A special note about this interview... It is the first time ever that The Ralnoth Times interviews two people at once. Also, while the channel was used, the interviewer (Ouch) and the two people being interviewed (Draak and Shadowfax) were actually standing in the same room in the game, at the way point of clan Pirates headquarters. Hence, for this interview only, relevant remarks and emotes made during game play have been included in italics for the pleasure of the readers.
Ouch: Tonight is a very special first for The Ralnoth Times.
Ouch: We here have a DOUBLE interview with two gods at once... the god of elemental fire and the god of elemental ice.
Ouch: A.k.a. Shadowfax and Draak
Ouch: Good evening sirs and thanks for doing this.
Shadowfax: Thank you for having us.
Draak: Good evening Ouch.
Ouch: It is Saturday, November 8th 2008, MUD system time is 11:09 pm.
Ouch: Do you geniuses have any opening comments before we begin?
Draak: Genii?
Draak: It's encouraging to see this kind of player-based initiative to contribute to the game.
Draak: So I just want to say to the staff of The Ralnoth Times, keep up the good work!
Ouch: Oh thanks Draak... It's encouraging to have the endorsements we have had from those like you... We can't program much for the most part, but we don't mind helping out by writing articles or interviewing people who have knowledge of the game.
Ouch: Any opening comments lord Shadowfax?
Shadowfax: I'd like to thank you and The Ralnoth Times for affording Draak and I the opportunity to share with the alter aeon community.
Shadowfax nods at you.
Draak jumps up in the air and highfives Shadowfax!
Ouch: And we thank you for that as well ...
Ouch: Well I have 18 questions prepared for you guys but I will spin off a number more as you answer them.
Ouch: Do you guys know each other in real life?
Shadowfax: Haha.
Draak: Should you tell him or me?
Shadowfax: We're actually brothers in real life, I'm the older one.
Shadowfax nods at Draak.
Shadowfax says, 'Ok'
Ouch: Holey moley !!
Ouch: These interviews certainly throw me off my seat.
Shadowfax: Heh, I thought that was common knowledge.
Draak shrugs.
You roll about the floor laughing.
Ouch: Did you guys start playing AA together then?
Shadowfax: Yeah, Void introduced me to it and then I brought Draak on board.
Shadowfax: Fall of 1996, if I do recall.
Draak: My first character was actually made by our dad, he got bored after a couple months and I took it over.
Ouch: So are you guys related to Void as well?
Shadowfax: We went to high school together.
Draak: Void, Shadowfax, Schlyne, myself, some others that aren't around anymore.
Ouch: Like who left? And why?
Shadowfax: Well Schlyne dropped off the face of the planet after she graduated college, never heard from her after that.
Draak: Ironfist/Bloodlust went to Iraq.
Shadowfax: Right.
Draak: Scott/Katt and Godman just moved on with their lives, I guess.
Shadowfax: There was Jedi too.
Draak: Yeah, he was a classic annoyance character.
Shadowfax: Scott's little brother, Sephiroth (he built the Sea Elves).
Draak: Oh yeah, the Dargonesti.
Draak: We could keep dropping names of people, but no one would recognize them.
Ouch: Ha ha ha ha.
Draak: Well, one more: Maniacmatium, we went to church with him.
Draak: he's married out in Arizona somewhere
Shadowfax: Areon lives nearby too.
Ouch: How many people from your church joined the AA holy crusade?
Shadowfax says, 'There's another list of names'
Shadowfax says, 'Tee hee'
Draak raises an eyebrow in response to Shadowfax.
Draak says, 'I though Maniacmatium was the only one?'
Shadowfax: Let's see: Batman, Superman, Chaoticneutral, to name a few.
Ouch: So your neighborhood is AA central?
Shadowfax: I don't think any play anymore.
Draak: We're amongst the last ones.
Ouch: Where did you get your names from? (Shadowfax / Draak)
Draak: Mine is from Babylon 5, the Drak were a race of aliens that fought on the side of the Shadows.
Shadowfax: Shadowfax was the name of my character on Endless Nameless, the first MUD I ever played.
Ouch: How does Endless Nameless compare to AA?
Shadowfax: It was a long time ago, but... It seemed way inferior.
Ouch: What got you interested in a MUD as opposed to a graphic game?
Shadowfax: Command prompts are sexy.
Ouch: :)
Draak: For me, it was the fact that I got into building early on. I liked the creative output.
Draak: Otherwise I would not have stuck around so long.
Shadowfax: Seriously, being a little older, I'm used to the days of command prompts.
Ouch: What got you started on AA particularly?
Shadowfax: My main mortal, Darklord, was actually one of Void's multis.
Shadowfax: It was a level 8 warrior, and it turned out that I liked playing it a lot.
Draak: pretty much everyone that muds on AA within 100 miles of here can be traced directly back to Void picking AA out of some nameless mudlist in the depths of time.
Ouch: What is the best area you each built?
Draak: That's like asking a parent which child they like best :)
Shadowfax: We love them all!
Ouch: Well - Who is your favorite of your children then? :)
Ouch: Who gets to go to college and who gets to stay home?
Shadowfax: Heh.
Draak: Who said anything about children?
Draak: I think the Naginag Combine as a whole is our best work.
Shadowfax says, 'He's continuing the metaphor, methinks'
Draak says, 'Nod, that wasn't nearly as funny on the channel as it was in my head'
You roll about the floor laughing.
You say, 'All joking aside...'
Ouch: So how many areas did you guys each build? And precisely how many together?
Shadowfax: Oh gosh.
Draak: Hold on a sec, counting off the area list.
Shadowfax: Cackle, can't get my scrollback to hold still to count it.
You smile.
Ouch: Control S.
Ouch: And then control Q to let it scroll.
Shadowfax: Nod.
Draak: Somewhere on the order of 50-60 areas.
Shadowfax: Let's go with that.
Draak: Of those, about 35 of them are open.
Shadowfax: Each of us built some on our own or with other builders, too.
Ouch: Can you guys tell us about new areas you are building?
Draak: New areas, eh?
Draak: Well, we just opened a massive expansion of the southern ocean, essentially a coastline between the Imperial City and the Coastal Combine.
Shadowfax: We're focusing on finishing the northern parts of the Combine, and then all of the mainland holdings.
Ouch: Oh cool! That was so needed!
Shadowfax: Connecting the combine to Jo'Kerin.
Ouch: And to those islands out there on the map?
Ouch: With this ocean expansion, are they accessible?
Draak: Yes, D'nogal Isle and Eastern Island are accessible.
Draak: The Combine capitol on the island of Q'Inag is still under construction.
You say, 'I need to find a way to get you guys to really open up and poor out your hearts'
Draak says, 'Get rid of the lag'
You say, 'Ha ha ha'
Shadowfax: The islands will be part of an archipelago of islands stretching from Malitad to Naginag island.
Shadowfax: More islands are to come.
Draak: Yep, we just built the ones with Combine colonies on them.
Draak: We also have the elemental plane of air on the backburner.
Shadowfax: Among other things.
Ouch: Oh wow. And about how many islands are we talking about for this archipelago?
Shadowfax: as many as we want :P
Draak: Not sure yet, we're hoping some other builder may contribute as well.
Ouch: Ha ha ha. That was such a good answer, showing how you love to build.
Ouch: And showing your team work spirit.
Draak: Go team Shadowdraak!
Shadowfax: Right, the Southern Ocean can be as big as we need it to be.
Draak: I'll just say, that Alter Aeon could sure use some polar regions.
Ouch: Like the world of ice?
Ouch: :)
Draak: Like icebergs and penguins.
Shadowfax: Actually Schlyne started a polar area, I'll probably finish it for her one of those days.
Draak: Yeah, that slacker, going off and having a real life.
Ouch: Do you feel the game is lacking in role playing?
Shadowfax: The game allows one to roleplay as much as you care to, it's never stopped me.
Shadowfax: Not many are into it, I'll admit.
Draak: Most people are heavy into metagaming.
Shadowfax: The potential is there, though, and we are trying to maintain the versimilitude of the world through our building efforts.
Draak: We've actually had a few people that were interested in becoming citizens of the Naginag Combine.
Draak: There were some really great role-playing opportunities there.
Ouch: Oh wow.
Draak: Ball still has his own hut in Gumrooj.
Ouch: I wonder if I can convince someone to give me a spot in the orc village.
Draak: You'd probably have to fight some sort of duel to win the land from the orc that already owns it.
Ouch: When did the conflict with Rydia/Vivi start? And how come he loves Shadowfax so much but hates Draak so much?
Draak: I'm not sure on the exact date.
Draak: We originally were on friendly terms, and he did pretend to be a girl.
Draak: however, he rather quickly revealed his nature.
Ouch: were you a player then or already a god?
Draak: A god, I've been an mport god since 2002.
Draak: He started behaving like the jerk we all know today, so I distanced myself from him and destroyed the room I made for him.
Draak: As for his claims that I 'loved' him, I'm not really sure where he came up with that.
Draak: I made him a room, yeah, but I also made Ball a house -- that doesn't mean I loved Ball.
Draak: I like it when people get into my areas, and Rydia loved the griffins, so I made a griffin room for it.
Draak: I might add that that room is the only gift I've ever retracted from a player.
Draak: Even the tinfoil hat that I made for Axl that he sold on auction, was never retracted.
Shadowfax throws his head back and cackles with insane glee.
Ouch: For the record, what is your response to Rydia/Vivi stating the flowers thing? You know, the little @,-'-- ones.
Draak: I don't recall making those specifically for him.
Shadowfax creates @}-`-,--. with a strange magical gesture.
Draak: I might add, as an interesting note, that Groan has one on his person right now.
Shadowfax: I am not sure why Vivi worships me, I haven't seen him in months.
Ouch: Vivi has been lying about the "in love" thing as long as I've known him. He tried to convince me once you still love the girl character that he had. And it's so obvious that any time he hurts another player you are generally the first god to get involved and put a stop to the carnage.
Ouch: But I will get to that in another question to you and Shadowfax.
Draak: Yeah, he's an attention whore.
Shadowfax: Allow me to draw an analogy.
You cheer Shadowfax on.
Shadowfax: I have a dog named Junior.
Shadowfax: Junior's former master beat him silly for the least of things and sometimes for no particular reason at all.
Shadowfax: Junior loves attention, but he can't distinguish between good and bad attention anymore because of the abuse.
Shadowfax: I'm not sure what caused Vivi to be the way he is, but the result is the same.
Draak: Are you saying that Junior craps on the carpet because he likes the attention he gets from your wife?
Draak: Oh, sorry, didn't mean to hijack the interview.
Shadowfax: You can hurl insults at him and kill him repeatedly and he doesn't seem to mind...he likes it because it's attention.
Draak says, 'He's talking about Vivi now, not Junior'
You nod.
Draak: Oh, show Ouch the shirt you made for him. (Vivi)
Shadowfax says, 'Oh yeah'
Shadowfax creates a black t-shirt that says, 'I'M FLAMING!' with a strange magical gesture.
Draak snickers softly.
Shadowfax pokes a black t-shirt that says, 'I'M FLAMING!' to make sure it is real.
(Ouch looked at Shadowfax...)
The elemental itself seems normal sized and of slight build, but blazes of
hot yellow fire conceal his true form and inflate his height to almost three
meters. As the demonfire dances about him, it leaves a portion unshielded
for a moment. All that can be seen is an ebony-skinned man laughing
maniacally as the flames rush to block your view once again.
Shadowfax is in immaculate condition.
[worn on head] a crown of fire (light)
[worn on neck] a stupid little 100% magic resistant object I made so mortals can't cast spells on me
[worn on neck] a Spork of the Gar
[worn on finger] the ring of prime evil
[worn on body] a "got draak?" t-shirt
[wielded] a peach-tree switch
[wielded] The Destruct-O-Matic 3000
[wielded] a shadowfax machine
Shadowfax says, 'I gave him that earlier this year'
Draak snickers softly.
Shadowfax says, 'I don't think he even realized it was an insult'
Shadowfax says, 'The kid has issues'
Draak nods.
You say, 'Let me see the shirt?'
Draak creates a black t-shirt that says, 'I'M FLAMING!' with a strange magical gesture.
Shadowfax says, 'Give him a loaded one'
Draak eats a black t-shirt that says, 'I'M FLAMING!'.
Shadowfax eats a black t-shirt that says, 'I'M FLAMING!'.
Draak gives you a black t-shirt that says, 'I'M FLAMING!'.
(Ouch looks at shirt...)
(item is in your inventory)
Nothing quite gets you out of the closet like this t-shirt.
(Ouch ID's the shirt...)
Item: 'flaming t shirt'
Weight: 0 Size: 1'0" Level: 0 (very uncommon)
Object is:
Type: OTHER Composition: FABRIC
Wear locations are: ON_BODY
Estimated cost: 4
Compared to your current equipment:
a black t-shirt that says, 'I'M FLAMING!' looks far inferior to a silver breastplate cloaked in souls.
You say, 'cool :)'
Shadowfax says, 'Keep it'
You bow, how very noble of you.
Draak says, 'I love the long'
You say, 'But I won't wear it rofl'
Ouch: One more thing about the Vivi issue.
Shadowfax: Shoot.
Ouch: Okay we all want to know about the timeout room? What are you guys willing to reveal to us?
You say, 'Ha ha ha like you didn't see this coming ha ha ha'
Shadowfax giggles.
Draak: Byung came up with the idea.
Draak: Void donated a room.
Draak: I implemented the object that gets you sent there.
Ouch: So what's your job Draak? Create the sticks?
Draak gets a peach-tree switch from Tensor's floating disc.
Shadowfax says, 'I have one, too'
Ouch: How many people have been to that room? And how many have you each sent?
Draak pats a peach-tree switch, making sure it is still there.
Draak: I have no idea how many total.
Draak: I think I sent a Vivi multi there once or twice, that's it.
Ouch: No idea how many multis of Vivi have been there?
Shadowfax: I haven't had any occasion to use it yet.
You say, 'Can I get one? rofl'
Shadowfax giggles.
Shadowfax eats @}-`-,--.
Draak says, 'Actually, it's coded so that you couldn't use it'
You say, 'So I can get one right?'
Draak says, 'Yeah, um, no'
You say, 'Since I can't use it anyway?'
Draak says, 'No, that would give you too much intimidation ability, like handing you an unloaded revolver'
You say, 'But someone has to keep Vivi in check when you're not around...'
You say, 'Who will protect the innocent? I can bluff him into behaving'
Shadowfax snickers softly.
Draak says, 'So...interview?'
Draak says, 'Is someone interviewing us?'
Ouch: For the next question, I have a couple of comments to make and then I will open the floor to the question.
Shadowfax: Ok.
Draak: Okayly dokely.
Ouch: I developed an appreciation for how both of you handle player conflicts.
Ouch: One time I was really, really, mad at a player who had been very, very , unfair to me and Shadowfax found me and gave me a punching bag that I could keep until the next reboot - which occurred 5 days later - for me to let out my anger and aggression while developing skills.
Ouch: So I really appreciated that.
Ouch: And Draak... has a way of getting into heated conversations and smoothly steering a path with humor to calm things down.
Ouch: Just today one such conversation took place on A.A., on gossip channel.
Draak: I must have missed it.
Draak: :)
Ouch: So I guess the question form - for us to all learn - would be like this...
Ouch: How do you handle player conflicts?
Shadowfax: Never take it personally.
Draak nods.
Draak: Nod, it's only a game, we're (supposedly) here to have fun.
Ouch: Yes that's advice for players... But how, as a god getting involved, do you handle it?
Ouch: How do you handle the situation?
Shadowfax: Ah ok.
Draak: I think there's the 'big stick' philosophy going on here.
Draak: People are aware that we do have the ability to do horrible, unspeakable things to them, so there's no need to intimidate or be condescending.
Shadowfax: I think Dentin gives us a good example of what to do...and what not to.
Draak: Most people respond very well if you just say, 'Please stop doing that'
Draak: Yeah, Dentin is master of the light-touch-backed-up-by-the-delete-button.
Ouch: He he :)
Shadowfax: Right, he has the power to do worse things than us, but rarely finds the need to do so.
Ouch: Yet he gave you that power to help resolve conflicts...
Shadowfax: Well, he can't be everywhere at once.
Draak: He's given players most of what they need to help themselves.
Draak: Usually it's just a matter of reminding them.
Ouch: Has being a god of Alter Aeon ever influenced your computer science studies or anything you have done in the outside world?
Shadowfax: Oh yes.
Draak: I'd ask it the other way around, too.
Shadowfax: I'd say Alter Aeon galvanized my resolved to study computer programming.
Shadowfax: Resolve even.
Draak says, 'Let the editor worry about the typos :)'
Shadowfax says, 'Habit'
Draak smiles.
You say, 'Yeah we got like 3 of them rofl'
You say, 'One for each of us rofl'
You say, 'The one who complains the most will get my comments to edit rofl'
You say, '(joking)'
Shadowfax: I having a college degree in programming now, heh.
Draak: I work as a mobile DJ on the side, I use a high-end visualizer called R4, you can make custom scenes for it. I learned some C type programming from doing some of the building on A.A. and it's helped me work with R4.
Draak: Oh, I'd like to thank Void, I learned a lot of that dproc coding from reverse-engineering procedures he had written.
Shadowfax giggles.
Ouch: And the other way around - like you suggested?
Draak: How has RL influenced my being an A.A. god?
Ouch: Yeah - and also anything in A.A. that you have done.
Draak: Little bits of our lives are embedded in the areas we build.
Shadowfax: Our building has been influenced greatly by our real life experiences, especially some of mine.
Draak: Place names, some mobs and objects.
Draak: Yeah, tell him about Bandera Azul.
Shadowfax nods.
Shadowfax: The latino area is the direct result of me recanting life as a missionary in South America.
Shadowfax: Recounting even.
Ouch: You got pick pocketed by a kid?
Shadowfax: Heh, someone tried to rob me, yes.
Ouch: So what's the deal with evil Roy then?
Draak: Ooh, the eat the kitten deed.
Ouch: Yeah.
Shadowfax: Evil Roy is an aberation, that's Draak's brainchild.
Draak: Well, ever seen the cartoon The Tick?
Shadowfax creates a snowy white kitten with a strange magical gesture.
Shadowfax eats a snowy white kitten.
HAHAHAHAHA (Ouch)
Shadowfax licks his lips.
Draak: There was one episode where the Tick, a superhero, was trying to infiltrate a gang of villains, and the test that the bad guys came up with to see if he was really evil was to eat a kitten.
You roll about the floor laughing.
Draak: And the Tick couldn't go through with it.
Ouch: So he pretended to eat the kitten?
Draak: No, he rejected it totally.
Draak: And beat them all up.
Shadowfax: "That's just wrong!"
Draak: Told them that eating kittens was "just wrong".
Draak jumps up in the air and highfives Shadowfax!
Shadowfax snickers softly.
Shadowfax says, 'I remember that episode'.
Ouch: What about the reference to Ozzie Osbourne eating a bat on stage?? That reference is indirectly made by Evil Roy. Was that in the cartoon? Or did you add that?
Draak: That was just to get the code to work, it had to trigger off something.
Shadowfax: Oz is one of the socials that I've made, it just worked.
Draak: Since you can't eat mobs (yet).
Shadowfax: Grin.
Ouch: That's amazing... This whole time it seemed the quest was based on the bat eating incident that took place on stage with Ozzie.
Draak: I might add that a lot of our old high school friends also are in Bandera Azul.
Shadowfax: Heh yeah.
Ouch: Ha ha ha ha.
Shadowfax: Actually every person in there is based on someone in real life, I think.
Draak: I would like to say that Shadowfax single-handedly created a new genre - "Latinopunk".
Draak: I'm even in Bandera Azul, and our little sister.
Draak: :)
Ouch: I have a question for Shadowfax concerning Bandera Azul.
Ouch: How can I say this? Without revealing the quest to the players... There is a quest in mob factory of newbie forest that has an ingredient to it in Bandera Azul - but Bandera Azul was moved from close to newbie forest into the islands... isn't making the quest more unknown??
Ouch: Will it stay that way? Or are you guys moving the mob factory out there?
Shadowfax says, 'uh'
Draak: Our orders for moving areas came from Higher Up(tm).
Ouch: :)
Ouch: But you were able to reconcile the Orcish Newbie quest when that problem was brought to your attentions.
Shadowfax: I'm aware of the situation you mentioned.
Draak: Because we're awesome.
Ouch: When Orc village moved out to the islands, you guys left that quest to be achieved in Ralnoth newbie area still.
Ouch: Sorry go on...
You say, 'I mean I don't mind being one of the only people that know the secret rofl'
Shadowfax snickers softly.
You say, '(joking)'
Shadowfax: The moblin quests are due for some tinkering anyway.
Ouch: So mob factory will be staying in newbie forest then?
Draak: Probably.
Shadowfax: For now.
Ouch: Well it's a side note....
Ouch: But players are making a killing on the list/reciepe for one of those quests.. selling it ... Will you guys make that quest available to all equally?
Draak eyes Shadowfax suspiciously.
You say, 'I wouldn't be Ouch if I didn't put you guys on the spot now would I?'
You snicker softly.
Shadowfax: That's one of the aforementioned tinkerings, yes.
Shadowfax is acting paranoid again.
Ouch: What direction do you see the MUD going in the next few years?
Draak: I see Dentin's fingers flowing over with gold.
Draak: but gold will have no power to master him.
Draak nods.
Ouch: :)Shadowfax laughs out loud.
Shadowfax says, 'Good one'
Shadowfax: Dentin has a good thing going here, and some great ideas for the future.
Shadowfax: I'd say the future looks bright for Alter Aeon.
Draak: I think largely the mud is going into a period of consolidation and reconstruction rather than rapid expansion.
Draak: Dentin's goal is to make the game better now to attract a larger player base, rather than just increasing its size.
Draak: A.A. has withstood the test of time for a reason, now is its time to prosper.
Draak says, 'Job done'
Shadowfax: There's a lot of potential in the blind community, the game is becoming more blind-friendly and that's a good thing.
Draak: A nice little niche Dentin is carving out for himself.
Shadowfax nods.
Draak says, 'I'd like Ouch's Next Question for a 1000, Alex'
Shadowfax says, 'Daily double!'
Ouch: What do you like about your followers?
Shadowfax hmms.
Draak: I have few followers, but they are loyal.
Draak: And Samon follows me, that's weird but he sometimes has some good ideas.
Draak pats the pretty little Shadowfax on his head.
You say, 'I would follow you if I wasn't following Morpheus. But I'm loyal to Morph to the death'
Draak says, 'He's got 4 times as many followers as anyone else, abandon the unseeing one and worship the fury of fire and ice!'
Shadowfax: Draak and I have made some followers-only quests that are pretty fun. People have liked those.
You say, 'Ha ha how could I possibly follow both of you at once? Rofl'
Shadowfax says, 'Polytheism!'
Draak says, 'We've been asking Dentin for some polytheism code'
Ouch: Like can you tell us about one of them as an example?
Draak: They're just little gopher quests, mostly.
Draak: I don't think we'd like to disclose the details to heathens such as yourself.
Draak nods at Shadowfax.
Ouch: Ha ha.
Shadowfax: My followers get to light things on fire and burn buildings down.
Draak nods at Shadowfax.
Ouch: Well this heathen wants IN on your secret hideout for followers, not so secret, in the Naginag Combine.
Ouch: Any way that could happen?
Draak: Yeah, you renounce your god and worship me :)
Draak says, 'C'mon, you walked into that one'
Shadowfax: Heh, I don't have a secret hideout, the temple of Zin is my temple.
Draak: Shadowfax wrote up some cool history about it.
Shadowfax looks at Draak and says, 'Blah'
Ouch: How would you guys describe Dentin?
Draak: Very mellow guy, very fair.
Shadowfax: He is eccentric, but fair and equitable.
Draak: He's been very accommodating to some of our requests.
Shadowfax: No less nerdy than I am... Heh, probably more so.
Shadowfax: Intelligent guy too, and he can be real congenial.
Shadowfax: I like him.
Shadowfax says, 'Heh'
Ouch: Is there any single god out there you have not yet built an area with?
Draak: Yeah, lots.
Draak: Wyvren, Morpheus, Locane, Ralithune, Os.
Draak: Cygnii, Grolantor, Byung.
Ouch: Ahem... Didn't Morph help you guys with the islands a bit?
Draak: He worked on Archais, I had really nothing to do with Archais.
Ouch: Nod.
Shadowfax: I think we can safely say that we've helped a lot of the other immortals with building, especially the newer ones.
Draak: But as far a direct collaborations, we've worked with Void, Dentin, Glorida and Shift.
Ouch: What is your favorite thing about A.A.?
Shadowfax: Besides building new areas?
Ouch: That is one - what else?
Draak: I like this little subculture we've developed.
Shadowfax: I like go to other people's areas and just read the descriptions.
Shadowfax: I like to read... Obviously, I'm playing a text game, hehe.
Draak: It's a rich resource to mine for ideas.
Shadowfax: I'd have to say that writing descriptions is fun too.
Draak: I hate writing long descriptions :)
Shadowfax: Some builders hate writing long descs but I find it to be one of most fun things to do.
Shadowfax: Blah, hehe Draak
Ouch: :)
Draak: It's the most tedious, time-consuming part of building, and most people run around with brief on and never read them :)
Shadowfax: All of the stories and poems and songs I've written for mobs are all my own creations.
Shadowfax: Some people...
Shadowfax shrugs.
Draak: Yeah, someone was asking me about the gynosphinx riddles the other day. He was impressed that the riddles didn't show up on Google.
Draak says, 'I'm going to bet everything'
Draak says, 'What's the category?'
Draak says, 'Go ahead, Alex'
Shadowfax giggles.
Ouch: Well we are leaning towards the conclusion, however, I do want to ask one thing. Since the comments said on the side, while the three of us were in clan Pirates' headquarters way point, were extremely funny comments, I want to ask for permission to reproduce some of them along with the interview.
Shadowfax says, 'You should have seen what we were telling each other :P'
Draak: Yeah, I'm down with that.
Shadowfax: I dig it.
Ouch: As a conclusion, I first want to thank both of you brothers - literally - for coming today and also for bearing with us during this very first attempt at interviewing two at once.
Draak: You're very welcome, Ouch.
Ouch: However this interview is far from complete.
Draak gasps in astonishment.
Shadowfax: There's a quiz?
Ouch: The conclusion is an open door for both of you to state things you wanted to say, share advice, or tell us more, whatever you feel like doing.
Ouch: And I'm looking forward to it knowing you guys a bit by now...
Ouch: So the floor is open to you both.
Shadowfax: Hmm, well.
Draak: Okay.
Shadowfax: What else is there to tell?
Draak: People, don't be stupid.
Draak: Honestly, be nice, because nice people make me feel like being nice.
Draak: It's contagious.
Draak: Save your fury, wrath and indignation for all the mobs out there that are not sharing their exp with you.
Shadowfax throws his head back and cackles with insane glee.
Draak: We have to redistribute the wealth of experience in the mud, the big mobs have been hoarding it for too long.
Ouch: :)
Draak: I'm Draak Hussein Obama, and I approve this message.
Draak: No, but seriously folks, this is a game, have fun here and help others have fun.
Shadowfax: Hmm... I'll abstain from political commentary tonight.
Draak: I'm doing political satire, not commentary.
Shadowfax: We like feedback, it helps us be better builders.
Shadowfax: You know what I mean :P
Draak: We do appreciate constructive criticism, and posting of typos in an easy to decipher manner.
Draak: Also, to all the people out there that read our longs, we thank you.
Draak: And um, Vivi is a lying prig, if that didn't come across earlier.
Shadowfax: We hope you enjoy our areas as much as we enjoyed building them.
Ouch: ... This concludes a very first double interview for The Ralnoth Times... with the elemental gods of fire and ice... Ending time is the following day, Sunday November 9th at 1:36 am MUD system time....
Ouch: Once again, Shadowfax and Draak, thank you. This has been a great honor.
Shadowfax: I want to thank Dentin for creating this wonderful game.
Draak: It's been a pleasure, Ouch.
Draak: Yeah, props to Dentin.
Shadowfax: And thanks to our evil master Void for leading us here and being an example and leader for us all of these years.
Draak: Long live Void! Long live Lawful Evil!
Shadowfax: *Salute*
Shadowfax: I thank my lovely and beautiful wife for permitting me the time to interview and to play the game for so many years.
Shadowfax says, 'Heh, the flaming shirt was her idea'