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[quote=Tizzy;1818]However, while he has killed quite a number of non-people he hasn’t killed any of what you or I might call people, yet…(and yes by people, I obviously mean demons…)
[/quote]It helps that killing demons permanently is a bit hard 😉 Mind you, he was actually directly responsible for the permanent death of at least one demon when he killed that poor mage miss cast a disintegration cloud during the siege of L’s school, although admittedly I doubt he realized how badly that could have ended 😉
[quote=Rosver;1769]@Madfox
Well, many games and movies doesn’t really care much about the story nowdays. Most are just for the looks and explosions instead of sense or content. Have you seen the Transformers movie? WTF! You might probably one of those people who liked it but not me. I can’t stand that much stupid.
Well, from what I can see, everything seems to have lower standards in storytelling these days. TV, books, games, movies…[/quote]
You do realize that sounds condecending, at least to me? People might judge movies by different standards than you do, but that does not make them ‘lower’. I also doubt it is true. I have seen some pretty crappy ‘old’ stuff. It is just that in general when we take the time to watch and/or read ‘old’ stuff, we focus on the classics and the good work. Not to mention that people tend to forget mediocore stuff. In case of books, I doubt we can even get our hands on the crappy stuff. They just don’t publish it anymore.
As for mindless action and thin story premise, I can be entertained by it, but whether it is enough to actually enjoy for a whole movie depends entirely on other things. I really had fun watching Die Hard 1 and 2, movies that have a very thin story with the protagonist and villain doing rather unrealistic things, but which are still seen as good in general by the critics. I only watched Transformers 1, never bothered with the others. Giant transforming robots fighting one another never had a big draw on me even not as a child. Besides, just because I can ignore some plotholes and inconsistancies, or at least ignore them long enough while enjoying something, does not mean that there are no limits to it. Suspension of disbelief only carries so far 😉
As for ME3, I can tell you exactly what I like and dislike and why, but this is not exactly the place for such a discussion 😉
[quote=Rosver;1760]
@MadfoxWell, that is not the same reaction the fanatics have. This is especially true in RPG. Mass Effect has one disappointing ending.[/quote]
O, I agree, the ending is extremely disappointing (the alternative ending making it slightly better). I just don’t let it ruin my fun with the rest of the game, let alone my expactations for future products. DA3 is definitely a good game for example, so one has reason to belief they do listen to their fans 😉
Note that I am a parttime adventure designer for various RPGs (having written, developed and edited a lot of Organized Play adventures), so my opinion might be biased even as a reader. But how is “the characters are stupid” and similar comments really helpful to the reader?
I mean, what I consider stupid might be exactly what somebody else is looking for. You would expect to include an example or two on what makes the character stupid for the reviewer so that we can at least get an idea wether we need to stay away from the book or not. The same is true for many other aspects of a story. I think most reviewers simply lack the energy and drive to give the review the attention it might deserve. I know I am certainly guilty of it, that is, if I even get myself to write a review. So I probably should not complain too loudly, kettle and pot and all that 😉
As for EA and other big business stuff, don’t go bashing the actual authors too quickly. I don’t know the details for Dragon Age 2 and ME3 beyond the basic complaints, having played both games extensively and discussed the flaws with my friends extensively, but not having paid much attention to official press releases and the like. I do know that for some other things, the reaction to complaints (or even the cause of the complaints) has nothing to do with the author and everything with the company. In those cases authors are not going to react, because they want to keep getting that pay check and stay out of court for breaking NDAs and the like 😉
Considering Tom doesn’t have a body anymore, or at least not a body in the biological meaning of the word, there is no reason to assume he still has to go through/is in puberty. Do demons even have hormones? In fact, considering the lack of drive for procreation amongst demons, it wouldn’t surprise me most demons have no sex drive at all. What need does an energy based being has for that except as a tool to manipulate physical beings perhaps? I also find it unlikely that demons can accidentally have kids. I would expect that magical based creatures need to make a conscious decision to impregnate a physical being. That is based on my admittedly rather limited experience with demons and other spiritual beings, so I might be wrong.
As for Antefalken not remembering how many kids he has, even with just a few kids, if you as a father really don’t care, let alone stick around for months to watch the results, you are bound to loose track. The fact that he has centuries just adds to that. Note that he does say that most half-demonic kids are actually normal mortals with at best a weird trait or two. Only very powerful demons tend to generate demonic kids with portals. So Rupert’s situation seem to be rather rare.
[quote=Arad an-Bás;1626]First of all, I have theories about Tom’s relationship with Rupert. I’d like to think that Tom really is Rupert’s father and, while I’m sure those of greater knowledge here will dissuade me from some of my ideas, I humbly submit my theory here.
[/quote]We could also speculate that Fate touched him (in other words: it is a bit cliche) and that he and Rupert actually have the same father and they are brothers 😉 Didn’t Tom’s father died in some kind of explosion?
Mind you, it is much more likely that Rupert got a vague generic description from his mother, the type of description that fits the generic image. Since Tom’s shape is based on the ideas of his summoners, it is not surprising that fits that vague description as well. Since shapeshifting demons actually decide on their own form, Rupert simply took Tom’s shape subconsciously based on his hopes and dreams. Of course, such a mundane explanation is not really all that fun 😉
[quote=Tizzy;1647]I think I have commented before the GRRM appears to be a demon.
Who else would be so cruel and heartless to those who follow him religiously?
[/quote]
Aren’t you the one who has been bitching about deities in various other posts? 😉 In other words, treating followers like shit is not the hallmark of a demon 😉
Personally I would be very hesitent as a wizard to give the following order though: “You will do nothing that I have not commanded you”
At that moment you have given the demon so much ammunition against you that it is not funny anymore.
“Master, you never told me how to get to the tower? Fly? Sure. At what speed? Fast as possible?”
“Master, you never told me to breath? What do you mean I don’t breath? Semetics.”
“Master, …”I would dare say that by that single line Lenamare completely screwed up his own orders. He basically gave an impossible command. Which does raise the question, what happens if you give a demon a command he cannot follow*?
* Reminding me of the Twilight story were a math teacher accidentally summons a demon who then must be paid the teacher’s soul for a service unless of course the teacher requests something the demon cannot give. Getting lost is apparently impossible for demon who knows everything 😉
[quote=Tizzy;1610]Well, based on what I’ve dictated to The Author Guy, I think the power level question might get more complicated as other beings begin to enter the picture.
I think an important thing to remember is that the whole power level thing was pretty much devised by wizards for their own classification system.
We demons have basically adopted it for ease of use, but really relative power is very hard to determine. Sure, there are obviously weaker demons and obviously stronger ones, but if you were to ask, was Orcus stronger than Asmodeus or Sammael for that matter? Perhaps he was, but he’s dead and Asmodeus and Sammael are not. So part of “power” is knowing when to extend yourself and when not to. Orcus pushed too far and got his ass kicked in Etterdam, Smody and Sammy have been smart enough to not go head to head with Tierhallen. [Tierhallen is where Tiernon makes his home, so I’m referring to his host/forces][/quote]
You do realize that this comment clashes with the mirror? 😉 The mirror is not as digital as the wizard’s system, but it does show a clear differentiation in power.
Obviously, if you are physically and/or magically more powerful there is no guarantee you are going to win except perhaps in a direct fight. Hack, even in a direct fight you can take an opponent by surprise and win as long as the difference in power is either not too big or, when it is, your opponent is foolish enough to play with you (think hare and the turtle fable). Something tells me that this discussion is about the measurable power of Tom and not his ability to use said power (let alone the incredibly hard to measure and potential extremely powerful power to make friends/allies/dupes) in a long term conflict with another force. After all, most of your readers are humans, and just like those human wizards they want to categorize demons in a nice and easy categories 😉
Can a demon be bound to more masters? If not, then that is one reason you might want to be bound. Come to think of it, if you can be bound by more than two masters, it might be funny to watch what happens when two rivals learn they did it and order you to kill the other… Another one would be to get out of the Abyss. Tom and more powerful demons can apparently can get out when they want to, but the weakers ones apparently can not. To have some fun with the foolish mortal that summoned you? The more I think about it, the more reasons I can think off why you would not mind being bound by a foolish master who underestimates your power. I mean, Tom certainly appeared to get some fun from the that ring with his name spelled incorrectly (assuming that was the reason for it failing). He got a free ride to Astlan, a nice scuffle with silly bad guys while saving the damsel in distress, make a friend and get to have the high ground in an argument with said damsel. Ooo… and he got to blow up a ship owned by some really silly humans. I mean, it was even a win for the wizard who summoned him. If he had not been there, they would never have gotten the book back.
Tizzy, I think you lack imagination. Life is about more than smoking pipe in the Abyss and pestering Lillith. I mean that gets old just as quickly as floating on a cloud 😉
[quote=Tizzy;1617]
I think this is why it’s important to choose your religion wisely while alive (or pick one with reincarnation so you can change your mind later). You don’t want to get into a religion that locks you into 13 billion years of never ending harp music with no “out” option.
[/quote]
You can always start a rebellion.
[quote=Tizzy;1613]Death, actually.
Having talked to my share of dead people, I can attest they are all remarkably unchallenged. Seriously bored,
This is why so many people choose to get reincarnated. Sitting around on a cloud playing a harp gets really old, really fast. No worries about food, no worry about obtaining mercury…
Can you imagine sitting on a cloud listening to or playing harp music for well…13 billion years so far…if one died today, i’m sure they’d be stuck on a cloud for at least another 13 billion years.
So, OK, maybe Antefalken, being a bard, wouldn’t have a problem with that…but I couldn’t take it.
I suppose that’s why I’m down here in the Abyss.[/quote]
I think they, the pure souls floating on clouds that is, can always decide to join the army of angels and fight you demons? The real odd thing is that to get at those clouds you need to work hard and diligantly. One would think that hard workers have more of a problem with doing nothing than the lazy geezers, but sloth is a sin…
Personally I find both options a bit boring, but that might be why I tend to spend so much time designing challenges for adventurers, challenges that make them curse my name but still make them stronger and have some good stories to tell. It is fun to think up the plots and to watch those mort… I mean adventurers stumble around 😉
[quote=Tizzy;1553]No idea what that means, I’ve reread and I think it represents a crossed meaning between posts.
You were making the point about why would some go to so much work to create shapeshifting buildings, and have one “shape” be a collapsed ruin…because it wouldn’t serve one’s vanity.
People build palaces out of vanity, not ruins.
And Madfoxii was countering with the point, demons like to destroy things, in particular, nice things. So building nice buildings only to subsequently destroy them is not necessarily against one’s vanity.
I.e. one can imagine a demon so vane that they want people to know they have so much power, they can afford to destroy their own palaces…
I think….[/quote]
Yeah, that was my point 😉 I would even go so far as to say that if normal rich humans on Earth think ruins are the epitome of beauty willing to spend tons of money on building fake ruins in their gardens out of vanity*, then I would say that demons are even more likely to build ruins out of vanity 😉
* Take a look at some of the follies the English lords build in their gardens 😉
[quote=Tizzy;1575]He’s full of excuses…if he was a demon his master would not stand for this sort of tardiness.
Accursed Masters don’t put up with slothfulness.
Someone needs to summon T-A-G, turn him into a demon and order him to hurry up and finish the book already![/quote]
Can’t demons do that – or at least the ones with wizard powers? If so, give the author an otherwordly experience, arrange with a friend to summon him and done. Or is there some kind of demon ethics against summoning and binding fellow demons?
[quote=Tizzy;1545]Oh, and going back a bit, for the record, I was hinting that Rosver might be a demon.
Demons love to argue over previous statements, documents, agreements, you name it.All in, demons are just warmer, nicer, cuddlier lawyers…
[/quote]
I thought that were devils? Or was it Fae? Or both? Or is that whole fallen angels thing just a different type of angel where their deity is hiding behind the illusion of a demon? Pretty sure though that Fae love their bargains, including twisting promises and oaths. 😉
As for the Abyss, what if the whole place is an ellaborate illusion? It is hot because people think it is hot. Objects have no minds, and hence are not affected? 😉 Than again, we all might be an illusion of Tizzy and he might be the only real thing 😉
