| News |
| "Roll the dice to see if I'm getting drunk"
I've just been informed that the work I had planned on doing this evening has already been done for me. And you ask yourself - how often does that happen to you?? Anyway, Heroboy has provided us with some funny Dungeons & Dragons media, to help offset the rather dry post from earlier. Also note, that from now on, you can listen to any songs or quotes in our new Music section. Dungeons & Dragons Session Spoof 2 'I'm Always The First To Die' -November 7, 2001 |
| Surprise Controversial Update!
A truly intriguing website was brought to my attention by an alert reader. I am about to present you with an issue you're either going to strongly believe or disbelieve in. I don't think anyone that would come to this site on purpose could be in a 'grey' area for what I'm about to show you. Normally I don't get mixed up in something that will often result in an argument that has no winners, but I was completely, absolutely flaberghasted by the content of this page - exerpts presented in our Input section, called The Devil and the Di. Once again, I warn you, especially if you have strong religious (of any religion, however) feelings. -November 3, 2001 |
| I Don't Want To Go To Toronto!
I really don't like this time of the year. My ship has to be drydocked and scrubbed clean, the Pirate Den has to be boarded up and insulated for the cold winter months to come, and I have a stack of paperwork to fill out for the IRS - they called me on Tax Evasion last year. Apparently I didn't claim all my looting and plundering for income tax purposes. Anyway, please enjoy a little tune about where I live, and the Flash titlebar Banjo has figured out how to create. -November 1, 2001 |
| Everyone Remember Where We Parked!
I was sitting here, working away on a few things, when my mind began to wander (as it often does when I'm reading about the Unified Modelling Language). I remembered all the things from my life that aren't around any more. You know, the whole wavey-screen flashback thing. So here are 4 things that came to mind, portrayed in something I'd like to call Whatever Happened To.... *** The EverQuest Emulator *** I went on and on and on about how much I was hoping this project got finished sometime before I died of old age, so we'd have a nice game server to hang out on. Then later I just threw my hands up and forgot about the idea. Want to know why? I tell you what, take a look at the EthernalQuest message board and see if you can put up with that for a few months! You'd really have to read every thread from the last year to do it justice. I don't recommend that, though - it would doom you to permanent insanity. *** The Original Castle Wolfenstein *** Back when I had an Apple DirtVac for a computer (circa 1285), I had the privilege of playing this game. Long before it saw the light of 3D, Wolfenstein was loved by many a puzzle-solving fan. This game is also freaking, freaking HARD. Give your brain some Game Mana at the Underdogs site. *** All Those Dead Seamonkies From The Day Banjo Was Born... *** Well it's not like *I* would clean something like *THAT* up! Good news, though. The Official SeaMonkies Page explains it all. *** The 'Lair of the Sorceress' Ultima Online Shard *** Yeah, I realized it had been some time since I complained about this blight upon the Web Community, so I snuck back on to see what had changed to make it "very different from the Lair". To name a few: 1) For reference sake, the shard is currently called Abnormal Flirtation, but not before it was called The Magic Trap. Why the influx in the name? I have no idea. Might have something to do with the staff's inconsistent 'creative direction' (ie They can't decide how to decorate the 'Staff-Only' dungeon). 2) Gone are the several different breeds of horses (the only difference between them was their name and color), and in their place are now several different breeds of 'raptors' ... individuals, but again only by their name and color ... I guess making new monsters for a shard is difficult. 3) After just about every player suggested it since May, magically the staff suddenly came up with the idea of player character races. Imagine that. 4) Mostly the same useless staff to stand around and chat with as before, but with all new names! 5) The lack of shard activity is no longer blamed on "kiddie hackers" or personal health problems. They've moved onto blaming international terrorism angst. I'm looking forward to when it's either the Devil's fault, or inflation. 6) Your average shard player has now dropped to this level of intelligence. 7) Updates still come at the speed of lint, but now they're so painfull you wish they had never been concieved in the first place. Halloween Town, anyone? Well, that certainly was a bit of fun. Hope everyone enjoys this little break from the normal grind of life. But before I go, I leave you with this: 
Please don't let your children use the Internet unsupervised. Talk to them. Otherwise, they might end up playing on 'Abnormal Flirtation'. (Administrator pictured above) -October 23, 2001 |
| Do you mind? Your hair is distracting ...
Anthrax and Protests. Only on a Tuesday. Today started off with a kick. Someone thought it'd be cute if they put a bunch of white stuff at the front of my lecture room this morning. Granted, everyone in the room knows full well that my CPS611 course is not exactly high up there on the terrorist target hitlist, but if nobody claims it and nobody sees somebody put it there, it's currently school policy to kick us out and send in the guys with the walkytalkies. Personally, it was probably the same guy who kept pulling the fire alarm (several days in a row, no less) a few weeks ago. I guess they just don't like the Unified Modelling Language. Granted, as Mischief Pirates, we like to have fun - but this today was so stupid it hurt to laugh so much. Ontop of that, most of the downtown city area was filled with funny (and kinda stinky, might I add) protestors who are against poverty. One with particularily scarey hair singled me out on my way home to tell me that "my rights and freedoms were under attack". He went onto say some other soapbox stuff afterwards too, but I can't really remember it because I was too busy trying to figure out how he managed to get his hair to stay like that. It looked like a bush I have in my backyward. You know, Plato warned us that this would happen. Poor people are a tradeoff of democracy ... well, actually Plato said democracy was a bad thing because all the poor people were too stupid to have all the governmental power and make all the decisions. Oh we have poor people, but the people who run government are living quite comfortably - they just tend to be stupid. I don't need people who think it's cool to throw a newspaper box into the street telling me I need to understand homeless people better. I live in this city. I walk past these homeless people everyday. Do not yell at me about people I apparently "can't see", nor about my supposed "dissolving rights" - freedoms few of us understand what it would be like to live without, anyway. Either rant about something you're actually informed about, or get the spoot out of my way! I missed breakfast. In better news, Zero, who plays as Aust Nailo, has offered to write up our Dungeons&Dragons stories. It's grand to have someone with writing skill on the webpage, and I'm anxious to see a nice non-DM spin on our fun. I am also looking forward to the end of the current adventure, The House on Gryphon Hill, to see how it ends. I'm sure all of you are looking forward to the rest of the story. -October 16, 2001 |
| Nabisco make ... FIXAY FIXAY!
Well, I'm pleased that our first Dungeons&Dragons session was quite fun. I think I'll benefit from further sessions to better my ability to DM in OpenRPG, but overall I'm very pleased with everyone's participation and their characters. I'm trying to find a solution to the "Nabisco's network sucks and hence he can't host at the moment" problem, so stay tuned. In the mean time, just think of it as playing D&D at each other's houses. Also D&D related, check out the 'Cast of Characters' addition under the PLAY button - there you can read up on all the major characters in the story. In Member news, Trokair has updated his theme song. It's pretty catchy, but my advice is actually watching an episode of "Deep Fried, Live!". It kinda makes you feel all warm and tingley inside. -October 9, 2001 |
| Learning to Talk Italian
(with AltaVista's Babel Fish) Inghiottire-tue i vostri cervelli? Have you swallowed your brains? Il portello è fatto di minestra. The door is made of soup. Sembrate belli dal lucecandele, compagno. You look lovely by the candlelight, buddy. Ciò non è la mia pozza. This is not my puddle. Non lasciare il portello colpirlo quando siete stupido. Don't let the door hit you when you're stupid. -October 1, 2001 |
| Learning to Think Recursively
Sorry about the delay of our first Dungeons & Dragons session. It seems that members and non-members alike are a little tied up this weekend. Expect an announcement mid-week coming up in the mail, about a specfic time and place we'll be playing. On a related note, not only will each adventure make for great content for the Stories section, but I plan on hosting a decent blurb on each major character (both PC and NPC) from our little sessions. Soon you'll see your character in lights! -September 29, 2001 |
| Today is a Very Special Day
It is Laundry Day, but that's not what I'm referring to. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm pleased to announce that the big shiney blue PLAY button over there is now working. And you know what that means? It means the Mischief Pirates are now hosting their own Dungeons&Dragons campaign. Push the button for more details if you're interested. And to kick things off in our new age of RPGness, I've added a story that came to light from a fellow DM and his fun with a Wishing Imp. If you haven't thought of it already, DnD is a great source for Mischief Pirate Tales material. -September 18, 2001 |
| At Least Expiration Dates Are Accurate
I have some dreadful news to tell you all. If you're brave enough, read it here. Now that that's out of the way, I'm sure you're all wondering where the spoot the game server is. Well, as it turns out, the EverQuest Emu community is currently going through some form of insurrection, so I wouldn't expect a working copy of the emu for another couple of weeks. However, to cheer us up, Banjo has brought to my attention some research he's done into online Dungeons&Dragons sessions. As you might recall from earlier, NeverWinterNights was indeed one of our choices for a game server - allowing us to play a consistant and fun storyline in a great system. The only catch is that NwN may not even be out until Febuary at the latest? So if the EQEmu falls though, here's Banjo's idea: OpenRPG. It's essentially an overglorified chat program tailored for RPGs. I used to say the same thing about Ultima Online, but we all know there's about as much "role play" as there is graphical qualtiy in that game. So I guess what I need to do now is design a decent campaign for people to join in if the EQEmu thing falls flat, while Banjo figures out how the heck Python works (the heartbeat of the OpenRPG system). However, I'd certainly like your input on this. Email Banjo if you yourself are swinging more towards the game server being an EQEmu or a DnD thing. In other news, for those of you who have Half-Life (and I'm proud to announce I actually OWN this game now. No kidding), check out the "Pirates, Vikings and Knights" mod. I have never met such a hilarious and dedicated mod community before. Last night I was blessed with a "kin-nig-it" coming up to me and saying "All Hail!" ala UO style. My reply was my musket. Enough was said. :) -September 8, 2001 |
| Even the Cruddy Things Come to End. Go figure.
It's not really news when it's just the end of a tale that took several months to finish. Admin Abby was kind of to email me today - I guess I was equal on the list with "getting a pacemaker". How about that! I've never been such a focus of a complete stranger's life before. Anyway, feel free to see the message she left for her dwindling fanbase and also the message she sent to me. And of course, when somebody throws a lemon at you, well ... I'm sure you can picture the rest. In other news, I'm still waiting for word on the EverQuest server thing. I'm going to be cheesed if the whole project gets swept under the VaporWare rug. However, as I said before, regardless of what the future holds we will still have some kind of game server. We're just not sure what game ;). I've given Banjo a little holiday during the wait. -September 6, 2001 |
| Work, monkey! Work!
Two things. First off, please welcome our newest member Locke Vanthor. Most of you will remember him as the brother of Trokair, both of which have been responsible for not only some pretty zaney events but some decent UO scripts too. I guess this would mean official membership is now up 33% ... The second timbit, which is actually the size of a large car, is that it looks as though the man with the plan is going with an EverQuest server. I'm just waiting for a few things with the emulator to get done, while at the same time Banjo is working madly at the other end of the room to figure out how to host the server. When I give the signal, that giant PLAY button on the right is going to mean a lot of fun for us all. -September 4, 2001 |
| Tabula Rasa
I'm going on a bit of a hiatus the next few days, long enough for their not to be an update this weekend. For those of you who want to relfect on the past, feel free to browse the Archive section Banjo added, where all news from previous seasons will be kept. Trokair has also sent us two new fabulous inventions for use in Ultima Online. -August 29, 2001 |
