Tarquinus

Keith offers to conduct lessons in Fox-Trot, Tango (my personal favorite), and Waltz. He will not teach Two-Step, Salsa, or Merengue, which he says are too informal.

It is a worship service, rather like church, only much shorter and filled with people attacking each other. The Children of the Eclipse have "white" services in sanctuary areas (usually Fenths Press). Again, both types of services are worship services, MD/CoE style. We try to keep them entertaining and brief. They are part of our contribution to the culture of the world. With the exception of the "Hymn to Hecate", all prayers in the services are original works.

Welcome back, welcome back indeed. The realm was the poorer without you.

My thoughts are with you. Have courage, take as long as you need, and get better. Your friends will be here when you return.

Roleplay is a medium in which anything well done is rare. More seriously, I prefer roleplay that shows a [i]presence[/i] in MagicDuel. When characters reference things from real life, things they should in most cases have no way of knowing, they erode the illusion of the fantasy setting. Characters who speak as though they think of things from their own perspectives as opposed to the users' - no matter what that perspective might be - help solidify the illusion of the fantasy. Many players in MD have created outlandish characters. That's fine, as long as the user has given some thought to how differently the outlandish character perceives the world from the way a normal person does. Your character is half-demon, half gryphon? Very well: show through your speech, your actions, and your story how this character perceives the world differently from the way you, a human being, perceive it... and be willing to account for how, exactly, your character came to be in the realm of MagicDuel. If you just say, "well, that's my heritage/backstory" but otherwise act and speak like a human being, I'm likely to ignore your character (at best) or make fun of you (more frequently). What a character can do is interesting, but equally interesting is what a character [u]cannot[/u] do. I see a lot of characters with supernatural powers, but very few with natural (to say nothing of supernatural) limitations. Characters with spell-like powers but no outer magic (systemic) spells have always been very uninteresting in MagicDuel, where spells can be earned, and with the Wish Shop up and running that has never been truer than it is now. If you claim to have powers, you should be willing to earn them in such a way that the magic system of MagicDuel validates your claim. I the thirty years or so I have been roleplaying, I have encountered many players who prefer to engage only the system (these players are often called powergamers or min-maxers in tabletop RP gaming, whereas MD tends to call them grinders) and ignore most if not all roleplaying concerns, as well as players who prefer to assert their own roleplaying vision over the system (these players are sometimes called roses in polite terms and many uglier things as well). Though I do make exceptions for exceptionally creative players, I tend to regard the ability of a roleplayer in terms of how she or he uses the constrictions of the system to present her or his character. In other words, I have the most respect for those who fight [u]and[/u] roleplay, using the system to arbitrate conflicts and represent character "powers" wherever possible.

Happy Birthday, Glor.

[quote name='Grido' date='08 December 2009 - 12:54 PM' timestamp='1260298472' post='49451']Not sure about your point with Zleip, whilst suggested i never took on the suggestion that past winners cant win again.[/quote] Ah, okay. My mistake.

Point of Order - Awiiya also nominated Pamplemousse as Most Influential. [b]Edit[/b] - not to be self-serving, but Z won (and deserved) Best Roleplayer last year.

[quote]and plz spam my rep i want to have the most damn neg rep ever so i can go down in extreme magicduel history[/quote] Your sort does like to compete for last place. Do not delude yourself - you are not of enough consequence to be remembered as anything more than one of a number of minor nuisances.

[b][u]Best Back Story[/u][/b] Amoran K Kol [b][u]Best Debater[/u][/b] Tough call. I'll say Malaikat Maut/Wyncken Vanaril. [b][u]Best Fighter[/u][/b] Lifeline [b][u]Best LHO[/u][/b] Indyra Sirenias (damnit, Grido, I wanted to nominate you) [b][u]Best Personal Papers[/u][/b] Rendril Revant [b][u]Best Protector[/u][/b] Pamplemousse [b][u]Best PL Entry[/u][/b] Zleiphnir, in Pamplemousse's PL [b][u]Best Quest[/u][/b] Cutler [b][u]Best Quester[/u][/b] dst [b][u]Best Role Player[/u][/b] Innocence!!! [b][u]Best Spell Caster[/u][/b] This one is hard for me, too, but I'll say MRD. [b][u]Best Villain[/u][/b] Granos [b][u]Most Influential[/u][/b] Akasha [b][u]Outstanding Service to MagicDuel[/u][/b] Ailith [b][u]Veteran of the Year[/u][/b] Burns

Take it as a given you cannot: this is not [i]Lord of the Flies[/i] or [i]Heart of Darkness[/i]. Civilization goes only so far as you are willing to carry it, you feculent barbarian. If you behave as a savage, expect to be treated as one.

I'd just like to say that the first astral plane quest was very impressive. Good work!

I voted yes, 2/year, yes to alts. I see the potential for abuse, but as most of you know, I play two accounts heavily and invest a lot of energy - roleplay, training, writing, and otherwise - in both of them. I will play MD regardless of how or whether this marvelous idea gets implemented, and I will almost certainly sink more money into it whenever I have the chance. I won't complain if Tarquinus gets a WP but Keith Moon doesn't. To be honest, I'm glad to have been relieved from RPC duty and basically forced to quest more often. I'd say I'm as engaged with the game as I have ever been, and though I'm not happy with every change every time one is introduced, and though I think there are still many flaws to be addressed in one way or another, I continue to regard MD as one of the most interesting things I have encountered in a long time. [b]Edited for a typo [/b]

Happy Birthday, Tara.

I, Lucius Tarquinus, formally request citizenship in the land of Loreroot. My sword belongs to you, Speaker for the Forest, and my heart belongs to Loreroot.

I am thankful for many things indeed. Relevant to this site: I am thankful that MD exists and has so many interesting players. I am thankful that Mur is inquisitive and daring, that he always tries hard to keep the game fresh, and that MD always seems to bounce back from tough times.

Congratulations! Come back when you can - you are a valuable part of this community, but life reasons should be respected. Your friends will definitely understand.

The community can exert pressure of its own. If we, as the poll suggests, do not tolerate such behavior, we can make "offenders" feel the weight of our displeasure. And frankly, that's about the only thing that can be done. Making it a matter of policy will sooner or later invite complaints about "PC Thought Police" and similar stuff. I have to put this bluntly: these things are a matter of respect and common courtesy, which certain very immature people enjoy violating because they lack either quality, because they are happy with any sort of attention, even (or especially) of the negative sort, or both. When I am around a person who behaves in such a fashion, I will rebuke that person: and if I think I am dealing with an attention-seeker, I do what is the only thing attention-seekers really hate, which is to ignore them. I find that mature, intelligent people who are approached with respect and informed "that is not appropriate" or "you have really offended me" tend to react favorably and modify their behavior accordingly. NB to Poe and any other concerned parties - ignoring an attention-seeker can be mistaken for tacit approval of that person's behavior. Assess any situation before concluding that the community approves of offensive behavior. Cf. the behavior of those who think it is some kind of badge of honor to have a negative forum reputation. No matter what you do, some people just don't get the message that no one likes them [u]because[/u] they are obnoxious jerks.

Remember you have friends here. Do what you must, but know that you are loved.

[quote name='Udgard' date='23 November 2009 - 03:16 AM' timestamp='1258967796' post='48182'] Yes, but will it count the highest five before the values added from the sacrifice, or after? Will it reset the principles as soon as the sacrifice button is pushed, or reset the principles once the new values from that particular sacrifice is calculated? [/quote] Before, or that's how it worked for me.

You and Horse will be missed.

Critiquing poetry is always sensitive business. I reserve most of my comments. However: Ailith's poem has the most interesting structure. Phantom Orchid's poem has the most vivid imagery, and is on all counts very well written. I voted for both. I was tempted to vote for Ignatious for the humor... and the reference. ~Keith

My thanks to Malaikat Maut for running this quest, which forced me to think hard, research harder, and best of all, learn. Captain X'hal - I suspect Malaikat Maut did not have a "correct" answer, for if he did, few (if any) would have had a chance at divining it. From my conversations with him, which are ongoing, I gather he is most interested in the reasoning behind an answer: for he delights in the cycle of debate, almost in a Socratic sort of way. I have to congratulate him on not having set his mind and thereby prejudiced himself to a certain kind of answer. I feel assured he will be happy to engage you in dialogue on this subject or almost any other.

Congratulations to the winners: well done.

Rescheduled for tomorrow.