myrrh

It depends on your browser. [url="http://kb.iu.edu/data/ahic.html"]http://kb.iu.edu/data/ahic.html[/url]

I also think it would be helpful to create an option to view the entries from oldest to new. I might be slow or something, but it took me a while to figure out that when viewing all the entries at once in the separate window, you have to scroll all the way down to reach the first. Quite confusing. I read some spoilers, unhappily.

It would be nice to get it on the announcement log at the very least; we could get some more input and alert the many who have no idea of this project. I mention it every now and then in the chat, but I haven't logged onto the game much yet because finals just ended today. Unfortunately, I don't think I could get the suggestion to Mur soon, or that it would be an appropriate time to do so, since my family is hauling me off to the mountains... where it's even more cold. Going to ride an uncomfortable train for two days to get to them, and then immediately off in a freezing car for several hours to a place with no internet connection--hurrah. Oh well, I'll be back in a couple of days and maybe we can finally get things started then.

Horo... But yes, help very much appreciated, Lady. I guess you don't have yahoo messenger or another IM? For anyone who wants to give their opinion, these are some things I've been asking those who are interested so I can gain a little perspective about the community's view of a potential newspaper: [list] [*][i]When you think of a MagicDuel newspaper, what sort of overall impression do you get from your visualization?[/i] There are a lot of design options. We could have a clean-looking modern newspaper with a typeface like Arial, or something elegant with a lot of visual elements and a typefont with serifs like Times New Roman. It could be something else, too. Some persons have suggested scrolls, off-color paper, etc. I'm talking with a few persons about seeing if we could do something with flash, maybe just to turn pages if we have more than one. [*][i]What kind of content?[/i] What kind of tone should this newspaper maintain? It could be mostly serious with an emphasis on getting information across without bias, or it could be more light and humorous--with more light items, such as funny chat quotes and player-submitted work like Gargant's poem. It could be a mix, too, but it's hard to establish a template if we don't have some idea of what proportion of different content. This leads to the next question. [*][i]What format?[/i] We are quite certainly not coming out every week, since that would be a little hard. Every two weeks is a more likely option. But besides this, we have to figure out how many pages and what will be on each page. Keep in mind that it would be a plus if the newspaper was printable. Though one page would be nice since most average persons don't have a printing press in their home, it's standard to keep things organized and uncluttered by arranging different content on separate pages, i.e. one for news, one for editorials/opinions/letters, another for features, and so on. Another thing to consider about format is if we'll be using line rules to separate items, things like that. [*][i]A name?[/i] There are some classic options like MD Times, MD Chronicle, and so on, or the newspaper could adopt something more creative or humorous. Just remember we can't do MD Weekly or Daily. Kragel suggested MD Fortnightly. While the name may not seem imperative to figure out at the moment, it might help lay a precendent for all of the above. [*][i]Do you have any other things you want to discuss about the setting up of the newspaper?[/i] The questions above are very limited; they're just the things that came into my mind first. Feel free to suggest all you want. [/list] I know that sorting this out is pretty much my own job, but I'm not known for creativity and I don't want this newspaper to be just mine. This might mean that things pick up slower, but personally I'd feel more secure knowing that everyone's thoughts were considered. However, I'm not saying any suggestions will be implemented for sure. I wanted to be able to talk to those who've expressed special interest more conveniently (and also discuss things like what they'd like to do for the newspaper), which is why I asked about instant messengers, but I'm finding myself pressed with time so it could take a while to get to everyone. If instead you'd like to publish your ideas and talk with people besides me, feel free to post here instead.

I agree with you but I think I can see why Mur might not want that. The avatars represent the players' roles and characters; would you stamp those with another player's signature? It's true that it's a representation created by an artist who might deserve recognition, but it may taint the feeling of absolute possession of the player who buys the avatar. Another thing is the Artisans are considered the artists of the game, not individual persons selling works of art. Do you see signatures on the map drawings? The same reason for why the answer is no could apply to the Artisans' work. The argument of providing incentive is weak in this aspect as well. Players can contribute to the game, but I don't think Mur allows that so that players can gain trademarks that will help their reputation in real life. If the game isn't enough to make you want to try your best already, then it's not like more should be done except improve the game. I don't particularly take that stance, though. I can see your logic as well, but since there seemed to be a lack of opposition I wanted to portray some possible arguments.

Okay, these are the people I have who told me they are interested so far: Grido (reporter/copy editor) Keith Moon (reporter/copy editor) Burns (reporter) Ivorak (source/reporter) MRnegative6 (source) DarkPriestess (artist/source) Kragel (source/artist) Awiiya (help of some sort) Udgard (help of some sort) I use the term reporter here lightly, since I get the feel that some are more interested in writing than reporting. Now, I'm afraid each one of you, if you still want to do this, will have to be more than what you told me you were interested in.. please give me contact info, preferably yahoo messenger if you have it, or else some other IM. I talked to Manu, who seems to be giving me the free rein as to formatting it, but I want to hear everyone's ideas first; it might help narrow down my choices. And.. I need more people Please tell me if you want to get involved, or tell your friends that they can become part of the staff too. I think I have to go actively recruiting now. /:

Sorry for the questions, Kragel :b And yes, I was hunting for Glor but couldn't find him; where is he usually? Maybe if all else fails you can be our median for communication Mr: Hmm.. it's certainly a big project, and I think I'm more uncertain than most about whether this will work or not because I know how much would have to go into making one, and we might have to make it come out less often. But what's to stop us from trying? As for news, I don't know what you mean. I think that news might be a tough one because it's rather dry; a lot happens in MD, but I don't see much more that can be full news stories except developments which cause diverse reactions or really impact the game. Otherwise I can see it being limited to briefs and features being dominant. Bias might be a problem, since I think everyone probably has issues they take a side on, and material we write about might be about those controversial issues. I'm a stickler about bias, but sometimes it's hard to tell--it's not necessarily in the tone, it could be in the points that are presented (and that are not). Sometimes even the biased person doesn't know his bias. But my goal is to aid communication, so I'll try my best to see that it won't happen. I think I'll be writing news for a while, too, unless someone else already knows the basics. You can definitely help out, I believe, maybe minor reporting or just input prior to release if you don't want to take on drawing/writing or something else. But this all has to be decided after I sort some things out and get to Mur, which seems to be a little tough because of our different timezones (though he stayed up late tonight to lecture ).

Gossip column How slanderous! I know what you mean though :b There are a lot of light items which could work well in a MagicDuel newspaper, the trouble will be deciding which of them will go into it, especially if we're limited to one page. I'll probably rely on your guys' input when apple-picking season comes around; I'm rather indecisive without advice. And as to journalism.. in truth, I'm probably not much better than you, just have a little more knowledge from a few years of experience. Right, I was editor-in-chief of my high school newspaper, but that was because our school lacked talent (it generally does, it's in a poor area) and I happened to do homework for my beginning journalism class in freshman year, unlike the rest of the students in it. So we will be learning together. That doesn't mean I don't have things to teach, although you could probably learn them better from someone else. I'm especially looking forward to training some willing (or unwilling, hehehe) people in newswriting, which is rather strict in style. Don't be surprised if I eventually create our own little stylebook, either; you're lucky you didn't get someone like my old newspaper advisor starting this project. He wouldn't let anyone write "said he" because he wanted to communicate who was saying it as directly as possible. It makes sense, but it doesn't leave room for an awful lot of variety. Anyway, I was trained by him..

Happy birthday And since I can't seem to find you ingame, I want to talk to you about a MD newspaper which might need the help of your artists. Maybe you can hunt me out better than I can you or pm here on the forums?

It looks pretty, much less eye-hurting than the previous page if I recall correctly. But at the same time, it just seems to conflict with Magicduel's theme of beauty in simplicity. But, no, not really the design. The color. Black thin lines white body gold highlight? I can see that it's sort of preserved in the new page but it's not loyal. It isn't the same clear-cut contrast. But I think it is an adequately attractive homepage, and maybe it ought to be different since the homepage as advertisement has a different tone from the game anyway. I'm just not sure I wouldn't like it the other way better.

[quote name='King Manu' post='21285' date='Dec 5 2008, 08:11 AM']p.s. dont get involved in this project if you are not sure you will have time to manage it, because i plan to torture you with it , at least untill we establish a format.[/quote] I think I got myself into something scary. More seriously, though, I might not be the best candidate in terms of availability--not to mention I think I have a lot to discover about the game before I can say I have a good feel of it (just got out of tutorial). I'm willing to try and I'm sure it will be exciting no matter what happens, but if there's someone else out there who's well-acquainted with journalism, maybe he'd be better for heading the project. I agree that there is a lot of material that could be used. A major part of creating the newspaper will be deciding what to include, and I will have trouble with this, I think. Anyone could be helpful in the project, even if they can't write well; simple reporting could be a simple copy and paste of chat or private message. If nothing else, they can act as advisers or sources for the fledgling newspaper. A bigger staff will mean easier production. I think I ought to wait until I can reach Manu before I start recruiting or any planning anything (at school comp right now, so I don't have yahoo messanger) but it would be helpful if word was spread about a potential newspaper in case someone ingame would be interested in helping or just discussing it but doesn't really check the forums. I have limited acquaintance with anyone in the game at this point. And thank you Grido for being so patient with a new player! The community in this game is so unique, even to the point that it would warrant a newspaper, and I have to say this is the first time in a long period a game has caught my interest so much.

Um, actually, I wasn't really thinking about this newspaper thing being integrated into the game; it could just be a little informal something for the community rather than official work for the game. I was planning to do as Grido said, in a way, basically have some people sign up (with email of their choice) if they'd like to receive the issues whenever they come out and hope word spreads so anyone who would be interested in it would be able to access at their leisure. And I was also going to upload/link it on the forums for those who check the forums regularly anyway so they wouldn't need to have it sent to their email. On a side note, I've gotten out of Golemus and I'm going through the Paper Cabin tutorial now.

You can be the reporter that's writing a story every week then. (: Or, if you draw well, the artist. Maybe I underestimate certain players' devotion for this game. However, I'm not against trying a little newsletter every week. I'm a masochist who likes to challenge himself, and perhaps it will be less hard than I think. I'm a wary of the roleplaying in this game, so making a role for myself in it is not a priority for me, and neither is making the newspaper about roleplaying. My interest is piqued by the game's development, however, so I am leaning towards that direction for now. I don't quite know how to make a section in the forum, though that suggestion doesn't sound bad. Note though that I don't just want forum members in the newspaper; I also want to represent players ingame--I notice there seems to be relatively little who are very faithful in voicing themselves here, though collectively it's impressive enough. I haven't received anything solidly negative yet for the idea, and if I don't later then I plan to get back to this after I get out of Golemus. But please continue telling me your thoughts.

I know; I always had to worry about text-heavy pieces since the general student body in my high school didn't really like long stories and preferred visuals. My next step if people express interest would be to recruit staff, including artists; I can't draw well or make decent graphics, I can only format things into a layout. A weekly issue sounds nice, but I doubt I could pull that off with my real life schedule, or at least not without some very dedicated staff who could help me out a lot.

I can sense that spoilers would be inappropriate, seems like this game is kind of strict on it. I'm not exactly sure if it would be similar to the Adventure Log (AL, right?) because I still haven't really seen the game's roleplaying aspect and wouldn't know how to integrate that in a newspaper. I also don't want to step on the Archivist's toes. But maybe something like that would be possible. It also could be a newspaper that is about ingame roleplaying events as if they are real. But like the other person said, it might not fit in with the game's fantasy theme. As for putting it in the right sidebar, not sure--that's not really like a newspaper. I was thinking of making a one-sheet spread formatted like real newspapers that would be uploaded regularly, and maybe expanded into a bigger size as time goes on. Another option is to have it about game development rather than be strictly roleplaying, e.g. a story about the current debate about the dojo I read about. A newspaper is supposed to be a public forum for the community, kind of like this forum site here, so it could also showcase creative work (art, stories, poems) of players or their opinions about current game events in letters. It might seem like a bit of a stretch but in actuality, I think it would be a lot easier than finding things to write about for a school newspaper. It could be a mix of all these ideas, or it could just be forgotten. I haven't seen enough of the game to really get a good idea of what the newspaper would be like if it did come into creation, but I wanted to see what others thought before I started getting ahead of myself. In truth, I'm a little surprised; I swore to myself that I wouldn't mess with journalism and its pain after high school... but it would be a unique experience for me (its educational value would also justify spending time on a game when I'm loaded with college work), and probably more fun than working on a school newspaper.