posted 06-25-99 06:30 AM ET            

Just kidding, I really don't mind, actually it's part of the fun. Carry on !

posted 06-25-99 08:03 AM ET            

Sorry Nell I had to do this , Mike didn't leave me much choice... but don't you worry, you're not dead yet You still have an important part to play in this story, I promise.

posted 06-25-99 09:25 AM ET            

Aredhran

posted 06-25-99 11:14 AM ET            

http://www.firaxis.com/cgi-bin/ubb/Ultimate.cgi

Look in the "Off Topic" forum for the "SMAC Addiction VI" thread dated 6/17/99.

posted 06-26-99 04:41 PM ET            

Next time, I'll remember to keep my mouth shut.

posted 06-28-99 07:17 AM ET            

I was preparing the "Hi-Tech" Challenges, played about 7 hours on Saturday, plus almost 10 hrs straight Sunday (with a small laundry&ironing break, thinking about you Nell )

I know, but as we say in French, "On ne peut pas �tre et au four et au moulin" (literally, one cannot be both at the oven and at the mill).

There have been a few unexpected twists to the storyline. I have to adapt my ideas for the next episode. Wait & See !

posted 06-28-99 10:40 AM ET            

Even so, you see what's happened in your absence?... matters have descended to the nadir-like point where I've started writing in story threads... for God's sake, do something before anything any worse happens!! hehe

Nell... waiting.... and waiting...

PS: Glad to see your thoughts were pointing in the right direction during all that {shudder} washing and ironing...

posted 06-28-99 11:04 AM ET            

Aredhran

posted 06-29-99 01:32 PM ET            

I am not advocating this idea but merely suggesting it, Does anyone want to email their near term ideas to the other major contributors so that they can be taken into account, or is the fun of having your stories subverted and having to adapt just to great to lean towards conformity?

Just a thought.

posted 06-30-99 05:36 AM ET            

There. I feel better now, thank you...

If someone wants me to include their ideas in a post, I don't mind them sending them to me, but as far as coordinating, I must say I quite enjoy reacting to and developing on other people's ideas. Even if it has forced me to rewrite a post twice and dump another one altoghether

posted 06-30-99 11:15 AM ET            

Agreed on just writing with the flow, even though the Outrider was totally subverted.

posted 06-30-99 11:19 AM ET            

And Your outrider has been more than subverted... he's been captured ! mwahahaha

posted 06-30-99 12:40 PM ET            

Aredhran... I've had to dump MANY posts. I probably should have dumped the one that made it as well, but such is life.

Thanks gang. Been having a blast reading this stuff. Keep up the fun!

Old Warrior - Glad to here you are ok. And stay away from those cigarettes.

posted 06-30-99 11:08 PM ET            

I'll buy your lunch at that steak house over in Mocksville off I-40. I'll bring a couple of good cigars and we can talk about this newbie-vet thing while we smoke em!

posted 07-01-99 12:11 AM ET            

(how did these Yankees ever win the war? can't even read a map for chrisakes!)

posted 07-02-99 06:44 AM ET            

Imran, I'm sorry but you did not add anything to the whole story with this "powers of NIM" crap. The least you could have done is expand on it a little; just bringing BG and TAS back does not make a good post.

So, I apologize to all the story fans out there, but there will not be any more "Newbie Terrorist" posts from me. I'm out. Sorry.

I guess I could start another story, but right now I really don't feel like it.

posted 07-02-99 07:06 AM ET            

Think of Brother Greg and TAS as great thinkers, mythical in reputation if not in real power. Their awesome reputation makes vets hold them in higher regard than they actually deserve. What happens when Yin gets hold of them could be interesting especially as TAS and BG have never really seen eye to eye. I'm sure Yin could drive a wedge between them or just defeat them. Or something, maybe we'll all find out that the Vet's vaunted powers don't really amount to much more than illusion and bravado.

posted 07-02-99 07:20 AM ET            

It was OK for Yin to have some special power, as he's the Archvillain. What you pulled with the mind fight was cool, it allowed the rest of the story to continue on.

I have read your addition to the story. It makes things a little better, but I still feel like everything relies on these two superpowers. All the others (including you) are relegated to the status of names in the credits at the end of the movies, whereas before we were the heroes of a story.

It's not that I could not write my way out of it, because I know I can, but can't find any interest in it (it's like playing SMAC on Citizen)

posted 07-02-99 07:50 AM ET            

This is exactly the kind of "Deus Ex Machina" that I refuse to do. I won't be the one to press CTRL-K. If someone wants super-powers, let them have it, I don't care.

(Actually, I do care because I feel that "my" story is ****ed up now)

posted 07-02-99 09:46 AM ET            

Aredhran:
Awwww c'mon... don't bail out on us... can you really leave the helpless Newbies to their fate?

Mind you, I can see the difficulty... these threads take on a life of their own (which is half of their charm, when it works), but it can be hard to keep the story going when so many different ideas are being chucked into the melting-pot. Much the same thing is happening with the Newbie Meets The Vets thread... there are so many sub-plots there now that I can't (at the moment) come up with anything worth adding! Like the Newbie Terrorists thread, all the instalments are good, but it's getting hard to keep the storyline running.

posted 07-02-99 10:28 AM ET            

Current positions of everybody.

MikeH, Nell, DG, Q^3, Imran:- IIIS stealth chopper heading to IIIS headquarters to treat wounded.

Other Newbie terrorists in their own chopper with outrider, Maybe heading back following IIIS but that's never been formally stated.

posted 07-02-99 11:48 AM ET            

My feelings pretty much match his. (I will read to see where the story goes.)

Overall I agree that half the fun of collabrative writing like this is to see where others take the story and what you can do with it from there.

The problem will lie with people who do not take the story with the same regard as the multiple posters. And when people decide to give "their" characters outrageous powers.

I had come up with the theory that there was an energy Nexus at that particular site that had allowed Yin and MikeH to explode in a metaphysical battle of wills, I thought that would be a good out to the problem of egos run amuck.
But things kept spiralling away.

Lord knows I want to keep writing fiction pieces here, and hope that others will too including our Swiss friend. So now I am off to read what has happened in the newbie Terrorists.

posted 07-02-99 01:05 PM ET            

Agreed, that we can try to ignore the power crazy when they post.

posted 07-02-99 11:35 PM ET            

I'm confused. Haven't we been exercising "unrealistic" or "SupraNormal" abilities? Whatever fit the writer's whim? Not that its the best way to do multi-writer stories, but its just a just.

I welcome Imran. And MikeH II. And everyone that contributes something to the story. So what if they go overboard? Happens all the time. And for those of you who missed it... YIN Was being SARCASTIC. No wonder he rarely posts... Arch-villian of three threads? I hope that he has a few IDs that aren't picked apart and beaten on as if he was Hardman.

[Hell, I mean no disrespect to even the Big (or little as your point of view goes) H. I try NOT to hold a grudge against anyone here. Not for long. We are all here to have fun and talk with others that have (or had) an interest in SMAC.]

MikeH II... that was a nice thing with the projector... but it shouldn't have been necessary. Really.

Are you guys COMPLAINING about suprahuman powers in "A Newbie Mets the Vets"? No. Why? Talk about the range of taste! From the gentle to obnoxious. But we aren't jumping up and down about it. So, why?

I am sorry, Aredhran. I have enjoyed your posting. But if you and Goobmeister are so offended, then ignore the thread. And thank you for sharing with us. Goobmeister, the same goes for you. I respect BOTH of you guys, but before I'd get outraged about a little ego clashing or super men and women and running around, I'd get mad about the nastier posting about other things. There are plenty of them. Besides... as song as they have posted, one can rewrite things as one chooses. And you can always smack their bottom or twist things about.

Freddz, I loved your time warp piece. No apologies needed. But Jsorense seems to wish to continue with other things. (No, Jsorense, I am not picking on you. You think it would be interesting to fill in between. Let's hope that works out then.)

Finally, once again, allow me to say that I have enjoyed reading the thread. Even the silly bits... sometimes especially the silly bits. (Depending on my twisted sense of humor, of course.)

posted 07-03-99 11:06 AM ET            

"YIN Was being SARCASTIC. No wonder he rarely posts... Arch-villian of three threads?"

... Yin certainly has transcendent powers... he's an ArchANGEL in one of them!

It's a shame Yin doesn't post very often... his contributions always get a great response, whether enthusiastic or outraged... which can't be a bad thing, even if storylines do sometimes get disrupted.

Hey what do I know? I really AM a newbie, having only been here three months. I'm just sorry to see Aredhran leave the list of story contributors.

posted 07-03-99 12:28 PM ET            

I just reread my posts above, then re-read the Story. Can't believe I wrote this. I just made a fool of myself...

I guess that will teach me not to get on my high horses over some silly post. I could tell you that I was having a bad day (which is true), but the fact is, I was just being stupid.

So please ignore what I said earlier about not posting.

I will be back.
Aredhran

posted 07-04-99 02:44 AM ET            

Go gang go!

posted 07-04-99 02:48 AM ET            

The superpowers thing isn't an issue of how much power each character gets, but instead how well it fits the story. I think both MikeH and Yin are fine so far.

And I needed mine in order to get back into the story at all, after freddz killed me off (well, trip actually) without a second chance.

posted 07-04-99 04:26 AM ET            

I'll party with you. How long a drive from Northern Alabama?

posted 07-04-99 06:44 PM ET            

P.S - trip's flamethrower isn't Korean, is it? So how can I be killed again by 'another Korean artifact...'

Oh well. Bury me at the crossroads with a steak in my stomach.

posted 07-04-99 07:37 PM ET            

Ah, southpark. IceTV (N.Z prog) ran a southpark marathon last night. The best six episodes - including the one where everyone turns into zombies. "Oh my god! I killed Kenny! You bastard!"

posted 07-04-99 08:00 PM ET            

Don't do it again!

posted 07-05-99 12:56 AM ET            

Sorry about that attacking you. Sometimes I just go insane like that. Must be all the Mindworms and Meatballs I had in school.

Bossman - Nicely written. Light Saber? Who told that I use to be a Jedi? And is that Lord Yin of the Sith? I hope I haven't turned into Dark Vader or something... hold that... better to be Vader than Dumb Maul. I'd be so embarassed at showing off with a flashy weapon and cutting myself in half. I don't know if I could post again due to embarassment.

And I loved your other story threads... 4 Emporers and your Random Thread. Just thought I would plug them here...

posted 07-08-99 07:06 AM ET            

Darkstar: Not to worry. At least you know I'm not likely to stop to talk again. At least, not if I keep having these unexplainable psychotic turns...

Better get an american made lightsabre, though, like luke had. It seems you can't trust anything foreign these days.

posted 07-09-99 03:40 AM ET            

How about *less* cruelly