___The New Official AVATAR___________________________________
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___________________________________March 7, 2004__________
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/.--. The Avatar Gazette
|====| For subscription info,
|`::`| read HELP GAZETTE
.-;`..../`;_.-^-._
/\ / |...::..|` | | `| Produced by Angel Kenji
|:' | /'''::''| | | | With assistance from
@| /;-,/ :: |=========| Atoz (Lord alt)
`|| <` > >._::_.|=========| New Hero/Lord stats
|| `""` / ^^ | | | |
|| | | | /
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My sincerest apologies to everyone for a very short Gazette
this month. As some of you know, I am getting married early
next month, and it seems that all of my time is devoted to
the wedding, my school work, or my job. Sleep is worked in
where possible, and occasionally, I find time to actually
see my future wife!
This has also been noticed by some of the players, and the
few times I have logged on recently have been met with
comments. All I can do is apologize, and promise to visit
as often as possible.
So, in the meantime, enjoy the few stories here, and I hope
to see all of you on AVATAR soon!
Here's a short glimpse of what we have to offer in this
month's Gazette:
Latest News
UberCon III notes
Editorial - From the Mad Kzin
Death Through a Light - a short poem by Beldin
New Hero and Lord Stats - by Atoz
Ask Aelmon
Gazette Quest - Write Orion's Helpfile!
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Latest News
We now have a new member of the staff who is handling weekly
news updates. Cerdwyn, who has been a part of AVATAR for
many years in another form, is now sending a regular mailer
to the forum mailing list.
What's that? You're not subscribed to the forum mailer?
Shame on you! It's so easy. Send an email to
majordomo@outland.org with the following in the BODY:
subscribe forum youremail@domain.com (MudName)
Come to think of it, there are a few other lists available.
You can substitute the name of the following lists for
forum in the line above: gazette hero lord (Lord list is
only available to verified Lords/Ladies.)
Since Cerdwyn is now sending news updates out, I will stop
including them in the Gazette. However, as part of a new
feature, I will be running a monthly editorial where I
comment on game changes, trends, new areas, etc. As
always, comments and feedback are encouraged. I would like
to get input from the players, and would love to include
those comments in future Gazette editions!
------------------
Have an idea for a story, recipe, suggestion, etc? Send
it in to me at gazinput@outland.org and you too can earn
Quest Points!
------------------
Kariya has been kind enough to give us a monthly update of
the highest quest point winners. Here are the standings:
Quest Points Top 10
===================
Player Points
------ ------
Kingdragon 110
Draeger 95
Rafel 85
Phreddy 54
Tammo 50
Aniol 45
Nayru 45
Masamune 33
Faraday 33
Pico 30
Congratulations to Kingdragon. What do you plan to do with the
QPs?
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UberCon News
UberCon III has come and gone, and was a greater success than
either of the previous 'Cons! Snikt has provided the
attendance numbers for the first three 'Cons:
UC 1: 380
UC 2: 513
UC 3: 1227 (wow!)
and an estimate:
UC 4: 1650-2950 :)
UberCon IV has already been announced for October 15-17
this year. It is expected to be even bigger than UberCon
III, and will be moving back to the Crowne Plaza Meadowlands
to accommodate the larger crowd!
Visit www.ubercon.com for more information about UberCon IV
or to see pictures and videos from UberCon III!
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Editorial - From the Mad Kzin
That's right, it's the Mad Kzin. All you heroes like to come
after me for my Jubal's head. No one has the guts to come at
me when they are a bit smaller. Noooooo... you have to wait
until you're a hero! Chickens! Cowards!
Oh well. That winged furball asked me to say a few things
about some of the goings-on and happenstances around the
realm. So, as a favor to another Kzin, I agreed to start
writing.
First off, I heard talk of new areas going in near that
wacko mage, Zin. Something of a area-building contest.
Kenji even mentioned that he had an entry, but I just
can't believe it. What does that goofy perch-sitter have
to do with area building? From what the guys at the weekly
mob meeting told me, some of the new areas are fantastic
places, full of all kinds of trials and traps to kill you
heroes. Good. We can always use a higher death count. Maybe
it will keep that flying flea-bait busy, and keep him from
trying any more building.
Just the other day, Fizzdop mentioned something about a
new type of adventurer wandering the realm. Priests, or
something along those lines. Great. Just when we finally
figured out the best way to kill those blasted Archers, we
now have to deal with a bunch of cross-waving Shizaga
freaks. Lovely. Just don't wake me at 8am trying to preach
at my door. I'll have to ask the builders to change me to
SPEC_NOCONVERT.
On our side of things, the weekly mob meetings have been
great. As always, Bain has been putting the moves on
Diana, but I don't think she's interested. The twins were
the life of the party again, what with those crazy stories
they tell. And rumors are continuing to go around about
the relationship between Sol and Lady Goldmoon. Everyone
has been reporting higher death numbers, especially those
crazy guys in Morte, and the dragons of Silmavaar. The
new lag buttons that Crom installed for us mobs have
really pushed death numbers higher.
So, as always, I hope you all die. And tell those pesky
Lords to go try the new area for them. I hear that it's
sure to get a few of them killed too! Muuuaaahhhaaaa!
-The Mad Kzin
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Death Through a Light by Beldin
A streak of light coming down from the clouds
Jagged, crooked, pure
A stampede chasing the light
Galloping across the sky,
Like a herd of buffalo
Pursued by the Indians
The light strikes the ground
Purity slamming like a gavel
Upon the Earth's soil
Where the Light touches
Nothing remains
Purity causing so much destruction
The roar of a lion follows the hammer
Proclaiming its victory
Victory over the earth
Having eaten its fill
The Light retreats back towards its home
Home in the sky
Home among the clouds
Back where it rests until it attacks again
The stampede rumbles on
Starting to fade away
Of in the distance
Chased from it's grazing land
To a new zone of safety
Where the Light struck
Nothing remains
All life has become death
Everything is ended in that one area
The one place where Purity touches
Death becomes dominant in
The one area of death
Surrounded by life
Nothing else is trampled
Only Death in this one spot
Death then came through the Light
-Beldin
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
New Hero and Lord Stats by Atoz
Here are the New Hero and Lord stats for the month:
LORD ADDITIONS:
28 Heroes morphed in the last four weeks. Please
congratulate the following on their success:
Ardneh, Atrocity, AzukA, Booster, Clobber, Coren,
Firefist, Genocyde, Grizzdrop, Hunger, Kerdor,
LordyMcLord, Meekus, Morsq, Nabliss, Neyne, Nindal,
Phenol, Pyki, Quecha, Richelieu, Rift, Rosetta, Rislin,
Sham, Spirico, Tevildo, and Vidstige.
Lord remorts or rebuilds
REMORTS(RACE): Azariah from elf to high elf,
Lensman from gnome to high elf, Zen from drow to high elf,
Crovax from orc to troll, and Genie from gnome tO troll.
REMORTS(CLASS): AEton, Khad, Rifkin, and Shawna from cleric
to priest. Gengis and Highland from monk to priest.
Xoxo from psion to sorceror.
REBUILDS: None
DELETIONS:
There were 0 Lord deletion(s) in the last four weeks.
This is the top ten-ish levelers at the Hero and Lord tiers
during the last four weeks. Perhaps in four weeks, your name
will show up here too. Good luck, and level a lot the next
four weeks.
Disclaimer: if you didn't show up in the list four weeks ago,
you won't show up here. sorry
Last rankings leaders
Tammo 32 Nayru 309
Top 10ish Lord levelers Top 10ish Hero levelers
Tammo 100 SiGMA 724
Somet 62 Narsil 318
Scalybane 60 Rowena 293
Rubric 56 Kaede 289
Lilone 49 Kweitous 282
Ariveni 48 MakMorn 262
Eshin 47 Twinkyshot 251
MunhIhausen 43 Oppresion 246
Netascha 43 Novacaine 241
Hawkwynd 42 Alcarin 240
HERO ADDITIONS:
Please congratulate 64 characters who reached Hero 200+
Abbadon, Adjacent, Aiko, Aliza, Anna, Azagthoth, Barkon,
Bloodsworde, Cheat, Cochise, Crius, Daireen, Demaskas,
Esariish, Esmarelda, Esoteric, Fable, Farmor, Forseti,
Gorgan, Harkle, Hydros, Ickary, Jayde, Kazzin, KroVikan,
Leviathin, Lyl, Menik, Miasma, Momo, Morthas, Murlon,
Nebulate, Nightbird, NightHawk, Nydeab, Ombiez, Quenzil,
Ragnoc, Ravage, Rok, Rol, Sasarai, Saturos, SiLVANESTi,
Slant, Sodar, Sunset, Thundar, Torgoth, Tsukasa, Tymbre,
Tyrvard, Ulath, Valad, Varg, VERLEGENHEiT, Vortex, Wolfheart,
Walory, Yanyan, Zarul, and Zen.
may you all have continued success and happiness at the Hero tier.
FAILED MORPHS: Antiriel, Barrett, Greenelf, Meragon, Merlinn,
Pique, Renate, SlythO, SpOOky, and Teyze.
DELETIONS:
0 character(s) departed the realm.
=============================================================
Ask Aelmon
The Periodic Column by your favorite healer and mr. know-it-
all, Aelmon.
*********
"Dear Aelmon,
For years now I have been sitting here, trying my best to
heal all those that come to me. I always have a friendly
word or two, or a spell to help the little ones. For years
it was all very fulfilling. My heart lit up with joy when I
saw those young, reckless adventurers run around in the
grass, trying to find something to kill, knowing that I would
be there to help them when the bleeding wouldn't stop.
But as of late I am starting to feel a bit empty. Somehow it
just isn't enough anymore. Now don't get me wrong. I keep the
appearance up for the outside world.
I still sit here, smiling, nodding my head to all and handing
out spells like it was candy, but something is missing. Is
this everything? When I was a young healer I had plans, I had
hopes and dreams and now I just sit here, spouting bits of
wisdom, without anything to strife for... What should I do to
bring back the fire in my heart?
Regards,
N."
Dear N.
I know exactly how you feel. I have been around for ages, I
have seen empires come and go, and immortals rise and fall.
And don't believe it has always been an easy task for me. At
one point I had gathered all my belongings and was ready to
go adventuring into the wildwood when it started raining...
And I hate rain.
So I decided to postpone my departure for a day and what do
you know? No sooner had I put my backpack down when a young
newbie walked in, blood pouring freely. I started healing
him and with every bit of returning strength the gratitude
in his eyes grew bigger. And that's when I knew why I was
doing it. Just so someone else can fulfill their dreams
because I aided them. So hang in there young N. You too will
get over the hump and remember why you are doing all this.
Regards,
Aelmon.
PS- the young adventurer later went on to do great things. He
is now a majority stockholder in Nisi's frozen foods business.
*********
"Sweet Aelmon,
I am a desperate girl and I need your help. For years now I
have been putting up with this guy. He is a man of power in
one of the premier cities of Midgaardia. I love him dearly
and in the past he has told me he cares for me too. But he
seems to have trouble committing.
I know that there have been others. In fact, that comes with
his job..but I can look beyond that if only he would tell me
I am his, and make it official. What should do I?
Love, Madame X."
Sweet Madame X,
I think you have to let this man know where you are standing
right now. It's "show me or lose me" time! If he cannot
express how he feels then maybe he isn't worth it. The glitter
and glamour of being with a man of power can only do so much.
If he doesn't want to commit maybe he isn't worth it. Start
putting yourself first, girl! Good luck, and let me know
what you decide to do. You know where you can find me *wink*
Love, Aelmon
*********
"Hello Aelmon,
I am not so much looking for advice but I wanted to give
you some. You are running quite a nice business here in
Midgaard. Now wouldn't it be a shame if something
happened to it? Hm? Ever thought about some extra
security? After all, accidents can happen just like that.
Let me know, we'll contact you soon.
M.T."
Hello ....
Thanks for the compliment, it is a nice business indeed.
And yes it would be a shame if something happened. But
I am not afraid of accidents.
So thank you for the offer, but I have to refuse. I am
capable of taking care of my..
HEY! My fountain is gone! That's weird. it was here a
minute ago.. Oh well, I can pay for a new one. Hey!
My money pouch is gone! I have to go report this. I
will get back to you later!
Aelmon
*********
If you have heard of a mob with issues that could use
Aelmon's help, or if you yourself could do with some
advice from this wise man please send an email to
kariya@outland.org
with a subject starting with ASK AELMON. I will make
sure he gets it.
ooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOo
"'"'"'"'"'"'"'"'"'"'"'"'"'"'"'"'"'"'"'"'"'"'"'"'"'"'"'"'"'"'"
Monthly Gazette Poll
Last month, I posted a poll asking whether players would like
to see the Gazette go to a twice-monthly format. Most players
agreed. I plan on soon changing to this, but will put it off
a couple months.
The reason for this is two-fold. As I mentioned before, I'm
getting married within the next month, and time will be very
limited the next few weeks. Also, I have two Imms who are
able to do final editing on the Gazette for me, and I need
to make sure they can handle the increased workload.
/
o======|=====================> <=====================|======o
/
Gazette Quest - Write Orion's Helpfile!
Here's an interesting quest for you! If you notice, most of
our Imm staff has their own helpfile. Read HELP RIVIAT,
HELP SNIKT, and especially, HELP MENDEK. *grin*
If you haven't noticed, Immortal Orion doesn't have one!
Shame on him! This is where you get to have some fun!
Read some of the other Imm's helpfiles. Some are funny, some
are dedicatedly serious. Some make statements about the game,
others are pretty factual. You can decide how you want to
write it.
I've included some stats about Orion below. Write the best
helpfile you can think of. Each of the entries will be
reviewed, and the winner will receive 10 quest points, along
with their helpfile being added to the game!
Rules:
All AVATAR language and etiquette rules apply. If you're not
willing to say it to Darii's face, don't even think about
putting it in a helpfile.
Orion has the right to refuse or revamp any entry he sees
fit. He has the final say of the winning entry. All entries
are due by March 25th. Send them to gazinput@outland.org
Orion:
Started playing Oct 2000
Made Imm Easter weekend 2002
Played a previous Diku mud 94-96, doesn't recall which one
Mostly interacts with players - new players, solving disputes,
etc
IRL enjoys graphic design, 3D animation, mountain biking and
landscaping
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==============================================================
This is the new Avatar Gazette. It is published with the
permission and cooperation of the Avatar staff by Angel Kenji.
(Original concept by Asamaro and Dizzy.)
The Gazette is written in plain vanilla ASCII text to ensure
that everyone can enjoy it regardless of computer type.
To subscribe to the Gazette, send internet e-mail to
gazette-request@outland.org. In the body of your
email put:
subscribe username@hostname (MudName - RealName)
eg subscribe snikt@outland.org (Snikt - Kevin Jagh)
Your real name is optional for the Gazette list.
eg subscribe snikt@outland.org (Snikt)
If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, criticisms,
compliments, or (best of all) articles that you've written
for the Gazette, please send them to Kenji via my e-mail
address: gazinput@outland.org Please use 'Gazette' as your
subject.
You can also view the latest issue of the Gazette while
playing Avatar by typing 'help newgaz' anywhere in the game,
or on the design web site at
http://www.outland.org/design/gazette.html
Original credit for Ascii art or other submissions is given
if known.
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