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| | Welcome to the lair of Afgncaap5! | |
Welcome one, welcome all. I'm Afgncaap5, or Affy Person, or Affy or Affie. And if you guess my real name, I'll answer to that as well. I'm also the proprietor, creator, and co-owner of Crater Labs, Inc., a company that exists for any possible mad-sci or adventure gear needs.
Not much new's happenin', but I decided that it was time to update the main page. "Why?" I hear you ask. Well, simply put, the message that I was back after a year's absence was about a year old. I've decided to remove that as the main feature. Don't worry, though, you can still see the wrap up of "FACE's Races" that details my absence a little ways down the screen1. Anyway, time to talk about me, as seems to be the developping fad amongst researchers here at the Guide.
A little about me, Affy
I'm going to become self-inflated and egotistical for a few moments here. It's my page, I can do that. Anyway, while probably not one of the most prominant or noticeable of entities on h2g2, I've at least managed to get to the point that I'm at least known and recognized by people on h2g2 who are prominant and noticeable. Peta can pick me out of a crowd of newbies (not that she's around as much these days); The Post editors know me; I've been a friend of people at the Aroma Cafe, Joanna's Donut Stall, H2G2 Waterworks and Beach, and the H2G2 Space Centre for quite some time now; I was a staff member for The Celery's campaign platform during the virtual election of 2004 (and I'm a friend of the winner of said election).
Similarly, I've been somewhat involved in one or two noteable events in H2G2's history. For one thing, to this day I'll still claim indirect responsibility for the First Annual H2G2 Parade's existence23 Meanwhile, who else can say that they both founded the most prominant H2G2 League Of Supervillains, STUMPED4 while also playing a role as a founding member of H2G2's most prominent league of heroes, CHOPPERS5? Oh, and I made a little company called Crater Labs, Incorporated. CLI hasn't done much to be noticeable, but it's been noticed.
Now then, I'll try to stop being egotistical now. I don't like it when other people are, so I can only assume that they don't like it when I am. I will say this: h2g2 has one of the coolest histories ever. I talked about my involvement up there because those are some of the parts of h2g2 history that I know the best. Go out and talk to some of the other people who were members before the BBC takeover, and get them to talk about the early days of h2g2. You'll hear great stories of how people shaped their own tiny little corner of this virtual paradise. We've got heroes, villains, baseball teas, radio stations, island resorts, all because some people stood up to the plate. Everyone seemed to know everyone else, despite the ridiculously large number of people in attendance.
Anyway, I'll shut up now. Later!
FACE's Races
FACE's current entry
*FACE appears*
FACE-And the winner is....AMPTON! That's right, Ampton, the robot who wasn't really even on the quest, managed to win the first place prize! While everyone else hopped through time and space (going from a warehouse on Earth that was being used as the hideout for a band of supervillains to a castle that was flying through outer space while serving as the acting home of five mad scientists to the Galaxy's most inescapable prison located on a desolate little asteroid on the opposite corner of the Galaxy), Ampton just took a vacation, strolled up a mountain for an afternoon's hike, and found Affy bound and gagged! Amazing how things work, eh? Anyway, the show's over, but you can still purchase tapes and DVDs of the entire show for a reasonable price. Anyway, that's all for now. Untill next time, see ya later!
*FACE vanishes*
FACE's fourth entry
*FACE appears*
FACE-Okay, we're down to the final stretch if you ask me! Most have abandoned Dr. Greklas' Castle at A1063324 because the action is taking place at the Andromed Way Prison found at the Galactic coordinates A1074494. A good amount of the action is currently occurring in the Vash The Stampede Memorial Corridor, home to some of the most destructive characters ever captured! Two new characters may have very well joined the quest, because two of the destructive villains present are researchers, not creations! And, as you may be surprised to know, one of these researchers is the notorious STUMPED member NYC6! Anyway, the villains of this corridor (who along with the two researchers are KineSphere and the Stupid Little Robot) were told by the Robot Warrior of B.E.T.T.E. to kill the protagonists in exchange for a free trip off of the Asteroid.
Along with the action here, two adventurers are currently trapped in a zone of non-space courtesy of the Althian Bounty Hunter. Trapped in his Telekinetic Cribs, they've met a philosophical Lizard-Rat Thing who doesn't speak much, but definitely seems to know a few things about what's going on. Kudos the Alien was with these two adventurers, but he escaped due to a horoscope-related accident. Anyway, these three have each been interrogated by Stephanie the Baby-Sitter (backed as always by her partner Tusk), though she has yet to determine what to do with them.
While this is happening, the last cadre of protagonists at the Prison has taken a shuttlecraft to a Mesa on the surface of the planet. However, the Mesa Top is slowly opening, allowing something to come out! What could it be? Stay tuned to find out!
And finally, the little robot Ampton is currently climbing Mt. SandEverest. Two researchers have IRL noticed him and posted, indicating that they're watching his climb. Not really related to the Andromeda Way Prison trip, but since the two researchers are both at AWP it seems worth mentioning. That's all for now! Good luck, as the winner will most likely find Affy shortly!
*FACE vanishes*
FACE's third entry
*FACE appears*
FACE-Well, it certainly appears as if things are getting interesting for the crowd. The adventurers have made it through the Castle of Dr. Greklas at A1063324, only to find that the scientists aren't quite as menacing as they at first seemed (evil yes, but menacing? Probably not at the moment at any rate). Aside from Kudos The Alien who is still stuck in The Arithmancer's Tower, all the other heroes and villains have by now made their way to the Dungeon of Dr. Harvey! The five scientists (Greklas, Harvey, Greg, Sartasmus, and The Arithmancer) have apparently joined forces in an attempt to destroy Afgncaap5, but have realized that their blending of strengths and weaknesses makes for a fairly potent power spread for other tasks. The current task that they're on? A jail break at The Andromeda Way Prison at A1074494! And who waits there? We'll find out. Now then, we've met Afgncaap5's descent, knick-named Afgncaap4 by Irving Washington....a daemon who disguised himself to look like Afgncaap5 (possibly Afgncaap% as a knick-name?) We've gotta be getting close to the real deal at this rate, right? Anyway, I've gotta get back to my Pad now. Don't forget, the contest is still open to anyone who thinks that they can find Afgncaap5! The previous stumbling blocks have all been destroyed by the groups before you, so it doesn't take too long to catch up! Five minutes of postings, and you to could be in the Dungeon.
*FACE vanishes*
FACE's second entry
*FACE appears*
FACE-Well then, the quest for Affy seems to be moving along fairly well! Jamie the Bounty Hunter quickly led everyone, STUMPED members and heroes alike, to the Coalition of Terror's headquarters at A1059743! There they battled Skip, the overlord of darkness; Avogadro, the clone of the chemist of the same name who attacked with his mol of moles and always spoke in third person; and VolTerror, a slightly more legitimate living electrical generator of a super villain! Now they're searching for Affy at the Castle of Dr. Greklas at A1063324! I recommend that you start in the Castle Grounds to see the Squid. Oh, and remember: the mysterious jewel of magic is still up for grabs to the first to find Affy! So far, the ratings are skyrocketing! Anyway, gotta get back to my pad. I'd bet that it's time to talk Thor down again. He gets kinda violent when he gets drunk.
*FACE vanishes*
FACE's first entry
*FACE appears*
FACE-Where has Afgncaap5 gone? What is he up to? Is he rolling in wealth, or in the hands of some cruel despot? Is he solving a puzzle, or sweating from pain? LET'S FIND OUT TODAY! First one to find Affy will receive this gem thing I have! Yeah, I know where he is. But hey, I'm a pan-dimensional being! Good luck! Oh, and you might wanna check Affy's most recent journal entry to get started. Heh-heh-heh....
*FACE vanishes*
1 Under the header "FACE's Races" for those of you who need to know.
2 You see, while it was Irving Washington who organized it all, the PTB who made it official, and Douglas Adams himself who gave it a blessing, I was the one who suggested the idea to Irv. Okay, so maybe that's the lousiest connection ever....but the connection exists.
3 Though, to be quite frank, someone else probably would have thought of something without my involvement. If not a parade, then a party, or a dance or a shindig or a hootenanny or a box social or a football game or soemthing.
4 Sinister Thinkers Unleashing Multifarious, Pernicious Evil Deeds
5 Something Heros Opposing something something Evil Rats from STUMPED.
6 NYC was one of the original founding five members of STUMPED, an incredibly destructive villain who's main powers seemed to be the way that he could survive incredible damage and the fact that he could carry a seemingly limitless supply of guns and explosives.
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Journal Entries
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| Welcome to this Researcher's Journal. If you'd like to comment on anything they have written here, just click the relevant 'Discuss this Entry' button. Submitted For Approval
4 Weeks Ago
Well, I've submitted another application for a rejection letter. By which I mean, submitted another short story to a magazine.
I can understand how some people are frustrated by the seemingly endless list of rejection letters, but... honestly? It's kinda fun to see how they've changed over time. Graduating from the form rejection letter, to the form rejection that has a hand-written note saying "Sorry" or something, to the polite "Sorry, not what we're looking for" to (my current favorite) "I'm sorry, but we've already got a story this month with a bell as the villain. Well... part of the villain, anyway." To think that I thought that last one was too outlandish. It wasn't original enough!
Anyway, now begins the waiting. Though I'm close enough to the end of another story that I'll likely get it sent out before I get this next rejection letter. I think it was Asimov who gave the "Don't sit on your stories" advice.
Gen-Con Plunder
Aug 10, 2011
I've recently returned from Gen-Con (or GenCon, I can never remember.) This event was more fun than I expected it to be, and I'm glad that I was invited to go. As a lifelong fan of games in all shapes and sizes, and a somewhat recentish (3 or so years) player of D&D, I enjoyed myself.
I went to a number of writing seminars held by the Writer's Symposium group, and they had many helpful tips for the style of writing that I want to do and the different markets I can attempt to do it in. Generally it was common-sense stuff, but it always feels better to hear it said by someone in the market, you know?
I also attempted to play the Munchkin World Cup Championship by playing in a qualifier tournament. I didn't win, but I was glad that I beat the fellow who had all these little bonuses (a T-shirt that gave him an extra level at the start, signatures on the shirt that gave him extra treasure, etc.) I don't mind the bonuses that he got, but he took a certain glee in waving the bonuses at us that I didn't care for. Is that petty of me? Eh, probably. Petty is part of the game when you play Munchkin.
I also had a chance to play 1st edition (aka Advanced) D&D with someone who helped to develop the game with Gary Gygax at a charity event called "The Tower of Gygax." I can officially say that 1st Edition D&D is more like the 3.5 version that I prefer than 4th edition is. But then again, I'm not surprised.
The issue of plunder must be discussed. I had limited funding, but my shopping list consisted of three items.
First: I found an amazing RP game called Cosmic Patrol. Developed by Catalyst Games, it's very rules light and doesn't have a GM (though you still have a Lead Narrator position that rotates between the players.) Ultimately, the goal is to tell a good story, not win or lose. Thematically, it's everything that was wonderful about the sci-fi serial movies and pulp magazine stories of yesteryear, throwing psychic moon men or venusian automen at you constantly.
Next: Zombie Dice. Steve Jackson Games created Zombie Dice to be easy to learn, easy to play, and requiring almost no set up. If you've got ten spare minutes, you can play this game, and you'll likely have lots of fun doing so.
Finally: The Adventurers: The Pyramid of Horus. I regret to say that I just barely ran out of money before purchasing this, but I fully intend to buy it in a few months when Fantasy Flight Games begins selling it officially. It's the most fun I've had playing a board game in years. Apparently it's a sequel to a game called The Adventurers. In this one, you're dashing into a pyramid and searching the sarcophogi, piles of debris and alligator pit to see if you can find the lost treasures. You need to avoid the wandering (and surprisingly fast) mummies, and you also need to get out before enough blocks fall from the ceiling to seal you in forever. When I played with four other people, we pushed our luck just long enough, because as we started moving out a block fell behind us, perfectly sealing the main chamber of the pyramid.
Lots of fun, and I'm considering going back next year.
Architect
Mar 12, 2011
Those who know much about my frequent online activities know that I'm a big fan of the MMO known as City of Heroes. The main draw for me is the "Lore" of the game. As a writer and as a long-time fan of serialized adventure stories and classic pulp fiction, I really appreciate how the information trickles gradually to the player, starting as early as level 1. You don't realize the true significance of some of the things that the people in the city around you mumble until levels thirty or forty.
I think what keeps me playing, though, are the smaller systems. Heaven help me, I'm even a fan of the Gladiator matches in the Arena (the only system that Matt "Positron" Miller lists as a "failure." Come on, Matt, it's a great idea. It's like if the X-Men's danger room was used to play out a single battle of a Risk game.) One of the more noticeable "smaller" systems is Architect Entertainment, a kind of "Virtual Reality Arcade" where your players can go in game and design missions and story lines for other people to play.
Anyway, this last week I had a surprising number of comments coming in about one story line in particular. First it was surprising because it's rare to ever get comment messages about Architect Entertainment (AE) games. It was also surprising in that the story they picked, "A Very Merry Saturnalia", is about two months out of season. (Incidentally, I think that since The Warriors are a street gang that emulate the weapons and philosophies of ancient Greek and Roman warriors in modern days, and since the game lets you travel back in time to a place that is basically an amalgamation of ancient Greece/Rome/Cimeria, it's a travesty that there's no officially sanctioned story line bringing those two together.)
It was fun receiving player comments. Especially the one that said that "it was too short" but gave me a high ranking anyway. That's not *quite* Neil Gaiman's favorite three words ("What happens next?") but it's approaching that ballpark.
Man, I love writing.
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I have a reason to live in Scotland
Mar 1, 2011
http://uk.kotaku.com/5772054/the-gr...ottish-future-of-role+playing-games
As a life long fan of Infocom games...as a lover of interactive fiction in all its forms...and as someone who appreciates how the rules of a contest, when adhered to, can so perfectly simulate an advanced parser...this show...would you call it a game show?...is why I want to live in Scotland.
Don't get me wrong. For years I've wanted to go to Scotland. To see the sights, experience the culture both ancient and modern, all that kind of thing...but as a nerd, I really, really want to be somewhere where I can experience this regularly.
...it's been cancelled, hasn't it? The only things this awesome that I learn about get cancelled quickly.
You will need a Raygun in the end, but Not to shoot a Vorticon
Feb 7, 2011
Well, my sister and I were at odds about who should win. I wanted the team with the closest ties to Commander Keen to win, and she wanted the team most likely to be featured in a future M. Night Shyamalan film to win.
Fortunately, Commander Keen won in the end. High score, all four ship parts collected, you're back from Mars before your parents get home.
I also don't have to watch a Shyamalanathon.
I will, though. As one of, I think, a dozen people in the world who still really, really likes his movies, I still will.
I've not seen Devil yet. I should get around to that.
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