GreyPilgrim

Finished Reaper's Gale, now making my way through Shadows Beneath. And using all the patience in my being to read the stories in the order presented. Meaning Sixth of the Dusk will be last.

maxal: I see where you're coming from regarding Kaladin still being mopey. But realize that this is only the very beginning of the book and that we are seeing him coming off of constantly using a large amount of Stormlight for a significant amount of time. That could easily account for his being more mopey. Investiture is in many ways like a drug. Now his "high" is over, causing him great fatigue. Therefore the way he is right now could well be a singular moment and he could progress as time goes on. I personally think that having more immediate motives and a hugely improved situation in life will help his moodiness significantly. Even though his place in the world was much better in WoR than in WoK, he was still quite oppressed and also was focused on longer term issues, such as organizing the Cobalt Guard and exploring his powers. Returning to Hearthstone to help the people should be a bit more immediate, and I bet Radiant things will in general improve his moodiness, despite what this scene portrays.

Weiry just posted it here a few posts above, under a spoiler tag.

There is a large part of me that wishes that this means Brandon is going to write this book next, but the rational part of me knows that he is doing Rithmatist 2 next (unless he has changed his mind). Still exciting, though!

You've figured it out, Maill! It all makes sense now!

I don't think being free with upvotes is abuse of the system. If that is what my post above conveyed, then I miswrote and am sorry. I simply have a different view of the purpose and use of the system than some others do. And that's fine. I only fear that the desire for reputation may supercede that for discussion. If rep is given away too freely, people may take a lack of upvotes on a post to mean that said post is of little or at least lesser value, and this is not conducive to discussion. We should not be posting just for the rep, but because we wish to contribute something to a conversation that we find interesting. The real issue is that there is a tough balance. Yes, upvotes are good and encouraging, especially to new members, but if we use them too much, they lose some of their value. I wonder if the new reputation system has something to do with this. Its being instated pretty much coincided with the burst of new members following the release of WoR. Several members (myself included) have made large amounts of posts since them, far more than many made any time before then. The new system has way more rep levels than the old one, and the transitions occur far more often. Now there is a drive to make more posts and get more upvotes to get to the higher levels, which are more easily attainable. So while this is still conducive to more discussion, we end up with people, whether they are consciously doing so or not, striving harder to gain more rep. But in the end, we will all use the rep system as we choose to, and as long as it is not overtly abusive of the system it is totally fine!

I agree with your observation, Leftinch. Newer users tend not to get upvoted nearly as much as the more experienced. There is definitely a point at which people seem to get almost and automatic upvote for every post. This is also a sort of misuse, IMHO. An upvote should be based only on the value of an individual post, not the reputation of the poster. Of course, those who have a lot of upvotes are also those who tend to make a lot of posts that people will upvote.

Warning: This is kind of a rant, a stream of consciousness. Reputation points have always fascinated me on this site, and frankly have annoyed me from time to time. On one hand, they are a great way to tell someone that a post is thoughtful or high-quality without having to make a post to say so. They also are a great way to tell how well-liked a poster is by the community. On the other hand, however, I fear they are somewhat misused now, handed out for the wrong reasons on occasion. Users like Swimmingly and Kobold certainly contribute something valuable to the community, and I agree with all that has been said about them in the past several posts. Frankly, the site has just changed drastically in the types of discussion made in the past several months. When I joined a little less than a year ago, the discussion was still mostly serious. There were also only about half of the current members (about 3500 of the current ~6000). Since then, the site's usage has increased drastically. This has brought with it an evolution of the site's demographics. There is now a more even mix of serious and silly people with their own distinct skills and traits. There has been a huge expansion of use of the RP and Social Groups sections with the introduction of Sanderson Elimination at the beginning of the year and the burst of factions created a couple months ago. There is also the WoR discussion board. People have sort of fallen into their respective niches on the site. There as some members who post nearly exclusively in the WoR board or in Sanderson Elimination or Social Groups. With this has come a different usage of rep points. All three of those boards are huge sources of rep. But these tend to be given to the sillier posts, especially in the Social Groups board. The same happens in General Discussion boards. The recent burst of membership has resulted in a lot of people making far more posts than in the past, mostly because there are more posts to respond to. That means there is a larger pool of posts to provide reputation for people. Somewhat sadly, I will often read through the silly threads, and every post seems to have at least 3 points, even if (pardon me) they are not that funny. Then I will read through a serious thread, a really great discussion, and there might be a few posts with an up vote or two, even though they are very well thought-out and thought-provoking. I don't know. I just find it somewhat sad. In all truth, I don't give out much rep; I'm not being stingy (at least not anymore; I was sort of competitive at first, but I have moved past that), I simply save the rep for the posts that show true wit or value. I am not reprimanding you if you are someone who maxes out your rep pool every day, I am just saying that I personally believe that rep should be saved for posts that clearly required significant time or thought or that do express true wit or humor. And another gripe I have that others have expressed before, please don't upvote posts that just quote another and say "This is a great post" or something like that; those posts are basically rep points put into words. No reason to upvote an upvote, you know? Unless, of course, that post has its own individual value. As and example of rep use, feel free to upvote this post if you wish. But I most likely would not upvote this as it is basically a stream of consciousness, that didn't require much thought on my part. Honestly, I kind of just stated a lot of random observations that I know you all know as well. I'm even questioning whether to post this or not, as I'm not sure it will really contribute to the discussion in a valuable. But alas I shall post anyway.

Well, they don't call it Events, Signings, and Stalking for nothing!

I have noticed that as well. Perhaps a pinned topic could be made in the hope that anyone with this confusion might see it before making a topic.

Well, this is the perfect storm! Wilson, since the reasons against me are outlined by you, I will address my response directly to you. True, I have been active without saying much. A lot of that is due to the fact that I check the game very often to keep up, but not when I have time to post. Not that that means much. About Day 3, though, that is a pretty weak correlation. I in fact only posted about the Dreamwalker message, to ask a question, and to say I would be inactive. I did not participate at all in the movement against Bela. All of those votes were after I was gone. And the only thing I had said against Bela that day (possible at all in the game) was the Dreamwalker message, and those were not my words. I will give you that about the PM. I should have responded to it, but I honestly kind of forgot about it and didn't feel the need to go directly to you, as I am in co tact with another member of the planning committee whom I trusted more than I did you at the time. About the Forsaken not acting on Day 1, that same argument works against anyone who was voted for Day 1. True, no one provided as much justification as you did, but I found your justifications rather weak at that point, and no one else voted for me so I imagine they felt the same. Now, I shouldn't be surprised it isn't looking good for me, as it is Day 4, and I always die Day 4, but I think this can still be avoided. I will go forward publically and state that I am a Regular Villager, most certainly not the Forsaken. Unfortunately, evidence has stacked up against me. But that is fairly unavoidable. Luckily for you, Wilson, I trust you now more than I ever have in this game. While your reasoning falls apart to me because I am innocent and know I am not the Forsaken, it is convincing for others. I am pretty sure you are innocent now. But I am sure that I am innocent. I am also not sure at all about Khamsi, so will be keeping my vote on her.

Grimlar was only really sure of one thing in this world. Well, really two. The first was that for some reason it was written in the Pattern like nothing else that he was to drink. Everyone had a purpose to fulfill in the Pattern, it was true. Waes was meant to make shoes; Khamsi produced music and strange foods called waffles; Jim Bob Dirt had been meant to sell dirt; Leas Fel was meant to fight. And Grimlar, well, he was meant to drink. He didn't know what greater purpose his drinking served, but clearly it was entirely inescapable for him. Would its reason show itself soon? Grimlar wasn't sure; he was only sure of two things. The second was that he was sure of the first thing of which he was sure. He supposed he maybe was sure of a third thing, and that was that he was sure of the second. But then wouldn't he be sure of three facts? Well, he figured, the number of things of which he was sure was alas not included in that list. So his perpetually drunken mind settled on being sure of only two things. Two truths, he could keep track of. Kept things simple. Therefore, Grimlar really wasn't sure where he had woken up this morning. He was pretty sure it had been among the ruins of the newly-rechristened Waffle House. But he couldn't be certain of that, of course. But was he certain he wasn't certain? Never mind that. The Creator had made other people to think, not Grimlar. The last few days had been brutal, that was sure, maybe. Only fifteen of the twenty five who had stayed to protect Drell's Crossing remained, and Grimlar was somehow among them. Light, but this was too much for him. Everyone accusing everyone else, he knew not what to think; not that he often did know, but still. And those strange messages being left by the so-called Dreamwalker? Few seemed to know what to make of them. However, Grimlar had been able to make out part of the message left within last night's chilling poem. A statement in the Old Tongue, reading "Inde sedai a'shadar mesain ye!", or, "No servant of Shadow am I!". A bold statement from the Dreamwalker indeed. Along with that message, Grimlar had been able to decipher another, less hidden one: "Death is lighter than a feather", part of the well-known phrase "Death is lighter than a feather, duty heavier than a mountain". Grimlar had alas been unable to decipher the final message hidden in the poem, an odd string of letters he found meaningless. It was a quiet day here in Drell's Crossing. One could feel the absence of so many good men and women like honey in the air. As one slugged through the streets, one felt as if he or she were pushing through think mud. A residue was left upon the soul, darkening everything, giving all a sense of dirtiness and dearth. It was nearly unbearable. And the storm had just begun, Grimlar feared. No Servants of Shadow had been rooted out yet. Drink had prevented him from much discussion the last couple days, but today he knew he needed to act now. Therefore, fining his way to a group of people desultorily slugging around, he declared, "Khamsi, I know you have done wondrous things with your invention of the waffle and saving the inn. I know you have been elected Mayor, for today at least; we of Drell's Crossing are a fickle people." The villagers gave Grimlar a strange look. Not the look they used to give him. No, this was a different look; Grimlar was fairly sure of that. Was this look a good look? He couldn't be sure. "However, I wonder about you, Khamsi. Nothing has seemed right about you this whole time. Bursting into town, dazzling us with your music, staying to defend. Then lifting our spirits, saying so much while saying nearly nothing at all. Then leading us in a vote, eventually killing an innocent. Yes, I am sure - somewhat - that people can be wrong. But it all simply does not add up to me. Of course, Creator knows my reasoning can be bad at times. I'm not saying I'm sure you're a Darkfriend; I'm only sure of two things, and my surety of that fact is not one of them. However, I would like to hear you defend yourself, as well as what others have to say about you. "But, most importantly, Khamsi, with the Waffle House gone, how am I going to get anything to drink?" Anyone who tends to skim over long RP posts, please pay attention to the green, where I translated some of the messages left by the Dreamwalker. I also provided my reasons for calling Khamsi out in Grimlar's speech following the red. They are not given exactly as they are in my mind, as they are altered to Grimlar's reasoning; however, you should be able to tell where I am coming from. I hope we can still get some public discussion going; it seems people have may settled more into PM groups, and while it is fine to discuss with those you trust more, we still need to discuss publically. Maybe it is just that many of those left are not as active players; regardless, let's keep talking in this thread.

Just want to let it be known now that my posting will be limited tomorrow and part of the following day, and also that I am too conflicted at the moment to put in a vote for today.

Glad you can now truly join the Cosmere Fandom! Your life is taking a wonderful turn with this book!

What makes you think you have the right to speak on our behalf, Kobold? Just because you have christened yourself king does not force us to follow you! But seriously, welcome, ProfessorW! What are your favorite Sanderson books?

Well, the weird thing with Dalinar getting an Honorblade would be the double Radiant powers, unless of course he gets Ishar's Honorblade. While it would be cool to see how the magic system interaction works, I don't think we will see Dalinar with any type of Shardblade (excluding, possibly, Nightblood). It is just inconsistent with Dalinar's character at this point. He gave up a Shardblade once, and I would like to see him maintain that decision and be awesome without the help of an awesome sword.

GM request: Gamma, can you please edit the OP in the full game thread so that the links to specific Days/Nights bring us to the post? They no longer work now that the threads have been merged. Thanks! I intend to wait to place my vote/s until I have had the time to analyze thoroughly.

Wow. It looks like I made way too much work for myself. If you want to try to check my deciphering, use Sphinx's link, not mine. It will save you a few minutes.

Don't give me too much credit; I couldn't have told you the definition of the Old Tongue words off the top of my head. A quick Google search found this, from which I was able to glean the definitions of the words.

More seriously, compared to be previous comment, I really liked the characters Lemex and Parlin from Warbreaker. Lemex, I don't really know why. I just kind of like his name, and for some reason I remember him. Parlin, I just felt like he was one of those side characters who have a lot more to them, you know what I mean? I felt really bad for him.

Excellent write up, Gamma! Best yet! Unfortunately, it bodes not well for us... If anyone was wondering, the message hidden by the Dreamwalker appears to read: "Night holds death. Fear the horse. Dawn returns hope." The numbers are in Taravangian's code, and the words between the verses are in the Old Tongue. I was able to glean all of those words, and that arrangement seems to make the most sense, given the context. Also, in case you missed it, the italicized letters spell "Trust the watcher". So overall, a very foreboding night. So now I am fairly well convinced Jain was the Dreamwalker who said there was only one and that she was a villager, unless the remaining one decided to take up the format Jain used Night 1. Which would be tricky. Either way, I believe there is no guarantee our Dreamwalker is good or bad. Clearly, he/she has it out for Bela, so there is a place to start. That really doesn't help much, though.

There's this guy... You probably don't remember him... His name is (usually) Hoid, and he appears in almost every cosmere book, albeit in a different guise, and rarely sticks around for more than a scene or two... I don't know, there's just something about that guy, you know what I mean? I feel like he's more important than he seems.

That's actually genius. I doubt my library will carry Rogues, though, and I don't feel like waiting months for it. Plus, as I see it, if I am ever in a rut and need a new author, I can sample writing in anthologies.