4/23/2001

 Anniversary Issue

Kulan @Action News a Year Old
  @Action News has now been published 52 times, making it about a year old in its current incarnation.  It's been quite a trip, and has gone through several changes, which I will get to in a moment.  But first, some favorite bits from issues past.

Starting from the beginning, there was Maxl's Pill Puzzle and his amusing comments at those who responded to his challenge.  Dolly being bubblenapped was quite a TinyPlot, and was well covered in issue two of the paper.  The first through third issue was called the 'Floating Newspaper of Death', believe it or not.  The fourth through 8th issue was in newspaper format, with columns!  In the sixth issue, Mouser and Dolly gave the first In Character advertisement.  In the 7th issue, the helpstaff dissolvation was documented.  In the 8th issue Maxl came back as editor (but that was his last issue) and Raccoon Day's originations were discussed.

In the 10th issue, the first rubber recall was issued, and a similar recall was later issued in issue 49 for a similar product.   In the 12th issue, a town meeting was documented, a building milestone was met, and the opening of RP Central occurred.  In the 15th issue the Otter Yiff Pit of Doom was documented(!) and a graph appeared of Royce's Raccooniness.  Somewhere around the 20th issue was the SED Edition.  In the 22nd issue, Vassily was reported as wanting the carebear population managed.  In the 23rd and 24th issue, the whole Election folly started.  Argon questioned if his involvement in the paper was good in the 25th issue.

Issue 27 starts the new layout by Frogar.  Issue 30 has artwork that isn't a comic.  It was never done again for whatever reason.  Skittles are claimed to be harmless in issue 32.  In issue 34, a contest is announced for a new look for the Spindizzy web site.  In issue 37, Argon's hacked account was documented as well as the winner for the web site design.  The Christmas tree was also erected.  In issue 39, Mouser and Seaweed had a little standoff about who was higher up in the food chain so as to decide who would get to eat a goldfish-type character in the park.  The 'MouserSuit' was also brought up.

In issue 41, I made my first apology, concerning the comic strip incident.  Squirrel City was explored in issue 41 and 42.    In issue 44, Max duck-taped Lamar and Morticon together and watched in amusement as they tried to solicit help from Gratiot to get free.  In issue 48, Skyler, Terry, and Chit were mentioned as being in an earthquake IRL, but thankfully unhurt.  In issue 50, the Peace Banquet was reported as not being very peaceful and RP Silliness abounded.  And finally, in issue 51, Moriarty was reported as making a comeback (but has not been seen around recently) and one of Vassily's heroic efforts to rescue Flutterz was documented, along with Lamar's dramatic quotes.

Of course, throughout most of the issues, the SED and/or Morticon was brought up one way or another, as well as starring in multiple comics.  Most anyfur who read the newspaper noticed these two facts, so I decided not to include the majority of the SED plots in my above summaries.  If you can think of anything I missed, please send it to me for a continuing article next issue! Now, on to the history.

@Action News's first incarnation was the TF&F Ferret (Which came out during the pre-Spindizzy days).  About 10 or so issues were produced, some of which are still available (if you have any not listed at the archive site, please email them to me!) and were edited by Rocko, former wallaby.  They were published only when there were enough articles.  Sometimes there would be a month between issues, or maybe just a week or two.

Next of course came The Crash, and things came to a halt newspaper-wise for some time.  Maxl, local badger, decided to try and start it up again and came out with three amusing issues.  Maxl has, of note, been the only editor to have editorials.

Maxl then handed the paper over to Argon, local centaur.  Argon was the first editor to institute comics at the end of most issues.  He also made the paper come out weekly (at least 95% of the time) and most issues had between 4 to 6 articles.

Argon then handed the paper over to Kulan, local kangaroo.  During this time, several furs (including Argon and Kulan) had a meeting and decided the paper needed a facelift.  A contest was held, and Frogar won.  His layout is being used to this very day.  Kulan also reinstated submission guidelines and procedures similar to those found in the TF&F Ferret.

Kulan has continued in much the same spirit as Argon, though the paper has not always come out every week.  But more often then not, it has.  It too has between 4-6 articles per issue and comics most of the time.  Argon remains the publisher, however.

That brings us to this very day.  What remains in store for the newspaper?  Judging from the past, whatever it is will probably be fun and amusing for all who read it.  Stay tuned, and submit those articles!  We can't do it without YOU, the writers and readers of the muck!
Kulan Addendum to the Pinfo Article

 

 Also of note, if you wish to be notified when others are Pinfoing your character (while you are online), type this in:

@set me=str:/_ui/c:{null:{tell:{pronouns:[{name:me} (%N) is PINFOing you.]},{owner:this}}}
Morticon Sheen RP

 

 There is an existing serious RP that had high hopes, but got put on hold due to lack of interest or not enough furs knew about it.  I'm hoping to rekindle interest in it via this article, as I found it a rather neat premise.

The basic plot is that insect-like robots (called Sheens)  have arrived from another place or time and are starting to multiply and take over Spindizzy.  You, the RPer, can take on various rolls in this plot, from someone who is out to destroy every Sheen to someone who believes they could control the robots to even RPing the Sheens themselves.  The possibilities are endless.

This is an RP of high action, adventure, and even a few puzzles.  You don't necessarily have to be good at combat to play.  Supporting characters that operate equipment, reverse engineer the Sheens, etc. are also welcome.  The area the RP takes place in is the whole of Spindizzy, so you already know your way around.

For more information, go to RP Central ('rpc') and read the old BB posts, as well as look at the objects laying around.  You can also contact Morticon, Clarissa, or Seth (though Seth could be slow to respond) for more information or if you are interesting in joining.
Advertisement Flower Fae ready to pollinate Spindizzy!

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Kulan Austin's Player Leaving for Job in Singapore
  Austin, local coati and head wiz, has announced that he is leaving in about a week for a new job - in Singapore.  He will be researching Vortexes of all sorts and will be gone between 6 months to a year.

He will remain head wiz, though he'll probably be getting on less and at odd times due to the time zone differences.  If he feels that he is not able to fulfill his duty, however, he will consider delegating his position to someone else.

Expect possible changes in the social dynamics of the MUCK.
Various Contributors
The Doze Garden
Boki
Rown

Argon

 

 

 

 

 

@Action News Info Guidelines and Procedure for Submitting Articles
 
>> Procedure for submitting an article:
 *  The newspaper building is located at Role Play Central (rpc).  When you
enter the building you will see a bulletin board.
 
 *  Go ahead and 'write' your story.  If you decide you don't want to write
one, hit .abort and forget about it.  Otherwise page 'newspaper' alerting
us that you wrote one when you finish pasting it in.
 
 *  An alternative to this is to page #mail newspaper with your story OR
 
 * We will edit it and tell you where you can look at it to make sure it wasn't mangled.  You can then p #mail the editor involved saying that it is ok.  Otherwise, suggest changes that should be made. If you trust the editors feel free to put something to the effect that you pre-approve the editing in your rough draft.
 
 * That's it!  It'll appear in the paper!
 
>> Guidelines for writing articles:
 
When writing articles for the paper...
 
 * Try and do some proofreading before submission.  That means spell check!
However, if you're no good at that sort of stuff, just send it as-is and the
editors will try their best.
 
 * No articles whose sole purpose is to flame someone.  You can use the SpinDizzy BB for
that ;)
 
 * Please strive for accuracy.  If they have time, the editors may check up on some of the quotes and perhaps the basic facts of the article.  Otherwise, it is assumed you did your best to write an accurate article.  If this is abused and inaccurate things are complained about, stricter rules may be put in place.
 
* Submitting your article anytime on Friday evening through the normal publishing date (Saturday night) will usually waive your right to review the edited version because of time constraints.  You will be contacted and informed but if you cannot get on before the publishing deadline to check your article it will be published regardless UNLESS you specify otherwise.
 
 * The editors' decisions are final.  This is not a wiz ran paper so do not
complain to them.  We can be reached by paging 'newspaper'.
 
 * Just about anything is published, so be creative!  It can be IC views on
RL topics, RPs that occurred around the MUCK, or most other things you can
think of.  You have creative license when it comes to documenting RPs, so
feel free to expound on the action, etc.  If you aren't sure if a story is
acceptable, page 'newspaper' and find out! :)
 
 * The AUP applies, so keep language and content acceptable.
  The End