____
                  /.--.                The Avatar Gazette
                  |====|                For subscription info,
                  |`::`|                read HELP GAZETTE
              .-;`..../`;_.-^-._
       /\   /  |...::..|`  | |  `|     Produced by Angel Kenji
       |:' |   /'''::''|   | |   |     With assistance from
      @| /;-,/   ::  |=========|     Fernando (Lord alt) -
      `|| <<` > >._::_.|=========|       New Hero/Lord stats
       || `""`  /   ^^  |   | |   |
       ||       |          | |   /


Hi everyone, and let me introduce you to an old staple of Avatar,
the Avatar Gazette. In the past, this was a bi-monthly newsletter
published by Dizzy. I'm going to shoot for a bit more regularity
than that, but no promises ;) However, I'd like to go over a few of
the regular features you can look forward to:

New Lords, Heroes and high levelers - compiled by Fernando

This is where we will be acknowledging the newest members of the
Hero and Lord tiers, and tipping our hats to the highest level gainers.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

NEW LORDS

8 Heroes morphed this week. Please congratulate them on their success.
They are in alphabetical order:
Antares, Banerae, BladeTooth, Celea, Elbo, Hallecarrot, Vikarius, and
Wolv. Welcome to Lord

*Lord remorts or rebuilds
There were no remorts or rebuilds last week

*Deletions
There were 7 Lord deletions last week. Please take a few moments
to mourn the following:
Genesis, Infyrana, Jaha, Kzpliter, Rauko, Sabathius, and Varewyr

May they all find what they seek outside the realm.

NEW HEROES

Please congratulate 16 characters who reached Hero 6+ this week.
They are in alphabetical order:
Ashlome, Ceric, Dorea, Freakazoid, Jayde, Kadar, Kamahl, Mode,
Mubher, Renate, Ruin, Scoop, Snowflurry, SoulKiller, Tesio,
and Traunt.

May you all have continued success and happiness at the Hero tier.

*Hero deletions
One person left the Hero ranks to become a valued member of the Angel

Host. Congratulations to Calix, Avatar's newest Angel!

12 characters departed the realm, and let's take a moment to mourn
the following in alphabetical order:
Baboofkin, Darksquall, Jackie, Nilandros, Penchun, Rhaedus, Rieve,
Shannara, Sumheals, Tariq, Tarsas and Whitedragon.

Baboofkin and Jackie have since rejoined the realm and wander as
lowbies, but may the others all find what they seek outside the realm.

These are the top ten levelers at the Hero and Lord tiers
during the last week. Perhaps next week, your name will show
up here too. Good luck, and level a lot next week.


Top 10ish Lord levelers          	Top 10ish Hero levelers
Segallion    	28                  Ramkol     	168
Mimi         	14                 	JClammer   	119
Riott        	13                 	Hrand      	118
Eecyla       	12                 	Reno       	117
Severon      	11                 	Rolodex    	116
Rainhawk      	9                  	Aela       	112
Myryan        	8                  	Kary     	 99
Vigilance     	8                  	Eomer     	 94
BiGgy         	6                  	Magdha   	 80
Natalia       	6                  	Takayuchi	 78


Thanks go to Fernando for compiling this information.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

News & Highlights:

New Quest in place! - There is a new ticket quest for a good piece of
Hero gear! Look in the park in Midgaard for the Count to start. Thanks
go to Jaron for one of the best new quests in the game. It's smooth,
not too difficult, and very nicely done!

Insurance Reminder - A reminder from everyone's favorite halfling about
Insurance vs. Reimbursement. HELP REIMB and HELP INSURANCE cover the
policies in detail, but essentially, reimbursement doesn't include
enchants, sharpens, etc. Insurance does. It's a good idea to re-
familiarize yourself with both helpfiles.

New Changes from DaWiz - New WHO options. Read HELP WHO. New Socials.
*drinktoast DaWiz*

Lockers are almost here! This will give you an opportunity to store
extra gear or fodder for a monthly fee. You've been asking for a feature
like this. Now, they are almost here. They are being playtested on Avatar
West right now. Go check them out! avatarwest.outland.org:3000

Audrina is looking for players willing to assist those whose first
language is not English. If you fluently speak a language other than
English, please drop Audrina a note on board 2 so that she can add you
to the HELP TRANSLATION helpfile.

Just a personal note I want to put in. We all were frustrated during
the ComCast outage. As a player myself, nothing is more frustrating
than wanting to log on and do a little smishing, and realizing that East
is down, or that your highest alt on West is lowmort level 10. I want
to commend the Immortal staff for communicating about the issue to the
players. But more importantly, I want to thank the players for being
patient and realizing that this outage was out of any staffer's hands.
Never once during the several days outage did I see a player whine,
gripe or seriously complain about the outage. Thanks for the patience
and maturity you all displayed.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Website of the month - http://www.outland.org

The official Avatar website has been completely redesigned by our Immortal
Staff. Check out the new layout and features! There is an option to
register your signon, and promises of more changes yet to come. Also, if
you have an Avatar-related website, you are invited to post a link to your
site there, so that other players can reference it easily! And, as always,
there is a link there to vote for your favorite mud on TopMudSites.com.
*cough, cough* Be sure to vote!

+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=

I am currently looking for a Fantasy Story writer. If you have a creative
flair, and think you can write a six - eight chapter fantasy story with an
Avatar theme, please drop me a note. I'd like to get an outline of what you
want to write about, and perhaps a sample paragraph or two to give me an
idea on your writing style. Good spelling and grammar is a must!
Your name will go in the credits in the Gazette.

<<=============><<=============><<=============><<==========>

For my first playing tip, I'm going to re-print a note I posted on board 1,
because I think this is pretty important:

I just want to take a moment and address something I've noticed lately.
We have quite a few new players coming here to Avatar. I'm elated
that you have chosen Avatar as your mud, and choose to spend time
with us. IMO, one of the best parts of Avatar is the willingness
of everyone to help each other. However, there are some drawbacks. One
of the things I've seen a lot of lately is people expecting CR's right
away.

As an Angel, I see it as my duty to help a player get back to his corpse.
My other biggest duty is to help players learn the game better. When I
see someone die, the first thing I do is go to the corpse, and evaluate
the situation. If I think a player can walk back in with some effort,
I encourage them to do so.

I just want to point out to players, that there are other ways to help
new players become better than just mercying/gurneying them when they
die. I know it's easier just to gurney, but think about whether they can
do it themself. If so, encourage them to try. Be there to help if they
fail, but at least let them try. You'll help build a better player in the
long run.

Sorry for the length, and thanks for reading.

-Angel Kenji

/////////////////////////////////////

For the first few issues, I'll continue to cross-post this gazette on the
gazette, forum, Hero and Lord mailers. After that, if you want to continue
to receive it, subscribe to the gazette mailer. Read HELP GAZETTE for info
on how to subscribe.

Any comments, suggestions, or submissions can be sent to Kenji on board
2, or emailed to angel_kenji1@yahoo.com Thanks for reading, and keep
playing!