Editor's nook...

Message, Message

Hi! I’m back. Originally, I wanted to write about game testing because that’s a really important job, but right now, everyone’s busy, so maybe another time.

Anyway, I wanted to tell everyone about the message boards, under the link, Discussion (no longer online). They’ve been open to the public since June 1 and I see, already some people have found a cubbyhole in the midst. The welcome wagon on the boards has been great and very enthusiastic.

Here’s the place to go for announcements, support, spoilers, and general anarchy. I tend to like the “anything goes” kind of forums. As message boards go (and I’ve been on too many of them), there’s lots to like about the Siege of Avalon boards.

Firstly, your e-mail addy’s not showing. I like that because I want less spam, damnit! If you do want to check out an e-mail in a user profile (which you customize yourself), there’s a spam-trap added to the addy. Be anonymous, use a handle, or (and this is neat-o) adopt one of the characters from the game for your signature file. More info on the character pix is in the Announcements section.

Registration is swift and easy, but you don’t have to register to read the message boards, only if you want to post. HTML posting is allowed but remember to use ‘[' and ‘]’ instead of ‘<’ and ‘>’. Like most message boards, there’s the ‘Preview’ and ‘Reset’ option so if you mess up, you can try, try again. The boards are moderated so any spam-like growth will be wiped frosty clean. Sometimes, you’ll see members of the Digital Tome staff posting, but as it says on top, “Digital Tome folks love to respond here as time permits, but making games is our priority.”

OK, when you first log in, there’s the handy ‘Read New Messages’ option, but actually, anything new will have that “NEW” icon on there. One thing you might notice is that you have the ability to rate threads for their usefulness. There’s also a column for the number of views, to measure lurkerhood, I suppose!

Topics is another name for Threads (if you’re more familiar with the newsreader lingo). BUT unlike egroups or Deja, there’s no need to keep on clicking to read rest of the responses. There’s the first post and then all the replies follow. There’s also a way to go directly to a response. Say, you’ve been here already and you remembered to click “Mark All” after your last session on-line, then all the new posts will be indicated on the message tree and you can go right to it.

Already, I’ve learned that wizards will be able to summon imps and golems. That’s important, isn’t it? Also, the new pricing scheme. I would say that the news on the message boards are probably the fastest items coming.

Hopefully, when the game’s underway, there’ll be enough support for a newsgroup on USENET. USENET’s sorta my favorite playground so I’d really be into that.

And I think, maybe a few weeks down the road, I’d like to spotlight a Siege of Avalon fan who is like the most fanatical fan out there. I won’t be able to tell except through the message boards, so get on there and do some posting.

As always, if you want to see something covered in the zine, just send me an e-mail.

Til next time,
Sande

listening to Attrition
gothic drum’n’bass is addictive