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MEET AND GREET WITH GANDOLFWednesday July 23, 2008
Holding up an old comm unit, Gandolf gives it a shake. It begins to tick loudly and the number 10 appears in the control panel - it's large, it's red and it's flashing. Then it changes to 9... then 8... and it continues to count down until it reaches 0. A small hatch opens in the side of the comm unit, and a flag with the word *BANG* on it shoots out, waves around for a bit, then is retracted again. Gandolf says, "blast these things" Angelfowl laughs Scottric laughs Andrew laughs
Meteu says, "Angel can you make our guest comfortable please" Scottric says, " hi von" Angelfowl nods, and starts strapping Gandolf down with duct tape she got from Gw. Dragging his can, Gandroid has just arrived. Gandroid is carrying a keyring. Andrew watches Angelfowl break out the duct tape Scottric laughs Von laughs Gandolf just smiles knowingly Meteu says, "We are here tonight with Gandolf" Meteu says, "Good evening Gandolf" Gandroid needles Gandolf Gandolf jumps Gandolf says, "hello all" Scottric says, " evening Gandolf" Gandolf rubs his arm and squints at Gandroid Meteu asks, "Gandolf lets start off easy, how did you find Fed?" Gandolf asks, "which time?" Meteu smiles, "Whichever you prefer:)" Gandolf says, "I started playing Fed when it was actually called Federation II, and it was hosted on the GEnie netowrk, before the AOL days" Gandolf says, "I was in college and working full time, but I had to pay to access GEnie, pay for 9600 baud lines, pay for Fed.. it got to be a lot of money after a bit" Gandolf says, "so in early summer of '91, I took a break from fed.. until summer of 2003" Meteu asks, "How did you find Fed2?" Gandolf says, "then, I actually found my folder with maps and hints for Federation II, threw them out thinking I would never use them again." Meteu says, "I bet your kicking yourself now" Andrew that sounds familiar Gandolf says, "and of course, I started searching the Net and ran across Fed2" Meteu asks, "What do you miss about the earlier Fed?" Gandolf says, "I started playing the fed classic on the Net, but within a few days stopped and moved to Fed2, which was actually in alpha stage at the time" Gandolf says, "I guess what I miss most from GEnie fed days, was logging into Fed at any time and there was a party somewhere" Meteu says, "What led you to Fed in the first place." Gandolf says, "excuse me a second.." Gandolf shake comm unit Gandolf scratches his chin Gandolf says, "I think it was that I was tired of the 'usual' text adventure and d&d type games." Meteu says, "So your not a hack and slash fan" Gandolf says, "There was just something about logging into Fed for the first time and from across space was a voice... "welcome to Fed, Gandolf"" Gandolf says, "oh, yes, I do enjoy a good hack and slash. been playing those games since before they were put onto the screens" Gandolf says, "but they get so.. predictive" Meteu asks, "What do you like best about Fed2?" Gandolf says, "chatting with folk from around the world, and determining what will make me successful at each rank" Meteu smiles, "Care to share any tips?:)" Gandolf says, "certainly. buy low, sell high, and don't take any k=jobs your ship won't take you" Andrew laughs Von smiles Meteu asks, "What was your highest rank in GEnie fed?" Gandolf says, "I can't quite recall the rank names any longer, but I was at the rank where I was actually building my planet, but it never went in before I left." Gandolf says, "Hazed put me in the hall of shame for taking 15 years to get a planet into Fed" Jythier says, "Explorer." Andrew asks, "Exploror?" Scottric laughs Gandolf nods Gandolf says, "sounds right" Andrew grins Von rofl Meteu smiles, "I'd say thats certainly a good reason:)" Jythier high fives Andrew. Gandolf says, "I remember typing like all getout with a biscuit, some smiley badge and something else.." Jythier says, "Way to be an old timer." Andrew High fives back Meteu asks, "What was your inspiration for your planet?" Gandolf says, "Ahh.. If I say too much there, it will give certain things away I have plans for, lets just say "music"" Scottric says, " good subject" Gandolf nods affirmative Gandolf says, "yes.. music is my muse" Meteu asks, "Fair enough, did you make any mistakes while designing your planet?" Angelfowl laughs Gandolf asks, "what constitues as a mistake?" Gandolf says, "any errors were corrected before the planet ever went in" Jythier continually refrains from saying, "I'll ask the questions here!" Gandolf says, "though there is one grammatical error with an object" Meteu asks, "Whats the most embarassing way you have dies thus far?" Andrew laughs Gandolf says, "in this fed? I would say running out of food" Gandolf says, "or a pit." Scottric says, " hehehee" Gandolf drawls, "you know.. the pit that has the description it will kill you if you go in, so I go in..." Meteu says, "in this version of Fed" Andrew laughs Jythier has bought you a pint of Diesel's Old Peculiar strong dark ale. Andrew winks, "the Pit got me as well ;)" Jythier says, "Just in case." Gandolf says, "but I have an excuse.. when Fed2 was in alpha and beta, we could go in a lot of the death places without dying" Andrew has bought you a pizza - Capriciosa, with extra moose. Gandolf says, "someone even had a party on the surface of the sun back then" Meteu asks, "Have you ever died in the radiation rooms after you knew what was there?" Andrew winks, "I bet that party was smokin ;)" Scottric says, " wow" Gandolf says, "no. oddly I've avoided the radiation rooms" Gandolf shrugs Scottric laughs and say old memories Scottric has bought you a Long Island Ice tea to loosen you up Gandolf says, "it was very odd, but after playing fed again, after 15 years, I could still remember how to get to CD's.." Gandolf says, "beer and pizza" Gandolf has bought you a pizza - Capriciosa, with extra moose. Gandolf has bought you a frosted mug of Phorban ale. It sits pale in the glass and slowly darkens to a rich amber as you watch. Meteu says, "hehe yeah but it is /the/ social center of the universe." Andrew smirks Meteu asks, "What is your favorite way to pass the time while waiting for the Hobbs End shuttle?" Gandolf says, "well, in days gone by, I would smoke a yak." Andrew asks, "open a pack of Yak's and light one up?" Scottric laughs Andrew laughs Gandolf says, "but I've never had to use the shuttle in Fed2 since someone smuggled yaks back into Sol" Meteu asks, "Do you have a favorite place other than your planet here?" Gandolf says, "I like Sumatra. It was a blast exploring, and it's very relaxing there" Gandolf says, "I even got lost on Sumatra, before FedTerm was released" Gandolf says, "I guess if you've seen one touchpad, you really haven't seen them all" Scottric laughs Meteu says, "yeah that place is far from my favorite" Gandolf asks, "Does anyone map by hand any more?" Meteu says, "I know I don't" Scottric says, " yes" Gandolf pulls a scroll from under his cloak Andrew says, "not since Fedterm" Meteu asks, "Whats the worst you have done when working your exchange?" Gandolf says, "I designed some decent mapping paper for Fed, but since FedTerm I don't think it gets used much.." Gandolf says, "the worst thing to my exchange...hmmm" Gandolf thins so hard his head starts to give off steam Scottric hides behind Von Andrew says, "I bet it has to do with his stockpiles lol" Gandolf says, "I really don't know. I let my exchange just sit for a long time, it hovered, made a little, lost a little, but it pretty much stayed balnced financially" Andrew says, "guess not" Gandolf says, "yes.." Gandolf nods'yes. I did go through all my commds setting spreads and stockpiles, and then an errant typo resets everything Andrew laughs in understanding Scottric laughs Andrew says, "hate it when that happens" Gandolf says, "my exchange was actually generating about 5-8meg a day before the crash, the roll I got after the big crash was the roll that I had to work to make any groats" Andrew exclaims, "ouch!" Meteu asks, "Are there any questions from the peanut gallery?" Gandolf shrugs Gandolf asks, "what you gonna do?" Scottric smiles, " of course :)" Gandroid drawls, "I didn't recieve any peanuts..." Jythier has bought you peanuts Meteu says, "Scott" Scottric winks, " I want to know where you learned how to play tag ;)" Andrew laughs Gandolf laughs Gandolf says, "It was something Kelly, Baysidian, and myself would play on GEnie fed when we were bored" Scottric asks, " so it was from way back ?" Andrew smiles, "hmm....a Fed tag league might be fun to start :)" Gandolf says, "pretty much. There's a spontaneous streak in me that will just go find someone and tag them" Scottric laughs Scottric says, " me too" Gandolf says, "just when Fed was coming out of beta, I reaclled playihng hide and seek, too." Meteu asks, "What is this tag you speak of?" Andrew says, "almost sounds like the kissing bandit in classic Fed lol" Scottric laughs Jythier asks, "Do you remember the underwear thefts when web-Fed started?" Angelfowl says, "We played Hide and go Seek at some point" Andrew laughs Scottric laughs at Jy With a deft flick of the hand (or equivalent), Gandolf swings a tiny chad around on the end of its string. The volatile surface ignites briefly, emitting a cascade of flames and brightly glowing sparks that briefly illuminate the room like a tiny firework. Andrew says, "I love Meet and Greets, always brings back old memories of Fed" Jythier says, "Apparently not. :P" Meteu asks, "Any other questions?" Scottric waves his hand Scottric grins Gandolf says, "oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know that question was directed to me. I didn't play web-fed until Fed2" Jythier didn't know this was a meet and greet, lol. Meteu says, "Scot again" Andrew laughs at Jythier Scottric tags gandolf and says your it Scottric grins Gandolf sighs Scottric says, " one more question" Andrew says, "that's evil....he's duct taped up" Gandolf says, "I'm old. I miss the days when Bella, Freya, and Hazed were more involved in the game as players" Jythier drawls, "I wondered why everyone was asking questions and Meteu was moderating..." Scottric says, " how difficult was it for you to get past trader rank"
Gandolf says, "the futures rank.." Scottric says, " yes" Gandolf says, "not too bad. back when I was trader, futures were easier to come by" Scottric asks, " why that ?" Gandolf says, "I did make some mistakes, but only went -20 at the worst" Gandolf says, "I think the lack of player exchanges had a lot to do with it, Sol exchanges were hopping and futures moved so fast you could make it or lose it in an hour" Gandolf drawls, "watch this..." Gandolf grabs a pepper shaker from one of the tables and sprinkles some in the air over Gandroid Gandroid sneezes, but holds it in. His head expands to twice its original size, his single ocular unit begins to extend like a camera lens trying to focus when he suddenly explodes, leaving tiny fragments of himself scattering and skittering about all over. Gandroid blindly (and headlessly) fumbles for his comm unit and presses a large red button, summoning the cleaning droids who quickly appear and quietly cart him off through the service entrance. A small, round robot hums over his head fragments, picking them up and then skitters off, following. Dragging his can, Gandroid has left. Gandolf falls off his stool, laughing Mateo starts laughing hysterically Andrew laughs Gandolf says, "droids.. gotta love em" Angelfowl doubles over laughing. Scottric laughs Scottric says, " what an exit" Meteu says, "on that note we are going to end Meet and Greet for the evening, Angel if you could untape our guest please" Andrew stands up and claps Gandolf speaks from the floor, still taped to the chair Gandolf says, "yes, this is a bit much" Meteu says, "Join us next week at the Lucky 7's on the lower level of Earth with none other than Angelfowl as our guest" Andrew exclaims, "well done Gandolf!" |