Alanna:
Oooh, political questions. You people believe in tossing me the hard ones, don't you. ^_^ First off, I'll say that it's really wonderful to see concern about politics. The media makes such a big deal about how anyone under a certain age just doesn't give a damn about the Real World...

Anyway, my opinion is that it's a case of being caught in between a rock and a hard place. On one hand, we have George W. "Corporate Shill and Proud Member of the Party That Sponsored The Communications Decency Act" Bush, whereas on the other hand we have Al "Married to the Woman Responsible for Parental Warning Stickers" Gore. The vice presidential candidates aren't all that wonderful either. I think that we're looking an awfully sad time for civil liberties in the US right in the face. Whenever any politician starts talking about "family values" and "faith", I start looking around for the nearest bunker to hide in.

I encourage everyone who gives a damn about this sort of thing to join the American Civil Liberties Union and/or the Electronics Frontier Foundation, two organizations that are dedicated to preserving our rights and liberties, and to vote in the upcoming elections. You're right in that Presidential elections are less important than Senatorial and House elections, so if your district has someone running this election, find out his or her positions and VOTE. Register now, become informed, and plan to vote. It's our country in the end.

Googleshng:
Here's the light version: Before it was a choice of the sequel to the failed president who puked on the Japanese Prime Minister and his party which traditionally ruins everyone's fun, or the hippie robot with the laid back party... but the hippie robot's running mate is the person who's for censoring games and such... think I'll still go Democrat though, because Lieberman's evil powers would most likely be deminished, not heightened, by being VP.

Alanna:
My favorite RPG at the moment is Vagrant Story. I tend to prefer games for story more than for gameplay, and Vagrant Story fits the bill; it took me and my roommate two playthroughs before we started to really formulate any concrete theories about what it really meant. I'm a sucker for anything that makes you sit there after the credits and just stare at the screen trying to process the implications of the ending.

I haven't played Threads of Fate beyond the demo, either, but one of the fanfic assistants have, and she likes it. It's not my cup of tea; I don't like action RPGs. (Probably because I have NO reflexes whatsoever. It took me six hours to get by Babel Tower in Xenogears. Yes, I know, I'm pathetic.) I guess it all depends on whether or not you like that sort of game.

Legend of Dragoon is next on my list after Chrono Cross, so I can't have an informed opinion yet. ^_^

Googleshng:
First off, I'm personally getting Lunar 2 and not ToF. As for LoD... if you were to rate all RPGs looking for the best one, it really wouldn't rank too high. Everything about the game is EXTREMELY derivitive. While playing it, I just kept saying things like "Oh, here's the big town with the arena. I wonder if I'll get to the end and then have to fight a major character I have no chance of beating." Then I did. The combat system is a bit original though, and it's challenging, and, bottom line, it's fun. In the end, isn't that what really matters? Yes slimes type with pseudopods, and finally, I STILL want to know how it is that Parasite Eve has "Mature subject matter" and why there's no warnings about the cute fuzzy animals graphically being ripped in half and turned into hideous monsters.

Alanna:
Flattery will get you nowhere. ^_^ That's actually a really good idea, but I shudder to think of the amount of work it would involve. If we did do it, there'd have to be some rules -- no nominating your own fics, no one from the fanfic editorial board eligible, etc. Hopefully, by the end of the year, my life will have calmed down enough to let me put some time into considering the proposal.

Remind me in about November or so!

Googleshng:
Hmm... if someone filtered fanfics down to just 3 or so really really good ones like that, I might have time to read them...

Alanna:
I've been using a Mac since about '91 or thereabouts, and I love the little things. I want one of the new G4 cubes; I just got my G4 back in March and it's already severely underpowered. (40GB is just not enough hard drive space.) I have to get my mitts on a copy of OSX...

The Society for Creative Anachronism is a group that's dedicated to re-enacting medieval life, from 1600 C.E. and before. Medieval dress, medieval technology, and medieval skills. I'm actually leaving for Pennsic, the annual war between two Kingdoms, in two days, and I can't wait. A whole week of no pager, no cellphone, no email, no web pages, no urgent requests to Fix This Now, no voice mail, nothing. Though I will miss the hot showers... ah, well, bathing in the river is fine if it's only for a week.

Googleshng:
I know what you mean about the whole summoner thing. any place with hallways that narrow is HORRIFYING when you're a necromancer. I just had my blood golem do everything for me. Now I'm in a place where my whole army dies in literally under a second. Freakin' pigmies. Anyway, as for Dragon Force, someone on staff is working on a review of it I think, I'll make sure they mention all the cool things when they put it up. Let me put it this way though. I bought a Saturn just so that I can have my own saved game when borrowing it from a friend, and I'm perpetually broke. That reminds me, I'm getting money soon... hope that person who offered to sell me a copy way back when hasn't yet...

Alanna:
Information on the SCA can be found at their home page, or you might be interested in How To Find Your Local SCA Chapter. You can attend most SCA events without being an actual member of the SCA, though I have the sneaking suspicion that some of them are looking towards closing the event to non-members because of overcrowding. (Pennsic is expected to break 11,000 attendees this year.) Your local Renaissance Faire is also a good place to find contacts. The SCA isn't just for fighters, either; they also have a pretty amazing network of people who research and recreate pre-16th-century technology, such as blacksmithy, herbalism, scribery, etc.

Destroying world-threatening evil isn't officially sponsored by the SCA, but most of the SCAdians that I know would fit just fine into any RPG party that I've ever seen. As long as they could bring their duct tape, that is.

Googleshng:
The SCA has a web page? That's... not right. Oh, and tradtionally, slimes kinda leap about. 8)

Alanna:
Plot is the hardest part of any story writing, I think, and it's not made much easier by the fact that you're using someone else's characters and pre-defined situations. I've been struggling with plot for years. Here are the tips that I can suggest:

* Decide before you start writing what happens in the story. If you don't know before you start writing what the final outcome is going to be, you're probably not going to have much luck in maintaining a coherent whole.

* Once you've decided the final outcome, figure out how you're going to get there. Make sure that every bit you write leads, somehow, to the final outcome. Even if it's a cool scene, if it doesn't lead to your final goal, take it out. You can always use it in another story.

* Don't, whatever you do, just re-write scenes that we saw in the game, whatever game that might be, unless you've got a compelling reason to. Generally, you can assume that the readers have played the same game that you have.

* A good place to start learning about how a good story is constructed is Aristotle's Poetics -- you can probably find a copy of it in your local Barnes and Noble, or you can read it online at http://libertyonline.hypermall.com/Aristotle/Poetics.html. It's tough reading in places, but it's a great resource. Aristotle lays out the five parts of a well-constructed story, and how the writer goes about using each of those elements.

Good luck! 8)

Googleshng:
I haven't played BG or VP (and yes I know it's not out), so I can't answer those. As for Diablo 2, I've mainly been playing TCP/IP with friends... my only Bnet character is on the eastern server. 8)

Hey, Goog, hey Alanna!

Alanna... hmm... might that name have a title to go with it? Like "Sedai"? Are YOU the REAL Alanna Sedai?! Wow!

Perrin

Dear Goddess o' Fanfic,
Hello! Have you ever heard of a MiSTing? On USEnet, it pretty much means that you take a fanfic and make fun of it. Do you ever want to do that to some of the submissions?

Bean

bow-weep grow naw weep ninnibop!

Yo, Vampir Hunter D was on last night (08/09/00) on Cinemax at 3:00 AM or something. Did you miss it?

- Elranzer

Ti's the amazing Googleshng and it's pet human! $2 a ticket!

Kaiser

Do you realize how many E-mails you're going to get that say "plz send me aeristifa2.jpg @ Ill give you a doller"?

-LXD-

Anyone who reads your letters page carefully obviously doesn't need to ask questions, so why would they send you a letter?

The Last Laugh: