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    posted a message on Lost and Found
    I don't think you could classify my condition as depression, really. I might have my low points, but for the most part I'm perfectly happy with my life. Or so I was.

    Now more than ever I'm lost, the world collapsing around me. I assume it's not only the stress of life but also the stress of hormones and emotional inconsistency that gets the better of me. Being the inquisitive type I naturally decided to spend my free time thinking, and recently was no exception.

    I took my time to evaluate my mental condition. How it took my so long to find the inner workings of myself I find bewildering.

    Like any other human, I fear change. I knew this, but it surprisingly connected to other aspects of my life too. The source of this fear is an easy one to gather, even if the change is for the better, the certainty of now is better that the uncertainty of something better. Because of this fear, I get attached to concepts or ideas to keep me away from the threat I feel. It also attaches directly to my other fears that don't seem to have a grounding in reality, like heights or social exclusion.

    Because of the fear of change I exclude myself from society under the persona that I understand now is definitely not me. I act awkward, giving myself a two dimensional character to view the world from, a cultural lens. I feel (subconsciously) that if I create this disconnect between me and the world I'll be safe from all of the changes that come from it. It also seems to be the reason I take to games and the internet, the internet is the one true place I can express my emotions (Albeit still through the murky filter of culture and heritage) and likewise a game, outside of my own personal control, letting the events happen around me tends to reflect my own personal life as well, a superficial persona.

    I also create this separation from society because I feel society is out of my control. I can't live life with a plan or incentive because it feels hopeless, and instead I follow the loose steps everybody else takes. Control is impossible, and when I catch a glimpse of it, it is always followed by responsibility and the crushing blow that there is no true control over my fate, I'll be in control but on the inside I'll still be me and not the lens persona I've taken on in the world.

    I think the slow track to this self realisation began when my grandfather died. I have an odd way of dealing with death, probably not the healthiest way either, I feel obligated to fix what they died from. I feel obligated to fix all of the problems. After all, control over my own fate is (was) the goal. After a while I end up lost, back where I started, but in a deeper depression disguised by my own willingness to maintain the lens, to experience the world through a naive unchanging view.

    Needless to say I was shaken. It's expected from the death of a loved one. I started to grasp my psychological condition, but by very little. At the time I assumed the world was better off dragging me along on it's shoulders. My performance in school dipped, by a little. It's hard to fail, at my grade and intelligence. I suppose I also have school to thank for coming to this verdict. My own competitiveness with my peers (Who didn't seem to think it was a competition) made me finally put effort into my work and my academia. Although you could hardly see it on the outside, I hid further in my psychological wall in public, looking through a confined lens, while on the internet I occasionally let my interest in helping others get the better of me. My "Research" if you could call it that was simple, learn about complex social situations and learn how to diffuse them. It didn't originally seem to be my goal, in fact it seemed hard to determine a goal from my aimless wandering at all, but There was a tendency in my browsing to look up things like the origins of emotion and transhumanism, the vast difference between the two was interesting to me.

    I'm sad to say that upon learning this difference, I felt lost. The world seemed set, in motion, the future I envisioned impossible. Human life became a futile existence for me, desperately clinging on to the culture it has instead of learning towards the future. The irony being I was completely voluntarily doing the exact same thing to seem normal.

    Things remained relatively the same for a year, until now. Recently I had a lot of free time to think, and upon discovering the nature of every action I have taken so far, I have become lost. I do not know what I can do when I understand my own thoughts and fears. Every action I take is painful, and without somebody else feeling the same way I can't fathom the pain ever going away.

    I look into the mirror and I don't see myself, I see a lens through which to view the world.

    A lens which I have shattered.
    Posted in: General Off Topic
  • 1

    posted a message on Minecraft Ludum Dare?
    What if the community organised a weekend, once or twice a year where we make maps in 48 hours?

    If some of you don't already know, Ludum Dare us a competition where you make a game in 48 hours, with no outside tools or help. What if the forums (or something else) organised a minecraft version of this, to create an adventure, survival or CTM map in 48 hours. (third party and world editing mods allowed)

    What are your thoughts and opinions on the idea, and if you think it's plausible how would you pull it off?

    I think all third-party tools and mods should be allowed, as long as they aren't game changing. For example, I could use WorldEdit and Single player commands and too many items as long as I don't use custom items I made for other projects. Mods like that add things, like any one of the Feed the beast mods, or tools that do world design for you like the random world-gen tools or the random portion of world painter should not be allowed.

    In optimal conditions, prizes would be popularity and a good experience, but who would play for that? Prizes should be simple, like, (if this were hosted by mojang) a cape or a minecraft gift code. Forum mods and famous map makers should judge, because of their ability to manage large groups of people in their own way.
    Posted in: Discussion
  • 1

    posted a message on United States History Help!
    Quote from TheDranzer



    This is for an AP U.S. History project. My question is:

    Was the establishment of political parties meant to support democracy or to retain aristocratic rule?

    I need help answering this question, using information and proof from 1800-1844 when political parties really formed. My teacher also told me to base my argument around the actions of President Jackson. If anyone could offer good points or sources that would be great.

    Thanks!


    Originally the establishment of political parties was not meant for either. After Washington's presidency, the united states was divided between two political parties. The first was the Federalist party, and the second was the republican-democrat party. (There were the anti-federalists, who thought that both parties were wrong, but we don't talk about them)

    Federalists were for a strong national government, but there is more to it than that. Federalists wanted to limit the rights of the common folk, because they were scared of the anarchy caused by the previous form of government, the Articles of Confederation. The Federalists considered Republican-Democrats treasonous in nature, a foreign enemy trying to destroy government. At the time of the 1800 election, Alexander Hamilton was the head of the party.

    Republican-Democrats were the other extremist side of the argument. Repubican-Democrats thought the Federalists were tyrannical god-hating aristocrats, and that people should rule. They ultimately thought the United states should be a weak alliance of farmers built on trust and loyalty. The party was founded by Thomas Jefferson shortly after the ratification of the Constitution.

    Political parties would wage war for ages, dividing the country. The Republican-Democratic party eventually split into two, Republicans routing for a weaker national government and Democrats routing for a controlled government through legislation. Parties were less of tools for aristocratic or democratic agenda, and more of a distinction of opinion that would better organise elections. Washington strongly advocated against political parties, throwing away his personal beliefs for the good of the country, but that was one standard as president he could not set.
    Posted in: Politics, Philosophy, News and Science
  • 1

    posted a message on The Dumbest Thing Anyone Has Ever Said
    Quote from nunchuckDJ

    Yeah, women are tooootally equal.

    I said the United States, as in country were Middle class women and men have nearly identical rights. Any complaints made about certain activities women can't do would mostly have to apply to men too. Please, if you have a response, say so in a private message. This thread cannot derail into a mindless flame war.

    EDIT: What Acetyl said, minus the complicated language.

    SUB-EDIT: Nobody is making a comment about me accidentally drinking holy water? I figured that mistake would've made the top ten.

    SUB-SUB-EDIT: Why do I keep editing this post? Do I have some sort of mental attachment to it, or am I just really determined to finally pull of edit-ception. I'll let the world decide.
    (Fine print is really important guys, don't forget it) (Especially the sub-subscript, that's the most important.)(or possibly the really tiny superscript, you should read that too)
    POST-SUB-SUB-EDIT: After documenting my thoughts on how I organise my thoughts, I thought I'd narrate me narrating organising my thoughts.
    Posted in: General Off Topic
  • 1

    posted a message on Why is gold weak?
    Diamonds, although the strongest material on earth, are brittle. They are a slightly more compact version of the graphite in pencils. Gold is a good conductor though, at least they got that right.
    Posted in: Survival Mode
  • 25

    posted a message on The Dumbest Thing Anyone Has Ever Said
    Quote from Bbqpizza

    I misused the "One does not simply" meme months before. Does that count?

    One does not simply misuse a meme.

    I want to shoot myself. I truly do.
    Posted in: General Off Topic
  • 2

    posted a message on [Windows/Mac/Linux]Dungeon Blender: A dungeon generating tool.
    Quote from SniperGoth

    Vechs would kill for this! :)

    Vechs is the equivalent of a talking version of this program, do not be fooled.
    Quote from Pieluvr

    Hmm, I like it, just gotta wait for the dungeon limiting.

    I love your sig.

    On topic, this is awesome! I'll use it later, when it has a GUI, for my new map.
    Posted in: Minecraft Tools
  • 1

    posted a message on Island Insanity
    I'm going to play, I'll post some constructive critticism in a month when I finally tear my head away from the computer screen. I'll edit the post when I've done all I want to do.

    REVIEW STATUS: Downloading/Playing

    Ok, still having fun, but the first thing I noticed was the lack of mass to the islands. I understand that having five-block thin islands adds to the chalenge, but as a player of MINEcraft, I love to dig. Maybe you could do an underground style survival for your next map. I'll edit again soon when I come up on any other problems. (also, what qualifies as an island, because Eric seems like a time consuming build)

    Edit: When I bridged out to the nearest island I found a large land mass, which eventually I'll claim as my home.

    The nether should be themed, there really is no incentive to go there other than glowstone. If you want the portal to be used, customize the nether with finite recources on the overworld, like iron or stone.

    Overall, it's a bit grindy, and the sky setting is frustrating. The ability to fall of islands is a cop out strategy when it comes to mapmaking. Know that it's frustrating to wait ages for wood, if a guy has a sapling and dirt, it's ok to give them a stack or two of wood. In order to take out some of the grinding, try and make wood a scarce commodity for a while, with no saplings. Lack of land mass was, as I explained above, another frustrating thing. I know I like to expand into a sprawling complex, and it's hard when there are little to no materials to do so, and few places I can branch off of.

    The loot you delivered came to soon and in too close together areas. As soon as I knew where one loot area was, I knew where all the others were. Try only giving loot to people when you know for certain they have the materials to get it anyway. This will also help take out the grind.

    EDIT: I know I sound harsh, but these are the few flaws, and I really don't want another mapmaker to make the same mistakes again.

    EDIT-EDIT: Also, your cave filled to the brim with monsters because of lack of spawn area, be careful when making underground areas like that in survival maps.
    Posted in: Maps
  • 1

    posted a message on Has Minecraft become TOO easy?
    Quote from Domino

    There.

    I see way too many people say "well build something" or "give yourself a challenge". That doesn't make the game harder. That gives you an objective that doesn't have a real reward when you're done. When you play survival, you're playing to survive. That's the objective of that mode. When you crank up the difficulty, it doesn't feel like anything has changed. Depending on what setting you're on, easy or hardcore. There needs to be more dramatic changes to the gameplay. Like mob health, respawn rate, and damage for a small example.

    Super Hostile. Play Super Hostile. I'll wait, don't worry.
    Posted in: Discussion
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    posted a message on /speed /superjump
    Although everybody is saying to get a mod, I see his point in that SPC is external and can't be used in servers that don't have SPC. Unfortunately, the dev. team is well aware of SPC and would have probably implemented those commands if there was a clear use for them.
    Posted in: Suggestions
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