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FED
MEET AND GREET with THE DEMI-GODDESS HAZED |
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FED
MEET AND GREET with THE DEMI-GODDESS HAZED |
"someone wake her up!", exclaims Paladin. "Or failed to wake up", says Snowstar with a wink. Ditzy exclaims, "The Demi-godess? Asleep? Blasphemy!" "Seems like a nice crowd.", says Galinfenner. Freya peers at the crowd searching for nice "mmmm", says Freya. Freya shakes her head "We're very nice as a crowd...dunno individually", says Snowstar with a wink. Galinfenner winks and says, "THink size" Esperanza wonders if they're selling programs Freya says, "nothing nice that I can see" Freya gets out The Script to check Ditzy would rather be naughty anyway. More fun. Blirish finds one at the door and give Esperanza one Satine peeks at the Script ;) Paladin says, "Hazed must be sick to do this" Blirish looks at Reihenfolge, Silk whispers as Blirish turns to smile at Reihenfolge "nope, The Script doesn't mention anything about nice", says Freya. Esperanza opens it up Krimhurg gets out his own copy of The Script, but realizes its only the latest FedNews and makes a face.. Esperanza can't quite make out the print Snowstar wonders where the script mentions "Enter Hazed"... Ditzy looks for her script, forgetting that she forgot it back at the castle. Freya places a long, red fingernail on The Script and points out to Paladin that Hazed being sick is part of the job description "Hazed is late? Nooo...", says Chewbacon. Freya says, "if she doesn't show up in a few min I will phone her" "She may have gotten the time difference wrong.", says Galinfenner. Chewbacon says, "I wouldn't blame her, Freya... I'd hate to get up at 0300 for the M&G" "0200", says Paladin. "isn't it only 4 hours ahead?", asks Vlad. "5", says Freya. Reihenfolge says, "What time is it in merry old england.." Freya says, "so it's 2 am" "We'll catch her when she's most vulnerable..this is good", smiles Snowstar. "fraid not, she's a night person", says Freya. Vlad hates times zones Freya says, "ok Hazed is on her way" SPYNET REPORT: The Demi-Goddess Hazed has entered Federation DataSpace. "there she is!", exclaims Vlad. "Here she is", smiles Galinfenner. "Guess the movie she picked wasn't exciting enough", smiles Chewbacon. Practically perfect in every way, Hazed has just arrived. Galinfenner stands up and waves his hands over the crowd Krimhurg presses the button to start the fireworks, realizes the Fire Marshall has removed all the explosives and shrugs.. Ditzy cheers!!! Chewbacon bows to the demi-goddess Hazed blushes Galinfenner smiles, "Welcome demi-goddess" Sallyanne grins! Satine claps... Macnbc bows Hazed says, "I am sorry folks, I got the time wrong! Thought it wasn't for another hour." Freya checks The Script and applauds Galinfenner says, "I've been keeping them quiet" Snowlily applauds Satine exclaims, "And late in goddess fashion!" Emcee stands and applauds Paladin hands Hazed a cup of tea Galinfenner throws a few cookies into the crowd Hazed exclaims, "It is not that I was trying to get out of doing it, honest!" Flair giggles Galinfenner chuckles Pppme shakes his roasting stick "see...they should abolish timezones!", exclaims Vlad. Sallyanne giggles. Emcee peeks Ditzy snatches cookies Esperanza waves at Hazed Krimhurg thinks its a game and starts throwing cookies back at Galin.. Hazed says, "Good grief, what a crowd." Snowstar grins and cheers Hazed! Chewbacon gets out his Questions Of Death. Flair chuckles and tries not to think of the audience question portion "Who's running this show?", asks Hazed. Galinfenner says, "Well, welcome to Meet & Greet everyone. Because we have such a large crowd, I'd like to ask you to follow a few ground rules" Ditzy says, "Galen is pretending to" Galinfenner puffs his chest and points at himself Strider says, "its like they say in LOR... a wizard is never late he arrives when he means to. must go for Godess's too" Hazed says, "Ah, the man in the kilt" "Eep...no timewarping the crowd, I assume?", smiles Snowstar. Hazed glares at Snowstar. "First, please don't blurt out any questions. Please raise your hand and wait for Hazed to acknowledge you.", says Galinfenner. Galinfenner says, "Second please keep the noise down to a dull roar." Chewbacon has a warehouse full 'o fuel, but is afraid Hazed and Freya might kill him on the spot and make a rug outta him. Srgasman says, "a shedding rug" "Now to get started, I'll start with the obvious questions and then others will have their chance", says Galinfenner. Galinfenner glances at Freya Freya smiles blandly Hazed looks slightly worried Freya makes notes on The Script Satine checks her notebook and jots a few more questions ;) "Hazed, You are the CEO of IB Games and general all around leader of Fed right?", asks Galinfenner. Hazed waits for her first question, in some trepidation! "That's right Galin.", says Hazed. "How did you first find Federation?", asks Galinfenner. Hazed puts on a badge saying "I'm Number One!" Snowstar exclaims, "Hey, that's what Ricmer's shirt says!" Galinfenner hands Hazed a hanky to wipe the drip of blood under the button Hazed says, "Well I was a user on Compunet, playing another game called MUD" "Alan (Bella) also played MUD", says Hazed. "everyones #1 to someone", says Strider with a wink. "We spoke very briefly but that's all.", says Hazed. Hazed says, "But, Alan thought he could do better, so started writing Fed, and since I wasn't too happy playing MUD either, I awaited the game eagerly" "Compunet was a service only available for Commodorese or something like that wasn't it?", asks Galinfenner. Hazed says, "MUD was the first of the multi-player dungeons, it was hack and slash and magic and stuff, not really my cup of tea" Galinfenner nods Hazed says, "Yes, just for Commodore 64s, which were one of the most popular home computers in the UK at the time" Hazed says, "Had the advantage of a special modem which had all the software built in, so you just plugged it in and it worked" Vlad still has his commodore 64 in his closet "The first time I ever played Fed was at a computer show", says Hazed. Macnbc mutters "what a concept Sallyanne nods to Vlad, she has one too. ;) "I think the game ran for a whole 20 minutes without crashing!", exclaims Hazed. Galinfenner chuckles "That was with two people playing at once.", says Hazed. "Early days...", says Hazed. Hazed grins Galinfenner asks, "Was SOL pretty much what it is today?" Hazed says, "More or less. Sol has changed very little from Alan's original concept." "yes, excpet casstillo yas spelled kastillo", says Vlad. Galinfenner frowns at Vlad "A few locations have changed... the stat shops are new, Fedruckers replaced a bar called Samantha's, which in turn replaced a bar whose name I have forgotten", says Hazed. Snowstar winks and says, "How'd they spell 'except' and 'was' then?" "can you believe...not one but two typos in that sentence?", asks Vlad. "Oh, Chez Diesel was not in the game originally", says Hazed. Galinfenner says, "Was Chez Deisel your creation?>" "Yes. Diesel was my handle on Compunet, from before Fed, and I was one of the Compunet... erm... personalities I guess is the best term.", says Hazed. Hazed says, "Another well-known Compunet figure was Dr Fogg - Alan invited Fogg to write a location for Fed, and decided to keep the peace he'd better ask me too" "So I decided Diesel in Fed should be a bar-keeper, and Chez Diesel was born.", says Hazed. Galinfenner says, "I have read some of Deisel's dump. It's interesting stuff." "When did you become staff for the game?", asks Galinfenner. Hazed says, "There was a lot of rivalry between Fogg and Diesel (all in play of course). There was once an election for the most popular COmpunet character, and we campaigned hard against each other. That was great fun." "ooo WHo won?", asks Galinfenner. Hazed says, "I became staff when the game crossed the Atlantic." Hazed says, "Fogg won, of course" Hazed grins Galinfenner chuckles Hazed says, "We kind of planned it that way" "ahh a rigged election!", exclaims Galinfenner. Sallyanne gasps! Hazed says, "On Compunet, there was no staff, and when Fed moved to Genie there wasn't going to be any staff either" Galinfenner nods Hazed says, "But I was desperate to get a free Genie account so I could play Fed, so I persuaded Alan and Clem (his partner at the time, who did marketing and deals) they needed someone to answer mail" Galinfenner grins Satine thinks that's pretty smart.. "After I nagged them enough, they gave in, and I got a free Genie account. That was very exciting.", says Hazed. "A secretary!", exclaims Snowstar. Galinfenner asks, "Why was it exciting?" "So I became staff... the one and only staff... doing stuff like organising the occasional special event, answering about 5 emails a week, and - most important - I started doing the weekly news", says Hazed. Hazed says, "Well Compunet was a little tiny network; comms in the UK was a very elitest thing because phone calls were so expensive (no flat rate calls)" "Genie on the other hand was huge, with loads of people, and lots of exciting discussions", says Hazed. Galinfenner nods Hazed exclaims, "I particularly liked Genie's SFRT - the science fiction area - it had real SF authors in it!" "And of course Fed on Genie had far more people", says Hazed. Hazed says, "On Compunet, there were maybe 30 or 40 regular players, that's all - we thought it was busy when 4 or 5 people were on at one time" "Suddenly on Genie Fed, there were 20 people on at once! This was amazing.", says Hazed. Hazed grins Galinfenner laughs "Plus, suddenly I wasn't the only girl playing", says Hazed. Sallyanne giggles. "On Compunet, all the other players were men - although some of them played female characters", says Hazed. Galinfenner asks, "In the early days the internet was mostly male wasn't it?" Hazed says, "Right" Freya says, "there was a cost issue back then too - $6/hour then $3/hour" "Ahhh I missed that boat", says Snowstar with a wink. Galinfenner nods "Well this was before the Internet took off - Compunet and GEnie were proprietary networks, couldn't talk to anyone outside those networks", says Hazed. "Couldn't even send mail to other networks", says Hazed. "Oh right. I forget that. SO basically you have been there from the birth to the present day with Fed right?", asks Galinfenner. Hazed says, "But for some reason, Genie had a good proportion of women - and Fed was popular with women too" Hazed says, "Yes, all that time... what is it, 12 or 13 years now" Hazed counts on her fingers Macnbc exclaims, "that's a lot of scrolling text!" Snowstar counts all Hazed's fingers. Galinfenner grins Hazed says, "GOod grief, checking the archives I see Fed first opened in 1987" Galinfenner nods Freya nods "No, 1988", says Hazed. Hazed says, "10 January 1988" "that's 14 fingers", smiles Tiki. Ricmer giggles Hazed exclaims, "How time flies when you're having fun!" Satine thinks it flies regardless... "That's why I got it wrong first time: I didn't take my shoes off.", says Hazed. "it is fun", smiles Emcee. Flair chuckles Sallyanne laughs. Macnbc grins Hazed waits for the next question. "What about the social changes in the game? What differences have you noticed from the days of Compunet to the present day?", asks Galinfenner. Hazed says, "Oh goodness, huge changes." Galinfenner nods "Each different version of Fed has had a very different social atmosphere", says Hazed. Galinfenner nods Hazed says, "For a start, I said the comms was for the elite in the COmpunet days, and it was expensive: so you tended to get the very bright, and people from well off families. Also precocious kids." "There certainly were no snerts in those days. That's why we could run it with no staff.", says Hazed. Hazed says, "Players genuinely wanted to solve puzzles themselves, and not have the answers given to them" "To a certain extent it was the same on GEnie, although there were differences due to it being American players rather than British", says Hazed. "The biggest change was the move to AOL", says Hazed. Galinfenner smiles Snowstar grins. Macnbc snickers Reihenfolge three cheers for aol? Chewbacon says, "No" Hazed says, "AOL, having concentrated on user-friendliness and taking the techy horrors out of comms, was accessible to the "ordinary people"" Paladin coughs Hazed says, "So AOL users were not the elite" Hazed says, "In short, AOL was full of snerts" Hazed grins Flair chuckles Galinfenner chuckles Emcee nods Sallyanne giggles. "I rememeber. And post AOL?", asks Galinfenner. Satine whispers, 'was?" Ford agrees AOL Fed had a ton of snerts. "Also, many of the people who came into AOL Fed had no experience with a text game, so didn't have a clue what to do, and wanted help", says Hazed. "Lordy that was me...", says Snowstar. Chewbacon recalled picking up on it quickly. Hazed says, "Post AOL it's more of a mish-mash because it tends to be players from all over - the ex-AOLers, the old GEnie Fedders come back, even a few old Cnetters, plus brand new Internet players" "I just emailed you, Hazed, to make sure it was free", smiles Chewbacon. Ditzy didn't have a problem. "I remember those days.", smiles Morkeleb. Vlad nods at Snowie and was lost the first time he came into AOL Fed Vlad also fainted a few times when he got his AOL CC bills "But things like AOL's change from pay per hour to flat-rate also changed the culture in Fed too", says Hazed. Galinfenner nods and shudders Hazed says, "The arrival of macros made a big difference in the way people played" Hazed says, "I admit I never could understand the appeal of using macros to play a game... still don't." Hazed says, "It seems like you are just making your computer play against Alan's computer; where's the fun in that" Hazed grins Macnbc says, "works great for game shows.." Emcee grins Hazed says, "I guess it depends whether you are interested in the process of playing the game, or simply interested in winning" Chewbacon uses it usually for social things... drink, clothes, and teleport loc presets Snowstar smiles, "Can't win in Fed" "Making it to that next rank as fast you can!", smiles Galinfenner. Freya grins "THose aren't macros, those are just hot-keys. I use those too for drinks. Like this.", says Hazed. Hazed has bought you a glass of something pink and frothy with a cherry in it, orange, lemon and lime slices, icecubes shaped like elephants, a Chez Diesel swizzle stick, a curly straw, a pink umbrella and a monkey hanging off the side of the glass! "That seems to be the latest thing in the game", smiles Chewbacon. Flair looks at the drink in awe "Why do you think Fed appeals to people?", asks Galinfenner. "By macros, I mean computer programs that actually make decisions", says Hazed. Sallyanne eyes the drink and giggles at the monkey. Snowstar nods at Hazed! Srgasman says, "skimmer progs" Hazed whispers into her monkey's ear; it listens, then runs across the floor and up Galin's leg! Galinfenner squirms Emcee giggles Haeger blames his karpal tunnel on fed :) Satine giggles "Er, ugh, could I trade this in for a beer?", asks Ford. Esperanza isn't drinking anything that can run up Galin's leg Flair laughs Sallyanne laughs! Krimhurg hands Galin a can of "Munkee B Gone". Galinfenner chuckles and gives the monkey a beer Vlad thinks if it wasn't for fed, his typing skills would still be 10 words an hour Hazed says, "Just want to find out what Galin wears under his kilt" Satine was afraid if she drank it -she- might run up Galin's leg! "Do you have any more questions Galin, or shall we ask the assembled masses?", asks Hazed. Snowstar raises her hand!! Satine raises her hand... "What about Fed do you think people find appealing?", asks Galinfenner. Flair raises her hand Ditzy raises her hand Galinfenner has just a couple more Reihenfolge raises her hand Tiki raises somebody's hand but she's not sure whose "The social structure; the way it lets you communicate on lots of different levels", says Hazed. Galinfenner nods Srgasman passes out deoderant...whew... Flair giggles Hazed says, "The whole interactive thing is very flexible and that allows for real relationships to develop" Hazed says, "Also, because you don't directly compete with other players, that helps with forming relationships. The game is more about cooperation than competition." Hazed says, "Not about winning, at other people's expense, like fighting games are" "It certainly has become a sort of home for many of us.", says Galinfenner. "Also being a science fiction setting allows you to imagine yourself as absolutely anyone or anything", says Hazed. Galinfenner asks, "Just one more, what can you tell us about future plans for Fed or for IBGames in general?" "It's not such a rigid genre as, say a medieval style sword and scorcery game", says Hazed. Galinfenner turns on his timing switch Hazed says, "You can have dragons and elves, as well as aliens, in Fed; you couldn't have aliens and spaceships suddenly popping up in a sword and scorecy game" Hazed says, "I am sure that's not how you spell sorcery, but it's late" Hazed grins Galinfenner chuckles Hazed exclaims, "Ok, future plans... the short version!" "Fed needs to be re-written from scratch, because the code is pretty old, and has been ported to different machines, and bodged, and added to, and fudged, so often that it's now pretty spaghetti-like", says Hazed. Galinfenner nods Hazed says, "In fact, it's got to the stage where we can't really make any changes to the code, for fear of some unexpected side-effect happening to make the whole thing fall over" Sallyanne likes spaghetti ... Galinfenner asks, "Is that something Alan is working on?" Reihenfolge thinks re-writing fed could take a decade or more. "Is that where the Fed 2 that I've been hearing about comes in?", asks Flair. "Re-writing Fed has other advantages... Fed was started 15 years ago; since then Alan has gained experience working on it, and other projects, and learnt different techniques", says Hazed. Hazed says, "So a new version of Fed would be written to be much easier to maintain and easier to expand." Hazed says, "One example: in this version of Fed, all puzzles are hard coded into the game" Hazed says, "In Age of Adventure, one of our other games, Alan has used a method where all puzzles are written independenly using a set of tools - that you don't have to be a programmer to use" "plug and play puzzles?", asks Eltanin. Jazir says, "Fascinating" "So if Fed was rewritten using that method, it would mean it wouldn't just be Alan who would work on puzzles and so on - other people, like me, would too", says Hazed. Hazed says, "But before you ask "when is this going to happen..."" Galinfenner grins evilly Vlad chorckles Snowlily asks, "Chorckles?????" Ditzy asks innocently, "Soon?" Chewbacon holds his question, then. "A cross between Chortle and Chuckle?", says Flair with a wink. Vlad says, "old habit of an old characte of mine" Snowlily grins at Ditzy Vlad nods at flair Hazed says, "It is going on, slowly, in the background, alongside other programs. Before we can turn out complete attention to a new version of Fed, we need to get a different game in a shape to charge for" "At the moment, Fed is our only source of income; we want a second income stream, to take the pressure off Fed, share the costs of running the network and maintaining the computers and so on", says Hazed. Silverkat says, "good plan" Macnbc thinks the release date for the new Fed is therefore "sometime between tomorrow and December 31, 2099" "So, I cannot give you any possible idea when you will see a new version of Fed! Sorry.", says Hazed. Hazed says, "I could use the traditional programmers response of, "It'll be ready by Christmas", but of course I wouldn't say which Christmas" Hazed grins Galinfenner chuckles Chewbacon asks, "Do you expect the new merchandise to help out?" Flair laughs "I don't think the merchandise is going to make us huge amounts of money, but every little helps", says Hazed. Galinfenner nods Hazed says, "And if any of you haven't ordered a Fed t-shirt or mousemat yet, go do it! http://www.cafeshops.com/snark" Ditzy has the mug and mat Hazed asks, "Ok Galin, do you want to decide who gets to ask me questions?" Ford says, "I think we need the Fed Thong." "Ok, now for the next part of the show, There are a couple people who want to stroll memory lane", says Galinfenner. "You keep track of the hands", says Hazed. Vlad would wear a Fed Thong Galinfenner hands the mike over to Freya first Freya smiles and opens The Script to page 17 Hazed says, "Well if there is really enough demand for the Fed Thong then I will put one on sale" Freya smiles, "Hi" Macnbc would pay for Vlad not to wear a Fed thong. Snowstar hopes we don't end this fascinating show just for the fighting event... "Ah goodness, look at the time! I think we ought to finish up now.", says Hazed. "I'd like to take Hazed on a brief trip thru some memories of Fed and ask her to comment", says Freya. Ford asks, "Will you model the thong for us?" Hazed kicks the microphone over Freya raises her voice to be heard above the crowd "Oh no, we can't possibly go on without a microphone!", exclaims Hazed. "First, what about you and Reggie in Tujiana?", asks Freya. Paladin can only watch in horror as Freya gets up Snowstar widens her eyes. "Tijuana", says Freya. "There is no truth in that rumour, Reggie and I were just good friends.", says Hazed. "Reggie...the rubber chicken???", asks Snowstar. Freya smiles sweetly at Paladin Galinfenner asks, "The chicken?" Hazed says, "Paladin, you can vouch for this I am sure." Galinfenner laughs Paladin is mum Macnbc slyly passes Freya a few photoshopped pictures. "with the furry creatures", says Freya. Freya turns the page Hazed says, "Anyway, I wasn't Reggie's special friend: that was Oxcart." "I think I saw that picture.", says Galinfenner. Hazed says, "You do realise, of course, that I am the one that edits and uploads the transcript of this session. So I can excise anything I don't like" "all I remember is that hazed was almost taken into custody coming back into the US", says Paladin. Hazed cackles megalomanically. "can you provide us any insight into the events of the Fed UnCOn at the Hotel in MD in 1992?", asks Freya. Hazed blushes Snowstar sits in awe that Hazed could type megalomanically at her hour. "the events in question being after the unlimited open free bar?", asks Freya. Galinfenner chuckles "Actually, no, because my mind was fogged by the Jack Daniels", says Hazed. Freya nods and checks that off Flair laughs Macnbc asks, "the drink or the person?" Hazed says, "The drink" Hazed says, "At least, as far as I can remember there was no Fed player called Jack Daniels" Freya asks, "Wopuld you provide us some details about The Incident of Santa and the Dropped Tightbeam?" Hazed coughs. Hazed says, "No comment." "I cannot spill Santa's secrets; he'd cross me off his list.", says Hazed. Paladin glances at Galin. 'Is this going to be a regular feature?' Galinfenner nods "We'd like you to give us some details about a time sharing scheme...", says Freya. "that involved ownership of Caterpiller's breasts", says Freya. Hazed says, "Yes, there was much dispute over whether I owned the left or the right breast" "But that's as much as I am prepared to say", says Hazed. Flair chuckles Freya nods Hazed says, "And now, we'd better give some of the others a chance to answer questions." Freya nods Snowstar feels her raised arm go numb. "Or even to ask them!", exclaims Hazed. Hazed asks, "Galin, who is first?" "ok first is..", says Galinfenner. "Ditzy", says Galinfenner. Silverkat looks for Abbott and Costello .. on first "sorry had to find my list", says Galinfenner. "How did you become a demi-goddess? Why not a full goddess? And was it painful stopping halfway?", asks Ditzy. Hazed grins Emcee giggles Silverkat laughs "Well Bella, being creator of the Universe, is the goddess of Fed", says Hazed. Hazed says, "I could never aspire to such a high rank, so I had to settle for being half a deity" "And no, it wasn't painful, I was just born this way", says Hazed. "Next?", asks Hazed. "That would be Chew", says Galinfenner. "Would you sell a Chez Diesel playset with action figures Bella, Freya, Danny and yourself if I asked for one?", asks Chewbacon. Chewbacon couldn't think of a better one. Macnbc says, "I'd pay for that.." "No, I wouldn't, because the thought of what you would do with them is just too disgusting to contemplate", says Hazed. Chewbacon winks and says, "See, there's a demand already" Flair giggles Jazir laughs Sallyanne giggles. Chewbacon was gonna have everyone beat up Danny "I bet you were the kind of child who posed Barbie and Action Man together", says Hazed. "Next?", asks Hazed. Galinfenner says, "Ricmer" "Only once... I was banned from my sisters bedroom aftewards", says Chewbacon. "ack", says Ricmer. Galinfenner says, "well, if Ricmer is choking then it's Emcee's turn" Ford asks, "Would the new "rewritten" Fed migrate the existing personas or would it start totally new with only groundhogs?" Hazed says, "Ford, don't queue jump" Ricmer asks, "Now that you have told us you will be rewriting Fed sometime in the future, could you give us any clues as to what kind of changed and/or modifications might be made?" Ricmer smiles Snowstar giggles. "teleport him!", exclaims Paladin. Hazed says, "No Ricmer... it's far too soon for that" Ricmer nods, and thanks Hazed Hazed says, "Sorry, but Alan just doesn't work that way! He doesn't plan things out way in advance." Hazed asks, "Emcee?" "Does he just go by the seat of his pants?", asks Ricmer. Priscilla reminds himself not to buy stock in Fed. "Kind of, Ricmer", says Hazed. "why is fed going down the 12 - 13 this month ?", asks Emcee. "Which, as the person who writes the manuals, can be pretty frustrating when he suddenly changes his mind about something!", exclaims Hazed. "Read the Fed News, Emcee", smiles Snowstar. "Emcee, we are moving the computers that Fed and its support services run on, from their current location to a new facility", says Hazed. "thank you hazed", says Emcee. "It seems that part of the issue these days is the quick promotions... the cash and puzzle handouts... people not understanding the economy of the game. So when everything is rewritten... well.. any chance on bringing back the snark or having revolving so", says Satine. "Freya is organising the move for us - it's all pretty complicated!", exclaims Hazed. "revolving solutions to the puzzles?", asks Satine. Hazed says, "Well we took Snark out as a puzzle mechanism for a reason: it was no barrier to promotion, because the answer was handed around freely" Satine asks, "And can we get rid of the ban rule and code an embargo?" Hazed says, "There was even a Gm-puzzle-solving macro going around." Satine says, "yikes" "Good questions, Satine", smiles Snowstar. "That is a perenniel problem with puzzles in multi-player games - they don't stay secret", says Hazed. "So the answer is: Snark will probably come back, cos it's a fun puzzle, though it won't be the promotion mechanism, but whatever the promo mechanism is, it will not be something you can do as fast as you can now!", exclaims Hazed. Hazed says, "More than that I cannot say" "Two questions since I have the floor! First...I know you enjoy theatre as a hobby, do you have a 'day job' or is Fed your first employer, as is seemingly evidenced by your enormous load of work that you do?", asks Snowstar. Hazed says, "And on the ban rule, yes the way it works now is a stopgap and the ideal solution is simply to give POs or Dukes a switch they can flip to ban people" "Fed is my full-time job, it pays my wages (although not very high wages at the moment)", says Hazed. Snowstar asks, "Second question...I know you recently developed diabetes and have a web page devotged to it...how are you doing with your malady?" "Ok-ish...", says Hazed. Hazed says, "I am keeping it under control, but I have failed to lose the weight I am supposed to lose" Hazed says, "I intend to write an update for that web page, I will get around to it soon" Snowstar smiles, "I hope you succeed with that, Hazed...yer a good role model" Satine would like the webpage to keep up on your progress Hazed says, "I have to say, I do sometimes get mail out of the blue from people saying they found my web site when looking for info on diabetes, and how much better it made them feel - that makes me feel really proud" Snowstar smiles at Hazed! Panth applauds! "For those that don't know what Snow and I are talking about: go to http://www.ibgames.net/fi", says Hazed. Silverkat offers Hazed a supportive hug Galinfenner says, "Well, not to get my nose brown, but you are one of my favorite writers." Chewbacon supportively claps for hazed "Well you know, I can credit computers for finding the ability to write!", exclaims Hazed. Ford asks, "Would the new "rewritten" Fed migrate the existing personas or would it start totally new with only groundhogs? Is anything being done to bring in new as in real first time players?" Hazed says, "Specially, Compunet" Flair votes for gh's "Probably start new personas", says Hazed. "And yes, Flair is working hard to get Fed listed on game sites and such like, and it is having an effect", says Hazed. Hazed turns the spotlight to shine on Flair Flair grins and waves to everyone Srgasman bows out Silverkat applauds for Flair Hazed exclaims, "But it's one of those things you have to keep plugging away at, so if you spot a site you think ought to list Fed but doesn't - mail Flair!" "What's the email, Flair?", asks Hazed. Flair blinks a few times in the light and pushes it back to Hazed's direction Flair says, "Flair@ibgames.com" Hazed says, "Oh well I should have remembered that" Hazed asks, "Who was next?" Priscilla ahems. "What is your preferred alcohol to be hazed by, and what is the name of your cat?", asks Priscilla. Flair chuckles Chewbacon thought it was 'cats'? Priscilla shrugs. Hazed says, "Actually I don't drink a huge amount now, I have moderated that a huge amount, particularly since I got diabetes - so instead of Jack Daniels which it used to be, it's now a couple of glasses of white wine with a meal" Hazed asks, "And my cat is called Blanche. Can you guess what colour she is?" Satine laughs, "Black?" Madonnaboi instantly thinks of the Golden Girls "Orange?", asks Chewbacon. Hazed says, "Chewie, I used to have two cats, but they were both old and died. Last year I was adopted by a new cat, a stray." Priscilla asks, "That wrinkled old white girl from Golden Girls?" Hazed grins "of all the things that have changed in Fed over the years, which one change are you most pleased with (and why)?", asks Krimhurg. Hazed says, "Gosh, that's a difficult question" Krimhurg winks and says, "okies, skip the why" Snowstar exclaims, "Ooooo you nailed her, Krim!!" "Putting in the tools to let players build there own planets was a huge step. Nobody had ever done that before. And I love designing planets, although I don't get much time to do it these days", says Hazed. Hazed says, "I have three planets in the game right now" Emcee perks "I confess I have little interest in running the planet's economy", says Hazed. Madonnaboi says, "who does" Hazed says, "For those that don't know, my planets are Deep, Scratchwood and Cabbage" Macnbc raises his hand to try to squeeze in a last minute question "Flair, I think you were next", says Hazed. Snowstar winks and says, "I noticed that when once viewing how the exhanges were set up on Cabbage..." "Well...Maybe Priscilla gave the answer to my question, but how did you come upon the name 'Hazed'?", asks Flair. Hazed says, "Those planets actually don't have economies, they are flagged as promo planets" "If you DI then it says No production", says Hazed. "At one time they did", smiles Snowstar. Hazed says, "It's short for Hazed-by-Alcohol, which was the name Pegasus (the player, not the mobile) and PUgwash (my first Fed character) used to write the first Fed Idiot;s Guide" Flair smiles Panth asks, "Demi-goddess, could you please tell us your all time favorite fed moment as well as your most embarrassing?" "You know, I should have known someone would ask about those, and thought about them in advance. But I didn't.", says Hazed. Panth grins "Fave was probably the sheer excitement and trepidition of Pegasus and me exploring the secret part of the Venus mines for the first time", says Hazed. Hazed says, "We were terrified, we spent five minutes discussing things before we made any move, because we were never sure when we would walk into something dangerous or deadly" "eep", says Emcee. "I think Bella did a great job on that, it was so atmospheric", says Hazed. Hazed says, "MOst embarassing - well, there have been many" Galinfenner chuckles Sallyanne grins. Hazed exclaims, "Freya reminded me of some of them!" Snowstar giggles. Silverkat chuckles Freya grins Madonnaboi gets ready for blackmail info....LOL Hazed says, "Actually, the most truly embarassing was from the early days of GEnie" Panth listens Freya smiles, "I didn;t mention the Airport Incidents" "And this was real-life embarassing.", says Hazed. Hazed says, "Freya and I were in CDs, chatting, and for some reason we started talking about the designer of one of GEnie's other games, who shall be nameless, and we were saying rude things about him" Flair eeps "Unfortunately, somebody must have been spying or otherwise overheard us, and they reported the conversation to GEnie", says Hazed. Freya grins Panth says, "Yikes" Hazed says, "GEnie told off Alan and Clem for allowing their staff to behave in such an unprofessional manner" Hazed says, "And I got hauled across the carpet by Clem over it" "in rl ?", asks Emcee. Hazed says, "It taught me a valuable lesson: assume that nothing is secret" "Yes, I was real life told off", says Hazed. Silverkat nods Panth nods and nods Snowstar looks at the rug burn scars on Hazed's knees "so true, the walls have eyes", says Madonnaboi. "At the time I was pretty shocked that somebody told tales on me; I had been used to thinking that all Fedders were my friends", says Hazed. Priscilla winks and says, "oh that's what those scars are from" Freya nods "It was the realisation that if I was part of the management, I had to behave accordingly.", says Hazed. "Ok, who was next?", asks Hazed. Galinfenner asks, "I may have lost track here, but I think Pris has another question?" "indeed it was I!", exclaims Priscilla. "What was your first death in Fed?", asks Priscilla. Panth smiles, "Thanks" "After that is Macnbc", says Galinfenner. Hazed says, "Not sure if I can remember. Might have been dropping the TDX, or possibly blundering into the Martian ruins" Snowstar giggles. "Certainly not fighting, cos fighting didn't appear in Fed for some time", says Hazed. Hazed asks, "Mac?" Macnbc winks and says, "Well, somebody already answered my question so I'll ask one that is probably normal for me" "Past and present.. which has been/is your favorite Fed event?", asks Macnbc. "I have never actually played a Fed event, because as the Boss I can't really", says Hazed. Hazed grins Galinfenner grins "Although I always did enjoy playing Santa at Christmas, and I will continue to do that", says Hazed. Freya grins Pppme chuckles Hazed says, "Basically that's my fave part of Fed - role-playing and being silly." Tiki winks and says, "and were a guest on Guess My Secret" Chewbacon raises his hand once more. "Yes Chew", says Galinfenner. "Do you have any regrets since you've been in Fed?", asks Chewbacon. Chewbacon smiles, "...and don't mention anything about me" Macnbc grins Madonnaboi laughs "Yeah having w00kies", says Snowstar with a wink. Snowstar ducks! "Yes, I regret some of the people I have employed as newsdroids", says Hazed. Hazed smirks Galinfenner chuckles Chewbacon knew it! "Seriously... with hindsight there are lots of things I wish we had done differently", says Hazed. "But hindsight is always 20-20!", exclaims Hazed. "ain't that the truth.", says Priscilla. Galinfenner asks, "Is there one thing you'd like to see change in Fed more than any other?" Scarlet whispers /sotto voce/ "more RP." Hazed says, "Well there are a lot of little things I wish we could fix, that would make my life a lot easier. Coding in a way to let POs ban people without my intervention would make a big difference." Galinfenner smiles Madonnaboi laughs Hazed says, "That's all that really springs to mind" "That's all the questions except maybe the standard one. If you were a tree what sort of tree would you be?", asks Galinfenner. Hazed says, "I mean, the list of Stuff To Do To fed is about a mile long" Hazed says, "Weeping willow" "Yes, as to you last responce.. Isn't Planetary management a was to ban others?", asks Haeger. "Poor Hazed...she could be here all night!", exclaims Snowstar. "I don't understand the question, Haeger", says Hazed. Madonnaboi laughs "I can keep going another 15 minutes or so", says Hazed. Hazed props her eyelids open with matchsticks "Haeger, can you re phrase?", asks Galinfenner. "Isn't effective management of a planet a form of protection from being "hit" by others?", asks Haeger. "Yes of course it is", says Hazed. Emcee says, "uhh ohhh" "Actually, this is part of what someone asked me about earlier - about the change in playing styles", says Hazed. Hazed says, "Some players now don't want to have to deal with hostile attacks - that is their chosen playing style" "Doesn't mean they are bad players, or playing the game wrong, though", says Hazed. Emcee smiles happily "Yer asking the queen of social reform, how economy should be handled?", says Snowstar with a wink. Panth chuckles "that's like asking Alan Greenspan how to turn a man on.", says Priscilla. "I would like there to be room in Fed for people to play the game in lots of different ways; unfortunately some people's style of playing is very aggressive and it does affect others badly; that's why some way to ban players is necessary", says Hazed. Madonnaboi laughs Haeger asks, "Yes Hazed, but a ban isn't needed if the player has the knowledge.. right?" Hazed says, "Yes Haegar, probably" Tiki asks, "Hazed, I really apprciate how quickly you respond to e-mail, approximately how much time per day do you spend on e-mail and writing the Chronicle, roughly?" Haeger smiles, "Thank you Hazed" Hazed says, "I spend about 2 or 3 hours each morning dealing with email and routine day to day admin" Hazed says, "The Chronicle takes about 3 hours of my time on Friday, another 3 on Saturday, 4 or 5 on Sunday" "oh wow", says Tiki. Hazed says, "Then there's other stuff that gets done as necessary, such as new pages on the web site" "I also do some stuff for Age of Adventure", says Hazed. Hazed exclaims, "And that all together more or less fills my time!" Kelemvor asks, "Hazed, Sorry if this has already been asked, but is there anything new coming to Fed, for example any new puzzles or ranks?" Hazed says, "I covered this earlier Kel... the current code is too fragile to be modified, so the plan is to go for a complete re-write - which is a long job and I don't know when it will be finished" Hazed grins "Any last questions before I flake out?", asks Hazed. Snowstar asks, "Hazed...do you play any games you work for, to get a player perspective? Second point..do you play any muds to see what else is new and out there?" Hazed exclaims, "Good questions, Snow!" Madonnaboi says, "ooohhhh" Krimhurg makes a note to place "Danger - Do Not Kick Code" signs about Fed.. Hazed says, "On the first, I don't play any of our games as such, although I have to be familiar with how they work in order to write the manuals, and answer player's questions" "But it's impossible to go and try to solve puzzles in Age of Adventure, when one of my jobs is to proof-read the puzzle files before they go live", says Hazed. Hazed grins Snowstar grins and nods. "On the second part: I know I should go out there and keep an eye on other games, but I don't do it because I find I don't like other games very much", says Hazed. Kelemvor laughs Hazed says, "And because I kind of resent time I spend away from Fed, which is my real home" Madonnaboi says, "awwwww" "I know I am biased, but I think Alan is a brilliant designer and I love his style. His games suit me.", says Hazed. Pppme says, "mine is not a question actually. but more of input, and the question has been asked. there are many here older then I, but this is a game and we come to play. The snark was interesting and though I helped with it, I never got to do it. I would like to see" Hazed exclaims, "Hmm... my cat is sticking her claws in my leg, wanting me to feed her, so this had better be the last question!" Snowstar giggles. Satine smiles brightly Panth thinks cats should rule...period "I would like to see something similar return to puzzeling?", smiles Pppme. Hazed says, "I know pppme, Snark was a brilliant puzzle - Snark was marvellously written" Galinfenner says, "That's going above and beyond. Answering questions in a M&G with a hungry cat clawing your leg." "I think that in the new version of Fed, puzzles like Snark will come back, but not as promotion mechanisms - instead they will be added extras", says Hazed. Hazed says, "Could be worse, she could be eating my leg" "Ok, I think that's about all I can take", says Hazed. Panth agrees "Feed the kitty... Cats are full gods and must be obeyed.", says Ditzy. Sallyanne giggles. Hazed cowers in a corner. "Well, Thank you for staying up with us tonight!", exclaims Galinfenner. Emcee stands and thanks the demi-goddess for her valuable time Panth applauds and cheers! Macnbc stands and applauds! Jazir smiles and applauds Hazed Satine says, "Thanks Hazed" Bsacarl applauds Hazed Ditzy gives a standing ovation Hazed says, "I enjoyed it - sorry I turned up late. But then I am the demi-goddess so that's my prerogative." Madonnaboi applaudes Ruy cheers and applauds! Sallyanne stands and cheers for Hazed! :) Madonnaboi says, "good job hazed" Kelemvor cheers Snowstar loudly applauds! Scarlet applauds. "thanks for your time Hazed!", exclaims Srgasman. Tiki stands and applauds Hazed! "great job Galin", smiles Bsacarl. Pppme smiles, "thank you Hazed and staff for a nice evening" Panth exclaims, "Indeed!" "Thank you Hazed. I enjoyed this very much.", says Ford. "Join me next week when my guest will be Kella!", exclaims Galinfenner. "The transcript will be up on the web site mid-week", says Hazed. "Very informative", says Ditzy. Snowstar winks and says, "Yer the bomb, Hazed....and still type friggin fast" "thanks galinfenner", smiles Emcee. Galinfenner waves and smiles Hazed says, "And go buy a Fed t-shirt: www.cafepress.com/snark" Hazed has given you a divine kiss! Hazed says, "Bye all." |
| FEDERATION | ||||||||
