- Baalak Nalzar-aung.

I can recall pressing buttons to move, jump, and attack, even though the video screen was the whole of the dream, and my body, while able to alter the events of the dream, did not appear in it.

I agree that the community aspect of the game is a very big part of the appeal. This game could work with AI opponents, but it would lose most of what makes it truly awesome.

- Baalak Nalzar-aung.

I can’t say it’s been prophetic in any way, fortunately. I haven’t required any medical procedures and have never been under anesthesia. There’s always time in the future, and though I had a good feeling about what was going to happen in the dream, in my waking life the thought of anesthesia is rather frightening.

I do keep a record of my dreams, both here and in a dream journal I’ve been keeping since late 2007. The entries are sporadic at best, and most night I don’t write anything. Sometimes I don’t recall my dreams with enough clarity to write them down, other times I don’t recall them at all. Many times my dreams occur in the middle of the night, and when I awaken I’m too groggy to write anything and quickly drift back to sleep, losing the dream.

I can’t say I’ve ever had a prophetic dream, as far as I’m aware. I’d like to, though something tells me it’s cooler to think about than to experience. If I had a strongly prophetic dream, I think I’d be rather disturbed by it. I’m not sure precognition fits into my world view, and forcing me to change that would be jarring at best.

Thank you for your comment. I hope you’ve enjoyed the blag.

- Baalak Nalzar-aung.

I also like the explicit detail in how you moved and attacked. It’s not just that you moved forward, but the specific sword movement is a nice touch.. I want this game!

I also think it’s interesting how personal the game is.. It’s not just you doing well in the game, but being able to share that with the clan leader, and having him be proud of you. I think that’s a big, but understated part of the dream. Having people respect and be proud of you is important to everyone.

That said, I have given the subject some thought. If I were to make a written language for them, I would probably have to invent a system of pictograms, because most writing systems seem to have developed from such systems. However, the finalized form might be something between an alphabet and a syllabary in structure.

I could have a character for each of the consonant combinations allowed in a syllable coda, but I could avoid having too many characters by only marking the manner of articulation, plosive, fricative, nasal, with that character, and using a diacritical marker to designate the point of articulation, bilabial, retroflex, and velar. I could even use these diacritics to mark stress and delineate between complex syllables.

With such a system, used as an alphabet, I have only 14 characters and 4 diacritics to make. As a syllabary, it would have 33 characters and 4 diacritics. That’s exceptionally doable, possibly in an afternoon in rough draft format. That only works with the phonetics I’ve assigned to this language, though, and a daughter language would undoubtedly necessitate more characters.

- Baalak Nalzar-aung.

I think that makes a lot of sense from a language design standpoint, but something you might want to weigh as a factor, is how the sea people’s culture and language evolution would mold their language; Are they evolving a language from a combinatory system of grunts and expressions, or more evolving from a system of song and expression? If you want such long words, using a proto-language based more on ritual, song, and other expression (Mating coos?) might make sense.

Do you intend for the Sea People’s language to have an Alphabet, or a Syllabary? I know it’s top-down thinking, but you seem to be guiding the language in a lot of ways, forming the culture and linguistical aspects to arrive there If you do want a Syllabary, you’re CVCC system would end up with a LOT of symbols.

The animosity, and I must admit that I’m writing this from memory, without rereading what I wrote, seemed to come from the other partygoers. My mother was welcomed there by the hostess, and they were friends, but the other people there were at best cold, and at worst outright nasty. Her children were little shits, too, but I got the feeling that they were like that to everyone.

So, about the hostess. She was friends with my mother for years, though I got the feeling that she’d moved on and made associations with new people who didn’t approve of her keeping contact with my mother. She’s not a person I know in real life, and is likely just someone made up to fill the roll that was needed. I don’t pay much attention to my mothers friends, admittedly, but I don’t believe she actually knows anyone like this.

- Baalak Nalzar-aung.

It’s not only the palpable animosity, it’s also the sense that the host is Out To Get you.. That’s something normally associated with her.

I’d be interested to see what else you could tell us about the host.