Sendai Riko

Reading this thread, I gave SL a try and found, with my computer, the combination of slow performance and lag to be horrendous. Of course, I have quite a basic system, so that's not surprising; it can either handle the graphics or the information overload of the online community, but rarely both. A primary reason why the online gaming phenomenon is something that, barring a stroke of fortune in the form of a winning lotto ticket and a top of the line computer purchase, that will be beyond my reasonable reach. As the concept of incorporating such as we do here with some virtual gaming world, it seems excessive, since you'd still be using chat as the primary basis of the game, and as A9 pointed out, creating the necessary "sets" would be time consuming (not to mention dollar consuming, if you have to actually lease land space, buy resources, etc.). Plus, without some sort of Administrator functionality, the game GMs would be without any ability to control the attendees or to create/modify the situation to a satisfactory level. I, for one, am glad that we're sticking with our format (though I sincerely wish that we could move to some different chat interface, JAVA is evil). Of course, if we have a programming prodigy in STSF with a lot of spare time, one could always create a usable interface for us to use. heh As for Star Trek games being primarily combat based, that's also not surprising to me; if someone actually comes up with a quality Star Trek game that has more of the exploration/science/diplomacy than shooting (from ship or land), I'll probably faint upon hearing about it. Admittedly, it's a difficult thing to pull off, not to mention sell to a wider audience, but it can be done, I'm sure of it. STOL started out looking like it might finally cause me unconsciousness, but now, is turning into your standard kill things to level up MMOG, which to me, doesn't seem to fit in with the Trek universe. Ah well. With all of that said, however, as an alternate meeting place, a virtual shoreleave like A9 stated or another way to get together and perhaps work on simming with some visual splash, such games could indeed be useful, and fun. Certainly it could be a good way to help STSFers bond away from plain chat in the rooms and IMs. That I could get behind... that is, if my computer cooperated.

"Avast, ye... what in the name of the devil is that?" :: stows cannons, not wanting to waste precious cannon shot ::

Shh! That's supposed to be a surprise!

Everyone was apparently in a hurry to get to Shore Leave and forgot the three second rule.

I imagine, if you meet the admission requirements, there is no resource allocation issue when it comes to which institution you attend; though I imagine the requirements for these high-end places would be very, very stringent. Boy, wouldn't that be nice to see before the 24th C.?

You could always try carriage-pooling with the Amish.

As with any fantasy or mythical creature, the visual and behavioral identity can vary based on location, time-frame, and story to story within the first two limits. There have been references to cave trolls, mountain trolls, etc, which indicate that there are subsets of different trolls throughout the genre. This is not uncommon, either, as orcs/ogres/goblins have all been thrown about in the multiple identity mix. Vampires as well, have gone from either ugly, misshapen things to the hot and sexy variety. The only real aspect that I can find in common with trolls is that they are generally not "good guys," though they can vary from being simple nuisances to truly evil. Thus, when encountering a troll, I generally take the "wait and see" approach, until more information is proffered. Mythically speaking, I believe that trolls are a heavily featured in Scandinavian lore, and based on the where/when, it can either be a lumbering, ugly giant or a more human-like being with certain special abilities or traits. With that, they were not necessarily "evil," though one would still not want to encounter one, regardless of its physical aspect. As the troll has passed through different lands, it has received makeovers from each culture based on its own mythology and culture. In general, though, the later you go, the less hairy they get, I've found. It was much during the late dark ages and medieval period that they really became the truly evil creatures we take them for today. That could be said for a lot of mythical creatures, as well, as the dark times in Europe didn't generally make for happy thoughts. There are certain theories out there that the troll myth was inspired by our encounters with Neanderthal man back in pre-history; whether true or not I don't think anyone will be able to say unless time travel happens and we go back to study it. :lol: It would certainly account for the general large, hairy and brutish appearance of the troll; I doubt it would attest to the behavior, but we'll save the social paleoanthropology for another time, lol. Obviously, fantasy fiction has taken things a great deal further in delineation, as you have pointed out, Images. Between the most prominent authors in the genre, there are definitive splits in the type of troll one can encounter; this is hardly surprising, considering the troll mythology itself is so varied, so one can certainly expect a modern author to go his/her own way, based upon their own experiences and feelings. It's very annoying, but inescapable based on the mythological divisions. Thusly, I can't say there is a certain type of troll that should be, and I therefore can only hope that authors would work to describe their trolls sooner rather than later to avoid the confusion.

Welcome to STSF! Have fun, look forward to seeing you around!

I haven't heard anything about it until you posted this; if it's true that his ashes (not to mention all of the others) didn't make it into space, that's a realy sad story. If they do find them, hopefully they'll send 'em all back up.

Is that a "wow, that's cheap" exclamation or "wow, that's expensive" exclamation?

#4 to #3: What's #2 doing? #3 to #4: I dunno. #2: :: gargles :: #1: I'm surrounded by idiots.

Here are some direct links so you don't have to go fishing: Getting Started Rules Moose's Tips Above all else, have fun! SR

Okay, now it's getting creepy! As far as the laptop situation goes, there are a lot of good options out there. Sometimes, it can be better to pick a name out of a hat than to pound your brains into mush trying to decide if you have nothing that seriously jumps out at you. I hope, whenever you make your decision, that it works out! B)

Driver: "If you can read this you're too close... OH @$%#!" :: crunch ::

While you're there, could you tell if I stepped in something?