DO NOT WANT! (Rant)

SA · November 09, 2006, 08:35:55 AM

In Biblical quantities.

Túrin · November 09, 2006, 08:50:52 AM

DO NOT WANT fun ranting threads to take a turn for the (pseudo-?)serious! You know, because serious-sounding rants might be taken serious by someone and that would reduce the fun.

@ Angel : What happened to the family-friendliness?

Túrin

SA · November 09, 2006, 08:54:26 AM

I dunno... I actually edited the word out, not back in. It's like it reverse-posted...

I think I'll just pull an MTV and change the word altogether. Controversy always gives me a rash in the nethers...

SA · November 09, 2006, 09:00:01 AM

As a change of pace:

DO NOT WANT to ever get that pseud-serious again. Frightening stuff and I know better.

DO NOT WANT Tarrasque variants. There is only one. And he will eat you and yo mama. With sauce.

beejazz · November 09, 2006, 11:00:24 AM

DO NOT WANT good dragons. Except silver.
DO NOT WANT a gold dragon whose head looks like a dick with whiskers. What?! It's there!
DO NOT CARE what ANYONE thinks about dicepools. I'm twirlin' my freakin' moustache over here with the intentional complexity I force on physically subdued gamers. Muahahahaha! 'Cause I'm that freakin' evil.
DO NOT WANT perpetual bitching about Vancian magic. It works in play. If I use something else, it's cause I'm competing with DnD and must therefore differentiate my product, rather than doing what DnD does and sucking at it. Not because I got beef with Vance.
DO NOT WANT the vast majority of hip-hop to exist. It's just pop masquerading in the rotting carcass of rap.
DO NOT WANT the Fuse channel. The music they play there is, again, just pop masquerading in the hollowed-out carcass of punk. Or something else (hard to tell in these late stages of decay).
DO NOT WANT "random" shoe checks. They ain't random. They may as well just call the policy "checkin' Eric's shoes."
DO NOT WANT to be called Eric, Crazy Eric, or any further variation of the name Eric ever except by a very very very few people. Or Arthur for that matter. If we meet in person, you will adress me as "hey you."
DO NOT WANT Scary Movie or its sequels, Date Movie, Teen Movie, or any movie with the word "movie" in the title.

brainface · November 09, 2006, 02:21:43 PM

QuoteDO NOT WANT "morality" to ever inhibit our progression towards true Artificial Intelligence and the subsequent technological singularity. 'Cos remember kids, there's no such thing as a crime against humanity when you have no capacity for moral thought.

but... but... DO NOT WANT to be eaten by gray goo! :(

SA · November 09, 2006, 05:45:36 PM

Quotebut... but... DO NOT WANT to be eaten by gray goo!

IT COMES!

It comes...

Kindling · November 10, 2006, 09:53:48 AM

Quote from: Call me AngelDO NOT WANT people to make excuses for their actions based on claims of anything psychological. There is such a thing as culpability, brain damage be damned. I'm a dick, you're a dick, we're all dicks, just be a dick and be done with it, so we can point the finger at you and CALL you a dick.

[snip]

On a simiar principle, I DO NOT WANT to ever hear "alchohol reveals who you truly are". What a load of nalfeshnee piss. If any one of you got sloshed off your nut, I guarantee you'd say something as incriminating as Mel Gibson - if not, you'd probably have the potential for it (see above point). If we truly are what we appear to be when we're drunk, then what are we the other 99% of the time when we're stone sober? Fakes? The whole point of our minds keeping things in our subconscious is that they aren't necessarily our opinions! What if I think "dammit, I lost out to a chick", but then say to myself "hey, man, that's inappropriate, derogatory and below you". Am I to be judged on a single chauvinist, alchohol induced utterance even if I otherwise make every effort to be noble and moderate?

If that's the case, you can all go to hell. And tell Fierna I sent you.

Those two points seem to go together to me...

You see, its my belief that the effects of alcohol or other narcotics do not reveal your "true self" but also that they cannot be used as excuses for innapropriate or offensive behaviour. Sure, you got drunk and, I dunno, let's say, tried to screw your friend's spouse.

You should apologise. Sincerely. And try to make up for it. Do not simply say "Oh yeah, sorry about that, I was just drunk, y'know?" and then expect everything to be cool. You are still the same person drunk or stoned or whatever as you are at any other time, you are just in a different mental state. And you have the same responsiblity to be a decent human being as at any other time, just as everyone has a responsibility to be a decent human being.

It annoys me when people persistently get wasted, act like complete bastards, then the next day pretend nothing has happened, and then repeat the process next weekend.

So I suppose you could say that that is one of the things I DO NOT WANT.

PS. That isn't to say that I'm totally against the recreational use of narcotics. I drink with relative frequency myself. However, I like to think I'm a "good drunk" - I only verbally abuse people in jest when inebriated, I only break things accidentally, I never start fights (although I did once hit someone, but I was justified. At least, all my friends tell me I was justified, personally I'm not so sure violence is ever justified except in self-defence), and I never try to come on to people who it would be innapropriate for me to be with. In fact I very rarely try to come on to anyone at all, even sober, Lol.
But, yeah, my point is, I'm not against the recreational use of narcotics but the irresponsible use of narcotics.

EDIT: Just realised a lot of this post could be taken as me having a go at you, Angel. I'm not, really, it's just that your post made this little rant rise to the surface of my brain and then burst free through my keyboard onto the internet :P

Lmns Crn · November 10, 2006, 10:11:45 AM

DO NOT WANT massive amounts of research papers and assorted schoolwork.

DO NOT WANT group assignments. I hate group assignments. Let me do it myself, darn it! :(

DO NOT WANT writer's block.

Darkxarth · November 10, 2006, 10:49:25 AM

DO NOT WANT to keep staying up until 3:00 in morning working on papers that are due the nest day.
DO NOT WANT to have to wake up at 8:00 on days when I've been up until 3:00 working on a paper.
DO NOT WANT to go more than 48 hours without sleep. It's not fun.
DO NOT WANT to be so darned lazy that I let my own setting collapse.
DO NOT WANT to have to listen to my Athiest Linguistics professor continually bash all religions. I respect his choices, he should respect ours. Not smirk annoyingly every time he mentions religion.

DO NOT WANT the Fighter to be disrespected. If you do, he will rip your head off and punt it half a mile away.
DO NOT WANT all Barbarians to be stupid. I mean, sure, Intelligence isn't one of their big stats, but still...
DO NOT WANT all Elves to be prententious, uptight jerks.
DO NOT WANT all Dwarves to be Scottish alcoholics.
DO NOT WANT all Gnomes to be annoying.
DO NOT WANT all Halflings to be Rogues, or Rogue variations.
DO NOT WANT all Half-Elves to be Bards or Swashbucklers.
DO NOT WANT all Half-Orcs to be thugs.
DO NOT WANT all Royal Viziers to be evil.
DO NOT WANT all Psionic characters to be bald.
DO NOT WANT all of my player's character's parents to be dead, presumably killed by some random invasion by a "lesser race".

SA · November 10, 2006, 10:57:00 AM

Quote from: KindlingEDIT: Just realised a lot of this post could be taken as me having a go at you, Angel. I'm not, really, it's just that your post made this little rant rise to the surface of my brain and then burst free through my keyboard onto the internet :P

Bah, taken in good stride. I myself had a go at Limetom, so what goes around...

I still stand by my statement, though. One's inebriated mind is of course no more or less an element of your true psyche (whether the product of external influence or not, any alteration of brain-state is still within YOUR BRAIN), but the fact that you keep things in your subconscious counts for a hell of a lot. It tells us, for starters, that for whatever reason (good or bad), you do not want others to hear those thoughts and develop potentially erroneous interpretations. Own up to and apologise for your drunken actions, for sure (you did, after all, imbibe the substance yourself and therefore are the instigator of whatever mishaps should follow), but never accept that those actions are indicative of your true identity simply because some idiot tells you so.

In short, my two statements are not a contradiction. Owning up to a bad action because you allowed the formation of the mental state wherein you were susceptible to such stupidity is certainly imperative, but merely claiming said culpability does not equate with an admittance of a revised identity. Blame a man for faulty action, but do not always judge the totality of his character on it, especially under the influence. That's the gist of it.

(This could potentially degenerate into a crazy polemic about the "truth of human identity", but we know better... don't we?)

So you technically weren't ripping on me, because your response was based on faulty interpretation. No harm, no foul.

(I, on the other hand, am TOTALLY against narcotics. And sex. And television. And music. And RPGs. And videogames. And cotton candy. And the Mets. Especially the mets. Because people don't kil people - inanimate objects, immaterial abstracts and baseball kill people)

DO NOT WANT to see Saw 3! I have seen a good 30 seconds, and that is more than enough for me. There's such thing as good taste, and while my aesthetic palate might be virtually nonexistent, it's the principle of the thing that counts.

Elven Doritos · November 10, 2006, 11:20:35 AM

Wow, um. I'm sensing a lot of negative energy on this thread. Uh.

DO NOT WANT base classes that are just specialist wizards with mechanically superior class features?

SA · November 10, 2006, 11:58:18 AM

Nah not negative energy. Only my frst long and vitriolically charged post had negative energy. After that, it's just reasoned discussion.

And gray goo.

QuoteDO NOT WANT base classes that are just specialist wizards with mechanically superior class features?

Neither do I. The wizard suits its role well enough. In fact, I just axed the distinction between wizard and sorcerer and made an uber-caster. Is it over-powered? Probably. Do I care? Not one iota.

Captain Obvious · November 10, 2006, 12:20:21 PM

Quote from: DarkxarthDO NOT WANT to keep staying up until 3:00 in morning working on papers that are due the nest day.
DO NOT WANT to have to wake up at 8:00 on days when I've been up until 3:00 working on a paper.
DO NOT WANT to go more than 48 hours without sleep. It's not fun.

DO NOT WANT the Fighter to be disrespected. If you do, he will rip your head off and punt it half a mile away.

DO NOT WANT all Psionic characters to be bald.

Yeah i do all of those all the time

The fighter id not disrespected. If it weren't for the fact that there are so many cool PrC's i want to try, i'd play fighters all the time. They're my favourite base blass by far. i love mass feats, they're so versatile.

My psionic characters are never bald. In fact my favourite one was a slightly crazy dwarf psychic warrior with a giant orange mowhawk. He was awesome.

Xathan · November 10, 2006, 12:47:21 PM

DO NOT WANT this thread.

DO NOT WANT this negativity.

DO NOT WANT these acidic remarks.

What is happening to us? I know I havenÃ¢,¬,,¢t been a model member of this community, something I will address shortly, but what is this? This isnÃ¢,¬,,¢t us, this isnÃ¢,¬,,¢t the CBG. We arenÃ¢,¬,,¢t the type of people who randomly launch attacks at each other, we donÃ¢,¬,,¢t make snide comments and snippy remarks, we donÃ¢,¬,,¢t lash out at each other, we donÃ¢,¬,,¢t insult each otherÃ¢,¬,,¢s creative ideas. ThatÃ¢,¬,,¢s the kind of, if youÃ¢,¬,,¢ll excuse my abrasive English, shit that goes on at the WOTC boards. This is a more open, relaxed, fun community.

I know we are made of people, and I donÃ¢,¬,,¢t expect us to be perfect. We have our tiffs, our disagreements, but up until the past few weeks, itÃ¢,¬,,¢s (almost) always been done in a polite, respectful manner. ThatÃ¢,¬,,¢s what the Guild has always been about, to me: polite discussion, open reasoning, and the creative process. I know I havenÃ¢,¬,,¢t always been a model of this myself: when I resigned my Modship, I did so in the worst way I could have, by just up and leaving, not bothering to even let Ishmayl or Brainface known of my intent. ThatÃ¢,¬,,¢s something IÃ¢,¬,,¢ve never apologized for, and I owe you all one for that, especially our staff here.

However, thatÃ¢,¬,,¢s just a side note to my main point. I mention merely because I am speaking here out of a sense of community, and I still have amends to make to the community myself.

I want to think over that word. Community. It occured to me when I was typing this that thatÃ¢,¬,,¢s what we are, though the overwhelming majority of us have never and probably will never meet face to face. We are Ã¢,¬Å"a social, religious, occupational, or other group sharing common characteristics or interests and perceived or perceiving itself as distinct in some respect from the larger society within which it exists.Ã¢,¬Â The larger society we are distinct from is the roleplaying community we exist within: we are the few who dare to do on paper what God did on the cosmos, and create our own reality. We do it with dice and pencil and computer, but nonetheless, we create our own worlds. However, it is more than this common interest that binds us. We are also bound by our characteristics: as arrogant as this may sound, I find the members of the Guild to be more intelligent, rational, creative, fun, and nicer than the overall run of roleplayers. I make this statement, and I bar none of our members from it, even the ones I personally have had and currently have disagreements with. Disagreement is one of the foundations of discussion and creation, so disagreement is a good thing.

I want to make sure this is clear: I think every single member of this community fits the characteristics I described, even the ones who grate my nerves on a regular basis. Also, I am not making this rant because of the isolated spite on this thread: I am making it because of the general negativity on this site in the past few weeks, and I include myself in this statement. I am as much at fault as anyone else, and I acknowledge that. IÃ¢,¬,,¢m doing my best to be better, to solve problems instead of causing them, and thatÃ¢,¬,,¢s my sole intent here.

While there is nothing wrong with expressing your dislike of an idea, it should be done in a constructive manner, as opposed to just stating what you DO NOT WANT (TM). It was all fine and well when this thread was humorous: itÃ¢,¬,,¢s becoming serious, and thatÃ¢,¬,,¢s bothering me, as it seems to be bothering many of you.

I think we all need to take a step back and breathe: I agree fully with Angel: This forum is the best thing on the internet, hands down. IÃ¢,¬,,¢ve been a member of numerous, and even ran a couple, communities (I once had 23 active accounts on about 19 active boards) and the CBG is the single greatest one I have ever visited. The trend of the past few weeks disturbs me: weÃ¢,¬,,¢ve been acting like regular internet users in many ways, and we are so much more than that. We need to relax: remember what this community was founded on: Truth, Justice, and The Cabbage Way!

Really, though, statements like that is a part of what I love about coming here. Where else can I make a statement like that and possibly get some people to grin? This is the first forum IÃ¢,¬,,¢ve ever been to where IÃ¢,¬,,¢ve felt relaxed enough to have a goofy screename: IÃ¢,¬,,¢ve proclaimed myself the Archbishop of Freaking Cabbage, for godssake! ItÃ¢,¬,,¢s the most ridiculous thing ever, and itÃ¢,¬,,¢s completely acceptable, because thatÃ¢,¬,,¢s the kind of open, fun community we are. I love this place! I know you all do, judging from the amount of time we spend here. We donÃ¢,¬,,¢t act like this!

This isnÃ¢,¬,,¢t just me ranting: I have a point. Please, before you post, think about your words. DonÃ¢,¬,,¢t post just because itÃ¢,¬,,¢s on your mind. Deep breaths are a good thing: speaking in anger lends your words power, but they are also damaging.

ThatÃ¢,¬,,¢s all. I want this thread to be fun, so have fun with it. DonÃ¢,¬,,¢t feel these words were directed at you in particular, whoever you are: instead, they are meant for the community as a whole and should be taken as such.

As always, happy posting!
- Xathan.

The Campaign Builder's Guild

News:

DO NOT WANT! (Rant)

SA

Túrin

SA

SA

beejazz

brainface

SA

Kindling

Lmns Crn

Darkxarth

SA

Elven Doritos

SA

Captain Obvious

Xathan