I wanted to venture a suggestion that we make an effort to archive the current (11/27—alpha) discussion board before everything gets plowed under. Would be a nice thing to refer to once alpha recedes into the mists of time. I have some space to use, but couldn’t archive the entire thing. Comments?

Happy Thanksgiving too all my fellow American GNE-ers! Gobble Gobble Gobble!

Love,
Kallese

Eric, dear, you’re in my dreams
I wonder what it really means?

Does seeing your face make my heart fonder?
I’ll stare some more while I sit & ponder

And while away hours to reload
Your very ticklish java code

Surfing net for another server
Only serves to fuel my fervor

Dare I peek? Great Zeus, the terror!
I just recieved another error

But I am comforted you see
By your face looking back at me

Assuring me I’ll be online
In only 20 seconds time

Arcane Eric, please say when you
Go to sleep, see my face too

(You know it’s just to mess wit’ ya’,
I really fancy inspoetica)

Notes rock! They are to me in game what napkins are to me in life…i do my best writing on napkins…keep your eye out for Poems by me lying around different places! I’ve already done one!

Notes are fun!

Due to a generous grant form the Kallese^® Foundation and viewers like you, there’s a new game in town. That town is Stencilton and that game is Renaissance Trivia (also known when I’m tired as “tricia,” because I can not type well.)

In Renaissance Times, artists were endowed by wealthy patrons. The trivia game works like this: When i am logged on and things are quiet, I will begin a 3-20 question game of trivia for which the prizes are donated by generous sponsors. Thus far, we have had prizes donated by James, Yeoz, OldTasty, Capodistria and likely others I am (I’m sorry!) forgetting and a healthy endowment for the undertaking has been provided by the generous Kallese as well. Both before and after the question, the sponsor is announced.

Most prizes have been paper, but some have included bonus materials, like Bras, Whips, GNEs, genomes and other fabulous gifts. All in the game at the time of the competitions are welcome to play. If you’d like to donate prize materials please IM me when you hand thenm over so I can properly credit you at the time your questions are used in the game. Topics range from the high minded to the low brow, and when a question is answered incorrectly, the prize is either combined with the next prize for the following question (lightning rounds, comprised of 5 questions or fewer) or returned to the pool(longer games with 5+ questions.)

It should be noted that the term “Renaissance” applies to the method of sponsorship and not the topics covered in the game, although occasionally period specific questions have arisen. This is an ongoing “performance” that hopefully is both fun and puts out some valuable “cash” prizes.

Apolgia: Sorry for all the quotes in the post.

For those who don’t regularly check the Ludus Art Pages (and you should, you really should), here is the transcript of tonight’s Late Night Haiku II — a poetry free-for-all which generated over forty entries many which are quite quite good.

I propose a new form of multi-user performance art, and I christen it “GNE Pinball”. I welcome contributions from all denizens of GNE to help me realise this ambition. Here is what I have so far:

One player is the “ball”.
Other players are stationary in their hub.
The “ball” moves from hub to hub at whim, until they come to an occupied hub.
The player(s) in that hub now become “balls” whereas the original “ball” is now stationary.
Play proceeds until some predifined end point (eg first player to hub X).

Now, there are some (!) questions that are left to answer:

How do we know that the game is being played fairly?
How do we know when someone has won?
What happens when two “balls” collide?
How do we know who is playing?
Can we incorporate people as “barriers”?
Flippers?

Of course, the game doesn’t have to be played for any particular purpose or goal, as demonstrated by those of us who played a nascent form of this game on 19th November.

Come on folks, lets hear some suggestions…

Attention all you single men! Always dreamed of marrying Miss America, or some other beautiful Pageant queen? Maybe this chick is a little more attainable…

Miss Captivity!

Madame

I am Madame Mephistophila
Tenacious, repacious…Envious and vain
I hide behind my iron mask
To hide this cherub pain

Her limbs are crested gold and red
Regal and secure
They lash about like shrapnel birds
Intent on being heard

She hides between two crevices
One stone and one of blood
She’ll offer you a heart of gold
And fill your mouth with mud

So wary well and tarry there
Within your crystal shell
Hands of aid mean nothing here…

She’ll drag you down to Hell.

She is Madame Mephistophila
Tenacious, repacious…Envious and vain
She’s kept behind a selfish mask
To hide such beautiful pain

~November 18, 2002~

GNE tip #19: When you chat, you’re chating to everyone logged into the game. We may be changing this so only people in the same location can hear each other.
Say it isn’t so! The chat is the television of GNE. It is our GNN. It allows everyone to be involved, or at least informed about things that are occurring right now in the game. I often leave the window open while I am working, just to have the background ‘noise’, and keep in touch with what is going on in my other world. If I have a complete conversation I need to hold with another player, I simply use the IM. If the chat is fractioned, then it would limit such happenings as the attempted PARP uprising, or even our impromptu trivia quizes. We need to maintain a global communique. It is vital to the dynamics of the game.

I’ve come to the conclusion I’m never seeing the top 10 in any category, but I wanted a special place of honor so after coming up with the slogan:

MAGICK: the Extra K is for Special^{SM, TM ® ©}

I decided that a) Capodistria fans will now be called “Tutti de Capodistria” aka “the mob” and I am b) appointing myself Vice President in Charge of Naming Things and Making Up Slogans. So if you need something named, or a slogan for something, I’m the go to gal. Plus I feel more special.

I’ve seen his face so many times tonight.

So many, many times.

Here is an Ode to Eric and his Eric Screen of Death.

I think we should have a festival, or a feast day - perhaps to celebrate the first day that GNE went live. Rituals are a common social thread, and GNE unquestionably fits the definition of a society. Because the nature of the game is perpetual, and the scope of it is global, a gathering day would give us all a better opportunity to visit with players we normally do not get to interact with.

The “Slap a Mime” performance piece was a success! The only disappointment was that some time in the late afternoon an error shut down my browser and I lost the chat log record. But I did get a couple of screenshots that I will crop and post.

I only lost a thousand sheckels - not as much as I had feared. But I gained so much more! Not the least of which was 50916 pounds of items in my inventory which included: 100 harpsichords, a monk fish, 13 sides of beef, intellectual property, enlightenments, diamonds, a slightly dog-eared Trista Trilby songbook, a Lady of the Hardwood Court bra, gold nuggets, rejuvenating sparkle powder, Queen d’Nile prettifying potion, 299 silken secrets action bras, and several sheets of purple paper. Kudos to all of the generous people who lugged that much stuff over to my spot!

New/poor players take note: standing in a hub and taking player abuse can be a very profitable undertaking!

I was able to retrieve enough of the chat log to determine that there was a mob attack perpetrated by Leia, capodistria and inspoetica late in the evening; however, there were several other attacks throughout the day which went unrecorded. I did get to witness one ‘run-by stabbing’ by Jean Baudrillard - it was stealthy and fast - very nicely executed.

You’d be surprised at how many people want to slap a mime. I was just glad to provide an outlet for all of the mime-based aggression before any real mimes got hurt.

Imagine a mime… that you can slap with impunity. You know you’ve always wanted to do that.

I have logged into the GNE before work this morning and I will be leaving the game running at home while I’m at the office. Slime me, stab me, give me things…. whatever you feel like contributing to the piece, I won’t react until 6:30 when I return. I will be performing this piece of art in Plaza de la Revolucion all day today. If you appreciate the art you can either give me a tip or toss it in the “box” in front of me.

Oh and uh.. easy on the New Economies. I’m nouveau riche, you know.

inspoetica, inspoetica, inspoetica - that name is now synonymous with GNE, addiction, high scores, and well now t-shirts! Yes, those 20th century innovations where you can advertise your thoughts, feelings, attitudes, brands, etc.

And now inspoetica, along with the some other Paperlane/Ludus Perpetuus/GNE folks would like to see what “inspoetica related” ideas you’d like to see put on a t-shirt! All entries, can be posted as comments, and the winner (chosen by inspoetica and others, if inspoetica feels like consulting them) will receive a FREE AUTOGRAPHED T-SHIRT by INSPOETICA!

Here are some ideas that have already surface on GNE global chat “I’m inspoetica from the GNE” “I am NOT inspoetica from the GNE” “If I were inspoetica from the GNE, I’d be playing right now” The last one by Selva Morales is my current favorite.

What are your ideas?

I just woke from a dream where I tried to drop some junk in the dump, but mysteriously the result was a “drop all.” If I had a therapist, she would have a field day with this.

Made a GNE today and got to Level 12, and felt so free and airy, like a kind of end-of-term feeling. Went and cashed in my paper and dropped or gave away my other stuff, and carrying just my Corey doll went and stood in the Plaza, the place where I entered all those weeks ago.
It was noon UK time, quiet and peaceful. The leaves rustled on the paper tree, and the muffled sound of the organ coming from Our Lady’s mingled with the cries of the bingo players at the Center. I felt as if I would just dry up and blow away.
Then I went over to Consume, ordered the most expensive stuff on the menu and ate till I felt sick.

In the canning room of Steinbeck’s Cannery, I placed 1242 Inconceivably Powerful Breathmints as my little art installation, such as it is. I call it “Smells Like GNE Spirit” and I fully expect it will be consumed within the week.

Let me pose this question to anyone who cares to take a swipe at it - will there be a deliniation between those who achieved their level 12 status and continue to play fo the sicial and enabling aspects early and those who are the “next generation” Level 12s? In other words, will the little world of GNE develop and old money/new money split?

Well, this is short n’ sweet.

Hello Everyone!!!!!!
I LOVE GNE!!!!

That’s pretty much it!

Maybe GNE should integrate a recipe like this into the game.

Did anyone else find themselves mousing over the graphic at the top of the page?

Friday night I settled down for a bit of GNE only to 404 at the gate. Ever hopeful, I tried again a bit later to find “0 players online.” Login, refresh, “1 players online.” Wind howled through the forest, pins dropped with booming echo in Civic Center. I was alone one minute, two minutes. GOD mentioned something about papers blue. Refueled by more than a few yerba mates, I hit the road in search of desire. Sheep called in the distance and water lapped the shores as I sat alone in the world, just me and my GOD. Paradise found? Hardly. Chatboard empty, bisque for one — a lonely place indeed.

Enter Toru. Saved.

The Stencilton Public Library is pleased to announce the following recent acquisitions:

Literature
Tales of The City of Dreadful Night by Armistead Lovecraft
Don Quixote by Pierre Menard

Art & Architecture
Hubs & Lines: Toward a New Fundamental Model of Urban Planning and Design
Nation Sack Chicken Tree Pyramid: The Genesis of Modern Art

History & Culture
The Gangs of Fisticuffs
Absinthe Fairies: Fact or Fiction?

Science & Mathematics
Introductory Nebulation: The Carebear Cycle
Robert’s Rules of Regeneration
Why Condoms Grow in the Forest and other Mysteries of Modern Science

Self-Help & Cooking
Beyond Reams & Quires: How to improve your Making Skill and Get the Life You’ve always Wanted!
The Joy of Carrot Loaf

Philosophy & Childrens Books
One Sheet, Two Sheet, Red Sheet, Blue Sheet
Bobbleton Balls Bounce! Bounce!
The Ontology of the GNE Universe (or Why one piece of Swedish Furniture is like any other piece of Swedish Furniture)
Puny Humans!: The Wit and Wisdom of God

We currently only hold about 500 copies of each book which will be regenerated every 20 minutes so come quickly before they all disappear!

Your Humble Librarian,

Jorge Luis Capodistria

Papermaking instructions!

Macerate 2.5 kilograms of dried wormwood, 5 kilograms of anise and 5 kilograms of fennel in 95 liters of 85 percent ethanol by volume. Let the mixture steep for at least 12 hours in the pot of a double boiler. Add 45 liters of water and apply heat; collect 95 liters of distillate. To 40 liters of the distillate, add 1 kilogram of Roman wormwood, 1 kilogram of hyssop and 500 grams of lemon balm, all of which have been dried and finely divided. Extract at a moderate temperature, then siphon off the liquor, filter, and reunite it with the remaining 55 liters of distillate. Dilute with water to produce approximately 100 liters of absinthe with a final alcohol concentration of 74 percent by volume (4).

Carrot Loaf
3 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups corn oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups uncooked carrots, grated
1 cup walnuts, chopped
1 can pineapple, crushed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In large bowl sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.

In separate bowl, beat together eggs and sugar until pale yellow. Beat in oil and vanilla.

Stir in sifted ingredients. Fold in carrots, walnuts and pineapple.

Butter and gently flour a 10 inch bundt pan or loaf pan. Pour batter into pan.

Bake 1 hour and 10 minutes or until cake tester comes out dry.

Just found this quote from St Anselm:

Why, little man, do you run from one thing to another, searching for the goods of your soul and of your body? Love the one good in which are all goods, and that will suffice.

Not sure if it’s entirely apposite, but I liked it.

Welcome to the re-launch of Paper Lane, a collaborative blog by and for members of the GNE community.

Eglantine came up with the idea, and I (foolishly?) volunteered to set up and moderate the project. Though it’s hosted on a different server, Paper Lane can be considered a part of Ludus Perpetuus, Eggy’s wonderful GNE ‘zine.

Finally, thanks to the excellent folks at Ludicorp for creating GNE!

One of the problems with GNE is that there’s no danger! Don’t you want to get mugged in The Glums? Or chased by a wraith in The Foglands?

I just wanted to share with you this quote from Borges that made me think of the game:

Through the years a man peoples a space with images of provinces, kingdoms, mountains, bays, ships, islands, fishes, rooms, tools, stars, horses, and people. Shortly before his death, he discovers that the patient labyrinth of lines traces the images of his own face.

I’d like to contribute this haiku I wrote, particularly since it is incomprehensible to anyone outside the game….

online gaming
late into the autumn night—
red leaves, red paper

The goal of the evening? 100,000 jars of fireflies in a grassy area in Soso.

This afternoon I put 777 copies of several objects in Room 101 of Rital Inn.

I didn’t announce it as an installation, I just did it. Took me about an hour.

There were webs, metafilters, design fetish magazines, breath mints, and animes.

I made it a combination of time-wasting stuff.

The reason I didn’t announce it is because I don’t think installations can be successful in GNE. And installation is something that’s permanent. Or permanent at the discretion of the artist. And most objects in GNE can be consumed or moved.

But it was terribly fun. This evening, all of it was gone except for the Design Fetish magazine. All of those were intact and present. And I found one lucky player who had diligently made off (and profited from) the Metafilters.

Installations (as a player) make me nervous, because I’m constantly wary of touching someone else’s stuff. But putting them together is great fun.