow of Dragon's Roost (Mt. Doom). 

That makes the eastern island Numenor... and Madina the Umbar pirates. As appropriate.

[egamma]

That makes the eastern island Numenor... and Madina the Umbar pirates. As appropriate.

And the D'Harans are hobbits. that makes sense, 6 meals a day explains all the starvation.