You can also return to the MI Index or to the main Last Homely House.
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ m m mm mm t ee m m m m oo nnn sss t ee rrrr e e m m m o o n n s tttt e e r eeee m m o o n n ssss t eeee r News 02-25-94 e m m o o n n s t e r ee m m oo n n sss tt ee r #22 +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Headlines this time: Far Place List (big) Publication data: eMonster News is published ideally on the 25th of each month, come hell or high water. Publisher and Editor is warden@einet.com; send all submissions, questions, letters of comment, and subscription info to that address. eMonster News is distrubted free for the asking to anyone able to receive it on INTERNET, CompuServe, GEnie, Delphi, America Online, Prodigy, or any other service tied into the net. Current press run: 131. To avoid problems with my mailer, I send this out in batches; for a full listing of players on the net, send a note to Scott (below). eMonster News is not affiliated with Adventures By Mail in any way, and nothing in here is necessarily official. We like to think they like us, though. Please copy, post, print, or otherwise distribute this newsletter to as many players as you can; especially if they have email access. We want to promote this here game! Editor & Publisher Scott Micheel warden@einet.com Keeper of Blurbs Aaron Fuegi fuegi@cs.colostate.edu Group Man Brian Derks normandyknight@cup.portal.com Monster Mapper & MI BBS Jim Wuerch 71203.255@compuserve.com Capture Creature Captain Larry Barrows lrdbear@aol.com Statmaster Jack Vinson vinson@unagi.cis.upenn.edu Seeker of Demigods Ben Vincent bjvincen@mtu.edu Lord of the Hard Sell Tom Richardson salmanila@aol.com +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ I would like to make sure everyone knows about my change of email address: Please send your stuff to warden@einet.com instead of warden@triton.unm.edu . If you send it to the old address, it will probably still be forwarded to me, but it may be delayed. Also, some people have had trouble reaching me at this address. Should this occur, I reccomend sending to this messy thing: warden%einet.com@triton.unm.edu , which should reach me too. *I* am having trouble reaching certain people from here too, most notably anybody on bitnet. I *think* I have rerouted and can reach everyone now, but if you know of anyone who doesn't receive this issue, please have them contact me. As of January, I now also post this newsletter to the rec.games.pbm newsgroup, and it is also available on the Bif's Monster Resort BBS. +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ FAR STUFF This is a listing of all known Far places, in alphabetical order to help anyone trying to find his location. If you have any additions or corrections to this list, please send them in. As always, this list is in the Net coordinate system. Far Inns ----------------------------------------- # name y x 506 Black Swan 440 484 449 Blazing Arrowhead 387 484 414 Blushing Lady 288 482 049 Bottom Hill 259 427 773 Broken Shield 433 430 152 Claw & Tooth 380 403 957 Cocked Spyglass 240 478 029 Cracked Skull 359 383 966 Crooked Nose 252 377 577 Dark Eagle's Nest 401 442 914 Dragon's Tale 274 395 816 Drokorn's Sted 407 404 700 Grackle,Grouse,& Grail 439 390 665 Grimley's Fiendish Spot 329 379 520 Hamilton's Cove 234 417 416 Happy Junglemon 331 426 131 Illuminated Torch 471 437 694 Jolly Ogre 356 484 394 Lion's Fill 294 428 056 Odd Terepus 496 395 615 Ribuld's Arms 489 472 031 Spear & Club 366 428 327 Speckled Pheasant 504 427 109 Spotted Beak 468 399 964 Twisted Tablor 302 394 Far Forges ---------------------------------------- # name y x 522 Axlbar's Fine Stop FF ? ? 998 Boarstead FF 300 473 692 Dark Anvil FF 250 471 833 Formondon FF ? ? 557 Korn's Hammer FF 500 477 410 Polished Rod FF 448 475 607 Silver Hook FF 346 483 027 Spigot Red's FF 388 483 (may be 389y) Far Posts ---------------------------------------- note, code "v" means this post appeared on at least two lists, and is probably correct. "+" means that it appeared on two lists, but on the other list the location was +36y. Probably just a translation error, but if one of 'em's wrong, the whole category probably is. "?" means I think there's a speling error. "s" means hightly speculative. # name code y x 366 Dallan's FP v 455 370 848 Dallar's FP + 277 350 078 Dallon's FP 456 435 450 Dallor's FP v 478 375 749 Daltor's FP v 440 418 788 Daslar's FP 277 350 613 Daslok's FP 287 344 (may be 288y, 346x) 224 Daslon's FP + 292 405 025 Dastak's FP + 256 377 001 Dastan's FP v 400 318 589 Dillan's FP v 307 430 619 Dillon's FP 455 340 444 Dillor's FP 274 435 067 Diltak's FP 307 309 (may be 310x) 237 Diltan's FP v 410 344 907 Diltok's FP 393 346 810 Dilton's FP 262 350 372 Dislan's FP 349 310 861 Dislok's FP + 334 294 (may be 307x) 733 Dislon's FP 306 338 494 Dislor's FP 482 436 347 Distan's FP + 321 338 179 Distok's FP 353 342 775 Diston's FP 326 422 (may be 423y, 362x) 689 Distor's FP + 265 419 591 Fallan's FP 259 397 019 Fallor's FP v 490 346 132 Faltan's FP + 347 374 495 Faltar's FP v 478 415 473 Faslak's FP ? ? 844 Faslar's FP v 439 375 319 Faslon's FP + 366 388 453 Faslor's FP 465 349 (may be 296x) 371 Fastan's FP + 325 376 209 Fillan's FP 497 419 (may be 498y) 127 Filtan's FP v 464 308 505 Fillar's FP ? ? 703 Fillok's FP 401 413 004 Filtok's FP v 481 354 858 Filton's FP v 425 355 718 Filtor's FP v 436 402 057 Fislar's FP v 409 433 192 Fislok's FP + 334 335 999 Fislor's FP + 368 406 467 Fistan's FP 300 386 165 Hokan's FP ? 289 469 008 Kallan's FP 418 421 579 Kallar's FP + 284 374 185 Kallok's FP v 437 345 650 Kallon's FP v 509 342 002 Kallor's FP v 469 318 055 Kastan's FP 399 373 967 Kaslar's FP 381 399 045 Kastar's FP 239 403 569 Killak's FP + 322 401 447 Killon's FP 504 264 904 Killor's FP v 496 376 081 Kiltak's FP + 294 313 199 Kiltar's FP 305 366 785 Kiltok's FP ? ? 674 Kilton's FP 388 316 (may be 317x) 271 Kiltor's FP + 371 364 191 Kison's FP ? 389 475 768 Kislon's FP 320 307 (may be 308x) 064 Kistan's FP 376 309 951 Kistar's FP 420 376 507 Kistok's FP ? ? 233 Kiston's FP 493 314 990 Kistor's FP v 412 398 082 Migton's FP 498 465 173 Seltuk's FP 439 471 154 Talor's FP ? 353 474 847 Tomas's FP ? 241 468 877 Wallar's FP v 506 319 677 Wallon's FP 310 409 (may be 311y) 900 Wallor's FP v 465 398 568 Waltak's FP ? ? 942 Waltan's FP ? ? 115 Waltar's FP v 517 413 620 Waltok's FP ? ? 137 Walton's FP 356 431 730 Waltor's FP 364 310 126 Waslak's FP ? ? 876 Waslan's FP + 369 342 923 Waslon's FP v 438 317 492 Waslor's FP 339 318 (may be 315x) (may be 388y, 425x) 644 Wastak's FP v 514 381 490 Wastan's FP 378 345 201 Waston's FP v 503 395 911 Wastor's FP ? ? 466 Willan's FP 449 314 962 Willon's FP 385 421 (may be 285y) 845 Wiltak's FP 425 322 206 Wiltar's FP 266 320 652 Wiltok's FP 397 391 161 Wislan's FP + 278 399 885 Wislok's FP + 344 397 854 Wislon's FP v 481 319 346 Wistak's FP ? ? 418 Wistan's FP v 488 399 ? ? s 425 310 ? ? s 425 315 ? ? s 421 318 ? ? s 508 355 ? ? s 508 375 ? ? s 341 367 ? ? s 459 412 ? ? s 431 392 +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ MORE NEWSLETTERS I have recieved a copy of the official newsletter of Kabuki's Legion of the North -- a group in the European game. As with all groups, there is a good portion dealing with internal group matters like locations, missions, and reports. There is a good deal of data about prices, and a good weapons and armor list are included. There is an impressive list of Strawbin bushes (that's about 800 characters long), and I'll try to publish that here once I figure out how their coordinates work... I am impressed with the scale of the european game; it's run by KJC in England, but the KLN group alone has members from all over Britain, Finland, Norway, Germany, and Hungary. Our own eMonster News has about 25 european subscribers already. Contact zbc01@seq1.keele.ac.uk The third Watch Tower is out, published by bjvincen@mtu.edu . This is the place for most recent news of the Demigods. It was here that I recieved the first news of the Crimson Chalice (item 368). I have The Fortnight #23, which was delayed a bit by the LA earthquake, among other things. Lots of neat little items, like the fact that you get +1 Stealth every 6 turn, unless you've got Adv. Stealth, in which case you get +1 every 12 turns; You can get another Curved Machete by simply going to a Far Post with Flame Gourds; Xanxu Wart Toads have been encountered. Contact Robert James, 3646 Vinton #4, LA CA 90034. Mark English sends out multi-page letters to Shroudians in the North, and while not officially a newsletter, it serves the same purpose. The latest includes news of the completion of the English 2 Temple, Loggerhead Camp cleanout in the Starth (30 loggerheads, booty from the last one included 3 or 4 Unreadable Scrolls, King's Spiked Gloves, a Yellow Bauble, 2 Jade Snake Rings, and a Silver Temple Sword. Further, upon staying at a Far Inn, the jossmen presented him with a Trident.) +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+ NOTES FROM OUR READERS with comments by yours truly... From: usvkn7xn@ibmmail.COM Subject: In search of Jim Wuerch Hello Scott and anonymous party (Sy Hunter possibly), In the most recent e-Monster I noticed that the great search for Jim Wuerch continues, but with no promising results. I must apologize for Jim, he has become an addicted Magic addict and appears to have put MI on the back burner. In regards to his Monster Mapper program, he has told me that he has finally mailed out copies of the program to all those people that have requested it. It turns out that he had quite a few registrations for the software but that there was a bug in the installation program. During his numerous moves he lost the source code for this particular program and therefore was required to recreate the package. He has indicated that he has completed this and mailed the software in late January. If you sent a request to him and you don't get anything by mid February, I would contact him to ensure that he has received it. Good luck in your efforts. From: Joshua Singer Subject: MI/question I have a Sunka Death Mask. Is it worth keeping, and does anyone know its use? From: vinson@unagi.cis.upenn.edu (Jack Vinson) Subject: MI/emailing turns... I usually include order numbers, both to be more aligned with the ABM format and to remind me that I only get 15 orders a turn.... Monster # Account # Day Cycle Order # 1 Order # 2 Order # 3 Order # 4 Order # 5 Order # 6 Order # 7 Order # 8 Order # 9 Order #10 Order #11 Order #12 Order #13 Order #14 Order #15 Special Codes Area From: vinson@unagi.cis.upenn.edu (Jack Vinson) Subject: MI/news - questions Wow, we really seem to be getting a lot of questions in the newsletter. I have a couple of my own: Is it worth going back to a Hillock (the first one I've seen) after finding a Strawbin bush and torches? Or should I just keep moving east along the road I've been following? What about the graveyard I walked through but couldn't loot with no shovel? Both of these are two or three turns walking almost due west. From: Gerald Hagedorn Subject: New address For those of you who are interested here is my new address and phone Jerry Hagedorn 204 B N. Olive St Rolla MO 65401 (314) 368-4896 From: jmh@anubis.network.com (Joel Halpern) Subject: MI: Dieting My Monster has just learned to Diet. Other than the restriction to a friendliness of 3, which is where mine is anyway, is there any reason not to permanently Diet? *****Editor replies: There seems to be no reason not to diet. But my own Stompin Rocksoul has been on a diet for most of the last 20 turns and it has done nothing for him. He still eats 6 food a turn when he can. And when he can't, he still loses health like he always did. Anybody else have experience with Dieting? From: Benjamin Vincent Subject: Do I need a Knife? I seem to remember reading somewhere that any pointed weapon will work in place of a knife when making things -- is this true? (I'd like to free up the space for more useful items) Also, is there a reason to keep a Curved Machete? I remember reading an account of someone entering a Sunken Graveyard, and he used his Machete to hack away vines -- will any edged weapon work for this? From: Gerald Hagedorn Subject: turn summery I entered a Koma den three time this turn by Black Swan is is what happened first hit Funnel Snake: I did 8/ he did 2-doa Xanxu Cave Snake: I did 19/ He did 1-doa Xanxu Cave Snake: I did 20/ He did 6-doa Squeezy Snake: I did 8/ He did 3-doa Treasure- Iron Helm, Two Zoingo silver coins, Silver-tipped Darts Six-headed adder- fireball 18/ I hit 2 for 44/He hit 7 for 16-doa second hit------------------------ Great Trap Snake I hit 3 times 33/ He hit 1 for 20-doa Six headed adder fireball 23/ I fit 1 for 41/ He hit 11 for 28-doa Great Trap snake I hit 1 for 21/ He hit 1 for 18-doa Six headed adder fireball 21/ I hit 3 for 61/ He hit 7 for 15-doa Treasure one golden occular, two squzskin Six-headed adder fireball 18/ I hit 2 for 56/ He hit 12 for 29-doa Third hit----------------------------- Six headed adder fireball 19/ I hit 3 for 56/ he hit 11 for 23-doa Six headed adder fireball 21/ I hit 4 for 70(wow!!)/ He hit 7 for 15-doa Six headed adder no spell pts/ I hit 3 for 71(hea!!)/ He hit 4 for ??? [editor: garbled section due to noise on the line...] --------------- I was a bit disapointed with the treasure that I got out of the second hit. I have been told that you get better treasure on the second time thru, I guess though that this is not allway true. I got 12 creatures killed and one monsters battled this turn. (I accidentily attacked another White Tiger Clan again, need to set a no attack). I also lost 190 health total for the turn, but I guess that will happen when you take on 7 adders in one turn. From: kjdriese@vnet3.vub.ac.be (Karel J. Driesen) A question: how does the game played at ABM relate to the game played at KJC (England) ? Is it the same game with different map & population ? *****Editor replies: It is my understanding that the maps started out exactly the same. Subsequently, different things have been rebuilt, and the european game may be using an earlier version of the program, but I'm sure they would get updates to the current US version every so often. From: nynavymike@aol.com (Mike) Shawn Bilodeau informs me that he hasn't been playing MI since the summer, and wishes to be "stricken" from the list as keeper of the armor list, I believe it was...Looks like you'll have to see if anyone else is available.. Okay?? A couple of other things... When AOL cuts off my eMonster newsletter, some of it is missing...In other words, it will be in the middle of a paragraph, the other part will start, but not at the right place...Not even close, really...a good portion seems to be missing...:( p.s.. Are there any bashing weapons level 5 and above?? Every other class, with maybe the exception of whip, has something 5 or above... *****Editor replies: The DOL keep a number of lists, Weapons/Armor among 'em. These are available on Bif's BBS, or from Jerry Ritchie, who is keeping me up to date (I would have included some if this newsletter weren't already 62K long.) America Online is *supposed* to just split a large file into 27K chunks, but it doesn't surprise me that pieces get lost. I maintain a special list for some AOL people and anyone who wants to have their newsletters sent in chunks of 25K. Just ask me to switch you to that list. From: perry@symcom.math.uiuc.edu (David Perry) Subject: Monster Island help desired Hi. I just finally cleared out a hillock and got some nifty items, and I don't know whether I should keep them or give them over to temple treasure. What should I do with a Kudo Bone, a Red Bauble, an ancient Silver Spike? I believe I should just sell the Bauble at the nearest Far Inn, but what of the other two items? (For those interested, I also got a short sword and an unreadable scroll.) Also, does anyone know where I can find a Tuvian plant near the Illuminated Torch? And finally, a more general question, what are the advantages and disadvantages of joining a group? And if it behooves me to join one, which one is the best? I appreciate any and all responses e-mailed to me directly or posted for everyone. Thanks in advance. From: Mark Capron Subject: Loggerheads Replenished Hi Everyone, Goorman sending up a Smoke signal. I hit a Loggerhead camp this last turn and It has been replenished with plenty of the creatures. Rumor had it that many of the Loggerhead camps had only a few Loggerheads in them so I tried to hit one. I lost lots of points. They lost lots of points and I ran from the battle. Need to set my riskiness higher next time. Smoke signal has ended with the final statement, If you follow the Light Goorman will not hunt you and you will be alright! From: Patrick Myers Subject: Misland Thank you for taking the time to send me all the old newsletters. They were fun to read and gave me a few more clues. By the way, Fandil the Pure, just hit his 5th Shroud temple and got Armor and Fear and spell points up to 122. From: VMJC67A@prodigy.com (MR CHRISTOPHER J DEMILLE) Subject: Latest news on journal Glad to read your latest edition, good coverage on the controversy up north! Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that Jack has no news on an upcoming issue of the MI journal, I guess he's busy with other things and didn't go into detail. He really should think about it soon, its way overdue for another edition! Maybe the readers of your newsletter should start asking for one??? Anyway, I'm off to make out my next turn for MI, I'll be at Grimley's FI within the next turn or two, anybody have info. on whats for sale there? From: Patrick Myers [asked about his spells, concerned that if you read scrolls, Temples will not give you a spell because the scroll already did...] In answer to your question I haven't read any scrolls yet. So all 19 spells are from temples. I've notice that in my last two temples I've made very few gains in spells or spell points. It may have to do with the program giving you less spells as you get more temples. But I think that one of the big problems is that my last two temples were very new and as such did not have any really treasure in them. My last temple had a grand total of 923 bit coins and that is all. The one before it was not a lot better. I'd be interested to see what some of the older temples down south would give me. I think that temple wealth does really affect spell point gains and spell learns. The promblem is that it really does not help your monster to put things in the treasure room since you can't benefit from the gains (having already KK there). Maybe the thing to do would be to gather up lots of treasure (in a group or by your self) then drop it off at a temple and only then kk at the temple. What do you think? From: fuegi@CS.ColoState.EDU (Aaron D. Fuegi) In my experience the amount of treasure seems to have little or no effect on spells gained. I just got 4 spells at my 4th temple and all it had were 1 Kudo Bone and 3528 bit coins. I think the things that influence it are luck, how many temples you already have, and the 1 bonus spell if you were part of the sanctification. I don't think it really effects spell points gained either although I guess it is supposed to(in massive quantities) affect spell points REgained for kowtows. From: "Obleman.Eric" Subject: Ghosts As you may recall I have a pagan monster. I've been giving the idea of resurrection some thought and it was suggested, by Chris Meyer, that I put the following questions to the newsletter subscribers: Can a monster follow a god after becoming a ghost? If so, at which level of faith will the god bring a monster back to life? Can ghosts kowtow? I know you were not going to expand on the Shroud's Own controversies from January's issue, but if I might, I'd like to comment. It seems to me that SO has a higher order crisis on their hands than one of their members being a "bad" guy. If, as Morgan boasts, SO is a group of role players who "role-play our position (Shroud's evil purpose)", Ryan's activities should groove nicely with their philosophy. "Evil" or "Dark" have well understood meanings. The most widely accepted meaning of evil is that it is entirely consumed with itself and the acquisition of power to itself for its own selfish purpose: anti-social. I, therefore, find no problem with Ryan's activities as an "evil" character in role playing fashion. Morgan goes to great lengths to complain that SO is a just bunch of "regular" people role playing the dark or evil side. If this is so, any behavior that enhances his character's power and the dominance of SO on MI should be cool, if not desired. But it seems that not all behavior is acceptable if it doesn't fit into one of Morgan's comfortable niches of "gamesmanship", and he needs to run off to ABM for shelter or, even the less honorable route, to civil court!!! It's just a game; get a grip. The corollary to this is that SO does need the other groups in the game to at least go easy on them; get the SO story straight. If SO did not need the rest of us such defenses as Morgan's letter would not be necessary. Evil needs no excuses and doesn't care about reputation. So, even if the rumors about SO Morgan is so concerned about are not true, perhaps they are deserved. Apparently, Morgan is concerned that SO will, indeed, be perceived as an evil group in a traditional sense and will be treated as such. Morgan's defense of SO indicates to me that he is using "role playing" as a smoke screen to do whatever he wants in the game without having to feel bad about harming someone else's position in the game; the role made me do it. He certainly screams loudly enough when he perceives that someone else has done the same to him. Morgan should be prepared to reap the whirlwind if he is intent on sowing the wind. Words do have meanings. Some folks out there are going to treat evil groups as evil has always been treated, not according to some new definition Morgan wants to fit to the word. MI has a wide variety of people playing it. With such a wide variety of people in this game investing both considerable time and money, this game could result in some interesting social models. As such, a truly evil group has never survived openly in human society, as it cannot on MI. It will either self destruct or will be destroyed by external forces. Shroud is not necessarily evil, except by the description ABM chose to attach to it. Shroud could just mean opposite (to Kabuki). After all, if some strange circumstance happened in which all attributes within the game of Shroud and Kabuki were suddenly interchanged, the game would not be changed in function. Follower's of Shroud and Kabuki do exactly the same things to get ahead. If opposite is all Morgan means, and his arguments seem to say he does, he should wise up and say so. Role players? Bah! There is, of course, a lesson in this for all of us. The Roman's said it best when they said "caveat emptor", let the buyer beware. It is as true in real life as it is here on MI. Ralph Nadar isn't going to protect you in the marketplace or on MI. Be careful who you trust and be aware that any information you give out can easily fall into the wrong hands. This is why up to one third of the cost of developing a new weapon system in this country goes to protecting the secrets of that system (security). The Defense Department knows it is worth the cost to be careful with sensitive information. Scott, I'd like to thank you for bringing this controversy to the newsletter. I have often looked askance at anyone who is "role playing" a game and felt less comfortable with such person's credibility who claims that in this game. These letters have let me finally formalize my argument against a concrete example. Kabuki, Fuvah, Shroud or pagan play the game and have fun, that's really all there is to it. If not, I'll see you all in civil court. *****Editor replies: I know a ghost can kowtow to his god and be ressurected, but I don't know what he would lose. I do know that he will not have any items, but Temples are usually loaded with stuff. I believe that you *can* dedicate yourself to a god after dying, and then get ressurected. But I've never died. Anyone know the details? From: pld@cthulhu.HQ.ileaf.com (Peter L. DeWolf) Subject: Monster Island questions Thanks for signing me up for the eMonster newsletter. I've been busy reading back issues which I downloaded from BIF's (they don't have all of them, unfortunately) and looking at the DOL's public lists of Far Structures and such and have been learning a lot. Can you give me some advice, please? I'd like to become a Disciple. I've fought Light monsters before -- but it seems almost impossible to slay another monster one to one. I downloaded a huge list of blurbs from BIF's -- and I see that there is one called "Sacrificing to Shroud", wherein you can sacrifice 3 creatures at a temple and become a Disciple. This seems like the way to go. Can you tell me what I need to do to get this blurb? Will it come to me automatically when I arrive at the temple, having been an Acolyte for 25 turns or so, or do I need to Kowtow (how much?) or Quest to get it? And am I going to be killed when I get to this temple? I saw a disturbing message on BIF's, I think, about how a bunch of Kabuki follwers were camped out at a Shroud Temple waiting to slay Followers of the Dark but were being thwarted because they all had Advanced Stealth and were so Stealthy that they avoided the combat! Advanced Stealth doesn't sound like something you'd likely be able to buy in Jagged Mor, but I still worry. And any suggestions about activities following Disciplehood? I vaguely remember hearing about a Shroud Temple being built. This sounds dangerous (considering the recent massacre!) but sounds like a worthy activity. Does it benefit the monster, other than having another temple of the Appropriate persuasion available!)? From: slindma@charlie.esd.edu I know this has been said before, but I think it's time to remind Monsters that before you Kowtow for additional sets of spells, you should cast Seal Temple Door for all of your spell points. As soon as you kowtow, you will get them all back - and in the meantime, you've increased the defense of your temples... Maybe this should be printed in the BMT as well - do you have contacts there? From: thogek@alumni.cco.caltech.edu (Thomas Kiefer) Subject: MI questions Just a coupla dumb questions... (1) For a given Weapon Skill Level, is it better/worse/same to Weapon Practice with a weapon of Damage Class higher then, lower than, or equal to the Weapon Skill Level? (2) Has anyone been keeping a list of Creature health points? (I.e., how many points of damage does it take to kill each Creature type.) Does anyone know if each Creature# has a certain fixed number or a range of health points? (I.e., do all Creature #As have X health points, or some random number between Y and Z?) From: Gerald Hagedorn Subject: Koma dens I am curious if anyone out there has hit a koma den twice getting treasure both times. If so let me know if you got better or worse treasure the secound time. From: silent oberver I'm sure you'll get the info soon, but The great dark sword is class 5, double damage to kabuki, need to be a disciple of shroud and have at least 190(?) muscle. You can carry 10..... (just a joke.) The silver temple sword is a class 4 edged weapon, but made of silver... What about this new jewelled temple sword? Heard it is class 4, but I am wondering if it is like the zoingo ruby dagger; You know-all looks and no edge. I am wondering if any of this temple stuff works better for temple guardians?? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ so are ya dark or light??????? - comment overseen by my african american friend as I asked someone on internet about their religious affiliation. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: Gerald Hagedorn Subject: loggerhead camps Don Cy is helping my group rebuild a temple near the black swan. while we rebuilding the temple we we going to clean out a loggerhead camp. anyways One of Don's monsters cleaned out the camp after killing only 1 or 2 loggerheads. This may mean that there are loggerhead camps that are almost clean out. Jack may have done that when he fixed the loggerhead camp bug. I can't guarntee that every camp is like that or even that jack did it....we will have to find out. From: fuegi@CS.ColoState.EDU (Aaron D. Fuegi) Subject: Re: boring turns To liven things up maybe people would be willing to post some info I am interested in and probably others are as well. For those of you who have monsters who have them, I am interested in where the best items come from - especially Tombs of Mumi vs Koma Dens vs Anc. Graveyards. Clearly, you get really good items for clearing Loggerhead Camps and to a lesser extent Hillocks but which of the single-attack types of places are best? I am really only intersted here in top-notch items(Examples: Temple items, class 5+ weapons and armor, other extremely rare items-black lotus leaf, oil lantern etc...). If possible try to include some idea of how many attempts (successful attempts that is) you have made on the type of structure where you got the really good item(s). From: Patrick Myers Subject: MI turn Fandil just got his turn back. The only thing of note was that Fandil made and the used his first blotomus potion. I was vey disappointed with the result. Fandil gained a mear +5 muscle. He went from 262 to 267. He also hit a Anc. Grave. twice and gain +1off, a silver studded club and D. Iron gauntlets. I'm going to have him hit a grave yard 5 times next turn and see what happens. I'm a worried about this since it seem to get a little harder with every try. When I hit a Anc. Grave. 3 times the damage I took was as follows: 9, 23, 57. The damage Fandil also went down as his health dropped. From: fuegi@CS.ColoState.EDU (Aaron D. Fuegi) Subject: Re: MI turn I don't think that the health of your monster has absolutely ANY influence on damage done and that this was just coincidence for you. Also, of course you may have had less missile ammo or spell points in the later battles so less attack power because of that. I don't think I have ever hit an Anc. Grave more than 3 times in a turn and usually restrict it to two hits. Sender: "ralphdaynr" Subject: Monster Island Mapper I would not try to import data. Robert James said that the import function does not work correctly. I would alter the coordinates to match yours then print out and enter the data into your map by hand. From: fuegi@CS.ColoState.EDU (Aaron D. Fuegi) Since you asked, Scott, I have at least these two blurbs you mentioned. BTW I am expecting a bunch more blurbs in soon and when I get them I plan to do something to encourage people to ask me for the new list (or perhaps even just post the whole list to the group so everyone who wants the updated version can get it- this includes the fact that I went and updated everything such that all blurbs in the list are now using the same formatting scheme). So to wet your palettes here are the Crimson Chalice, Iron Stein, and Ensnare Creature Spell. The list also includes the Black Lotus Leaf, Vine Stalker, Glowing Red Ring, etc... !Stuff deleted - ADF! Loki's turn report Lately, Loki has been working on getting more temples and got his fourth one a couple of turns ago. Now, working out of a Far Inn, he is trying to get some kills and good stuff. He is within single turn round-trip distance at the inn of both a Koma Den and a Tomb of Mumi such that he can attack either and still get back to the inn to do an I3 and get full healing. On his first turn, doing this he attacked a Koma Den 3 times (only successfully got through twice) killing a total of 11 creatures. One amazing thing is that he did total damage of 719 to the creatures he fought and that includes NO missile attacks. Of course, he also took well over 150 damage and spent an outrageous number of spell points on armor and enchant weapon spells. The treasure gleaned was a Damaged Iron Shiled, 2 Zoingo silver coins and 4 Rattler darts on the first attack and a damaged iron helm and a black ball from the second attack. I was a little disappointed at this (already haver undamaged versions of both the dmged iron items) treasure but at least its enough to easily pay for the inn stay and a bunch of oculars value additional. One thing that I found interesting, though, was the equipment of the people I saw at the inn. I have mostly been in the far north and am now the farthest south I have ever been. Up north it seems that monsters were better equipped. Several of the guys I saw at the inn, including a member of the 600 and another member of my group (the Fire Riders) both had partly only squizskin armor and yet both of these guys are more muscular than me and one of them is tougher. The three other guys I saw at the inn the previous turn were even weaker and less well equipped than these two. I think a lot of people may be a little out of their league being out here when we disciples are required to collect kills to advance. Right now my friendliness is at 4 but I think I may reduce it and see what happens. My other monster, Purobi, is up in the north at the Ribald Arms selling stuff off that he got as being part of a loggerhead clearing. His share of the final clearing out treasure was an Oil Lantern. If anyone else out there also have oil lanterns I'd like you to tell me. Maybe we can work together to find out what you need to do to fill it and use it. BTW in regard to loggerhead clearings, it is now fairly apparent that whoever clears out a loggerhead camp and regardless of what they get for doing so, by going to a Far Inn afterwards, you will get a Trident given to you by the Jossmen, a Class 5 Pole Weapon. From: Gerald Hagedorn Subject: great caves I am going to hit a great cave with one of my monsters this turn. I just want to confirm that you do a U 33 order to enter a cave. In a week or so I will have a report for you..... From: bklange@sus.edu.eur.nl (Rolf H. Lange) Article: 12307 of rec.games.pbm Newsgroups: rec.games.pbm Subject: Monster Isla HELP! I have reached the first far post, but I don't know where it is on any of the coordinate systems! The name of the post is 'Kiltok's Far Post'. Can anyone give me the coordinates of this place, for this monster doesn't know where she is! I prefer NET or DOL? coordinates, because this is al I know of. Thanks and many friendly grumbles in advance, Medoovoodootooyoo (max) From: Ron Blanco Subject: Hitting place multiple times... My experience with hitting places multiple times also seems to have me fight in a decreasingly effective level... When WRESTLING encounters, the damage I or they do decreases as the heath diminishes. For me wrestling encounters are the norm, and what I pay most attention to. As for the encounters getting worse...well, yes, AND no... I have hit Ancient Graveyards up to 5 times a turn, but usually 3... I have usually had the following results...: (Ancient Graveyard is only multiple attacks for me except Hillocks, and you all know about multiple attacks there) :-) First = 1 creature 2nd = 3 to 5 creatures (usually a zombie and/or 2+ Creepers) 3rd = 1 creature 4th = 3 to 5 creatures (same as 2nd, but an occasional six-headed- adder and maybe 2 zombies) 5th = 1 or 2 creatures From: fuegi@CS.ColoState.EDU (Aaron D. Fuegi) Subject: Brian's Report The following message came to me from Brian Derks today and he asked me to pass it on to this group and so here it is. >From Normandyknight@cup.portal.com Tue Feb 15 21:35:01 1994 >Subject: Re: Status Report > > It's been a long time since I wrote (quite busy and boring turns). > >NEWS FLASH! > > Mongers watch out! There is a horny furrcat on the loose in the >Northern Kunbar. I was just minding my own business between turns and >out of nowhere comes this very attractive horny furrcat. Before I knew >it, she was dancing in front of me (she looked great) and I couldn't >take my eyes off her. The next thing I know, we were doing the WILD >THING! She was scratching, biting, and doing everything just right >(this is a family game). As she left she said that I would be a >father. Basically I was raped and left for dead (in my weakened >condition). But, I LIKED IT! > When she has the child, What will it be? A furrcat, monger, or maybe >a FURMONGER! She will probably blame me for it's looks! Time will >tell! > > This all happened this last turn. I just went to drop off a short >sword to one of are members and she gave me this and a bird trap. >I think Drex would really like to see more of the above. Because of >all the stress he had between turns I was wondering if it had an >effect on his turn. He entered a koma den and fought; 3-tailed, >great trap, Xanxu cave snake, xanxu cave snake, got treasure, and >xanxu cave snake. I may have got some nice wrestling (+2 def) but the >treasure really stunk! I got a silver zoingo coin, xanxu snakehead, >and a funnel snakeskin. And it had enough nerve to say that it was a >nice haul. It was the worsest treasure I've gotten so far in a koma >den. > Olmec is now near the Happy Jungle mon and is wondering if anyone >has fought or knows anything about Boddens? I heard that they are >between loggerheads and knolltirs. Also they have alot of voodoo >ingrediants on them when you kill them. > Kitra she is somewhere near the claw and tooth and another inn, starting to >rebuild a temple ruins. > > I just found out that a friend was the first person to open a large >locked box. It requires lock picking skill and a small lockpick. He >got 5 unreadable scrolls and a king spiked helm (of coarse an opened >lg. box). It took over a month to get his turn back since jack hadn't >programed that in yet. > Oh! A large lockpick is for doors and a small lockpick is for boxes, >etc. You can also WP with silver-tip darts and not loose them as long as you >don't equip them. Sender: "Chuck Miro" There's an active Monster Island message board on America Online (AOL). We're trying to create a list of players who are interested in being AOL contacts for their groups. Here's the list we have so far: The Shadow Guardians Larry Barrows (Group Leader) The Guardians of Fuvah Larry Barrows Stark Fist of Fuvah Russell Calkins Fuvah's Fearless Fighters Jeff Leggett (Group Leader) The White Tiger Clan Larry Barrows Disciples of Light Josh Knapp Shroud's Own Morgan Hatrick (Group Leader) The Black Death Tom Skovronsky Cult of Nine Lives Russell Calkins (Group Leader) Order Of The White Rose Paul McGinnis The Fire Riders Tom Richardson A pretty good list so far, but unfortunately there are still many other groups for which we don't have AOL contacts. The Six Hundred Suns of the Rose Knights of the Iron Fist Island Geographic Soc'ty Dark Knights of the Kunbar The AntiKabukilear Forces Cadets of Gascoyne The Scarlet Templars The Fuzzy Fist of Fuvah The Shriners The Knights of Sylvester I know that most of these groups have email contacts, but we're trying to find players who are willing to be contacts on the AOL message board. **Can anyone help us out?** Incidentally, for group-to-group diplos, my Fuvite monster, Sol-Rac Orim, is the ambassador for the Shadow Guardians. From: warden@einet.com (Scott Micheel) Subject: Re: Sea Squares... Ron Blanco writes... > From: RRBLANCO@MTUS5.cts.mtu.edu > > If someone were to write a travel or hunt&forage order, which would move > them into sea square... what happens? > > 1 - do they enter it? > 2 - do they remain in the last land square, and get the sea terrain blurb? > 3 - do they expend one of their 8 square movement limitations? > 4 - do they expend any APs? > 5 - has Jack even programmed that into the program yet? :-) Here's what I learned with Stompin Rocksoul: You don't enter it. You get a message that says "Sorry, but you're unable to enter Sea. You need a raft." Rather than aborting the move, you will try to move 45 degrees into the adjacent square. First left, then right if that fails, if both fail you'll just stay in the square. You *will* use APs (10, 20, or 30 depending on if you issued a Tx or Txx or H order). I don't know if it counts against your 8 squares (I never tried more than 8 orders) but I would bet that it does. That seems to be the way other things in the game work. The first time you try, you will get the Sea Terrain blurb. (This is the only way to get it, I believe.) Article: 12406 of rec.games.pbm From: michael.mackinnon@mwcsinc.muug.mb.ca (Michael Mackinnon) Newsgroups: rec.games.pbm Subject: MI: Jungle Rattler? -=> Quoting Rolf H. Lange to All <=- RHL> I just met my first Jungle Rattler. Are they *really* that dangerous? RHL> And how does poison effect a monster? Will you die emediately, or RHL> slowly, and if you can't make antidote yet, are you doomed? RHL> Any answers from fellow monsters would be greatly appreciated! I believe that poison causes damage on a turn by turn basis, when you are affected by it. But, I don't believe that you can be poisoned by a Jungle Rattler though. I have three monsters, all of whom have fought Jungle Rattlers on a number of occassions. None have ever been poisoned. As far as I know, there is an antidote for poison (a voodoo elixir that one of my characters have) but no poison! The only thing close is Fouled Water, which causes about 1-2 pts of damage each turn. Article: 12421 of rec.games.pbm Newsgroups: rec.games.pbm Subject: Re: MI: Jungle Rattler? From: slindema@charlie.usd.edu I have run a Mudwalker for over 135 turns, and battled at least 50 jungle rattlers. Never been poisoned... Of course, I did suffer a mild skin rash from a slither snake! From: zcapj56@ucl.ac.uk (Mr John P S Carroll) Article: 12461 of rec.games.pbm Newsgroups: rec.games.pbm Subject: Re: MI: Jungle Rattler? Jungle Rattler poison affects you depending on what race your monster is, i.e. Normans are not very susceptible to poison. If you do manage to kill a Jungle rattler then you will gain very good blowpipe ammunition, the rattler dart (damage class 5). From: rrblanco@mtus5.cts.mtu.edu (Blanco) Article: 12471 of rec.games.pbm Newsgroups: rec.games.pbm Subject: Re: MI: Jungle Rattler? I was going to say, that Jungle Rattlers were not poisonous, since I have battled over 12 of them, and have not been poised as of yet. However, I am a Norman, and by JPSC's answer this might be why I never have had it happen to me... But anyway, I thought they were not really poisonously programmed into the game... From: "Bob Cook" Article: 12484 of rec.games.pbm Newsgroups: rec.games.pbm Subject: Re: Quest/ABM Email Addres Date: Thu, 17 Feb 94 12:58:34 -0500 Organization: Adventures By Mail, Inc. >Advs. By Mail is now online. Turns for Quest, Monster Island, etc can be >submitted by email. Actually we'll accept turns at any of our three Email addresses: p00661@psilink.com abmbob@aol.com bob@abm.com Our preference is to get them at bob@abm.com. Its easier for you to remember and we access it most often. >Note that they don't yet have a parser; they just download the mail, print >it out, and type it in like a turn card. Turnaround time is thus not really >any faster than snailmail. But there isn't any problem with bad handwriting >(for those of us that have that problem.) Yes, we do print them and manually input the turns so we request they be formatted just like a normal turn card. Our normal turnaround for just about all our games (BSE excluded) is that they go out the same day we receive them. This is usually the same for Email, provided we receive it early in the day. The advantage to Email is obviously the time it saves to arrive in our office. Another advantage to Email is that you can play in Game#3 of Quest which has a 7 day turnaround. We expect to offer an all Email game of Quest where players can send and receive results by Email. However the program updates to allow this have been promised to us for the last month but still haven't arrived. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bob Cook Voice: 518-237-4870 Adventures By Mail, Inc Fax: 518-237-6245 Box 436 Internet: bob@abm.com Cohoes, NY 12047 America OnLine: ABMBob Moderators of Quest, Monster Island, Beyond the Stellar Empire It's a Crime!, Isle of Crowns, and Capitol II. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: jmh@anubis.network.com (Joel Halpern) In the last two turns, North Good Thunder has managed to fight 3 Mudges. Those are nice to wrestle. First one was +1 Offense and 1 Trick. The next two each did no damage to me, and gave me +1 Offense and +1 Defense. Other than picking up a gnitgnat swarm to poke at, there is not much else to comment on. Crossing 1000 Monsterliness on Turn 50 is nice, but does not actually mean much. (Also got to 262 muscle. Got to find me a lime tree.) From: "Robert Kazmierczak" It's time for an update on the travels of Sith Mandrake and Akien Drum.... After not having played for awhile (Christmas, Rose Bowl (go Badgers!), etc.), I got back in the game with five makeup turns to spare. Sith Mandrake: Headed back to the Black Swan for the rest of the Loremaster Knowledge (he had Lockpicking, and now learned Plant Plucking and Adv. Stealth). Then he headed up north to help rebuild a temple to Kabuki (his fourth). This latest turn, he put his share of Act. pts. in for temple rebuilding and went to a koma den for some practice and quick food. Since Sith was at full (read: 210) health, I attempted to enter the Den three times. 1st time: Great Trap Snake (dead), two Squeezys (dead, dead) Xanxu (dead). Got: Damaged Iron Dagger, Zoingo Gold coin. (lousy.) Killed another Xanxu cave snake on the way out. Sith: -25 health, Den: -76. 2nd time: Six-headed Adder (dead), another one (dead), ANOTHER ONE (dead), ANOTHER ONE! (dead). (ouch.) Got: Two Slink baubles, a xanxu snakehead, four rattler darts, and eleven Silver-Tipped Darts (at last something useful.) Ran away from the FIFTH Six-Headed Adder on the way out. Sith: -135 health, Den: -339 health. Needless to say, Sith was feeling a bit under the weather going back to the temple. Then he ran into a Loggerhead camp, which he ran from. Akien Drum: Just having scored a Silver Dragon Statue as his part of a Loggerhead camp booty in December, Akien also went to the Black Swan to learn the Lockpicking and Adv. Plant Plucking skills (not to mention selling off tons of useless treasures). He then started south in order to help rebuild a temple for Fuvah (seems like I'm always rebuilding something these days). Anyway, he hit a Large Cave on the way down, killing some minor creatures and gaining three Iron Darts. He then headed to another Loggerhead camp that his group (Iron Fist) was helping to clear out, but found it already deserted. Having seen a Loggerhead camp through his spyglass on the way down, he decided to whomp some Loggerhead butt there before hoofing it to the temple. He fought three pitched battles with Loggerheads, killing one, but getting useless (read: silver gauntlets) items in return. He then swung around east before returning to the location near his previous camp site. During the swing around, he met: 1) Demon Condor (didn't kill it, but it didn't carry him away) 2) Great Trap Snake (dead... and tasty!) 3) Another Loggerhead Camp (fought one battle, didn't kill the 'head.) 4) Ghoul Buzzard (dead (of course)) Now Akien's set to go off to that temple (not to mention there's the added bonus of a Great Cave not 7 squares away from the ruins!) P.S. Hey, can you put flying creatures in Deep pits with the Capture Creature Spell? Sounds silly, but if Jack didn't think of it, I bet you could... (e.g. "Great Kabuki! There's a Giant White Stork in this pit!!") That's all for now.... From: Gerald Hagedorn Subject: Loggerhead camp I talked to Jay Tummelson and found out that he cleaned out the camp. Here is what we found; one Oil Lantern, Silver Dragon Statue, two unreadable scrolls, One short sword, and One Black Ball. I was a bit dissapointed with the treasure, but not greatly disapointed. The camp we cleaned out was in the Kunbar, We are heading to the starth to rebuild a temple and clean out another loggerhead camp. Hopefully it will have better treasure. Also I can confirm that the Oil latern does not use regular coconut oil you have to make a voodoo concoction to get it to work. That is about it. I am going to attempt entering a koma den 3 times during my next turn. It should prove to be interesting. until then....... From: Gerald Hagedorn Subject: bugs There is one other thing that I forgot to mention and that is that there has been a bug in the routine that erases loggerheads from the camps. So what was happening is that people were killing loggerheads and they were not getting increminted. This bug has been fixed and camps that were being cleaned out have be adjusted. Jack said that there will be several camps that will be cleaned out within the next week or two. From: Patrick Myers Subject: Fadil's MI turn Last turn I killed 16 creatures. 15 of these came from a Anc. Graveyard that I LVed five times. For those of you interested here is how it happened. 1lv tomb leach Carrion Crow x2 12 oculars 2lv tomb leach Carrion Crow x2 9 oculars 3lv Cemetery Creeper +1 off carrion crow zombie x2 Iron helm 4lv Carrion crow x2 tomb leech nothing gained 5lv Cemetery Creeper +1off Zombie Ran away I was happy with the +2 off gain since that is why I'm hitting the Anc. Graveyard anyway. Plan to do the same next turn in the hopes of getting more wrestling off so I can pound on a blood mummy. I did notice that as I got weaker I started doing less damage. Especially in wrestling but also with my short sword. From: RRBLANCO@MTUS5.cts.mtu.edu Subject: rumors or truth? Rumor has it that one may sell shields (like large iron) at Far Forges... Is that true? One can supposedly buy iron shovels at Far Forges... Is this true, and if so, can one sell tuvian shovels to Far Forge? Has anyone noticed any advantage in using an iron shovel, rather than a tuvian shovel? I noticed blurb of iron shovel states that one can dig faster with it... Has anyone have any facts to base this info on? I mean blurbs don't anyways seem to be programmed as they are written... From: Sindre Stabell I was wondering if anyone in the US have figured out what it takes to recieve the Sacrifice blurb. My guess is that it is either a certain number of rounds or some sort of God Favour statistic. Does anyone know? One of my monsters has been an acolyte for 23 turns, and Kowtowed at two different temples for 80 action points, - no sacrifice blurb yet. Also, the jazzercise system has obviously been changed. Any ideas on how to maximize muscle with the new system. (For older monsters the system appears just the same, but for younger monsters there seem to be an random element). My norman monster has 166 and I can do three for 26 and get +1,+2,+1 , but for the young monsters (less than 100 muscle) I used to be able to jazz for 5 and then 4,4,4,4 and get +1 every time. Now that doesnt work anymore, and jazzing for 16 has gotten me anything from +3 to +1. Also the combat system has changed. Now you only do enough damage to kill the creature you are fighting and nothing more. From: fuegi@CS.ColoState.EDU (Aaron D. Fuegi) Subject: Re: rumors or truth? Regarding your rumors I can confirm some of them. It is true that you can only sell shields at Far Forges. Also, you can buy iron shovels at Far Forges (both my monsters have one). I don't know if you can sell tuvian shovels there or if the iron shovel actually works better. I have never used mine for simple digging. On the same note, though, does anyone know where to sell a long sword? I tried selling it at a Far Inn and couldn't. I guess that means that a Far Forge must take it as if not, no one does I guess. From: Gerald Hagedorn Subject: rumors I can help out a little more on the rumors You cannot sell tuvian shovel at a far forge, I think you can at a far inn but I will have to check and old turn to be sure. Long swords and iron shovels can be sold at far forges along with silver and Iron darts. I have not compared iron with tuvian shovels, all though I have heard of people breaking their tuvian shovels. Whereas I don't think that will, be a problem with an iron shovel. I will try to do some experimenting with digging with both the tuvian and Iron shovel. From: RRBLANCO@MTUS5.cts.mtu.edu Well here are the results of Storm'n Norm'n -- BUT he/I am elated with some aspects of the turn :-) TWEEN: Inn Stay => +33 health (Paid for I3) +1 Toughness +4 Spell pts... (Only 1 temple visit BEFORE this turn) :-) DI = Back on diet, since I am not seeing much if any advantage in not dieting (I thought by not dieting I was gaining 1 or 2 health points back, when I ate normally... I may be in error...) Does anyone feel we gain more health by eating more (not dieting)? H-- = Lime Tree - NO RIPE FRUIT! I HATE LIMES! This is my 8th, and I haven't found one in season YET! J 1 = I'm Norman, if the name didn't clue ya :-) This gave me +7 Health back during my make camp (I'm at 101% Health!!!) Now to hit an A. Graveyard 5ish times next turn :-) One can practice with Silver tipped darts and iron darts? So it is slings, hand catapults, and these darts -- anything else like rattler darts or such?? (I'm sure we cannot practice with Fart Bombs and Zinki darts, UNLESS made another change...?? As per: Quote from Jack, "Doing more than 50 APs in Jazzercizing in ANY one turn WILL NOT be of any benefit." four weeks later I found out thru our E-mail/MI-net, that that was FALSE and we could get some significant Muscle increases... And that was not the only "misdirection" I have received over time... It is amazing at how much Jack doesn't know about what he programmed - Arg... Since iron darts and silver tipped darts are so valuable, that they net a tidy profit when selling, are they lost after each use like Zinki and Rattler darts. Or can they be retrieved to use again (some or any of them, that were used)... Or are they expended, and thus lost from the game like rocks and other darts? From: maralj@aol.com Zoingo Ruby Dagger, sold at 'good' price for rare items, got me 57 occulars. +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ "Beans are more important," replied the bean-counter. And with that we end the February issue. Keep those notes, questions, articles, & ideas coming.