+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
m m
mm mm t
ee m m m m oo nnn sss t ee rrrr
e e m m m o o n n s tttt e e r
eeee m m o o n n ssss t eeee r News 07-25-94
e m m o o n n s t e r
ee m m oo n n sss tt ee r #27
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Headlines this time: Grousing about ABM -- with Rebuttal
Suggestions for New Stuff
Publication data:
eMonster News is published ideally on the 25th of each month, come hell or
high water. Publisher and Editor is warden@rt66.com <SCOTT Micheel>;
send all submissions, questions, letters of comment, and subscription info
to that address. eMonster News is distrubted free for the asking to anyone
able to receive it on INTERNET, CompuServe, GEnie, Delphi, America Online,
Prodigy, or any other service tied into the net. Current press run: 153.
To avoid problems with my mailer, I send this out in batches; for a full
listing of players on the net, send a note to Scott (below). eMonster News
is not affiliated with Adventures By Mail in any way, and nothing in here is
necessarily official. We like to think they like us, though. Please copy,
post, print, or otherwise distribute this newsletter to as many players as you
can; especially if they have email access. We want to promote this here game!
Editor & Publisher Scott Micheel warden@rt66.com
Keeper of Blurbs Aaron Fuegi fuegi@cs.colostate.edu
Group Man Brian Derks normandyknight@cup.portal.com
Monster Mapper & MI BBS Jim Wuerch 73234.3410@compuserve.com
Capture Creature Captain Larry Barrows lrdbear@aol.com
Statmaster Jack Vinson vinson@unagi.cis.upenn.edu
Seeker of Demigods Ben Vincent bjvincen@mtu.edu
Lord of the Hard Sell Tom Richardson salmanila@aol.com
List Director Sharyl Leis michael.mackinnon@mwcsinc.muug.mb.ca
Q&A Lady Dana Barker jujubunn@aol.com
Back issues of eMonster News can be got via anonymous FTP transfer. The
site is ftp.erg.sri.com , the directory is /pub/pbm/monster_island/newsletters
(but also note that brand-new newsletters may still be in /pub/INCOMING/pbm) .
Aaron Fuegi (fuegi@cs.colostate.edu) maintains a WorldWide Web (WWW) site
for Monster Island stuff; contact him for more information.
This newsletter is also posted to the Internet newsgroup rec.games.pbm, and
usually ends up on the America OnLine boards, as well as Bif's Monster Resort
BBS. You are welcome to post this anyplace you wish, but please leave it
intact.
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
I can't reach the following players. If they see this, or if anybody who
knows them can reach them, please tell them that unless they contact me and
help me out with the correct address, I will have to delete them from the
list.
Barstow; Craig = x46467g3@usma13.usma.edu (user unknown)
Glicker; Stephen = sg20+@andrew.cmu.edu (account disabled)
monster; a = lloydk@ciis.edu (user unknown)
X; Glenn = tillema@ucs.uwplatt.edu (user unknown)
Stockwell; Paul = pvcj35a@prodigy.com (user unknown)
Sweet; Lawrence = lawrence.sweet@mixcom.com (user unknown)
Henderson; Joe = jah1879@tamsigma.bitnet (host unknown)
Kellner; Brian = Kellnerbl@50cts.fafb.af.mil (mail refused by host)
Boelscher; Jens = jens@cip-wiwi.uni-hannover.de (host unknown)
Some major problem with my mailer last month meant that *many* of you didn't
receive the June issue. I think I've got it correct now, but if anyone still
needs the previous issue, just send me a note and I'll whip it right out.
And finally, a bunch of mean Texas lawyers made my site change its name.
So, officially, I can now be found at warden@rt66.com, rather than
warden@einet.com. But in reality, I can still be reached at the einet
address, and will be there for some long time to come. And if anyone
remembers, I still have all my mail forwarded from my old university
account, warden@triton.unm.edu , so any of the three will reach me.
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
These are some little niggling changes that I would love to see in the game...
Just a few suggestions, from a concerned player. If any of these make sense
to you, you might want to mention it to the appropriate parties...
* Delete the Account Number from turn results. We have heard from a
number of players who got *other* player's results in their envelope.
While we are not aware of any abuse arising from this, the fact is that
all you need is a monster number and the correct account number and
you can send in a turn for someone else. Most other pbm companies
include all account information on a separate sheet of paper, usually
printed on a separate printer (and which would provide a back-up check
to help prevent those mis-sent turns, since you'd check to see that
every turn run also had a separate account statement and vice versa.)
* Add a header to each page of the results, a mere single line, like this:
----- MONSTER MAN's travels for turn 25 ----- May 12, 1994 ----- page 1 -----
This would help is keep track of what page belongs with which turn (I
know whereof I speak here) and also provide yet another backup check to
make sure no turns are mis-sent in the wrong envelope.
* Add Rivers to the game. Make some small, some large. Some crossable,
some not. Perhaps a Ruined Bridge structure, or Natural Fords that
can only be crossed at certain times of the year. Spice up the map a
bit. Make a Follow River sub-command, like Follow Trail.
* There are rewards from the gods for killing certain enemies of the god.
Shouldn't there also be penalties for killing those favored by the god?
There are rumors that if you manage to kill your god's favored creature,
you'll get zapped by a lightning bolt or something. Shouldn't there be
such a mark of disfavor if you attack a co-religionist?
* Names for Forts and Temples should be added. Anyone who's ever tried
to make a list of Temples will know the reason for this one. Too often
a temple is claimed for one side, or started and abandoned, or just
mistaken for a nearby rival temple. Plus, wouldn't it be neat if you
could name the Temple or Fort yourself?
* Creating Wells for Forts -- to be able to slake your thirst at a Fort.
Maybe you'd have to dig deeper than ever before, or have others to help
out.
* Monster Holidays!
Holidays are the favorite days of little kids and hard-working grownups,
why shouldn't monsters look forward to them too?
I envision them working as follows; holidays are set calendar days that no
monster knows in advance. If a holiday occurs between turns, a short
note is added to his 'Tween turn results. If a monster's turn occurs on
a holiday, he is docked 15-20 APs to perform a ceremony or something.
Taking this even further, you could even add a few Major holidays where
everyone must participate; i.e.: the ABM guys get a day where they don't do
any MI turns, and everything is delayed a day.
As to the range of types of holidays, here are a few suggestions. Certain
holidays would only affect certain monsters;
Racial holidays
Bignose - Anniversary of the Great White Handkerchief (?)
Furrcat - Dead Rodent Festival (carry one in your mouth all day)
Monger - Scare your Neighbor Day (make yourself ugly, lower friendly.)
Norman - Paint the Town (and yourself) Red Day
Fatblob - Feast of the Sacred Pickle (?)
Mudwalker Muddy Thursday (roll around it in, need a bath)
Viper - Fruit Sucking Day (eat no meat)
Jossman - Funny Nose & Glasses Day
Knolltir Hide Down Deep Day
Religious Holidays
Shroud - Winter Solstice (shortest day of the year)
Kabuki - Summer Solstice (longest day of the year)
S & K - Day of the Midnight Sun (Shroud - bad, Kabuki - good)
S & K - Eclipse (Shroud - good, Kabuki - bad)
Fuvah - 1st, 2nd, & 3rd Gahambar (tales of mighty warriors maybe)
(and all the demigods too, of course)
Major Holidays
Winterfest - maybe a visit from Father Frost
Sun's Day - too hot, take a day-long siesta (as I write this, its 104)
Adding holidays to the results would spice things up for us players. Well
do we remember that one day back in '90 (?) when the storm clouds and
rainbows interrupted our rest. I'd be neat to have something happen that
happens to everyone at once, but only rarely.
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
News from everywhere...
* Creature List
Michael Pan has created a Creature List of amazing detail. He lists all
known creatures with a wealth of detail about them. While this list was
compiled from the Disciples of Light information, I believe he intends
to make it available to all. eMail him at nemesis382@aol.com for the
latest information. (The list is not available online, but I remember
something about sending him stamps to cover postage...)
* British MI newsletter
Mark Wingad has sent me the first two MI-MAIL newsletters for the
British Monster Island game. The first one is available online at the
regular Monster Island site; I hope to get the second up soon. For those
interested, contact Mark Wingad, 11 Elm Close, North Hykeham, Lincoln,
LN8 8LT, U.K. Here are a few highlights...
Groups in UK game:
710 White Knights of Kabuki (Kabuki) 9+ (Mid Jagged Mor)
715 Bad Company (Fuvah) 36+ (Central Starth)
716 The Hand of Shroud (Shroud) 26+ (Central Kunbar)
721 Monster Liberation Front (Fuvah) 14+ (South Jagged Mor)
740 Eternal Void (Shroud) 20+ (Mid Jagged Mor)
746 Blinding Dawn (Kabuki) 20+ (Mid Jagged Mor)
748 Kabuki's Legion of the North (Kabuki) 30+ (North Kunbar)
? Hulk Hogan's Company (mixed) 8+ (Central Starth)
? The Lords of Chaos (Fuvah) ? (?)
Group Ranks - a proposal
These exist Religious Ranks, why not Group Ranks as well? We've
already got Group Leader; how about...
Voodoo Master -- Can learn voodoo from other monsters, and teach it?
Spy Master -- 1 per 16 members, requirement 60+ stealth; can
display fake totems that he has seen; can act like a Neophyte of
any religion (though he won't fool the gods); will get names &
addresses of monsters he meets, but nobody will get his; can be
discovered by monsters with high stealth.
Fort Master -- 1 per fort, monster gets +20 badness; while in his
fort can weapon train fellow group members up to his skill level
minus one; can sense when the fort is under attack even when he
isn't there; bonus to spotting a Group Spy
* Demigods; new one?
We already knew that certain demigods existed (Snake Demigoddess,
Vampire Demigod, Gargoyle Demigod, Dragon Demigod, Wyrm Demigoddess)
though nobody has found them yet. Of some note, however, is the
blurb for the Trident, which mentions a "long forgotten god of the sea."
* Dark Places
Tombs of Mumundus
LV doesn't work. Large Quests haven't done anything. Kowtowing gets
you a note that there is nothing to kowtow to. A U33 not too long ago
crashed the system, and some weeks later another U33 got one monster
a note that seemed to say he was on the right track, but needed some
special knowledge to get in...
Stone Crypt
A keyhole is mentioned, but Lockpicks don't seem to work. Or at least,
trying to Use them may not work. They may just be a requirement to
enter. A U33 recently reported that you need more than 140 Action
Points to enter.
Tainted Hollow
No luck so far. Torches get you in the door. If you have Torchlight
in addition, you get a bit farther. Speculation now is that you'll need
a Lantern or Quartzlight Gem to get further.
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Notes, Letters, and Comments
From: "Chuck Miro" <FUVWARRIOR@AOL.COM>
Date: Tue, 28 Jun 94 13:59:17 EDT
Subject: New Temple
Greetings To All Monsters,
I'm happy to announce the successful completion of a new
Temple in honor of the Omniscient One, the mighty warrior
god, Fuvah!
The Temple was a joint project of the Cult of Nine
Lives, the Knights of the Iron Fist, and the Blood Mummy
Tribe of the Shadow Guardians. I'd like to highlight the
outstanding efforts of the Cult's Silk and Domino in
overseeing the coordination of participating allies.
The new Temple is ideally situated within a mere 25
squares of another Fuvah Temple, and is within easy
travelling distance of three far inns: the Grackle, Grouse
and Grail, the Broken Shield and Drokorn's Stead.
Onward Fuvites!
From: "Chuck Miro" <CASBAHCARL@AOL.COM>
Date: Thu, 30 Jun 94 14:17:55 EDT
Subject: ABM doesn't love us anymore...
Regarding the recent concerns over whether ABM was spending too much time on
Magic:TG, here's a post that showed up on the rec.games.pbm newsgroup which
provides some information on the situation over at ABM. The guy is upset
about his Beyond the Stellar Empire turns, and the fact that ABM now
has national advertising and an 800 number for their Magic sales alone...
------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Re: US BSE: Dying?
From: "Bob Cook" <P00661@PSILINK.COM>
Date: Mon, 27 Jun 94 10:30:35 -0500
>I haven't received a BSE turn in almost 2 weeks now. From what I
>have been able to determine, ABM has decided that Magic: The
>Gathering is more important than BSE. Anyone else experiencing the
>same problem?
Cute message Neil, but I explained this over the phone.
Yes, the 800 number is just for orders. Its not for PBM support, as you
guessed.
The BSE slowdown is hopefully nearly over. We had hired someone to replace
Mike in the card sales and distribution. However at the last minute she took
a different job, even though we'd been waiting for her 2 week's notice before
she could start.
That was the bad news. The good news is that today we hired 2 people, and
they both start tomorrow (Wed). By the end of the week I'm hoping Mike is
back onto BSE.
We appreciate everyone's patience and plan on doing something nice for every
player to show our appreciation. We never had any idea just how big the card
sales would be. Fortunately it was only BSE that slowed down. All the other
games never missed a beat.
From: "Russell Calkins" <SHDOWSPWN@AOL.COM>
Date: Fri, 01 Jul 94 01:03:58 EDT
Subject: Temple Ruins
Any interested Kabukians around the Cracked Skull can write me and I will
give them the location of a Temple Ruins in the area that I believe can only
be used by Kabukians.
From: Dana Wright <JUJUBUNN@AOL.COM>
Date: 30 Jun 94 21:21:21 EDT
Subject: MI:Question
What is known about Black Voodoo?
I ask because I just found a death mask that mentioned it.
*****Editor Says: Nobody knows yet. There seem to be two possibilities.
The first is simply that it is voodoo that involves the ultra-rare
Black Lotus Leaf. The other is that it is evil Dark voodoo that
maybe Kabukians can't use. But only hints exist so far.
Article: 13461 of rec.games.pbm
From: perry@symcom.math.uiuc.edu (David Perry)
Newsgroups: rec.games.pbm
Subject: Monster Island Miscellaneous
Date: 1 Jul 1994 17:06:58 GMT
First of all, I want to congratulate Scott Micheel and thank him
for the fine job he does on the MI Newsletter, and to all the keepers
of lists. I'd like to do my part, but everyone seems to know more
than I do. Still, I just cleared out my 2nd Hillock and I would like
to compile a list of Knolltir treasures gained after killing the last
Knolltir. Also, just for grins, I'd like to keep a list of Knolltir
names. From my own experience:
1st Hillock treasure: Unreadable Scroll, Short Sword, Ancient
Silver Spike, Kudo Bone
2nd Hillock treasure: Unreadable Scroll, Wooden Shroud Statue,
Large Lockpick
Names: Male: BASILTIR, CORDLE, FINGERS, WARTHOG, KNIBE, HIG, FELTIP,
BENTWORTH, WHISPER, KOLORM, RANSID, HOOPS, FIMPLE, GIBLETS, JUJUBEE,
BOTSWANA, YELLOWLEGS, ZAGBUT, REDFRED, another BOTSWANA, MUSTOFFO,
HORTON, LOPSIDE, WHISKERS, LOGSPAN, JARD, LENTLE, JUDO
Female: NONJOWLWA, XIM, YIBBITS, CALCLOT, FENDER, VONDON,
JAROO, SUNSET, HORTON, JAROSZ, BIGARMZ, HIG
Note that Hig and Horton I've seen as male or female, so I don't
think it's necessary to distinguish Knolltir names by their sex. I
know most people on the net are well past Hillocks, but I'll keep the
list and pass it on to Scott for inclusion in the MI Newsletter if he's
interested.
This prompts a few questions. First of all, is the treasure det-
ermined when Jack programs in the number of Knolltir in the Hillock
or is it random based on who finds it. I follow Shroud, and I got a
Wooden Shroud Statue. Had I followed another god, or had been without
religion, would that have been different for me?
Another question. How do I read Unreadable Scrolls. I just got
my Sacrifice Blurb, so I'm heading for a temple to go for my Disciple-
ship. Do I need that in order to read scrolls or do I have to take
them somewhere and have them read for me? While I'm on the subject,
how does one enter a temple just to conduct business (put stuff in
the treasure room, etc.)? Just Kowtow for 12 points, or any number
of points? I forget. Can one enter Temples of another god if one
is strong enough?
I thank for your help in advance. Email me at perry@math.uiuc.edu.
Article: 13463 of rec.games.pbm
Newsgroups: rec.games.pbm
From: fuegi@CS.ColoState.EDU (Aaron D. Fuegi)
Subject: Re: Monster Island Miscellaneous
Date: Fri, 1 Jul 1994 18:56:27 GMT
> This prompts a few questions. First of all, is the treasure det-
>ermined when Jack programs in the number of Knolltir in the Hillock
>or is it random based on who finds it. I follow Shroud, and I got a
>Wooden Shroud Statue. Had I followed another god, or had been without
>religion, would that have been different for me?
I am actually not absolutely certain of this, but I think it almost
a given that the treasure is only determined when it is necessary to do so
(ie. when the last Knolltir is dead). Also, if you get a religious item I
think it is at least 80%(maybe 100%) likely that it will be of your religion
if you have one. I presume that if you didn't follow a god you would have
been just as likely to get a Wooden Statue but the God would have been
random.
>3. Another question. How do I read Unreadable Scrolls. I just got
>my Sacrifice Blurb, so I'm heading for a temple to go for my Disciple-
>ship. Do I need that in order to read scrolls or do I have to take
>them somewhere and have them read for me? While I'm on the subject,
>how does one enter a temple just to conduct business (put stuff in
>the treasure room, etc.)? Just Kowtow for 12 points, or any number
>of points? I forget. Can one enter Temples of another god if one
>is strong enough?
Yes, you need to be a disciple to do anything with Unreadable Scrolls.
There are actually 2 spells you need, 1 to identify the scroll and then 1
to read it(and thus allow you to add it to your spell list and then cast it
as often as you want).
From: "Bob Cook" <P00661@PSILINK.COM>
Date: Mon, 04 Jul 94 14:17:08 -0500
Organization: Adventures By Mail, Inc.
Subject: Re: Monster Island - Changing Owners
To take over another Monster just have the player send you a note
indicating his approval. Send us this note with the first turn for the
monster you wish to take over and mention what you are doing.
Bob Cook Voice: 518-237-4870
Adventures By Mail, Inc Fax: 518-237-6245
Box 436 Internet: bob@abm.com
Cohoes, NY 12047 America OnLine: ABMBob
From: fuegi@CS.ColoState.EDU (Aaron D. Fuegi)
Date: Wed, 6 Jul 94 11:21:57 MDT
Subject: Re: question...
On Forges I think I can pretty much answer all your questions. When
you get to a Forge it automatically gives you a list of everything they Sell
AND also everything of yours they will buy. Basically, the only major things
they buy you would probably want to sell are iron shields(all varieties) and
swords(short and long).
There is no pricing scheme given and I have the feeling you will get
the identical price for a given item at All Forges. The price is not "high"
on the Far Inn charts as in fact you can NOT buy or sell anything at a Far
Forge that you can at a Far Inn. Much as with Inns and Posts, the items which
Forges deal in are completely distinct from the other two.
As for barding, well, some of us out here are rich enough that the
cost of barding(even the better silver kind) is really no big deal as we hav
nothing else to spend our money on. Thus, even though at present barding is
completely useless as far as anyone knows many people are buying it. There
is a Rumor that you will need barding on your mount to cross the Crystal Hills
(personally I think this rumor is Very far-fetched but who knows). Neither or
my monsters has actually bothered to buy barding but yes, I think it is likely
that it does count as one of your "carried" items. Can someone confirm this?
From: "Chuck Miro" <CASBAHCARL@AOL.COM>
Date: Mon, 04 Jul 94 18:06:20 EDT
Subject: Jack Speaks...sort of
The following are copies of recent posts by Jack on the AOL MI Board.
Incidentally, Jack virtually NEVER posts on the board.
In each post, he responds to a previous posting without relying on the
convenience of quoting the message he's responding to. Maybe he should post
more often to familiarize himself with common practices.
Anyway, here's what he posted.
Subj: Ressurrection 94-07-04 17:15:18 EDT
From: ABMJack
3 times currently....like a video game.
May change this one day.
Subj: Follow Coasts 94-07-04 17:18:09 EDT
From: ABMJack
When I originally programmed it, I made travel along coasts as best I could.
I'm afraid improving it more would be Way Down on my list of improvements To
Be Done. - --Jack
Subj: Re:New Monster 94-07-04 17:21:01 EDT
From: ABMJack
Hey...'course the Love Dance is Powerful. Did you think I was a light weight
programmer?
Subj: Re:Open Letter to SO 94-07-04 17:33:54 EDT
From: ABMJack
Wouldn't coconuts be tastier? They're SO delicious!
Subj: Re:Shroud's Own and Roleplaying 94-07-04 17:35:29 EDT
From: ABMJack
Ummm....I'm trying to get Monsters to constantly fight each other? Oh really?
News to me. I want players to do what ever they'd like and whatever is fun
for them.
Subj: Interesting Lead Sentence 94-07-04 17:37:25 EDT
From: ABMJack
"Shroud's Own can not be opposed."
Make's ya think, eh?
7/5/94 5:54:49 PM Closing Log file.
From: (Jo Screwloose) kevin@qdeck.co.uk
Date: Sun, 10 Jul 94 17:27:25 GMT
Subject: EMonster News
I've been getting Emonster for a couple of months now..or maybe longer.
I'm really impressed with it!! Some of the stuff I have to say is probably
old news - especially as I play in the UK game. But i'll tell you anyway!
1) Could you send me #26 again- I only got half of it
2) About Temple Sacrifices... I did an Auto-Kowtow at a Prayer Stone after
exactly 24 turns as an Acolyte (OF KABUKI! PRAISE KABOOOOKEE!) and received
the Sacrifice Blurb. Somebody said awhile back that you had to Kowtow at
a Temple YOU DON'T.. then again I have been to Temples before, if that
had anything to do with it.....
From: fuegi@CS.ColoState.EDU (Aaron D. Fuegi)
Date: Tue, 12 Jul 94 21:40:58 MDT
Subject: My new MI WWW page.
Hi everyone,
For those of you who have access to the World Wide Web, I wanted to
let you know I set up another way of acccessing the lists and newsletters
besides the ftp site. I set up a set of HTML pages accessible via the WWW.
Below is a copy of the post I made announcing it to rec.games.pbm. Also,
Scott why don't you copy this announcement and put it in the next eMonster
as well. I am especially interested in suggestions/criticisms/additions from
all of you (who can access it that is) on this.
***ANNOUNCING my New Monster Island WWW Pages***
For all players out there of the Monster Island PBM game, I have
taken all the past newsletters and lists and made them available via the
World Wide Web. Assuming you have access to Mosaic or some other browser
for the Web and are interested in MI, come and check out the URL
**** http://scv.bu.edu/~aarondf/monster_www/index.html ****
Available are all the eMonster newsletters, almost all the old Summer
newsletters and lists of Groups, Far Structure Prices, many Far Inn Services,
some Far Forge Services and Average Monster Statistics.
Contact me (fuegi@cs.colostate.edu) if you have any questions.
Also note that the one main list Not available via this page is my own
list of blurbs due to ABM's objections. Also, since I just created these
pages yesterday you can expect some changes/additions in the near future and
your input is very welcome about this.
In order to access the World-Wide Web(WWW) you need to have both a strong
internet connection and a browser. The most commonly used browser is Mosaic
and it is available for X-windows, MS Windows, and the Mac. Additionally
there are several other browsers including Lynx and W3 mode for the Emacs
editor.
Assuming you have Any of these you can access all pages on the web,
including mine. Also assuming you are using Mosaic the easiest way to get to
my page is to just type
"Mosaic http://scv.bu.edu/~aarondf/monster_www/index.html"
(oh, except that for you the command to run Mosaic may be different, for
example xmosaic or mosaic. Asking your sysop is the best idea if you don't
know.)
From: Gerald Hagedorn <HAGEDORN@UMR.EDU>
Date: Wed, 13 Jul 1994 18:59:19 -0600 (CDT)
Subject: Aarons WWW site
I just looked over Aaron's WWW site and it has a lot of cool
stuff on it. I would definatly encourge anyone who has access to Mosaic
and/or the Web to take a look at it.
From: "Chuck Miro" <CASBAHCARL@AOL.COM>
Date: Thu, 14 Jul 94 12:50:47 EDT
Subject: ABM screwup
Lately we've been talking about the problem of ABM inserting turns in the
wrong envelope along with other people's turns. Well, guess what, I just one
of my turns back for my Shroudovian character and along with it, I had Andrew
Holmes' Kabukian monster's turn in it too.
Obviously, I'll slip his turn in an envelope and mail it (at my expense) to
him. However, if I were a less friendly person running a character in a much
less friendly group (we can all think of one or two, eh?), I'd have quite a
bit of information on this potential adversary/victim that I could use
against him. The scenario we've discussed before seems all-too-possible now.
ABM really has to be more careful about this stuff.
Which brings me to another question. Apparently two of three monsters this
person runs gets *free* turns. It says so right on the front of the turn and
in the transaction info section (yes, I did read it--sorry!). Now why would
ABM be giving out free turns?
I can see why they would be free if he never receives the turns, but I'm
assuming that that's not ABM's intention.
From: "Larry Barrows" <LRDBEAR@AOL.COM>
Date: Thu, 14 Jul 94 13:57:17 EDT
Subject: Re: ABM screwup
I've gotten a couple of free turns when ABM mucked up my turns so bad that I
complained (like a recent turn that got lost twice before being run.)
From: Gerald Hagedorn <HAGEDORN@UMR.EDU>
Date: Thu, 14 Jul 1994 14:12:40 -0600 (CDT)
Subject: ABM screwups.....
Well you know what happened; ABM screwed up the poor guys turn.
Then they sent out his free turn, to make up for the messup, to the
wrong adress. At this rate he may not have to pay for a turn for a while.
I am not sure who to feel sorry for, ABM or the player.
From: jbates@telstr.mi.org (Jeff Bates)
Date: Fri, 15 Jul 94 07:09:52 EST
Subject: Re: MI
I talked to ABM a couple weeks ago, and got this from Keith (At least I think
it was Keith). Jack has finsihed programming the near eastern area, and it
merely waiting for a time to open it. He wants it to be something spectacular
when it opens, and has debated some of the following. Huge area of the
Crystal Hills falling, allowing people through on some sort of people mover.
A giant flood floods the first area (Westlands), and everyone gets moved over
a bit (<---Not sure how that would work)...
From: fuegi@CS.ColoState.EDU (Aaron D. Fuegi)
Date: Sat, 16 Jul 94 21:04:35 MDT
Subject: MI missent turns
Hi all,
Well I just had the thing happen to me where I was sent the turn of
another(very young) monster. If by any chance anyone knows William Kidd or
his monster Beowulf let him know that I'll forward his turn to him on Monday.
Also my own monsters turn was pretty bad. Now, *last* turn I tried
to drop 1 swine fat(#187). Well, I got the message that I couldn't because the
group cache already had 10 items. I counted and only found 9 but I
figured I'd let that go(I still had the item in my inventory).
*This* turn I moved to a different square and tried to drop #187 and got
the response that I couldn't drop something I didn't have! So what appears to
have happened is one part of the program thinks I got rid of it and another
thinks I still have it (it is STILL in my inventory!). I don't know if I'm
going to pay to call ABM about this or not.
All in all, though, it kind of pisses me off as I am now
carrying 19 big items and 40 small items(can only carry 1 more big item and No
small items).
From: "Searight, Jonathon" <JSEARIGHT@NCCS-EVAX.NAVY.MIL>
Date: 18 Jul 94 14:50:00 EST
Subject: ABM news
Of note: both Jack and Keith have told of ABM's new programmer that started
on the 11th of July. So, maybe we'll see some new stuff soon.
From: Ron Blanco <RRBLANCO@MTU.EDU>
Date: Wed, 20 Jul 1994 04:30:33 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Re: MI missent turns
I also dropped, or rather tried to drop, a swine fat into a group cache, and
I was told there already was 10 items (in fact there were 9, but since the
Blurb states 9 as most, it must be a typo Jack put into the program's output.
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