IRC Bot Help & Feedback[]

This special section of my talk page is specifically for offering help, suggestions, and questions about the MadCow IRC bot, SacredMinotaur. It's best considered a combination of a personal and discussion page on my part to both let me keep track of bot info and provide a spot for others to contact me about it, with the two not being mutually exclusive in any given section.

Arena Whoring[]

If you'd like your arena included in the feature, simply post a link, tagline, and keyword here and I'll pop it in for you.

Note that all key phrases will be prefixed with "whore." So it will be "whore [key phrase]" to use it. Also, "whore arena" will be reserved for a randomizer, so you can't just use "arena."

Please keep in mind this is for the IRC and is therefore text only! All italics, boldings, underlines, and other special formatting will be lost!

Function Suggestions[]

Because people seem to want certain functionality and I'm sure I'll learn enough Python to make them eventually. Some things already written can be re-enabled, too. Again, please sign in case I need more info.

Functionality	Suggester	Priority	Status
Include links in Wikimedia queries	Fae (on IRC)	Medium	On Hold
Link Desciptions	Kayreeed Caliburn 05:19, January 19, 2011 (UTC)	Low	No Progress*(Trust me, I want them, too, but I have no idea where to start.)
Please make it only learn new things if we use the proper "subject is<reply> message here". Also, please only allow it to forget something if we do something like "Cow, forget something."	◄ Θάνατος ► 17:18, March 20, 2011 (UTC)	N/A	Completed (sort of) Learned responses now require addressing the bot.
I daresay it's impossible or at least difficult, but it would be nice if the "seen" function could somehow bypass the ignore list (e.g. "seen Eight-bit" doesn't work)	-- Sorceror Nobody  12:51, March 27, 2011 (UTC)	N/A	Completed (sort of) Ignore list removed.
"Glomp" function with result of "SacredMinotaur glomps [target] on behalf of [user]"	Drake (on IRC)	Low	No Progress
GLaDOS quotes, if not other characters too*	Sorceror Nobody	N/A	Completed GLaDOS quotes added.
"Throw" command.	Mango (on IRC)	Low	No Progress
Make a TV Tropes search function.	Yuan (on IRC)	Medium	Failed (for now)
Make Sacred talk in all caps and minotaur talk in lowercase.	Me, others.	High	No Progress
			No Progress

Feedback/Questions[]

Please post feedback, questions, and general suggestions in sections under here. Note that this, despite being bolded, is a level 2 heading. The bolding is specifically to distinguish it from other level 2 headings, since I don't hold out hope people will remember to do level 3 headings beneath it. ;P Please be aware of this and add new sections to the end.

AAV Whoring[]

Don't whore mine too much. Everyone one the IRC pretty much knows about it...and I spammed the IRC with it...lol. ^{a.k.a KayReeed} 02:05, January 10, 2011 (UTC)

Just in case there are new people on the IRC. ^{a.k.a KayReeed} 02:26, January 10, 2011 (UTC)

It's in the randomizer along with everyone else and there's a specific command set aside for it if you ever drop in and want to use it. However, I won't personally be whoring anyone else's arenas specifically. The keyword option is built to ensure no one has nasty surprises left for them like happened with learned responses on Kitty. Bluestarultor ^BSA 02:52, January 10, 2011 (UTC)

So I have 2 taglines?   03:41, January 13, 2011 (UTC)

Oh, and can you make cow more interesting and fun like kitty was? Kayreeed Caliburn 11:11, January 19, 2011 (UTC)

		06:15, January 21, 2011 (UTC) 'Kayreeed Caliburn
		I closed AAV, so can you take AAV down from the whoring thing? Thanks.

Support[]

Cow responds to the word "support", even when it's not directed to him. I'm beginning to suspect it's a joke, as it spouts several different strings of jargon, but it would be nice to know for certain -- Sorceror Nobody  15:16, April 3, 2011 (UTC)

Whoops! Yeah, that's a random response I never thought to remove. It never seemed to come up, so I kept forgetting about it. I'll remove it. Thanks for the heads-up! Bluestarultor ^BSA 21:48, April 3, 2011 (UTC)

Question[]

Hello! I want to change the bot's response to my nick, and somehow it doesn't work for me. I did exactly what the page says?Clarent (talk/contribs) 05:07, August 28, 2011 (UTC)

If that's the case and you addressed the bot, there is no reason it should not work for you. Bluestarultor ^BSA 15:03, August 28, 2011 (UTC)

I did. But the response is still the same? Or can I delete the response totally?Clarent (talk/contribs) 22:26, September 2, 2011 (UTC)

Just use the forget function. Bluestarultor ^BSA 00:22, September 3, 2011 (UTC)

Thanks a lot, Blue.Clarent (talk/contribs) 01:15, September 3, 2011 (UTC)

Request to add bot to channel[]

Hey. How can I add the bot to ##LFC? Thanks. Clarent (talk/contribs) 02:13, December 22, 2011 (UTC)

By giving me an idea of what the channel is like. It looks pretty empty at time of writing and I'm wondering just who visits it. I am, after all, quite careful about where I put the thing. Bluestarultor ^BSA 03:26, December 23, 2011 (UTC)

Me, KoharuN and SquallRocks. And a few other people... The channel ops are the users I mentioned.Clarent (talk/contribs) 04:39, December 23, 2011 (UTC)

Fair enough. It's been added. Bluestarultor ^BSA 01:58, December 24, 2011 (UTC)

Can I have Sacred as well?Clarent (talk/contribs) 10:49, January 11, 2012 (UTC)

Done. Sorry, I missed this somehow. Bluestarultor ^BSA 00:58, March 27, 2012 (UTC)

I would recommend that you remove Minotaur from ##LFC now, as the channel has been dead for months, the users who used to talk in it are no longer present on the wiki and I am no longer going to idle in there to watch over it. http://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x333/KujaFFIX/2ea674f6.png 14:24, October 8, 2012 (UTC)

Can you add GFMinotaur to the channel ##FFWiki-DnD for use as a dice roller? Thanks in advance! User:R8.50Mango/Sig2 19:01, March 26, 2012 (UTC)

Added GFSacred after doing some functionality differentiation. I had a lot more overlap than I remembered. Bluestarultor ^BSA 00:58, March 27, 2012 (UTC)

Karma bug[]

Hate to bug you about your bugs (horrible pun, Cat) ... but the "karma" feature gets a response from both Mino and Sacred. C A T U S E 22:37, March 11, 2012 (UTC)

That's likely because both track karma, although if this is an issue, I can disable it on one of them if that's the case. I haven't looked at them in a while. Bluestarultor ^BSA 00:06, March 12, 2012 (UTC)

Seen xxx[]

[19:22] <Henry|Studying> Seen it [19:22] <GFSacred> Henry|Studying: I haven't seen it say anything plz [19:22] <GFMinotaur> Henry|Studying: I haven't seen it say anything plz

Looks like the seen command should be fixed a bit, so it won't respond without !/cow/gf etc. --Sove 16:28, April 9, 2012 (UTC)

I'm not sure if that's possible due to how Seen works. I can take a look at it (no guarantee these days, sadly), but it could very well break the entire functionality to require you to address the bot. Bluestarultor ^BSA 17:08, April 9, 2012 (UTC)

"gonna go"[]

Can you please stop them from responding to that? Because it triggers about twice as often on people using the phrase as part of a sentence as it does on people saying it because they're actually leaving : / -- Sorceror Nobody  13:28, July 4, 2012 (UTC)

Done. That was put in place to catch Xep's abrupt departures, but if it's not serving its intended purpose, yeah. Bluestarultor ^BSA 00:12, July 11, 2012 (UTC)

!ping all[]

Please could you remove the ping all command? It has only been used for spam of late (I have had to temporarily quiet the bot once already), and the user list that it produces is out of date anyway. If we need to attract the channel's attention, there are better ways, such as channel notices or, if necessary, highlighting the required nicks manually. http://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x333/KujaFFIX/2ea674f6.png 19:01, August 9, 2012 (UTC)

Soul Shrine[]

I've closed down the Shrine, so if you please, remove the whore command for it. Thank you. Drake Clawfang (talk) 03:39, October 23, 2013 (UTC)

It's been removed. Bluestarultor ^BSA 00:32, October 24, 2013 (UTC)

Hey, Bluesey! Cow is dead![]

It's come to my attention that SacredMinotaur gets killed when my connection flakes, so have a designated section to poke me so I get notified and can fix it. As always, please, name and timestamp.

• Cow left the channel about 2h40 ago* -- Sorceror Nobody  20:30, May 13, 2011 (UTC)
• Dead for a while it seems. Doreiku Kuroofangu 22:29, May 24, 2011 (UTC)

1. Kupohunter 13:14, May 27, 2011 (UTC)

• Alert - the cow has been tipped! Repeat, the cow has been tipped, please advise. Doreiku Kuroofangu 03:41, August 5, 2011 (UTC)

• Bluesey, I'm afraid to report the cow has not come home. Go out and find him if you wouldn't mind, please. Much appreciated. Doreiku Kuroofangu 04:27, September 30, 2011 (UTC)
• The cows have died. C A T U S E 23:21, January 21, 2012 (UTC)
  • They came back on for a litle bit and then died again, with this text left behind: C A T U S E 23:28, January 21, 2012 (UTC)

[15:25] == GFSacred [~GFSacred@50-50-214-185.waus.wi.frontiernet.net] has joined #FFWiki
[15:25] == GFMinotaur [~GFMinotau@50-50-214-185.waus.wi.frontiernet.net] has joined #FFWiki
[15:25] == GFSacred [~GFSacred@50-50-214-185.waus.wi.frontiernet.net] has quit [Read error: Connection reset by peer]
[15:25] == GFMinotaur [~GFMinotau@50-50-214-185.waus.wi.frontiernet.net] has quit [Read error: Connection reset by peer]

Minotaur is dead but Sacred is alive. Doreiku Kuroofangu 13:49, March 14, 2012 (UTC)

I'll take care of it when I get home. I'll also remove karma from Mino while I'm at it since the databases will probably be out of sync now. And I'm guessing it has to do with someone killing it with excess flood, so a delay is probably in order for Mino, too. Bluestarultor ^BSA 19:59, March 14, 2012 (UTC)

• They both left about 5 minutes ago. Cat 00:28, March 29, 2012 (UTC)
• The cows have been tipped for at least 20 minutes, probably more (that's just when I got in chat) Cat 23:54, April 18, 2012 (UTC)
• Cat 04:02, April 27, 2012 (UTC)

Again. Doreiku Kuroofangu 23:13, May 3, 2012 (UTC)

Dead dead dead. Doreiku Kuroofangu 23:55, May 30, 2012 (UTC)

• C A T U S E 21:17, June 5, 2012 (UTC)

Cows aren't dead, but they did something weird after a netsplit (which only killed them and Cyclone). Just checking if this is normal, especially the bold part:

[16:33] GFSacred [~GFSacred@50-50-212-64.waus.wi.frontiernet.net] has quit IRC: NETSPLIT *.net *.split

[16:33] GFMinotaur [~GFMinotau@50-50-212-64.waus.wi.frontiernet.net] has quit IRC: NETSPLIT *.net *.split

[16:33] GFSacred [~GFSacred@50-50-212-64.waus.wi.frontiernet.net] has joined #FFWiki

[16:34] GFMinotaur [~GFMinotau@50-50-212-64.waus.wi.frontiernet.net] has joined #FFWiki

[16:34] 16WAAY9TH [~GFSacred@50-50-212-64.waus.wi.frontiernet.net] has joined #FFWiki

[16:34] 16WAAY9TE [~GFMinotau@50-50-212-64.waus.wi.frontiernet.net] has joined #FFWiki

[16:34] 16WAAY9TH [~GFSacred@50-50-212-64.waus.wi.frontiernet.net] has quit IRC: Ping timeout: 255 seconds

[16:35] 16WAAY9TE [~GFMinotau@50-50-212-64.waus.wi.frontiernet.net] has quit IRC: Ping timeout: 255 seconds

-- Sorceror Nobody  16:39, August 8, 2012 (UTC)

It doesn't look like any codes I'm aware of in the bots. I'm guessing it has to do with them having lost their IRC connection entirely or something having switched on them. If they came back, then the reconnect feature must have kicked in. I can't give a better answer than that, I'm afraid, as I don't really understand either IRC or the bots' core. Bluestarultor ^BSA 18:35, August 9, 2012 (UTC)

Yes, that is an IRC error, not a problem with the bots. It happens when there is a nick collision, IIRC, often after a netsplit. It's not a problem, and the normal nick should be available to /nick back to. http://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x333/KujaFFIX/2ea674f6.png 18:57, August 9, 2012 (UTC)

I'll restart them when I get home tonight. There's nothing I can do from here. Bluestarultor ^BSA 19:00, August 9, 2012 (UTC)

• Been gone for at least 90 minutes now C A T U S E 03:17, August 22, 2012 (UTC)
• C A T U S E 05:03, September 5, 2012 (UTC)

The cows have been tipped again. Doreiku Kuroofangu 20:21, September 24, 2012 (UTC)

• C A T U S E 06:23, October 11, 2012 (UTC)
• C A T U S E 03:30, October 25, 2012 (UTC)
• C A T U S E 01:31, October 31, 2012 (UTC)

When the bots do come back, they need to go to #Wikia-FF instead of #FFWiki. -- Some Color Mage ~ (Talk) 03:56, November 3, 2012 (UTC)

• C A T U S E 07:34, February 5, 2013 (UTC)
• C A T U S E 06:48, February 6, 2013 (UTC)

Bot abuse[]

Bluesey, we urgently need a tool that allows for tracking who has been editing the bot's responses. Also, if possible, we could use a tool to ban specific users from editing Mino. Fëasindë ^{te audio} 04:40, July 20, 2011 (UTC)

General Talk[]

This section is for general talk, i.e. this is the proper "talk page" section of my talk page.

Rant[]

Hello Bluestar. I've read your most recent rant about game making (and the other one about how hard it is to make a game) and it's been... useful. See, I'm making a video game myself (at least the concepts) and I know that it'll be a tough experience (I'm the only one working on it). Here's the link if you want to read it. What I've noticed about game making is that it's better to make an original game than to make a sequel or fan-game, because you'll then be subjected to a lot of hate purely because it shares a name with a franchise (you'll notice that I've changed the name of my project from Final Fantasy XV to Enigma). If your idea isn't solid enough and you don't have enough of a belief, your game will never be made.

Also, can you archive your page? When you have time, of course. SidVI 09:59, April 22, 2012 (UTC)

I would also like to chime in that your "rant" was rather spot-on, not just from game-making point of view (I have no experience), but what goes into a creative process in general. :)Keltainentoukokuu 14:39, April 22, 2012 (UTC)

Things Devs Shouldn't Do[]

		Catuse says at 23:37, May 3, 2012 (UTC) "Somewhere a zealous god threads these strings between the clouds and the earth, preparing for a symphony it fears impossible to play. And so it threads on, and on, delaying the raise of the conductor's baton."
		So I've been following your rants for a while now, and while I don't always agree, this one ... I agree with absolutely. Maybe I'm naive, but I don't even get why companies do this. It might get them more money in the short term, but in the end it costs them, since nobody will want to buy from them any more. For the first one, EA has confirmed that the message was sent in error; but it's ridiculous nontheless. Nobody gains, everyone loses. It just makes no sense. 2-5 and 7 are just money-making tactics, but as you said, it's just costing them players. I don't feel too strongly about these. I don't mind #6 that much, even if it's not truthful. We're still paying for new features, aren't we? Of course, when unlockable content gets added to the Wikipedia disambig page ULC, I'll credit you right away ^_^ I particularly despise 8-10. Key example of 8: supposedly (I don't actually know if this is true or not) EA paid people to pretend to be evanglical Christians protesting Dante's Inferno in the hope that more people would hear about the game. Seriously, how indecent can you be? And Evony is just plain annoying, don't get me started on them. 9 is almost a subcategory of 10. They're both just basically saying "we don't care about you, because even if you don't buy the game from us, somebody else will". Yes, you're companies that make money as your ultimate goal, I respect that. That doesn't mean you have to pull backhanded tactics and refuse to listen to the players. So, nice job with this one, Bluesey!

EA are shit. There "it's an error" excuse is clearly retarded. I doubt it's true-- someone clearly and intentionally wrote the message, I reckon they heard the feedback (see: uproar) and changed their mind. 79.69.198.29 16:08, May 4, 2012 (UTC)

Really, most developers are guilty of at least some of these. Even certain indie developers (Bob of Bob's Game) have shown a capacity to be jerks, although they're more jerks in other ways not directly involved in screwing the buyer (basically more on a personal level, or the constant drama surrounding fan games, which sounds like a good next rant if I haven't done it already). EA has been bad, but Activision and others haven't been doing any favors, either. Bluestarultor ^BSA 15:47, May 5, 2012 (UTC)

TBH, most of the dickery comes from publishers, not developers. 79.69.194.228 17:43, May 5, 2012 (UTC)

If we really want to split hairs, the actual developers are either wide-eyed people who see their visions ruined from the word go by their marketing departments or underlings tasked with making wide-eyed people's ideas work in code 9-5 daily and 5-9 in the last few months. ;) Bluestarultor ^BSA 19:43, May 5, 2012 (UTC)

I have to agree with Cat. This is a near perfect analysis of what is wrong with the industry these days. Oh, and if it makes you feel better concerning wanting to play XIII-2, all of the pre-order DLC has been purchasable for about a month now. -- Some Color Mage ~ (Talk) 01:09, May 6, 2012 (UTC)

It was really more the principle of the thing. Plus I wanted to finish FF13 first, which I haven't played in ages (or much of anything else, really, minus a bit of Lost Odyssey). I'll go for it if I ever finish XIII. Bluestarultor ^BSA 15:12, May 6, 2012 (UTC)

Antivirus[]

If one is willing to shell out good money for it, what antivirus program would you recommend? Doreiku Kuroofangu 16:51, May 5, 2012 (UTC)

Can't tell ya. I've never paid money for one. AVG Free Edition has served me just fine since I got my first dial-up. Follow up with periodic doses of Malwarebytes (also free) and you should be fine. ;) Bluestarultor ^BSA 17:00, May 5, 2012 (UTC)

Latest rant[]

Nice rant. Since you said opinions are OK on your talk page... it's not really a disagreement, or exactly about what you said, just what came to my mind at the idea why space marines are popular in the west, especially in video games.

Players want video games to be taken seriously as a medium, like films, or literature, and ask for "serious" storylines and "serious" characters. However, if they are ever given someone more complex, someone more emotional, there is backlash. Just using Final Fantasy here since this is what we've all played, but you can tell it isn't just FF, and not just Japanese games. Tidus's story is that he has always had trouble fitting in, in Zanarkand he's always compared to his father and in Spira he is literally from another world, and when he reacts to this pressure he is a crybaby, an annoying loser, etc. Hope is a whiny little kid who should just get over himself and Squall is a stupid emo who should just man it up and stop moaning, etc. Also that there is a difference in Japanese and western "attractive male" design and this, I think, gets a disproportionate level of backlash on how relevant it actually is for anything. A western game developer is told to create an attractive looking male you get default Shepard in Mass Effect or Nathan Drake. Ask a Japanese designer to make an attractive looking male you get...Squall and Vaan etc (and yeah Irvine). It may not conform to western idea of an attractive man (too effeminate), but leads to some people dismissing the whole character outright, just for that they "look wrong".

Taking this onboard it's almost like gamers "deserve" the kind of no-personality ultra macho characters, otherwise, there is backlash. This is silly if the same people are also asking for video games to be taken "seriously" as (and I don't like this term but can't think of anything better) art form.

In light of this, you don't think your latest random realization how Irvine fails at manhood is a bit ironic?Keltainentoukokuu 04:21, May 20, 2012 (UTC)

My random realizations have all been in place for the better part of a year; they're just randomized. Also, Irvine fails at manhood for completely opposite reasons. :P

I suppose I should qualify that. Irvine fails at manhood because: a) he bills himself as a womanizer (a failure of manhood in itself) and subsequently also has poor taste in women once you learn that he's in love with one too stupid to even open a train door; b) he bills himself as a badass sniper and then has to be talked out of a nervous breakdown at performing a job he's trained for for years, regardless of whether he recognizes Edea, because in reality snipers go through the most rigorous dehumanization and desensitization training just to not literally go insane at watching a bullet they know is theirs kill another human being; c) has terrible fashion sense (I mean, really, dude looks like a lady, and there is nobody else in the world dressed as atrociously as he is, making him look out of place) in a world full of terrible fashion sense, so he fails at even being metro; d) ultimately is twice the poser Seifer is all around, and Seifer based his entire life from his dreams to his fighting style on a movie starring Laguna, who we all know is like a -3 on the manliness scale. :P Bluestarultor ^BSA 04:38, May 20, 2012 (UTC)

Just because you have a habit of bashing my favorite characters (I do remember the Gilgy vs Faris debate) I shall vehemently argue against all of your points :P - A: I suppose your definition of womanizer is one who somehow demeans or disrespects women, as you made the point that simply being a womanizer in itself is a failure of manhood. Unless being a womanizer entails taking advantage of women (which is the biggest failure of manhood as far as relations with women go) which Irvine, being the 17 year old equivalent of a high school student that he is, most likely does not, and there's no suggestion canon that he does so. He simply likes to flirt, which I don't see how that's unmanly to want to get girls. B: Again, 17 year old equivalent of a high school student. Irvine would have as much trouble taking that shot as any of his classmates would (except maybe Squall), as the adolescent mind isn't simply mature enough to handle the stress and complications of such a task. Real world military snipers are 1) Much older than mature than Irvine and 2) Have had much more rigorous training for longer periods of time than Irvine. How many years of training could a 17 year old have gotten? Who was the guy that trained Irvine anyway? Was he a master sniper, or an all-around gun guy? Irvine's specialty is shotguns, not sniper rifles, a different type of mechanic entirely. It's not beyond the realm of possibility that if Edea hadn't blocked the shot, he would have missed. Either way, there are plenty of other examples in the game where you can have Irvine in your party in fights against humans where lo and behold, he can attack them and not go into a sudden breakdown! C: Terrible fashion sense is completely in the eye of the beholder. I for one love the cowboy get-up, especially the vest and the hat. If nothing else, it at least matches his "lone gunner" persona. D: A poser at what? He said it himself, his only departments are guns and women, the only two things he claims to be good at, and he indeed is great with guns, and he does indeed get a woman (kind of). Posing as a cowboy maybe. - +DeadlySlashSword+ 04:59, May 20, 2012 (UTC)

Well, to counter your counter:

A: Womanizing is in at least some form disrespectful to women, as it objectifies them. Flirting is a much lesser level than this. Although in fairness, Irvine can't be said to really qualify for either, since it's just one more part of a persona he seems to have created to look cool (i.e. poser). And, yes, I do think that a woman whose solution to opening a train door is to repeatedly tell it to is not a particularly good catch. If he actually was serious about women, he wouldn't have chosen Selphie.

B: He was billed as a top marksman and was expected to be able to do the job. He was considered by his superiors to be capable of a political assassination, and he simply wasn't. He himself seemed to indicate that his reaction was a regular occurrence, meaning he likely had been lying about his performance previously (i.e. poser) to the people responsible for both his training and well-being, but also ostensibly had been able to pull through to finish the job in those prior cases, or else they would not have continued to trust him with it.

C: He dresses nothing like anyone else in his world, and really, nobody wants to see a peek of man-belly, close that bottom button! While we're on it, that necklace doesn't go with ANYTHING! Get a string bow-tie, boy! Or at least something authentically Native American! Have we talked about that earring? Yeah, a ring dangling from a stud combines the worst aspects of each style. Oh, MY GOD I'MPLAYINGQUEEREYEFORTHESTRAIGHTGUYFORAGUYFIFTYTIMESASFABULOUSASME! Also, the fact that he feels the need to dress as a cowboy to reinforce that he's a gun user means he's compensating for not being validly smooth by adopting an fictional image of an outdated profession perpetuated by cigarette ads (i.e. poser).

D: See notes in A, B, and C. :P Bluestarultor ^BSA 06:02, May 20, 2012 (UTC)

My 2 gil to Irvy debate. But first things first...your random realizations are ramdomized......ooohhhhhhhhhhhhh *smacks forehead* well gee I guess that would explain the whole "random" part of the.... ............ maybe I should get together with Irvine, clearly I have the brain capacity to be his type. ;))))

Irvine is not my favourite character, and the way his type is portrayed in the game is not the best effort ever, but I think it is important to have him, and ones like him, and I appreciate what they have done there. We (and I am including myself here, this is no top-down dickhead speech and is a recent realization for myself...could we even say...a random realization... ... ... ...yeah I'll show myself out) need to get past the idea that an annoying character is bad bad bad. Unless we can get past this, we can never advance to where films and literature already are (whether this is even desirable is another thing though).

Irvine's character is that he is a 17-year-old orphan kid who has no friends (he talks in the game that having met the Balamb Garden SeeDs and becoming friends with them, has saved him from himself, whatever that means). He's mad insecure, and overcompensates hard for it. In order to validate himself he yearns attention from women, but his advances are done in such over-the-top manner that it's like he wants (even if subconsciously) to be rejected. Like if any girl ever actually said ok let's go for it, he'd be at a loss, and destroying his chances at the beginning protects him from ever having to come at this encounter (read up on self-destructing behaviour for more info, this is a real thing!). Still, talking big and flirting with girls gives him a buzz, so he keeps at it even if he's not getting anywhere with it. Maybe getting anywhere isn't even the point of this behaviour.

The way the characters look like on the outside (clothes, hairstyle, jewellery) rarely means much at all for their actual character and personality in the FF series, unfortunately (this is a really really reallyreallyreallyreally big problem and I hope it will change sometime soon!) but his bizarre way of dressing may have something to do with this kind of attitude to life as well, where wants attention but does it over-the-top.

The pressure he feels culminates in the scene he is unable to shoot Edea. Right before this scene, when he and Squall are on the way to the clock tower, Irvine asks Squall how he feels as a SeeD, being a real hero and getting to kill bad guys, where Squall is seen thinking that he doesn't think his enemies are the bad guys, they just happen to be on the different side. This is something Irvine doesn't get before he becomes part of Squall's team. He thinks the sorceress is evil, and therefore he can kill her, because it is a right thing to do. But looking at her through the telescopic sight, he recognises her, and this realisation prevents him from thinking Edea as just a target that he has the right to kill because it is just some dehumanised sorceress target at the end of his rifle. When he acknowledges Edea's humanity, he is unable to shoot her, and Squall must guide him to dehumanise the act of pressing the trigger. This kind of thing used to happen in the real-world wars before they implemented a new training strategy to overcome it, look into it if you're interested! (The books "On Killing" and "On Combat" are the ones I have read) Sure you'd think G-Garden uses the most advanced training methods ever, but using a real human reaction to an event is perhaps more interesting from a character and story narration point of view.

What it comes to Irvine having poor taste in women. Weeellll. The dude's seventeen. At this point you don't have the life experience and perspective to really know what you're into, something like taste in romantic/sexual partners is something that evolves over time shaped by your experiences.

Someone much cleverer than me once explained that when you are crafting a character, they are the sum of their choices. If you have a story where the character is just pulled along the current and makes no decisions, then you don't have a character, just a cardboard cutout. And a character who makes all the wrong choices is a more interesting character than one who makes all the right choices. The harder the choice is to make, the more the viewer/reader will learn about the character. This gets an interesting twist in games, I think, because you are personally invested in as a player... if a character makes a bad choice, then they are screwing you over, and it may lead to the player disliking them.

tl;dr main point starts here -->

In order to have complex characters, we will get characters who will act "annoyingly". If we don't, then we get the space marine that you loathe. If Irvine cut his annoying stupid hair and dressed in a G-Garden uniform like a pro and kept his stupid mouth shut and was disinterested in women and stopped trying to impress you to get your approval (cos real space marine don't need no friends or approval), then isn't it true that he would annoy you less? This is why you get the space marine in games! In order to have a complex character they will make bad choices, they will disagree with you, they will do the opposite of what you tell them to do because they think they know better than you, they will have emotional breakdowns, they will let you down, they will exhibit "annoying" personality traits as a survival mechanism.

In order for us to get serious characters in games we will need to tolerate, and ultimately down the line, embrace, this kind of thing. It is the only way to kill the space marine.Keltainentoukokuu 19:10, May 20, 2012 (UTC)

I probably should have posted it here, but I did post something on DSS' talk page addressing most of that. Most of what I posted here is at least partly in jest. I don't actually dislike Irvine and he's an interesting character to deconstruct, although I find your differing viewpoint on how he breaks down interesting. As a writer, I know the value of character flaws as part of characterization. One of my most recent story ideas actually has a main character who can best be described as a wuss, and if weren't for the other party members making decisions for him early on in his best interests, even against their own potential interests, he'd quite literally walk away with the enemy for what I'd argue are very understandable reasons, but directly conflicting with his beliefs. He of course evolves and grows out of this, but I don't expect players to like him right away for some of the same reasons I hate Terra.

Really, any character with no flaws is boring. Knowing how to work flaws is a major part of being able to create characters, which is a chunk of why Twilight is horrid. ;) Bluestarultor ^BSA 20:32, May 20, 2012 (UTC)

Ohh yeah I read that too late. What I was originally meaning to ask was that why such a hostile reaction to a character who is (what I consider) opposite of a "space marine", and thought he's either going to explain why, or say that well that was just a humorous comment, sure Irvine is a tool but that doesn't mean he's a failure character design that shouldn't be in the game. (At least because real morons do exist! And I'm not so sure real space marines do...) I would compare Irvine to Zidane, but the whole thing is far better executed in FFIX (they naturally put more effort to main characters, but also the script is just much better written; I suspect FFVIII might be worse translated than what is obvious because it doesn't have too many grammar errors, but a lot of the script just sounds weird...like who would say that kinda way).

I like the sound of the character you have envisioned. Ooh I really like when people write. Character development can be tough but oh so rewarding. Sounds like reluctance to make decisions is his first bad decision, it'll be interesting if it leads to something bad happening, or that he might regret it.Keltainentoukokuu 01:22, May 21, 2012 (UTC)EDIT: Can't get into FFVI myself, but this has just made me think that wouldn't it be more interesting if Terra's passiveness did lead to some consequences? There isn't any major dilemma she has to solve where she would be torn both ways that I can remember; "do I go and try save my friends from a monster or do I just sit here and watch them be eaten" isn't really such a decision...it's kinda obvious what you're going to decide...Keltainentoukokuu 01:27, May 21, 2012 (UTC)

Well, Noll/Olivia (I'm letting the player choose the sex) has been incredibly sheltered since basically birth and is rightfully scared stiff at a pretty horrible revelation (s/he's adopted :P), but it's really a matter of the "bad" choice being to go home. Obviously there's a lot more to it than just that, but I'm withholding most of the major details for the sake of the project and those are the biggest ones needed to convey it. It's very tempting for him/her to just give up, even if it means going against pretty much everything s/he has believed in since childhood. Ironically, it's only through the intervention of some pretty questionable characters early on that allows him/her to grow and take ownership of the situation.

It's a big project that's a long way off. I wouldn't expect a product until maybe... 3017. :P Bluestarultor ^BSA 01:44, May 21, 2012 (UTC)

Image Coding[]

Is there coding so that, if an image is larger than the specified size (say, 50x50), it sizes down to that size, but if the image is smaller than that size, it leaves it the size it is? Doreiku Kuroofangu 19:37, May 22, 2012 (UTC)

In wiki code or HTML? Bluestarultor ^BSA 04:22, May 23, 2012 (UTC)

Um, here? Doreiku Kuroofangu 04:28, May 23, 2012 (UTC)

I don't know about wiki code, but CSS offers the max-width property. That may be useful for a DIV tag setup. Bluestarultor ^BSA 11:46, May 25, 2012 (UTC)

It could be possible with CSS... but it depends what you are using it for. If it's for a scenario where the max-width you want is always the same (and not specified number on-command)... then give a parent a class, then assign a specified max-width to all descendant img tags, right? 79.69.206.205 22:14, June 3, 2012 (UTC)

According to wiki it doesn't work. I don't know how wiki would stop it working but I don't think I did anything wrong... 79.69.206.205 22:31, June 3, 2012 (UTC)

Actually, I think wiki code specifically provides for sizing things down, but not up. If you use "thumb" it won't inflate an image to over its normal size, and I think you can set whatever size you want on it as the upper limit for width and height. God, it's been so long! I'd actually have to play with this to verify it. :( Bluestarultor ^BSA 22:51, June 3, 2012 (UTC)

Spell Combining[]

Was reading your Sorcery Review, since I'm considering getting it, and I wanted to let you know, the most recently released game to have spell combining is Skyrim. Kind of came out November of last year. Just figured I would let you know. :P Jimcloud 23:51, June 3, 2012 (UTC) EDIT: Uh... yeah... just kind of ignore me >_> Anyways, Sorcery is good, hmm? Jimcloud 23:57, June 3, 2012 (UTC)

Very good. Maybe not worth going out and buying a Move for if you don't already have one, but if you have a PS3, you could make a case for it. ;) Bluestarultor ^BSA 00:10, June 4, 2012 (UTC)

I have a Move, actually, but we have unfortunately lost our navigation controller, which I hear comes with Sorcery? Iiiiinteresting... Jimcloud 00:12, June 4, 2012 (UTC)

Not exactly "comes with." If buying the game at the same time you can get it for only $10 at GameStop. Slight difference. And of course you can play with any SixAxis instead of it, but those are a bit awkward to hold in one hand. I'd recommend the deal. Bluestarultor ^BSA 00:44, June 4, 2012 (UTC)

Rant of the Moment[]

Hey there Bluestarultor. I don't believe we've met, but I just wanted to say, your rant "Horrible people and appropriate punishments" is very similar to my views on said subject. I am a great lover of animals (and can't stand gore, so...), and am tolerant of homosexuals. I am still flabbergasted that the catholic church is against gays and abortions. I mean, who gets less abortions than gay people? ;P

And those Scientologists are up to something. I have seen interviews about people who were abused and trapped at sea, and weren't allowed to leave. Some freaky shit has happened... - Tidus357 05:13, June 30, 2012 (UTC)

I have a feeling that a lot of hateful people (for lack of a better word) are just taking advantage of and hiding behind the Bible and similar things; it's terrible of them, but there's not much the rest of us can do about it. (This is just speculation, dunno if it's true or not).C A T U S E 05:57, June 30, 2012 (UTC)

I hate hearing Christians trying to preach as much as the next guy (feckin YouTube comments just show how irritating twelve year-old Christians can be) but... isn't it kind of the point in their religion to see people saved? You know, that does mean talking to people who aren't saved about religion? A lot of non-religious ignore Christianity (and other religions) without knowing anything. I am sure witnessing miracles that do happen would change their mind. ---Although I am well aware some Christians go about their message the wrong way.

However, you say this about Christians, and yet we have the atheists (or to put it better, the "anti-religion") who spout crap all the time. Do you know how annoying it is to hear someone say "oh wait, but Jesus never existed"? It shows just how uneducated people are on Christianity and history.

As for campaigning about abortion et al, isn't... that the idea? I don't know what it's like where you're from, but there are rules changing regarding abortions and gay's rights down here, and of course the church is making petitions against it. The church is a fraction of the country and therefore the fraction should be represented (the gay's rights has/had something to do with being married in a church. which I can understand being against since having a religious-leader perform a marriage to something that they simply do not accept doesn't make sense... and I don't know why two gays would want that anyway. But then I don't mind on the grounds that non-Christian couples are married in Churches anyway).

What's not cool is those of the Church spreading hate about these matters. I have seen things on TV where church-people have protested in public places about things and they just look like complete dicks. JBed 12:48, June 30, 2012 (UTC)

I agree on all these points. I just didn't have them in my list. The difference between militant Christians and militant atheists is that religion is an organizational structure that can be used like a political machine. Militant atheists at most have one or two complain about a Jesus statue somewhere and don't cause the same overall mayhem. Organized religion can easily decide elections, for example, because being a private organization, nothing stops them from trying to steer people to vote for a certain candidate. It was a couple months after Obama took office that everyone realized nothing was on fire and they stopped instituting prayers directed against him, and that was just in my parish, which isn't as conservative as some. Even religious service organizations ultimately put money toward spreading hate. While I'm still a Knight of Columbus, I haven't helped with any fundraising since I learned that a significant amount of money goes to anti-gay propaganda on top of charitable donations.

The difference between preaching to see people saved and going and modifying the law is that you can turn away someone going door-to-door, whereas changing laws that take away your rights is a long, costly process where you'll have to fight the people who put it in place tooth and nail. Case in point, my state, Wisconsin, has an amendment to the state Constitution banning not only gay marriage, but anything even remotely resembling it. This will need to be undone by millions of dollars in campaigning and holding as many referendums as it takes to get it repealed, which could take several election cycles, and could then just as easily be undone the next time around. Unless Federal law nullifies it, which will bring states' rights into question and cause a huge mess, it could easily last for lifetimes. Ultimately, gay marriage is not a religious matter; it's an economic one. Same-sex couples are fighting for legal rights that heterosexual couples take for granted, including inheritance rights, insurance benefits, and child custody. You don't need a religious marriage to receive these benefits.

When it comes to abortion, no one is forced to get one. Religious people already have all the right in the world to refuse medical care. For example, Prince is desperately in need of double hip replacements and could easily afford it, but doesn't, as Jehovah's Witnesses don't believe in blood transfusions. The same doesn't work the other way around. Conscientious objection laws have led to preventable loss of life when religious doctors have refused medical care based on their beliefs. These laws are already in place, so in cases where mothers would have survived if they'd been allowed to have an abortion, because a doctor refused to do so in honor of the life of the fetus, both lives were lost.

The issue with religiously-based laws isn't just the idea of legislating morality; it's that those morals cause harm to others. By all means, people of faith should preach their beliefs. They shouldn't, however, force them on others who disagree and would benefit from having the same rights as everyone else. Bluestarultor ^BSA 17:08, June 30, 2012 (UTC)

That's a pretty chilling answer. It always puzzles me how these people rationalise it. I'm no Jesus expert, but didn't he hang out with all them lepers and prostitutes, basically the outlier groups of his time? But that's not the example to follow for some reason. :pKeltainentoukokuu 20:12, June 30, 2012 (UTC)

As an atheist myself, I can say with confidence that there are just as many people who share my belief that are assholes as there are religious people are assholes. tl;dr, People are assholes. It's not just confined to religion or lack thereof. - +DeadlySlashSword+ 20:17, June 30, 2012 (UTC)

I won't disagree with you, but asshole atheists, as I said, aren't as well-organized and aren't passing laws that cause injury and death. Trust me, my former best friend is about the most asshole atheist I've ever met in person, and him getting that way is one of the reasons I want nothing to do with him anymore. On the other hand, he's not trying to pass laws intended to send society back to the stone age and wouldn't have a proper movement to join with other atheists if he wanted to, nor is he part of any organization telling him to vote for such measures. Asshole atheists in general are much more loosely-organized and tend to do their own thinking. Asshole Christians subscribe to "let Jesus think for you" while ignoring what Jesus most likely would have said on the matter because it's really (sometimes even corrupt, from personal experience) church leaders doing the deciding. Bluestarultor ^BSA 20:53, June 30, 2012 (UTC)

Where do you get the statistic of only 30% of gamers are women? The Essential Facts About the Computer and Video Game Industry 2011 report lists the gender breakdown of gamers as 42% women, 58% men. Sure, that's not 50/50, but still much smaller difference than what you listed.

Here's a link to the report if you wanna look.Keltainentoukokuu 21:22, June 30, 2012 (UTC)EDIT:Lol should look what I post. I just don't think there is so big a difference in actual numbers, but gamer culture (and "nerd culture" in general) is definitely pretty male, and men and women do play different games. But that's cool right, isn't there also a difference in what music and books and movies women and men like (in a broad sense).Keltainentoukokuu 21:25, June 30, 2012 (UTC)

That report makes no distinction between casual and hardcore gamers. I've seen other reports that, when casual gaming is reported separately, shows that 30% statistic in hardcore gaming, which is mostly what my topic was on, although I didn't explicitly state it. If you go for people who play Bejeweled and such, then yes. If we're looking at things with a cast and characters, it's less. ;) Bluestarultor ^BSA 14:57, July 1, 2012 (UTC)

Hey Bejeweled is great! ;) What about Mirror's Edge and Portal and those kinda games, you think they're good examples of games that would appeal to wider audiences? I wouldn't count Mass Effect or Skyrim as hardcore games just...games, but I think I get what you mean. There are the free games you can play in Facebook and wherever and little games you can download to your phone, but then if someone plays Angry Birds mega competitively, then a "hardcore" Angry Birds community could exist, couldn't it. Or a hardcore Bejewelled tournament. ;) It's more about how you play it than the game, maybe, although there are games not too many people play casually.Keltainentoukokuu 16:59, July 1, 2012 (UTC)

"Hardcore" in this sense meaning "not casual games." Things like shooters, RPGs, etc. Angry Birds is crazy fun, but it's not exactly FF or God of War. That's the problem I'm addressing is there's no definitive hardcore titles for a female audience. Bluestarultor ^BSA 17:52, July 1, 2012 (UTC)

Sims? Too casual? What kinda game would you make? This is an interesting idea to me! Making the lead a well-written female is not enough, because that's not really the problem (the male leads are not well-written characters either and this doesn't stop men from playing these games). A sandbox game maybe... Minecraft big at all with women? I think what may put women off most traditional big game titles is not that there isn't a character to identify with (women players can identify with male playable characters just fine), but that they are competitive games, especially competitive multiplayer games are not so big with women (people kinda act like dicks if they learn you're a girl too). High scores, kill ratios, achievements and trophies, farm for hours to get this item...not maybe seen as motivating. To get into Mass Effect or Skyrim you kinda have to be into the whole shoot aliens/kill dragons thing; although the games do go deeper than that, but you still have to be into the premise to find the idea of the game appealing the first place.Keltainentoukokuu 18:18, July 1, 2012 (UTC)

Being honest, I had a portion musing on that in there, but cut it to try to get the length down. The truth is that I'd have no idea where to start to target a female audience. Being a guy, and making things I'd like to see, I fall into the same trap as everyone else when it comes to my audience. I honestly do think better writing, especially of female characters, would be a good testing point, though. This isn't to say I can't write female characters (I can, and multiple women have complemented me on it in the past), just that I don't think that alone is really enough. Whatever game type in the hardcore market it needs to be, it needs to have a good female lead, preferably good writing all around, and a story and goal that really hits home for a female audience. Bluestarultor ^BSA 00:13, July 2, 2012 (UTC)

That's a very good and honest answer. I think we'll see more women in the video game industry, on the developer side, in the future. Last year I played this one game a 21-year-old woman had made by herself in a month for like..."make a game in a month" challenge that I thought...for what it was...was very good. It got some "best writing in a video game" award in a British newspaper (Telegraph) that's how I heard about it. I was surprised to see in her blog's comments that a lot of men had played it and liked it, although it seemed pretty out of their comfort zone. The main character of her story was a divorced man in a mid-life crisis, and then there were bunch of other characters, males and females in equal numbers, but all of them were written well. Last I saw she was still developing games independently, and had put some games for sale, so...that's pretty awesome really.Keltainentoukokuu 03:55, July 2, 2012 (UTC)

Thanks[]

Hello, Bluestarultor! I am Yuna467, and it is very nice to meet you! Thank you for getting rid of that questionable message on my talk page. I have not clicked on that link, and I don't really know what that was all about. Hope to talk to you later! 15px|Special:Contributions/Yuna467 Yunie  X  18:08, July 11, 2012 (UTC)

Well, that sure was odd. Normally the IP is an OK guy (see User talk:Catuse167#It's Official or User talk:Emperor Mateus for an example) so I dunno why he spammed Yunie's talk page like that. Huh. C A T U S E 18:17, July 11, 2012 (UTC)

IP isn't always the best identifier, since anyone in the same house can share it. And anon users have shown erratic behavior in the past. I monitor any IP unless it's JBed, since I recognize his. Bluestarultor ^BSA 16:46, July 12, 2012 (UTC)

Charity Event[]

Do you need me to write anything about the charity event or need me to do anything else? --Adambendell (talk) 22:01, July 20, 2012 (UTC)

I would just like to thank you for all the help you have done for me and the charity. --Adambendell (talk) 12:37, July 22, 2012 (UTC)

Thank you again, may I ask what you have put in the message, and as a token of our gratitude you may chose a character to be named after. --Adambendell (talk) 16:34, July 22, 2012 (UTC)

Perhaps adding the time when the event will start (10AM BST which is 9am UTC i think) and maybe adding two streams at once? --Adambendell (talk) 18:23, July 22, 2012 (UTC)

Another way to word it could be that we are playing the console games as we aren't playing revenant wings, but then again it's getting wordy then. Good work! Thank you so much! --Adambendell (talk) 18:46, July 22, 2012 (UTC)

Can you think of anywhere else that I could advertise? I'm just thinking of where else to advertise. --Adambendell (talk) 21:53, July 23, 2012 (UTC)

Bot Feature[]

The bot's "FFWiki <topic>" search is neat, but there's a slight problem. The old MasterTonberry had a prompt where "FFWiki" described the users, and now when we say "GF FFWiki" it does that, but then saying something after prompts an unwanted search. Not sure how much trouble it would be to fix. My idea off the top of my head is to change the prompt for the search function, but you're the coder, you know better than I. Doreiku Kuroofangu 06:23, July 23, 2012 (UTC)

It uses the standard wikimedia search, i.e. a page search. If you want to search users, just use the "User:" prefix. I'm not familiar with the old functionality and not familiar enough with Python at this point to make it, I'm sure. Basically, it's working as designed and changes to the bot have basically been halted. Sorry. Bluestarultor ^BSA 02:46, July 24, 2012 (UTC)

Oh well I guess then. We'll adapt. Doreiku Kuroofangu 02:59, July 24, 2012 (UTC)

Interesting[]

I know that your rant was a while ago, but I saw something, and I thought it would amuse you. Have a nice day! ^-^ - Tidus357 01:45, August 16, 2012 (UTC)

Final Fantasy Dimensions[]

On your rant, you remark about how the Freelancer being the most powerful class hasn't been done in a while, but I figured I'd mention that Final Fantasy Dimensions for iOS, which appears to be one big homage to the older series, appears to use a system nearly identical to FFV's, so I'd expect that FFD is also going to have similar freelancers as well. In addition, while I can't say for certain due to lacking the game proper, there's this image, which displays "Jobless" jobs that can equip all weapons and armor, which strongly implies it will have later utility in the game as well, and how else are they going to do that? Jimcloud 03:13, August 19, 2012 (UTC)

If it turns out that way, it only proves that we're digging into the past for things we want in the present, which is totally in the scope of my point. ;) Bluestarultor ^BSA 13:33, August 19, 2012 (UTC)

Re: Welcome[]

Thanks a lot! ^^ soxra (talk) 19:15, August 28, 2012 (UTC)

Writing[]

Very interesting read, I particularly liked the point about static characters. Development is fine, but as you say, a character doesn't have to learn some morals like a fairy tale to be a good character. And yeah, MIB, J is mentioned in the third film to have been at the job for over a decade, and he still acts like a rookie. Of course it's Will Smith in a comedy action hero role, J has to be a certain way, lol, but he should straighten up a bit after all this time.

Also not to be a whore, but I'm wondering how you'd apply your insights on writing stylings and such to my fanfic, but if you've not read it yet, don't just to answer me, it's a doorstopper ;p Doreiku Kuroofangu 22:18, September 23, 2012 (UTC)

Gay Marriage[]

Just wanted to give my 2 cents since I think it's an interesting issue. Personally, I oppose gay marriage/unions on the grounds that children should generally live in a stable, traditional family. Obviously it's debatable if having two daddies is actually a bad thing, but it's what I believe. At the same time, I think any federal law addressing gay marriage/unions (like DOMA) is unconstitutional, as it's really a state issue.

Oh, and full disclosure: I'm a celibate gay conservative nonreligious guy (formerly Catholic). Sometimes I can't tell if whether being conservative or gay is more controversial, and both of those together would shock most people :p. I don't really tell people that I'm gay, except for my parents. In my view, it's not worth complicating things with the people I talk with at high school, and I'm comfortable with my own identity anyways.

Kinda feel like I'm attention-whoring here, but I thought you might appreciate a unique (or weird) perspective on this :). -Shockstorm (talk) 17:39, October 7, 2012 (UTC)

If we want to be honest about it, the entire concept of a child with a traditional 2-parent family is itself a fallacy with divorce rates the way they are. I'm a straight guy and practicing Catholic, formerly fairly conservative until the GOP took a nose dive into a big bucket of Insanicrazy™. I also have a useless father who moved to the other side of the country when I was seven after seeing him every other weekend after my parents divorced when I was five. At this point, he's remarried and now having regrets because we're out of his life, planning to come this spring because it's been three years since we've seen him. My mom raised Helix and I pretty much single-handedly and we turned out fine. Any issues with having gay parents are the same issues faced by kids with divorced parents prior to it becoming normal. Divorce is now seen as acceptable and divorced kids no longer face the discrimination they used to. Likewise, once society sorts itself out, kids with gay parents won't need to worry about hatred being slung around. There are bonuses to having a stable traditional household and denying this would be ignoring a significant amount of scientific study. On the other hand, the assumption that only a stable heteronormative family structure is the only other option is a fantasy.

As for stability, a lot of kids grow up in very UNstable traditional families and ultimately end up worse off than if their parents would just split. Kids raised by single parents get a lot more support than kids with conflict in the house because the parents can focus their attention on things other than fighting. There's zero evidence to say, bullying potential aside, that a kid raised in a household with two gay parents is any better or worse off than a kid raised by just one, gay or not. They don't receive the same perks as a kid with a traditionally "normal" family, but it's the support that counts in its absence.

As for it being a state issue, it's no more a state issue than any other matter of civil rights. Blacks and women fought tooth and nail for federal protection and there's no reason gays don't deserve the same. The minute you make a civil rights issue a state issue is the minute you get the see some of the ugliest parts of humanity on display. Think of what blacks' rights would look like today if the federal government hadn't intervened. We'd still have slavery or something darn close to it. Even with federal law protecting them, they face discrimination and prejudice. If you leave it to each state to decide, as it stands now, you have, I cannot stress this enough, thirteen states that allow bestiality and only six, HALF that, which allow gay marriage. If there's not something horribly wrong with that, I don't know what would fit the definition, since we're less ready to support consensual love than animal abuse. Pardon me for dragging that up again, because I know it's INCREDIBLY crude, but this is pretty much equally disgusting from both sides in my opinion.

I actually took a break from typing this to cool off, came back, and got all aggravated again, which is not something I normally allow myself to post, but the fact of the matter is if we don't want gay rights protected, and it's NOT just about marriage, but all the legal, medical, visitation, inheritance, and financial rights that come with it, we should start taking away rights from other people, such as making divorce illegal again, outright dumping all the marriage benefits, or other things, and see how badly straight people react when they have their comfy lives completely upended by the corporations that our laws are protecting them from. Bluestarultor ^BSA 22:00, October 7, 2012 (UTC)

Whenever I hear religious people talk about gay marriage it really irks me. Modern day marriage is legal marriage. You don't have to be part of a religion that believes in the coming together of two people to be legally married.

So what's the problem with letting people marry? I don't get it. Religion has nothing to do with it. And that's what most stuck-up religious people (and only based on what I hear, a load of US Republicans) never seem to get. 79.69.204.141 22:21, October 7, 2012 (UTC)

A load of US Republicans either are or pander to stuck-up religious people. Normal sane human beings can't justify voting for most of them anymore. For that matter, marriage in the Bible was also legal marriage - specifically a business contract between a man and a woman's father, where the man agreed to buy the woman with his dowry. Also, the "between one man and one woman" thing is laughable, because it was also defined as between one man and many women, an invading soldier and any woman he raped, and a few others I don't remember off the top of my head.

The real issue is an uninformed religious body who believe what they're told to believe, which is whatever the Church wants them to believe whether it's in the Bible or not or even if it contradicts the Bible. These people are, in my experience, told how to vote in various degrees of subtlety, ranging from passive-aggressive speeches to outright being deprived of sacraments, which is akin to a police officer taking away your license and telling you to drive home if you don't do what he says.

Basically, while I haven't lost faith in God, I've pretty well lost faith in his people. Bluestarultor ^BSA 23:59, October 7, 2012 (UTC)

Halloween Logo[]

Comments are appreciated. :) Doreiku Kuroofangu 03:54, October 14, 2012 (UTC)

Please comment on a potential redesign for Halloween to get publicity from Wikia. Doreiku Kuroofangu 01:59, October 16, 2012 (UTC)

CSS Help on Short Notice[]

Drop me a line please when you get this message. Doreiku Kuroofangu 01:43, October 16, 2012 (UTC)

IMPORTANT - New IRC Channel[]

Due to Freenode's rules, the wiki has moved to #Wikia-FF, so the bots need to be moved appropriately. Doreiku Kuroofangu 02:55, November 4, 2012 (UTC)

Bots[]

I'm not sure what's going on at your end, but the bots are almost never on the chat anymore, do you think you could fix them, please? Doreiku Kuroofangu 16:08, December 19, 2012 (UTC)

EDIT - Sorry, didn't see the message at the bottom. :p Well, not sure how old it is, but the problems still occur. Doreiku Kuroofangu 16:09, December 19, 2012 (UTC)

Charter has been having problems in my area recently. Unfortunately, with all the snow and other factors keeping me in my emergency apartment 50 miles away, I haven't been able to check up on them and restart them like I normally would, and Helix doesn't check them.

Also, it being a public machine, I have no guarantee one of his friends isn't just closing them out for some reason. :( Bluestarultor ^BSA 15:29, December 22, 2012 (UTC)

Your fake cartridge[]

Wow, I feel for you. I've bought a good amount of games from Ebay, but my Animal Crossing: Wild World cartridge turned out to be counterfeit; it tells me it's the Acorn Festival in May, crashes sporadically and plays the town town every ten minutes, as well as randomly bringing up events and ending them a minute later. Works well otherwise, but I just stopped going on it as it annoyed me, and the guy who sold it to me had his account closed for fraud. Looks like we all get it bad sometimes, huh. Tia-Lewise 19:58, February 2, 2013 (UTC)

The worst part is if I'd checked feedback, I may have seen at least some of the other people calling out the fakes. But I figured a relatively new seller with an 84% rating selling a product at around market price was safe and jumped on the listing before it was snapped up. Hopefully they get enough complaints to be banned. Bluestarultor ^BSA 23:36, February 2, 2013 (UTC)

'MERICA[]

Being referred to as America is dumb, just as South Africa being a country is also, but less so for South Africa because at least South Africa indicates a part of Africa, while "America" is in America, and a sub-division of the content known as "North America". America can't be in North America.

America is the landmass containing North America and South America. Not "the Americas", that only makes sense when you are referring specifically to both continents, or if you are trying to use a term to avoid confusion with a country that has stolen the name. For there to be a north and south of something, it has to be one thing. Not two things.

It's not logical. The only reason you have any right to call yourself America is for legacy reason (it is now, has been for a long time, and would be impossible to change). JBed (talk) 22:40, March 17, 2013 (UTC)

Illogical? I find referring to two things in the singular to be illogical. It's generally accepted that North and South America are two separate continents, which I believe I highlighted in my first point. Anyway, I put it out as a public service announcement outlining the basic logic of it since the rest of the world just doesn't seem to get it. If the rest of the world is too stuck in its own thought process to open their minds to mine, I'm sorry, but there's not much more I can say. Bluestarultor ^BSA 00:06, March 18, 2013 (UTC)

It's not referring to two things. It's referring to one thing. North America is the north of America, South America is the south of America. if the north of America was called "Gary", and the south called "Dave", "America" wouldn't be so invalid, so why should it be because you weren't people weren't as imaginative with the names?

Not many times is there a reason to refer to both parts of America as one, but that doesn't mean it makes any more sense for America to be in North America, the north of America.

I accept there may be historic reasons, but I look at the now and I say it's illogical. I personally don't actively complain, but I don't think it's something worth defending. JBed (talk) 00:31, March 18, 2013 (UTC)

I don't think you have a right to dictate what I do and don't defend, first off. By challenging my defense, you're only causing me to defend it further, directly to you, which I think defeats your goals. Second, please refer to any primary school history book for a continent count. Thirdly, a name of a country doesn't have to make sense based on continent, or else we'll have to rename 195 of the 196 currently extant. On your point below, context is subjective. If one is already in New York state, then saying "I'm going to New York" clearly means the city. If one is in another location, the state or city meaning can be gleaned from context within the conversation and clarified. In sum, the world does not need to bow to your pedantry. Bluestarultor ^BSA 00:46, March 18, 2013 (UTC)

I've been thinking more about the "the Americas" thing. And I thought that maybe I agree with you, it's the north America, and the south America-- they are Americas and the land with both of them on can be referred to as such. Although the more I thought, the more I thought that doesn't make sense. If the definition for an America is a continent on the landmass that North and South America is on... the term "America" had to originally derive from somewhere. And where does Central America come into this? It's not a continent, but its name refers to a specific part of the Americas-- the centre. So are there 3? It would make a lot more sense if the landmass containing North and South America were just "America", as I imagine it was originally for the names of the North and South to derive from it. You make a comment about Afro-Eurasia in your rant. Yes, you could call the landmass containing these continents Afro-Eurasia or whatever name variation there is if you want. This was never in question, but there is rarely a time where you have to refer to the entire landmass. "If you get to call them both "America"" -- that's not what's going on, it's about referring to them both collectively together

Not that this even matters, America being in America or America being in an America doesn't change my argument.

"Thirdly, a name of a country doesn't have to make sense based on continent, or else we'll have to rename 195 of the 196 currently extant."

How did you come to that? America being in an America isn't logical. Canada being in America isn't not logical.

"If one is already in New York state, then saying "I'm going to New York" clearly means the city. If one is in another location, the state or city meaning can be gleaned from context within the conversation and clarified."

Firstly, yes. Secondly, yes. But that misunderstands the problem. Is there always a scenario where clarification can be made? Or easily. If New York City had a different name, or simply was never referred to as "New York", then conversations would have no problem. If someone tells me they are going to New York, I should assume they are going to the state, and various places within it. If someone tells me they are going to New York City, then I know its specifically that city. But because NYC is often referred to as "New York", whenever someone says "New York" there is always immediate misunderstanding.

I don't think it's worth defending because this entire argument has never been about history and valid reasons for how the USA has come to be known. This is not me vs. USA, this is me vs. ease-of-use of the English language. If NYC was never referred to as "New York", things would be easier. There's no doubt about that. And that's what this is about. Things being easier and making more sense. Bowing down to my pedantry? I am arguing that the USA being known as "America" and its inhabitants as "Americans" when it is a country in America/an America could stand to be less confusing. I'm not saying people should call it something different-- as much as people may opt for "United States" for the country, there is simply no alternative to "American". I'm arguing that it isn't logical, and does make things needlessly confusing. Arguing why it's called that doesn't matter to me, its criticisms from a language POV are no less valid. JBed (talk) 15:30, March 18, 2013 (UTC)

JBed, I think we can call ourselves whatever the fuck we want. How can you guys call yourselves "English" when people speak that language all over the world? --BlueHighwindツ 00:08, March 18, 2013 (UTC)

Because there is an easy differentiation between a people of a place, and a language, and this differentiation doesn't usually need to be made specifically but can be understood through context. I am English. I speak English. They are different, and you understand through context. People calling "New York City" just "New York" is also illogical. The name of a place being the same as the name of a place it is in completely screws with context. We have a similar problem where I live. I live in Kempston in Bedfordshire (sometimes called just "Bedford"), except some people say "Kempston is in Bedford", when Bedford is also the name of a town next to Kempston, and I don't know the context because it's not stated and how can Bedford be in Bedford afzxvasf. That's illogical. JBed (talk) 00:31, March 18, 2013 (UTC)

Bugenhagen[]

When you say confirmed, how so? [1]. JBed (talk) 02:23, April 20, 2013 (UTC)

As in I mentioned it to him, saying I didn't know if it was true, and he remembered having seen it. If it's wrong, then Red's article also needs to be fixed, because that's where I first heard about it. Red never leaves my party, so I'd never know. Bluestarultor ^BSA 04:15, April 20, 2013 (UTC)

Actually, I call bull. Anon IP put it there. Over 50 edits ago. Removed it from Red's page as well. Makes me ashamed that nobody removed it. Anything related to Red is personal. I know that's unprofessional, but I'm allowed to be annoyed. >:/ Bluestarultor ^BSA 04:24, April 20, 2013 (UTC)

XBox Bones Again[]

Since you've perfectly dissected the reasons this console is a joke, here's another for the pile. If you move to another country you'd have to buy a new XBone, and if it isn't sold in your country you cannot import it.

...do you think they're trying to alienate their potential customerbase into not buying it? Drake Clawfang (talk) 03:09, June 13, 2013 (UTC)

Latest rant[]

I just want to say (and not for the first time, I must admit) that while I'm generally ambivalent at best about religion and, truth be told, don't usually have a lot of patience for Catholicism, you are really a very good example of a person who I can outright respect the religious attitude of. Honestly, I really do wish more people had the common sense and decency you've displayed in this and previous related rants.

I'm also surprised, quite pleasantly so, to be able to say that I'm cautiously optimistic about Pope Francis. He seems like he might actually be in touch with reality -- Sorceror Nobody  18:18, September 23, 2013 (UTC)

I do admire his focus on putting the money where it's needed. His will be a modest papacy, since he's diverting funds to charity instead of Bedazzling everything like Benedict did. Benedict put a heavy focus on asserting the power and authority of the Church, where Francis is much more focused on the people.

He's smart and realizes redoubling their efforts to hard-line social issues isn't working in an increasingly liberal world. It's for that reason I was so disgusted my bishop took such a Reactionary stance. Believe it or not, the Catholic Church used to have much looser stances on things, such as defining life starting several weeks after conception rather than at the very moment, which was a much more scientific approach. The problem was overall people took better to simpler answers because an unfortunate portion of religious people think what they're told to think and humans just deal best in black and white extremes. This isn't to say Francis doesn't share those views; he does and has expressed as much clearly. He just has his priorities straight when it comes to surviving in a changing social climate.

It's good that he recognizes the Church needs to evolve or die. It's unfortunate that the middle management doesn't all understand that and ultimately have most of the power in the decision of what happens at the local level. Unless an edict is issued, which it won't be, things ultimately aren't going to change much. Bluestarultor ^BSA 00:27, September 24, 2013 (UTC)

Walkthrough deletions[]

We're currently going through and deleting incomplete walkthroughs on the wiki, and weren't sure if you were going to finish yours. Your walkthrough won't be deleted if either a) you edit within a week or b) it's moved to userspace. Thanks, C A T U S E 05:34, November 26, 2013 (UTC)

Rant[]

Do you know, I always read your rants. They do interest me. And your most recent one really is relatable and inspiring. As a younger girl I always struggled with my identity somewhat due to all the teasing I got through my love of video games. I'm now rather an avid collector of FF merch, my love of gaming still undiminished, and it's only in the last few years that I've found a circle that actually accept and embrace the geekiness that's now incredibly appealing to more people than I originally thought.

Thanks for writing all you do. Tia-Lewise 22:10, December 25, 2013 (UTC)

Technology Question[]

If there's a simple answer, what would you recommend as the most efficient and reliable anti-virus program? Drake Clawfang (talk) 04:36, July 30, 2014 (UTC)

Ive relied on AVG for years. They're consistently in the top 5, although not always the #1. They'll try to push their paid product, but the Free Edition is all I've ever used. Back it up with Malwarebytes Free Edition for emergencies. Bluestarultor ^BSA 18:24, August 3, 2014 (UTC)

Console button stuff[]

		16:33, October 11, 2014 (UTC) Technobliterator Talk
		Hey there, I just saw you uploading PS4 images and categorizing. It's been a while since I discussed it (had a few other projects since and forgot about it...) but I thought I'd point you to this, to see if I could get your input/if you were interested in helping out. :)

		Bluestarultor - Blue Psychic Best-of Stellar Arena TALK - 17:12, October 11, 2014 (UTC)
		I was actually the creator of all that stuff and did notice the other template. I was going to finish uploading the rest of them for our use in the coming week since I'm on vacation. I'd also be happy to help build the other templates. I was also going to look into what was done with the left and right sticks. Mind if I switch those out?

		17:26, October 11, 2014 (UTC) Technobliterator Talk
		Ahh, I see. Would appreciate the help for sure. And yeah, sure thing, you can switch them out.

Button template[]

		18:30, November 5, 2015 (UTC) Technobliterator Talk
		Hey there, Bluesy, just popping in to let you know about Template:Button. This is basically a template that combines all the button templates into one. All the data for this is stored on Module:Button/data, while Module:Button processes it. Was just wondering if you had any input, or if you saw anything missing? Also, any chance you can add things such as the new PS4 Options and Touchpad? Thanks!

		Bluestarultor - Resident coding admin. TALK - 01:58, November 22, 2015 (UTC)
		Well, aside from the fact it appears all of the templates I created to make it easier for new users to access the button images with alt text have been deleted, it appears the new template also fails to provide the alt text, which is kind of the other half of the reason I did it all that way. It was so e-readers could read the page. I'm a bit miffed that all those hours of work has been undone (seriously, I spent entire days doing all of that), but to be frank, I edit so little and am so out of the loop that something like this was bound to happen. If the rest of the admin staff agrees this is the way to go, I'm not going to argue.

The alt text is there, it's only the title text that is absent (although it isn't difficult to re-add). JBed (talk) 02:07, November 22, 2015 (UTC)

I want to apologize for my reaction. I know it wasn't really explosive or anything, but I overreacted. The new templates aren't hard to use and everything was even switched over on my personal pages, which is more than I could have asked for. The truth is I AM out of the loop and it took me nearly a month to find the message, on a totally different wiki no less. I'm not around as much as I think I am, and to come back to find a change to something challenged that. It was also frustrating that people didn't see the logic of why I did it how I did, but to be frank, people already let me know that back when I made them. They were a mess, but they were a mess that was easy for new users to find and utilize, and I understand the logic of cleaning them all up, even if I disagree with losing that aspect. There were a lot of factors that contributed to my reply, but I still need to learn to step back before I drink that kind of cocktail and end up saying things I regret like now. I've gotten better, but still not perfect. :J Bluestarultor ^BSA 05:10, November 26, 2015 (UTC)

Hey, no worries - I probably would've done the same if it were me, really. I messaged you here because you were out of the loop, figuring since it was basically your project, you ought to know what was going on, and maybe help out. However, I wasn't sure how long it would be before you'd reply, and everyone I spoke to just told me to go ahead and make the change, so that's why I did before you got back.

Anyways, to explain why we went with the new way: with the new Lua tables, it's faster to load the button templates when multiple are used on a page. Unifying it under one means users only need to go to one page - Template:Button - to learn the syntax for all of them, rather than the category. I know I myself sometimes had to double-check what the templates' names were (and I remember working on the Debug Room page with Tia where I had to remind her to use the templates at all :P), so I thought this would make things easier for users overall.-- Technobliterator ^T_C 10:13, November 26, 2015 (UTC)

Vandalism[]

Hello!! This user was triggering the Fandom vandalism bot: Special:Contributions/Aagagagagagagagaggagaga and it appears to be a throwaway account just meant for vandalism. I have already reverted the edits, but wanted to let you know nonetheless. Zacatero 14:43, 7 September 2020 (UTC)

Admin+[]

Hey there! I’m reaching out to introduce the Admin+ program (if you haven’t heard about it already!) & let you know I’m here if you have any questions about it. Take a look at the details here & feel free to send over any questions you have. pikushi ✧.* 14:36, 1 September 2023 (UTC)