Kafuuka

I didn't know, and I don't really care much anymore. I thought it'd be a good idea to establish faith in the MDS and stop people from making "ridiculous" offers for items or creatures. Normally prices are clear if you look at a long history of trades and compare those to the supply and demand. In MD there isn't much information available unless you'd read through the dozens of buy/sell topics and even then I doubt there is much consensus. Right now 11 people have completed this survey... I would've made some fancy bell curves and correlation plots, but with only 11 points of data it's rather meaningless. There are different ways to gather data. The best way would be to log all trades that happen, but that would require a different trade interface. If the marketplace is moved from the forum to something that is easy to index, that would work too, but it would mean yet another separate website and we already have the game, the archives and the forum. MDbuy?

[quote name='Esmerelda' post='34591' date='Jun 24 2009, 02:18 PM']Environment has enough funds given by UN. I stay clean frm my side. Thats what matters. Alerting other people, trying to spread awareness.. for me HIV and swine flu are more urgent matters than the environment.[/quote] Enough funds hah! The UN has a budget of $4.19 billion and half of that is spent on peacekeeping missions. The US spends over $500 billion on military. The UN doesn't have enough funds nor power to regulate the environment and they are slow to take action too. eg The Kyoto treaty is still not ratified by all nations. Not that I believe in global warming, but the measures to reduce CO2 often also reduce toxic waste. And it is generally a good idea to be cautious even if you are not convinced that a catastrophe will happen. And then there's the question where those funds go to. A lot of institutions spend [b]half[/b] of their budget on acquiring funds. A deep rooted problem in bureaucracy, combined with the fact that charity, development and research organizations all have to compete for the ridiculously small amount of money that people are willing to pay. Even if I donate a single euro, I'll get at least 5 thank you letters by mail, written on fancy paper, stamped and sometimes wrapped in plastic. Included is of course a request to donate more. If I don't donate more, they probably used up all I gave them on ink, paper and stamps, which is not why I gave them money... but it's the way things work because even charity bows to the rules of capitalism. Swine flu has killed less people than your average flu so far. With a bit of luck the 'problem' will be solved by next year and we can forget about it, like we did with bird flu.

[quote name='(Zl-eye-f)-nea' post='34464' date='Jun 23 2009, 03:30 PM']I don't want to veer off your subject too far here, but we already live in a plane where time does not exist, and incidentally, perhaps steps would be a better description of the stated concept. The greatest success is the achievement of the goal in the smallest number of steps or increments. I don't agree with it, as that would imply that the greatest success is achieved in the most simple way, but i would think that a more appropriate way of wording whats been said.[/quote] Only when time/number of steps is limited. In the example I gave it was... probably a very poor and misleading example, but in my defense it was close to midnight when I wrote it. It seemed useful to me, in that there is a point where success and failure meet each other and it thus gives an easy way to put a quality or even a quantity on the success or the failure. In other cases time is irrelevant, except that humans have, as far as I know, a limited lifespan and hence a limited amount of steps to actually do, even if they can choose from an infinite amount of different steps.

Time doesn't have to be the most important factor but it was the easiest example I could come up with. There are three regions: success, undecided and failure. If you plan on achieving something, you usually have a set of conditions that allow you to determine success. The difference between failure and undetermined is often difficult to determine, except if you have a clear deadline. The opposite is possible too. If your goal is to keep a secret, the conditions for failure are very simple: having one or more of the people that should not know it find out the secret. But when are you successful? If you managed to keep it until you died? What if people find it a year after you died? (this is similar to the halting problem [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halting_problem)"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halting_problem)[/url] Since we both consider success to be related to change, I don't see how you can have success in a timeless plane. Also, most interesting examples won't be 2D, but include a lot of conditions... alas my drawing skills are quite poor in 2D already and >3D is out of the question anyway.

[quote name='Shadowseeker' post='34330' date='Jun 22 2009, 07:15 PM']Basically success can be represented by an arrow, right? The beginning is where you originate from, the tip is where you end. The success is what happens in between, and depending on what direction it shows to different actions take. Several small arrows form the big one, the smaller ones being the actions taken.[/quote] Often there are different means to achieve an end. There are different arrows that are equal candidates for success. I'd say that success lies in the end. If you look at the sketch below, you can either end in the green or in the red area. Any arrow that ends on the dark green interval is a representative of success. One could say that a success is better if you are more to the left on the interval and that the rightmost dark green dot represents a narrow victory. If you look at it that way, then both the light and the dark blue paths are equally successful. For success it does not matter which path you take. (it'd matter if you asked what is happiness.) Furthermore, if you were to divide the paths into smaller intervals, it is clear that for the dark blue one things are not always going in the right direction. Sometimes you need to take a step backwards before you can advance. You cannot substitute a part of the dark blue line for the light blue line and still end up at the same endpoint. I do agree that success implies change. You have to start outside of the green area and follow any path that ends inside it. Success is also objective in this sense: if you know a persons goals, you can see whether or not he/she attained them. The subjective part is how much you care about those goals and their interaction with different people and their goals. [img]http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/8615/succesm.png[/img]

The Bible wasn't written on a single day either. Most old texts have an even larger oral history before the first written accounts are found and I doubt the Bible is an exception. I consider the Bible to be a mix of events that happened to a group of people and moral tales. If you look at the research about it, there's some interesting stuff about what happened historically, eg Sodom and Gomorra: a volcanic explosion that spewed tons of poisonous sulfur into the air, wiping out the cities in a matter of hours. I've read a part of Herodotos', which is considered early history writing, and it is also full of both fact and fiction. In one story he writes that a Phoenician expedition to sail around Africa observed that the sun changes sides and appears in the north sky, which we now know to be true because the earth is not flat. He also describes how a king of a certain island empire has too much luck (he tries to remove his luck by throwing his most precious ring in a river and then discovers it in the fish he's served for dinner) and is subsequently struck down by the gods. It's been years since I've read it, but I think he had [b]less[/b] doubts and comments on the king's demise than on the sun appearing in the north instead of the south... Bible stories that do not make sense: how about Lot and his daughters? Let's hope that it is not supposed to be an example of how to behave. [quote]Just the simple fact there are many different versions of the bible supports this claim, why would an author rewrite his book 8 different times from 20 different points of view?[/quote] To increase the sales! (according to Where were you last Pluterday - Paul van Herck )

[quote name='King Manu' post='33941' date='Jun 19 2009, 04:31 PM']its enough damage that people see my ideas as answers not as reasons to think more just because i have a huge authority in MD.[/quote] I might be wrong, I am not a native English speaker, but the word lecture can imply authority. Lecture 2. To reprove formally and with authority. [1913 Webster] The words debate, talk and discourse do not have this additional meaning. Especially debate feels more like an invitation to ask questions and speak your own mind. Same thing with "their own on subjects they master." It is possible to translate this a couple of times and arrive at the sentence 'subjects in which they are an authority'. It might be nothing but words, but it in my experience most disputes are about words and not about ideas. Once both parties manage to agree on the words, they usually soon arrive at a consensus or agree to disagree.

[quote name='Kriskah Arcanu' post='33838' date='Jun 18 2009, 05:03 PM']It was a success considering the contest had almost none publicity.[/quote] We did our best to spam the chat. I even saw one of the contestants encourage a friend to enter, so I don't think there was almost no publicity. There is room for improvement, but as time passes it will become something that people look forward to, based on rumors about the previous one. (eg reading the papers of the winners and seeing the trophy picture should increase awareness) [quote]About the score system. I don't see a problems with decimals if you can correct the total sum at the end (I dont know the expression in English, is when you, for example have a result of: 8.6 , that goes to 9.... and 8.4 will remain as 8 )[/quote] It's unconventional to give marks like 8.6 / 10, while giving 86 / 100 is normal. Mathematically there is no difference, but psychologically there is. And none of us expected there would be a tie. I'm still guessing at what the odds are, it's a bit tedious to calculate since the marks are not uniformly distributed. (if they were it would be less than one in a billion chance) [quote]I am not sure about a new contest for veterans, it will have to be very different from the one from the festival, with many categories as well. I sure if it is presented in an original way it could be great.[/quote] What I meant was to use the same rules and format we used now, but change the age requirements. That way nobody could complain about being left out.

[quote name='BrightShield' post='33783' date='Jun 18 2009, 05:55 AM']When I put that line it was my intent to make it sound or look funny for those who know who He-man is. That scene was to show how Berek the Cattleherd is gullible and Shull witty, manipulative and narcissistic. The only reason Shull transformed Berek is because Shull doesnt want a normal looking fella for a bearer (who would if you think you are a thing of perfection? right?). Shull need no power words to transform Berek and Berek's transformation is permanent unlike He-man's. This is my fault for the lack of elaborate explanation in that story (though it was my intent originally to reveal this information to subsequent story)[/quote] I never read He-man so I did not spot the reference. However I did interpret the story correctly. Shull is manipulative when he commands Berek to pick him up and raise him high. Raising your shield high is an act of pride, but in doing so Berek literally places Shull above him. I am pleased to hear that you have the intent to further the story and reveal more information. One comment that was made often while reviewing papers, is that stories tend to focus on what happened before a character stumbled into the realm and say little or nothing about what happened afterward. Two exceptions being the ones that do not come from another realm and those that remember nothing from before. Anyone that reads Kafuuka's papers will notice there isn't much about events before nor after his arrival in it. A lot of information was supposed to be revealed by now, but it is very very easy to get sidetracked or procrastinate and so it was not revealed and thus not incorporated into the papers yet... and that is at 192 active days... Also, if anyone wants to discuss the nature of originality, style, good integration, character balance or roleplay, [topic="4339"]I refer to this thread.[/topic] After all, is there anything truly original? Something that is not influenced by anything previously read or witnessed? Or is it enough to not have been done in MD before, or to have at least 5 different sources of inspiration?

So the first edition of this contest is over now. I think I've learned a couple of things while being part of the jury. Among others that I think it's time to update my own papers. Some of the comments I made on other people's papers and bad marks I gave, made me go: 'Damn, mine fail in that aspect too.' I also consider the contest to be a success. We originally stated that if we got more than a dozen of participants, we'd give an additional prize to the category winners and we did get 17 valid entries. Sadly we did not reach the 25 mark. I still believe that for a first edition 17 is a good number and that it merits a second edition. Logically that would be held 90 days from now, since then we should have all fresh people in the [10, 100] range. What follows are my observations while organizing and should be helpful to whoever organizes a similar contest in the future. (not saying that I don't want to do it, but three months is a lot of time, and if this ever sees a twentieth edition...) One thing that should change is the score system. We originally thought using 1-5 marks would work, but we soon ended up with a three way tie for first place. After reevaluating those three, we managed to get a winner, but second place got tied. The odds of getting a tie should decrease a lot by simply using larger numbers: at least 1-10, maybe even go for 1-20 marks. (of course you could say that we could've used decimals, but who ever gives a score of 3,14159265?) Secondly, the roleplay and purpose category. This one is extremely hard to remain objective. Papers are supposed to add to roleplay, so this category does make sense, but it is hard to judge roleplay through papers alone. Some people none of the judges ever met, others we all knew, even though we didn't really knew each other all that well. Actually, in general I don't think it is possible to make perfect categories at all. Each set of papers is different and serves a different purpose. A mysterious character will inevitably have more obscure papers. I'd like to think our categories were as good as it gets and well, no one was forced to participate. The profile rule... this made an awful lot of sense to me at the time, a lot of people were hard to find online, especially if all four of us had to hunt them and review them in game. However it seems this rule also caused a bit of confusion, and sadly in a couple of occasions things went wrong with the automatically generated profile. One example is the use of the same script on each page, depending on which browser you use this might crash it, while looking at a single paper in game it works perfectly fine. We noticed it, we found those persons online, happy ending. Alts. If anyone submitted an alt, please raise your voice in a triumphant 'hah I fooled you' way. If you did not win anything, I'll reply with 'suits you sir.' We were worried about it, but it doesn't look like anyone bothered to write papers for a few silver coins. In order to win you would've needed quite an amount of effort, and in some ways that would've made me care little about the usage of alts. Part of our fear for alts came from the idea that veteran players might feel cheated or ignored. If this were to become a regular contest, it might be fair to also hold one for veteran players because there was none when they were the required age. (And before someone mentions the best paper award at the festival, there are a lot that are too old for the paper shaper, yet young enough to not even have heard about it.) In any case, we made decisions and stuck with them, but now is the time for people to say 'I could've done it better'. Worst that could happen: I refute your claim, or I make you do it next time. And finally, I'll take this opportunity to thank my fellow jury members. It was nice working with you! Kafuuka

[size=2][b][center]We, the Jury Members, proudly present you the winners of the first Paper Shaper contest.[/center][/b][/size] [size=3][b]Best Overall[/b][/size] 66.5 [indent]Brightshield [indent]+ original story + fluent + interesting character ° immediately incorporates MD, yet at the same time it doesn't - better division between sections could help[/indent][/indent] [size=3][b]Second Best Overall [/b][/size] 66 (tied) [indent]Priestess Phantom Orchid [indent]+ Very good layout + music and colours really fit the mood + fluently written + roleplays well and puts in a lot of effort - nearly nothing about current adventures in MD - future plans?[/indent][/indent] [indent]Phantasm [indent]+ Simple yet clean layout + good literary skills + details of your story within MD + fragmented style fits the character + puts a lot of effort into RP ° characters has many directions it could go, might change entirely - wanderer/tormented archetype[/indent][/indent] [size=3][b]4th place Overall [/b][/size] 63 [indent]Tarie [indent]+ ctrl-f! + Clean presentation + fun read ° very adaptable ° dream motive - wanderer archetype[/indent][/indent] [size=3][b]Fifth place Overall [/b][/size] 60 (tied) [indent]Kyphis The Bard [indent]+ clean papers + good integration into MD world + clear purpose + fun story - amnesia motive - no bardic achievements mentioned[/indent][/indent] [indent]Talos salvitore [indent]+ Good literary skills + clean papers + excellent integration into MD ° a character that blends in, needs papers that don't stand out - Shipwrecks and spies aren't unique[/indent][/indent] [size=3][b]Most stylish/Best layout[/b][/size] [indent]Tarie[/indent] [size=3][b]Most Original[/b][/size] [indent]Nemls [indent]+ original story and character concept + good writing ° shapeshifters and balance? It's hard to tell what your character would be capable of after biting a drachorn, although he might be reduced to a puddle of goo because he bit a drachorn. - lacks integration into MD: the story ends without MD being mentioned once. What form does your character have now?[/indent][/indent] [size=3][b]Most Balanced/Integrated into MD[/b][/size] [indent]Kyphis the Bard [/indent] [size=3][b]Best Roleplay, adaptability and purpose[/b][/size] [indent]Phantasm [/indent] [center]***********************************************************************[/center] Many thanks go to: [indent] Kriskah Arcanu - she came up with the idea Glordamar - for drawing the trophy pictures Mur - for backing up the contest and increasing the rewards all participants [/indent] Rewards: [indent] First place overall gets an aged elemental, 10 silver coins and a PS trophy. Second place overall is tied, so they will each get 7 silver coins and a PS trophy. The category winners get two silver coins and a PS trophy each. [/indent] If any of the participants wants to receive his/her individual score and/or full comments by each of the jury members, send a private mail to [b]one[/b] of the jury members and you will receive it. (The above comments are the abbreviated version since this post is already quite long.) In order to receive your rewards, please stay at Winds sanctuary when you idle, that way we can easily find you. Also, Manu mentioned items. It might be a good idea to mention what you want and why. We can't guarantee that it is what you'll get, but it seems worth trying. For a list of participants, check [post="32711"]here[/post]. This topic is reserved for congratulations, victory shouts and such. For comments on the organization, please check the other thread.

*Kafuuka looks at his butterfly net* I'm going to need a bigger one if I want to catch a drachorn... 114145

[quote name='(Zl-eye-f)-nea' post='33214' date='Jun 11 2009, 12:33 PM']It looks like a lot of you feel that we should be burying the ashes in order for Bob to absorb them up again – is that what you all want to do? Or do you want to create this “paste”? or...both?[/quote] It appears to me you have not answered that question yet Shadow And I thought it was the most immediate question. As I've said before, Kaf's vote goes to using ashes and fertilizer and other catalysts (eg love (and) cookies). In fact if it were possible and no one stopped him he'd make Tree grow big enough to uproot the nearest gazebo. Why? 1. it's totally in character. 2. It's hilarious and kinda awesome. 3. It will irritate Ledah to no end.

It would help if you idle in one of the main sanctuaries (eg Winds), that way we can pm you your score and such.

... but you were bored enough to read the rules and count your active days?

[quote name='(Zl-eye-f)-nea' post='33214' date='Jun 11 2009, 12:33 PM']It looks like a lot of you feel that we should be burying the ashes in order for Bob to absorb them up again – is that what you all want to do? Or do you want to create this “paste”? or...both?[/quote] Relying on the regeneration abilities of Tree seems to be the safest method. And also the one that is the least work. The ashes + some fertilizer to make up for what has been lost (heath, smoke) + time => new branches. Which makes the question: what result do we want? To restore Tree to have the same amount of branches and leaves? Or to the exact form right before the branch was cut off? To what he would be now if the branch was never cut? To an even bigger tree? The first option is the easiest one, but the scar would remain. The second removes the scar but also recent events, I would call that a bad deal. I am guessing most people would aim for the third option, but Kaf would say scars build character and strive to have a bigger and better Tree. If necessary he'd talk to and feed him cookies for days, until he's big enough to uproot the nearest gazeebo. As for the element principle: "There are many ways in which one can classify the consequence of every action or every personality. If we were to separate the world in basic elements, we [u]could[/u] say that there are four fundamental elements:" The way I understand that, there are other options to classify elements. One such option is the Chinese 5 element system, which has wood as an element. "Wood feeds fire" and "Metal chops wood" - what happened "Water nourishes wood" and "Wood parts earth" - one of the proposed courses of action

Normally a single typo has zero chance to result in the same hash. You'd have to make multiple typing mistakes and the odds of getting a valid hash would still be extremely small. Of course this is under the assumption that CTC codes use a hash method for security. The same thing has been used for bank transfers and god knows what else for years, so it seems a safe bet it's being used here too.

[quote name='Shadowseeker' post='33021' date='Jun 8 2009, 06:10 PM']Simply by perceiving something you can alter it...ever heard of quantums? When you shoot them onto two openings, they don't choose one, they choose BOTH to go through. When you observe the single quantums however they don't do that anymore somehow, as if knowing you watch them. Heisenberg.[/quote] A bit of nitpicking: what you are describing is Young's experiment and it shows that light behaves as a wave. While Einstein noticed that light behaves as a particle when experimenting with photovoltaic emission. It was then that scientists noticed that light behaves both as a particle and as a wave. This duality lead to quantummechanics. Traveling back in time is a big no however. The butterfly effect, the grandfather paradox... the practical how the heck would you do it? Why not keep to scrying and some detective work?

[url="http://magicduel.com/players/Ennea"]http://magicduel.com/players/Ennea[/url] It seems you did 'mess' with it. As I've stated before, we don't mind if you copy your comments on self into that page, but it does mean you forfeit the use of the hate list.

[quote name='King Daimon' post='32797' date='Jun 5 2009, 01:45 PM']hello,i would like to participate too.. is anything more required except to post here?[/quote] Nope, you're all set Daimon. Also, some people have asked me if it is alright to copy their comments on self into their personal paper instead of using the automatically generated profile. The idea behind using the profile is to be able to see your papers even if you are not online (idle). (timezones...) That said, I see no harm in copying your comments on self into the profile. [b]However[/b] I do not think this is an advantage in this contest, since having two papers instead of one, makes the layout a lot easier. What we are evaluating is your comments on self and your hate list. (we also try to look at your roleplaying and in case there is any doubt: having a hate list is not mandatory.) To do this, we use the profile which contains a copy of each of your papers. If you wish to forfeit the advantage of having two separate papers... I've also noticed a couple of broken links to pictures and in one occasion a combination of scripts seems to slow down browsers a lot. We'll do our best to verify your papers when we suspect Murphy has been troubling you, but it is infinitely better to check things yourself.

[topic="4223"]You can sign up in this thread now.[/topic] Of course most people that are allowed to participate wont be reading the forum... we'll be spamming in game a bit then.

Presenting the first Paper Shaper contest. This contest is aimed at new players and its purpose is to encourage both writing personal papers and roleplay. It is based on the idea in [topic="4199"]this topic[/topic]. If you have any remarks, please post them there, as this thread is only intended for sign-up purposes. [u][size=3]Prizes:[/size][/u] - First place 5 MD silver coins and an aged elemental. - Second place 5 MD silver coins. - Third place 2 MD silver coins. Additional rewards may be given, depending on circumstances. [u][size=3]How to sign up?[/size][/u] Either post in this forum topic, or send a private message to [b]one[/b] of the jury members.** [u][size=3]Contest Rules:[/size][/u] - The deadline for applications is June 14 at 23h Server time. - All participants have to have an active day count within the [10, 100] range at June 14. - Only main accounts are allowed. - A character can only enter this contest once, regardless of active day count. - All characters that wish to partake in this contest, are required to have their public profile visible.*** Failure to do so by June 14, will disqualify the character from both this contest and future editions. - Papers will be reviewed by the jury members** starting from june 14, 23h server time. The top 5 will be publicized on the forum, the other participants will be sent their individual scores by private mail. - The scoring method is outlined below.* - Only the comments on self and the hate list will be reviewed. Not the alliance papers, the military ways and believes or any others. This is to make the contest as fair as possible: everybody gets the same amount of paper. - The words of the jury members are final. - Participants are encouraged to have their papers proofread by other players or ask advise both on story writing, the MD realm, html and javascript... However, during the contest jury members will not help anyone with their papers. - Should a participant be the adept of one of the jury members, said jury member will be replaced by the average of the other 3 jury members' scores. - Any attempts at bribery will result in disqualification and expulsion from future contests. [u]*Scoring method:[/u] 1. Each of the following Criteria will be given a rating from 1 to 5, by each of the jury members, for a total of 80 points maximum: 1.1 Literary skills, style, presentation [indent]How well is your character presented? Grammar, punctuation, use of paragraphs and maybe some eye candy make papers fun to look at. Clever word use, rhyme schemes and your own literary style make them worth reading.[/indent] 1.2 Originality [indent]Memorable characters are the ones that stand out, that are more unique than others. Be it an unsuspected twist on an old tale, a complicated scheme or something we've never heard before.[/indent] 1.3 Character balance and integration with MD [indent]We can't all be number one, in fact most people are average. (If you don't believe this, google Normal distribution.) You might be better at some things, but you'll be worse at others. MD does not have stat buy like d&d has and even if you were to "translate" all characters into that system, not all of them would have started with 32 points. Some people like to have powerful characters, others have fun with 'gimped' characters, but no one likes to play with a godmodder. You should also keep in mind that Magic Duel is not a game of elves and dwarves nuking each other with fireball spells. The game mechanics only let a small amount of people cast spells. Your character might work to one day mastering one or two very powerful spells, but no one starts with them. [/indent] 1.4 Roleplay, character adaptability and purpose [indent]Staying in character is very important for a roleplay game! And so is having a character that can grow and adapt. You don't want to get bored of your character once he/she/it has done everything you've planned to do. New challenges should keep you occupied and they should come natural. Debts you've made while working towards your primary goal, new information that spiked your character's curiosity. How will your character deal with these, or with boredom? Your character's ideals and purpose are a key factor in determining it's future and interaction with others.[/indent] 2. Aside from this, each jury member can give an additional 2 bonus points or subtract two malus points, at his or her own discretion. [u]**Jury members:[/u] Awiiya, Intrigue, Kafuuka and Willem Redbeard [u][size=3]List of participants[/size][/u] [url="http://magicduel.com/players/blackwood%20forest"]Blackwood Forest[/url] [url="http://magicduel.com/players/Septumus"]Septumus[/url] [url="http://magicduel.com/players/Feanor%20Xalazian"]Feanor Xalazian[/url] [url="http://magicduel.com/players/Phantom%20Orchid"]Priestess Phantom Orchid[/url] [url="http://magicduel.com/players/Brightshield"]BrightShield[/url] [url="http://magicduel.com/players/Kyphis"]Kyphis The Bard[/url] [url="http://magicduel.com/players/King%20Daimon"]King Daimon[/url] [url="http://magicduel.com/players/Death%20Ray"]Death Ray[/url] [url="http://magicduel.com/players/Sharpwind"]Sharpwind[/url] [url="http://magicduel.com/players/Talos%20Salvitore"]Talos salvitore[/url] [url="http://magicduel.com/players/Ladytwin"]Ladytwin[/url] [url="http://magicduel.com/players/Ennea"]Ennea[/url] [url="http://magicduel.com/players/jaezon"]Jaezon[/url] [url="http://magicduel.com/players/nemls"]Nemls[/url] [url="http://magicduel.com/players/Tarie"]Tarie[/url] [url="http://magicduel.com/players/Eman%20Emaul"]Eman Emaul[/url] [url="http://magicduel.com/players/phantasm"]phantasm[/url] [url="http://magicduel.com/players/Mhilael"]Mhilael[/url] (i'll try to update this as often as possible) *** To make the public profile visible again, open your personal page in HTML mode, remove everything, including breaks and white spaces, and save it in hmtl mode. If you have no idea what we're talking about then you never edited it and thus it's still working perfect. [b]You can verify yours and other participant's profiles by looking at the links in the list of participants. Also we will [u]try[/u] to verify if anything has gone wrong and look for a solution. [/b] With different browsers and a mix of scripts you never know, but the emphasis of this contest is not knowledge of browsers at all. [right]We wish you all the best of luck, The Paper Shaper Jury[/right]

Originally there wasn't going to be a currency and even now most people trade without using the coins. They aren't exactly a practical currency anyway, since it takes a lot of effort to trade them in large quantities and it is impossible to trade half a coin. Right now their value is subjective and unstable... Some people might treat it as just an item. On the other hand, some people are already planning to become a bank or a loan shark. Which is far from the primitive economy. What exactly are the coins then? I look at them as the early stages of currency. Some people believe in them, but others will refuse to trade for them. They are supposed to be made of precious ores, not flimsy paper, making them more tangible. It would actually be fun if you could melt a stack of coins into a bar of silver. (without spending a WP)

Whatever is a good reward for a 90 day old player will still be one for the 91s, so there is no perfect solution, but how about this: On average the winners should be 52,5 days old and at that stage an aged elemental seems nice to me, while not worth the trouble for old players.

Do we really care that much about the alts? This is a contest of creativity and you only get to enter a character into it once. If it were to be a periodic thing (imo 75 days would make sense then since it is 15 to 90 days old characters), you could enter with alts multiple times, but every entrance would be a new story and character, ie a new creation. Also, being a veteran player does not offer much benefit to character creation, unless you want to make it obvious that you played the game for a long time by incorporating a huge amount of lore. In HC I can see the clear advantages of using alts, but in this contest? Can we do something against alts? Every counter measure will lead to people being even more sneaky and clever. IP's can be concealed, styles can be changed or hidden. It does make things harder. I'd love to enter the competition and see how far I get, but I wouldn't do it for the reward, considering the amount of effort it would take me and the amount of contestants if older players were allowed too. If we must take actions against alts, it will be by threatening with penalties. The chances of discovery might not be that high, but they are larger than zero and if there is a lot of entrants, the chances of winning aren't that high to justify the risk. The public profile would help a lot for the timezone thing, but it would not for 'participation in the game'. That criterium would be very important, if it were something easily measured. It would also increase the amount of effort a player would have to put into a character, which does counteract alt use. It seems however rather impractical. Chewett: you might be able to fool me and have the time and intent to win the contest, but for every person that meets those conditions, there will be a lot of people that don't. And even if there were, they'd have to compete with each other. imo The sad part would be that the alts' stories are wasted if those characters are abandoned after the contest. However, if they are maintained and cared for, although not furthering the goal of this contest, it will still benefit MD.