Tarquinus

That is a non-solution that solves nothing. What the hell is wrong with letting the GGG alone? If you don't like it, [u]don't go there[/u]. If you want to "protest" a popular training ground, expect to meet resistance.

I honor the effort MRD, MRWander, and many others put into making GGG a training ground for the whole of the MD community. I absolutely deplore the lack of respect that has been shown to the MRs and their training ground. As Cutler observed, no good deed goes unpunished. GGG will continue with player support. Let those who criticize it say what they will; it serves a useful purpose to players who know what they are doing, and helps many others, though in a smaller way. To players who wish to see GGG survive as a training ground, I offer the following advice: [list] [*]Encourage players to keep deep defenses stacked while training (and especially idling) at GGG. This is [b]simple[/b] for anyone with a fully grown tree. A prepared player's training rituals cannot easily be broken. [*]Enforce the rules of the training ground by means personally available to you. Don't give the opportunists what they want. Many of them will suffer if mass-attacked, while others can be attack-locked, teleported, or worse. [*]Stay united. The success or failure of the GGG depends on the people who use it. [/list] There is one other thing - teaching. The Dojo never quite managed to effectively train duelists to create good rituals. Remember that. GGG has a narrow utility, as Burns and a few others have indicated, and dependence on it can cripple a character's ability to duel. Share knowledge, explore the limits of your ability to fight, and help MD stay a fun place for dueling.

Happy Birthday!

[u][b]Speaker for the Forest[/b][/u] Friend to bird, flower, and knator, the Speaker for the Forest walks the woodland paths and talks with the trees. He guides Loreroot with a firm but supple hand.

I think this is a tremendous idea. Have you selected a location? If not, may I suggest Willow's Shop?

Thank you, Mur. It seems my faith in you is well placed.

Having the same problem.

[quote name='Burns' date='21 February 2010 - 03:13 AM' timestamp='1266743632' post='54878'] Who am I to claim that the CoE kill people who are evil to their gods and children?[/quote] Just a word on that - the CoE [u]are[/u] religious loonies, and sometimes browbeat members who seem to be falling short of the standard of zeal. Lucius Tarquinus is almost a self-parody, and he and Keith both began their MagicDuel careers as satirical characters. I don't have much patience for people who resent being the objects of satire. Anyone who takes himself that seriously deserves to be parodied more rather than less. Keep up the good work, Burns - by all accounts, your quest was a lot of fun.

I have you in my thoughts. Keep courage, keep hope.

I agree with Orlando. And let us not turn on one another, saying, "you are to blame..." I see some people in this thread failing to communicate. I see others attacking straw men. I see yet others harping on truths that are too uncomfortable for some players to admit, in my opinion a totally pointless exercise. I will openly admit that I have not always been a very good influence on the game of MagicDuel; I freely confess to having been selfish and self-absorbed, interested primarily in entertaining myself rather than trying to work for the fun of others. This is not a confessional, like Awiiya's thread from the Festival of Pain, but a statement of fact. I doubt many others are willing to admit the facts as baldly, to examine what they might have done to harm the game and its community. And I don't care. I still enjoy MagicDuel, I still have friends among its players, and I am very far from the point of despair. I still see more criticism of the state of affairs in this thread, despite its relocation, than discussion of how to "revive" MD. Must we really split hairs over semantics, for all love? There are those who are fearful, those who are bored, those who are frustrated and angry. So what? What are you prepared to do to make it better? Surely the game provides some amount of fun to you, or you would no longer play, no? [b]edited for clarity[/b]

I will yield to His Majesty. 3 silver for the fourth box.

3 silver for the eighth box.

I will sponsor this quest with a Wish Point for the winner and 10 silver for a runner-up. One word of advice, Kamisha - forget about the AL. Just ask for stories to act as springboards for events in the game.

[quote name='Rhaegar Targaryen' date='17 February 2010 - 03:51 PM' timestamp='1266443511' post='54647'] we, as ourselves, need to make few story lines that others would follow. I'm not familiar with rules of dungeons and dragons, but as far as I know they have Game Masters right? so why don't certain group of people team up and create a story that would start series of events, in which other people can join in, making something grand. The 'Game Master' would set the rules at the start, how the events would function (you could use torch system for certain events within those event series, if battle occurs or whatever) [/quote] Yes, that's it exactly. The war between Golemus and Necrovion, which came down to a battle between the Knights of the Bell on one side and the Sentinels and the Eclipse on the other, was player-driven and player-managed. I can't speak for everyone, but I know at least three players who were highly galvanized by the player-sponsored events of this war, and who came away feeling a deeper sense of involvement in MagicDuel and connection to its characters. I take nothing away from Mur, who has given his all and more to MagicDuel: 110%, as professional athletes in the US are prone to say. But I also do not address him - I address you, my fellow players. Don't wait for Mur to implement things! Reach out to each other, organize, plan, and then hang on for the ride. Most importantly of all, reach out to the players of your characters' enemies and figure out a way to use rp and existing game mechanics to weave a story whose starting conditions you control, but whose outcome is in doubt. It'll be fun. I promise.

Good points all, Burns, and I could raise another big issue which, in my opinion, killed 90% of the story in the game. But I don't want to point fingers or feed back on negativity, which really only perpetuates more negativity. I am an alcoholic in recovery. We in recovery like to talk about our problems, yes, but the more experienced among us note and repeat (as many times as we must) that focusing on the problem only makes the problem bigger. What helps us, who used to feel ourselves in a hopeless state, is to focus on what might be the solution to our problem. So let us focus on the solution to MD's woes: story. Right now I am re-playing one of the best games I have ever played: [i]Mass Effect[/i]. This game is a shooter. I hate shooters. So why do I like [i]Mass Effect[/i] so much? Story. The story is amazing. It's well fleshed out, deeply researched, and solidly written. Those of you who have played other roleplaying games and enjoyed them will notice a common feature shared by all of them, which is story wedded to the mechanics of a combat system. This kind of quest is a thing I had hoped to introduce to MagicDuel as RPC, but was too lazy really to implement in time to make a difference. But it can be done. It will take long hours of work, cooperation from at least six people who are willing to be online nearly all the time, and/or who have reliable understudies to take their parts so the "actors" (non-questing characters) can keep the quest running constantly. And it will require a good story. A good story doesn't have to be original. A novel way of presenting a story can be brilliant, but it's just not necessary. While playing [i]Mass Effect[/i] and games like it, I navigate through one over-arching story and encounter dozens of mini-plots along the way. The elements of the over-arching story are familiar: [x] is going to destroy the world/galaxy/universe, and our hero is a rugged, rough-and-tumble outsider who rises to the occasion. Meanwhile, in addition to the corruptions, seductions, and betrayals among the story's principal characters, minor characters are also reporting, and need help resolving, small betrayals, corruptions, and kidnappings in their own minor spheres. Everything's broken; everything needs a hero. You're he (or she). Where you go, change comes, and history is written in your trail. MagicDuel prides itself on originality, and originality is good where it keeps a story going. Where there is no story, originality is interesting for a few moments, and rarely more. Don't want to click to advance? Fine. Learn how to excel in this dueling system, manage the maze of conflicting personalities in MagicDuel, and forge your path in a complicated situation fraught with obstacles and ambiguity. If you don't have the time or inclination to write a story-based quest yourself, create a small one and get some other players to help you. Just remember the three essentials of a good story quest: [list=1] [*]Use the fighting system. All stories require conflict, and in a roleplaying game, conflict must have a system of arbitration. Yes, some people can "roleplay" fighting pretty well, but there is no structure to keep players "honest", reasonable, or in proportion. Solution - take advantage of the existing system. [*]Be true to the setting. Many quests in MD are cool but don't have anything to do with the "story" of the game world. That dissociation, in addition to a generally arbitrary level of difficulty, prevents most quests from seeing many participants. [*]Use existing characters and situations as a springboard. Characters and events that don't happen "in game" don't interest the average player. We want to interact with characters we know and things we care about. Here's the acid test: does a person who solves a quest have an interesting story to tell? If not, the quest is going to be of academic interest at best. [/list] There are lots of players hungry for story who will be glad to help you, and there are several who can code clickables to help automate parts of your quest. Here is my challenge to the MagicDuel community: write a quest that people want to play [i]just for the fun of being part of the quest[/i], where rewards are nice but a secondary consideration to having a fun, memorable experience. Good night, and good luck. [b]Edited to complete a sentence [doh!][/b]

Happy Birthday!

The PL entry in the attached screen-crop is totally unacceptable behavior from a guy who really knows better. This is in-game harassment about something which is, at best, a RL issue related to the game only by the fact that the two people involved both play it. I apologize if I've posted this in the wrong forum; feel free to move it or do whatever you need to do. I just really, really wanted to call this to the attention of at least one moderator.

Thanks for the contest, dst. I had a lot of fun with it!

Hail, Jester, new king of Necrovion. The Eclipse welcomes your ascension to the throne and looks forward to establishing a relationship with your court. We are sad to lose Peace, our friend and kinswoman, whose water has mingled with ours, and who shall forever be welcome among us. But behold her wisdom in naming her successor! May the reign of Jester be long and glorious!

Happy birthday, gentlemen.

Asterdai sprinted up the stairs to the Hall of the Sun Balcony. “Innocence!” he gasped, his sides heaving. “dst has been taken prisoner by the Blue Meanies and is being held in the Land of Joyless Text!” “So?” Innocence replied, arching his faun’s brows. “And hello to you, too, Asterick.” “We’ve got to help her!” “I’m sure she likes it there. Sounds like a job for a mercenary, anyway.” “Where… who… what do we do?” Innocence sighed with exaggerated patience. “I haven’t done a place in, oh, I don’t know, feels like a long time. As for whom I do, that’s none of your business.” Asterdai spluttered, starting to protest, but Innocence held up a hand. “What do you do? Send out a notice. Offer a wish point or a useless creature or something silly. Have you thought about asking asterisk?” Asterdai blinked. “Ask myself?” “No!” Innocence cried. “asterisk, not Asterick!” A very short, moustachioed blond guy wearing a winged helmet bounded up the stairs. “Je suis arrivé!” He shouted, sweeping off his helmet and bowing elaborately. “Astérix le Gaulois, à votre service!” “No, no, no!” Innocence snapped. “Not Astérix… [i]asterisk![/i] Please.” The little man’s shoulders slumped and he shuffled back down the stairs. Asterdai blinked. “Well, if that’s not asterisk, where do we go to find him?” “Him?” Innocence demanded. “How do you know it’s a he? Isn’t that just a little sexist to assume asterisk is a he? Or that Dusty wants to be rescued by a male?” “O-Oh,” Asterdai stammered. “Sorry, I…” Innocence laughed. “I’m just kidding. asterisk is totally a he.” Asterdai flushed with embarrassment. “I… I see…” “We go to the editing room,” Innocence told him. “All the punctuation marks hang out there.” Asterdai started to speak, but Innocence brushed past him and swept down the stairs into the Archives lobby. Passing into the empty room in the east wing of the MDA, Asterdai frowned in confusion. “This is the editing room?” Innocence ignored him and clapped once loudly. “Dot, Sticks, Queerie, Curve… C’mon out!” “…What is it?” moaned a sleepy-looking question mark, who blinked uncertainly at Asterdai. “Who’s this?” “Queerie,” Innocence said, “meet Asterick.” The question mark blinked and narrowed suspicious eyes at Asterdai. “What does he want?” Asterdai explained: “The Blue Meanies have taken dst prisoner and are holding her in the Land of Joyless Text!” “So?” the question mark asked. “That’s what I said,” Innocence muttered. “It is no harm! Pay no attention to it!” roared an exclamation point, bouncing around vehemently. “So… I came to ask asterisk for help,” Asterdai said, looking somewhat taken aback. “dst hates asterisks!” the exclamation point exclaimed. “Pay no attention to it!” A period looked askance at the exclamation point and advised: “Stop. Wait. Listen.” “Oh, Dot,” Innocence said, shaking his faun’s head. “You’re almost as bad as Sticks.” “On the other hand,” a comma yawned, “it is conceivable, though barely, that dst does want to be rescued, even if the solution is temporary, and would welcome your help, she would greet you with gratitude, but she might seem a little surly, she is very temperamental, while intellectually acute, and is not given to displays of affection, you may have to approach her with care,” and sighed. “Why can’t I help?” the question mark whined. “You ask too many questions,” Innocence said. “asterisk is the best punctuation mark for the job.” The period said, “Wrong. I am. Period.” “We know you’re a period, Dot,” Innocence snapped. “We came to see asterisk.” “Well,” the comma continued, “I suppose the period is the most experienced of us, and could do a good job, he’s a bit blunt, or maybe I could, I am awfully versatile, and popular, cute, and technically useful,” looking at Asterdai hopefully. “Curve, you slow things down,” Innocence told the comma, “and you do tend to run on.” The asterisk somersaulted into the room and bowed to Asterdai with a flourish. “You need a hero; I am he. These other punctuation marks are insecure because of their youth and a certain desire to prove themselves.” “Pay no attention to it!” the exclamation point roared. “Exactly,” the asterisk agreed. The period frowned at asterisk and said, “No. Not youth. You’re younger.” “Nice try, Dot,” the asterisk rejoined smugly. “I am as old as writing itself, and at least two thousand years older than you. In the days of ancient Sumer, I was a glyph called a [i]dingir[/i].” “Yeah!” Innocence said. “He was a thinger! Or a thingie." Innocence begain bouncing around with the exclamation point. "Hey, Sticks, a thingie!” “And as for versatility, I am by far the most talented,” asterisk continued, smiling superciliously at the comma. “I am a query wildcard; I can be used in multiplication; I can indicate corrections, footnotes, and relative insignificance.” “Do I really need a wildcard?” the question mark wondered. “Shut up, Queerie,” Innocence suggested. “It is no harm! Pay no attention to it!” the exclamation point roared again. “Don’t you have anything else to say?” the question mark asked, shaking her head at the exclamation point. Warming to the subject of himself, asterisk talked at a louder volume. “In the land of MagicDuel, I am even more powerful,” he noted. “I can turn text blue, denoting actions, wishes, and emotions. Clearly,” he told Asterdai, “I am the one for the job.” “Well, I suppose so,” Asterdai said, looking at Innocence, who nodded with approval. “Come along, then.” “The Land of Joyless Text is more a state of mind than a physical location,” Innocence observed as the three headed south from the MagicDuel Archive lands. “I think we’ll probably find Dusty at the Gazebo of Equilibrium.” Sure enough, they encountered dst and Mur, who was clad in Roman platemail and clutching a long pole topped by an eagle and a placard bearing the letters SPQR. dst stared at Asterdai, Innocence, and asterisk as they approached, and Mur hastily concealed a copy of [i]Rome: Total War[/i] under his blue cape. “Yes?” dst asked. “We’re here to save you from the Blue Meanies!” Asterdai exclaimed. “We brought asterisk!” But dst recoiled in horror. “asterisk?” she moaned. “He’s their best weapon!” She pointed at a group of people pretending to fight using text. “Of course!” Asterdai said, slapping himself in the face. “The Blue Meanies…” asterisk bellowed malevolently. “I have you now!” he crowed, leering at dst. Innocence rolled his faun’s eyes and wandered away. Asterdai looked around for help. The little blond guy leapt onto the scene, swatting asterisk with the flat of his blade and turning on Mur, who swore and drew his Iberian gladius. Asterdai scurried away as dst set a drac-heavy ritual, and a huge fat guy with a red moustache and pigtails ran up shouting “Sono Pazzi Questi Romani!”* He and the little blond man ran away while dst’s ritual eviscerated asterisk, and dst sighed, relaxing in asterisk-free serenity. *Italian for “They’re crazy, these Roman(ian)s!”

"A Child Said, What Is The Grass", Walt Whitman [quote]A child said, What is the grass? fetching it to me with full hands; How could I answer the child?. . . .I do not know what it is any more than he. I guess it must be the flag of my disposition, out of hopeful green stuff woven. Or I guess it is the handkerchief of the Lord, A scented gift and remembrancer designedly dropped, Bearing the owner's name someway in the corners, that we may see and remark, and say Whose? Or I guess the grass is itself a child. . . .the produced babe of the vegetation. Or I guess it is a uniform hieroglyphic, And it means, Sprouting alike in broad zones and narrow zones, Growing among black folks as among white, Kanuck, Tuckahoe, Congressman, Cuff, I give them the same, I receive them the same. And now it seems to me the beautiful uncut hair of graves. Tenderly will I use you curling grass, It may be you transpire from the breasts of young men, It may be if I had known them I would have loved them; It may be you are from old people and from women, and from offspring taken soon out of their mother's laps, And here you are the mother's laps. This grass is very dark to be from the white heads of old mothers, Darker than the colorless beards of old men, Dark to come from under the faint red roofs of mouths. O I perceive after all so many uttering tongues! And I perceive they do not come from the roofs of mouths for nothing. I wish I could translate the hints about the dead young men and women, And the hints about old men and mothers, and the offspring taken soon out of their laps. What do you think has become of the young and old men? What do you think has become of the women and children? They are alive and well somewhere; The smallest sprouts show there is really no death, And if ever there was it led forward life, and does not wait at the end to arrest it, And ceased the moment life appeared. All goes onward and outward. . . .and nothing collapses, And to die is different from what any one supposed, and luckier.[/quote] "As I Walked Out One Evening", W.H. Auden [quote]As I walked out one evening, Walking down Bristol Street, The crowds upon the pavement Were fields of harvest wheat. And down by the brimming river I heard a lover sing Under an arch of the railway: 'Love has no ending. 'I'll love you, dear, I'll love you Till China and Africa meet, And the river jumps over the mountain And the salmon sing in the street, 'I'll love you till the ocean Is folded and hung up to dry And the seven stars go squawking Like geese about the sky. 'The years shall run like rabbits, For in my arms I hold The Flower of the Ages, And the first love of the world.' But all the clocks in the city Began to whirr and chime: 'O let not Time deceive you, You cannot conquer Time. 'In the burrows of the Nightmare Where Justice naked is, Time watches from the shadow And coughs when you would kiss. 'In headaches and in worry Vaguely life leaks away, And Time will have his fancy To-morrow or to-day. 'Into many a green valley Drifts the appalling snow; Time breaks the threaded dances And the diver's brilliant bow. 'O plunge your hands in water, Plunge them in up to the wrist; Stare, stare in the basin And wonder what you've missed. 'The glacier knocks in the cupboard, The desert sighs in the bed, And the crack in the tea-cup opens A lane to the land of the dead. 'Where the beggars raffle the banknotes And the Giant is enchanting to Jack, And the Lily-white Boy is a Roarer, And Jill goes down on her back. 'O look, look in the mirror, O look in your distress: Life remains a blessing Although you cannot bless. 'O stand, stand at the window As the tears scald and start; You shall love your crooked neighbour With your crooked heart.' It was late, late in the evening, The lovers they were gone; The clocks had ceased their chiming, And the deep river ran on.[/quote] "if everything happens that can't be done", e.e. cummings [quote]if everything happens that can't be done (and anything's righter than books could plan) the stupidest teacher will almost guess (with a run skip around we go yes) there's nothing as something as one one hasn't a why or because or although (and buds know better than books don't grow) one's anything old being everything new (with a what which around we come who) one's everyanything so so world is a leaf so a tree is a bough (and birds sing sweeter than books tell how) so here is away and so your is a my (with a down up around again fly) forever was never till now now i love you and you love me (and books are shuter than books can be) and deep in the high that does nothing but fall (with a shout each around we go all) there's somebody calling who's we we're anything brighter than even the sun (we're everything greater than books might mean) we're everyanything more than believe (with a spin leap alive we're alive) we're wonderful one times one[/quote] "Medusa", Sylvia Plath [quote]Off that landspit of stony mouth-plugs, Eyes rolled by white sticks, Ears cupping the sea's incoherences, You house your unnerving head -- God-ball, Lens of mercies, Your stooges Plying their wild cells in my keel's shadow, Pushing by like hearts, Red stigmata at the very center, Riding the rip tide to the nearest point of departure, Dragging their Jesus hair. Did I escape, I wonder? My mind winds to you Old barnacled umbilicus, Atlantic cable, Keeping itself, it seems, in a state of miraculous repair. In any case, you are always there, Tremulous breath at the end of my line, Curve of water upleaping To my water rod, dazzling and grateful, Touching and sucking. I didn't call you. I didn't call you at all. Nevertheless, nevertheless You steamed to me over the sea, Fat and red, a placenta Paralyzing the kicking lovers. Cobra light Squeezing the breath from the blood bells Of the fuchsia. I could draw no breath, Dead and moneyless, Overexposed, like an X-ray. Who do you think you are? A Communion wafer? Blubbery Mary? I shall take no bite of your body, Bottle in which I live, Ghastly Vatican. I am sick to death of hot salt. Green as eunuchs, your wishes Hiss at my sins. Off, off, eely tentacle! There is nothing between us.[/quote]

[url="http://languagearts8.wikidot.com/bob-ewell"]Team Ewell[/url]!

The contest still runs to month's end, I hope. I will post a submission either way, since my entry isn't about a reward but a fun piece of writing.

[quote name='Grido' date='20 January 2010 - 11:50 AM' timestamp='1264009835' post='53125'] If alts gather information for the main that the main would not otherwise have known, that is alt abuse. If you use an alt to scout the area ahead of where you are to look out for possible people that might attack you, that would be alt abuse. [/quote] I am guilty of these two things. I consider them more "borderline" than outright abuse, but I'll stop.