Will Vanheim Ever Become Spayed?

[Corwin]

HoneyBadger said:
Well, I won't disagree that humans are weaker than a bear, have worse vision than an eagle, breed more slowly than a rat, etc. But my point is that in some ways, we can compete against animals, and even are superior in a few areas besides our brains. Ofcourse, our brains are our greatest advantage but not our only one, and one might also argue that our brains are just another area for sexual competition that happen to have given us a few short-term advantages. 8,000 years isn't a long time, and that's pretty much the limit that we've been on top of the food chain. Brains aren't the perfect tool for survival anyhow. Einstein had what's considered to be one of the finest brains in history, and he paved the way for the atomic bomb.

You've missed by several orders of magnitude. Try 200.000+ years rather than 8000 years, beginning at least at the Middle Paleolithic Era. 8000 years ago people were already living in the large settlements, having relatively advanced agriculture knowledge and irrigation systems, were hunting other species to extinction, et cetera, et cetera.

The example of horse + man being overrun by man was mentioned by Kristoffer, not me. My reply regarding horses was addressing that scenario.


As for atomic bomb - it is rather irrelevant to the discussion of human anatomy. But since you've mentioned it - it could be argued that since the invention of atomic bomb there was not a single major conflict for the last 60+ years between powers who had nuclear weapons. While before that there were two World Wars in the previous 25 years in which almost hundred of millions people died, and countless major wars before that.



Although what any of this has to do with Helheim, I have no idea...

[HoneyBadger]

I think we can safely say we've gone off-topic...ooops.

The presence of the atomic bomb-as opposed to those types of "conventional" wars that were being fought before 1945-allows for complete non-survivability of all major forms of life on Earth. It's not the fact that it has probably saved hundreds of millions of lives-It may well have done so, and I'm glad that it was invented, personally. It still remains a singular non-survivable technology if used to it's full potential. Biological weapons would most likely not affect all species, they might wipe out humans but not life on earth. Nanotechnology might have that non-survivable factor in it's prime, but we're no where near that now.

As for Pheidippides, aren't myths wonderful? Still doesn't outdo the Zulu who were 19th century.

As far as the neolithic age, we were top predators for the last 200,000-250,000 years, but I wouldn't say that we were firmly established as the ultimate top of the food-chain until we started to form permanent settlements and could really influence our environment-after all, the cave bear successfully kept us out of large swaths of territory for a long time. In modern times, so has the Tzitsi fly (I hope I spelled that right), but in that case, it's inevitable that we have or will push into those areas. A major plague or natural disaster could have wiped us out before, or another animal-Neanderthal for instance-could have taken our place, or we could have not survived the last ice age. Things that keep us on top are communities, agriculture, and advanced toolmaking. Until we had those, our position on top of the food chain was precarious. I'll concede that we may have been THE top predator for the last 20,000 years, but I still think the last ice age could potentially have wiped us out.

[Hullu]

I thought wolves and other kinds of dogs are among the best endurance runners in the world, and that is not the reason why wolves hunt in packs.

Can I get references(links) to these zulu that can run 80 kilometers, have a full combat, and run 80 kilometers back? And no, not a refernce to just one of them, but a 'division'.

Thanks

Also, abuot the horse and the rider being two entities and thus this has something to do with them enduring more. Well, you, your shoe manufacturer, your food manufacturer etc are also many entities. Can you really walk 50 miles a day and hunt your own food while carrying weapons necessary for hunting? ... and do this with clothes you've done yourself. If you want to compare a lone human to a lone horse endurance-wise - remember to abandon all tools and preparation. Or be prepared to let the horse get help like you do... Also, if you bring in athletes and people who are used to walking and hunting - also remember to bring in horses specifically bred or trained for long range travel, thank you

[Saxon]

Blind in 1000 years? No, vision is too important in our societies, look at computers, driving, reading and so forth. You still get reproductive advantages from vision. I can see a rise in other things, like hereditary diseases controlled by medication, but not loss of vision.

As for the topic, I still argue for a boosting of the price (gold and/or resources) of the units in question. Reducing their numbers retains the flavour and option of using the strategy, but makes massing and rushing with them a bit harder. It is an easy fix technically, addresses both the SP and MP grumbles and does not impact other nations too much. Strangely, I recall a certain developer mentioning that they planned to do just such a thing in an upcoming patch, so why don’t we wait and see how it works out?

[Hullu]

In the tortise vs. hare race, humans are the tortise, and we win every time.

What do you base this on?:/ A hare can travel in an hour what takes weeks for a tortoise. Now, if a hare does this every third day the tortoise must live thousands of years to make up for what the hare can travel in it's lifetime. Or do your tortoises live an unlimited amount of years?

No [censored] this is off topic!

[Endoperez]

Hullu said:

What do you base this on?:/ A hare can travel in an hour what takes weeks for a tortoise. Now, if a hare does this every third day the tortoise must live thousands of years to make up for what the hare can travel in it's lifetime. Or do your tortoises live an unlimited amount of years?

No [censored] this is off topic!

Ever heard of Aisopos? Aisopoksen sadut? Kumpi kilpajuoksun voittikaan, jänis vai kilpikonna?

If Aisopos had been a cook, the tortoise would have been a soup, and the hare cooked in the oven. The order would have stayed the same: slower comes first.

[Sheap]

maybe its something to do with blessings?

Yes, the issue is with imprisoned pretenders, which gives so many extra points for blessings, while still maintaining decent scales. The best suggestion I've heard for fixing this is that blessings shouldn't work if your god isn't awake yet (dead is OK).

[Hullu]

Hrmpf.

[krpeters]

Hullu said:

What do you base this on?:/ A hare can travel in an hour what takes weeks for a tortoise.

I was referring to the Aesop fable, speaking metaphorically...

[Valandil]

Ooh! Since this way off topic anyway--

The tortoise starts with a lead of a foot.
After a given period of time, the hare, traveling faster than the tortoise, will have made up this lead. But the turtle will have moved forwards, creating a new gap, which must be filled in a given time, after which the tortoise again has move, ad nauseum.