According to Websters.com, this is the definition of analogy: a•nal•o•gy [uh-nal-uh-jee] Show IPA noun, plural a•nal•o•gies. 1. a similarity between like features of two things, on which a comparison may be based: the analogybetween the heart and a pump. 2. similarity or comparability: I see no analogy between your problem and mine. 3. Biology . an analogous relationship. 4. Linguistics . a. the process by which words or phrases are created or re-formed according to existing patterns inthe language, as when shoon was re-formed as shoes, when -ize is added to nouns like winter to form verbs, or when a child says foots for feet. b. a form resulting from such a process. 5. Logic. a form of reasoning in which one thing is inferred to be similar to another thing in a certainrespect, on the basis of the known similarity between the things in other respects.
You have attempted to compare the Ugoth’s Beard ring to the one ring. There are no similar features between the two except that they are both magic rings upon which a comparison can be based. The invisibility conveyed by each is so far removed from each other, that they are not similar in nature or effect. Therefore, it is a wholly inaccurate analogy because there are no similar features to compare. QED.
No one ever said they were the same. No one ever said anything about the BG Ring of Invisibility. You're having an argument against a shadow. (But then again, per Plato, aren't we all? :P)
Well, now your getting into my old terrain, so watch out. Tolkien's ring (the big, most powerful item in the world is what you find as a 5th level adventurer in BG1) is ultimately based on the myth of the Ring of Gyges discussed by Socrates on Plato's "Republic." The gist is, a ring like that is in fact "game-breaking," in the context of a civil society. The question discussed is, are you better off using an exploit/item to circumvent the rules, or are you better off without it, striving against the challenges those rules throw in your way. The answer Socrates and his interlocutors arrive at, is the latter.
As for your assertion that the shield of balduran simply turns the game into a click fest, I wholly reject that. As stated before, it is of extremely limited use. A standard +3 shield, of which there are several is a better device as they don’t come with the –STR negative. And even in the locations where there are Beholders, there are always more than simply beholders to contend with. In the cult of the eyeless quest, the beholders keep shades and acolytes at various key places in the respective dungeons. And if you simply ‘click fest’ them, you will die.
Even the straight invisibility spell doesn’t turn the game into a click fest. The moment your characters do anything other than look around, the spell breaks. And there are so many mages in the game with true seeing dispel invisibility that just happens to trigger upon approach of any party member, that you almost lose the advantage as many times as you gain it. And once it is broken, getting it back is problematic. I think that you simply want to make a point without thinking it through thoroughly.
Yes, we get the Plato reference. I think it is no where near as accurate as you tend to present.
Comments
a•nal•o•gy
[uh-nal-uh-jee] Show IPA
noun, plural a•nal•o•gies.
1. a similarity between like features of two things, on which a comparison may be based: the analogybetween the heart and a pump.
2. similarity or comparability: I see no analogy between your problem and mine.
3. Biology . an analogous relationship.
4. Linguistics .
a. the process by which words or phrases are created or re-formed according to existing patterns inthe language, as when shoon was re-formed as shoes, when -ize is added to nouns like winter to form verbs, or when a child says foots for feet.
b. a form resulting from such a process.
5. Logic. a form of reasoning in which one thing is inferred to be similar to another thing in a certainrespect, on the basis of the known similarity between the things in other respects.
You have attempted to compare the Ugoth’s Beard ring to the one ring. There are no similar features between the two except that they are both magic rings upon which a comparison can be based. The invisibility conveyed by each is so far removed from each other, that they are not similar in nature or effect. Therefore, it is a wholly inaccurate analogy because there are no similar features to compare. QED. Um, YOU did. As for your assertion that the shield of balduran simply turns the game into a click fest, I wholly reject that. As stated before, it is of extremely limited use. A standard +3 shield, of which there are several is a better device as they don’t come with the –STR negative. And even in the locations where there are Beholders, there are always more than simply beholders to contend with. In the cult of the eyeless quest, the beholders keep shades and acolytes at various key places in the respective dungeons. And if you simply ‘click fest’ them, you will die.
Even the straight invisibility spell doesn’t turn the game into a click fest. The moment your characters do anything other than look around, the spell breaks. And there are so many mages in the game with true seeing dispel invisibility that just happens to trigger upon approach of any party member, that you almost lose the advantage as many times as you gain it. And once it is broken, getting it back is problematic.
I think that you simply want to make a point without thinking it through thoroughly.
Yes, we get the Plato reference. I think it is no where near as accurate as you tend to present.