The Back Room

[The_Mather1]

Here we're guaranteed a minimum scholarship + the price of "renting" a school computer. Although if we're gone from school for more than two weeks total, it becomes a no-interest loan until we're... 25 I believe... at which point it begins building up interest.

[The_Mather1]

I'm going to open up a 24H SMP server in minecraft soon, I'm cooperating with Ouyso to get it up and running. So far the server is made and the spawn is prepared, there are just a few adjustments left to do, then all we gotta do is to get the website up and running and it'll be ready.

[The Dark Lord]

I got banned for saying a bad word.

[jasignhagj]

I get payed £30 by the gub'ment for going to tertiary education.

 

But that is ending next year, unfortunately.

Really? In Canada, the best you can get is student loans, which are just lower interest loans. If you live in some provinces you can get a lot of your tuition back on your taxes though.

 

On a completely unrelated note; How do people in the tavern earn their cash? I personally sell [cabbage], two cans of soda for 3$ during the school year, over the summer I actually work at a bike shop (and sell [cabbage] there as well as do repairs) and during the fall I sell used bicycles to college students (for roughly 75-100$ each).

I have a job finally (Dish [bleep], but min wage is $9.50 and soon to be $10, so it pays alright.). I'm supposed to go in for training on Wednesday.

[archimage_a]

Britian has:

 

Primary(Elementary) education that is compulsory.

Secondary Education that is also compulsory.

A wierd gap between Secondary Education and higher Education...where you get EMA, 30 pounds a week, if you are below the means test threshold, and in education.

 

Then Higher Education costs money, but the Government has a Student Loan company that gives out interest-free loans to students, for their studies. And after 25 years any remaining debt is written off.

Two loans:

1 covers tuition.

1 covers living costs.

 

System works, though it is convoluted...like most things British.

[jasignhagj]

So what's going on with space?

[The Dark Lord]

I'm unbanned. :smile:

[Icuownage]

Well EMA is being removed, and university costs are being increased, meaning loans are harder to come by. It's now going to be amazingly difficult to get into university, unless you get a scholarship. Which, does occur in Britain, it is just the real smart asses that get it.

[The Dark Lord]

Ever consider studying in another country?

 

My state practically gives away undergrad scholarships as long as you have a B average (hell, I think one only requires a 2.5 GPA, which means that you practically have to be a complete dumb[cabbage] to not get one).

 

Of course, the consequence is that a lot of trash students apply for the scholarships and end up taking more money, which they don't deserve. This gives me less money. :(

 

 

It all works out though. I get $5000 a year for four years, which is enough to cover the cost of my classes and textbooks (as well as giving me a little extra money from what I don't spend, which I'm saving up for a trip to England in a couple summers.) Living with my parents also saves a lot as well.

[Grim_]

Ever consider studying in another country?

 

My state practically gives away undergrad scholarships as long as you have a B average (hell, I think one only requires a 2.5 GPA, which means that you practically have to be a complete dumb[cabbage] to not get one).

 

Of course, the consequence is that a lot of trash students apply for the scholarships and end up taking more money, which they don't deserve. This gives me less money. :(

 

 

It all works out though. I get $5000 a year for four years, which is enough to cover the cost of my classes and textbooks (as well as giving me a little extra money from what I don't spend, which I'm saving up for a trip to England in a couple summers.) Living with my parents also saves a lot as well.

Lucky bastard, at least in my state if you want to get in to the high powered schools you need roughly a 4.2-4.3 GPA (I think UC Berkly is has a 4.42 GPA average for applicants). For those who aren't in the united states school system, that means that damned near every class they take is either honors or advanced placement.

[The Dark Lord]

That must be very stressful.

 

Personally, I could easily make a 3.8 GPA while only taking an AP history class so long as I wasn't lazy and turned my assignments in. I ended up graduating with a 3.47 cumulative GPA (which was just below the 3.5 GPA required for honor grads) due to experiencing depression in the 10th grade (my GPA for that year was about 2.83...I think) and continuing to slack off in 11th grade and not turning many of my assignments in on time/at all (I made closer to a 3.0, though I can't remember the GPA). On top of that, I didn't take many AP classes as I should have.

 

Now that I'm in college, I look back and realize that I could have gotten a much higher cumulative GPA and that I could have done very well in AP English courses, AP Bio, and AP Chemistry (although I'm not sure if I could have done AP Calculus because I have a math deficiency). The only reason I didn't take these classes wasn't because I thought they were too hard. I didn't take them because I was lazy and didn't want to apply myself and do the extra work. Don't do this to yourself. It'll screw you over, especially in uni, where GPA actually matters if you want to go into doctoral studies or be competitive if you want to become a Medical Doctor or go into other high-salary careers.

 

If you want to raise your GPA, be sure to do every extra-credit assignment possible, STUDY, turn in all assignments on time, go to bed at reasonable times and eat a good breakfast in the morning (from experience, this has significantly affected my level of stress when taking exams), and take as many AP and honors courses as possible.

 

Also, GPA doesn't necessarily reflect intelligence. It mainly reflects how well students apply themselves. For example, there wasn't too much of a difference between myself and the school valedictorian and salutatorian, despite the GPA gap. Why? Although the salutatorian (one of my friends) was a better mathematician (at least in my opinion), I know that he did all of the things that I mentioned earlier. He applied himself a lot more than I did. We were both really bright students. Don't let GPA differences make you feel inferior. Just do your best and eliminate any distractions that prevent you from your goal. If you really want an A, you'll get an A.

 

Also, we took the first exam in my Zoology course, and I scored a 98% while most people scored significantly lower than I did (a B or C). You know how I accomplished that? I studied. Eleven pages of notes. I skimmed through my lecture notes every Tuesday and Thursday, and I typed all of my notes into MS Word and printed them off so that I could power study on the day before the exam. I feel proud of myself. :smile:

[archimage_a]

It's now going to be amazingly difficult to get into university, unless you get a scholarship. Which, does occur in Britain, it is just the real smart asses that get it.

 

Nah, it is gonna be unchanged, since they still give out loans to anyone who applies...Just means the Government is gonna have to pay out more money in the short term, though, since the money goes back to the government it just screw the people who actually pay for it themselves.

 

Which, to my mind, just inspires not working.

 

 

However, you can now earn £19,999.99 without having to pay back the money...which is good.

 

 

 

 

Laptop update:

Got it back, installed Vista from a recovery disk...unfortunately it was the recovery disk for this computer, not the laptop, so the laptop doesn't have wireless, and the network adapter doesn't seem to connect to the interweb when I plug in the cable.

So have ordered the new disk for £33.

However, the repair price for the laptop decreased from £260 to £75...Which was very impressive.

[Resistance]

However, you can now earn £19,999.99 without having to pay back the money...which is good.

 

I thought it was the combined income to the household, in other words how much whoever you live with earns. I don't qualify for EMA's because my parents earn more.

[archimage_a]

It was, when I was applying, £750 was means tested, and everything else was 'everyone is entitled'

[Retech]

How does your GPA system work? Ours goes up to 14.something for cumalative.

[archimage_a]

We don't have GPA...(I assume America just has a unified GPA system...Kinda confusing if they don't)

We do have a UCAS Tarriff, but its not really the same as GPA, so far as I can see.

 

You get an overall grade for your course and that translates as a number of points:

http://www.ucas.com/students/ucas_tariff/tarifftables/

[The_Mather1]

1(fail)-6(max). I'm at 3.9, wou've been much higher if not for Norwegian being two grades (written and oral) and my gym grade being ridiculously low (I went down from a 5 at the end of tenth grade to a 3 last semester, even though I perform way above avarage and I got a 6- on the theory test).

I get 3 in Norwegian and 5 in English (and I have so since eight grade), I wonder why... :rolleyes:

 

Archi, GPA is grade avarage.

[The Dark Lord]

How does your GPA system work? Ours goes up to 14.something for cumalative.

 

4.00 = A

3.00 = B

2.00 = C

1.00 = D

0.00 = F

 

In some high schools, there is no D. You fail if you earn below a 69% (minimum percentage needed for a C). Texas has/had such a system, for example. Arkansas uses the D letter grade.

 

AP courses (which are the equivalent of Britain's A-levels) are weighted. Thus, you can earn OVER a 4.00 cumulative GPA if you take many of these courses, up to a 5.00 GPA.

 

AP grades are thus:

 

5.00 = A

4.00 = B

3.00 = C

 

Et cetera.

 

I believe that high schools generally take the GPA that you earn per semester to create the GPA that you earned for that particular school term. Then the GPAs are added together and divided by the number of years, giving you your cumulative GPA. Don't quote me on this, though.

[Retech]

Ours have pluses and minuses, with A+ being a 4.33 (which is the perfect).

 

I think I will prefer the cumalative, because I'll probaly be taking more AP courses than my friends, and I will be able to use that when we compete academically. Of course, some of them want to take AP Stats, which is just a wimpy AP course. It's practically less work than an honors course.

[jasignhagj]

Canada has nothing. For university they pretty much just look at your Grade 12 marks, what classes you took, any awards or achievements and extracurricular activities and volunteering.

[archimage_a]

Idea for a Hegemony that could be modded by anyone without much problem:

 

1,000 AD time period.

 

Large Province based system, for instance Britian is split into Wales, South East, Cornwall, Mercia, York and the Highlands. Ireland as North and South Ireland.

Each province contains villages, monesteries, farms and costal Villages, and one Town.

 

Villages generate money, Monestries generate Piety, Farms generate food...and Coastal Villages generate Money and Food.

By default 1 of each.

Money is money.

Piety is used for special actions.

Food is the max number of units you can support, and generates tax.

 

Towns contain buildings. There are three types of building:

Civil= Buildings that increase the amount of Food/Money/Piety, extra tax, and affect rebellion chances.

Training= Buildings that let you train specific units.

Defence= Buildings that defend the town.

 

Units are divided into 3 classes:

National Units= Units that can be built anywhere in your empire. You only have 1 of these and decide at the beginning of the game.

Local Units= Units that are built in the province, regardless of who controls it.

Siege Units= Catapults and whatnot.

All units above Peasents require certain buildings...Bow Wielders need Fletchers, Sword Wielders need Swords...ect. More heavily armoured units need various armourers.

If your province builds swordsmen, peasents, bowmen and light calvery, then building advanced armouries is useless.

 

Armies are controlled by Generals. Generals can be levelled up. Armies can cross anyone's land.

Armies can plunder villages and conquer towns. Each plunder takes 1 Year and generates about 700 Gold (More if your General is skilled at looting)

 

Spies can be hired and sent to another country. There is then a chance that the spy will be hired as a General. If they are hired as a General then you can have the General revolt with all of their troops and join your side.

Spies can also be used to assassinate leaders of other countries, leading to increase discontent and resets all treaties and what not.

 

Rebellions crops up when rebel feeling gets too high: AKA when you tax people too much, commit dishonourable acts(breaking treaties), after you conquer someone.

Rebels act like enemy armies, but once they capture a town will become an independant nation.

 

Special actions. They cost 1,000 Piety and Piety is capped at 1,000.

You can promote troops, increase General Skill, decrease Rebellious feelings, kill a foreign leader, force them into a non-aggression pact (Doesn't stop them, but makes it dishonourable to attack you).

 

 

 

Players would be responsible for everything in their empire and would just need to PM stealth actions to the Mod and post public actions.

Mod would be responsible for keeping the offical map, resolving battles and random events-Rebellions, Mercenaries, King Deaths and NPC wars.

[Retech]

It would probaly be easier to just go with 1399, and use the Europa Universalis map, with changes (lumping one province minors together with larger ones, for instance).

 

How many villages and such would an average country have? It seems when you're talking about 1000 piety and such, it would take a long time if each country had one or two monasteries.

[The_Mather1]

All changes to the server are done, once Ouyso finishes the website we'll be up and running.

[jasignhagj]

Minecraft server? Does that mean I need to buy the game?

[The_Mather1]

Technically, yes. But I haven't and the server is running on my old computer... :rolleyes: