@@ @@ @@ @@ @@ @@ @@@@@@@@ @@@@@@@ @@ @@ @@ @@ @@@ @@@ @@@@@@@@ @@@@@@@@ @@ @ @@ @@@@ @@@@ @@ @@ @@ @@@@ @@ @@@@@@@@@@ @@@@@@@ @@@@@@@@ @@@@ @@ @@ @@ @@ @@@@@@@ @@@@@@ @@ @@ @@ @@ @@ @@ @@ @@ @@ @@ @@ @@ @@ @@ @@ @@ @@ @@ @@ @@ @@ @@@@@@@@ @@ @@ @@ @@ @@ @@ @@ @@@@@@@@ @@ @@ ######## ## ## ###### ######## ###### #### ## ######## ## #### ####### ######## ######## ## ## ## ## # ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ####### ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ######## ##### ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## # ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ######## ####### ## ## ## ## ####### ######## ## ## ## ######## ####### ## ## ## ## ####### ###### ## #### ====================================================================== Volume One, Issue Three August 28, 1995 ====================================================================== Published by and for Avatars of Kymer in Phantasus in the Dreamscape ><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>< INDEX: The Editor Speaks ....................................Khai Joybringer The Phantasus Acolytes...................Oracles Vaserius and Teresias Scheduling Events in Phantasus........................Acolyte Mysteria Mystery of the Oil of Okay Solved!.......................Acolyte VIQer The World It Is A-Changin'...................Milen of the Hidden Glade Seen on the Street - Part 1...........................Acolyte Rosaleah Seen on the Street - Part 2..............................Acolyte VIQer The Great Choke Conspiracy, Part 1..........................Marianne G First Impressions...................................Marianne G Fairley South Fountain Paint Party!...........................Acolyte Rosaleah Ghost Racing............................................Acolyte Serena Trek Trivia Nights......................Acolyte VIQer and Acolyte Data Phantasus Lottery.........................................Acolyte Lynx Mazzical Puzzical Solution!.............................By RazzaMaTazz Contest Reminder............................................Marianne G Around the Town.........................................Acolyte Brynne Events In Phantasus...................The Hosts/Hostesses of Phantasus Advertisements...............................The Citizens of Phantasus ><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>< THE EDITOR SPEAKS By Khai Joybringer Hmmm... I'm the editor this week, so of what shall I speak? This is a rather large issue of The Kymer Clarion, so I won't take up too much space! Lots of things going on in Phantasus! New to the Kymer Clarion is the Schedule of Events for the week of August 29 through September 4. Check it out! Be sure to read the forum messages for even more events! Of important note in this issue is Acolyte Mysteria's article about the new Event Scheduling Committee. If you're planning to host an event, please be sure to read this and, if at all possible, submit your event as outlined in this article. This way your event will get on the schedule and just may be given even further publicity by Acolyte Brynne in her new column "Around The Town"! There were no letters to the editor this week! We'd like your input. Please send any letters to the waking-world CIS e-mail address of 75664,663 with the subject LETTER TO EDITORS until the Temple Priests bring their own mail system into the Dreamscape. Please mark all letters you do not wish published as NOT FOR PUBLICATION. All mail to the Editors not so marked will be considered for publication, subject to editing for clarity and space considerations. Do you have a poem you'd like published? An article? Then submit it to the Kymer Clarion in the same way as you would a Letter to the Editor, but give it the subject of ARTICLE SUBMISSION. I could write a little something about every article in this issue, but then you wouldn't have to read the whole issue, would you? And we can't have *that*, now can we? So, that be it for now! Read on, enjoy and be joyful! (And look for those Happy Tokens!) ><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>< THE PHANTASUS ACOLYTES Oracles Vaserius and Teresias Let it be known that in the city of Phantasus, as of August 26, the roster of Acolytes is as follows: Brynne Milen CaribeLynx Mysteria Chameleon Nicci Data Rosaleah Electra Sabertooth Hindemith Serena Indigo Tulip JWFriendly VIQer Libra They are here to help the avatars as told by Morpheus. Should you need assistance, an Acolyte may be reached by choosing Page Acolyte from your Help Menu. We regret there is no schedule for the Acolytes at this time. One is being drafted at this moment and we expect the Acolytes to start following it soon thereafter. ><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>< SCHEDULING EVENTS IN PHANTASUS Acolyte Mysteria There are now so many wonderful events (games, hunts, lotteries, meetings) scheduled in-world that things are getting a little confusing. Sometimes one event runs into the time someone else had planned to use a certain locale, or an event's publicity gets lost in the shuffle. On Sunday, August 20, a group of us met and devised a new plan for a WEEKLY SCHEDULE of Phantasus events, to minimize conflicts and maximize participation. We don't want to force this plan on anyone, but we think most people will find it helpful and useful, and we hope it will make things more fun and less hassle. Of course anyone can still organize a last-minute event; but we hope that everyone will be respectful of the pre-planned events, and try to work around them. Here's how the new plan works: * Every week an EVENTS SCHEDULE will be included in the Kymer Clarion. It will also be posted to the Message Board. The schedule will run from Tuesday through Monday, since the Clarion comes out on Mondays. * Acolyte Sabertooth [76645,3012] will be the designated recipient of all event plans. Hosts (both Acolytes and "regular" folks) will e-mail him with the following: 1. the name of the Host or Hosts 2. the name of the event 3. a short (10-15 word) description of the event and any special instructions to would-be players, such as "you must register with the Host in advance," or "please ghost when you arrive and ESP the Host"). If your game requires elaborate instructions, please post these on the Section 19 Message Board and/or in Library 19. 4 your first three choices of date, time and locale. Please make it clear whether you're using PDT, EDT, CET, etc. All events will be reflected in the Schedule using WATime (PDT). * The DEADLINE for the next week's event schedule is Friday at 9 PM PDT(Midnight Friday EDT, 5 AM Saturday in the UK). * Once you have submitted your info to Acolyte Sabertooth, please wait until the Clarion comes out before publicizing the exact date, place or time of your event. That will insure that we've had time to work out any scheduling conflicts. IF YOU'RE JUST PLANNING AN EVENT, THAT'S ABOUT ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW! If you're curious about what happens from there, read on. * The Scheduling Committee now consists of Acolytes Sabertooth, Electra, Brynne, Mysteria and Indigo, and Nikola. (We welcome volunteers!) Members of the committee have agreed to share the duties of resolving scheduling conflicts. * Acolyte Sabertooth will give all the event info he has received, to the Scheduling Committee member who is arranging scheduling that week (the Scheduler). The Scheduler will try to resolve any scheduling conflicts.If necessary, he or she will e-mail Hosts to work out new times, dates, or places. * The Scheduler will submit all of the final scheduling info to Acolyte Brynne by 6 PM PDT on Saturday. That will give Brynne time to format it correctly into an EVENTS SCHEDULE, and submit it to the Clarion by the deadline of 9 PM PDT on Saturday. * Acolyte Brynne will also post a weekly EVENTS SCHEDULE in the Community Forum. ><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>< MYSTERY OF THE OIL OF OKAY SOLVED! By Acolyte VIQer It has been a week since our last story and a lot of things have happened since then! It would seem that our Phantasus body artists have nearly been put out of business with the expansion of V-Mart! The "Body paint" has been selling from vendroids since the grand reopening of V-Mart on Friday at 1 PM WAT. However it should be noted that this new product is not the same as the Oil; it is in spray form instead. The Oil of Okay original product wasn't in the form of the current aerosol; it was Oil and applied just a little differently. Due to this, there were a few avatars who had serious problems after being painted and they threatened to press charges against our Charlotte! After some deliberation and repainting, the offended parties agreed to drop all charges ... WHEW!!!! Charlotte-N, Yul Brenner and Loki had worked very hard to paint as many as possible. Charlotte estimates she has painted nearly 50 Kymerians! Great job, Charlotte! I have been informed that a hairspray is also being developed. As of right now, Charlotte, Yul and Loki are still the only known means to change the color of your eyes and hair. It's good to see they are not completely out of business ... for now anyway. We have available to us all the colors that our artists had and what a day Friday was for changing colors! Some Kymerians just had to try them all! It got to be so that I couldn't recognize familiar faces from one minute to the next. There was a flurry of HISSSSSSSing noises all over the dreamscape! It seems that this story has just about been wrapped up for now. It is interesting to note that the empty spray cans can be pawned at the brokers for a token or two and many an empty can has been left as litter in Phantasus. I would ask that we all pitch in to keep the place clean and recycle those empty cans at the Pawn Brokers! One last thing before I go. Charlotte would like to extend a special thanks to: Pikester, Moria and Slick for their help inworld on the August 19. Charlotte told me that without their help, she wouldn't have been able to get to so many in such a short time on that day! And to everyone I'd like to say: HAPPY COLORING! (This ought to be neat around the holidays!) ><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>< THE WORLD IT IS A-CHANGIN' By Milen of the Hidden Glade Recently something ... unusual happened to the world. The laws of time and space themselves warped and twisted, and, in general, the universe became a nicer place. Why? That's a good question. Some have theorized that the world is, in fact, a computer program (yeah, right), being run on a multitude of home PCs (oh, please) and a gigantic, main computer known cryptically as "The Server" (get real). Hokey religions aside, chances are great that Morpheus just got bored again and decided to shake things up. This puts you, the avatar-on-the-street, in a bit of a spot. Well, in order to spare you from having to discover these changes on your own, I, your sprite-on-the-street reporter, have compiled a list of some of the most obvious changes. AVATARS: Apparently one of the most confusing changes in the universe is the scrambling of emotions. People have been known to react hilariously at the gravest insult, and break down into inconsolable tears at the sight of a waving oracle. Until we all get used to the new methods of showing happiness, sadness and anger, we must all be careful with what expressions we use. Some of the minor physical laws relating to body movements have changed as well. Avatars now seem capable of performing an additional action, accomplished by double-clicking on your person when you're facing front. Male avatars start flapping their elbows and floating up into the air, whereas females start to jump and prance in what we, in all honesty, can only call The Chicken Dance. Most helpful of the changes relating to avatars is the physics relating to walking. Suddenly people have become able to run faster and smoother than before. That annoying Cartesian sense of direction that we had before has been replaced with the ability to -can you believe it?- WALK DIAGONALLY! It seems that races will be much more interesting affairs from now on. BODY MACHINES: The body machines in the NuYu Shop haven't changed much, but there is a minor, but important, difference; The default bodies have acquired the label of "Medium Build." Whether this means we will soon be able to acquire different bodies we can only speculate, but reports from correspondent JWFriendly, who appears to have unusually close ties to the oracles, seem to suggest that this will become a real possibility in the near future. HEADS: The head vendroids in the NuYu have been restocked. In some cases out-of-date merchandise has been replaced with newer products. It is advised that, before you sell that head of yours, that you check to see if it can be replaced. You may have an antique on your hands. Er, I mean shoulders. BODY SPRAY: An important new type of item is Body Spray. There are two kinds: a three-color sprayer and single-color sprayer; both are good for three uses. At the moment spray appears to only be useable on avatar bodies (hence the name "body spray") but it is possible that a means to color hair as well may become available in the near future. OTHER ITEMS: There are a number of new items in the world. Toy boats and candelabras are among the more interesting additions. Myself, I enjoy the ferns that have become available for purchase. There are now three or four distinct breeds of Fuzzie. (I call the one Nicci game me "Tribble".) Most importantly, now we have finally become able to purchase boxes for putting items in. For the first time in recent memory, avatars have become able to own more than seven things. It is as-of-yet undetermined as to whether chests may be placed inside of chests. ATMS: The First National Bank of Kymer has changed their basic savings plan. Now, instead of awarding tokens on a semi-regular basis, it seems that they have switched to an hourly payment schedule. This hasn't been checked out extensively, but it appears to be a good possibility. One can only speculate on when they will begin distributing toasters. PAWN MACHINES: Pawn machines have been rebuilt, but, as far as I know, work the same way. WORLD UPDATE: Other minor changes: - Many sound effects are different. ATMs and Teleports, most notably, make different noises. - The Vaz-Mart is now known as "V-Mart." - There are five new rooms in the back of V-Mart, from which you may purchase forty-five different varieties of body spray. - There is now a desk in the Visitor's Center. - The Bulletin Board in the right room of the visitor's center still does not function, but there is a useful addition to the room in the form of a head vendo that dispenses some mighty familiar faces. - Avatars no longer automatically face front when changing expression, although they still do when gesturing. This may make the Stomp key the fastest, least obtrusive way to face forward. Hopefully facing will be tied to the keyboard in the future the same way gestures and expressions are. (Oops! Did I say keyboard? Heh, heh... no, I of course I don't believe in that religion. Get that tape recorder out of here!) Well, that's it for this week. See ya later! ><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>< THE GREAT CHOKE CONSPIRACY (Part 1 - CONFISCATION) By Marianne G I can't believe they took my Choke Machine. I watched as they attached ropes to it and hauled it over the side of the boat. I winced when they set it down, none too gently, in a locked area. I could swear the Machine was crying. After all the care I had taken to get the dents out, and shrink the ones I couldn't get out, it had a new dent from its handling. A padlock was placed on it, and a chain around it, that I could see was going to do damage to its fresh paint job. I had to find a way to spring it. After I went through the in-processing procedure, I headed back to the docks. I was not allowed back into the processing center, but I did manage to find a spot where I could see my poor machine standing in the impound area. As I looked on, a guard making his rounds looked it over and then put some tokens into the Machine. The tokens here were larger then the ones he was used to. I was sure they wouldn't fit. After all, not knowing the currency size, I had not had time to prepare him for it; but to my amazement, he swallowed the new tokens with ease, and I could hear the burp from my location. I was slightly embarrassed, but he did tend to make noise when he did not have regular feedings. The guard was looking for something to come out. But, after taking another look at the name of the machine, he went off laughing and shaking his head. At least my poor machine had gotten one meal, but what if no one else fed him? I had to find a way to break him out. It was while I was looking longingly at my Choke Machine that my other co-conspirators found me. The Bloodline would help me get my Choke Machine back. ><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>< SEEN ON THE STREET By Acolyte Rosaleah So many new things to see and do this week! Apparently the Vendroid owners had gone on a buying spree! There were so many new items and heads! And the prices changed! Some up! Some down! We found some gorgeous chests in one of the V-Mart vendroids, but hardly anyone could afford the 500T price for them! They must be made of precious gems to cost so much! Have you seen all those guys trying to fly? I watched a group of avatars by the jungle entrance practicing their new moves. Mikeu walked in to find RazzaMaTazz, Muscletoy, Georg, and Acolytes Lynx and Electra all dancing and flying. What a sight! Georg kept insisting he was flying higher than anybody else, but I didn't see it that way; he was just standing closer to the jungle than the others. His trick didn't fool me at all, but Razz, at least, was trying to go higher. Lynx said later that it was a lot of fun just standing around jumping like that: he said he felt just like a kid again! And speaking of Razz, have you noticed how the duck population of Kymer has increased since the price of the duck heads was lowered? Razz had a pink bow in _his_ duck head for a while, until he discovered that he could trade it in for a nice blue bow tie! Other ducks spotted about town: Zippy, Clytemnestra, and Ciria Quaeski. I think they're all looking for the Duck Pond! All the cats about town seem to have been buying up the V-mart Vendroid's supply of caged canaries! We certainly hope we don't end up reporting here about the cat who ate the canary! Actually, tho, I think these canaries could charm the whiskers off even the hungriest of gourmet kitty-cats, so aren't really in any mortal danger! At least we so pray to Morpheus! ><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>< SEEN ON THE STREET - Part 2 By Acolyte VIQer Many Kymerians have seen Mr. Musty on the street lately saying something like: "I will not steal from other avatars and I will be kind to them". I think I can speak for most of my fellow Kymerians and say to Mr. Musty that we can find it in our hearts to forgive you! You don't need to go around chanting promises; what you need to do Mr. Musty is prove yourself through good deeds and kindness from the heart. It has to be genuine or it will be seen through, good luck to ya! Has anyone seen the bald default head around since the dreamscape has reopened? It seems that there was a phenomenon unexplainable by any ordinary means! All the previously hairless heads have mysteriously grown a full head of hair! How this came about is still a mystery, and I was shocked to find that I had gained a toupe!! I was just a bit disappointed, my Jean Luc Picard image has been replaced by new hair! How will I host Trek Trivia now?? Not as Captain Picard I'm sure! And others were shocked to see it as well; some didn't even recognize me! And there were two other surprises, abilities given to us as the magic shield (for filtering the head lice) was lifted and the hair grew! The ladies can all dance now and the men can all, well, sort of fly in a way, after making some strange hand gestures! The Oracles also have this ability and I've captured one in a picture. Look for it in the library. It's really a sight to see! An Oracle Flying???!!! What comes next? ><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>< FIRST IMPRESSIONS By Marianne G Fairlie If you have any you'd like to send along, please send them in private forum mail or E-Mail to Marianne G 72007,221 and thanks in advance for your contributions! These are a hodgepodge taken from the first few days on Worlds Away, before the update. Tokens - Are these the biggest coins you've ever seen or what? I'm sure I won't be losing them at the bottom of my pocketbook. Split them? Reminds me of those English coins that you just cut up to make change. I can see us all now walking around with parts of tokens. By the way, to find the right spot for splitting, face front and click on the left hand side of the coin. Any part of the coin over your body will bring up a menu for the body. Teleporters - They cost tokens? Imagining Star Trek's Dr. McCoy reaction: "Let me get this straight You want me to PAY you currency to break me down into my smallest molecular components and then beam them to another location and put them back together?" Speaking of which, did you notice they have no safety record posted? What if you are the one in a million avatar it breaks down on? What do you mean, Ooops? I'm also wondering, when we have more then three, which I expect we eventually will, what effect will the cost of them have on the game of Port Racing? Scenery - I LOVE IT! There are a few places I wouldn't mind calling home, and no, the Blasted Heath is not one of them. As for that Geiger Counter, is that a radioactive mountain or what? Maybe grow magic can be found there and we can change the height of our avatars there? Perhaps shape change magic will mutate us into different forms? Don't you just love the anticipation of what might come next? As for the jungle, reminds me of my garden; I really do need to make time to weed that. Clothing - How come the guys get nice comfortable cotton jeans and I have polyester stretch pants? Synthetics make me break out! Any chance a lady can get a pair of stone washed jeans? ><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>< SOUTH FOUNTAIN PAINT PARTY!! by Acolyte Rosaleah It was a lazy warm Saturday afternoon. "What's up today?" Acolyte Lynx asked. "Oh, not much," came the reply, "just happy to be back after that electrical storm knocked us all off our feet! Wandering the town, laying back, being sleepy." And so we were, whence came the cry from the V-Mart: "PAINT PARTY!" The citizens, when they heard it, cheered! "Paint Party at the South Fountain! Try out the new colors for free!" It must have been music to many an ear, because soon all three South Fountain locales were filled to overflowing with happy citizens trying on the new free duds! Tentmaker and Shaker helped gather up the paints and put them on the ground for folks to try out! There were single colors and tri-colors, reds, yellows, browns, greens, blues, everyone color imaginable! There to partake of the colorific feast were Brian C, Moria, Rokee, Zulin, Pasha, Holger, Enya, CJ, Gita, Florian, Aunt Polgara, and just so many more, I ran out of room in my notebook for all the names! Some of the color combinations were truly wild! But everyone got a chance to try a change without spending tons of tokens! We looked around in vain for a garbage can to put all the empty sprayers in, but, luckily, we discovered that the pawn broker was interested in our empties, even paying a token for each one! It's nice to know that there's recycling even here in the Dreamscape! The last we heard, everyone had so much fun that there were plans among the Acolytes to do it again! ><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>< GHOST RACING By Acolyte Serena We had a nice turn out and many thanks to Brynne who is willing to help out and put up with all my crashing. Thanks also goes to Holger for his help. Winners included Electra who won a Pencil Head that looks quite cute. The rare Josephine Head, donated for the games, went to Holger along with 50T and one of our spiders. D-Man won a spider and 50T. Miranda Mirage won 50T and a trophy also donated, while Shaker won 50T and Indigo won 75T. The race this Monday, August 28, at 5PM WAT (or 8PM EDT) will be the last for the month, and there will be a race-off at the end if needed to decide the first Phantasus Ghost Race Monthly Champion! Tied for first place with two wins each are: Squirrel, Eliza, Hustler, Shaker, Electra, Holger and Miranda Mirage. They have to be there to compete in the games (perhaps making the race-off not needed) and to compete in the race-off it is necessary. Thanks in advance to the Oracles who have donated a nice Space Head for the Monthly Prize. Hope to see you all there in front of Isle Caribe for the final race of this month! ><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>< TREK TRIVIA NIGHTS By Acolyte VIQer and Acolyte Data The first Trek Trivia was hosted on Sunday August 27 from 3PM to 8PM WAT. At the time of this writing, results are not known; but a very special head was given away to whoever correctly answered the most Trek Trivia questions, Our thanks to Oracle Vaserius and to Morpheus for the donation of the head. In the future, we plan to have a bi-weekly Trek Trivia announced in the gaming schedule. If the times posted are not convenient for anyone, please send mail to VIQer at 70724,425, we will consider all requests and try to make the times accessible to as many as possible. We thank you for your support. ><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>< PHANTASUS LOTTERY By Acolyte Lynx The Phantasus "Dreamscape Dream" Lottery was held August 26, 1995 in front of a small crowd. The numbers were ::drum roll:: 03-05-09-10-12-18 No winners this week. Next week's jackpot: 680T ><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>< MAZZICAL PUZZICAL SOLUTION! By RazzaMaTazz Hey, last week, I fergot to give yas all da answericals to da scrunchy word puzzical! I am soooo sorry!! But ya had a whole 'nother week to work it out! Didja figger it out? Here's da anzers! 1. O R A C L E S 5. S P I D E R S 2. U N O P E N 6. E N C H A N T 3. H A R L E Q U I N 7. R E G E N C Y 4. P R O M E N A D E 8. M A G I C And the wordses from the wordseses: M O R P H E U S ><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>< CONTEST REMINDER By Marianne G Remember, you have till Midnight WAT September 9 to send your entry that completes the sentence, I'VE BEEN TERMINATED GRACEFULLY SO OFTEN..... Send in E-Mail or private forum mail to 72007,221 Marianne G and thanks to those who have already replied. ><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>< HELPFUL HINTS FOR HAPPY HOSTS By Acolyte Mysteria We are fortunate in having so many clever, creative avatars who have volunteered their time and tokens to planning terrific games! I know of many dozens of games that have been hosted in the past weeks, and without exception the ones I've attended have been lots of fun. Sometimes there have been some minor (or even major) glitches, though. As a member of the new Events Scheduling Committee (my, doesn't THAT sound impressive), I thought I'd share some thoughts on ways to minimize those problems, and make your game more fun for everyone! * Submit your plans in advance to Acolyte Sabertooth, for inclusion in the new EVENTS SCHEDULE, which appears in the Kymer Clarion each Monday and is also posted to the Message Board. This helps to insure that you won't be using a room someone else had planned to use, and that someone won't try to kick you out early. It will also give your event extra publicity! The deadline for submitting your plans to Acolyte Sabertooth is 9 PM PST (Midnight EST) on the Friday before the week of your event. * Allow enough time to play. Sometimes hosts don't think their games will take very long. But inevitably, someone playing the game crashes. Or the host crashes. Or a bunch of avatars wander into the middle of things and it takes time to sort out who is playing. As a rule of thumb, you should probably allow at least two hours for a game. * Recruit a helper. For many games, it really is best to have two Hosts running the show. That's because one will be tied up with giving clues, deciding who won the round, etc. The other Host is needed to direct traffic, because avatars will unknowingly meander into the locale and need to be asked to ghost, etc. The second Host can also give directions, award prizes, and/or assist in other ways. * Allow for problems. If you know you have trouble with being abruptly and "ungracefully" disconnected from WorldsAway, it's a good idea to make this clear to the contestants up front, and set up a contingency plan. (Here's where a second host is also handy.) Also, do whatever you can to minimize the problem. You might have to ask everyone to play your game in ghost form, for instance, and ESP you the answers. * Repeat the directions. Aggravating, isn't it? You post the directions in the Forum, and you give them at the beginning of the game -- yet you still have a bunch of players who don't know how to play! Many times avatars hear about a game by word of mouth while play is going on. Or they stumble upon a game in progress by accident, or just plain show up late. The upshot is, if you only give the directions once, you'll have a cloud of ghosts up above, all muttering, "what in HECK is going on down there?" So it's a good idea to repeat the directions a couple of times during the game. This is an ideal job for a second host. * Try to keep things moving along quickly. Lag time is inevitable, but there are things you can do to minimize it during the game. If you are running a trivia-type game, one good trick is to type any long questions you'll be using into a text file in advance. Then you can run a simple text editor, such as Note Pad, during the game, and "cut" and "paste" the questions into your dialogue box. You can do the same thing with any repeated lines you might use, such as: "************ BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ Time's Up! *************". * Consider awarding all prizes at the end. This cuts lag time, and requires only that one of the Hosts is keeping track of who won what. It also means the winners can have the fun of bowing and basking in the glory of victory, without worrying that they're holding up the next round! Hope these suggestions prove helpful in your next game! ><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>< AROUND THE TOWN By Acolyte Brynne Phantasus has been hopping lately! Hosts and hostesses are coming out of the marble to keep everyone entertained and amazed! The next Event Week is no exception! Be sure to join The Oracles for the End of Beta Party on August 29! My spy elves tell me that Bar-L-Bar may be opening for this party! Right after the Phantasus Phling, head on over to the North Room of the Visitor's Center to join Acolyte Indigo, Holger and Ravenwhite for Word Scramble! They're not saying what the prizes are, other than 30T after every Scramble, but you can be sure they'll be good ones! My spy elves tell me that they want as many players as possible, but they'd like players remain in the ghostie cloud. Ghosts will then ESP responses to Word Scramble presented on screen. After an hour of play, the ghost with the most correct answers will get the grand prize. Sounds like phun! On that same evening, MarvL is hosting that ever popular game of Botticelli. Tokens galore! Wonder who'll win the grand prize for the secret word with the most guesses? ##Where oh where is the locale, where oh where can it be?## If you want to get in on Worlds of Fortune hosted by Acolyte Data, Acolyte Indigo and Acolyte Milen, you'll need to ESP one of them for the locale. My spy elves couldn't determine which locale in all of Phantasus would be the site for this! (No tokens to the elves for this spy job!) You can also ESP Ravenwhyte or Holger, since they'll be assisting. Must be a *very* busy event! Prizes will be good ones! Check for the rules file in the Tester's Library 19. Acolytes Electra and Mysteria will be giving out a Surprise Prize, which isn't available anywhere else in Phantasus, to the champion of Chameleon's Letter Game, as well as 50T to the winner of each round. Watch for the game rules to be posted on the forum bulletin boards! Hmmm... special surprise prize! Wonder what it will be? Oh my, a pit in the North Room of the Visitor's Center? And we have have to fall into it on Friday night? Oh, it's not that, you say? Well, it sure does sound like it! I mean, what else could Pitfall be? Join Acolyte Data, Acolyte Indigo and Ravenwhyte, with Holger's help, for a plummeting experience! Hmmm... maybe Holger's job is to push the players into the pit? Look for the what it's all about in Tester's Library 19. Trek? Trek? What is Trek? Is that something new in Phantasus -- and I haven't heard about it before this? Sheesh! Whatever it is, Acolyte VIQer will be hosting a Trek Trivia. He asks, when you GHOST to the Visitor's Center (left), that you ESP him when you arrive. Ghosts can play! And my spy elves tell me that he has some neat prizes in store for the winners! Oh my, Acolyte Mysteria and Miranda Mirage have a really neat game going next Saturday, called "Who Am I?". And it's early in the day so the European and UK avatars can play, too! My elves tell me that the game will feature the two of them posing as ten different Famous People, whose identities must be discovered by asking questions. A prize of 50T goes to the avatar who guesses each Famous Person first, plus a grand prize will be awarded to the avatar who guesses the most Famous People correctly! Phun! Phun! Phun! Next week's lottery drawing will be at 3:00pm on Saturday. Acolyte Lynx asks that everyone present refrain from talking until the numbers are drawn -- probably to keep all the hopeful winners in suspense! Speaking of the lottery, Acolyte Lynx will be around often (check the schedules) to sell you your tickets! Be sure to watch the forum bulletin boards and/or the library for further information! Good luck! A Talent Show for Saturday! Emcee of this event, Acolyte Indigo, will be at the North Room of the Visitor's Center just *waiting* for all the talented Kymerians to show up! There won't be any judging --just sharing - everything from dancing to reading poetry to playing ethereal lutes and whatever else your talents may be! Hmmm ... maybe I could go and show off the neat temper tantrum I can do? Slick Jim Barlow's "The Brit Quiz" next Sunday is a general knowledge trivia quiz. Participants need to register with him via ESP. The first three avatars can materialize, but the others must stay in ghost mode. He figures the game time will take about one hour. Rules: Answer by ESP. Points scoring - 200T to the winner, 100T to second, 50T to third. Frequent opportunities to earn bonus tokens for all players. Jim notes that his system is less than stable, so anyone willing to stand overwatch would be greatly appreciated. Donations will also be given a good home. Races! Relay Races hosted by Acolyte VIQer! The starting gate is at the Visitor's Center by the Front Desk. ESP him if you'd like to get in the running! And even MORE races with Acolyte Serena's Ghost Races next Monday! See her article for more information about the run-offs for the monthly grand prize which will be held the same night! Oh yes, yours truly will be there, too! Don't forget that Khai Joybringer frequently litters Phantasus with her Happy Tokens, usually in *very* small amounts! But they're very special magical tokens! I heard last week, though, that she even left some neat items with 1T just so everybody would know that the item with the Happy Token was from her! Now that V-Mart has a wider selection of items, who knows what Khai will leave behind? Oh, and if you're thinking of trying catch the Mysterious Goddess of Joy, good luck! I hear she's pretty fast to ghost and leave if someone enters the locale she'd planned to hide something in! Can't forget my Thursday night "Where Am I?" I'm going to hide somewhere in Phantasus. Your job is to ESP me to get a clue as to where I am. Figure out the locale I'm in, come find me and you'll win something! Right now, I have to be the poorest Acolyte in all of Phantasus, but between now and Thursday, my balance should be better so there will be tokens for you when you find me! Or you might even get a prize! I'm sure there will be more events going on throughout the week which just didn't make it into the schedule. Watch the forum bulletin boards for announcements! Have a phantasical week in Phantasus! ><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>< EVENTS IN PHANTASUS Week of Tuesday, August 29 through Monday, September 4 All times are WA Time (PDT). ------------------ Tuesday, August 29 ------------------ 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM Server Load Test...........................................The Oracles Everywhere in Phantasus 6:00PM - 7:30 PM Word Scramble.......................Acolyte Indigo, Holger, Ravenwhyte Visitor's Center, North Room 9:00 PM - 11:00 PM Botticelli.......................................................MarvL Visitor's Center Left -------------------- Wednesday, August 30 -------------------- 4:00 PM Hunt For Stuff!...........................................Acolyte Lynx Watch for further info on the Message Board. 5:00 PM WA Lottery Tickets for Saturday 9/2.......................Acolyte Lynx Fountain Center 3:00 PM - 6:00 PM Worlds of Fortune..........Acolyte Data, Acolyte Indigo, Acolyte Milen ESP for locale! Assisted by Holger and Ravenwhyte ------------------- Thursday, August 31 ------------------- 5:30 PM - 6:30 PM Where Am I?.............................................Acolyte Brynne 6:00 PM Chameleon's Letter Game..............Acolyte Electra, Acolyte Mysteria Visitor's Center Left ------------------- Friday, September 1 ------------------- 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM.............Acolyte Data, Acolyte Indigo, Ravenwhyte Pitfall Assisted by Holger Visitor's Center, North Room 9:00 PM Trek Trivia..............................................Acolyte VIQer Visitor's Center Left --------------------- Saturday, September 2 --------------------- 11:00 AM Who Am I Game......................Acolyte Mysteria and Miranda Mirage Visitor's Center Left 3:00 PM Lottery Drawing...........................................Acolyte Lynx Isle Caribe Room in the WA Community Forum. 3:30 PM - 4:30 PM WA Lottery Tickets for September 9........................Acolyte Lynx South Fountain Center 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM Talent Show.............................................Acolyte Indigo Visitor's Center, North Room ------------------- Sunday, September 3 ------------------- 2:00 PM The Brit Quiz.........................................Slick Jim Barlow Visitor's Center Left. 8:00 PM Relay Races..............................................Acolyte VIQer Visitor's Center by the Front Desk ------------------- Monday, September 4 ------------------- 5:00 PM Ghost Races..........................Acolyte Serena and Acolyte Brynne Isle Caribe 5:30-6:00 PM WA Lottery Tickets for September 9.......................Acolyte Lynx West Fountain Left ><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>< ADVERTISEMENTS All Ads for the paper should be submitted in E-Mail or Private Forum Message to CIS UID 72007,221 and should be marked ADVERTISEMENT. Deadline for advertisement submission is every Saturday, 12:00 noon PDT. The Board of Editors has not decided yet if they should charge for your advertisements, so get them in fast before they do! WANTED- One Pony Tail Head. Must be reasonably priced for new avatar. Please send pictures of front, back and side view. Does not need to be blue. Send photos and price to Marianne G, UID 72007,221. RELIGIOUS SERVICES: The Order of PropHatus regrets the inconvenience of not being able to give as much spiritual support to our fellow avatars as it wants to. (We just can't afford a temple right now... ) Feel free to contact Brother Angus McSnarf inworld for guidance during the time of diaspora. "No Temple, no PropHats, no Mushroom Brandy - who cares?" [Book of the Poor, Works of PropHatus] ><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><