Baron von Skippy on 15 Oct 2002 00:50:02 -0000


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Re: [spoon-discuss] Re: [Spoon-business] The Infinite Improbability Drive 

>> >I propose:
>> >
>> >{{
>> >__The Weirdest Speeder Upgrade You'll Ever See__
>>
>> >}}
>> >
>> >You know, that seemed like a good idea an hour ago... damn, I'm tired.
>> >
>> >                                                   [[BvS]]
>>
>>Oboy.  A chaos bomb.  Just what this game needs.
>-You mean in addition to the players, some of whom (Wonko) are essentially 
>chaos tactical nukes?-
Yes. The minority of players willing to try to destroy the game is bad enough, without letting everyone else buy the capability at K-Mart prices.
-Yeah... okay, this isn't the first time I've said it, nor do I think this'll be the last. What if I make it painful to use it? Things happen to you, things that a) discourage usage of the Drive, and b) don't screw the Game over.- 

>>First of all, it can do too many bad things to too many people, so I
>would
>>vote no.
>-That can be altered. This was one reason I shot it off so fast instead of 
>sitting on it for a week- it's rather... hmm... I'm not sure that there's
>a
>single word that means "I started writing it after midnight and it's a
>translation of Douglas Adams into the nearest Game equivalent." Maybe
>"FUBAR." One thing to note: It does bad things to random players, that's
>your complaint. Okay, then, is that better or worse than it doing bad
>things
>to the player who uses it? Because you know, that can be easily arranged.-
That would at least contain it a little better. It's the Jerry Pournelle approach then: "Think of it as evolution in action." 
-Wow, you responded to what I put above before I even wrote it... amazing.-


>>Secondly, it talks about setting random grid squares to type void...I
>>assume that includes surface squares, so that the void is no longer a
>>bottom barrier, it can also be tunneled under.  Um.  I would vote no.
>-I've never fully understood Void, really. Would it be better phrased to
>say
>that random squares have their elevation decreased to whatever they'd need 
>to go down to to become Void?-
In other words, a deep, narrow crater to the bottom of the world? Very dramatic, but what would happen to someone in a tunnel in that location? 
-That would be bad, now wouldn't it? Moot point, this'll get cut.-
You know that by the current definition a "square" is a 3D location? Do you perhaps mean a grid location? 
-Why is it still called "square?"-
The Void is, I believe, supposed to be the "bottom edge" of the little pocket universe that is the grid. Imagine space didn't go on forever...that, after a while, you ran out of space. This isn't to say that there's something in front of you, or that there's something beyond the location you're at, since, after all, it's a universe...there just isn't any more space to go into. 

There.  Food for your hangover.

-Now I have a REAL headache.-


>>Third, since the whole die roll thing comes after the actual movement
>>thing, it appears the die roll thing overrides the movement thing, so all 
>>these ugly things happen when one uses the drive, and one doesn't even
>get
>>to move.  So I would vote no.
>-How do you figure? Movement comes first. "When a speeder moves via IID,
>1d100 is rolled." Not until you have moved does the die roll happen.-
I suppose. It's the whole "nothing happens" thing that happens if the roll is low. I was thinking that would include the move.
-You know, I think you're right. I'll change that to "nothing else happens."- 

>>Finally, even if I *were* to vote yes, I'd probably CFI that, even if
>it's
>>technically a prose prop, it should earn zero prose prop points since the 
>>Baron didn't actually, like, you know, whatcha call, write the prose.
>>Perhaps we can give points to Douglas Adams' estate instead.
>-Ah, got you there. That's the bit at the beginning, where I say "The
>following is an excerpt from _The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy_ by
>Douglas Adams, specifically the entirety of Chapter 9 of that book.
>Although
>the sections in comment brackets should be removed as though this were a
>Literary Proposal, that text is not original and Baron von Skippy will not 
>be given Prose Form points for the passing of this proposal." Although I
>could counter-CFI that nowhere does it say in the rules that a Prose Prop
>(or a poetry one, for that matter) has to be original.-
Or any prop. Still, there is the matter of international copyright...Should there be some rule that says the game itself and the playerbase as a whole isn't responsible for the RL crimes of individual players?
-Well, I'm not selling or publishing, I'm only proposing, and I don't think any copyright laws prohibit that.- 

						Glotmorf



                                                  [[BvS]]


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