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Ubique's Weekly
A Mutual Endeavors Publication
Issue #97 ~ 22 October 2007
The Blurb
"There can be as much value in the blink of an eye as in months of rational analysis." -- Malcolm Gladwell, Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, 2005
Built by players for players. Isn't that the common theme of all things free form role-playing these days? It's the same message bandied about by the people at Dragon's Mark. The same message we've stuck by for Mutual Endeavors for so very long. It seems to be the universal truth of FFRP as a whole, far and wide, all across the furthest reaches of the Internet and beyond.
Mutual Endeavors probably came out of nowhere over night to many people, but the truth is we've been around for a good long while now. Perhaps even as long as Dragon's Mark has been itself. The only difference is, we've only just recently acquired our very own website. We fought long and hard to finally be able to get one built, and it amazes me to this day how quickly it's grown in just a short span of time.
Random google searches for various things RP related have brought up ME pages, much to my surprise. Our site builder Mike has done a glorious job with so much. The keywords that make up the heart and core of Mutual Endeavors work splendidly. Several of the topics on our forums come up under searches as well. I dare say perhaps more frequently than the DM sites do. I'm awed. I'm astounded. I'm tingling in so many of my happy places that it's almost scary. I never thought we'd ever come this far!
Top Story!
"At times one remains faithful to a cause only because its opponents do not cease to be insipid." -- Friedrich Nietzsche, German philosopher (1844 - 1900)
We've done a lot of talking about Dragon's Mark these past couple of months. This week we decided that it's high time for something different. Not all the role-playing in the world happens on AOL and DM. Hell, it doesn't even happen on ME. Role-playing happens everywhere, and it's our duty to tell all of you where it's at.
For the past few months now, a lot of talk has been going down on the ME forums concerning another message board forum by the name of GreaterRealms, an affiliate of Mutual Endeavors. This role-playing paradise was put together by a recent ME member by the name of Steff (seen under the username HGLowe). And just this week we had an opportunity to get a little information out of the creator by way of interview.
1. What IS GreaterRealms?
In a very short handful of words? GreaterRealms is Rhy'Din unfettered.
In a few more? Built in the true tradition of FFRP, it doesn't try to define the world for you, only let you add your own settings and dreams to it. It's there for people to collaborate if they want, or to just write. The new flashchat, while it isn't finished yet in terms of coding and features, is open for anyone to create a public or private room to RP in. No officially 'sanctioned' areas exist: The whole site is based on the idea that the players make the realm, and the heart of it will always belong to those who use and love it.
2. What inspired you to create GreaterRealms?
I felt that the Red Dragon Inn site wasn't particularly encouraging of players creating their own play areas. While the story folder idea is an excellent one, interactivity suffers when users can't likewise create rooms to go with them, if they want to publicly role-play with others. Mutual Endeavors, while I adore everything about the philosophy, I think is set up in a manner that makes it a bit harder to navigate to the stories themselves. GreaterRealms wasn't intended to be a replacement to either resource, just a place for people to have a little more 'open space' to create and share their creations in whatever way they see fit. In fact, Mutual Endeavors is one of our affiliates; the link shows on every single main page. I had hoped to share the same with Dragonsmark, but thus far, that has not materialized.
3. What do you expect to achieve with GreaterRealms?
Lots of play. Lots of open, creative dreams being shared. Lots of player networking. Most of all... I want to, desperately, give Rhy'Din a home that will never be compromised or exclusive. Everyone, either old or new, has a home there if they want it. I want to encourage the realm to keep on growing.
4. What are some of the key features of GreaterRealms?
Right now? It's pretty! Besides that, though, we have greater flexibility with text formatting than most other forums of this type, including different alignments. Readability is high as post messages are in a serif font. The forums and areas are all open for anyone to use, no matter what their dreams are.
We encourage interactivity, pooling resources and helping one another. Currently, there's a thread up for anyone who needs a one-off NPC monster or monsters to jump into their play and liven things up. There are the Notes and Kudos threads for author feedback. There's lots of room for discussion.
We also have a Flashchat installed, but as there is no 'outside' logging enabled, and as there currently is no guest login (but I'm gonna work on that, I promise) it's not a main draw. Still, we welcome any user to sign up, even if it's just to use the chat; create a room, RP publicly, share your vision with others. Just remember to hit the 'save' button in chat and log yourself, since we can't do it for you yet.
5. Why is GreaterRealms worth signing up for?
Because everyone has a home there. Everyone. Regardless of where they came from; new, old, serious, casual. No one will ever be ousted; everyone has a voice. The only way someone will end up in trouble is by breaking one of the 'Never Do This' rules, and that's it. It's a clean slate -- even if you've had problems on other sites, you still are welcome on GreaterRealms. It's there for everyone.
You, your creations, your ideas are absolutely yours. We make no claim whatsoever on anything you write, and we never will. How your stories go is your call, and no one else's.
Also, as the admin, I'm extremely open to suggestions on how to improve things, or what features people would like to see added. If you want to see a new feature and I can do it, I will -- there are some incredibly cool mods for Phpbb 2.x (our forum's engine) specifically for RPG related stuff!
Finally, GreaterRealms has an open administration. You'll know what I'm doing, how I'm doing it, and you'll get to weigh in on that. No closed-door-meetings. And if you don't like something? You're allowed to say it.
In the end, GreaterRealms is just the embodiment of an ideal. A dream.
Rhy'Din ... unfettered. (More on this later. Stay tuned!)
This Just In
"There is no nonsense so gross that society will not, at some time, make a doctrine of it and defend it with every weapon of communal stupidity." -- Robertson Davies
Finding headlines is no easy task. The main page of the Red Dragon Inn as hosted by Dragon's Mark is a good place to find player written news, though. The implimentation of the RDI Playables was an ingenious idea of theirs that makes for a valuable resource, which is something I plan to talk about shortly.
Headlines
Freshly Mummified Body Discovered : The local city watch in the tech sector of the city recently discovered the remains of a body as of yet unidentified. Sources report that there was little left of a body to work with. Only a slightly broken fresh skeleton and a sunken husk of flesh encasing the bones. All internal organs and blood were somehow removed through small puncture holes in the skin. How this was accomplished remains a mystery. One investigating officer was also rumored to have reported that the person's eyes were found removed from the skull and rolling around in the alley nearby. Local authorities have yet to determine the identity of the individual who suffered such a cruel fate, but hope to have some information for the sake of potentially worried family members very soon.
The Trial of Renne Ar'cerr : As of late Sunday evening, hand-written fliers with neat and legible bold print have been found scattered throughout the city. Posted on bulletin boards and on building walls, storefront windows and more. These fliers announce that the criminal case of The City VS Horaetio "Renne" Arc'err, also known as The Dockside Murder case, has been indefinitely postponed as of September the 24th of this year. After his previous escape from custody, Arc'err once again turned himself in on the 17th of this month of October. The Court is currently looking for unbiased jurors, a defender and a prosecutor for this case. Interested parties are said to report to Gaston at the Port-South Holding Houses for more information.
A Whole Lot of Hype for a Whole Lot of Nothing : Last week there was a great deal of content in this newsletter concerning the new "expansion pack" hosted by Dragon's Mark by the name of Mount Yasuo. In the week since, I must confess that I haven't seen much concerning it at all. The race to the finish never does work well at all, for even the Tortoise ended up beating the Hare. Of course, Rome wasn't built in a day, as I keep frequently saying. So far there is one small section of the RDI forums dedicated to Mount Yasuo labeled Within the Barrier. And so far only one member has really made use of it at all. A vague little post that talks about a character visiting a library. Is there more? Will there be more? Only time will tell.
GreaterRealms Long Open! : It's been what? About a month now I'd have to say. Much of the discussion concerning the creation and opening of the new forum mentioned above can be found on our Mutual Endeavors forums in the general discussion category. Created and put together by SL Watson sometime within the past month, GreaterRealms is a role-playing resource that we here at Mutual Endeavors feel has a lot of future potential. Though there is still a lot of work being done on the site to make it the best it can possibly be, and the member base remains relatively small right now, we feel that it has the potential to be one of the best role-playing sites out there. If only we could think of a way to advertise it more than it already is!
New UW Contact Form : A lot of work is still going into this project, but as last week a news post was placed on the main Mutual Endeavors site that discusses the idea in further detail. A Taste of Things to Come provides a link to the email form in the works. The IWA strongly asks that users do not use this resource as of yet, since many of the kinks are still being hammered out. We promise that it will be complete and ready for use by the time issue 101 is ready for printing.
RDI Playables : So the question goes: What Are Playables? A question that was answered rather nicely by one DM Nomad, once upon a time in November of 2005. Much thought and discussion has gone into the inception of this resource over time. Any post made in this folder on the RDI site makes its way to the front page as a form of spotlight. Most players use the Playables as news type blotters, rumors that characters might hear about while wandering the realm, and more. This also happens to be where writers for The Oracle and Ubique's Weekly find a great deal of their news and headline information.
In Other News...
The good neighbor looks beyond the external accidents and discerns those inner qualities that make all men human and, therefore, brothers." -- Martin Luther King Jr., 'Strength to Love,' 1963, US black civil rights leader & clergyman (1929 - 1968)
Sad to say that I received virtually nothing this week from our susbscribers. That's likely because people have been so very busy and wrapped up in RP that it just never occurred to them to send us news! But that's okay. That happens frequently and we're rather used to it. What we did receive was more than enough to get us by, and we're pleased to have it.
Caliban Fortannis (Life ensnared): After reluctantly accepting his new promotion to Regional Seeker General, Caliban has been busy kicking circuits into gear at the Seeker's Head Quarters in Rhydin while attempting not to drown himself or his ghatt bondmate in piles of paperwork.
Cheruth (SparklyReptile): The crystal dragon is rumored to have potentially save Ica's butt earlier this week. Sources say that after the incident in which the half-dragon got his face beat in by a monstrous dracolich, the crystal went and sought out the beast. This searching was for once a successful event in which he had a talk with the monster! A chat with a dracolich? News is that Cheruth made a deal with the 'lich that might just save Ica's life in the future. If all goes according to plan, that is.
Dris (BardGaIIant): Of course, Dris got wrapped up in this mess too. On the night in question in which Ica fought the dracolich again, Seamus Wylie was instructed to call the musician and tell him to go stay with Sin. Dris went to the sinner's apartment as told, but had no intention of staying there safe and sound. Fortunately, Salvador knocked him out and he ended up staying the night anyway. In the morning, Ica and Cheruth dropped by, and the group of them all had a long talk about just how to handle this dracolich problem. Sources say Dris is planning on infiltrating a witch's base of operations and making good on Cheruth's deal of getting the dracolich his stone back.
Havoc (Chaos Reclaimed): Not many people have seen the chaos spawn in quite some time. Last anyone knew, he was going away for a while, but some sources claim he has been spending a great deal of time in discussion with She Who Tends the Dead. These discussions have included helping Havoc come to terms with his own doubts and fears about himself. Testing his theories has only lead to greater complications. Of which Faye is rumored to say that it's only his fault for having so many doubts to begin with.
Icarus Marcotte (SubtIe Iies): For the second time in as many months, Icarus has been attacked by the dracolich Mephis once more. However, for as much as he seems to be in a world of trouble, the half-dragon has been in a wonderful mood. Masochist, or does Icarus have a secret he's not sharing? Only Dris knows!
Irina Braeden (Irina Braeden): Nobody has really seen a whole lot of Irina in a while. Truth be told it's been weeks! Maybe one, but it certainly seems like so much more than that. She hasn't been seen around the Rambling Rose much lately. That's for certain. Just what is she up to these days?
Matakhat Cain (Matakhat Cain): This news comes to us from a couple of weeks past, and we cannot apologize profusely enough for neglecting to add it to the newsletter until now. The young blonde is in her last year of college and true to her promise to her father, she's waiting until after graduation to marry her long time beau, Stephen Valkonan. The couple has finally picked a date! October 19th of next year. Being a true Daddy's girl, she'd like Don's ( Donatello Harada) permission and her mother's (Smilefang) advice in the planning. Now, if only Rose (Katie Rose Wylie), her matron of honor, can just not be hugely pregant and ready to deliver on their wedding date. Some wedding planning is harder to do than others. She's enlisting Seamus's help to well, regulate that. IF he can.
Mike Harada (MichelangeIo H): There's word going around that Mike's looking to cause a whole lot of bodily harm to one Salvador Delahada. Reasons for this concern the mistreatment of his family friend Seamus Wylie. To the best of anyone's knowledge, Mike has been unable of finding the wayward Spaniard yet. One can only hope that things will simmer down before then. But others hope for an epic battle of ninja-like proportions.
Mm'gow (Iive a IittIe): All this paperwork business is boring, the ghatt has decided. What he wouldn't give to be out there riding circuits again with his bondmate Caliban Fortannis. But alas, that isn't so. Though, being a guide for other Seeker pairs and the focal point at regional Headquarters isn't all bad.
Penrith Towley (Aversion Toward): So where has Penrith been? Well! Seems as if he's been out on duty traveling circuits in Rhydin for about forty long days and nights. The Seeker rolled into town recently to stop by the Rambling Rose Tavern, one of his favorite places to visit. It was an interesting mess of a night, as most of his visits tend to be. But all in all he's glad to be home, as it were, and in the company of good friends.
R'cha (Iionpride): The ghatta and her bondmate seem to be back in town -- she can only go without the Wylie's homemade cooking for so long!
Renley Killian (A Common Cur): The blind psion had an opportunity to drop by the Red Dragon Inn again this past weekend. Could he possibly be making new friends? He ran into that girl Hodge again, who seems to making more friends herself. As far as Renley is concerned, he's just making new acquaintances. One newly met by the name of Piper. The people at the Red Dragon are certainly more accomodating than those at the Rambling Rose, but maybe that's just because they don't know him very well. Yet.
Salvador Delahada (Karmic Venganza): Some secrets are best kept hidden forever and not shared with anybody. Or so Salvador believes. He heard about Seamus hinting about a secret Sin had shared with him to someone who shouldn't have been told. Though the details of this secret were not given away, the fact of the matter remains that Seamus mentioned it at all. This pissed Sal off. And since then he has not been very happy with Seamus. Even to the point of threatening him a little, but that was before he even knew what was going on. Salvador and his temper. What's new, right? Aside from that, he has been having quite a bit of fun getting to know the cannibal living in the basement.
Seamus Wylie (Seamus Wylie): So it seems that Seamus had a secret. One he was given to in trust. One he hinted about to Icarus Marcotte that got him in a lot of trouble with Sin and Sal. The latter of which is rumored to have gotten a little violent and threatening with the owner of the Rambling Rose Tavern. Since being rejected by the half-fae, Seamus hasn't been doing too good.
Sinjin Fai (Sinjin Fai): And just what has the sinner been up to? Besides keeping cannibals in his basement, it seems Sinjin Fai has been hunting up as much information on dracoliches as he can. Hopefully he isn't looking to acquire a new pet...
Classifieds
Dragon's Mark : The new home for for Free Form Role-Playing (FFRP) on the web, or so their mission statement about themselves proclaims. Here you can find all things Red Dragon Inn and many things Rhy'din related. The people at DM strive to present themselves as the number one resource site for the greater whole of the FFRP community, but they aren't the only ones. Still, this is a valuable website to know about. Make use of it as you see fit.
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Greater Realms : A new board for Rhy'Din players, based more outside of the city setting. Called GreaterRealms, it's open to anyone who plays in Rhy'Din, regardless of whether they play on AOL or on the RDI site, or even RoH, with an emphasis on stories that take place across the whole realm. Meant as a companion board for both Mutual Endeavors and RDI, it lacks a lot of the neat features you'd find elsewhere, but hopefully will soon make up for that with content.
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Mutual Endeavors LJ Community : Before the message board forum was ever considered, another attempt at keeping Mutual Endeavors alive and active was put into motion with the creation of the LiveJournal Community. If you have a LiveJournal of your own, you are thoroughly encouraged to join our community at any time. Stay up-to-date and in the loop with our random ramblings and discussions. Some are held there and others are held on our forum. Everyone is welcome. Don't be shy!
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Navarra Farms : is temporarily opening opportunities for stud services with four of their finest stallions. If you have a mare coming in season and are interested, please contact Colleen MacLeod (
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
).
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Rambling Rose Tavern : The Rambling Rose Tavern is a bar and grill establishment in town, owned and operated by Seamus Wylie and Katie Rose Wylie. Stop in and enjoy a drink or a home-style meal, but before you do check out the rules and room description by following this link: http://www.ramblingrosetavern.net. There are plenty of fun times to be had at the Rambling Rose Tavern! Don't hesitate to join in on them whenever possible.
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Realm of RhyDin : As linked to in our ME resources category, the Realm of Rhydin is an internet wiki dedicated to all things Rhydin (however it's spelled) far and wide. Hosted by the founder of Dragon's Mark, anyone is welcome to contribute to the repository. Perhaps in time the wiki will turn itself into a veritable Encyclopedia Rhydinica!
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Storyboard Archive : The freeform role-playing group more commonly known as Mutual Endeavors had once added its storylines and characters to a message board forum for player convenience. It was decided that it would be beneficial to allow players a less time-restricted venue in which to present their characters' stories and participate interactively. Since that time, things have changed and this old forum is now a read-only resource, but still worth checking if you're up for some good reading.
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Subscribe Now! : Ubique's Weekly is a publication provided by the not-for-profit organization known as Mutual Endeavors. As a free source of literary entertainment, you as the reader have the liberty to send out copies of our publication to whomever you think might enjoy the information shared. To save yourselves the hassle of constantly forwarding what you might find amusing, feel free at any time to inform your friends and coconspirators to contact the Editor to request their very own future copies of Ubique's Weekly at no cost to them whatsoever. It's as simple as clicking this link here above, or by visiting our official website.
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Ubique's Archive : For several years now, the Ink Wire Associates and I have been trying to archive every old issue of Ubique's Weekly onto the internet. It has been a slow-going process, and finally every past issue has been coded and archived to the new site. Including this one! Do enjoy.
Final Thoughts
"What you don't see with your eyes, don't invent with your mouth." -- Jewish proverb
Well, there you have it. Another couple hours spent compiling this week's newsletter. Not too shabby, if I do say so myself. My thanks goes out to those few of you in cyberspace who decided to share your information with myself and the Internet at large. As some of the news found was acquired through public channels on other sites of interest.
A few new links have been added to the Classifieds section. It seems to be turning out to be more of an alphabetized site resource section of our newsletter these days, but there is still one link remaining as provided for character use. This may or may not change in the future. I haven't decided yet what to do.
The test email for the future of Ubique's Weekly is going to wait for another day, because I feel as if I've done far too much work than I'd like to, and haven't got in enough play. So until next time, without anything much else to say, I'll continue to be...
Keeping you informed,
-- The Nefarious SM
Editor In Chief
Ubique's Weekly
Mutual Endeavors |
