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Kafuuka

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Posts posted by Kafuuka

  1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monte_Carlo_method better explanation of Monte Carlo than I gave.

    As for objects using us literally, it is difficult to imagine. Something that startled me when I first heard it was the idea that genes are not the way we create offspring, but humans are an interesting way for genes to multiply themselves. In a similar fashion, we use cars to drive around, yet you could think cars use us to get build. We all know humans were there before cars were invented and thus reject the idea. But then again, where do humans come from? And what about drugs and memes?

    @Malaikat Maut: I do not consider it unfortunate that neuroscience hasn't been able to declare consciousness is nothing but electrochemical.

  2. [quote name='Phantom Orchid' date='09 October 2009 - 10:32 PM' timestamp='1255120351' post='44200']
    Though I do see these positions as perhaps necessary - and welcomed - for the mechanics of gameplay, the prospect of having a monarchic rule by a king over the land of Loreroot is essentially inimical to the land itself. By definition, a king is a ruler or head of state. He (or she, if it be a queen - though that is another discussion) lays a claim [i]of entitlement over[/i] the land itself and all its inhabitants. It is this idea of ownership which is so unsettling.

    Loreroot is made of many[i] diverse [/i]inhabitants, and its resiliency is owed to this cohabitation of differences. What will happen when some / all of its inhabitants become relegated to serfdom![/quote]
    A king is not necessarily a totalitarian ruler. For a nice example look at the Belgian monarchy, our king is mostly reduced to a ceremonial function; last time a king (Boudewijn) disagreed with the parliament, they declared him unfit to rule for 36h, ratified a new law on abortion and then reinstated him.
    In fantasy (and perhaps history) there have been many kings who lead their people in battle at the front lines, acting like a champion. Or knights who undertake quests for the benefit of their people (eg. http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Knightfall though I am not sure if it's a king or just a lord). I once read a story where the king was considered the lowest person of the society, because it was his duty to serve his empire and his people, not to rule over them. Sadly I know no real life examples of this, but MD is still a fantasy game and as such not bound to the assumption that power necessarily implies corruption and kingdoms imply dictators.

  3. @Guybrush: Kriskah is very busy with work and has no idea when she'll have time to play. She seems to be logging in and checking pm occasionally, but that's about it probably.

    @Ignatious:
    We obviously have premium creatures because servers cost real money.
    Items were supposed to be used for roleplay.
    I disagree that disinformation is the main reason trade is few. It plays a part, but the larger reason is a lack of influx and outflux. Western economies are based on massive consumption: goods need to be destroyed as quickly as possible after their purchase, so that there is a need to buy new ones. The current rate at which this occurs is pants on head retarded in real life, and next to zero in MD. Rare creatures can't be created at a huge rate, lest they become common. People do not sacrifice rare creatures except if memeticly infected through Fenrir. Items cost wish points, which makes it highly unlikely one will sell the item after questing for it. [post='30224']See also this post and the rest of that thread[/post], it's funny to reread it now that certain events have passed.
    Price information still is a problem that should be tackled. It is also more likely than solving the flux problem. (It doesn't rely on Mur fixing it for us.)

  4. [quote name='Sparrhawk' date='08 October 2009 - 08:06 AM' timestamp='1254981969' post='43984']
    This idea doesnt and wont work, creatures cant be set at a fixed value, there are variables age tokens, and even if you do fix a price on it some will sell for more some less there really cant be a standard price as it will always vary sometimes lots of people will want bloodpacts and you may be able to sell for a high price then later on not so many buying if any and you will only get a lower price its supply and demand in this situation its not really plausable to label every creature with a fixed price its all about what you will accept and what others will accept
    [/quote]
    Supply and demand exist in real life too, yet tracking prices works there. Instead of looking at a fixed price, people look at the history of what others paid for a certain share. Usually one finds that information in newspapers, presented in long tables of numbers or small graphs. Way back I said it would be fun if the MD newspaper included a financial section.
    For this to work we need only a method to register a large percentage of the trades taking place. Ideally we'd know about all of them, but that is neither necessary nor plausible.

  5. [quote name='Ignatious' date='07 October 2009 - 09:12 PM' timestamp='1254942775' post='43933']
    Kafuuka, why don't you let me see what you already have? I will hound individuals about the things you do not have, and see what I can come up with.

    Also think the market idea would be great :D
    [/quote]
    What I have is a simple survey made in php and a dozen entries, which are now outdated. If you still want them, I'll mail them to you as soon as I can (there's some maintenance on the server which is expected to take a few days). Other than that I only have ideas. What is needed is some hard code and propaganda work and/or better ideas.

  6. [quote name='Muratus del Mur' date='06 October 2009 - 01:43 AM' timestamp='1254786239' post='43785']
    @Kafuuka: SAW style situations are good too?
    [/quote]
    I only read the synopsis of that movie. I guess it will be very tough to work without any kind of device at all (in the summary of SAW, bombs and cuffs were mentioned). And quite tricky to counter every possible magic or even mundane method that could free the victim. MD has a lot of smart people, some might be able to pull it off, but it also implies that victims are smart and difficult to contain.

  7. As Burns said, people don't feel like cooperating at all. I made a survey and only a dozen people participated. Most trade topics are closed without any details of what price was agreed to...
    There is only one way I can think of to get the data we want and that is to scrap the trade subforum and force people to use a new auction site, that tracks which trades have happened before. I think I know how to code such, but there's webspace and time issues (I'm currently rather busy), as well as integration issues, the question whether it will be used and if I'm allowed to look at the MD code (yeah, that's not going to happen, but it would improve tracking capacity).

  8. We decided on the minimum AD rule for various reasons, the most relevant in this case is 'familiarity with the realm'. The average person spends at least a week to absorb the vast amount of information that is available in MD. Most people spend weeks or months to write their papers too, which makes participating in your first week unlikely. However, if you can prove me wrong, I'll make an exception.

  9. Contrary to what most people will say, I never cared about Adam. Watching people die on the evening news every day numbs your feelings. I did think it was sad, but that is not the same as feeling sad and the thought was followed by the question 'what if it happened to me?' None of the people I communicate with outside of the internet, know or care about MD.

    The internet can bring out the worst in people and in me it enhances paranoia and skepticism. Why this sudden revelation? Why now? The offense made several people sad and now the confession makes people angry. Does the truth really serve us in this case? I don't believe you did this on a whim, and neither that you feared the truth would come to light eventually.

  10. [quote name='Udgard' date='03 October 2009 - 01:50 PM' timestamp='1254570653' post='43584']
    One question please. DO we submit our entry here (open to public eyes), or send via email?
    [/quote]
    Here, so your victims (if specified) can see them :). If you consider your design so awesome that it is worth stealing, then don't post it early... however if someone else comes up with the same idea and posts it sooner, you're done for.

  11. [quote name='Aeoshattr' date='02 October 2009 - 09:38 AM' timestamp='1254469102' post='43505']
    Is anybody actually checking this topic at all?
    [/quote]
    It has been long enough since the first time factions were mentioned for me to doubt my memory of what was said. I thought factions were supposed to have one or two RPCs in them? And that RPCs were encouraged to partake in factions. So the factions that are mentioned in this thread are probably not the only ones being planned and it is not supposed to be an invitation to make new ones. However nothing is fixed yet, so there could be place for new ones.

  12. [quote name='Burns' date='01 October 2009 - 08:22 AM' timestamp='1254378144' post='43375']
    actually, that would not be so much of a frog-spell, but rather customized Ghost/Invis-spell, like the one some RPCs already have...
    Would indeed be an interesting idea if the spell asked for the name you want to show in chat, instead of ~~ghost~~, maybe for an additional WP...[/quote]
    From what I have seen, the frog spell changes the name from Kafuuka into Kafuuka the green or Kafuuka the toad. It also changes the avatar to a frog one. What I proposed for werewolves is a spell they can cast only on themselves, and that changes their name from player into player the wolf. And gives a nice temporary wolf avatar. If the price is a wishpoint, it might be fair to give something more, but I leave that to the stat experts. (imo it would be cool if their armor were changed into wolf skin, but that requires a larger amount of artwork and few people would ever witness it)
    The ghost spell is not one I am very familiar with.


    [quote name='Burns' date='01 October 2009 - 08:08 PM' timestamp='1254420526' post='43441']
    maybe, just maybe, and this is a really weird thought, some people don't want to use alts just to temporarily change their appearance, and neither want to bug Mur to get special treatments...
    the main point of the WishShop, if i understood that correctly, is getting things WITHOUT bugging RPCs and/or Mur himself to get better tools for Roleplaying for your char :/[/quote]
    The only problem with WishShop is that it can't look at your papers. This spell would be shapeshifter specific and it would make little sense for someone without that background to buy it. Of course a wishpoint is a large enough price to expect people think twice before spending it.

  13. [quote name='Sharpwind' date='30 September 2009 - 10:49 PM' timestamp='1254343757' post='43276']
    ooooh a lot of negative criticism there, I guess I hit the spot :)

    Well just to be clear It wasn't supposed to be obligatory (choose established race or create new) and I meant benefits in a more rp way like special abilities
    (meaning in rp terms were-wolfs can turn into wolfs, vampires drink blood, hate silver, such things...)

    Now stone me :P lol
    [/quote]
    Actually I think the ability to change into wolf form at will should be buyable for a wishpoint or less. It's a minor modification of the frog spell, would be way more clear for roleplay and has been suggested before the wishshop was renewed.
    The only downside would be more werewolves, but perhaps we could offset this by making them allergic to silver coins. ie you could kill them by giving them a coin; which would be a coin well spent imo. As for non-shapeshifters buying the 'spell'... that's just silly spending of WP.

  14. Ninja is a race?

    The only things I have against non-humans are: godmod opportunities, confusion and them being more boring than humans.
    1. godmod opportunities: I often have the feeling people play another race because it is perceived as more powerful than a human. That is obviously not a good reason.
    2. confusion: a lot of races have been portrayed in a specific way in literature often enough for them to be known to everyone. If you play a vampire, I will assume sunlight allergy applies and that would be instant death in MD.
    3. boredom: a race is not a background. irl we are all humans (I think) so our biography would not consist of 'he was human, born in 1984, of a human father and a human mother.' Most of the childhood trauma's and happy events can be applied both to human and race X.

    As for grouping, why not? I have seen packs of werewolves band together. I've seen creatures who loathe humans. Nothing stops them from roleplaying that. I don't see why there should be stat bonuses though. Such a thing would lead to people picking a certain race because of those bonuses and I refer to point 1. And the orcslayer thing: if you are part of a tribe of orcses, you can list your most hated foe in your papers. Someone once complained hate lists were seldom used for listing hated opponents...

    And for cool crossbreed, assuming ninja is a race: ninja pixie! They are stealthy and like to steal domestic animals and torture them to maximize their use. And they throw both pots and shurikens at you, meaning you will get danger from above and the front, try to beat that without wearing your shirt backwards.

  15. [size="4"][center]Presenting the second Paper Shaper contest. [/center][/size]
    This contest is aimed at new players and its purpose is to encourage both writing personal papers and roleplay.
    [topic='4223']List of first edition candidates.[/topic] [topic='4337']And the list of old winners.[/topic] Might be a good idea to read their papers, but then again originality is key!

    [u][size="3"]Prizes:[/size][/u]
    - First place 10 MD silver coins and an aged elemental.
    - Second place 10 MD silver coins.
    - Third place 4 MD silver coins.
    Additional rewards may be given, depending on circumstances. (ie how poor I'll be)
    *edit: We have a new Maecenas, .Grido., who increased the rewards to what you can see above now. And Blackwood Forest offered an additional prize as you can read in his post below*

    [u][size="3"]How to sign up?[/size][/u]
    Either post in this forum topic, or send a private message to me. Don't forget to include your ID.

    [u][size="3"]Contest Rules:[/size][/u]
    - The deadline for applications is Thursday, 8 October at 23h Server time.
    - All applications must include the player ID number. You can find this number next to the logout and idle buttons in the game.
    - [b]All participants have to have an active day count within the [10, 130] range at October 8.[/b]
    - Only main accounts are allowed.
    - A character can only enter this contest once, regardless of active day count.
    - Papers will be reviewed by the jury members starting from 8 October, 23h. The top 5 will be publicized on the forum, the other participants will be sent their individual scores by private mail.
    - The scoring method is outlined below.*
    - Only the comments on self and the hate list will be reviewed. Not the alliance papers, the military ways and believes or any others. This is to make the contest as fair as possible: everybody gets the same amount of paper.
    - The words of the jury members are final.
    - Participants are encouraged to have their papers proofread by other players or ask advise both on story writing, the MD realm, html and javascript... However, during the contest jury members will not help anyone with their papers.
    - Should a participant be the adept of one of the jury members, said jury member will be replaced by the average of the other 3 jury members' scores.
    - Any attempts at bribery will result in disqualification and expulsion from future contests.

    [u]*Scoring method:[/u]
    1. Each of the following Criteria will be given a rating from 1 to 20, by each of the jury members:

    1.1 Literary skills, style, presentation
    [list]How well is your character presented? Grammar, punctuation, use of paragraphs and maybe some eye candy make papers fun to look at. Clever word use, rhyme schemes and your own literary style make them worth reading.[/list]
    1.2 Originality
    [list]Memorable characters are the ones that stand out, that are more unique than others. Be it an unsuspected twist on an old tale, a complicated scheme or something we've never heard before.[/list]
    1.3 Character balance and integration with MD
    [list]We can't all be number one, in fact most people are average. (If you don't believe this, google Normal distribution.) You might be better at some things, but you'll be worse at others. MD does not have stat buy like d&d has and even if you were to "translate" all characters into that system, not all of them would have started with 32 points. Some people like to have powerful characters, others have fun with 'gimped' characters, but no one likes to play with a godmodder. You should also keep in mind that Magic Duel is not a game of elves and dwarves nuking each other with fireball spells. The game mechanics only let a small amount of people cast spells. Your character might work to one day mastering one or two very powerful spells, but no one starts with them.
    [/list]
    1.4 Roleplay, character adaptability and purpose
    [list]Staying in character is very important for a roleplay game! And so is having a character that can grow and adapt. You don't want to get bored of your character once he/she/it has done everything you've planned to do. New challenges should keep you occupied and they should come natural. Debts you've made while working towards your primary goal, new information that spiked your character's curiosity. How will your character deal with these, or with boredom? Your character's ideals and purpose are a key factor in determining it's future and interaction with others.[/list]
    2. Aside from this, each jury member can give an additional 5 bonus points or subtract five malus points, at his or her own discretion.




    [u][size="3"]List of participants[/size][/u]
    Yoshi [player]Yoshi[/player] 169242
    Xavierson [player]Xavierson[/player] 170208
    Malaikat Maut [player]Malaikat Maut[/player] 164331
    Aleph Null [player]Aleph Null[/player] 167412
    Glume [player]Glume[/player] 170991
    Indyra Sirenias [player]*Indyra Sirenias*[/player] 164102
    [s]Bog [player]Bog[/player] 171583[/s] resigned
    Fawe [player]Fawe[/player] 140392
    Backs [player]Backs[/player] 173125 MIA?
    Ahiezer [player]Ahiezer[/player] 78748 MIA?
    De Ranger [player]De Ranger[/player] 170983
    Mysteria Blue [player]Mysteria Blue[/player] 151537
    Seifer [player]Seifer[/player] 172696
    (i'll try to update this as often as possible)


    [right]We wish you all the best of luck,
    The Paper Shaper Jury
    Awiiya, Intrigue, Kafuuka and Willem Redbeard[/right]

  16. Personally I loathe the idea of someone else playing my character and would much sooner let him die. That would make me sad, but if it is a good death (if such a thing exists) it would also make me proud. Or instead of sending him to the next world, I could opt for sending him to the previous one since he wasn't born in MD. It is sad that people don't get closure for their characters when they leave, but such a thing requires time and planning and I doubt many plan their departure. Ideally you'd get the players to come back long enough to let their characters leave MD in a way they see fit.

    The people who don't mind their characters being played by someone else, do they have no emotional attachment to them at all? Or is it that instead of perversion they consider another player emulating their character as prestigious?

  17. All things considered, minesweeper is about as logical as playing a game of chess but every minute you pick a piece and play Russian roulette with it. The game really is that random; if you play it long enough you'll notice that certain unlucky events happen very often, eg:
    2 unexplored tiles, surrounded by walls and bombs only; 1 bomb left

  18. [quote name='Fenrir Greycloth' date='16 September 2009 - 06:47 PM' timestamp='1253119660' post='41918']
    What power? I do not understand. This is a game. There is no "power". If you think having power means having a make believe role in a game that exists only as images is having power... Get a life. People have been calling me power hungry, a kiss ass, and every thing else lately. [/quote]

    I do believe RPCs, alliance leaders, Mur... have power. Not the "mushroom cloud says ashes to ashes, dust to radioactive dust" kind of power, but a sort of power nonetheless. If you lead an alliance, people that want to be part of said alliance, will do things for you. Stupid things, really really stupid things they wouldn't normally do, like kissing donkeys. If I were to estimate, I'd equate it to the power of a 500$ bill, which makes a shopkeeper relinquish that shiny new TV to you, yet at the same time, the average person in MD is stuck with only 20$ of power. From that perspective you asked for 'a lot of power'.

    That being said, maybe there should be a separate topic on 'how many miles does a player have to walk before you can nominate them a leader?' I seem to enjoy the debate about leadership qualities more than the proposed alliance structures.

  19. I guess Fenrir meant that the desire to be a leader is completely unrelated to leadership qualities. Which is contradicting the idea that people like what they are good at. eg I like science and am good at it, but I hate athletics and doubt I would even get to the finish line of a marathon. One possible element that plays into this is corruption. Between those that want power and those that have power thrust upon them, we believe the latter to be less corruptible.

  20. [quote name='Chewett' date='14 September 2009 - 07:26 AM' timestamp='1252906010' post='41716']
    I like this idea but do not think anyone here who has volunteered for leader is right to lead an alliance yet, Everyone seems a little experianceless at the moment.
    [/quote]
    That's extremely cyclic: you don't have leadership experience, so we will not let you be the next leader, so you cannot get leadership experience...
    Furthermore, you cannot know how much experience they have got outside of the game (except if they post it and you trust them). One of the reasons you wont see me leading an alliance is that I have already witnessed the backstabbing and conspiring irl.

  21. [post='39070']My opinion on alts in general[/post] and [post='29475']Mur about alts and ctcs.[/post]
    If you read the latter post, it is stated that using alts for storing creatures is walking the thin line between efficiency and abuse. "we will notice the damage on the way i guess." Apparently the damage is now considered to be large enough to warrant a ban of the alts involved. I don't think anyone that read the forum has the right to say this is totally unsuspected.

    Furthermore the damage is not only the using of the alts to enrich one account, but doing it so openly that you are a 'rebel hero' encouraging other players to use the same methods. It is not a strange idea to use the most obvious offenders as an example. And I certainly don't think it is a good idea to publicly revoke that decision. Banning all carrier accounts is not much of a penalty but more like a hindrance to continue malpractice. If there are certain creatures of sentimental value that unknowingly got mixed up in this, I won't mind their release, but I will mind this to become a reference for future offenders. We already have one such case being referred too and the argument 'others do it too' is one I loathe.

  22. [quote name='Aeoshattr' date='11 September 2009 - 08:48 AM' timestamp='1252651681' post='41504']
    Answer to Kafuuka(1):
    What was i supposed to say?!!? Would you make a list with your potential weaknesses and hand them over? Alright, if some just can't use the neurons mother nature apparently didn't give them, i'lll just make a list. Or is it really that hard to draw conclusions from my story?
    1. The subtle knife, as i said.
    2. My emotions. My greatest weakness. I usually keep them under control, but i am very easy to annoy (as you can see here) therefore i go berserk which represents a great weakness. any knight could confirm that.
    3. My friends. If one of them is threatened i just give up, with the condition of them not being harmed
    4. Myself. Even my weakest abilities consume titanic amounts of energy. I cannot fight for more than a few minutes[/quote]
    I never made an explicit list of weaknesses because there are too many. If you read my comments on self, it is stated clearly that:[list]
    [*]Kafuuka is a human -> he'll die if stabbed at any of the vital organs, or just stabbed repeatedly, or bashed with a blunt weapon a couple of times.
    [*]Kafuuka is versed in only two arts that are related to combat: crossbows and fencing with a rapier. It is implied he considers those sports and doesn't understand the concept of fighting 'dirty'.
    [*]Kafuuka currently carries no armor, no rapiers and one crossbow which is consecrated to hunting, making it useless unless he'd decide to eat you or wear your skin. And while irl I'd have a healthy fear of a person wielding a meat cleaver, I doubt people with actual tools of war would.
    [/list]

    I suppose I have to admit not being able to use neurons I don't have... maybe one day we'll actually get to quantum computing and resolve that issue. Meanwhile, I'll use those I did get.
    1. It's been mentioned before that you have the knife and we probably would need to exploit a weakness in order to steal the knife and be able to use this weakness...
    2. Even if you go berserk, I wouldn't be able to cut you without the subtle knife. Hoping you'd injure yourself, doesn't sound like an interesting tactic.
    3. I doubt it. You would obey my orders until you find an opening and are capable of removing the threat. Hostage situations are very very tricky.
    4. If I get this correct, I have to survive a couple of minutes of very dangerous abilities and then you wouldn't be able to actively attack me. I however would never have been able to, nor become it at that point.

    [quote]Answer to Kafuuka(2): Quoting from my PL, what I WROTE IN IT: "No longer allowed to interfere with lower planes of existence... Alas, rules are meant to be broken" <-- use your neurons on that.
    5.the list could go on with countless things.
    6. My story is not complete. i think it ends with "to be continued" -__-'[/quote]
    I referred to your profile, which at the time did not include that exception. Seeing as you hid it and I did not take a screenshot, it will be your word against mine, yet the sudden hiding certainly makes mine more plausible.

    [quote]
    Oh, and kafuuka, "areal" is actually "unreal" as far as my english goes...
    [/quote]
    My bad, that should've been aerial. The two sound similar to me. With English being my third language, I pray you forgive me for that mistake. I do wonder if your English will forgive you for not writing it with a capital E?
    My dictionary also says areal means 'of or relating to or involving an area', not that it means unreal.

  23. [quote name='Guybrush Threepwood' date='09 September 2009 - 02:02 AM' timestamp='1252454551' post='41275']
    So, is there going to be a veterans one? And if so, could I compete?
    [/quote]
    I ask myself the same two questions. I'd like to compete too, but then other people should organize it. If there are a couple of regular instances first, we'll have a number of people who don't qualify for the veterans contest yet might feel up to organizing it. The September edition is my current worry though.
    I expected people to post tons of comments. eg. The nature of grading papers, by using categories, is prone to favoring certain styles. Which is ironic since we want to promote creativity and originality. Influencing the categories changes which styles are favored and hence the odds of certain entrants. It really amazes me no one tried that. (Maybe I am paranoid, anyone know a good psy near Antwerp?)
    Naturally, if it stays quiet I'll assume it best to stick to the previous set of rules and categories.

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