Fireworks

Yeah maybe best not upsetting it, all things considered. It really is amazing how it can do this.

I'm having a bit of a break at the moment.

If only there were an auto-loot addon.

Yeah I dunno lol. First option please, cos like it was first and stuff.

Lol I can remember when me and my friends would avoid nightclubs as that was where all the twenty-somethings went, those dinosaurs with one foot in the grave and terrible taste in music. The phrase hits home differently these days somehow. Cannot out my finger on what has changed...

I think you have established that you hate the show, and you want to argue that your opinion is objectively true. You haven't shown any inclination to discuss the books at all, which is strange if you loved them so much. When did you read tEotW for the first time? What did you already know about the books? It is not obviously about the Dragon. The prologue establishes that this is about an epic story of good and evil, of tragedy and redemption, and not about a sheepherder. But it is breadcrumbing, it is not meant to explain anything, it is deliberately vague with enough info for it to make sense when you have more information. I love how Jordan teaches the reader about the lore, about the One Power with Egwene, False Dragons from tales of Logain, the history since the Breaking through Manetheren, etc etc. At no point did it sit down and say this is all about the Dragon. It isn't clear how mythological the Dragon is, whether he will be reborn or when, if he would be the antagonist... the Prophecies are deliberately vague and ominous, and we don't know how they are going to apply to the story. The book weaves a rich tapestry of background info that, to me, really seemed alive. So when we found the Horn of Valere, I was shocked. [An aside, I was disappointed that Farstrider was made into plot, having a world so detailed that we knew popular songs and everyone's favourite book, imho, was better than forcing Jain into the actual narrative, but that might just be me]. It was nothing like the standard trope in fantasy of the heroes needing a magical sword to save the world but all they have is the rusty sword they found in their father's attic. Wait, you don't mean that actually is the legendary sword of unlikely coincidences! OMG, lets save the world. If you read these forums you will find a lot of people that found the first books so slow because they already knew it was all about the Dragon, had probably heard a bit about the books, maybe read a few of the blurbs of later books. All in my humble opinion, but the early books were always going to have to be treated with great care because a simple 1:1 adaptation even if possible was going to be problematic.

I still wish you all the best but I forgot to mention how completely nuts you must be to be this for *checks notes* fun. I think for me anything less than the lives of my kids would probably insufficient motivation to even try. Still your insanity is incredibly impressive, lol. Look forward to hearing how you get on at your warm up 🙂

My closest friend that loves fantasy got to around book 7 and gave up. Many of the fans on the boards here really didn't like the first 3 books. This hasn't got anything to do with "modern" audiences or target audiences. This has to do with the books were always an acquired taste. My love of them doesn't change that. It certainly doesn't change the rather slavish aping of LOTR. It doesn't change that the original readers of tEotW didn't know the book was about the Dragon Reborn, and that affects the pacing a lot for later readers. It doesn't change that the tone is quite different to the rest of the books. None of this says that any decision of the adaptation was the right one, but it does make a nonsense of the argument was all they had to do was be closer to the books. That simply isn't true. Which isn't to say that an adaption closer to the books narrative could not be done successfully, but it presents its own challenges, and is not the solution to all problems. And of course @WoTwasThat, you can use the forums as you please (within the rules you have agreed to follow, obviously). However, your use isn't consistent with a fan of the books, nor does your claim that people just need to dust off the books ring particularly true to someone that actually is familiar with the source material. Most of us don't need to dust off the books to recall their content. The fact remains that opinions on the adaptation remain subjective - there is no right or wrong way to feel about it.

It's also not a coincidence that the books are famous for being slow, boring and meandering with fans of fantasy fiction in general. I love the books but you seem to be grinding out a rather odd narrative rather facing the facts. And if you are so interested in the books why are you not discussing them on these boards rather than only the show?

It is nice to hear others ideas on characters as I find Faile completely contrary. She has positive points definitely, but I also cannot help hold it against her that she is so deeply involved in the "we love nobles really" personality change of the whole Two Rivers. I've no idea why Jordan made them all so eager to throw away their proud independence.

OK I'll change to a bit of meditation, that rarely seems to be a bad idea.

Read

Though I am sure Nyra was, er, germinated ready, maybe we should ask, with a shared long look for the camera before the action scene.

Pineapple

Welcome to Dragonmount, Bodewhin, hope you have a great time here. Looking forward to discussing the books with you and hearing your thoughts 🙂

Monopoly

I'll sign up for the DT and serve as a replacement if needed.

Thanks guys for all the kind and encouraging words. Sorry to have taken so long to reply but DM has been conspiring against me, lol. Really has been uplifting to hear that I am not quite as bad at Mafia as I feared and even more so to know that my efforts were not unappreciated. Perhaps my retirement announcement was premature, but I will be taking a break from playing for a bit. Sitting in on the wolves is an interesting offer, thank you for that and the idea. I won't take you up on it this time but that would certainly be interesting. Anyway thanks again, playing Mafia here has been a real rush for all that it has shredded my mental health at the same time, and it has been great getting to experience it all with you guys 🙂

I think Ishamael makes a stronger argument than Zen Rand. In circular time, doing better the next time makes zero difference. As that just means other people have to do worse to come back to the same starting point again. Ishamael makes a solid point though. In the Third Age and every Third Age an infinite number of Borderlanders will be abducted, including infants and children of all ages to be sexually violated, eaten and sacrificed to make Thakandar blades. Nothing Rand can do will ever stop this. It is eternal suffering, for what could be argued little point. This is what Ishamael wants to stop, as the Light can never win to make the suffering worthwhile.

Maybe I'm getting my timelines wrong but I'm pretty sure Zombie Darthe was the second vote on my train and the prime motivation for me becoming the countertrain to Teph. After my claim, assassination and resurrection, I can see the point that no one is really going to vote a "confirmed" townie (as if anything was really confirmed in that game, lol) and it also made Peace look fairly scummy for how he wriggled about still being suss of me. But as I say, I am not complaining about the game, I'm talking about how I could not treat it as a game. It stimulates so many socializing parts of brain that I don't really use any more that I act like it is real. It feels real. I'm not sure I can ever change that. The feeling of betrayal is real, but it is after the whole point of the game.

Lol, he nearly got me lynched and probably got me shot. At least I can laugh about it now, hehe.

Thanks, Ithi [blue heart] But it is not about what happened in the thread, it is my reaction to it. I mean, I was really really angry. What would have happened if I had had a drink? Or already been on edge because of something else? Just in a couple of hours it went from at last seeming like I would have a good game, that my reads made sense, that there was a consensus that I was Town in the thread, and then *poof* it was all gone. And then when you and Darthe started working together, and it suddenly seemed possible your town read of me was just a wolf buddying up to me like Turin had done in Among Us, that felt really horrible. And it shouldn't, I should be thinking "well played, Ithi" if that was the case. And I get this is how the game goes, it's my reaction to it that is the problem. Like in the Among Us game, Cass was laughing with Lenlo about how scummy he had been when he was mislynching her in her sleep. I don't think I can ever get to that headspace, not at least without going through an incredible amount of emotional pain to come out on the other side. It is just too real for me. I guess at least I can now take Zander's crown of the most villagy villager ever to village, lol. Never randed wolf even once, lmao.

Thanks for the game everyone 🙂 It was interesting, lol. I think I'll be announcing my permanent retirement from mafia though. This was again fairly brutal for me. At least Town won this time, well done guys, though it had little to do with me. I felt to an extent that I had a good feel for what was going on, except for Ed he really threw me, but I guess getting shot will do that for you, lol. But Turin's "I wrote down random things" case, Dice's gotcha for not being emo enough (which he left up unexplained so skimmers, especially wolf skimmers could latch onto my "slip") and then zombie Darthe's "this is a wolf" declaration (which I am to understand was a ploy so the wolves would think you weren't on to them?) completely wrecked my standing in the thread and I will be honest left me absolutely livid. I was really angry. I am a really chill guy in real life but mafia just needles me in ways I don't have any defenses against. By the end I was consumed with paranoia. Why was Ithi working with Darthe? How did the Siren know Dice was going to interact with them? Why did Gud so overreact at a lighthearted joke? Every single player seemed completely untrustworthy. I would have been zero help had the endgame actually ended up needing any reads. I've noticed that some people seem to think my trigger is being told I'm not any good (presumably from my "stop hating on new players" spiel) but honestly I don't care at all about that. Don't like it much obviously, but facts are facts, lol. What I find so triggering is the alienation, being excluded, the helplessness and sense of inadequacy that comes from no one listening and even if they did you don't have a clue what is going on. I get that enough in real life. Not wanting to make an AtE, but I spend Christmas, birthdays, my kids' birthdays, etc., alone. I live in a country where I don't have any friends and I don't speak the language very well. I've watched my entire life crumble around me and look back over 47 years of failure and bad choices that have left me with pretty much nothing. No career, no money, no friends, and no right to see my kids. So playing a game where complete isolation is a recurring theme has just not worked out for me. I hoped it might be like some kind of exposure therapy, but it just rubs me too raw, and being everyone's favourite distractionary target as I'm so emo and no one listens to me if I get poked as everyone "knows" its only OMGUS, it is just never going to be a winning combination. But thanks for playing with me, and all the kind words and all the help that was given to me. It really just is the nature of the game. I can argue that perhaps some people relish the toxicity perhaps a little too much, but it is just a game and it is my issue that I cannot emotionally distance myself enough. Which is a shame as I have had a lot of fun around the anguish, and it has been really fun getting to know such legends of Dragonmount. Something of a dream come true for me. So thanks for everything, guys 🙂

See I told you this was a good idea lol. Lets make up a new weave on the fly. Or 1 or 2, I guess.