The nature of truth
Dear LeRoque
All that is true is communication.
Communication of one person’s mental state to another person.
Say I have a rock 0
And I add another rock 00
What is it that tells you that there are two rocks? Where in the rocks is this “truth”? Imagine if you will, that you didn’t know that one rock plus one rock is two rocks. Imagine hearing that for the first time. It is an easy idea to communicate is it not? Two rocks. This is two rocks. I have one rock, add another and I have two rocks. Even as you read these words you know them to be true. Why? Because it is demonstrable and a consistent outcome. It is a customary outcome that you can repeat as long as you want. More importantly though it is now an idea inside you head. A neural connection that will always fire when in the presence of two rocks. It is your ability to communicate this outcome and others to your children that will give them this idea too. We hand over further development to teachers. Teachers of mental ideas. They start off easy. The time. The date. A dog. A cat. Easy ideas that lay a foundation path work in our minds. It makes us receptive to certain ideas. Very receptive in some cases. Mother. Father. These are ideas in our minds only. A shared idea is communication. Essentially personal. We both have mothers, but our surrounding ideas will be different. It is in this way that what we take as true is built up. Our brains can think very fast. Once you have accepted an idea as true, many more ideas can be built upon it like bricks.
000 three rocks
Ten rocks ten rocks
The communication of ideas is the primary accomplishment of mankind.
This is often referred to as languages. These are shared frameworks of ideas that like building block we accept each as true and like Tetris build lines that stand solid together. It doesn’t matter what the language is only that the people both use it to share the ideas, to get the mental picture in my head into yours in the same (or similar way) to how I see it.
Digression – art.
Art is also a communication of ideas. All communication requires at least two people. When I paint something, say the last painting I did of my grandfather. I have an idea of him in my head. I am trying to use the paint to put down that idea on paper. This idea has to be capsulated and fed out through my hand. It is very hard to do. The idea that I have of say a particular day will always sit in my mind until I put it down. To put it on the paper I have to destroy the idea. Why? Because whenever I think of that idea again I will see the painting. The idea is no longer just that day. I have tried to communicate more than just the strokes. I have tried to communicate the “truth” of my idea of my grandfather. It doesn’t need to be measured mathematically. You cannot plot such things on a graph. This is why many artists feel bad about their paintings. They know it can never live up to their mental idea and now it has been forever altered. They take reassurance from the fact that the painting perhaps communicates it to others, but it is a price many artists cannot take.
It is for all that a language. It speaks to you in ideas, you just have to listen. Experimentation in this field has unfortunately led to the creation of meaningless art that the view imposes their own ideas upon, it has no idea of its own that it is speaking. This is a pity.
/end digression
The horrible truth. The horrible truth isn’t taught in schools. It isn’t taught by many parents and it certainly isn’t taught by our leaders. It is this:
There is no such thing as a triangle.
Should man all die tomorrow. There will be no more triangles. Our ideas die with us. (So many original thoughts that everyone has all the time. If only one could write them down man would be living in the stars by now). A triangle is our idea only. It is a shared idea that we have about the universe and the way it works. One many use it to manipulate other ideas. One many even communicate it using language or the results of its mental manipulation, but this doesn’t change the fact that it is only an idea.
To use the rocks analogy. There is nothing in the rocks that contains the word “rocks” or the idea that that word communicates. When the idea dies with us, the rocks no longer have that name. The go back to the darkness. The idea of a rock is entirely in our perception, not with in the rock itself. And more importantly, the use of the idea (or word) rocks is also within our perception.
So it holds for math. We use the language of math to carve out our ideas about the universe. Such things can be logically proven, such as quarks that have never even been seen. Scientists call this prediction. A logical proposition that has no verifiable conclusion.
In ethics, we are dealing with so many ideas that it becomes impossible to agree on them. The communication of the idea is given over to Lawyers, who use their mental building blocks (that they developed in law school) to re communicate the idea along an agreed legal language. A framework that is agreed upon. Why else would what is legal in one country be illegal in another?
It is all perception my friend all of it. There is nothing else.
Even your list of types of truth bears this out, as do your motives for posting them. You wish to communicate an idea to use in such a way that we will agree with it (naturally). After which you can increase you own value of its “truth”. More than this I suspect you wish to use the board to apply a crucible and have use help you come to some refined version of you ideas with which you will digest and generate further.
This is a very good aim and the purpose of this board in the first place.
Man will one day reach the stars and our communication and building of shared ideas will take us there. Just don’t think they are true beyond shadows on the wall in a cave.
Anyway, I have typed enough
Everquest 2 onwards!
Nash’
My journal today is to do with that most important aspect of MMORPG’s; questing!
With the wife having left for the day on a quest of her own (to see if she can get into the new Apple shop in Oxford Street) I hunkered down for some serious Everquesting!
My Warrior is now level 13 and looking quite good. I have completed 59 quests which put me in the top 750 questers on Highkeep server, but the question is where to go from here?
In Everquest 2 the best experience is to be found by questing. As is the best items. I have been hunting and met people the same level as myself who have earned a pittance compared to me and have the most flimsy and cardboard of armors because they have spent the entire time hunting for no reason. Without a quest, hunting is nothing and with one hunting is the best way to get your level up and gain some special and unique items.
My first of the day involved the running around of Antonica seeing the sites. Sounds dull? Well firstly, Antonica is huge. Roughly the equivalent of 5 EQ one zones and filled to the brim with all sorts of monsters and adventures. It has beaches, forests, woods, hills, citadels, towers, passes, rives and everything you could want with plenty of space for everyone. In fact it is so big you can take a nice griffin ride across it. Well, the quest was found when I was on a quest to kills gnolls in Antonican heartlands. After 40 gnolls one dropped a book and I won the roll. It was the journal of the famous Bootstrutter, who if you know EQ1 was the chap who gave out the Journeyman boots. In is he described all the major landmarks of the zone and reading the book opened a quest to see them for myself.
This is the MMO version of the “stealth mission”. There is much in the zone that is death on a stick for me. The problem became one of how to approach the areas needed without getting munched, chopped or blown up. The quest took me all over. To the far edge and the entrance to Stormhold and the far north where I found the grave of Lady Webspinner (which netted me a mini ding). Thence to the south and the islands of the cost and the towers and castles in between. On the journey I came across gnolls (of course – they have invaded the zone), bears and wolves of all types, treants (giant walking angry trees), bandits (who are tougher than vindaloo’ed mutton) and Witches (I stayed away from them!). Finally I had all the locations spelled out, but how to get back. One of the best things about EQ2 is that warriors also get spells of some description. I have already mentioned “Call to Arms” and “Toughness”. Along with these I get “Call of Qeynos”, which teleports me back to my hometown. I hadn’t thrown it before so I was interested in seeing what it did. It was clear that it took a good 30 seconds to proc, so not something to use in an emergency!
After getting back I turned in the book to the librarian and got Bootstrutters 10 slot backpack for a reward plus some silver. Very very nice indeed!
Next on my list was the retrieval of another book from a tree in the newbie beetles area (which looks like a farm) in Antonica again, which was given to me by the head of the elves in Elddar Grove. However, this one didn’t go so well to plan. On arrival to the tree it all went wrong. Firstly three upper yellow bandits spawned. Yikes! Time to run! Secondly, my computer started its lunchtime virus check and slowed down to a slideshow. And what a slideshow it was, entitled “The Brutal Murder of Yagyu”. Cursing Sophos’s name I logged and killed the virus killer. On my return I picked up my spirit shard and took a moment to think of a plan. It came to me immediately, help needed! Shouting across the zone got me a shaman and a druid willing to take on the enemy. Nervously I returned to the tree. The bandits spawned again and battle was joined. But this time it was they in trouble. With the shaman healing me, the druid nuking and myself holding all the agro (I now have 4 agro holding spells) we made light if long work of the bastards. Thanking my friends I returned to the quest giver, dinged 14 and received the very nice Amulet of Warding. The story behind the quest then got interesting.
The bandits apparently are in league with Ratoga scum under the city and could I investigate their Scee? Sure, I said. Venturing again into The Down Below (see previous posts) I found the Scee, which is a zone within a zone, and entered. Joining a group by the gates we started attacking our way in. Unfortunately the servers were coming down and the quest has to wait a little longer. However, one interesting thing was the weapon the other warrior had.
What a powerful 2hb wep! I decided upon my return tomorrow I would quest for this magical mace.
Till then!
Basho
Level 10 and the chance to pick my class…
Well, in true Everquest fashion it took as long to get lvl 10 as it did to get from lvl 4 to 9!
I have a lot of experience in questing from my days playing Morrowind. I know that whenever someone gives you a quest to an area, you can get a massive amount of other quests to that area which you can do at the same time. It was the collection of these quests that kept me up till midnight last night.
In order to become a warrior I need to kill White Spiderlings in The Caves. Simple, and sure enough they spawn right at the beginning of this zone. I also got another quest, from a medic in South Qeynos. This was for poison glands, from (you’ve guessed it) White Spiderlings. Similarly, a Weaponsmith nearby wants Snakeskins for his sword handles and sure enough they too spawn in the same space as the Spiders. In fact along with the delivery quests that I picked up on the way (and fulfilled on the return – all of which were on the way I was going) I had 6 quests going at once. I said it before, there is content here. The Caves are reached by ringing a bell on the docks, which teleports you to wherever you can go. The Caves are dank and dark, but White Spiders are simple, easy peasy. Just hit them. In fact that part of the zone is very safe since they don’t even agro. Also on the zone is a large infection of Gnolls, who certainly can hit me and are agro. There are a number of trains leading to zone every ten minutes or so as an adventurer has to run for his life from these mad dogs.
It’s one of the nicest things about EQ2 at the moment. I don’t think anyone is much over lvl 20 on my server and I am reading people gasping at the idea of owing a whole platinum piece. I’m in on the ground floor! I like the fact that in general I am one of the first to challenge this world. I’m sure a year from now people at lvl 7 will thrash all these Gnolls with ease, but for now there is a definite feeling of adventure and seeing new things for the first time. Its a lot of fun.
What isnt fun is the lag in North and South Qeynos. I think that much of it is due to my machine needing more RAM but it’s still annoying.
Finally I get all the quests in and reap the rewards:
blackened sword +1 power +2 health
brightly dyed sash +1 power +2 health
crystal embedded ring +3 power +1 health
Oh! Phat lewtz baby yeah!
Anyway, next in the Warrior quest I have to go and speak to a few hand to hand fighters. One is obviously on the path to being a Monk and is to be found under a tree. The other is hitting rocks in the quarry. Both encounters are voiced very well and scripted to the nines. On completion I am sent to talk to three senior guards and er literally tell them what a good job they are doing. Seriously, the reason is that people don’t appreciate the Crusaders as much as they should. Funny. Anyway, after much back slapping the next thing is to kill a Gnoll Pub out in the wastes. Easy and bosh he’s dead.
Finally I am told I have to defeat “…Bears and Lions in the Arena”. Thats it. Not the “North or South Arena”. Not, “That arena over there…” or “The one with a very small hidden door that doesn’t look like any arena you’ve ever heard of”. No clues, advice or help at all. This proved to be the hardest mission out of all the Path of the Warrior set simply because I couldn’t find the fucking place. And not just me, there were buckets of potential Warriors wandering around like lost ducks asking anyone and everyone where this place is. I visited almost all the city zones, every nook and cranny, the wilds, even back to the bloody spider Caves before a very kind Warrior said where it was. I’m sure this was on purpose. Once in the arena (read warehouse) I quickly killed the Lions and Bears (oh my!) and finally became a Warrior.
On my triumphant way out of the zone to go try out my new skills I put a few lost Warrior recruits out of their misery as to the location of the fabled Arena of Qeynos.
(UPDATE: Its here : 330.71, 4.70 in North Qeynos)
I dropped by the Antonica and laid waste to the beeltes there. I was going to go further in but I conned the first MOB and saw this.
Yes, it’s a Ninja Deer. So much for being able to whoop ass!?
Basho (Yagyu)
You can now see more about my character on the Yagyu page on the EQ2 main site — click:
YAGYU INVENTORY PAGE
To view images full size right click and open in new window/view image
Well night two and I log in to EQ again.
This is content.
In order to even get into Qeynos I need to become a citizen and take the citizens quest. This seems to be a way of getting the user used to the interface, where the nearest dungeon can be found and what sort of monsters you might face. In the little villages attached to Qeynos I find the inn and walk into about 7 NPC’s asking me to assist in a mini quests. Most of them require me to take something somewhere or go get something, etc. The rational for all the quests are interesting. one of them is from a Erudite who, along with his friend, are threatening a guy for some scroll. They ask me to go and get the scroll from this guys brother whilst they hold him there. Another quest intersects this one as one the way I come across a weaponsmith who has just finished an order for a lethal knife for the Erudite! He remarks to me “…strange weapon for an Erudite…”. On finding the guy with scroll (a busy and brisk shop owner) and finding out he doesn’t have it either, I return and hand over the knife. “This will come in handy…” he smirks waving it in the face of the guy they have cornered. Talking to him reveals he is very frightened. This is content, real content. I feel a little like I am in a theme park at the moment. Everquest 1 had no newbie quests worth anything (does anyone remember the awful “muffins for Panos quest” in Freeport?) whereas here, all my good gear has come from newbie quests just like this one. Even a few magical items such as rings etc.
After a bucket load of these little quests I hit the level 7 roof. I cannot go any further until I do the citizen quest. I get this from a sign by the gate to Qeynos and it tells me to kill monsters in the “down below” and return with 5 tokens.
This “down below” is the first dungeon. Venturing down there I come across a large labyrinth style sewer full of standard fare such as rats, spiders, etc. Some of these are tough (some are even lethal) so I team up with a Mage and we go killing. We only have to run the once before I get the required items. Wishing the Mage well I enter the city proper…
Qeynos is massive.
The size of this city is amazing. A collection of zones (and quite a lot of lag) with varying architecture. The scale is well judged in my opinion as it lends to the illusion that you really are in a big city rather than the village sized Freeport in EQ 1.
I collected a few quests from the seedy docks and head through the throng or drunken NPC’s. Effects here are well implemented. I have a very middle of the road computer and a basic 9800 se graphics card but even I get the nice Direct X 9 water effects. Similar illusion adding features include rats running around (little ones not big combat ones) and a cat chasing them. Also I can across a duck called Sir Quackers! That raised a smile. Through the gates I come across an Elf village full of trees and a full on martial arts center (very nice lighting effects).
The spirit of Kelethin is here for all those who miss the wood elf city (I certainly spent many weeks hunting from there and Ynnos recruited me into the Hoodies there too).
After about three zones I make it out of the city with a small quest to kill 10 of every type of critter found in the newbie hunting zone. Again, the whole thing is familiar but much bigger and with tighter quests and integration.
I haven’t felt the “left on your own to die” feeling that EQ 1 gave me for months. I quickly join a band of warriors with one priest and get stuck in. Unfortunately the group leader hits a gnoll and we get adds. Lots of adds. I manage to use one of my skills to agro the lot and take down the leader then run. I don’t get very far and the rest of the team die with me.
Dying.
When you die in EQ2 the group also get an XP hit. It doesn’t drop your XP, it simply gives you a deficit you must work off. This means, I guess, undinging is a thing of the past, and no bad thing. You also get recovery effects that drop you stats until you recover your spirit (which mitigates most of that). This should stop the “zerg rush” that plagues the high end game and led to Kerafram’s death in EQ1. The system has taken much from SWG. No one has the ability to revive yet so I respawn at the gate. The spawn selector also informs me of the danger level of the spawn, which is a nice touch.
On my rebirth I get a sparkling line leading me to my spirit shard and a quest to find it. Once I do I simply click it and get back cured of much of the sickness. You no longer drop everything. At least at our level you don’t.
Combat.
My team select more palatable game and my levels have gone up enough to get a few interesting skills. The bar in the picture shows the icons. All are on various timers and they are:
Sprint.usable any time you have power (energy).
Help!This breaks the encounter and enables others (outside your group) to hit your target.
Sit.Goos old sit, or kneel in this case. Recharges you MUCH quicker than in EQ1
AOE swing.Area of effect attack that hits all the groups targets.
kick.Kick, doesnt seem to stun much at my level.
Heroic Opportunity.Opens the Warrior HO window. The next icon in the sequence to continue the HO will then flash. Grouping with others of a different class offers icons I don’t have. Once the second stage is complete the final stage asks for a more general icon. If all are done there is a special attack. I have the feeling that a high level group would spend all their time finding super combinations of special attacks. They appear to be the key to victory in a difficult fight.
Swing hit.Sort of jumping spin attack, not very hard hitting but extra.
Taunt.Jusgt as before. Taunt and the enemy attacks you.
Group Taunt.Tuants all the foes. This is nice. Very nice.
Buff.WHAT?? I’m a warrior! Yes, I get a group buff! Makes us all swing faster and better.
Intervene.Take damage off the priest onto me.
Toughen.Up my AC and avoidance.
We make quick work of the snakes etc and even take a roaming yellow (with only one death). when you select a foe you get a rating. This has much more detail than EQ1. it shows that the mob might be a rated for a group and not solo. It shows if it is a tough mob for its rating (up arrows) or if it is a weaker than it looks mob (down arrows) It shows how th ecreature thinks of you (this is also evident from the colour of the creatures name). It also shows the same old colours: Red for don’t bother, yellow for uh oh, white for ok, blue for simple, green for easy and grey for rubbish – no xp.
If you find a wandering red with two up arrows that says RAID encounter and you are a level 5 ranger with a wooden bo.… run. Or at least try and look inedible!
After a while I get another ding and the level 10 quest pops up. Bidding farewell to the others I find the Master of Arms and he talks to me about what type of fighter I will become.
Here must be where I get to decide my destiny as a warrior. But first, he sends me out of the city to kill “ice spiders”. I ask around and find out that a boat to the Caves goes form the docks. a quick set of zones later and I find the correct dock bell and pick The Caves from the list. It is at this point my adventure ends for another night… level 10 awaits!
They have also taken website integration to a whole new level with this game. Check out my character page at the main EQ2 website:
Yagyu at EQ2
Laters.
Basho (Yagyu)
Well I grouped up and finished the beginners island. Compaired to EQ newbies are very well catered for. Am now in Qeynos, strangely enough I have never been here before in EQ1 in all my 52 levels. Have camped at the inn and now head for sleep.
What do you know? The servers went down for patching…
So I am catching a moment to update my first impression of the game. In a word: slick. Very slick. The voices are simply brilliant and spot on accents. The graphics have a sort of smoothing at distance that fits the game very well. The interface uses a letter box format that forces the graphics into wide screen, this is great. The quality of the graphics is above SWG on my card, with things like water effects etc. The menus and windows customisations are also very good. I can change font sizes, slit off combat spam, etc, etc. Everything you would expect from the third generation MMO is here and correct.
The combat is hard or easy depending on how quickly you get to learn Heroic Op’s. These special combo’s give you something to do whilst fighting and add significantly to the success (or failure) of any battle. Grouping is very easy and slick too.
But the real hats off moment comes for both animation, which is stunning, and quests. The quests journal is simply brilliant. This game is like a online version of morrowind — which is a dream RPG people have long wished for.
My progress is currently at level 5 and I am still on the starter island. I have met a group and taken on a group only mob who was tough enough! I am looking forwards to guilding in this game a lot.
I know I am on the tightly scripted starter island but the lag hasnt been an issue so far. Only a few frames have been dropped in over 4 hours of playing. A good achivment. Lets see how this fairs once I get into the first city.
My character is a Human Warrior called Yagyu. Can you believe that my all time name of Basho is reserved!? I mean common! So I have chosen the name of the famous Samurai Yagyu Munenori (Creator of the No — Sword style of combat), this at least isnt as well known as the great Basho. Here is an image of him
I am currently on the highkeep server.
Further posts to come!
basho
Im actually getting excited! The wife has hotdogs under the grill and I am opening another beer,
Lets rock!
