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Ashe Ravenheart
Great Reader
USA
3243 Posts |
 Posted - 23 Apr 2009 : 17:16:35
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| It's actually funny, because the last straw wasn't really my thread on Hasbro's profits, but MT's (slightly humorous) thread on the fact that Ed as an NPC would be dead in the current realms. That got blown way out of proportion by some 4E fans that just made me kinda sick. |
I actually DO know everything. I just have a very poor index of my knowledge.
Ashe's Character Sheet
Alphabetized Index of Realms NPCs |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 23 Apr 2009 : 17:22:06
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LOL - I was wondering how long it would be before THAT got dragged over here. 
The 'Ed Greenwood' (the D&D game version living in the D&D game version of Earth) mentioned in the GHotR, along with many other older sources, who also made at least one canon appearance within the Realms (in a comic, in Cormyr) cannot possibly be alive in 1479 DR.
THAT Ed Greenwood is a human FR NPC, and like nearly all other human NPCs, must be dead.
Morbid, I know, but its just something that occurred to me yesterday. |
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
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Faraer
Great Reader
3308 Posts |
Posted - 23 Apr 2009 : 17:38:21
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I find showing people what lore exists about a subject does a better job of highlighting the richness of the Realms (yes, even more starkly in comparison to 2008's thin concoction) than just talking about how great it is. Civility is a mix of inclination and practice!
The relationship between Earth years and Toril years has never been consistent -- speeding up and slowing down to match the state of the ongoing timeline, obviously -- and the workings of gates and worldwalking generally have been kept uncertain and mysterious since Dragon #32. So it's no trouble at all to suppose current Earth contacts 15th-century Toril, if you wanted to bother restoring this pillar to Realms-2008 when so many others have been broken. |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 23 Apr 2009 : 17:46:30
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A bit off-topic, but my reasoning over at WotC was this - although they have stated that they planned to go with one year of Realms time for ever 2½ of real time (IIRC), that was never the case. We had approximately twenty years of 'Realms history' from the time it was bought by TSR to the last canon date in a novel (NOT the GHotR, which added in a few more years before the Spellplague, and that decade can actually be considered a blend of 3e/4e lore).) We also have 20 years of real time occurring between that purchase by TSR and the announcement at Gencon.
Perhaps not an exact reckoning, but its pretty clear that the two planes time moves almost precisely in-sync with each other. If Elminster were to travel to earth in 4e, the year would be 2109 AD!
Or there-abouts.... |
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
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Edited by - Markustay on 23 Apr 2009 17:47:34 |
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Alisttair
Great Reader
Canada
3054 Posts |
Posted - 23 Apr 2009 : 18:19:14
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| All very good points about piracy being a good thing you made earlier Markus. Couldn't agree more. I have actually done like you and didn't give certain books a second thought to buy, until I saw what it was like through a PDF, seeing it as a must buy. |
Karsite Arcanar (Most Holy Servant of Karsus)
Anauria - Survivor State of Netheril as penned by me:
http://www.dmsguild.com/m/product/172023 |
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Eye of Horus-Re
Acolyte
USA
36 Posts |
Posted - 23 Apr 2009 : 19:26:18
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I'm no fan of that setting, but I see nothing wrong with leaving it in place. I'd not cease publication of it as long as it's still profitable.
There are a couple nifty Eber-whatsit ideas. 
[/quote]
There is one thing I did like. That was the War Troll. So ok, maybe not ALL of it...I will keep the War Troll. :) |
Long live 1384 and that which came before....!!! |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 23 Apr 2009 : 20:02:15
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I don't like the setting as a whole (and I have many reasons for that, some meta-game), but it is a veritable treasure-trove of ideas and usable lore. I have nearly every book from that setting (minus a few adventures), and I don't regret buying any of it.
Not to mention Shifters are kinda nifty. 
A GOOD DM doesn't look at something and say "I can't use this", he asks himself "How can I use this?" |
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
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Edited by - Markustay on 09 May 2009 18:51:12 |
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Ashe Ravenheart
Great Reader
USA
3243 Posts |
Posted - 23 Apr 2009 : 20:53:52
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Ah... one of my favorite characters is my female changeling bard/rogue Vex.
She's got a spot in my heart right next to Ashe Ravenheart, Katsumi Kagemusha (samurai from Kara-tur), Thredorik Trapspringer (former rogue, now a cleric of Moradin after 'the accident'), and Lithôniel Ravenheart (Lith is actually Ashe's daughter in most of my campaigns). Yep, those are my top five. And Vex is the only one from Eberron. |
I actually DO know everything. I just have a very poor index of my knowledge.
Ashe's Character Sheet
Alphabetized Index of Realms NPCs |
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Ghost King
Learned Scribe
USA
253 Posts |
Posted - 23 Apr 2009 : 21:57:49
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There is a couple of things I like from the setting. Warforged and changelings for the races. Artificer for the class (because I like item creationist) and how they incorperated psionics more, then any other setting aside from Dark Sun. Everything else is rather bland and it just feels like a "Hey that was a great idea let's put it in the setting!" type of campaign setting. However, I do own the books because I'll give them this, the artwork looks awesome and at least they detailed out the whole world which is rare.
I have DMed the setting, but I usually put my own twist on things to make it more up to par with what I expect. If I do anything with the dragons I turn to the 2nd edition Wyrm's Council book, however, which I think better depicts how dragons would interact. But that is just me. |
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Ashe Ravenheart
Great Reader
USA
3243 Posts |
Posted - 08 May 2009 : 13:44:09
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Sorry for the bit of thread necromancy, but I just wanted to point this out:
Amazon Kindle DX
It's going to have a built in PDF reader with it.
Such a shame WotC has decided to get out of the PDF business...  |
I actually DO know everything. I just have a very poor index of my knowledge.
Ashe's Character Sheet
Alphabetized Index of Realms NPCs |
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Ashe Ravenheart
Great Reader
USA
3243 Posts |
Posted - 08 May 2009 : 16:27:23
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I agree Cap. But 5 years ago, the iPod was clunky and could only hold 5gb. Now we have iPod nanos with 16g and regular iPods with 50+gig.
The future's a-comin'. |
I actually DO know everything. I just have a very poor index of my knowledge.
Ashe's Character Sheet
Alphabetized Index of Realms NPCs |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
Posted - 08 May 2009 : 16:37:30
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quote:
Originally posted by Ashe Ravenheart
I agree Cap. But 5 years ago, the iPod was clunky and could only hold 5gb. Now we have iPod nanos with 16g and regular iPods with 50+gig.
The future's a-comin'.
On a similar note, I bought my first thumb drive in either late 2001 or early 2002. It was about $80 for 64MB. At the time, 256MB was about as big as you could go... My current thumb drive is 16GB, and cost $25. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen! |
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Ashe Ravenheart
Great Reader
USA
3243 Posts |
Posted - 08 May 2009 : 16:59:49
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And another similar note (last one before the thread totally derails), you can get 1TB external hard drives now in the $150-$200 price range. To give you an idea of the space:
1TB = 1000 GB = 1,000,000,000,000 bytes.
The number of neurons in the human brain: 50-100 billion (100,000,000,000)
So the hard drives have 10x more bytes than we have neurons. I'm thinking AI is about 25 years away. |
I actually DO know everything. I just have a very poor index of my knowledge.
Ashe's Character Sheet
Alphabetized Index of Realms NPCs |
Edited by - Ashe Ravenheart on 08 May 2009 17:00:46 |
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Tyr
Learned Scribe
225 Posts |
Posted - 08 May 2009 : 17:06:11
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Hopefully they'll come up with a good affordable pdf reader device, would save loads of table space at games.
However braincells themselves are much more powerful than 10 bytes each. Heck the most powerful computers can only achieve the processing power of simple creatures. |
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Ashe Ravenheart
Great Reader
USA
3243 Posts |
Posted - 08 May 2009 : 17:22:30
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quote:
Originally posted by Tyr
<snip>
However braincells themselves are much more powerful than 10 bytes each. Heck the most powerful computers can only achieve the processing power of simple creatures.
Well, yeah... But if our brains were wired as 32-bit machines, we'd have the equivalent of a 3 GB hard drive. The devil is in the details, as they say. IOW, our 'bytes' are specialized in each 'partition' so they don't interact as 32-bit programming.
Sorry to take the train off-course again, but I just love the fact that AI is now a software problem and hardware is no longer an issue. |
I actually DO know everything. I just have a very poor index of my knowledge.
Ashe's Character Sheet
Alphabetized Index of Realms NPCs |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31774 Posts |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 09 May 2009 : 18:55:55
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Well, the point is that the tech is there - we just need everyone to get onboard with it for it to become a standard and move forward (which happens VERY quickly, once things 'catch on'.) As we now know, WotC doesn't mean to just make these pdf's 'disappear', but rather are looking for better means of making them available (exclusively through them, of course).
And as an off-topic post about Off-topicness - I'm notorious over at WotC for modifying my thread topic as the thread itself mutates into new directions. I have one thread over there with four seperate topics attached to the thread (a rather generous usage of the word 'and').
I call it my 'mod armor'  |
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
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Edited by - Markustay on 09 May 2009 18:58:07 |
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Dark Wizard
Senior Scribe
USA
830 Posts |
Posted - 10 May 2009 : 00:27:09
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Searchable PDFs right at the game table could be of help. Of course that depends on the group.
The WotC boards have really slowed down. Not much to keep my interest in it, especially with the decreasing number of discussions on actual Realmslore and often off-the-wall speculation regarding or compilations of generic DnD material applicable to the Realms. |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31774 Posts |
Posted - 10 May 2009 : 01:26:21
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quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
And as an off-topic post about Off-topicness - I'm notorious over at WotC for modifying my thread topic as the thread itself mutates into new directions. I have one thread over there with four seperate topics attached to the thread (a rather generous usage of the word 'and').
I call it my 'mod armor'
The real question is, though... will it stop the awesome power of the Staff of the Irritated Moderator +5? 
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Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
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Ayunken-vanzan
Senior Scribe
Germany
657 Posts |
Posted - 27 Jun 2009 : 10:05:32
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Lisa Stevens from Paizo about PDFs, pricing, and piracy:
Interesting read
Sounds ... very ... reasonable. |
"What mattered our lives now? When our world had been torn from us? Folk wept, or drank, or stood staring out over the land, wondering what new horror each dawn would bring."
Elender Stormfall of Suzail
"Anyone can kill deities, cause plagues, or destroy organizations. It takes real skill to make them live on."
Varl
FR/D&D-Links • 2ed Downloads |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
Posted - 27 Jun 2009 : 15:18:09
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quote:
Originally posted by Ayunken-vanzan
Lisa Stevens from Paizo about PDFs, pricing, and piracy:
Interesting read
Sounds ... very ... reasonable.
It does sound quite reasonable.
I plan on getting both the pdf and the print copy, and I'm loving that low price for the pdf. I've long felt that pdfs should be considerably cheaper than print books... With print books, their prices are largely dictated by production and distribution costs. While there are similar costs with pdfs, they are smaller. Plus, the same system used to distribute one pdf can distribute other pdfs for practically no additional cost -- so there is essentially a one-time setup fee, and that's it on the distribution side.
So it's only logical that pdfs should be much cheaper than print copies. And I appreciate seeing a company realize this, and incorporate it into their business plan. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen! |
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Ardashir
Senior Scribe
USA
544 Posts |
Posted - 25 Aug 2009 : 00:01:37
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Bit off topic but something I've recently noticed...
Ever since Wotsy yanked all the D&D PDFs I've noticed a LOT of 'older' settings getting put on PDF at very low prices. I've seen a ton of old World of Darkness material from White Wolf on PDF for $10 and less, for instance.
Any word on whether or not WoTC will be changing their mind and putting the PDfs back up? |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31774 Posts |
Posted - 25 Aug 2009 : 00:44:33
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quote:
Originally posted by Ardashir
Any word on whether or not WoTC will be changing their mind and putting the PDfs back up?
Nothing yet. I suspect Wizards will take its time determining the proper course for the electronic distribution of those PDFs. If that is indeed the path they wish to follow.
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Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
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Topic |
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WoTC/FR PDF's being pulled from Paizo.com
