Difference between revisions of "User talk:Umbire the Phantom"

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(Couple decades (re crystal ball)?)
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==Welcome!==
 
==Welcome!==
 
[[File:Welcoming party.png|right|thumb|''Welcome!'']]
 
[[File:Welcoming party.png|right|thumb|''Welcome!'']]
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==Please use the Summary field when doing edits==
 
==Please use the Summary field when doing edits==
 
 
Greetings, I have seen that you did a lot of edits recently. It would be nice if you could summarize your changes in the 'Summary' field, so it will be easier for others to see what has been changed :)
 
Greetings, I have seen that you did a lot of edits recently. It would be nice if you could summarize your changes in the 'Summary' field, so it will be easier for others to see what has been changed :)
 
[[User:Stenno|Stenno]] ([[User talk:Stenno|talk]]) 18:38, 19 March 2019 (UTC)
 
[[User:Stenno|Stenno]] ([[User talk:Stenno|talk]]) 18:38, 19 March 2019 (UTC)
  
 
== another false premise ==
 
== another false premise ==
 
 
"Yeah, if you're just gonna ignore the readily observed fluidity of human language and ignore such basic concept as hyperbole, then there's no point interacting any further. --[[User:Umbire the Phantom|Umbire the Phantom]] ([[User talk:Umbire the Phantom|talk]]) 04:47, 3 March 2020 (UTC)"
 
"Yeah, if you're just gonna ignore the readily observed fluidity of human language and ignore such basic concept as hyperbole, then there's no point interacting any further. --[[User:Umbire the Phantom|Umbire the Phantom]] ([[User talk:Umbire the Phantom|talk]]) 04:47, 3 March 2020 (UTC)"
 
:I ignore nothing.  fluidity -> decay: when a word's usage contradicts its etýmon, meaning and understanding break down.  Different words exist for a reason, to say different meanings.  The popular habit is to know few words then use the same words for meanings the words they don't know already mean and sometimes the words they know even mean the opposite of the words they want.  I hope I used the simple words you understand. [[User:Lysdexia|Lysdexia]] ([[User talk:Lysdexia|talk]]) 09:39, 8 March 2020 (UTC)
 
:I ignore nothing.  fluidity -> decay: when a word's usage contradicts its etýmon, meaning and understanding break down.  Different words exist for a reason, to say different meanings.  The popular habit is to know few words then use the same words for meanings the words they don't know already mean and sometimes the words they know even mean the opposite of the words they want.  I hope I used the simple words you understand. [[User:Lysdexia|Lysdexia]] ([[User talk:Lysdexia|talk]]) 09:39, 8 March 2020 (UTC)
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== Ascension - congrats! ==
 
== Ascension - congrats! ==
 
 
Congratulations re ascension! -[[User:Actual-nh|Actual-nh]] ([[User talk:Actual-nh|talk]]) 13:59, 12 January 2021 (UTC)
 
Congratulations re ascension! -[[User:Actual-nh|Actual-nh]] ([[User talk:Actual-nh|talk]]) 13:59, 12 January 2021 (UTC)
  
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== Baalzebub ==
 
== Baalzebub ==
 
 
Nice copy-editing! —[[User:Netzhack|Netzhack]] ([[User talk:Netzhack|talk]]) 08:25, 18 April 2021 (UTC)
 
Nice copy-editing! —[[User:Netzhack|Netzhack]] ([[User talk:Netzhack|talk]]) 08:25, 18 April 2021 (UTC)
  
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== The Move ==
 
== The Move ==
 
 
Join us on Libera :-) *bundlebundlebundle* --[[User:Bluescreenofdeath|Bluescreenofdeath]] ([[User talk:Bluescreenofdeath|talk]]) 16:44, 20 May 2021 (UTC)
 
Join us on Libera :-) *bundlebundlebundle* --[[User:Bluescreenofdeath|Bluescreenofdeath]] ([[User talk:Bluescreenofdeath|talk]]) 16:44, 20 May 2021 (UTC)
  
 
== thanks! ==
 
== thanks! ==
 
 
thanks for improving the changes i made on a few articles, your corrections were spot on. howdy from Texas bro
 
thanks for improving the changes i made on a few articles, your corrections were spot on. howdy from Texas bro
 
[[User:D4 wryyyy|D4 wryyyy]] ([[User talk:D4 wryyyy|talk]]) 12:03, 2 July 2021 (UTC)
 
[[User:D4 wryyyy|D4 wryyyy]] ([[User talk:D4 wryyyy|talk]]) 12:03, 2 July 2021 (UTC)
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[[User:D4 wryyyy|D4 wryyyy]] ([[User talk:D4 wryyyy|talk]]) 00:45, 13 July 2021 (UTC)
 
[[User:D4 wryyyy|D4 wryyyy]] ([[User talk:D4 wryyyy|talk]]) 00:45, 13 July 2021 (UTC)
  
:"Boils and explodes" is an effect that applies to all cases of fire damage, not just the '''pyro'''lisk's gaze. Furthermore, axes can't break statues, and no one but the most uniformed players are likely to try (minus people looking for messages like those anyway). In any case, I prefer to assume the reader has a modicum of sense and additionally doesn't need to be told about something that wouldn't work anyway - not to mention it makes no sense to further confuse readers with speculation about something that may or may even occur in a future release based off a few specific lines of code. --[[User:Umbire the Phantom|Umbire the Phantom]] ([[User talk:Umbire the Phantom|talk]]) 02:38, 13 July 2021 (UTC)
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:"Boils and explodes" is an effect that applies to all cases of fire damage, not just the '''pyro'''lisk's gaze. Furthermore, axes can't break statues, and no one but the most uniformed players are likely to try (minus people looking for messages like those anyway). In any case, I prefer to assume the reader has a modicum of sense and additionally doesn't need to be told about something that wouldn't work anyway - not to mention it makes no sense to further confuse readers with speculation about something that may or may not even occur in a future release based off a few specific lines of code. --[[User:Umbire the Phantom|Umbire the Phantom]] ([[User talk:Umbire the Phantom|talk]]) 02:38, 13 July 2021 (UTC)
  
 
== Saddle: Thank you! ==
 
== Saddle: Thank you! ==
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== Couple decades (re crystal ball)? ==
 
== Couple decades (re crystal ball)? ==
 
 
Are you referring to the "Elements of Style" I mentioned in my summary, or what? (The original is older than that, although at the rate that relatively-formal English changes I question whether anything less than a hundred or so years old should really be considered overall out of date... especially the "rule" I was doing a special application of, "omit needless words". Not something I'm great at, but I try when I see something (to me) obvious.) I'm not offended, BTW. -[[User:Actual-nh|Actual-nh]] ([[User talk:Actual-nh|talk]]) 16:10, 1 August 2021 (UTC)
 
Are you referring to the "Elements of Style" I mentioned in my summary, or what? (The original is older than that, although at the rate that relatively-formal English changes I question whether anything less than a hundred or so years old should really be considered overall out of date... especially the "rule" I was doing a special application of, "omit needless words". Not something I'm great at, but I try when I see something (to me) obvious.) I'm not offended, BTW. -[[User:Actual-nh|Actual-nh]] ([[User talk:Actual-nh|talk]]) 16:10, 1 August 2021 (UTC)
  
 
:The point being that we needn't adhere but so stringently to ''century''-old standards (yes, I know how old they are, but I was understating it on purpose). Tightening wording is good but it is possible to overdo it, as I've no doubt done over the years. --[[User:Umbire the Phantom|Umbire the Phantom]] ([[User talk:Umbire the Phantom|talk]]) 16:12, 1 August 2021 (UTC)
 
:The point being that we needn't adhere but so stringently to ''century''-old standards (yes, I know how old they are, but I was understating it on purpose). Tightening wording is good but it is possible to overdo it, as I've no doubt done over the years. --[[User:Umbire the Phantom|Umbire the Phantom]] ([[User talk:Umbire the Phantom|talk]]) 16:12, 1 August 2021 (UTC)
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::The particular phrase (which also grates on me whenever I read it, admittedly) is "the fact that", which can virtually always be substituted by something shorter - usually just "that". -[[User:Actual-nh|Actual-nh]] ([[User talk:Actual-nh|talk]]) 17:19, 1 August 2021 (UTC)
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== Polypiling discussion ==
 +
I recently asked a question on the [[talk:Polypiling#Introduction - Item Class]] talk page, and eventually answered my own question, but I didn't add it to the main page because I don't think I'm the best person for it. You might be, if you want. Your judo grip on the English language would help here. It's about "item class" not changing in polymorphing items. [[User:D4 wryyyy|D4 wryyyy]] ([[User talk:D4 wryyyy|talk]]) 17:13, 28 January 2022 (UTC)
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== Barbarians throwing Mjollnir ==
 +
I'm not sure this is good advice for character creation, because:
 +
* Cleaver is always the first sacrifice gift, so you'll need a second gift to have even a chance of receiving something else.
 +
* If your second gift isn't Mojo, there are now at least two artifacts in the game, so wishing for another artifact has a chance to fail.
 +
* You need gauntlets of power (probably another wish) to throw it.
 +
* Mojo doesn't return for non-Valks, and it could do as little as 2 damage, so it's not even a reliable way to dispatch one enemy, let alone multiples.
 +
 +
Conversely, any character is almost guaranteed to get an orcish bow and supply of arrows if they survive the early levels. It's certainly possible for a neutral Barb to get Mjollnir and GoP and occasionally throw it, but I don't think it's something you should plan your character around. I'm open to counter-arguments, but I think that bit is best removed from the strategy section. --[[User:Darth l33t|Darth l33t]] ([[User talk:Darth l33t|talk]]) 15:32, 13 March 2022 (UTC)
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:Mm, that's fair. I was only springboarding off what was already present, but I'm fine with that being removed. --[[User:Umbire the Phantom|Umbire the Phantom]] ([[User talk:Umbire the Phantom|talk]]) 00:46, 14 March 2022 (UTC)
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== SLEX ==
 +
Wow, I did NOT know that about SLEX (I only played it a couple times, years ago, and never got very far).  I've gone ahead and deleted that page, and will delete any further that I find and/or you tag.  Thanks for pointing me to that - we definitely don't want to host content about it. [[User:Ion frigate|Ion frigate]] ([[User talk:Ion frigate|talk]]) 22:23, 4 October 2022 (UTC)
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:You didn't ''have'' to delete the talk as well, could've probably answered similar future questions - but I figure it works either way. Wasn't aware you could delete pages though, expected that template to sit for quite a while. --[[User:Umbire the Phantom|Umbire the Phantom]] ([[User talk:Umbire the Phantom|talk]]) 22:25, 4 October 2022 (UTC)
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::Oh, my understanding from 17 years of lurking Wikipedia's meta-side is that standard practice on wikis is to delete talk pages when their mainspace pages are deleted.  And yes, I am an admin here - I was very active back around 2010 or so, writing a large number of the SLASH'EM articles.  I was actually rather surprised no one got around to desysopping me after I was inactive for seven years (Wikipedia does it after three years), but since I have the privileges, I can use them to purge the SLEX pages.  I really hadn't been planning to use the admin bit, but this is worth doing.
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::I'm going to go through [[:Category:Slash%27EM_Extended|this category]] and delete articles that don't have any content related to other variants (e.g. SLASH'THEM) - feel free to tag any such articles you see there. [[User:Ion frigate|Ion frigate]] ([[User talk:Ion frigate|talk]]) 22:37, 4 October 2022 (UTC)
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:::Will do. --[[User:Umbire the Phantom|Umbire the Phantom]] ([[User talk:Umbire the Phantom|talk]]) 22:38, 4 October 2022 (UTC)
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::::Thanks.  I'll be linking the talk page you pointed me to in my deletion summaries, so hopefully that will answer any questions anyone has. [[User:Ion frigate|Ion frigate]] ([[User talk:Ion frigate|talk]]) 22:47, 4 October 2022 (UTC)
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:::::Maybe slow down and wait until there's actually a delete template before acting - a bunch of SLEX additions are preserved in THEM, such as the roles from [[NetHack: The Next Generation]]. --[[User:Umbire the Phantom|Umbire the Phantom]] ([[User talk:Umbire the Phantom|talk]]) 22:49, 4 October 2022 (UTC)
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::::::Sure, as I said at my talk, I'll wait for you to tag.  What do you think of making a category for the articles that are to be THEM-ified?  We should remove the from the SLEX category as you're doing, but we don't want to lose track of them. [[User:Ion frigate|Ion frigate]] ([[User talk:Ion frigate|talk]]) 22:58, 4 October 2022 (UTC)
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::::::Already making category switches as we speak. --[[User:Umbire the Phantom|Umbire the Phantom]] ([[User talk:Umbire the Phantom|talk]]) 22:59, 4 October 2022 (UTC)
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== Editing limitations for new contributors removed ? ==
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Mister Umbire the Phantom, have the editing limitations for new contributors been removed ? You seem to imply that in Your message. With those limitations still being active, the writing of information simply CANNOT be made more 'straightforward'. Without them, then there are more possibilities for offering detailed information to readers. Be kind to confirm that such nasty limitations have been removed. There are better manners of stopping misbehaved rascals from vandalising the wiki, and some of those manners have been discussed. It is only to apply them. [[User:Cssdixieland|Cssdixieland]] ([[User talk:Cssdixieland|talk]]) 02:50, 30 June 2023 (UTC)
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:I'm not the one to ask about it and have no administrative power in that regard - I was pondering out loud whether or not it was removed because I didn't know for sure. --[[User:Umbire the Phantom|Umbire the Phantom]] ([[User talk:Umbire the Phantom|talk]]) 02:52, 30 June 2023 (UTC)
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::The relevant filter, [[Special:AbuseFilter/10]], was disabled by [[User:Ion frigate]], an admin, who said so in the topic at [[NetHackWiki:Community Portal]]. [[User:Cathartes|Cathartes]] ([[User talk:Cathartes|talk]]) 02:59, 30 June 2023 (UTC)
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:::Understood, Gentlemen, then the limitations may still be effective, or they may not. If effective, then pity, because there is much that could be done, but not in small chunks of just one or two lines. That manner of working is VERY tedious. If not effective, then real possibilities exist of performing serious work. We shall see... [[User:Cssdixieland|Cssdixieland]] ([[User talk:Cssdixieland|talk]]) 03:10, 30 June 2023 (UTC)
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::I mean Cathartes just confirmed that they were removed, so I think you should be good to go. In any case, I don't think there's much need for this level of formality. --[[User:Umbire the Phantom|Umbire the Phantom]] ([[User talk:Umbire the Phantom|talk]]) 03:17, 30 June 2023 (UTC)
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== Edit reason for Yendorian army ==
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"I'm pretty sure the US military is unique in precisely none of those aspects." What about the C- and K-rations? [[User:Kahran042|Kahran042]] ([[User talk:Kahran042|talk]]) 14:32, 17 July 2023 (UTC)
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:Granted, but I don't think that's enough to hang a thesis of "these plate mail pot-wearing soldiers are based entirely on the US army" on. Not like other elements of this game haven't been similarly "kitbashed" together from various tropes (which for the record isn't a value judgement). --[[User:Umbire the Phantom|Umbire the Phantom]] ([[User talk:Umbire the Phantom|talk]]) 15:04, 17 July 2023 (UTC)
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::Fair enough. [[User:Kahran042|Kahran042]] ([[User talk:Kahran042|talk]]) 20:21, 20 July 2023 (UTC)
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== [[Helm of opposite alignment]] ==
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Hello.  Why do you keep editing said page to insist one can't wear the helm after a permanent alignment conversion?  I've checked this in wizard mode in 3.6.6, it's still wearable.  The referenced code only checks for the Quest branch; the alignment check is conditional on the Quest one and only changes the message besides.  What am I missing?  [[User:Tomsod|Tomsod]] ([[User talk:Tomsod|talk]]) 10:17, 28 July 2023 (UTC)
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:You're not missing anything, just a mishap on my end from when I was rephrasing something in an entirely different section. Easy enough to fix. --[[User:Umbire the Phantom|Umbire the Phantom]] ([[User talk:Umbire the Phantom|talk]]) 10:19, 28 July 2023 (UTC)
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:: Oh, okay then, sorry.  [[User:Tomsod|Tomsod]] ([[User talk:Tomsod|talk]]) 10:52, 28 July 2023 (UTC)
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:No worries, simple misunderstanding. --[[User:Umbire the Phantom|Umbire the Phantom]] ([[User talk:Umbire the Phantom|talk]]) 10:56, 28 July 2023 (UTC)
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== Scroll of enchant weapon page ==
 +
 +
You've again changed the SLASH'EM shop service description to say that the price increases "exponentially".  Could you please not?  I know that in colloquial usage this word is misused for any rapid growth, but it's really quadratic in this case.  Wiktionary suggests "dramatic" if you want to be generic, "rapid" works too.  Also, poisoned weapons are not more expensive to enchant; it's a completely separate service.  [[User:Tomsod|Tomsod]] ([[User talk:Tomsod|talk]]) 21:25, 30 August 2023 (UTC)
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:It's another case of working from an older revision, similar to the last message you left above - that happens when I leave a page I'm working on open too long. I'm trying to cut through as many of these open tabs as possible, so I'll fix that shortly. --[[User:Umbire the Phantom|Umbire the Phantom]] ([[User talk:Umbire the Phantom|talk]]) 21:27, 30 August 2023 (UTC)
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:: Oh, okay, I should've guessed, thanks.  I think I also haven't rebooted since June!  Still, better to ask than to risk an edit war, I think.  [[User:Tomsod|Tomsod]] ([[User talk:Tomsod|talk]]) 23:53, 30 August 2023 (UTC)
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:Aye, no worries - I don't mind my edits being partially/wholly undone if they're mistaken, but I do appreciate you asking a lot. :3 --[[User:Umbire the Phantom|Umbire the Phantom]] ([[User talk:Umbire the Phantom|talk]]) 23:55, 30 August 2023 (UTC)
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== Phrase in artifact articles ==
 +
Hi, I noticed you added "depending on how many artifacts are generated" to a couple of artifact articles (e.g. [[Ogresmasher]]); can you clarify what you mean?  As far as I can tell, the code to generate floor artifacts doesn't depend on the number of artifacts that have been generated, unlike (e.g.) wishing.  In artifact.c, the function mk_artifact gathers a list of eligible artifacts, excluding those that aren't supposed to be randomly generated (e.g. Excalibur) or have already been generated - if it finds at least one eligible candidate, it picks a random one.  There's no chance of an already-generated artifact (e.g. Mjollnir, in the case of Ogresmasher) "interfering" with the generation of a new one: the function excludes already-generated artifacts from the choosing, rather than vetoing them if they're chosen. -[[User:Ion frigate|Ion frigate]] ([[User talk:Ion frigate|talk]]) 14:56, 18 September 2023 (UTC)
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:I might've partly confused it with artifact wishing, yeah - I also seem to remember there being something to handle artifact generation odds for a game where you'd generated a bunch, but I can't find a commit to match. So yeah, you can chalk that up to bad memory and adjust as needed. --[[User:Umbire the Phantom|Umbire the Phantom]] ([[User talk:Umbire the Phantom|talk]]) 22:31, 18 September 2023 (UTC)
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::It is true that you'll see fewer floor artifacts once a lot have been generated: the game selects an already-generated base item to try and convert into an artifact, and if it doesn't find a candidate, it doesn't select another item - it just abandons the attempt.  So if Werebane and Grayswandir already exist, any artifact generation attempts on a silver saber will simply fail, "wasting" that 1/20 chance.  But that doesn't affect the probability of a ''specific'' artifact being generated, just the chances of encountering ''any'' artifact.  One of those fun counterintuitive probability things; it's not analogous, but it does remind me a bit of the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monty_Hall_problem Monty Hall problem]. -[[User:Ion frigate|Ion frigate]] ([[User talk:Ion frigate|talk]]) 06:24, 19 September 2023 (UTC)
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:Yes, the odds of seeing ''any'' artifact was my intended focus with those edits. --[[User:Umbire the Phantom|Umbire the Phantom]] ([[User talk:Umbire the Phantom|talk]]) 15:51, 19 September 2023 (UTC)

Latest revision as of 15:51, 19 September 2023

Welcome!

Welcome!

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Please use the Summary field when doing edits

Greetings, I have seen that you did a lot of edits recently. It would be nice if you could summarize your changes in the 'Summary' field, so it will be easier for others to see what has been changed :) Stenno (talk) 18:38, 19 March 2019 (UTC)

another false premise

"Yeah, if you're just gonna ignore the readily observed fluidity of human language and ignore such basic concept as hyperbole, then there's no point interacting any further. --Umbire the Phantom (talk) 04:47, 3 March 2020 (UTC)"

I ignore nothing. fluidity -> decay: when a word's usage contradicts its etýmon, meaning and understanding break down. Different words exist for a reason, to say different meanings. The popular habit is to know few words then use the same words for meanings the words they don't know already mean and sometimes the words they know even mean the opposite of the words they want. I hope I used the simple words you understand. Lysdexia (talk) 09:39, 8 March 2020 (UTC)
Yep, fluidity of a language totally decays it, that's why the English language stills exists after several centuries.

Get out of my face with this absolute insult to people's intelligence. --Umbire the Phantom (talk) 17:30, 8 March 2020 (UTC)

Ascension - congrats!

Congratulations re ascension! -Actual-nh (talk) 13:59, 12 January 2021 (UTC)

Late thanks. --Umbire the Phantom (talk) 17:19, 18 April 2021 (UTC)

Baalzebub

Nice copy-editing! —Netzhack (talk) 08:25, 18 April 2021 (UTC)

Thank you. --Umbire the Phantom (talk) 17:18, 18 April 2021 (UTC)

The Move

Join us on Libera :-) *bundlebundlebundle* --Bluescreenofdeath (talk) 16:44, 20 May 2021 (UTC)

thanks!

thanks for improving the changes i made on a few articles, your corrections were spot on. howdy from Texas bro D4 wryyyy (talk) 12:03, 2 July 2021 (UTC)

Uh, welcome. Always happy to help. --Umbire the Phantom (talk) 12:04, 2 July 2021 (UTC)

hey bud, a few of the edits you've made lately seem to remove content without adding clarity. i appreciate you fixing my edit on the basilisk's fiery gaze, but all you did was remove the message about potions; it would have been nice if you'd moved it to someplace you think is more appropriate instead of just deleting it. all that accomplishes is that now if someone searches "boils and explodes!" they'll get nothing. i'd rather be able to find the information and debate about whether it's on the wrong page, than find nothing at all.

you also removed my note that using an axe to try to break a statue is probably a bad idea. since there is a line in the current source code with YASD for this (that does not currently appear to work), it probably is a bad idea, especially if it's enabled in a future release.

i appreciate your work on this wiki and your advice, please don't take my criticism as unfriendly. D4 wryyyy (talk) 00:45, 13 July 2021 (UTC)

"Boils and explodes" is an effect that applies to all cases of fire damage, not just the pyrolisk's gaze. Furthermore, axes can't break statues, and no one but the most uniformed players are likely to try (minus people looking for messages like those anyway). In any case, I prefer to assume the reader has a modicum of sense and additionally doesn't need to be told about something that wouldn't work anyway - not to mention it makes no sense to further confuse readers with speculation about something that may or may not even occur in a future release based off a few specific lines of code. --Umbire the Phantom (talk) 02:38, 13 July 2021 (UTC)

Saddle: Thank you!

Thank you for the massive updates and clarifications to the saddle page! Thanks again!--Thidwick (talk) 15:15, 6 July 2021 (UTC)

Couple decades (re crystal ball)?

Are you referring to the "Elements of Style" I mentioned in my summary, or what? (The original is older than that, although at the rate that relatively-formal English changes I question whether anything less than a hundred or so years old should really be considered overall out of date... especially the "rule" I was doing a special application of, "omit needless words". Not something I'm great at, but I try when I see something (to me) obvious.) I'm not offended, BTW. -Actual-nh (talk) 16:10, 1 August 2021 (UTC)

The point being that we needn't adhere but so stringently to century-old standards (yes, I know how old they are, but I was understating it on purpose). Tightening wording is good but it is possible to overdo it, as I've no doubt done over the years. --Umbire the Phantom (talk) 16:12, 1 August 2021 (UTC)
The particular phrase (which also grates on me whenever I read it, admittedly) is "the fact that", which can virtually always be substituted by something shorter - usually just "that". -Actual-nh (talk) 17:19, 1 August 2021 (UTC)

Polypiling discussion

I recently asked a question on the talk:Polypiling#Introduction - Item Class talk page, and eventually answered my own question, but I didn't add it to the main page because I don't think I'm the best person for it. You might be, if you want. Your judo grip on the English language would help here. It's about "item class" not changing in polymorphing items. D4 wryyyy (talk) 17:13, 28 January 2022 (UTC)

Barbarians throwing Mjollnir

I'm not sure this is good advice for character creation, because:

  • Cleaver is always the first sacrifice gift, so you'll need a second gift to have even a chance of receiving something else.
  • If your second gift isn't Mojo, there are now at least two artifacts in the game, so wishing for another artifact has a chance to fail.
  • You need gauntlets of power (probably another wish) to throw it.
  • Mojo doesn't return for non-Valks, and it could do as little as 2 damage, so it's not even a reliable way to dispatch one enemy, let alone multiples.

Conversely, any character is almost guaranteed to get an orcish bow and supply of arrows if they survive the early levels. It's certainly possible for a neutral Barb to get Mjollnir and GoP and occasionally throw it, but I don't think it's something you should plan your character around. I'm open to counter-arguments, but I think that bit is best removed from the strategy section. --Darth l33t (talk) 15:32, 13 March 2022 (UTC)

Mm, that's fair. I was only springboarding off what was already present, but I'm fine with that being removed. --Umbire the Phantom (talk) 00:46, 14 March 2022 (UTC)

SLEX

Wow, I did NOT know that about SLEX (I only played it a couple times, years ago, and never got very far). I've gone ahead and deleted that page, and will delete any further that I find and/or you tag. Thanks for pointing me to that - we definitely don't want to host content about it. Ion frigate (talk) 22:23, 4 October 2022 (UTC)

You didn't have to delete the talk as well, could've probably answered similar future questions - but I figure it works either way. Wasn't aware you could delete pages though, expected that template to sit for quite a while. --Umbire the Phantom (talk) 22:25, 4 October 2022 (UTC)
Oh, my understanding from 17 years of lurking Wikipedia's meta-side is that standard practice on wikis is to delete talk pages when their mainspace pages are deleted. And yes, I am an admin here - I was very active back around 2010 or so, writing a large number of the SLASH'EM articles. I was actually rather surprised no one got around to desysopping me after I was inactive for seven years (Wikipedia does it after three years), but since I have the privileges, I can use them to purge the SLEX pages. I really hadn't been planning to use the admin bit, but this is worth doing.
I'm going to go through this category and delete articles that don't have any content related to other variants (e.g. SLASH'THEM) - feel free to tag any such articles you see there. Ion frigate (talk) 22:37, 4 October 2022 (UTC)
Will do. --Umbire the Phantom (talk) 22:38, 4 October 2022 (UTC)
Thanks. I'll be linking the talk page you pointed me to in my deletion summaries, so hopefully that will answer any questions anyone has. Ion frigate (talk) 22:47, 4 October 2022 (UTC)
Maybe slow down and wait until there's actually a delete template before acting - a bunch of SLEX additions are preserved in THEM, such as the roles from NetHack: The Next Generation. --Umbire the Phantom (talk) 22:49, 4 October 2022 (UTC)
Sure, as I said at my talk, I'll wait for you to tag. What do you think of making a category for the articles that are to be THEM-ified? We should remove the from the SLEX category as you're doing, but we don't want to lose track of them. Ion frigate (talk) 22:58, 4 October 2022 (UTC)
Already making category switches as we speak. --Umbire the Phantom (talk) 22:59, 4 October 2022 (UTC)

Editing limitations for new contributors removed ?

Mister Umbire the Phantom, have the editing limitations for new contributors been removed ? You seem to imply that in Your message. With those limitations still being active, the writing of information simply CANNOT be made more 'straightforward'. Without them, then there are more possibilities for offering detailed information to readers. Be kind to confirm that such nasty limitations have been removed. There are better manners of stopping misbehaved rascals from vandalising the wiki, and some of those manners have been discussed. It is only to apply them. Cssdixieland (talk) 02:50, 30 June 2023 (UTC)

I'm not the one to ask about it and have no administrative power in that regard - I was pondering out loud whether or not it was removed because I didn't know for sure. --Umbire the Phantom (talk) 02:52, 30 June 2023 (UTC)
The relevant filter, Special:AbuseFilter/10, was disabled by User:Ion frigate, an admin, who said so in the topic at NetHackWiki:Community Portal. Cathartes (talk) 02:59, 30 June 2023 (UTC)
Understood, Gentlemen, then the limitations may still be effective, or they may not. If effective, then pity, because there is much that could be done, but not in small chunks of just one or two lines. That manner of working is VERY tedious. If not effective, then real possibilities exist of performing serious work. We shall see... Cssdixieland (talk) 03:10, 30 June 2023 (UTC)
I mean Cathartes just confirmed that they were removed, so I think you should be good to go. In any case, I don't think there's much need for this level of formality. --Umbire the Phantom (talk) 03:17, 30 June 2023 (UTC)

Edit reason for Yendorian army

"I'm pretty sure the US military is unique in precisely none of those aspects." What about the C- and K-rations? Kahran042 (talk) 14:32, 17 July 2023 (UTC)

Granted, but I don't think that's enough to hang a thesis of "these plate mail pot-wearing soldiers are based entirely on the US army" on. Not like other elements of this game haven't been similarly "kitbashed" together from various tropes (which for the record isn't a value judgement). --Umbire the Phantom (talk) 15:04, 17 July 2023 (UTC)
Fair enough. Kahran042 (talk) 20:21, 20 July 2023 (UTC)

Helm of opposite alignment

Hello. Why do you keep editing said page to insist one can't wear the helm after a permanent alignment conversion? I've checked this in wizard mode in 3.6.6, it's still wearable. The referenced code only checks for the Quest branch; the alignment check is conditional on the Quest one and only changes the message besides. What am I missing? Tomsod (talk) 10:17, 28 July 2023 (UTC)

You're not missing anything, just a mishap on my end from when I was rephrasing something in an entirely different section. Easy enough to fix. --Umbire the Phantom (talk) 10:19, 28 July 2023 (UTC)
Oh, okay then, sorry. Tomsod (talk) 10:52, 28 July 2023 (UTC)
No worries, simple misunderstanding. --Umbire the Phantom (talk) 10:56, 28 July 2023 (UTC)

Scroll of enchant weapon page

You've again changed the SLASH'EM shop service description to say that the price increases "exponentially". Could you please not? I know that in colloquial usage this word is misused for any rapid growth, but it's really quadratic in this case. Wiktionary suggests "dramatic" if you want to be generic, "rapid" works too. Also, poisoned weapons are not more expensive to enchant; it's a completely separate service. Tomsod (talk) 21:25, 30 August 2023 (UTC)

It's another case of working from an older revision, similar to the last message you left above - that happens when I leave a page I'm working on open too long. I'm trying to cut through as many of these open tabs as possible, so I'll fix that shortly. --Umbire the Phantom (talk) 21:27, 30 August 2023 (UTC)
Oh, okay, I should've guessed, thanks. I think I also haven't rebooted since June! Still, better to ask than to risk an edit war, I think. Tomsod (talk) 23:53, 30 August 2023 (UTC)
Aye, no worries - I don't mind my edits being partially/wholly undone if they're mistaken, but I do appreciate you asking a lot. :3 --Umbire the Phantom (talk) 23:55, 30 August 2023 (UTC)

Phrase in artifact articles

Hi, I noticed you added "depending on how many artifacts are generated" to a couple of artifact articles (e.g. Ogresmasher); can you clarify what you mean? As far as I can tell, the code to generate floor artifacts doesn't depend on the number of artifacts that have been generated, unlike (e.g.) wishing. In artifact.c, the function mk_artifact gathers a list of eligible artifacts, excluding those that aren't supposed to be randomly generated (e.g. Excalibur) or have already been generated - if it finds at least one eligible candidate, it picks a random one. There's no chance of an already-generated artifact (e.g. Mjollnir, in the case of Ogresmasher) "interfering" with the generation of a new one: the function excludes already-generated artifacts from the choosing, rather than vetoing them if they're chosen. -Ion frigate (talk) 14:56, 18 September 2023 (UTC)

I might've partly confused it with artifact wishing, yeah - I also seem to remember there being something to handle artifact generation odds for a game where you'd generated a bunch, but I can't find a commit to match. So yeah, you can chalk that up to bad memory and adjust as needed. --Umbire the Phantom (talk) 22:31, 18 September 2023 (UTC)
It is true that you'll see fewer floor artifacts once a lot have been generated: the game selects an already-generated base item to try and convert into an artifact, and if it doesn't find a candidate, it doesn't select another item - it just abandons the attempt. So if Werebane and Grayswandir already exist, any artifact generation attempts on a silver saber will simply fail, "wasting" that 1/20 chance. But that doesn't affect the probability of a specific artifact being generated, just the chances of encountering any artifact. One of those fun counterintuitive probability things; it's not analogous, but it does remind me a bit of the Monty Hall problem. -Ion frigate (talk) 06:24, 19 September 2023 (UTC)
Yes, the odds of seeing any artifact was my intended focus with those edits. --Umbire the Phantom (talk) 15:51, 19 September 2023 (UTC)