KChan

This is a very well-thought-out theory, so props to you, Weiry. I think your theory is quite plausible. That said, I don't think the two schools of thought are inherently mutually exclusive. Take your analogy of the stained glass window: the pieces are united into a whole, just not the way they once were. In the end, the difference is in what form the finished product will take: the stained glass window, or the pristine sheet of glass. Yes, Ruin and Preservation have intermingled, but that didn't happen instantly. It's been centuries in Cosmere Time since Sazed took them up, and we have no idea how long it took for them to reach their quasi-fused state, nor do we know if they're finished with the process or still undergoing it. Therefore, I believe that if someone were to take up all sixteen Shards, the initial result would be the stained glass window. However, over time, and potentially depending on the individual who took them up in the first place, we might wind up with the sheet of glass. It would just take a while, to say the least.

Mistborn/Windrunner Flashlight Tag, Pewterarm Parkour (not really a game unless you make it into a contest/race, but still a fun hobby either way), and Trivial Pursuit for Keepers are among the first things that popped into my head. Apparently I like making up insane things.

Brandon is really good about making sure vital information gets into the book when and where it needs to. If he has to cut any particular scenes, he obviously won't choose the ones that are vital, and I have every faith that he'll give the readers what we need to know however he can. For example, if he has to cut a scene that only contained one or two important snippets of information, he might be able to work them into a different scene, making the whole narrative stronger. As for the deleted scenes themselves, I'm in the "post it on the website" camp. That would be easier for everyone involved. Plus, there are also the annotations, where Brandon talks about a lot of cool stuff that either wasn't vital enough to make its way into the final product, or that we might have missed on our own. I imagine we'll get plenty of cool stuff with those, and they would be an ideal way to talk about what got cut when, and why.

Grats! I hope you enjoy it. I was going to add that the wait list for Dragonsteel is incredibly long, but I think your post illustrates that point quite nicely. If anyone is interested in checking it out, your best bet is to just go to your local library and ask.

Anyone who has lived in Florida must, by definition, include air conditioning on this list. It doesn't have to occupy the top spot, but anyone who doesn't put AC in the top 10 is forcibly removed from the state.

I'm glad to see your concerns were addressed, Yados. As for downvotes alerting the staff, no, we don't get emailed every time someone gets a downvote - however, imagine that I'm posting somewhere on the forums and I see, somewhere, somebody posting who has a significant amount of negative rep. This is a warning sign to me that: Either someone might be abusing the rep system, or The person in question might be behaving in such a way as to potentially warrant a particular brand of attention from the staff. From there, I can look at the person's downvoted posts, and if necessary, discuss an appropriate course of action with my fellow staff. In that way, the downvote system can work as a sort of community policing system, when used appropriately - such as downvoting rude, inflammatory posts, etc. I hope that makes sense to you guys. EDIT: As for the new way of showing rep, unfortunately, that's just how the upgrade affected the rep system. I would have liked to keep the old system as well, but unfortunately, we can't. Sorry; I'm right there with you guys on this one.

I also had to deal with angry parents when I was a teacher, angry customers when I worked in food service, and handle all sorts of feedback from my co-workers. Have you ever had to tell an angry parent why another kid bit their kid so hard it broke the skin, and explain to them why you can't tell them which kid it was? Have you ever had a customer tell you they wanted the wrong thing, only for you to get in trouble when the kitchen made what they technically asked for but didn't actually want? Yes, that makes arbitrary reputation numbers less of a big deal to me. But I still had to deal with these very real, often harsh, forms of negative feedback. And deal with them I did. I sucked it up, learned what I could from them, and moved on with my life. Because that's what you do when you get negative feedback, regardless of where it's from. You say that the majority of your social interaction is here on the site, so we should watch where we downvote, but just remember that there are a lot of us who have to deal with far, far worse. A lot of people would consider you lucky that this is the worst you have to deal with.

We're illustrating a point! PM downvoted me, I got over it, we laughed and joked about it, and we've all moved on with our lives. It's a demonstration of how the vast majority of the forum appears to handle being downvoted, and an illustration of why we think the rep system is fine as it is. See? It totally works! And you guys just thought we were going off topic!

This is true. First, because of the cockroaches themselves (and palmetto bugs, which are basically cockroaches that can fly), second, because so many people down here have tiny yappy dogs that attack people's ankles, and third, we are THE most professional admins around. Totally.

Mm, S'more! NOW I feel the love! <3 And c'mon, Florida isn't THAT bad. The hurricanes keep things nice and cool in the summer, what with all that rain.

Jeeze, I hand out welcome cookies to people and when it's my turn to be welcomed, I get arson? Seriously guys, where's the love?

And is my life coming to a screeching halt? Is my house burning down? Am I tracing your IP address so I can break in to your house and smash your computer? No, because at the end of the day, it's pixels on a screen. See, guys? Downvotes aren't that bad. It's okay. They happen.

The other admins have summed up my feelings on the rep system very well, so I won't even be getting into that. I feel that it's fine the way it is, and so does what appears to be most of the site. I can remember one, MAYBE two times off the top of my head where someone has been caught abusing the rep system, and those issues were quickly and appropriately dealt with behind the scenes. You guys didn't see it displayed on the front page of the site, because that's not how we do things around here. We believe in dignity and privacy, and don't air others' dirty laundry in public. That's just not cool. Satsuoni: Do you really think the admins are so petty as to pursue those who downvote us and exact our revenge? Yes, we have certain permissions on the forum that no one else does. We can see information that no one else does. Having access to that information has allowed us to ban spam accounts, catch people attempting to scam the site or abuse the reputation system, and get rid of useless multiple accounts. Not once have we taken advantage of the information we have access to, because that's seriously not cool. We take people's privacy and our responsibility as admins seriously, even though we like to goof off and act silly. That's one of the core parts of being an admin in the first place, and I find it hard to believe that anyone would think Rubix and FRR, as the founders of this site, would choose anyone as co-admins who don't understand that. Or you could think of it this way: you trust your bank, your employer, your doctor, and any number of other people with your social security number, the single most important piece of identification someone can have (at least if you live in the United States). I think you can trust a few of us to handle imaginary numbers handed out over the internet. The thing that gets me the most, honestly, is that I've been back on the site for less than a week and I've seen more drama over the existence of the rep system in these few days than I've seen issues with people abusing the rep system in my entire time on the site. Seeing as how I was one of the first registered members ever, that's saying something. And it's been, for the most part, the same people involved in the rep debate. Everyone else seems mostly content with the system, at least judging by their lack of complaint. To me, that's more telling than anything else.

Ha, that actually happened to me too this year. Happy Birthday, Wilson! Hope you have a great one. :3

I have the opposite problem. It's not that I shout; I'm just very, very good at projecting my voice even when I speak normally. So much so, in fact, that I have to consciously focus on moderating my tone when I need to speak quietly, or else people can hear me from the other room and know who's talking. At least I don't have a problem making myself heard over a crowd?

I would like to announce that 17th Shard has the most professional staff ever. By far.

He was also being actively tormented by Ruin, which would do a number on one's mental state. I also think that in that situation, the last thing he would want to do is lose his identity as the man who did what he did to oppose Ruin in the first place. Besides, wavering between doubt and conviction isn't always good enough motivation to do something like forgetting yourself.

It's on our to-do list over on MBI (we're hosting it there as per Crafty's request). We'll let you know when things start happening. ^^ I will tell you though that we have a couple staff STs chosen, but will also be allowing other people to run their own campaigns. So if you're interested in STing a play-by-post campaign, start thinking about what you'd like to do!

I am completely and utterly useless at any kind of sports. I'm an active person, especially thanks to martial arts. I can knock my airshield holder three feet back with a kick, but attempting to run across a field or court will have me gasping and wheezing halfway through. Also, small children are my kryptonite. When I see them, I have to stop and smile and wave at them. No matter what.

Hey there! I'm so glad you made it! I'm KChan, one of your friendly neighborhood admins! I'm really glad you enjoyed reading through and learning everything, and I hope you have a blast uncovering the next great secrets of the Cosmere with us. Also, have a cookie! Man it's been forever since I gave these out...

Wow, this is exciting! Great find, and thanks for sharing! The article promises all sorts of cool info on Scadrial. Seeing as how the core rulebook has elements of Realmatic Theory built right into the design, I also can't wait to see if there are any Cosmere hints in the new material!

I'm not sure that the Lord Ruler was storing identity, at least not to the extent you claim. After all, he seemed pretty aware of who he was when Vin addressed him as Rashek. Let's also forget that he originally took power at the Well to keep Ruin from being released, and was actively working to keep his power suppressed. If he lost his identity as Rashek, wouldn't he lose the part of himself that made those choices? I'm not sure that's something he'd want to happen. However, if he were to compound his identity as the Lord Ruler, in addition to compounding his connection to the people as their god/ruler? Perhaps that's one of the reasons his force of personality seemed so far beyond that of a mortal man.

Huh, this seems pretty neat. At the very least, I'll be following TB and Jesse's videos on it, but they did sell me on Terraria, so I might end up buying this as well. Anyone up for some massive 17S game sessions?

I'm in the St. Pete area of Florida, which is part of the Tampa Bay Metropolitan Area (all the way east of Orlando, if you don't know where that is). I was born and raised here, and I love it. Any other Floridians reading this thread? I know I've seen you around!