Guest posts by Astrocyte

37

Philosophy / Re: Do the ends justify the means?

« on: August 21, 2011, 05:39:08 pm »

All actions (even those generally accepted as "good" or "moral") have unintended consequences, so in most cases it's probably impossible to tell without hindsight.

38

Off-Topic Discussions / How did you get your (real) name?

« on: August 17, 2011, 01:44:48 pm »

Ripped off of Xenocidius's new thread (this is what I thought his thread was going to be about).

What's the origin of your given name? Is there a a story behind why your parents chose it? Does it have any special meaning?
Go into as much detail or as little detail as you want -- you don't have to post your real name if you don't want to.

My first name doesn't have any special meaning. The name my dad wanted was super trendy in the 80s when I was born, and it's a really feminine name that frankly doesn't fit me at all. The name my mom wanted was a bog-standard girl's name. They argued about it for weeks before compromising and picking the one I have now, a somewhat rare girl's name. I like it much better than either of the ones they originally wanted, so I guess I got lucky!

My middle name is Anne, same as my mom's.

39

Off-Topic Discussions / Re: How did you get your name?

« on: August 17, 2011, 01:26:04 pm »

Here's the old one if anyone cares. No one's posted in it for a few months, though.
http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,18306.0.html

I guess I was in a SCIENCE! mood when I made my account. Astrocytes are a type of brain cell.
Since I'm a pretty ditzy poster and the "winner" of the forum's very first PvP Parasite, I could probably use some more of them ... 

Picture:

40

The Arena / Re: This is a problem...

« on: August 12, 2011, 01:44:24 pm »

I can now empathize with this. I spent hours last night trying to get a spin out of Silver, consistently losing every 5th match like clockwork. It was unbelievable. I was about to ragequit...

then I saw how much freaking MONEY I had made.

Then it turned into a happyquit 

41

Forum Game Archive / Re: Comment on Avatars

« on: August 12, 2011, 11:54:59 am »

If I could tell what the insignia in the bottom right was, I'd love your pic, Johann.

It's a silhouette of a dude with crossed arms next to the italic letters " ff " .

Anyway, Nepycros's av always makes me laugh. always. I wish I knew how to make animated gifs -- that's the only way it could possibly be funnier.

42

Post Your PvP Event Ideas Here / Re: ELEMENTS TOTAL WAR

« on: August 11, 2011, 03:24:48 pm »

I don't understand the problem with the name.

There is already a very large event named War.

43

Trial of Death / Re: 4th Trials - Phase 3 - Community Vote

« on: August 11, 2011, 03:08:11 pm »

This is without a doubt my favourite selection of members in the history of one trial, and I can not think of any specific one of you which I would not want as Master.
Grats to all of you


Which is kind of uncool because I still have to decide someone to vote for...

x3 for five people who are all both great players and great community members.

44

Humor / Re: I just found out who the dumbest Half Blood is

« on: August 10, 2011, 06:51:22 pm »

A pure gravity HB, Massa, has unfortunate connotations in America... I cringe a little whenever I see it.
(Explanation if it's not clear: During America's slave-holding days, writers often went out of their way to stereotype slaves' speech; this is how they would write slaves' pronunciation of "Master" -- "Yes Massa" etc.)

On a lighter note, whenever I meet  Chres I wanna say "Oh hi Chris!"
... even though it's probably supposed to be pronounced like "crease." Better watch out, you might get FOLDED!

45

Card Art / Re: Fire Shield - Do you like it?

« on: August 10, 2011, 06:40:40 pm »

Personally, I rather liked the curly corners. Admittedly they're a little less serious and more whimsical, but I thought it was a fun stylized look.

+1 to this, but either way the new art is great.

46

Harry Potter: House Cup Competition / Re: HPPvP House Colors

« on: August 10, 2011, 04:45:20 pm »

Holy crap this is amazing, and what AWESOME artwork.

47

Game Suggestions and Feedback / Re: Arena decks decay

« on: August 10, 2011, 01:23:07 pm »

+1 This is an excellent idea, TORB.

48

Books & Comics / A Song of Ice and Fire

« on: August 10, 2011, 12:45:28 pm »

PLEASE PUT PLOT DETAILS IN SPOILER TAGS!

Okay, I just finished the first book and I've seen half the Game of Thrones TV series, so now I'm only 4 books and 5 TV episodes behind the rest of the world.

My take so far: The appellation "Harry Potter for grown-ups" is accurate, imo. J.K. Rowling is not the world's greatest writer, but she created a world that's absolutely absorbing. Martin is also not the world's greatest writer -- he tends to overexplain one minute and then cram a handful of crucial details into offhand dialogue the next, and he could stand a thesaurus (if I had to hear about this one more @#$% time -- ) Daenerys doing something "protectively" about her "soft swell"

But he's got two big things going for him. One is the realism of all the intrigues -- so far, nothing's come across as arbitrary; the tangle of personal relationships, group and individual goals and ideals, big and small deceptions, and logic overruling emotions (or vice versa) has been entirely authentic to me. The other is that there are almost no clear good guys and bad guys. Nearly every "bad" guy has some admirable or even likeable quality, and every "good" guy has some great flaw or awful secret. E.g., no matter how much you hate the Lannisters, you can't help but root for Tyrion a little bit. And
even though Ned tries so freakin' hard to be the good guy and do the right thing, he's so persistent and naive about it that he blatantly endangers his family and eventually gets himself killed.
What do you think? Are you reading the books or watching the TV show? How do you like it so far?