After all, Setna was nothing more than the Stranger's puppet, was he not?
Wood, metal, coal...silt, slate, stone...mushrooms, herbs, and fish...what is your love for these resources, compared to your loathing for anybody who might gain a competitive edge over you, in the great game? Anyone with an edge is a puppet. Anyone with a useful building or a skill they desire to keep to themselves for merely an instant, no matter what the reason, is -- what is the term -- an insipid, greedy malingerer fit only to burn in effigy lit by the rest of your nation. And yet none of you realize just how precious these people are. Without Progress, there can be no growth or life. Without the freedom to make choices, there can be no true good or evil.
The moment the first tree stump was found, my laughter rang out. Here was karma. Here was the punishment they had for attempting to destroy knowledge: knowledge would destroy that which they held precious. Bravo, you greedy fools who believe in the pursuit of personal gain over others. Bravo, you ladies and gentlemen who would show, in fact, that the skills COULD be used for good...by using them for evil. And an especially fine applause for the lawmakers who would have exiled all those poor souls with 'harmful' skills, as you have proven that in the pursuit of power you could use, you are far too childish to deserve it.
I will confess, too, that I had rather hoped Egypt as a whole would have been able to solve such a simple mathematical puzzle. From the three altars, the obvious solution was there -- and if that had not been the entirety of it, Setna himself shared a clue to the locations with you all. Golden triangles, floating over Egypt: five of them, a pentagon of the gods. From there, the location might have been obvious...but by the time it was determined, it was too late. A week had passed without your source of power. A week had passed since, in disgust, he departed. Perhaps if he returns, you will prove more understanding.
And what of this metal? The ancient forge? Foolish as you are, you claim too that the citizens Mukhwana and SmokeyRed are devices of the Stranger. You call them out, to reveal their secrets to you. To what avail, this? None whatsoever -- the ancient forge was found through careful searching, and might have even been discovered by Mukhwana, but the idea that the Stranger controlled them was so firmly embedded in your skulls that you cannot even comprehend its fault. No, Gharib needs no plants or puppets any more: his work has already made Egypt so sensitive to progress that they are willing to attack those with the fortune and ability to bring forth a new beacon of knowledge.
Some have even called me one of the Stranger's minions. But there is a difference between us two. Gharib instills chaos for the sake of progress. I prefer chaos for the sake of self-knowledge. Maybe when I'm done, you will all have a better idea of what it means to be a true citizen. Do not seek me out, nor the wise person who has volunteered to place my words where they can be found. I shall reveal myself in time.
-E
Trust me, this rant is not worth your time. It just said an anonymous coward who tries to portray our successful handling of the latest skills --- Cappu
If you were kind enough to read through it, you might find an inkling of wisdom to use in your own life. I may decide to be anonymous for now, but there is reason behind it. Names and insults alone will not bring wisdom. -E
You shouldn't blame Egypt for not trusting the anonymous. Our grandparents told us dire stories of a self-proclaimed "mentor" who assisted their progress but used methods that are not even appropriate for the mice in the University of Thought's laboratories... -- ShanVizen
An interesting commentary indeed. Perhaps Gharib should no longer be called the Stranger, as it seems we know him quite well- this mysterious E seems to be more capable the trickery and deceit used by the person our forefathers feared. Applause to E, I say. It seems he is teaching us an important lesson. -- ShanVizen
There's no pleasing some people. -- Jesus
Bah. Another ranting tirade by an anonymous poster. -- Japto
Teppy's staff got busted on horrible role playing... you can't expect them to come on out and admit it, do you? -- viva le revolution!
I liked the visitors arriving from distant lands much better then this... -- Bifa
Umm it might just be a coincidence but there is a trial account named E --Setheri
We already know the E above stands for Emmanuel. -- ShanVizen
Agreed on every one of E's points. Nice speech. -- Kaotika
Yup i agree with E as well :) TBH i prefer Es aproach and reason for chaos than gharib, though it wouldn't surprise me too much if this was gharib... ---Zatarg---
I am so lost by this post. I guess I came into the 2nd telling too late because this all doesn't seem to make sense to me. Criticism over our response? The fact that there was even a riddle to be solved by those altars? Some kind of clue for what was next? The fact that there even -was- a next? Obviously you need to have played T1 to get any kind of clue over what's going on as an overlying "plot" for T2. I guess maybe I'll be able to figure out what the point of the greater metagame is by the time that T3 is done. Hope eGenesis realizes that the wiki is the only hope that anyone has for even knowing that this kind of thing is going on. Maybe we need better in-game documentation for 'news' releases and plot updates, or perhaps a better manual... or even a manual for the appropriate telling with the resource costs, tech costs, skill trees, etc. In general, my biggest complaint about ATITD is just that the player has to work just to *find* the documentation and *realize* that something is going on. I value independence, too, but there's a huge lack of any help or contextual clues in the game engine or online officially from eGenesis. As a business, that lack of documentation or user-interface is going to be the most persistent obstacle to realizing new player retention. IMHO. I'll just keep reading along and trying to figure out in the meanwhile what the heck is going on and why people seem to automatically look for an adversarial relationship with folks who have these enhanced and advanced techs. I just don't understand why we polarize over this concept, but apparently I'm not "getting" a lot of the things that the older users (and apparently eGenesis) take for granted will be understood. --Kierken--
Kierken, as your response has nothing to do with the commentary, I think you best seek for answers in the forums... As I doubt you'll get to the appropriate audience here (or, for that matter, any audience). -- ShanVizen
But he still has a valid point! ;P -- Zintwana
As for the above commentary, I have shown my agreement in the Mentor Shrine I have built for Emmanuel. -- ShanVizen