Tomas Elliot

Ok the topic of damnation exposes a mentality that I strongly despise, and I am afraid that I will now have to address it. Namely, it is the utilitaristic vision of God. You are no better than Pascal (a guy who had no faith and only wanted to get a reward, as if God is some kind of quiz game) when you say "if God existed, He would prevent us from doing mistakes". God is NOT at the service of the single individual. God is the perfectly impartial being whose job is overseeing the UNIVERSE. Your petty individual gievances are not something He can concern Himself with: that's the reason why I always get mad at my grandmother when she says "I am going to pray God so that He will help you pass your exam". Don't get me wrong, I do believe that God is a benevolent being. But I find it absurd to think that a being that is above our plane of existance, a being who created the universe and who keeps it in balance, can go out of His way to make sure that I pass my exam. Of course He gave us something called coscience which, for people like me (people who believe), is a way to hear His voice when we stray from the right path. And yes, that can also manifest in the form of guilt if a spend a day slacking off instead of studying. But if I deliberately decide to ignore such guilt, if I decide to slack off instead of studying, then it is absolutely ridiculous to think that God will put in my brain a knowledge I did nothing to deserve, just because my grandma said a prayer. There is also another fact: there are seven billions of people in this world. How could God get involved in the interest of the single? I mean, what helps and favors Dude A might damage Dude B: God is impartial by definition, so it is idiotic to think that He would side with either. Let's say Dude A and Dude B both partecipate in a race: if Dude A thanks God because he won, should Dude B curse Him because he lost? The act of taking sides, the act of favoring who does us a favor, is a typical human act. But God is above humans, so he takes no sides, and is impartial towards men: therefore, you cannot apply your utilitaristic logic to Him. And there is yet another fact: we humans are arrogant. Since we have intellect, we like to think the universe was built around us, that everything is always about us. But guess what? That is not the case. Let's take for example the San Andreas Fault: given the way the world works, such a fault MUST exist. It is inevitable, it is part of the structure of our world. And such a massive fault will keep on accumulating energy, but energy cannot be accumulated forever: the laws of physics tell us that sooner or later the fault will snap. And when that happens, I already know there will be people who will say "if there was a God, He would not allow so many people to die in a earthquake". But that's an idiotic thing to say: a fault is DESTINED to snap and cause a earthquake, that's how the laws that regulate this world go. It is a direct consequences of the same laws that make it possible for you to walk. So if your house is destroyed in the process, it is your fault for building it right on top of such a dangerous, uh, fault (pun not intended).It is absolutely nonsensical to think that God would go out of His way and alter the laws of physics just because some idiots built two massive cities on top of one of the world's largest faults. And don't you think that my mentioning the lwas of physics is a contraddiction: as I mentioned in a previous post, I strongly believe that science and faith can coexist. Science tells you HOW things happen, faith tells you WHY they happen. I apply this reasoning to evolution as well, since people mentioned it. Creatures did evolve, but this does not mean there's no God, and I actually find it silly how for so may years the Church has tried to silence scientific progress. So yeah, God is the referee in this game we call life. He made the rules, and He is not going to change them just because some idiot built a city on top of a fault. Or right next to a volcano, to make an italian example. And He does not take sides, because He is the ref, and the ref does not take sides. Applying an utilitaristic logic to this makes no sense IMO.

Incidentally, Gaunt what do you mean miracles don't happen nowadays? The miracle industry is one of the most profitable in Italy!

Geez, I have started and deleted and started and deleted and started and deleted this post so many times... Because you see, the fact is that I am italian and I am catholic. Meaning that I see every day things that make me not so enthusiastic and not so proud about being catholic (let alone being italian, but that's another story). Which has lead me to develop a very strict code of ethics: what humans do and what God does are very different things. I believe in Jesus and His message, but I don't believe that the horrible things done in His name were and are His actual will. I believe that science and faith can coexist. And I believe that conflicts between different religions have nothing to do with faith, religions are just used as an excuse by greedy individuals who have something to gain if the poor masses keep fighting against one another, instead of uniting against those who oppress them. But explaining each of these points would take a topic of its own, and I really don't want to derail this topic. I will say this much tho: I believe in the message of Jesus because it is a wonderful message, not because I hope to go to Heaven or because I believe that, by being a good enough guy, I'll earn myself a miracle when the time is right. Too many times religions have been used as instruments to manipulate the masses, or to cover for all kinds of atrocities, or as an excuse to discriminate the different, and being italian I have seen A LOT of such instances, you better believe it: after all, we have the Pope physically residing here, and the consequences of such an apparently simple facts are deeper and more complex than a post like this can hope to explain. But religions are one thing, faith is another: the fact that most religions are made of empty words fed to you by greedy individuals who want to manipulate you does NOT mean that God is bogus. The God sold to you by the Church is bogus, but if you can see past that, the truth of the message of Christ shines through. You know what really saddens me? The fact that we are all from christian countries. So this discussion basically boils down to "are you christian or not?". But since the original question of the OP was "do you believe in God?", and God is something that is not exclusive property of the christians, I think it would have been interesting to hear the opinions of a jew or a muslim on the matter. Also Kudos for actually knowing the difference. Not many people do.

Way to go Baz. I can't remember if you had a fangame project of yours, but if you don't I suggest you come up with one soon. A dragon eeveelution is enough of a reason for playing a game

Reshiram and Zekrom of course.

For the worst.

Yep, 'fraid so.

Now you guys know what is going to be the main selling point of Se7en... Imagine 150+ Pokemon sprited by this guy!

I personally would go 252 HP 252+ Atk (with lefties) on Lando, because this team desperately needs something to switch into Mold Breaker Excadrill, not to mention the fact that, with the spread, Lando will find it easier to counter Talonflame, taking some pressure off Rotom (who already has to deal with the likes of Keldeo). And since you asked for it, Knock Off over Defog on Scizor, that move is just too good NOT to run, and Latios is the superior defogger anyway on the account of forcing lots of switches, thus getting many free turns. And if I REALLY must to get nitpicky, I think you shouldn't run BOTH WoW AND Nasty Plot on Houndoom because there is no chance in hell that the guy can stay alive that long. Replace either with Sucker Punch for a surprise prio move that will finish off faster threats that are worn down. Also I don't really get those 8 Def EVs. Overall, I like this team, Belly Drum Chesnaught is so crazy it could actually work, kudos for attempting it EDIT: after watching the replay, I would like to add to the above that the set I am suggesting for Lando would have been a MUCH safer switch-in against Garchomp, so there's that as well. And that crit with Drain Punch did not matter by the way, sore losers be damned.

I know by direct experience that 252 8 AV Ttar still goes down to a Focus Blast from Mega Zam, so yeah...

The fact is that we would like, if possible, to have a soundtrack thay feels whole, avoiding collages: in other words, we would rather avoid to take one track from here, obe track from there, we would like for all the tracks to have the same source. We'll see what we can do about it...

We did what we were forced to do, believe me when I say that it was not an easy decision. As for what we need and we don't need, I updated the OP. The final decision for everything related to coding belongs to Az. For the music we'll see...

We regret to inform you that two of our members, EluriaMendes and DarkSpite, after proving unable to provide the level of commitment that this project requires, went missing for extended periods of time, without any sort of notice or explanation as to what they would do or when they would be back. We have therefore unanimously decided to remove them from the project: in thanking them for their contribution up to this point (for which they WILL be credited when the game is released), we wish them the best of luck in their future endeavors.

Problem is, Fire Punch Lop cannot break through stuff like Skarm, most sets of the mentioned Jirachi and Megagross. The latter two are kept in check by Gliscor, yes, but still... If I have to be honest, I find Diancie to be the weak link of this team. It's the only one I don't like. I think you should replace it with something to patch up your Steel weakness because... Well, you yourself say that it needs Steel-types to be gone before it can do anything, but the fact is, there are many Steel-typ threats the rest of your team cannot remove. I'd suggest Magnezone to have a Steel-type of your own for those pesky Fairy types, all the while trapping and killing Skarm...

Well, since I find it unfair that this topic is only about Red-Eyes, let me share the single most hilarious deck I have ever built: What can this deck do, you ask? Well, this, for example: http://i.imgur.com/Vzyi08F.jpg Detailed explanation in the spoiler (WARNING: it is very long)

I have a similar experience involving students and opening phrases. Whenever I take part in one of those initiatives where students can meet writers and ask them questions about their books, there is always that one student who stands up and, before getting to the point and asking the damn question, beats around the bush for a quarter of a hour, beginning by saying "In your book, you seem to focus on..." and proceeding to explain the deepest meaning of the book TO THE PERSON WHO WROTE IT. Once the italian mathematician and all around interesting guy, Piergiorgio Odifreddi, during the presentation of his latest book interrupted one such student by saying "I know what I wrote in my book, thank you". I love that man.