Though it's not really clear as to which side of this rather robust debate you consider absurd.

For what it's worth, I hope everyone keeps playing. ToME is the finest roguelike I've seen in thirty years.

The point that everybody seems to agree on is that Highers are explicitly a different race of humans; if they weren't there would be no point in having a discussion about racism to begin with. Yes, they are supposed to have magic in their blood, as did the people of Atlantis and Númenor.

TehRei is right; the "separate but equal" concept of avoiding racism doesn't work. The Supreme Court itself weighed in on this one, and if my history degree is functioning properly the phrase "'separate but equal' is inherently unequal" was employed in the majority opinion. If someone has to sit at the back of the bus because of their race, it's racism, pure and simple.

I wholeheartedly advocate the idea that Highers only think they're superior, and that's why I suggested the narrative be expanded to reflect this in my original post. I'm just not seeing it in the game mechanics or narrative as they now stand. The narrative says little about the Highers' opinions of themselves outside of the Analysis of the Races, and even that is explicitly retrained by scholarly neutrality. Everything I'm seeing in the game mechanics appears to indicate that they really are correct in their self-assessment.

Highers get positive modifiers to two thirds of their attributes and a full suite of racial superpowers, necessitating a 15% experience penalty for balance. They're blond-haired, grey or blue-eyed, have fair complexions and average six feet tall.

Cornacs get an extra category point, the second-lowest life per level and (by far and away) the worst overall stat modifiers in the game, at least based on what I've personally unlocked so far. As if this weren't bad enough, they're also the only race to receive no special abilities whatsoever. They have brown hair and eyes, ruddy complexions, and average 5'9". About the only other thing I can see that they have going for them is that their overall weakness makes them immune to the experience penalties the other races must contend with. So at least they learn fast, which is a good thing, because they tend to get beaten up by halflings a lot.

Sorry the debate is annoying you, TehRei. Your input has been quite valuable to me, as has your polite and balanced approach to the topic at hand. I thank you for both.

Awesome! Glad to see the accident didn't affect your hands too much. ;p

You'd have to have a halfling foot hanging from your mirror to be any luckier. That is by all accounts one of the worst wrecks I've seen in a long time. Here's to a quick recovery and a new car soon. Just take it easy for a while, 'kay?

-Nim

You definitely earned that blood of the life vial! Just take care.

That's a pretty amazing wreck to walk away from. Hope you get better soon, and that you got reasonably good painkillers until then. :)

So sorry to see this but wonderful you are okay! I for one will donate to the TOME 4 Auto Fund ;) Please let us know how to best do this.

Heal well and thanks for all you have given *us*!

~Robin

And thanks you all for your kind messages.
I'm still hurting a lot but its getting a bit better, my right shoulder is the worst, but I dont need to move it to code! :)

Oh man, that's some heavy stuff. Glad you're ok, not so glad that you don't have a vehicle though.

I don't think the Powers that Be will let you go until ToME gets out of beta phase; you're pretty much immortal until that happens!

DG, you need to be more careful in the future! Get more stun immunity!

Holy shit. I was reading the text thinking how horrible it all sounded, then I scrolled down and saw the picture... It absolutely boggles my mind that you're still in one piece! Sure, the human body is more resilient than one might think, and most cars today are pretty well designed from a safety perspective, but judging from your description as well as the picture I'd expect a couple of broken bones at the very least...

I'm really relieved for both you and your family's sake that you didn't get permanently crippled, or worse. And even if it could've been a lot worse I hope you're taking good care of yourself, going through a trauma like that would leave anyone shaken up as hell. I know I'm hardly a doctor or anything but I still strongly recommend you take a couple of days of rest ;)

As for your car though... yeah that sucks. I'll make a donation in memoriam in a day or two.

Make sure to take it easy the next couple of days, and don't feel pressured to work with ToME if you're in pain or if you've got too much other stuff on your mind. There's no point to working yourself into the ground after all this stuff has happened.

I hope you'll recover nicely -- "get well soon", as they say.
Regards,
TehRei