Finally there's somewhere for all us fanpeople to post in drooling adulation. Excuse me while I run around and point this out to other people.

Here's a couple of questions for the community of readers out there: How'd you guys hear about UF/etc? And how many of you are there? :)

--Yostinso (@WPI.edu)

I was introduced to this fine establishment after searching for information on Neon Genesis Evangelion. I eventually found a link to NXE 1, and while at first I dismissed it (I thought the premise of the child of Lara Croft and Fox Mulder absurd at the time) I later, in a fit of absolute bordom pulling the weekend graveyard shift at my old job, I decided to try reading it. Anything being better than staring at a concrete wall for 12 hours. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the writing, so I went back and read all of the other works done by EPU.

--------------------------------------
Whoa! What IS it?!

LAST EDITED ON Mar-26-01 AT 05:37 PM (EST)

Old fashioned digging through anonymous FTP!

And, far as I can tell, between fifty and two hundred current students here at WPI have, if not read it, know it in detail from people who talk about it.

-Craig

Hmm...I don't know exactly when I first discovered UF/etc. (or even what I first read), but it couldn't have been long after I first got internet access (which was in '93 or '94). I had just discovered anime and manga (which is bizarre, since I spent a fair portion of my childhood years in Hawaii), so I was searching for related topics...and I found UF.

Obviously, when I first read UF, I didn't get all of the references, but it was still a good read; good enough that I've been reading Eyrie works pretty steadily since then.

How how how how...

I bought, off the bargain rack at my local bookstore, a copy of the Jack McKinney Robotech novel Homecoming.

Shortly thereafter, I did a websearch on Robotech, which led me to Robotech: The Misfold (unless I misremember the name). When I had finished that, I started poking around the site, and things snowballed.

Blessed be.
Nathan Baxter

Actually, I didn't read UF until long after I stumbled across EPU's website. Found a link to Warrior's Legacy in a desperate search for decent fighting game fanfic (of which there is precious little), fell in love with the series right away. The others took awhile for me to get into, but, eventually, I did (an incredibly boring job can make you look for ANYTHING to relieve the monotony, and reading EPU fanfic was vastly preferable to blowing my entire paycheck on magazines and the like).

-- Sean --

"Imagination is more important than knowledge." -- Albert Einstein

"It's not easy being green." -- Kermit the Frog

After finding out that people have written stories based on the very little anime that I've watched (at the time), I started doing web-searches for fanfic. While digging through all the sites that I came across (some good, some very bad), a link came up called Undocumented Features. I started reading it, found this site, and have continued reading everything else here.

Fireball
fireball_woohoo@yahoo.com

".....A-BOMB LAUNCH DETECTED....."
"Oh, this is gonna hurt..."

I found EP after looking for Robotech fanfics, also. I had never heard of fanfics till I came across the Robotech stuff. I must say that the level of writing on EP was what kept me around to read it. It has relieved many hours of boredom in my tech support job. One can only read so many manuals before one's head explodes. Anyway, I most heartily concur: excellent, idea this board.

Blev

I am absolutely positive that I am not sure.

Same here. I don't know what I was searching for (probably something related to Street Fighter) when I found a link to WL. UF was actually the last thing I read on the site (there was so much there that I decided to read the other stuff first).

Nathan! There you are!

(and if you're a DIFFERENT Nathan Baxter, then you have my apologies)

Why do you not reply to my emails? :(

>Nathan! There you are!
>
>(and if you're a DIFFERENT Nathan Baxter, then you have my apologies)
>
>Why do you not reply to my emails? :(

Yep, 'sme.

Wait...

:o You've been emailing me? :o

I've received nothing.

I've just mailed you... Did you get it?

Blessed be. :7
Nathan Baxter, Grand High Emperor of the Lobsters

Well, I obviously heard about it from you, so I dunno why I'm even posting. Anyway, other current wpi students please post, it'd be cool to see how many of us are UF fans.

Heard about UF through a chat room on <don't flame me> AOL <Wolff was the guilty party, if you kill me, he has to die as well ;-) >

Spent about 2 weeks ignoring my courses in favor of UF fanfics <I plan to nominate the CS staff at my school for 'Most Boring Faculty Ever'>

The rest is history, or a ticket to a mental ward, not sure yet.

-={(Astynax)}=-
"Darkness beyond Twilight"

Heh heh heh. Chalk another one up on the converts board, Gryph. <smirk>

--Michael
Napalm. It sticks to ignorance.

This is probably the best idea anyone's ever come up with (not counting UF, or NXE, of course).
Finally, a way for us non-wedgies who haven't ever been WPI to talk to the ppl who actually wrote the amazing works of fiction that grace the internet via this site.

--NE

Human beings are, a disease, a cancer of this polanet, you are a plague, and we, are the cure.
--Agent Smith

>Finally, a way for us non-wedgies who haven't ever been WPI to talk to
>the ppl who actually wrote the amazing works of fiction that grace the
>internet via this site.

Well, email has worked for a while now. ;-)

(Thanks for the compliment BTW.)

-MegaZone, megazone@megazone.org
Personal Homepage http://www.megazone.org/
Eyrie Productions FanFic http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

E-mail requires a working address, which for some people is hard to come by <case in point: anyone know the working addy to contact Redneck? I've had a nagging little question to ask him since I first read the Quagmire Project>

-={(Astynax)}=-
"Darkness beyond Twilight"

>E-mail requires a working address, which for some people is hard to come by <case in point: anyone know the working addy to contact Redneck? I've had a nagging little question to ask him since I first read the Quagmire Project>
>
>-={(Astynax)}=-
>"Darkness beyond Twilight"

I haven't tested it, but he uses redneck@detnet.net in his Usenet posts.

Peter Eng

I see 2 problems with e-mail:
1)The person is forced to download it, and the last thing I would want to do is
waste the time of a writer, especially when that time might better be spent writing something.
2)I'm just never sure what to put in an e-mail, and I usually end up sounding like a slavering fanboy (ask Gryphon, my e-mail is dakamar.geo@yahoo.com, but it might have been dakamar@geocities.com) whenever I send something to someone that has done/written/etc. something that I like, so I usually just end up not writing it.

And I'm rambling so I'll shut up now.

--NE

Human beings are, a disease, a cancer of this planet, you are a plague, and we, are the cure.
--Agent Smith

>I see 2 problems with e-mail:
>1)The person is forced to download it,

Not when you read your email from a UNIX shell account. ;-)

The three folks in this house at least don't use PC based emailers - all Elm users I think. (Yeah, yeah, I really should switch to mutt.)

-MegaZone, megazone@megazone.org
Personal Homepage http://www.megazone.org/
Eyrie Productions FanFic http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

>The three folks in this house at least don't use PC based emailers -
>all Elm users I think. (Yeah, yeah, I really should switch to mutt.)

Speak for yourself, unsupported mailer boy. ;)

--truss,
mutt user since about two years ago
(though I have it aliased to 'elm' cause I'm a creature of habit).

>>The three folks in this house at least don't use PC based emailers -
>>all Elm users I think. (Yeah, yeah, I really should switch to mutt.)
>
>Speak for yourself, unsupported mailer boy. ;)

you are a choad

--G.
(stupid injoke, don't know why I think it's funny)
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

>you are a choad
>(stupid injoke, don't know why I think it's funny)

In joke? I thought that was a South Park joke <or perhaps an Parker/Stone creation, they seem fond of the word>

-={(Astynax)}=-
"Darkness beyond Twilight"

>>you are a choad
>>(stupid injoke, don't know why I think it's funny)
>
>In joke? I thought that was a South Park joke <or perhaps an Parker/Stone creation, they seem fond of the word>
>

I thought it was a Tripping The Rift joke.

--------------------------------------
Whoa! What IS it?!

>2)I'm just never sure what to put in an e-mail, and I usually end up
>sounding like a slavering fanboy (ask Gryphon, my e-mail is
>dakamar.geo@yahoo.com, but it might have been dakamar@geocities.com)
>whenever I send something to someone that has done/written/etc.
>something that I like, so I usually just end up not writing it.

Well, color me relieved that I'm not the only one.

Don't ask me why, but the few times that I've tried to email anyone at Eyrie I got stuck in absolute sophomoric fanboy mode. I'm hoping I'll be able to behave more decorously in this forum. We'll see.

D'A

Guess it's my turn...

Back in '95 when I first got on the net, I was into Robotech (still am, but not as much). I did some web searches, and came up with Chris Meadows' Misfold story. I saw the reference to UF, liked the idea of having a F-15 go head to head (or, as it turned out, head to rapidly-receding-tail) with a Legios, FTPed the stories, and the rest is history.

Oh, and I like this idea too. This way, I don't have to clutter Gryph's personal E-mail box when I have a question or comment. :-)

Eric J. Heckathorn
ericjh@stargate.net

i first stumbled onto eyrie back in eighth or ninth grade; i had just gotten into anime and i was at the anime web turnpike one day when i clicked on a link for undocumented features. i started reading uf 1 little by little, and i got hooked, and read everything else on the site

-zphunk (@aol.com)

"when the going gets weird, the weird turn pro."
-hunter s. thompson
"give a monkey a brain and he'll swear he's the center of the universe."
-source unknown

Oh what a tangled web of links...

I was reading the Cruel Site of the Day and they pointed to
"amazing" places on the web, one of which was "An Alladin Sex
Story" written by Elf Sternberg (http://www.halcyon.com/elf/) of
alt.sex fame. Elf also wrote the Journal Entries of Kennet R'yal
Shardik (http://www.halcyon.com/elf/journals/), an excellent work of
sci-fi/erotica which I recommend for those who like online sci-fi as
well as anime. Elf in turn recommended UF, and I was off... I Read
everything at Eyrie in a matter of months and even reread some of it.

It so happens that I'm also a big fan of Anime in general and Eva in
specific. Since finding EPU, I have been reading every installment of
NXE as it's posted.

I can't wait for Apothesis Now...

Later,
Tim.

And I thought I was the only one to find UF and EPU via the Journal Entries. Ahh, that was many a graveyard shift ago. I wasn't very into anime when I came across UF, and I got into most of what I know know merely as a function to get many of the anime jokes I was missing out on, so I have the EPU guys to thank for the lot of Dirty Pair tapes and BGC dvd's on my shelf.

And both Elf's work and the stories on this site have kept my mind and heart, if not my hands, into the possibilities of my own writing, which I will reclaim at some point.

And they were better than coffee for keeping me awake and attentive at 3am six nights a week, too. :)

---------------------------
"I think we used too much."
---------------------------
Chad Collier
Digital Bitch
J. Random VFX Company

LAST EDITED ON Mar-28-01 AT 02:47 AM (EST)

Elf Sternberg, indeed.. That's actually where I discovered UF; it was his only graphical outgoing link, and I was in sore need of reading material.

(I just realized I hadn't mentioned where'd I'd heard about UF. It wasn't at WPI, more like 45% of the reason I chose WPI as my college.)

Whole buncha people seem to have tracked in from that site, which is pretty nifty. Recently, I've been uh.. coercing my friends (gizmo and jar on the board) to read UF, and addicting as it is, they've both got it on their Palms, and spend more time reading it than they should (sleep, classes, etc... these are just incidentals now).

Oh yeah, and BTW.. Are you three Shamrockians going to be around this coming weekend? Cause we're still bored, and still have a car, and still know where you live :)

E.O. Stinson yostinso@wpi.edu
AIM: Eostinso ICQ: 3513296
Admin: http://www.wedgerats.net
Yostinso <-- crazy fanboy

>Oh yeah, and BTW.. Are you three Shamrockians going to be around this
>coming weekend?

Gryph is in Maine - don't know what day he's coming back.

As for me - I tend to have the Incredibly Undefined Schedule. I come and go pretty much at random.

-MegaZone, megazone@megazone.org
Personal Homepage http://www.megazone.org/
Eyrie Productions FanFic http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

>jar on the board) to read UF, and addicting as it is, they've both got
>it on their Palms, and spend more time reading it than they should
>(sleep, classes, etc... these are just incidentals now).

I finally have a good reason to buy a Palm ;-)

<been looking for a way, other than printing it all out, to take UF with me to boring classes>

-={(Astynax)}=-
"Darkness beyond Twilight"

PS: I have to wonder, with this crowd, how many recognize my sig quote?<seems most Slashdotters don't>

>-={(Astynax)}=-
>"Darkness beyond Twilight"
>
>PS: I have to wonder, with this crowd, how many recognize my sig
>quote?<seems most Slashdotters don't>

If your quote is in reference to Lina Inverse's Dragon Slave spell I'd say quite a few people would.

Zack Seaholm - Anime fan, weathernut, worshipper of the goddess Belldandy.

>LAST EDITED ON Mar-28-01 AT
>02:47 AM (EST)
>
>Elf Sternberg, indeed.. That's actually where I discovered UF; it was
>his only graphical outgoing link, and I was in sore need of reading
>material.
>
>(I just realized I hadn't mentioned where'd I'd heard about UF. It
>wasn't at WPI, more like 45% of the reason I chose WPI as my college.)
>
>Whole buncha people seem to have tracked in from that site, which is
>pretty nifty. Recently, I've been uh.. coercing my friends (gizmo and
>jar on the board) to read UF, and addicting as it is, they've both got
>it on their Palms, and spend more time reading it than they should
>(sleep, classes, etc... these are just incidentals now).
>
>Oh yeah, and BTW.. Are you three Shamrockians going to be around this
>coming weekend? Cause we're still bored, and still have a car, and
>still know where you live :)
>
>E.O. Stinson yostinso@wpi.edu
>AIM: Eostinso ICQ: 3513296
>Admin: http://www.wedgerats.net
>Yostinso <-- crazy fanboy

Yep, good old Elf. I found his stuff from the alt.polyamory newsgroup (though I haven't been there in quite a while). After I read all of his stuff, I was looking at his reccommended reading links and there was this thing called undocumented features. If I remember right, his description was that these UF guys were insane. And I've been hooked ever since.

Frank

** I'm really here, but I'm not here, really...

>(I just realized I hadn't mentioned where'd I'd heard about UF. It
>wasn't at WPI, more like 45% of the reason I chose WPI as my college.)

I almost applied to WPI because of EPU, but decided I really didn't want to go across the country. Berkeley, here I come!

Hey, WPI isn't the only place with interesting people (every college has interesting people). Plus, the interesting people you were going to come to WPI for aren't here any more...

http://www.nukees.com/

-Craig
Need something to read?
http://www.wpi.edu/~perko

>Here's a couple of questions for the community of readers out there:
>How'd you guys hear about UF/etc? And how many of you are there? :)
>

I actually stumbled across UF by mistake. At the time, the EPU website was www.eyrie.net. I didn't know this. Eyrie.Org turned up during a search as a fiction site (technically, it's a list of links and long-neglected pages, but I digress...) I noted Eyrie.Org as a possibility and kept on looking for more stuff to read (being stuck at home with severe bronchitis is REALLY BORING!). Finally, I said 'to heck with it' and typed the URL into my browser.

Of course, the mistake I made (if it can be considered a mistake) should be obvious. :)

So the EPU website shows up, and as they say, the rest is history. I've been pestering the EPU folks ever since. Something like three years now, I think.

--sofaspud
--

>So the EPU website shows up, and as they say, the rest is history.
>I've been pestering the EPU folks ever since. Something like three
>years now, I think.

You got reamed. :)

-jer

LAST EDITED ON Apr-04-01 AT 05:56 PM (EDT)

>>So the EPU website shows up, and as they say, the rest is history.
>>I've been pestering the EPU folks ever since. Something like three
>>years now, I think.
>You got reamed. :)

*SHATTER*

-MegaZone, megazone@megazone.org
Personal Homepage http://www.megazone.org/
Eyrie Productions FanFic http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

I found UF back in '99, at R.A.A.C..

-------
Sanity is an overrated concept.

Seemes as if I am one of the few non-US fans. Got (literally) draged into reading NXE by one of my friends. He assured me that it was better than NGE, which I doubted. I mean, with that concept to start with. But I was (duh) proven wrong. After that I started reading .45 caliber angel and so on.
BTW, it is you fault, Gryphon, that I now spend a couple of hundred swedish crowns every month on In-nomine books. Don't know if I should thank you or hurt you. ^_^

Life ends. Dreams never does. Is it so wrong that I spend my life in dreams?

>BTW, it is you fault, Gryphon, that I now spend a couple of hundred
>swedish crowns every month on In-nomine books. Don't know if I should
>thank you or hurt you. ^_^

Technically, if you trace it all the way back, it's my fault.

...you're welcome. ;)

--truss,
unapologetic.

>>BTW, it is you fault, Gryphon, that I now spend a couple of hundred
>>swedish crowns every month on In-nomine books. Don't know if I should
>>thank you or hurt you. ^_^
>
>Technically, if you trace it all the way back, it's my fault.
>
>...you're welcome. ;)

In Nomine is addictive and fascinating, ne? I don't run it anymore, but I still collect the books because I adore the game world so. Makes for easy Xmas wish lists.

--"I invoke the rites of fiery Muspelheim, and give thy soul up to the inferno's embrace..."

>>Technically, if you trace it all the way back, it's my fault.
>>...you're welcome. ;)
>
>In Nomine is addictive and fascinating, ne? I don't run it anymore,
>but I still collect the books because I adore the game world so. Makes
>for easy Xmas wish lists.

I never quite got up the nerve/inspiration to GM a campaign...

<...looks around to see if Gryph or Anne Cross is glaring at him,
and saying "we know...>

...but, yeah, I just really dig the game world. The canon one, and the bastardized version of it that we used for NXE. :)

--truss.

>>>Technically, if you trace it all the way back, it's my fault.
>>>...you're welcome. ;)
>>
>>In Nomine is addictive and fascinating, ne? I don't run it anymore,
>>but I still collect the books because I adore the game world so. Makes
>>for easy Xmas wish lists.
>
>I never quite got up the nerve/inspiration to GM a campaign...
>
><...looks around to see if Gryph or Anne Cross is glaring at him,
>and saying "we know...>
>
>...but, yeah, I just really dig the game world. The canon one, and
>the bastardized version of it that we used for NXE. :)

Hehe. Part of the reason I don't run it anymore is because I picked one of the premade adventures out of the books...specifically 'No Dinero' from the Heaven & Hell book. Turned out to be a mistake, I think, partly because I didn't quite understand the background of the story and it turned out to not mesh very well with mine or my dad's political viewpoint, and partly because the players weren't as able to get into a game not made with them in mind. My fault, but I learned from it, I think. As for bastardized IN worlds...I've been wondering for a while if you actually put thought into what archangels and demon princes are around in NXE. Obviously the ones mentioned in the series (Michael, Yves) are still in there, and Belial is gone for Moloch to have replaced him. Natlateth is new, of course...are there any other changes from the canon?

--"I invoke the rites of fiery Muspelheim, and give thy soul up to the inferno's embrace..."

>from it, I think. As for bastardized IN worlds...I've been wondering
>for a while if you actually put thought into what archangels and demon
>princes are around in NXE. Obviously the ones mentioned in the series
>(Michael, Yves) are still in there, and Belial is gone for Moloch to
>have replaced him. Natlateth is new, of course...are there any other
>changes from the canon?

Yes.

:)

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

>>from it, I think. As for bastardized IN worlds...I've been wondering
>>for a while if you actually put thought into what archangels and demon
>>princes are around in NXE. Obviously the ones mentioned in the series
>>(Michael, Yves) are still in there, and Belial is gone for Moloch to
>>have replaced him. Natlateth is new, of course...are there any other
>>changes from the canon?
>
>Yes.
>
>:)

I sense another one of those questions to which I'm going to get a very indirect answer. Such as in Apotheosis Now. Kinda like my Shinji theory I posted a day or so ago...oh, well. I guess I tend to wax ecstatic about IN, the 2nd Ed. WW games, D&D2, SR...stuff like that. I admit to being interminably curious about these things. Guess I'll hold off 'til the movie is done.

--"I invoke the rites of fiery Muspelheim, and give thy soul up to the inferno's embrace..."

>I never quite got up the nerve/inspiration to GM a campaign...
>
><...looks around to see if Gryph or Anne Cross is glaring at him,
>and saying "we know...>

you are a...

... no... mustn't recycle the stupid injoke twice in the same night.

YOU HAVE NO CHANCE TO SURVIVE MAKE YOUR TIME. HA HA HA.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

>
>YOU HAVE NO CHANCE TO SURVIVE MAKE YOUR TIME. HA HA HA.
>

ALL YOUR MESSAGE BOARDS ARE BELONG TO BAD GAME TRANSLATIONS.

<Zero Wing, the Thing That Should Not Be>

-={(Astynax)}=-
"Darkness beyond Twilight"

>>I never quite got up the nerve/inspiration to GM a campaign...
>>
>><...looks around to see if Gryph or Anne Cross is glaring at him,
>>and saying "we know...>
>
>you are a...

misguided individual, to think that GMing tabletop is any harder than GMing a LARP. You just need the right players - and you had some pretty solid players, Truss...

>... no... mustn't recycle the stupid injoke twice in the same night.

Thank you, Gryph.

Oh well, maybe some ten to twenty years from now you'll dig out the characters again, Truss, and let us play? I've seen Bancroft Tower now, you can put it in a game setting and I'll have some idea of what the lay of the land around it is like.

(Oh yes. Truss is the reason I started reading Eyrie. He pointed me at NXE.)

-- D.M.

--------------------------------------------
"Fac me cocleario vomere!"
--Onatah, on NE:CiF MUSH

>misguided individual, to think that GMing tabletop is any harder than
>GMing a LARP. You just need the right players - and you had some
>pretty solid players, Truss...

GMing isn't much different... but writing (and worldbuilding) is. I've always been much better (and much more comfortable) as a brainstormer/collaborator in group writing projects than as a writer in solo projects.

And in tabletop, I wouldn't have the rest of an authorial team to work with.

--truss.

>Seemes as if I am one of the few non-US fans. Got (literally) draged
>into reading NXE by one of my friends.

>Life ends. Dreams never does. Is it so wrong that I spend my life in
>dreams?

And I am the Evil one that lured him into this addiction, Muhahahaha!
Draged? More like dropped a few pounds of stapled printouts in your lap. When you were studying organicchemesty or some othe boring thing...

Me, who did I find eyrie? well... it all started a long time ago (two years to be exact) after I had seen NGE. I decided to do a little net searching for it and found a reference to "Misatos LEMON Chronicles". i did not know at the time beeing what the word lemon meant.... now I do... annyhow i found a link from her page to eyrie. and thats the begining of a wonderfull addiction...
and i did manage to get two of me friends in to it.
And now I'm writing me own stories, they suck but they are my own stories. they will probably never get finnished....

oh yes, I live in Sweden.....

>
>Here's a couple of questions for the community of readers out there:
>How'd you guys hear about UF/etc?
>

I blundered into Elf Sternberg's site (can't remember how anymore) and
began reading through his list of other authors he liked. Then I hit
Undocumented Features, and I spent the next two days looking like I was
working. (Heck, I didn't have any work at work anyhow.)

>
>And how many of you are there? :)
>
>--Yostinso (@WPI.edu)

There's only one of me, AFAIK. If I've been cloned, somebody wasted a
lot of money. Better if they'd cloned Henson or Heinlein, just to name
two possibilities.

Peter Eng
--
English does not have a parent language;
It has a primary donor to the genetic engineering project.

Okay. I'm still not sure if I can claim to be the only Canuck who reads EPU stuff, but I'd like to think I'm not.

Anyways, I stumbled across NXE on a site called 'Pervert's Self-Insert Archive'
for which I have forgotten the URL. Oh well. I gave NXE a shot, then moved on to UF and was lost for the ages.

Since then, EPU has been partial motivation in the writings and publishing of my first novel, but I forgot to put them in the credits. whoops.

Uh-oh. Major Fault detected in Sarcasm Vault. Please Advise.

Brad "Oddity" LeDuc

>Okay. I'm still not sure if I can claim to be the only Canuck who
>reads EPU stuff, but I'd like to think I'm not.

I can assure you that you are not.

-MegaZone, megazone@megazone.org
Personal Homepage http://www.megazone.org/
Eyrie Productions FanFic http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

> Anyways, I stumbled across NXE on a site called 'Pervert's
>Self-Insert Archive'

'Self-Insert'... Hmm, there's an off-color pun in there somewhere...

-={(Astynax)}=-
"Darkness beyond Twilight"

I ended up here by accident through the links page on Sofaspud's Couch, almost a year and a half back. I was curious as to what this 'UF' was, and downloaded the core stories. Now I've got 'em all, and managed to create several more fans as well. Gryphon, Zoner, you'll be pleased to know that Australia has found Undocumented Features.

Matrix Dragon
"I don't have to eat it to know it's toxic." Used to describe Akane's cooking... and mine (God help me)

Hmm, maybe I should post the answer to the question listed first, since this my-4th?, yeah 4th-post and two of those have been here, not counting this one.
Well, I was bored and had just started watching NGE and I was lumping around the 'net, looking for something to read and discovered this little thing called "fan-fiction" well, hell, more NGE stuff to read, right? COOL!
So, I was looking at an EVA mailing list archive of stuff, and, while browsing that archive, I came across one of the third season eps of NXE, and I said to my self, "Self, that looks kind of interesting, maybe we should start from the beginning, right?" and I replied, "right." And the rest, as they say, is history.
--NE

Human beings are, a disease, a cancer of this planet, you are a plague, and we, are the cure.
--Agent Smith

I first stumbled upon UF shortly after I discovered Usenet, around 1991 or 1992 -- I forget exactly when. It wasn't even in one of the anime groups. I was randomly looking at newsgroups (it was the new toy at college, complete with a big fat 9.6kbps UUCP link!) and UF had been crossposted to four or five places. It looked interesting, so I started reading...

As Gryphon once said in a reply to some email I sent to him and Megazone, "Heh heh heh. Hey Zoner, we got another one." :-)

There were so many in-jokes and references to things in UF that I started looking around more, and more. Eventually I got sucked into anime full-on, too. I blame the Eyrie crew for making me spend lots of money on my habit -- not that I'm complaining! :-)

>There were so many in-jokes and references to things in UF that I
>started looking around more, and more. Eventually I got sucked into
>anime full-on, too. I blame the Eyrie crew for making me spend lots of
>money on my habit -- not that I'm complaining! :-)

I wish I had gotten in in 91 or 92, then I might be able to find some of the referenced stuff <old DP tapes are damned hard to come by, as are early issues of NHS... BGC is still around... > I'll probably have to spend a fortune on ebay to get some of that stuff now... <in addition to the small fortune being spent on gathering more current (or at least currently available) series>

-={(Astynax)}=-
"Darkness beyond Twilight"

My turn since I just discovered the forum. I found out about EPU from looking around the web for fanfiction that my friend had told me about. I first checked out the Bubblegum Zone by Bert VanVilet. After reading that for a couple days and finding my checking account empty so i couldn't get any new books. I went looking for some more fanfiction found UF and started reading it. Since then I've read pretty much everything on the site. Time wise it was about 3 or 4 years if i remember correctly. I'm just glad EPU exists since there isn't too much else to do in the frozen land I'm going to college in (the Upper Pennisula of Michigan).

Shawn Earl
BA/MIS Mich. Tech Student

It was, I believe, four years ago. I was just discovering the wonders of fanfiction and how it could add on to the anime series I so loved. Back then I was young, naive, innocent, and ready to read anything I could get my hands on. This was when my older brother introduced me to Undocumented Features. It blew my tiny little mind. It had everything: geeky humor, anime, action, and ordinary people, like me, get in extraordinary trouble and come out of it on top. I was in love. I looked up the web page, read all the side stories, plus anything the affiliates could throw at me, and generally had a grand old time. It was around this time that I came up with the extremely misguided idea that I was going to read every peice of anime fanfiction ever written by anyone. Well, that proved to be traumatizing enough, and I eventually stopped reading most fanfiction--but not before becoming a fan of MSTing. And of course, at some point someone MSTed Neon Exodus, and that brought me right back here again, much older and more bitter than before. And, even though Neon Exodus is one of my favorite targets for bitching, Eyrie Productions will always hold a special place in my heart for reminding me of those early, geeky days when the web was a magical, wonderful place and all anime fans were automatically intelligent. *sniff*

And for those of you stout enough to read through all my boring crap without dropping off to sleep, here is a special bonus image:

gumwrapper chains...hmm.

Why don't you guys ever change the subject heading of your posts? Don't you ever get bored looking at the same title over and over again?

Gee and I thought it was a rainbow of cat-5!

How's that for geeky?

Since most seem to think that EPU/UF/NXE is an addiction
it occured to me to share net addictions...

Check out:
http://www.digitallyimported.com for awesome trance to gweep by
http://www.sluggy.com to enter the wonderful world of web comics

Later,
Tim.

>http://www.sluggy.com to enter the wonderful world of web comics

Worship the comic!

I should post the somewhat long list of web comics I regularly read...

-MegaZone, megazone@megazone.org
Personal Homepage http://www.megazone.org/
Eyrie Productions FanFic http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

Heh, I was just commenting to stile/jwaymouth today that it takes me over an hour to catch up on all my online stuff... And this board isn't helping. 11 comics, Slashdot, Eyrieboard, etc... eyeesh..

E.O. Stinson yostinso@wpi.edu
AIM: Eostinso ICQ: 3513296
Admin: http://www.wedgerats.net
Yostinso <-- crazy fanboy

>http://www.sluggy.com to enter the wonderful world of web comics

Is it not Nifty? Worship the comic!

other nice haha places online:

http://www.megatokyo.com <no, it has nothing to do with BGC, honestly>
http://www.exploitationnow.com <Poe knows fanservice>

-={(Astynax)}=-
"Darkness beyond Twilight"

Gah.. Webcomics take up about 15 minutes of my morning when I should be getting ready for class:

the aforementioned, and

http://baka.keenspace.com cute robot girls + video games? :)
http://www.nuklearpower.com FF3 was never this much fun
http://www.bobandgeorge.com Megaman on CRACK!
http://www.roadwaffles.com Guns, cars, ?aliens?
http://rpgworld.keenspace.com What RPGs are really about
http://www.sinfest.net HAHAHAHAHAHA

"Uh, my name's Joey but, uh, I'm not an addict. *smoke*
Nono, really, really, listen, listen to this. I got in trouble with my computer, right, okay, and my lawyer told the judge that I'm an addict, but I'm not addicted to my computer! No really, really, *puff* I'm not an addict. I'm not, I'm not. *gulp* Can I get some more coffee?" -- Hackers

E.O. Stinson yostinso@wpi.edu
AIM: Eostinso ICQ: 3513296
Admin: http://www.wedgerats.net
Yostinso <-- crazy fanboy

Ummm... 'nuklearpower.com' is actually FF1, not FF3...

-Craig
Need something to read?
http://www.wpi.edu/~perko

Er.. FF3 Japan.. Slightly diff.. There's actually a download for the rom on there, if you're into that kinda thing (ech.. must use GeForce for prettier things that 8-bit ;) )

E.O. Stinson yostinso@wpi.edu
AIM: Eostinso ICQ: 3513296
Admin: http://www.wedgerats.net
Yostinso <-- crazy fanboy

Video game sarcasm:

www.seanbaby.com/nes.htm

Seanbaby is my hero! YAY! I will visit his site every day! YAY!

And Sluggy is good, too.

This man is also my hero.

ummm.. I first starting reading Eyrie stuff merely to see how people I know were
portrayed (especially myself) , and liked the writing, so I kept reading stuff,
even when I didnt know the series' that were being referenced. Eyrie fanfics
tend to hold together as independant stories, without having to rely too heavily
on the borrowed characters. In my opinion.

and I think there's only one of me.

>Here's a couple of questions for the community of readers out there:
>How'd you guys hear about UF/etc? And how many of you are there? :)

Actually, my sister ran around WPI in 1988, and encountered Wedge Rats then, returning home to tell me of them later. I grew up in the Boston area, became an anime fan at Boston University and the University of Pittsburgh, and later moved on to California...

where my pal TechMav was gleefully naming machines at the startup where he works after Asuka, Rei, Gendou... Grendel? Moloch? Lucifer?

"hey, those aren't NGE names..."

"oh, no, they ain't. Haven't seen NGE. I'm namin' 'em after Neon *Exodus* Evangelion characters."

"what?"

And that was how I got hooked, Mav thoughfully providing me with a hardcopy of Undoc's Core and Hopelessly Lost.

Although, come to think of it, an ex-boyfriend of mine had *conniptions* about DJ at one point and I honestly had no idea what he was talking about. I still don't think he's actually read NXE, though I may be wrong.

Ard Sumhenner
Ronin Research, Silicon Valley, CA

LAST EDITED ON Jun-29-01 AT 12:32 PM (EDT)

<snip>
>where my pal TechMav was gleefully naming machines at the startup
>where he works after Asuka, Rei, Gendou... Grendel? Moloch? Lucifer?
>
>"hey, those aren't NGE names..."
<snip>

If memory serves, Grendel, Moloch, and Lucifer were NT boxes, DJ and Asuka were Sun Netra T-1's, Gendou was an EMC storage array, Ritsuko and Misato were Sun 220 servers, and Jon and Rei were Sun 420 servers. What can I say, other than it's a *BAD* idea to turn someone loose with the very detailed directions of "Build a network"

TechMav
Ronin Research
R&D Division
Indianapolis, IN

Hey,

My first experience with (then) www.eyrie.net was in the summer of 1998. I had no clue as to how I stumbled to this damnable place (j/k) but I ended up wasting my entire summer/fall semesters reading this stuff and getting hooked (line, and sinker...). Read everything, instead of doing something useful like get a job or doing homework. Read everything SEVERAL TIMES...

Damn you Eryie for wasting my time and enlightening me to several new worlds (and good, creative writing)... :)

BTW, I was an occaisional anime fan before stumbling here, and I still am... :) Just rather hard to find anime down here in the middle of Louisiana (All they really have here is the oil industry and ice hockey..(?)).

With that I'll say later.

Umm... later.

Falcon

>Here's a couple of questions for the community of readers out there:
>How'd you guys hear about UF/etc? And how many of you are there? :)

I'm here, if a bit late off the starting block.

About three, maybe four years ago, this guy I knew on IRC was proselytizing and serving a bunch of files. Since he's what I'd term a 'freelance computer security enthusiast', the file names struck me as quite interesting. I took a gander and found myself converted pretty much immediately. The files in question were core 1..4. Massive downloading ensued.

I have since then tirelessly proselytized among the heathens. This is because I am a sick-of-brain fanboy.

D'A

Veteran of The First Posting.

I was there when it hit rec.arts.anime for the first time. I was just getting into anime at that time, and I fell into it. I'd seen bits and pieces of stuff and was slowing getting into it, but... then this hit.

There are still storekeepers in Chinatown in NYC who perspire heavily when I walk into the area, because they KNOW I'm going to ask for something completely bizarre.

(Oh, Gryph, did you see they rereleased a bunch of the old, old, first-gen Transformers? You can get that Megatron you wanted years ago now...

....I got mine coming.)

--
Geoff Depew - Mephron
"I think I sprained my anterior lobe just thinking about it."

>(Oh, Gryph, did you see they rereleased a bunch of the old, old,
>first-gen Transformers? You can get that Megatron you wanted years
>ago now...
>
>....I got mine coming.)

!

Where, please? Pretty please? I had to give up buying them back off of eBay because it was becoming an expensive hobby. (it is sweeter than sweet to have an original Wheeljack, though) :)

---------------------------
"I think we used too much."
---------------------------
Chad Collier
Digital Bitch
J. Random VFX Company

>>(Oh, Gryph, did you see they rereleased a bunch of the old, old,
>>first-gen Transformers? You can get that Megatron you wanted years
>>ago now...
>>
>>....I got mine coming.)
>
>!
>
>Where, please? Pretty please?

Gerry over at robozone.com (where I'm getting mine) scored a few extra standard (silver) ones, but they'll probably go fast.

Good luck,
--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

www.planetanime.com

That's where I'm getting mine from, at least.

$125 plus shipping.

--
Geoff Depew - Mephron
"I think I sprained my anterior lobe just thinking about it."

>(Oh, Gryph, did you see they rereleased a bunch of the old, old,
>first-gen Transformers? You can get that Megatron you wanted years
>ago now...
>
>....I got mine coming.)

Yep! I've got a silver one and a black special one on preorder. Ought to be here next week. Good thing I'm getting paid again...

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

>Veteran of The First Posting.
>
>I was there when it hit rec.arts.anime for the first time. I was just
>getting into anime at that time, and I fell into it. I'd seen bits
>and pieces of stuff and was slowing getting into it, but... then this
>hit.

Same thing. Ten years and more, before the Split. Before the Web.

I still remember the Gushing Fanboy(tm) letter I sent, asking if they were going to do any more. "We might," Gryph and/or Zoner said. Who knew?

As the Other Enthusiastic Personages section indicates, I used to have dreams of jumping in myself (first "Otaku Rising" style, then another concept focusing on the WDF Academy), but lack of time, inspiration, and perceived need of the community for Yet-Another-SI-fic killed that idea. So these days I just hang out.

I went and started my own series completely from scratch.

The most recent episode has our own little smack-homage to UF in it. I mean, a bird/lion-form mecha getting destroyed by Largo... not the most subtle, but it does give that wink-and-nod...

--
Geoff Depew - Mephron
"I think I sprained my anterior lobe just thinking about it."

>The most recent episode has our own little smack-homage to UF in it.
>I mean, a bird/lion-form mecha getting destroyed by Largo... not the
>most subtle, but it does give that wink-and-nod...
>

Heh, everyone just loves to shoot at that guy. Some associates of mine and I have... plans... for a version of him. <its almost too bad the Knight Sabers aren't real people, I'm sure they'd enjoy the 5,012,347 ways Largo dies in various fanfics;) >

-={(Astynax)}=-
"Darkness beyond Twilight"

>Heh, everyone just loves to shoot at that guy. Some associates of mine
>and I have... plans... for a version of him. <its almost too bad the
>Knight Sabers aren't real people, I'm sure they'd enjoy the 5,012,347
>ways Largo dies in various fanfics;) >

Actually.... Largo's the hero in my series.

http://genom.otaking.org/chessmen for my fic. (w00t! plug!)

--
Geoff Depew - Mephron
"I think I sprained my anterior lobe just thinking about it."

>
>Actually.... Largo's the hero in my series.
>
>http://genom.otaking.org/chessmen for my fic. (w00t! plug!)
>

Bwha!?

-={(Astynax)}=-
"Confused beyond Sanity"

OK...

Largo in the Chessmen universe was created as a prototype Buma by GENOM Corporation. His initial personality programming was compiled from the engrams of a number of GENOM executives, including Quincy Rosenkreutz and Brion J. Mason. Unfortunately, a technical flaw caused the first six hours of activation to be essentially a blinding, horrific pain experience. He blamed GENOM for it.

When he went rogue, it was with his 33/S secretary, several billion yen of embezzled funds, and part of the OMS codes. The Buma Rebellion took place. The OMS, however, had a second function: wide-scale self-destruct in case of an issue such as this. Largo had disabled his self-destruct... but he was linked to the OMS and felt them all die.

In the aftermath of this, he was discovered and recruited by that universe's Sylia Stingray - no Knight Sabres here, instead there was a small group of women busy violating laws to take over GENOM for revenge in the indignities that they could each trace back to the corporation... and

...but hey, I wrote all this stuff down in the series, so...

^_^

--
Geoff Depew - Mephron
"I think I sprained my anterior lobe just thinking about it."

Wow. That's another thing I haven't seen in years. It was one of the better fanfics that I found one rec.arts.anime.creative. I remember waiting impatiently for the ending to come out. Although I don't think I liked I liked it when it came out, for some reason that I can't recall. It had lots of good moments in it, like when *spoiler* died. I really liked her, and it was a noble, tearjerker death. And the story was quite interesting, and not SI, which is unusual for such a massive crossover.

Another question: How many more of you guys out there have written a UF ripoff/parody? Come on, 'fess up! I want to see how many of you have written a fanfic that I've read.

>Another question: How many more of you guys out there have written a
>UF ripoff/parody? Come on, 'fess up! I want to see how many of you
>have written a fanfic that I've read.

Have written, past tense? Not me;)

-={(Astynax)}=-
"Darkness beyond Twilight"

Yes, I did. And I still do. The next part is hopefully going to be released next week, with the question of "How the HELL do you fix THAT problem" resolved in a way that should make everyone boggle.

Just remember that I love B5 and feel that JMS rarely does wrong. Then go read on his commentary on Anton Chekov plays.

Dat's all I'm gonna say.

--
Geoff Depew - Mephron
"I think I sprained my anterior lobe just thinking about it."

He had some help, of course. :P I'm...well, the
other guy (go look at the credits for nearly every
Chessmen story)...I'm sort of the focus/emitter for
the particle beam that is Geoff's creativity. <shrug>
Hey, someone has to do it, right? I just happen to
be very good at it...

The donut thing, though? That's all his fault.

- Bill Crawford
"Queen Beryl naked."

Nope. I'm responsible for an Animaniacs/ X-Files crossover from 1995 and that's about it.

Although my current endeavor started very UF-ish and then I went "I do NOT want to reinvent Undoc." It's since changed radically and hasn't been posted anywhere in any sort of usable form yet.

Ard Sumhenner
Ronin Research, Silicon Valley, CA

>...but hey, I wrote all this stuff down in the series, so...
>

heh, thanks for the preview... I like ot have half a clue before I spend loads of time on something:) Certainly sounds interesting... Largo not being an asshole...

-={(Astynax)}=-
"Darkness beyond Twilight"

'Lo,

Finally got a chance to comment here. In answer to the question, I stumbled across part of UF 2 way back in '91, on r.a.a. I promptly found and devoured all of the previous stuff, and have followed it pretty avidly every since. Even tried my hand at something similar, but gave it up when I realized that it wasn't working. I did throw Vaughn into a long-running Teenagers From Outer Space, though. Wigged a few people out .... :)

Ebony the Black Dragon
aka Draco Draconis Ebenium
known to the IRS as Aaron F. Johnson
Senior Editor, Living Room Games
http://www.lrgames.com

>'Lo,
>
>Finally got a chance to comment here. In answer to the question, I
>stumbled across part of UF 2 way back in '91, on r.a.a. I promptly
>found and devoured all of the previous stuff, and have followed it
>pretty avidly every since. Even tried my hand at something similar,
>but gave it up when I realized that it wasn't working. I did throw
>Vaughn into a long-running Teenagers From Outer Space, though. Wigged
>a few people out .... :)

Joe warned me about you.

And I'm STILL buying your product, despite the warnings...

--
Geoff Depew - Mephron
"I think I sprained my anterior lobe just thinking about it."

>Joe warned me about you.

Ignore him. He's Head of Marketing. And he volunteered for that position. I thought he was still sane until I read http://www.lrgames.com/meeting.html. Now I know better.

>And I'm STILL buying your product, despite the warnings...

On behalf of the members of Living Room Games who are looking forward to getting paid for our work someday, I thank you for buying our product. We appreciate you contributing to the company's profit margin.

Ebony the Black Dragon
aka Draco Draconis Ebenium
known to the Better Business Bureau as Aaron F. Johnson,
Senior Editor, Living Room Games
http://www.lrgames.com

>
>>Joe warned me about you.
>
> Ignore him. He's Head of Marketing. And he volunteered for that
>position. I thought he was still sane until I read
>http://www.lrgames.com/meeting.html. Now I know better.
>
>>And I'm STILL buying your product, despite the warnings...
>
> On behalf of the members of Living Room Games who are looking
>forward to getting paid for our work someday, I thank you for buying
>our product. We appreciate you contributing to the company's profit
>margin.

And here I thought Joe was freak...

--------------------------------------
Whoa! What IS it?!

>Ebony the Black Dragon
>aka Draco Draconis Ebenium
>known to the IRS as Aaron F. Johnson
>Senior Editor, Living Room Games
>http://www.lrgames.com

Whoa! We have an LRG dude on our forums?

Friend, you (collectively, as a company) rock my little world -- twice. Once for picking up the Earthdawn license, and once for selecting Denise Jones as one of the artists for the Core and Compendium books. I'm buying copies the very instant they get released.

Whenever that is. ;)

--truss,
Party member in Juniper's Earthdawn campaign for... what, two years now?

I already have all the LRG stuff on order from my game store as soon as they get it.

Joe Chan's a friend of mine. Woodchuck's an acquaintence. Wai Chu Yu and Mark Mandolia are friends to.

I think I know most of LRG in one way or another, so I'm supporting people I know in an endeavor of excellence.

--
Geoff Depew - Mephron
"I think I sprained my anterior lobe just thinking about it."

LAST EDITED ON Apr-19-01 AT 04:16 PM (EDT)

>>Ebony the Black Dragon
>>aka Draco Draconis Ebenium
>>known to the IRS as Aaron F. Johnson
>>Senior Editor, Living Room Games
>>http://www.lrgames.com
>
>Whoa! We have an LRG dude on our forums?
>
>Friend, you (collectively, as a company) rock my little world --
>twice. Once for picking up the Earthdawn license, and once for
>selecting Denise Jones as one of the
>artists for the Core and Compendium books. I'm buying copies the very
>instant they get released.

Cool. Glad we please somebody. We seem to have a number of extremely capricious customers out there.

>Whenever that is. ;)

Soon. I can report that ED2 is currently at the printers. There was a slight problem with the blues (the proofs) that had to be fixed, but we hope to have an end of April, first of May release. The Companion is currently in my hot little hands, being edited for content, grammar (and boy do my writers suck at that), and game balance (playtesting). From there, it goes to layout, and it should be at the printers soon after that. It should be out before Origins.

>--truss,
>Party member in Juniper's Earthdawn campaign for... what, two years
>now?

I think I know her. Does she/did she post on alt.fan.dragons?

Ebony the Black Dragon
aka Draco Draconis Ebenium
known to Patterson Printing as Aaron F. Johnson,
Senior Editor, Living Room Games
http://www.lrgames.com

>Cool. Glad we please somebody. We seem to have a number of extremely
>capricious customers out there.

Uh-oh. This comment sounds like it has an unpleasant story attached.

>It should be out before Origins.

Great.

Now I just have to find out the date for Origins. :)

>>Party member in Juniper's Earthdawn campaign for... what, two years
>>now?
>
>I think I know her. Does she/did she post on alt.fan.dragons?

No idea... she posts here, though. (She's one of the more recent additions to the roster of Eyrie collaborators. :)

--truss.
Tsikeron Vistrilkiage Kiatsah'kilea, Fourth Circle T'skrang Archer.

>No idea... she posts here, though. (She's one of the more
>recent additions to the roster of Eyrie collaborators. :)

While I've no real desire to follow this through (I don't have enough time to work on my *own* projects), I can't help wondering how you get that kind of dream gig.

-- Sean --

http://www.thebrokenlink.org The Broken Link 4.0 is live!
"Imagination is more important than knowledge." -- Albert Einstein
"It's not easy being green." -- Kermit the Frog

>>No idea... she posts here, though. (She's one of the more
>>recent additions to the roster of Eyrie collaborators. :)
>
>While I've no real desire to follow this through (I don't have enough
>time to work on my *own* projects), I can't help wondering how you get
>that kind of dream gig.

Being nigh-unto-unbearably nifty helped, in DM's case.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

>
>Being nigh-unto-unbearably nifty helped, in DM's case.
>

::sniff:: but... but... I don't know HOW to be nifty! ::sob::

-={(Astynax)}=-
"See what college does to your mind folks?"

>>
>>Being nigh-unto-unbearably nifty helped, in DM's case.
>>
>
>::sniff:: but... but... I don't know HOW to be nifty! ::sob::

Well, then I guess you lose. (Or, as they say on Usenet, "loose".)

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

>Well, then I guess you lose. (Or, as they say on Usenet, "loose".)

<vwahvwahvwahvwah>

"INNOCENT."

---------------------
"You know, for kids!"
---------------------
Chad Collier
Digital Bitch
J. Random VFX Company

>>
>>Being nigh-unto-unbearably nifty helped, in DM's case.
>>
>
>::sniff:: but... but... I don't know HOW to be nifty! ::sob::

Let alone nigh-unto-unbearably nifty. Rather steep requirements indeed. Personally, I think I have a better chance in politics.

--------------------------------------
Whoa! What IS it?!

LAST EDITED ON Apr-19-01 AT 10:38 PM (EDT)

>Let alone nigh-unto-unbearably nifty. Rather steep requirements
>indeed. Personally, I think I have a better chance in politics.
>

If Dubya can pull it off, anyone can <provided their daddy was once President;) >

-={(Astynax)}=-
"Darkness beyond Twilight"

<about to graduate with a CS degree, and I still haven't gotten the hang of this 'typing' thing>

>>Let alone nigh-unto-unbearably nifty. Rather steep requirements
>>indeed. Personally, I think I have a better chance in politics.
>>
>
>If Dubya can oull it off, anyone can <provided their daddy was once
>President;) >

I guess I need to get him working on that. I guess I'll have to get over the fact that I HATE politics as well...

--------------------------------------
Whoa! What IS it?!

>I guess I need to get him working on that. I guess I'll have to get
>over the fact that I HATE politics as well...

Your dad was president?

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

>>I guess I need to get him working on that. I guess I'll have to get
>>over the fact that I HATE politics as well...
>
>Your dad was president?

Nah, I need to get him working on becoming president.

--------------------------------------
Whoa! What IS it?!

>::sniff:: but... but... I don't know HOW to be nifty! ::sob::

While I, on the other hand, don't have to be nifty. I can cook. Full speed ahead, don't spare the heavy cream. And the best way to someone's heart is *always* through their stomachs....

-Michael
Napalm. It sticks to ignorance.

>>::sniff:: but... but... I don't know HOW to be nifty! ::sob::
>
>While I, on the other hand, don't have to be nifty. I can cook. Full
>speed ahead, don't spare the heavy cream. And the best way to
>someone's heart is *always* through their stomachs....

Or at least, the best way to stop someone's heart is through their stomachs, especially with heavy cream involved.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

>>>::sniff:: but... but... I don't know HOW to be nifty! ::sob::
>>
>>While I, on the other hand, don't have to be nifty. I can cook. Full
>>speed ahead, don't spare the heavy cream. And the best way to
>>someone's heart is *always* through their stomachs....
>
>Or at least, the best way to stop someone's heart is through
>their stomachs, especially with heavy cream involved.

That's what the lowfat stuff's for. Me, I'm a big fan of homemade, just because there's much less salt in it. And you know what's in it with homemade. None of this monosodium-glutimate stuff. And less in the way of worries about food allergies.

-- Juniper

----------------------------------------
"Fac me cocleario vomere!"
--Onatah, on NE:CiF MUSH

>>>::sniff:: but... but... I don't know HOW to be nifty! ::sob::
>>
>>While I, on the other hand, don't have to be nifty. I can cook. Full
>>speed ahead, don't spare the heavy cream. And the best way to
>>someone's heart is *always* through their stomachs....
>
>Or at least, the best way to stop someone's heart is through
>their stomachs, especially with heavy cream involved.

Oh c'mon now. We both know that the two ounces of reduced cream sauce on your plate isn't any worse for you than anything else. Ya just can't get stupid about it. I mean hell, too much of anything'll kill ya. Even water.

-Michael
Napalm. It sticks to ignorance.

>Oh c'mon now. We both know that the two ounces of reduced cream sauce
>on your plate isn't any worse for you than anything else. Ya just
>can't get stupid about it. I mean hell, too much of anything'll kill
>ya. Even water.
>

mostly I agree, but water? I think you'd have to be force fed <well, force drunk I suppose> the water with a hose for it to kill you <via internal bleeding from a burst stomach, most likely>.

-={(Astynax)}=-
"How many nits could a nitpicker pick if a nitpicker could pick nits?"

>mostly I agree, but water? I think you'd have to be force fed <well,
>force drunk I suppose> the water with a hose for it to kill you <via
>internal bleeding from a burst stomach, most likely>.

You can die from over consumption of water - too much will toss your biochemistry out of whack enough to cause failure.

But it has been years since I saw the data - something like drinking 7 gallons in a couple of hour span is required. Not something someone without some kind of compulsive disorder is likely to do.

-MegaZone, megazone@megazone.org
Personal Homepage http://www.megazone.org/
Eyrie Productions FanFic http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

>But it has been years since I saw the data - something like drinking 7
>gallons in a couple of hour span is required. Not something someone
>without some kind of compulsive disorder is likely to do.

Or a drill sergeant in your face telling you to drink more water, it'll make you feel better. Dilutes the saline content of your system, and neural impediment follows closely. It's kinda amazing, because the symptoms of overhydration are very nearly identical to those of heat exhaustion/stroke. The military loses a handfull of soldiers a year to overhydration.

-Michael
Napalm. It sticks to ignorance.

>>>Party member in Juniper's Earthdawn campaign for... what, two years
>>>now?
>>
>>I think I know her. Does she/did she post on alt.fan.dragons?
>
>No idea... she posts here, though. (She's one of the more
>recent additions to the roster of Eyrie collaborators. :)

...shy wave...

If you count the five-session vignette, then it's almost two years. Otherwise, it will be two years come October. But every other week for a year and a half isn't bad at all.

>--truss.
>Tsikeron Vistrilkiage Kiatsah'kilea, Fourth Circle T'skrang
>Archer.

Yep. 4th Circle T'skrang Archer, 4th Circle T'skrang Elementalist, 4th Circle Elven Illusionist, 4th Circle T'skrang THIEF (and very enthusiasitic she is too), and for at least the next few sessions, 3rd Circle Elven Weaponsmith.

And I'll be buying the books too - for the artwork and to see how you've improved the Skills rules, because I may shift at least part of the way things work over if they're measurably improved.

-- Juniper
Gamemaster/Passion/occasonally a Dragon, and anxiously awaiting something that's not a published module. ;)

----------------------------------------
"Fac me cocleario vomere!"
--Onatah, on NE:CiF MUSH

>And I'll be buying the books too - for the artwork and to see how
>you've improved the Skills rules, because I may shift at least part of
>the way things work over if they're measurably improved.

Okay, I'll admit to having always been a big fan of the Earthdawn setting, but I absolutely despised most of the Earthdawn rules. I just find a class/level system (er... excuse me, whatever-classes-are-called-in-Earthdawn/circle system) in this day and age somewhat archaic. Give me a point-based system any day.

And I won't even talk about the unnecessary headaches I got reading about the Step system...

But, in any event, I'll be checking out and probably buying Earthdawn 2, just because I think LR Games' very existence rules the world, even more than the existence of Guardians of Order. (Okay, I absolutely hate the idea of making HKAT! a TriStat game, but other than that...)

-- Sean --

http://www.thebrokenlink.org The Broken Link 4.0 is live!
"Imagination is more important than knowledge." -- Albert Einstein
"It's not easy being green." -- Kermit the Frog

>Okay, I'll admit to having always been a big fan of the Earthdawn
>setting, but I absolutely despised most of the Earthdawn rules.
> I just find a class/level system (er... excuse me,
>whatever-classes-are-called-in-Earthdawn/circle system) in this day
>and age somewhat archaic. Give me a point-based system any day.

I'll grant that point-based systems are interesting, but I actually like the way the Earthdawn system ended up working out. Having to train to a certain level in a number of talents before you get to learn new ones I see as reasonable. And Circle is really only a measure of how many talents you have access to.

Some point-based systems I find go way overboard.

Regardless, I think Earthdawn's system fits the world. Heroes don't start out knowing everything - they have to build their legends.

>And I won't even talk about the unnecessary headaches I got reading
>about the Step system...

I'll grant it can be confusing. I like it, but that doesn't mean it's simple. ;)

-- Juniper

----------------------------------------
"Fac me cocleario vomere!"
--Onatah, on NE:CiF MUSH

>I'll grant that point-based systems are interesting, but I actually
>like the way the Earthdawn system ended up working out. Having to
>train to a certain level in a number of talents before you get
>to learn new ones I see as reasonable. And Circle is really only a
>measure of how many talents you have access to.

Earthdawn does handle the concept better than others, but I still see the class paradigm as fundamentally flawed if you're trying to run an even remotely realistic campaign. I mean, D&D is fun and all, but it's about as flexible as cast iron, and I haven't found a class system that overcomes the basic straightjacketing that using a class-based system does to you. It's always "These are the abilities you get. Period. You do not get these abilities. Ever. No matter what." And systems that allow you to eventually pick up other abilities (like, say, D&D) in a class-based paradigm also force you to pick up a bunch of abilities you may not want, or may not be appropriate to your character concept.

>Some point-based systems I find go way overboard.

Like what? I'm a big GURPS fan, personally, although I concede that chargen can take forever in that system (it's no Runequest, but I know it's rough). When I was running a GURPS campaign for a bunch of people with little to no experience in the system, the entire first session was chargen. Yes, they were 200-point characters, but I can generate a 100-point character in half an hour, and I didn't think it would take three hours to create these characters. I guess it's that you have to have a pretty solid character concept in mind before you even start in GURPS, while in most systems (like, say, Storyteller) you can just muddle your way through.

>Regardless, I think Earthdawn's system fits the world. Heroes don't
>start out knowing everything - they have to build their legends.

You can say that for the recommended starting point for any system, though. I do like that Earthdawn actually measures the amount of fame you get, but I don't like the degree to which it plays into your character abilities.

>I'll grant it can be confusing. I like it, but that doesn't mean it's
>simple. ;)

It's unnecessarily complicated.

I think the main reason GURPS is my system of choice is because, once you get past chargen, it's amazingly simple. Roll 3d against a target number. That's all. And even combat can be as complicated or as simple as you like. That, and it adapts far better to multiple settings than many other "universal" systems (like, say, d20). (I admit that it doesn't work very well for really high-powered -- like, say, Superman, Green Lantern, or Flash -- superheroes, but for characters like Black Canary, Green Arrow, Batman, or most Marvel heroes, the supers rules work very well.)

-- Sean --

http://www.thebrokenlink.org The Broken Link 4.0 is live!
"Imagination is more important than knowledge." -- Albert Einstein
"It's not easy being green." -- Kermit the Frog

>>Some point-based systems I find go way overboard.
>Like what?

Shadowrun...

"Ok, now roll the entire US annual production of d6."

I love the world, I liked playing it, I even kinda liked the one time I GM'd it - but ye gods it used more d6 than any person should need to own.

-MegaZone, megazone@megazone.org
Personal Homepage http://www.megazone.org/
Eyrie Productions FanFic http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

>>>Some point-based systems I find go way overboard.
>>Like what?
>
>Shadowrun...
>
>"Ok, now roll the entire US annual production of d6."
>
>I love the world, I liked playing it, I even kinda liked the one time
>I GM'd it - but ye gods it used more d6 than any person should need to
>own.

Heh. Shadowrun does go overboard, but it's still a class-based system. I've always hated the Shadowrun rules, and not one edition has really fixed all the problems with it. As for the world... well, it's a decent fantasy world, and a decent cyberpunk world, but the two don't really mix. Cyberpunk Shadowrun is cyberpunk Shadowrun, fantasy Shadowrun is fantasy Shadowrun, and the twain shall never meet (and the rules make absofsckinglutely certain of that). While the Palladium system is akin to inhaling flesh-eating gas first thing in the morning (as someone on the Thrash list so aptly put it), I've always felt that Rifts is a much better melding of cyberpunk/post-apocalyptic fiction and fantasy. The elements actually mix, and mix fairly well.

(FYI, I own over 50 d6's, mostly because I'm so used to GMing, even though I prefer playing, and as a GM I wind up lending out dice -- they ALWAYS get returned -- quite a bit, and my preferred system is GURPS.)

-- Sean --

http://www.thebrokenlink.org The Broken Link 4.0 is live!
"Imagination is more important than knowledge." -- Albert Einstein
"It's not easy being green." -- Kermit the Frog

>"Ok, now roll the entire US annual production of d6."

I don't play Shadowrun, but Champions has more than its share of d6 (particularly the high power games). I find it rather satisfying rolling a big handful (or 3) of dice for damage.

--------------------------------------
Whoa! What IS it?!

>>I'll grant that point-based systems are interesting, but I actually
>>like the way the Earthdawn system ended up working out. Having to
>>train to a certain level in a number of talents before you get
>>to learn new ones I see as reasonable. And Circle is really only a
>>measure of how many talents you have access to.
>
>Earthdawn does handle the concept better than others, but I
>still see the class paradigm as fundamentally flawed if you're trying
>to run an even remotely realistic campaign. I mean, D&D is fun and
>all, but it's about as flexible as cast iron, and I haven't found a
>class system that overcomes the basic straightjacketing that using a
>class-based system does to you. It's always "These are the abilities
>you get. Period. You do not get these abilities. Ever. No matter
>what." And systems that allow you to eventually pick up other
>abilities (like, say, D&D) in a class-based paradigm also force you to
>pick up a bunch of abilities you may not want, or may not be
>appropriate to your character concept.

Earthdawn allows for skills outside of the magical talents that you can only get through training that only happens within a class. I think thats a beautiful thing. Yes, you can learn how to do all sorts of mundane things, but you really have to discipline yourself to learn the really cool magic stuff. Also, if none of the disciplines fit your character concept then create your own. In my very short campaign (playtesting Path of Deception), one of my players really wanted to be a lawman sort of character, so we talked at great length and came up with a very cool Marshal discipline.

>>Some point-based systems I find go way overboard.
>
>Like what? I'm a big GURPS fan, personally, although I concede
>that chargen can take forever in that system (it's no
>Runequest, but I know it's rough). When I was running a
>GURPS campaign for a bunch of people with little to no
>experience in the system, the entire first session was chargen.
> Yes, they were 200-point characters, but I can generate a 100-point
>character in half an hour, and I didn't think it would take three
>hours to create these characters. I guess it's that you have to
>have a pretty solid character concept in mind before you even start in
>GURPS, while in most systems (like, say, Storyteller) you can
>just muddle your way through.

Begining players have a difficult time with the whole build your own character from nothing concept. I enjoy pre-fuzion Champions myself, and I tried to run a campaign once, but people had alot of trouble coming up with what they wanted to do. They needed a mold to base their characters upon.

>>Regardless, I think Earthdawn's system fits the world. Heroes don't
>>start out knowing everything - they have to build their legends.
>
>You can say that for the recommended starting point for any
>system, though. I do like that Earthdawn actually measures the amount
>of fame you get, but I don't like the degree to which it plays into
>your character abilities.

I'm a little confused here. You don't like how it takes both practice and "real world" experience to improve a characters abilities, and that experience comes from doing things that people notice and talk about. All they've done is add a metric that says, once you've gained x amount of experience, y number of people will have heard about what you've done. Thats a really cool concept.

>>I'll grant it can be confusing. I like it, but that doesn't mean it's
>>simple. ;)
>
>It's unnecessarily complicated.
>
>I think the main reason GURPS is my system of choice is
>because, once you get past chargen, it's amazingly simple. Roll 3d
>against a target number. That's all. And even combat can be as
>complicated or as simple as you like. That, and it adapts far better
>to multiple settings than many other "universal" systems (like, say,
>d20). (I admit that it doesn't work very well for really high-powered
>-- like, say, Superman, Green Lantern, or Flash -- superheroes, but
>for characters like Black Canary, Green Arrow, Batman, or most Marvel
>heroes, the supers rules work very well.)

I like the different levels of success available with Earthdawn. You roll dice to hit a target number, but if you do significantly better than that number, then you hit your opponent better. The better you get with an attack, the easier it becomes to exceed that threshold because you roll more or bigger dice. I don't know about GURPS, but in Champions, everyone has the same chance to do a critical hit as the target for that is ALWAYS 18 (6s on all 3d6).

--------------------------------------
Whoa! What IS it?!

>I'm a little confused here. You don't like how it takes both practice
>and "real world" experience to improve a characters abilities, and
>that experience comes from doing things that people notice and talk
>about. All they've done is add a metric that says, once you've gained
>x amount of experience, y number of people will have heard about what
>you've done. Thats a really cool concept.

But why? Unless the things you've done to gain X experience are the kinds of things that would make a big splash, you can become VERY experienced and NOBODY will know who you are. This has been an ongoing theme in many of my campaigns. The only game I've found that ties fame into ability gain properly is Werewolf; first of all the different Changing Breeds recognize different kinds of reknown, and, second of all, it *makes sense*. Since you learn Gifts from Spirits or from other members of your Breed/tribe/sept/pack, you have to prove that you have the wisdom/bravery/cunning/innovation/whatever to handle that ability.

>I like the different levels of success available with Earthdawn. You
>roll dice to hit a target number, but if you do significantly better
>than that number, then you hit your opponent better. The better you
>get with an attack, the easier it becomes to exceed that threshold
>because you roll more or bigger dice. I don't know about GURPS, but
>in Champions, everyone has the same chance to do a critical hit as the
>target for that is ALWAYS 18 (6s on all 3d6).

Critical successes in GURPS vary. Generally, you're shooting to get UNDER a target number, so a 3 is always a critical success, unless the task or circumstances somehow preclude a critical success. You may be able to get a critical success on something higher than a 3, depending on your effective skill. Similarly, a roll of 18 is never a success, no matter how high your effective skill (and, remember, you only roll if there's a possibility of failure); it's also almost always a critical failure, and if you have a very low effective skill, a roll of 17 or even lower might also be a critical failure. Since 6^3 is 216, that means that you have a .47% of failing despite all odds, or you have a .47% of succeeding.

Another thing is that, depending on the skill or circumstances, the degree by which you succeed or fail can matter a great deal.

-- Sean --

http://www.thebrokenlink.org The Broken Link 4.0 is live!
"Imagination is more important than knowledge." -- Albert Einstein
"It's not easy being green." -- Kermit the Frog

>But why? Unless the things you've done to gain X experience are the
>kinds of things that would make a big splash, you can become VERY
>experienced and NOBODY will know who you are. This has been an
>ongoing theme in many of my campaigns. The only game I've found that
>ties fame into ability gain properly is Werewolf; first of all the
>different Changing Breeds recognize different kinds of reknown, and,
>second of all, it *makes sense*. Since you learn Gifts from Spirits
>or from other members of your Breed/tribe/sept/pack, you have to prove
>that you have the wisdom/bravery/cunning/innovation/whatever to handle
>that ability.

Its the same in Earthdawn. You have to have a teacher of a higher rank than you to learn a skill or talent. You have to be able to prove your worth to them. Also, a very common theme throughout the rulebooks are the troubadours singing the praises of heroes. A game in which the heroes are unknown and work behind the scenes is really cool, and can work in Earthdawn to a degree, but eventually the word is going to get out, although it takes an enormous amount of experience for the general populace to know who adventurers are.

Lets take Truss' character for example. He's 4th Circle which puts him at having around 15,000 legend points. Thats a pretty hefty accomplishment in EarthDawan and has taken him quite some time to achieve (I assume). Even at that level, he is only known about in the very largest of cities, and even then only by name. The next breakpoint for legendary status is so far off, that it would take another year of gameplay for him to reach (at the rate I've inferred from random threads). Characters aren't instantly well known just because they killed a band of thieves, it takes a lot of time and heroic actions before the world at large will know who they are, but by the time they can take on a dragon, people are gonna know about it.

--------------------------------------
Whoa! What IS it?!

Matt Thompson, officially in rant mode

>Earthdawn does handle the concept better than others, but I
>still see the class paradigm as fundamentally flawed if you're trying
>to run an even remotely realistic campaign.

But I'm not trying to run a realistic campaign. I'm trying to run a ballad, a folk tale, a story. And the gritty reality of GURPs doesn't, I find, fit with that at all.

>It's always "These are the abilities
>you get. Period. You do not get these abilities. Ever. No matter
>what." And systems that allow you to eventually pick up other
>abilities (like, say, D&D) in a class-based paradigm also force you to
>pick up a bunch of abilities you may not want, or may not be
>appropriate to your character concept.

As was previously mentioned, you get skills. And GMs can always make new talents if they feel that the stuff in there isn't appropriate.

For example, our Thief adept has a very different view of what being a Thief adept means. Because your viewpoint and the way you follow your path influences how your Talents work - Talents are not skills, they are a magical extension of your pattern - the "Fence" talent was utterly inappropriate for her. So I made a new Talent, swapped it in for Fence, and she got that instead. It means that she will only be ever able to pick up Fence as a skill, but because her magical Pattern wouldn't allow her to learn Fence as a part of herself and her worldview, that's totally appropriate.

And some talents you just can't learn as skills, because they require magic.

And, I said:
>>Some point-based systems I find go way overboard.
>
>Like what? I'm a big GURPS fan, personally, although I concede
>that chargen can take forever in that system (it's no
>Runequest, but I know it's rough).
<snip>

Not only chargen does it take forever, you then have to cope with the Easy/Average/Hard/Very Hard whatever things, you have to have certain advantages to get certain skills, etc. etc. While it's a neat system, it is certainly just as complicated in its own way as Earthdawn. I don't care how easy rolling 3d6 is - if it takes more than ten seconds to see what my target number and/or how well I can do something is, I think the system is complicated.

And it doesn't, to my mind, fit the world of an Earthdawn story anything like as well as the Earthdawn system does.

And ye gods, the combat system...

<snip>
>I guess it's that you have to
>have a pretty solid character concept in mind before you even start in
>GURPS, while in most systems (like, say, Storyteller) you can
>just muddle your way through.

True. And that's very hard on beginning players too. (Entirely different rant deleted here - I've played a system where you start completely blank slate, but it is currently in beta test and unpublished and I can't talk about it - unfair I realize, but there it is...)

>>Regardless, I think Earthdawn's system fits the world. Heroes don't
>>start out knowing everything - they have to build their legends.
>
>You can say that for the recommended starting point for any
>system, though. I do like that Earthdawn actually measures the amount
>of fame you get, but I don't like the degree to which it plays into
>your character abilities.

Mmm. Then don't play Earthdawn. :) I personally love that particular aspect of the system.

-- Juniper

----------------------------------------
"Fac me cocleario vomere!"
--Onatah, on NE:CiF MUSH

>And I won't even talk about the unnecessary headaches I got reading
>about the Step system...

The phrasing behind the Step system is whacked, but what it comes down to is the step number is the average number you will roll at that level. I like having an idea of what I'm likely to roll, I think its a pretty snazy way to do things. It is alot more difficult than say THAC0, but it allows for more robust combat schemes with knockdown rolls, and exceptional hits, and armor defeating hits.

--------------------------------------
Whoa! What IS it?!

LAST EDITED ON Apr-21-01 AT 02:26 PM (EDT)

>>And I won't even talk about the unnecessary headaches I got reading
>>about the Step system...
>
>The phrasing behind the Step system is whacked, but what it comes down
>to is the step number is the average number you will roll at that
>level. I like having an idea of what I'm likely to roll, I think its
>a pretty snazy way to do things. It is alot more difficult than say
>THAC0, but it allows for more robust combat schemes with knockdown
>rolls, and exceptional hits, and armor defeating hits.

Again, this goes back to why I'm such a big fan of GURPS. Using 3d6 as your basic mechanic means that you know the bellcurve well, and that means that if you have a skill of, say, 12, you're good enough to be able to pull it off without a roll if there's no stress factors, and still good enough to likely be able to pull it off with low-grade stress factors (i.e., roll with no penalty), but if, say, you've got a Blaster Rifle skill of 13 and you're in a firefight, trying to snipe someone 300ft away who's hiding behind a car, you're almost certainly not going to do it, but the guy next to you who has Blaster Rifle-21 can probably do it.

-- Sean --

http://www.thebrokenlink.org The Broken Link 4.0 is live!
"Imagination is more important than knowledge." -- Albert Einstein
"It's not easy being green." -- Kermit the Frog

It was back in the winter of 1993, and I had just discovered anime. In the computer labs at Central Michigan University, I was looking up anime sites on a UNIX version of Netscape and found the RAAS archives.

My first thought was: "People writing themselves with anime characters - what a concept!"

I then proceeded to print out every part of UF, and I do mean everything. I still have a 1 1/2 foot pile of printout I still read because I can't afford to print it all out again. :)

I've been a loyal fan since.

Zack Seaholm - Anime fan, weathernut, worshipper of the goddess Belldandy.

>I then proceeded to print out every part of UF, and I do mean
>everything. I still have a 1 1/2 foot pile of printout I still
>read because I can't afford to print it all out again. :)
>

1.5 feet? geez... where did you print all that? If I tried that in ANY lab on campus they'd hang me, after feeding me the printouts

-={(Astynax)}=-
"Darkness beyond Twilight"

LAST EDITED ON Apr-15-01 AT 11:57 PM (EDT)

>1.5 feet? geez... where did you print all that? If I tried that in ANY
>lab on campus they'd hang me, after feeding me the printouts
>
>-={(Astynax)}=-
>"Darkness beyond Twilight"

I had to be sneaky about it. I chunked down all the really large files into 1/8ths or 1/16ths and printed them out that way at different times in different labs. It took about a month to complete, but it was worth it.

Zack Seaholm - Anime fan, weathernut, worshipper of the goddess Belldandy.

"You are a louse."
-R. Dorothy Waynewright

>I had to be sneaky about it. I chunked down all the really large
>files into 1/8ths or 1/16ths and printed them out that way at
>different times in different labs. It took about a month to complete,
>but it was worth it.
>

Thanx, I now know how to obtain the dead tree version, so I can read it in boring classes:)

>
>"You are a louse."
>-R. Dorothy Waynewright

Hmmm, I HAVE to watch more Big-O, if only to hear that android say that line<lol>.

-={(Astynax)}=-
"Conscious beyond Twilight"

>1.5 feet? geez... where did you print all that? If I tried that in ANY
>lab on campus they'd hang me, after feeding me the printouts

Heh heh... warm reminiscences of the Fuller Labs CCC, with the occasional gigantic wide-carriage band-printer printout up on the op counter with "DON'T DO THIS AGAIN" scrawled on the burst page in black marker...

When I printed the Jargon File the first time, lo these many years ago, I put it on a floppy, then printed it in my room. I left my poor Tandy DMP-120 grinding away on that puppy for a full day. That was the nice thing about fanfold paper: you could print these enormous documents, and as long as you set things up right, it would just nicely fold up into a neat stack again on the floor in front of the table with the printer on it. I did have to replace the ribbon afterward, but the whole document came out legible... I probably still have it someplace.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

>
>Heh heh... warm reminiscences of the Fuller Labs CCC, with the
>occasional gigantic wide-carriage band-printer printout up on the op
>counter with "DON'T DO THIS AGAIN" scrawled on the burst page in black
>marker...
>

Knowing the folks who run the CS labs, they'd scrawl 'Don't do this again' on my head... with my own blood. They're... protective of their paper stock.

>When I printed the Jargon File the first time, lo these many years
>ago, I put it on a floppy, then printed it in my room. I left my poor
>Tandy DMP-120 grinding away on that puppy for a full day. That was
>the nice thing about fanfold paper: you could print these enormous
>documents, and as long as you set things up right, it would just
>nicely fold up into a neat stack again on the floor in front of the
>table with the printer on it. I did have to replace the ribbon
>afterward, but the whole document came out legible... I probably still
>have it someplace.
>

I wonder which is bigger... all of UF... or the Jargon File?

And what would be done to a person printing out BOTH?

-={(Astynax)}=-
"Who now has an nasty idea for a Senior prank"

>I wonder which is bigger... all of UF... or the Jargon File?

The Jargon File I printed was about 1.2 megabytes. No doubt the current version is somewhat bigger, but I haven't a copy of it to check.

The UF directory on the web server is almost 8 megabytes, with about a half-meg of that being the images (buttons, backgrounds, banners) and HTML.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

>Heh heh... warm reminiscences of the Fuller Labs CCC, with the occasional >gigantic wide-carriage band-printer printout up on the op counter with "DON'T >DO THIS AGAIN" scrawled on the burst page in black marker...

I still have fond memories of our system administrator nearly having a heart attack last year when a good chunk of my high schools paper supply vanished after I printed out the core stories in the downstairs computer lab. In the end it was blamed on the year 11 students dumb enough to print porn to the library printer by misake. See, UF can do good deeds :)

Matrix Dragon
"Wanted: BFG for use on little brother."

>1.5 feet? geez... where did you print all that? If I tried that in ANY
>lab on campus they'd hang me, after feeding me the printouts

I found that the HP Laserjets with the IR port and a palmtop cmoputer was a good way of bypassing print quotas. I don't think my old university computer centre have realised that yet...

--
Merlin the Happy Pig

>I found that the HP Laserjets with the IR port and a palmtop cmoputer was a >good way of bypassing print quotas. I don't think my old university computer >centre have realised that yet...

Another good trick is to use those computer accounts that are never used and still have their starting passwords, which are easy to guess at my school. Then you get it in ten to twenty page clumps.

Matrix Dragon
"Heed me thou who is darker then dust..."

>I still have a 1 1/2 foot pile of printout I still read because I can't afford >to print it all out again. :)

Hah! I win, with almost three feet of printouts. I can read UF anywhere I choose. Helps with dull bus rides.

Matrix Dragon
"The light at the end of the tunnel is a N2 mine."

>I then proceeded to print out every part of UF, and I do mean
>everything. I still have a 1 1/2 foot pile of printout I still
>read because I can't afford to print it all out again. :)

Thank you so much. Until I read this, I felt like an utter weirdo for having actually carried around my print-out of core and ht for the last three years. Now I realize that drooling fanboy-ism isn't all that strange around here.

Cheers,

D'Archangel

We're only immortal for a limited time.

>Here's a couple of questions for the community of readers out there:
>How'd you guys hear about UF/etc? And how many of you are there? :)

I first heard of Undocumented Features through another tale set in that universe, Legion's Quest by Edward Beccerra. At the time I was an avid reader of Fido Anime (anyone remember good old Fido?} and came across that story. I read it, liked it, and emailed the author. He turned me toward Undocumented Features, and then... I was hooked like so many others here. I've since read every story I could find here, and have loved most of them. I especially like UF, and NXE, with HL and SFWL comeing close after that. :)

Druid
druid@bigplanet.com
Where there is love, there is life.

Got an e-mail from Ardaniel last summer saying I should check out UF. I was bored at work so I read through the core UF. Thanks to the mental static that only corperate america can introduce, I managed to completely forget that there was more than just the core, and was a tad put off by the huge gap between "Out in the Cold" and "Crossroads". Of course, I then had the requisite "How the HELL did I miss something that obvious" moment a few months later after reading NXE in a comp lab at school.

Alath A'Tharen

This space intentionally left blank.

>"Crossroads". Of course, I then had the requisite "How the HELL did I
>miss something that obvious" moment a few months later after reading
>NXE in a comp lab at school.

Out of curiosity, as obvious as what?

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

>>"Crossroads". Of course, I then had the requisite "How the HELL did I
>>miss something that obvious" moment a few months later after reading
>>NXE in a comp lab at school.
>
>Out of curiosity, as obvious as what?

Every link on the UF start page that wasn't marked core.

Like I said ... I was brain-numbed in only the way corperate america can achieve at the time.

Alath A'Tharen

This space intentionally left blank.

>>>"Crossroads". Of course, I then had the requisite "How the HELL did I
>>>miss something that obvious" moment a few months later after reading
>>>NXE in a comp lab at school.
>>
>>Out of curiosity, as obvious as what?
>
>Every link on the UF start page that wasn't marked core.

Oh, OK. I thought you were talking about something you'd noticed in NXE itself.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

I first encountered eyrie, through UF.

Not the core stories, however. I was read r.a.a.s (waaay back when) and saw this thing posted, "The Universe According to Chris 1" (or something to that effect...I honestly don't remember the ACTUAL subject on the post).

Being a curious sort of fellow, I read it. Needless to say, I was rather confused...but I enjoyed it! It wasn't until several months later that I RE-read it, and realized it was an expansion, and went on a hunt for the rest. I'd say I was hooked at that point, but, too be fair...I was already hooked :)

Since then I've managed to act like a drooling fanboy no less than twice by e-mail (I believe one to megazone, and one to gryphon, but it's been several years...and even more e-mail addresses ago...). Ah well, I'll just post here, instead...so I can embarress myself in a more public manner :)

First heard of Eyrie through NXE. I was told "watch Eva, then read this, it's better". I then spent six months eagrly awaiting 3:6. In the meantime I started on UF. Took me a long time to get around to reading it all, mind...

Sadly, I'm the just about the only person in these parts to have read all of Eyrie's output (hang on... nearly all. There are still a couple of bits of UF/FI I haven't had time to read yet).

--
Merlin the Happy Pig
Spreading the good word about EPU for two years
"Well, first you shred their mind with NGE, then hit 'em with NXE when they're depressed"

>"Well, first you shred their mind with NGE, then hit 'em with NXE when
>they're depressed"

I don't know why, but I found that line inordinately humorous.

-={(Astynax)}=-
"Mtn. Dew Nasal Spray"

>>"Well, first you shred their mind with NGE, then hit 'em with NXE when
>>they're depressed"
>
>I don't know why, but I found that line inordinately humorous.

Sleep deprivation.

-Michael
Napalm. It sticks to ignorance.

>Sleep deprivation.

Must be. I'm not that funny. ;-)

--
Merlin the Happy Pig