[Tarot's Scrapbook] The Stacked Deck

[Gossamer]

I once told you, Tarot, how it was in the wildlife field. It's not all behind the table like it is in yours. I publish, someone else publishes a counter paper calling mine out, then I republish a counter paper as to why their counter of my original paper is full of it, etc etc. We've had counters of counters of counters that have lasted decades. At least your backstabbers aren't in print for EVERYONE to read and only get passed back and forth via review committees. I'd be thankful for that. I also think its fairly hysterical that this guy is an expert in your field but yet didn't realize his info was stored on his PDF file. And in addition, I'm always suspicious of blue-hairs. The sweeter they seem, the bigger then knife they often try to stab you in the back with. It's just jealousy, GP. Seriously. If he had any truly constructive criticism, he'd have included it in very precise specific terms.

[Siana Skyglow]

That's so unfortunate that you received such a ridiculously patronizing and insulting review on your paper. I'm glad that the fate of your paper didn't hinge on that one review and that the editor-in-chief realized how terrible the reviewer was and decided to sent the next version straight to the associate editor without reviews. I'm also glad that you said this was the first time you got such a biased review. At least we can hope that such reviewers are the exception, rather than the norm, and that most reviewers try to be impartial or recuse themselves from reviewing if they have a conflict of interest.

I wish you the best of luck on getting your paper accepted, and I hope you never run into that backstabbing reviewer again!

[Malia]

Good luck for your paper and thesis! (I know I already did wish you that, but it's never enough, I think.)

I just remembered something I forgot to tell you some time ago ... Do you know about the origin of the word Ichor? It's Ancient Greek and the term for the blood of the gods. I don't know whether it's white or red or blue, but it has to be something special if it's called Ichor and not simply blood. If you already knew that, I think it's a very beautiful and meaningful name for the Nuit's life elixir. Fitting!

[Tarot]

Thanks for the comments everyone! Sorry for the absence over the past three days, too.

Ichor should probably get its own wiki page. The scientific term for a Nuit's ichor is Soul Vector or SV, as it binds the soul to a physical shell. Hardly anyone would call it that outside Sahova, though. It's white, slightly thicker than blood, and very cold.

[Tarot]

Things you will never see me develop on Mizahar (and I may shake my head at any who try to):

- giant spiders (if my PC ever encounters one, he will win by just mentioning it can't exist by the square-cube law; and it will instantly collapse under its own weight)

- the seven deadly sins (please... no)

- buster swords

- a plague-that-nothing-but-a-goddess-tear-can-stop

- dark X, with X = existing race or concept ("Hello, my name is Christabelle and I am a Dark Konti")

- anything humanoid with feathered wings

- taverns with built-in dark corners for brooding in

Will add more as they occur to me...

[Gossamer]

You forgot Tribbles... and all the trouble that comes with them.

[Tarot]

Write Nyka. Write Nyka. Write Nyka. It's a crime for it not to be open.

What's not to like? A city rising on the ruins of several other cities of the past - all of them tragically lost and destroyed. Built by four demigods convened around an opening in the terrain - the Aperture - leading into the bowels of the planet. A city of religion and superstition, streetfighting monks looking for excuses to kick ass. Paranormal activity aplenty. The Lance, a feeling experienced by most at some point - a mix of dejà vu and outright hallucination. Everyone but the monks lock themselves in their homes at sunset and leave food offerings, for that is when the city itself is said to come alive...

[Malia]

Yes, write Nyka! I'm so curious about it since there's no information on it at all. Shame on you.

I hope PCs will be able to enter the city and live there without any major problems though ...

[Tarot]

This week is turning out to be pretty intense at work. The web application we're developing and that we thought would be running on Internet Explorer only, suddenly gained a majority of users who can only use Firefox. Of course, it doesn't work properly on FF. And now it has to. If I'm not posting, it's because I'm really tired! I haven't forgotten about any of you. Justice and evil plans for all.

Sorry, no rant-alicious scrapbook entry from me as seems to have become the norm around here. The problem with the net is that it's become so second-nature to us that we think of it as talking, but we are actually writing - and in the most durable medium ever conceived (if you make backups). Scrapbooks are meant just for that - like a blog, but without the expectations that come with one. Just a few thoughts on things I've been reading recently.

1) The average shelf life of a RP forum on the net is six months before it starts collapsing. The member base is fleeting and changes all the time. Without turnover, forums die out.

2) Newbie-heavy games have their downsides. My last site was a veteran-heavy game, though. I have seen enough of these mechanics at play to decide that a newbie-heavy place is preferable. The main difference between the two is that, depending on who the newbies are, the newbie-heavy game can get annoying sometimes. Veteran-heavy games with a forever fixed player base tend to crystallize and turn into nightmares. I'll take the newbie-heavy game every single time. You deal with the occasional annoying newbie once. You deal with the cliques and lobbies and politics every day.

3) If your forums is not attracting new players, it is three steps away from death.

4) These websites can cause you stress. Each person has a way of dealing with it. I find Tarot-zen to be most effective. I ignore anything that causes me any stress. Passive aggressive PM? No replies. Annoying person in chat? Doesn't exist. Unrealistic demands on me? Forget about it. Not necessarily a fair method, but it lets me enjoy the good things without having to throw a fit when pressure reaches critical levels.

5) The redoubtable Colombina needs to come up with a "layman's view" sentence for Nyka, too. If Syliras is the only city with a Wal-mart and Riferfall is all-year-round sausagefest at frat city, then what's my little Nyka?

Before taking my leave for the night, let us recap what I am doing as a mod. Here are the folks I'm modding or about to, and the Screw-o-meter showing how they're faring.

Abashai - *** [Two stars from me and one because of Nya.]
Hadrian - **** ["I have an idea, Panna! How about I open fire on the next PC who docks on the island?"]
Game thread participants - ***** [it basically says so in the rules]
Ialari - *** [still in the exposition stage of looking for Dominion. Expect a rise.]
Jaeden - *** [I still have to figure out what really scares him. Aside from the mental image of a huge Akalak attracted to his Ranuri.]
Jilitse - ***** [Nuits are practically made for abuse. It's the maiming without the guilt. But of course there's more to it!)
Malia - ***** [she's hard to impress. I like a challenge.]
Nimvahlis - ****** [it's not even started yet. Call me an optimist.]
Nya - ** [killed her once already. Can't do that again too soon or it gets old.]
Satu - ***** [you ain't seen nothing yet!]
Stitch - ***** [Every time I read one of his posts, I feel like throwing something nasty at him just to see if That one's façade will crumble.]

[Stitch]

I am surprised you could stomach working on an application for IE, since you spout hate for it on a regular basis! What kind of application is it?

Also, since I am participating in the Game, and since you can't stand the thought of a happy/good/nice character existing without any torment/troubles/woes, does this mean I am...

I mean, I kind of have ten stars, there. </3