My favorite RPG system is the Palladium Megaversal system. Once you’ve played PFRPG (that’s Palladium Fantasy RPG), you will find any form of D&D absolutely intolerable. [rant] Why the hell would strength let one attack more accurately (even when you aren’t using a heavy weapon)? You need to be more agile for that, dammit! D&D’s attribute system sucks. The D&D thief class sucks because it’s a non-warrior non-mage candy-ass class, that’s why. PFRPG’s thieves aren’t a bunch of wusses “hiding in the shadows” half the time; they can kick ass out in the open with the best of them. And what’s up with “dark (drow) elves”? Why not just have good and evil elves (like there are good and evil humans)? Why do low level D&D mages even leave their houses? They’re so frail, they’re liable to die just from the wear and tear of everyday life! And what genius thought up weapon restrictions for classes? How can one’s profession make one unable to use a particular kind of weapon? I’m not a “fighter” (Ooo, real creative class name), and nothing would stop me from trying to fight with any given kind of weapon (provided I needed to fight, of course). PFRPG lacks any of these shortcomings. [/rant] If you play D&D, I beg of you, pick up a copy of Palladium’s PFRPG; you must realize how truly lame D&D actually is (compared to other RPG’s).
Eeps. My bad. Why on earth did I mentally picture you with a clarinet? Heh heh, don’t answer that.
Ok then. I’ll call off the Transports full of Marines and Howitzers. 
Actually, I tended to play Bloodbath after a while, just because I found it much easier to build a reativly small, very terriformed empire, and just build a huge spaceship. Conquest doesn’t come naturally to me, and was much more challenging.
Nothing’s wrong with a catered AD&D game. We’re all impressed, not criticising.
Ah, so she’s a cleric.
No, I love a sneaky style of play. I’m a Fallout fan, for Zomel Gustar’s sake. But AD&D theives arn’t capable of pulling off a sneaky style of play unless the GM is spectacularly leanient, or they are very high level. And if they screw up said sneaky style, (IE, they mess up one roll) they tend to die really fast, because all they can do is sneak and open doors, and that not well.
And all the thief items replace thief abilities, so if a thief uses them, he’s no longer thiefing, and anyone else can use them and become a better thief than the thief is.
Meanwhile a third level illusionist can cast alter self on himself and walk right through an army. Then he can sleep the general, cut his throat, and cast invisibity and silence on himself, and walk right out.
I’d love to FIND an urban style game that had an emphasis on stealth, but I haven’t yet. If anyone’s running one in Philly, give me a call.
Was indeed. You didn’t recognize me? I’m crushed.
I think the “road building” card might be too buggy to use, and that’s what crashed it. You’ve played it more than I have–has it worked before?
Just don’t tell everyone about that Canadian geography thing. I might loose my geek status.
–
“Chicken droppings for the soul.”
I was reminiscing with some of the guys with whom I used to play D&D the other night. We recalled one of our running jokes, which was to yell, when things got hairy, “I DISBELIEVE!!!” hoping that the illusion would then disappear, we could kill the illusionist, and move on with the campaign. Didn’t work all that often, sadly.
Also, I once had oodles of fun tricking an ettin into saying the command word for my Wand of Wonder four times fast (four times for each head, that is). There were butterflies flitting about, lighting and fireballs everywhere, the floor of the dungeon turned to flesh…
Good times, good times.
Louis XIV, the (I forget but it was damn high) of the French, 2019, 312 million-odd population (I’ll get specs later on), score 4750 or so (chieftan) rating 190.
I haven’t played in a LONG time. Last night I played for the first time in several months.
“Secrets: Never support units.”
Also: if you find a hut in the mountains, it CANNOT give you an advanced tribe OR wandering nomads. It can give you an advanced form of army (chariot, horsey). I have never gotten a catapult from them . . . OTOH I have gotten musketeers, so you never know. IMO, huts are, as a last resort, for gold or tech improvements. Best things are NONE settlers/advanced tribes, then army units.
“Earn money, bribe yourself an army that is far from home.”
Do I even need to ask how early in a game you get spies? hehehe . . .
Occasionally you’ll get a gov’t that can either get you tech improvements quickly or lots of cash. Go for cash for ten turns if you’ve gotten tech early on . . . let the others catch up a bit while you rake in (in 2000 BC, mind you) 40 gold per turn. Mighty useful for buying an army and wonders.
“It also saves you a lot of hassle with attitude back home.”
What about instituting martial law? Any problems with this? I find that building the wonder that gives me three extra happies in a city in the city where I build my military takes care of that. Plus I usually have this be my city with the largest shield production.
NONE armies don’t piss anyone off. The NONE settler is great. No support food, no shield. Late in the game you build a NONE Settler farm by putting one city with a rail connection and building a settler to disband the city. He is a NONE. You can buy them for 320 each. Less if you are patient. Every turn you send out a new supported settler, and restart the city in the same location. One city of about 12 size can build a new settler each turn, and then send it out to be a new NONE.
“Later in the game, you can let the Barbarians take a minor city, and surround it with spies. It becomes a NONE farm, that will eventually put out TANKS! Or Riflemen.”
I have learned to sell everything in a city, or not make anything with my shields. Then you let a barbarian tribe take over a city of, say, size 15. You get NONE fanatics or somesuch. Get engineers to fortify squares of land and you can easily repel the barbarians. Make sure you attack from the mts or forest or some other square giving you both offensive and defensive advantages. You get a heap of armies attached to no cities, which are great for raids.
Also, any civ you plan to conquer, bring your own engineers and don’t try to take down roads, farms, etc. You’ll just have to rebuild them and that’s a bitch.
Damn I love this game.
What a small world!
Ura, I didnt recognize you, I never would have dreampt I would run into a doper playing catan…
WHAT are the odds?? I had a sweet one last night: 6 clay, 9 clay, 4 wheat (or something) and a clay port on a 8. I was UNstoppable!
I hope to see you there again
And for the rest of you geeks: I spent my lunch hours in high school playing D&D, and DC Heroes. Suprised?
Along the lines of Max the Immortal’s rant, I, too, have ‘philosophical issues’ with the D&D / AD&D systems. I prefer I.C.E.'s Rolemaster (or, for anyone who has played it, Roll-master; it can be dice-intensive) myself. Anyone can learn anything (it’s a skill-based system, not a “you’re this class, so you have these and only these abilities” system), but a given skill may be more difficult for some ‘classes’ than others (however, since there are about a gazillion classes in the system, it’s not hard to find a class which fits with they way you wish to develop a character).
To add to Max’s rant, what the heck is the deal with class restrictions based on race?! Or, for that matter, level limits based upon race? I think if you have to throw logic out the window for the sake of game ‘balance’, there is something wrong…
Having said this, yes, I am a geek. Well, actually, it’s been a while since I did my geek act with the carnival…maybe I’m more of a nerd. I do wear glasses, and work with computers 
Also having said this, I do play Baldur’s Gate (which, of course, is based on the 2nd Ed. AD&D rules). However, I play it as a video game, not as an RPG (which, of course, it really isn’t).
I also play (IRL) a home-grown RPG system (I didn’t grow it, the group I game with did…I’m effectively a play-tester, I suppose). It started off as a modified version of AD&D, but it has evolved to the point where it is quite different in many aspects. I am currently playing a Shifter Mage (they specialize in alterations of the body, inlcuding, but not limited to, polymorphing) with larcenous tendencies. Effectively, he is a Mage / Thief, though he tends to be more of a second-story man than a box man. And all too often he gets relegated to the ‘scout’ role, especially when we’re in the wilderness. His primary goal throughout any adventure is self-preservation. He is a complete non-combatant.
IT TOOK A GEEK TO DO IT
Gravity finally ID’d my handle! I’m so proud that this was the thread that made the leap! I knew Geeks would dig Styx!
Jonathan Chance is indeed Robert Orin Charles Kilroys pal in the Styx album/play, “Kilroy Was Here”.
Sure! Put out an album about robots and such and BANG geeks flock to it!
Congratulations Gravity! Email me to collect your super double secret prize. We’re all proud and happy for you!
I’m sorry if this bumps the thread… but the person that went to King Edward’s School was…<drumroll> J.R.R.Tolkien
I can’t believe no one got that. I guess that geeks just aren’t as geeky as they used to be! Well, the +3 intelligence I offered is gone forever.
Hasn’t it occurred to anyone on this thread that there are enough geeks, or RPG players for a pbem or even a story based, skip the dice, go on choices rpg to work (I’m not suggesting on this bulletin board, don’t throw me out to the wolfs & moderators - I’m out of wolfbane), if we could only agree on which DM was to run the first one…(& which rules/rule combination…)
…brings me back before a lot of you were born…1st ed just out…the 10 hour games…that VA game is probably 10 hours of driving, though…
CivII - 366% Emperor now, 40K settler ship on pad…
record kill - 26 at once (stack of ships, why did they do that?)
Weird tendencies 1) sinking troopship of enemies, saying "Suck sea, slime!"
2) when I was listening ot an oldies station I captured Heliopolis, said "We had joy, we had fun, we sacked the City of the Sun...)
worst cheat? Friend of mine used Norton Utilities to get the place in the save file the money is - calculated the hex, always has 30,000 gold…
Once ran over limit to about 34k, lost a city, conqueror got NEGATIVE GOLD - actually lost money (maybe a 2’s complementy thing…)
get the Statue of liberty, keep jumping between Demo and Fundamental - jack up $, then go for we love the pres days, sudeenly, lotsa 20+ cities…
Best 5 wonders - Library, Pyramids, Leonardo, Michaelangelo, Hoover.
I don’t remember what Hoover Dam does, but I gotta go with Sun Tzu’s War Academy instead of that. And King Richard’s Crusade has to be up there . . . I cannot remember the last time I didn’t get that.
Hoover Dam grants Hydroelectric Power to all cities on the same continent with no expiration. Anything that never expires, in my opinion, is great in CivII. I’m personally really fond of Adam Smith’s Trading Company.
Replace ASTC with KRC. I haven’t read up on the uses of the wonders in a while.
Gotta say, though, that I think the worst wonder is the Manhattan Project. Only reason I build it is for the 20 pts.
Claremont’s back on the X-Men! Claremont’s back on the X-Men!
And the ending to Preacher made me very frustrated and angry, and I still can’t decide whether that might not be a good thing.
Just thought the comics geeks were being woefully underrepresented up in here.
King Richard’s Crusade? But that goes obsolete with Industrialization! I’ve got to agree with DeMobray on this one. Adam Smith’s keeps your civ swarming with gold. (As far as the videos go, I’ve got a soft spot for Darwin’s Voyage and Apollo Program, though.)
What’s the latest projection on when Civ III is coming out? Last I heard was Spring 2001. I hope it’s better than Call to Power… I’ve still got some of that stuck to my shoes… blech.
As far as anime goes, I’m only a casual fan and probably don’t qualify as an otaku, though I’m definitely a geek. I am, after all, here debating the value of King Richard’ Crusade versus Adam Smith’s Trading Company. Er. I thought Project A-Ko was pretty funny as a gentle parody of the anime genre. Wrath of the Ninja I thought was okay but kind of forgettable, and like a lot of people, I just shrugged my shoulders at Akira and never quite got into Demon City Shinjuku. But Cartoon Network recently showed the Tenchi Universe series, and that show kicks ass! (Tenchi doesn’t qualify as a shojo, does it? Um… sweatdrop) Ryoko reminds me a lot of one of my AD&D characters, a half-drow spellsinger (elven bard kit from the Complete Bard’s Handbook, which also kicks ass), who’s based on Siouxsie Sioux from Siouxsie and the Banshees, and how’s that for geeky!
minor point: In CivII it is all your cities, not just on one continent, like Civ1. STWA is more useful if you have cities on archipelagos, as it isn’t as easy to dispatch units from a few barracks, and is good with Leonardo, so the upgrades become veteran. Smith is nice too, both in my second 5 with the likes of Bach. KRC expires too early. Soem of these wonders work especially well together. Marco Polo is very nice is you have the Library, not nearly as good otherwise.
Didn’t want to bring this up but…
In addition to my day job I publish a business to business e-zine covering the computer games industry called Game Industry News. The single coolest thing about running the zine (other than getting every single game for free) is the people I get to meet.
An example:
A year and a half ago I was at E3, the biggest game trade show of the year. I attended the Academy for Interactive Arts and Sciences awards ceremony (parallel to the Academy Awards) as a member of the press. After the show I go to the press lounge where we get free drinks and get to schmooze with the winners. Suddenly I look up and I’m being introduced to Sid Meier!
AAAHHHHHH!!! Geek Nirvana. I grab my notebook and do an impromptu interview (he was VERY nice and friendly by the way. Almost shy).
Civ III had just been announced that day at the show and Sid was all abubble about it. He told me that they’d like to get it out in mid-2001 and certainly by the Christmas season.
Sid even told me that his favorite game that he’d put together is Pirates! for the C-64!
How cool is that?
So that should give SOME update on what Sid thinks of Civ III’s release date. It’s old news but he’s a stand-up guy.
Hm, so Claremont’s back on the X-Men, huh? And they gave Wolvie back his adamantium, didn’t they? This might - but probably won’t - be enough to get me back in comics again. I’m sorry, but after that “we’ll kill damn near everybody to destroy Onslaught then magically bring them back two weeks later” thing pissed me off immensely. To be honest, I never even read the issues where they came up with whatever they came up with to resurrect everyone. Sure, kill a few heroes at a time, bring 'em back and I’m fine with it. The majority of the Marvel universe, though, that’s stretching my suspension of disbelief just a little bit thin…
And then the art got crappy…
As I am one of the closeted elite, one that is labelled “geek” but whom I rather label as “gamer” and “otaku”, I feel compelled to answer this thread. (You’ll also be distubed to know that my mother is the Straight Dope lurker and send me the URL for this. Hehe) I’ll begin with a point-by-point basis, then go straight into making fun of people who like Dragonball Z. (I also wish I knew what emoticons work on here… Is it like EZBoard’s?)
Thieves in AD&D surely suck, but then again my opinions on D&D itself is biased. <grins evilly> The fault lies mostly in the fact that they’re inept fighters who have under-used (by most DMs) skills and can backstab. Whee! What fun! The most common fix would be “play a better system.” Even D&D 3rd Edition would be a huge improvement. (Though 3rd is still bogged down with “legacy code”, as I like to call the clunky rules they’ve kept from the beginning. Hehe) More on that 5 down or so…
I never played Fallout (not having a PC until '96 or so. I was raised on Atari, then Mac. I’m still convinced Atari and/or Amiga would be the predominant gaming platform if they had better management–and people weren’t quite so dumb. HEhe. Pardon my gratuitous, antagonizing remarks, but this seems the type of board that takes to them well. ) and only played Fallout 2 for a short amount of time. I couldn’t really get into it. As much as I don’t like linear plot, I felt the plot of Fallout 2 was hard to follow if you WANTED too. I think the best computer RPG so far is Planescape: Torment, but then I like anything with intriguing/random-as-hell circumstances, and the ability to advance without fighting.
Then again, any game where you can be a professional boxer and pimp has redeeming qualities… }
I won’t compare WoT to Dune in that sort of manner, though I will admint Dune was a lot more enjoyable. It wandered around a bit too much, and I think went on too long, but at least it kept my interest the whole way through. (Arrakkis is a desert planet! Now it’s a paradise! Now it’s desert! Now it’s back! Now it’s blown up!)
Jordan, however, got to the point of disgusting me. He’s certainly not a BAD writer… it’s just that he writes bad. Heh. If you know what I mean. He writes on a outward spiral, making his world more and more complex, introducing more and more things while not closing ANYthing! After 7… 8? 9? books he’s revealled less of the overall picture than the X-Files did in their FIRST season! But as long as people keep sucking up his tripe, he’ll keep writing that way. I guess he figures if he starts capping off a few loose ends he’ll have to end the WHOLE thing.
A series shouldn’t have to run like that. Take the Death Gate Cycle, for instance. It was interesting, unique, fun, humerous… and it spend 4 books in “introduction” and 3 books in “conflict and closure.” But you could SEE where it was going, and it didn’t suffer for it. Jordan just makes me say “Dude! DO something!” I don’t need to know the next two lines of this friggin’ “prophecy” so you can explain why you’re rambling for the next six-hundred pages!
Also, he’s entirely repetitive. Humerous anecdotes are funny ONCE, but become pathetic when you do it once or twice each book. And if someone says “the wheel turns how the wheel will” one more time, I’ll club them with a flounder.
I know I’ll be cursed by the gaming community-at-large, but I didn’t get into Civ2 either. Part stems from my late PC indoctrination, but it mostly comes from the fact that the game is so BORING! My friends and I LAN frequently, and so I tend to enjoy most those games that can be played multi-player well. (Especially multi-player co-op. Nothing finer. ) Civ2 had nothing to “pull me in” and the fascination died quickly. I used to love Populus, but even that I probably wouldn’t go back to, even for nostalgia’s sake.
Another thing is that I played Civilization the board game long before I ever saw Civ2. It’s a great board game AND social as heck! Why is Avalon Hill so damn cool?! (Too bad they’re owned by Hasbro now. <sigh> ) Probably didn’t help that I saw Civ2 as a poor replacement for being able to get 6-8 people together to play the AH game.
And despite the slanted questioning, I’ll agree that the Hero system is pretty cool. But since I enjoy a good fantasy RPG more than any other genre, my vote goes out to Rolemaster. It’s as complex as you want to make it, and easy enough to “dumb down” when you want to focus on advancing plot over rolling on charts. (The typical Rolemaster complaint) ANY RPG shouldn’t dwell on the rules, as an RPG is guided by the rule-structure, not created by it. But then, you want to know HOW to do anything that your players want to. The spell system and arms combat in Rolemaster is so extensive, that any PC has room to stretch out and enjoy themselves.
The only other FRPG I’d think about using would probably be Dangerous Journeys, but it takes long enough to get to know RM… I’m not sure I’m psychotic enough to use Gary Gygax’s labor of love! HEhe.
Oh, and if you just want to focus on spells and let HtH combat slide, I’d say if not Rolemaster than Ars Magica all the way!
I’m not sure where the turn with “kinkiness” in fantasy lit has come from, but I assume it stems a lot from the public’s desire for “more”, and so there are limited ways to give it to them. --and to the adolescent hordes out there who eat up popular fantasy, the easiest way is to make their reading more titillating–pun intended.
It’s always funny to watch the phases of certain writers, though. Heinlein and Anthony hit their second childhoods and became harder to read–or more to WANT to read. Though Anthony has recovered somewhat, and his latest Xanth books appear to be falling into more mature and intelligent versions of his first few, instead of the panty-fests a lot of his latter ones became.
But yes, I get irritated when writers become more sexually graphic, not because it’s wrong but because it’s not needed. Goodkind especially pissed me off in Temple of the Winds. What the heck is his fixation with torture? Heh. I don’t know about Jordan because after 6 books, I’ve turned my mind off to him, and am enjoying the now-blurry state I’m in, where I can’t envision what he wrote about anymore. <closes eyes and sighs luxuriously"
As much as I love Lone Wolf and Cub, I’m not as excited as you about the reprinting… But then again, I own all of the first printings. 
I’d vote Macross Plus above Akira and Sanctuary (though if you mean the manga, they would FAR win out!) as well as GiTS, since I soured on it while they mutilated most of Shirow’s effort with the manga. Plus, they made Makoto look uglier! Fie on them! I wouldn’t compare movies and short-run OAVs with series television, however. Series’ tend to be able to fit in FAR more complex a plot and much more character development since they have more time. Not only that, but you’ve hit some of the better series’. (At least ones to hit our shores)
As for dreams–computer games? Yes. RPGs? Certainly. Anime? Duh!
Erotic…? Hrm… uh… What was the question again? <grins foolishly and scratches head in his best Yusaku-impersonation> Hehehehehe
Why are you trying to compare ANY space-faring vehicle to mecha? Silly boy! Hehe.
Then again, technically who “wins” depends on who’s making the movie. Unless you’re talking about Gunbuster. Gunbuster always wins. I’ve never seen a mecha fuelled by how loud a girl can scream before…
Unfortunately I haven’t watched enough Slayers to know much about Gaav, though he certainly LOOKS cool.
He might rank up there, but it’s hard to “out-cool” Kagato, and Nakago is EASILY the most insidious! }
Basically, however, anime villans are ALWAYS a few billion times cooler than villans of the various american entertainment modes, who at the end are always just chumps. They’re more intelligent, more powerful, more cool and collected… typically better drawn… I guess it’s so they can emphasize what makes the good guys win–usually “love” and “spirit” and the like. It’s 100% better than “cuz I gots a bigger gun!”
Unfortunately my reading has been heavily impacted by the video ago, so I haven’t read or even SEEN anything of ‘Song of Fire and Ice.’ I still read a lot, but mostly it’s re-reading. I don’t actively hunt out new books as much anymore, and tend to read what people refer and lend to me. But since I’m the most-read of my friends, I don’t get much from them… Hehe. I guess it’s why I still enjoy manga more than anime, though. The manga is almost always more interesting, and it certainly doesn’t have to be animated to be “good”. (But if it IS animated it DOES have to be subtitled to be good! HEhe)
Blade of the Immortal is SOME good! Then again, since you’re excited over Lone Wolf and Cub I figured you’d be following BotI as well. Gold Digger…? <shudders> I’ve had enough problems with american artists thinking they can “do manga”. Adam Warren did a passable job with the Dirty Pair, but only while Toren Smith was behind him to keep him in check. After TS fell off the projects, they declined steadily. I’ve read some of most of the “american manga” but they almost ALWAYS represent some screwed-up midground between Marvel/DC/Image and true-form manga.
It’s not that I’m insulted by the color, either. HEhe.
It’s just that american comics have always been rather “plotless.” They make up for it with tons of character development, and character redefinition, and killing off/resurrecting everyone and their grandmother (I’m still waiting for the Beyonder to return and bring back Aunt May as his co-ruler of the multi-verse! Hehe), but it’s not the same. It’s not going in a DIRECTION… ergo it’s a “sit-com”. (Situation-comic, of course) Most manga–at least the manga I enjoy the most–has an ultimate goal or design, and it’s the character development AND all their struggles TO that goal that make reaching the summit worthwhile. (Then again, that’s when the series typically ends. You can’t stretch it out forever… I’ll assume that’s why most comics won’t do it. If it’s profitable, they can’t END it!)
<preview the above>
Hrm… I seem to have rambled on a lot, but the points were interesting, and deserved to be commented upon.
I’m not sure how the majority of you define your “geekdom” but if anything, I see it as the “broad-scale enjoyment of the imagination.” I mean, if you compare the hobbies of people seen as “geeks” what do you see?
The dictionary (at least dictionary.com) defines “geek” as ‘1. An odd or rediculous person’ and ‘2. A carnival performer whose show consists of bizzare acts, such as biting the head of a live chicken.’ I find it utterly satisfying to know Ozzy is a geek. (You can blame my mother for dictionary-looking, by the way. I know I do.)
But with the first definition, isn’t that in the eye of the beholder? To us, WE are not geeks. I don’t find playing D&D and watchin anime odd or rediculous, do you? It’s THEM who are the geeks! Hehe. (You know… them. They. All of them.)
The part of me that is “gamer” knows the best way to be is to learn and play as MANY games as possible, not do as MUCH as possible. I don’t think there is a facet of it I haven’t tried… There SHOULDN’T be! Only by exploring everything can you determine what it is you don’t enjoy. And BY exploring everything, you tend to meet cool people you might not otherwise. (And some of them might be WOMEN! Hehe) Board games (from Monopoly to Shogi to Diplomacy to Talisman), console/arcade/computer games, card games AND CCGs, wargaming, RPGs, MMORPGs, LARPs… there’s enough out there to choke a Tarrasque! (All right, all right… THE Tarrasque!) I tend to not go “too far” in one direction… especially in competitive games, when someone gets “too good” from our circle, it gets less fun to play. At that point… SWITCH! HEhe.
Then there’s the “otaku” side of me, which, if given half the chance, could beat the crap out of my other parts. And again, I find the more wide-spread your interest goes, the better off you are. There’s nothing wrong with ANY facet of it–you’re just exploring different realms of imagination. (I have a soft spot for the well-handled romantic comedy, however. But cool is cool, and hilarious is hilarous, and well-animated is well-animated. There are reasons to enjoy ANY show) I avoid Dragonball Z like the plague, though… Not that I dislike it in PRINCIPLE–I’ve watched a number–it’s just there are few redeeming qualities about it. Even the animation is silly! (It fit the style of the original Dragonball much better, a series that WAS fun to watch. Only Z and beyond became hard to stomach…) I’ve noticed it tends to appeal to 12-14 year-old boys and Quake-players, however. Hehe. Just an extension of the anime crowd who had only ever seen Akira and Fist of the North Star, and got hyped up on it. Berserk, I imagine, is much the same. I’ve only seen the first two episodes, and although it’s well-animated, it seems as though it will wander around for no purpose. “Man with big-ass sword kills lots of people on well-animated blood fountains.” Heh.
Ok, Bastard was fun. (And if you enjoy Bastard, pick up Combustible Campus Guardress. )
The most disturbing thing I find is that “reading” will define me as a “geek” to most of the public. The trend seems to be to gobble up news-bytes and colorful periodicals with hot chicks on them… (The women’s magazines seem to be halfway to porn anyhow) And when one DOES ‘read’, why is it that SF&F seems so strange? What SHOULD we be reading? Harlequin romance? Moviestar biographies? Self-help books from people “in the know” who are usually “in the not?” Dilbert books? Oh wait, one SHOULD read Dilbert books. THAT annoys me, as everything seems to get attached to modern/popular entertainment. We were around first! Kiss off!
It’s a whole separate category–don’t lump us together! Heh.
Er… anyway. If any of you are still awake I’ll punish you no longer.
CivII
To let you know how thoroughly I exploit the NONE units, In my last game I saw the notification that the BARBARIANS had discovered Pottery! (I establish an embassy with them, too.) They won’t talk with you, or anything, but they don’t chase your spies around that way. By late in the game I have no supported units at all, other than single shot missiles, and an occasional stealth fighter. (I got a NONE Stealth Figher only once. Way cool.)
On the subject of wonders, aside from the Great Wall, and the Oracle, which I only get at the end of the game by taking the cities where they happen to exist, I get ALL the wonders. I also find the best method is to build them all in my capital. Adam Smith, Johann Bach, and Leonardo are great. ( Leonardo as early as possible, by the way, so all my bribed foreign armies end up as the best current fighters, and Sun T’su to keep the fighting edge on them)
The Great Library is just defensive. Don’t want the heathens getting above themselves. I never get anything from it after the first century or so BC.
Tris