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Message no. 1
From: Gurth <gurth@******.NL>
Subject: More magazine thoughts (was Re: Gurth has some ideas)
Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1998 21:08:13 +0200
Sasquatch said on 13:05/1 Sep 98,...

> Seems the idea, of the address column, is not a good one. It wouldn't work
> unless the mag came out on a regular basis anyway.

That would be the idea -- once every 3 months or so, I think, should be
something to aim for. (Although I already know that we won't be able to
reach that, but still, it never hurts to hope... Well, almost never :)

Anyway, to further explain my idea for a NERPS magazine a bit: I don't see
it as a magazine in which we do reviews of all sorts of stuff, or have
general interest articles, or stuff like that. IMHO it should be the same
NERPS does now, namely provide source material and other articles that
directly support the SR world -- place descriptions, equipment, spells,
NPCs, spirits, house rules, and so on.

This means we won't be in competition with TSS as much, and also we'll be
able to do the things NERPS has always done. It would just be on a more
regular basis than what we have now, namely about one book a year at
really irregular intervals.

The mag would most likely be done as an electronic publication, even
though I'd really like to do a hardcopy magazine, but I don't think it'll
be all that feasible :/

All that said, I'd like to hear some other opinions than my own about
this. You lot are really quiet about this, and I don't like it...

--
Gurth@******.nl - http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
It may look to the untrained eye I'm sitting on my arse all day.
-> NERPS Project Leader * ShadowRN GridSec * Unofficial Shadowrun Guru <-
-> The Plastic Warriors Page: http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/plastic.html <-
-> The New Character Mortuary: http://www.electricferret.com/mortuary/ <-

GC3.1: GAT/! d-(dpu) s:- !a>? C+(++)@ U P L E? W(++) N o? K- w+ O V? PS+
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Incubated into the First Church of the Sqooshy Ball, 21-05-1998
Message no. 2
From: Patrick Goodman <remo@***.NET>
Subject: Re: More magazine thoughts (was Re: Gurth has some ideas)
Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1998 16:14:07 -0500
>All that said, I'd like to hear some other opinions than my own about
>this. You lot are really quiet about this, and I don't like it...

I guess I'm not seeing where it's all that different a notion than what
Adam is doing with TSS. Of course, I just got here, so that could have
something to do with it.

In any event, I'm for it generally, but I guess I could stand some
clarification on where it's going to be all the different from TSS.

---
(>) Texas 2-Step
El Paso: Never surrender. Never forget. Never forgive.
Message no. 3
From: Andrew K <nietzche_2k@*****.COM>
Subject: Re: More magazine thoughts (was Re: Gurth has some ideas)
Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1998 14:23:49 -0700
---Gurth <gurth@******.NL> wrote:
> general interest articles, or stuff like that. IMHO it should be the
same
> NERPS does now, namely provide source material and other articles that
> directly support the SR world -- place descriptions, equipment,
spells,
> NPCs, spirits, house rules, and so on.

Sounds good. Plus, if someone's working on a project that wouldn't
fit in with the current theme for the book, they can still submet to
the Mag.

> The mag would most likely be done as an electronic publication, even
> though I'd really like to do a hardcopy magazine, but I don't think
it'll
> be all that feasible :/

Try selling ad space on the electronic version, if you get enough
money, you can try hardcopy.


==
Andrew K.

Are you an 'F' Student? Are you a criminal? Runyon College wamts you!


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Message no. 4
From: Lady Jestyr <jestyr@*******.COM.AU>
Subject: Re: More magazine thoughts (was Re: Gurth has some ideas)
Date: Wed, 2 Sep 1998 08:07:44 +1000
>Anyway, to further explain my idea for a NERPS magazine a bit: I don't see
>it as a magazine in which we do reviews of all sorts of stuff, or have
>general interest articles, or stuff like that. IMHO it should be the same
>NERPS does now, namely provide source material and other articles that
>directly support the SR world -- place descriptions, equipment, spells,
>NPCs, spirits, house rules, and so on.
>
>This means we won't be in competition with TSS as much, and also we'll be
>able to do the things NERPS has always done. It would just be on a more
>regular basis than what we have now, namely about one book a year at
>really irregular intervals.

Hm... I'm not 100% happy with the idea of a magazine, for my two cents'
worth. For a start, it -does- actually seem to be in direct competition
with TSS, since the list of stuff above that you mentioned sounds just like
the contents of an average TSS.

Second I think it'll take away from the books effort. Most of us only have
so much spare time, and any time we spend on the magazine is time taken
away from the books - hence making the books-publishing situation even
worse. And let's face it, the *books* are what make NERPS special, since
they're rarer than magazines.

The only way of solving that second problem is to make books -out of- the
magazine submissions, which has its' own brand of problems - the main
problem being probably not enough material about any one topic to actually
make a book out of (with any decent regularity).

I guess I vote we stay with books only, if my vote counts for anything.

Lady Jestyr

- Eagles may soar, but turkeys don't get sucked into jet engines. -
jestyr@*******.com.au URL: http://www.geocities.com/~jestyr
Message no. 5
From: Mik & Caroline <legion@******.NET.AU>
Subject: Re: More magazine thoughts (was Re: Gurth has some ideas)
Date: Wed, 2 Sep 1998 11:44:42 +1000
>
> All that said, I'd like to hear some other opinions than my own about
> this. You lot are really quiet about this, and I don't like it...
>
> --
> Gurth

well, for my $0.02 i agree. A magazine would be good. We can create a
hightewr profile for NERPS via a magazine

Hangfire
--
URL 1 : http://www.welcome.to/hangfires.home
URL 2 : http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Nebula/7500/index

ICQ Mik - 15142762
ICQ Caroline - 9113143
Message no. 6
From: Wordman <wordman@*******.COM>
Subject: Re: More magazine thoughts (was Re: Gurth has some ideas)
Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1998 22:24:00 -0400
>I guess I vote we stay with books only, if my vote counts for anything.

Here, here.

Wordman
Message no. 7
From: Erik Jameson <WildSmashr@***.COM>
Subject: Re: More magazine thoughts (was Re: Gurth has some ideas)
Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1998 23:49:41 EDT
My vote must be placed alongside that of Madame Jester and Herr Wordman. Keep
NERPS publishing net.books and not magazines.

You've all read my opinions as to what needs to be done, and that's simply to
get our collective butts in gear.

Maybe the fact that NERPS has been outplacing TK & Plot-D the last few weeks
is an indication that perhaps we are indeed showing some drive.

Erik J.
Message no. 8
From: Patrick Goodman <remo@***.NET>
Subject: Re: More magazine thoughts (was Re: Gurth has some ideas)
Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1998 22:54:47 -0500
>You've all read my opinions as to what needs to be done, and that's simply
to
>get our collective butts in gear.

So, what is the business at hand that we need to get in gear with? Someone
mentioned a theme of some kind...I'd like to help out if I could.

---
(>) Texas 2-Step
El Paso: Never surrender. Never forget. Never forgive.
Message no. 9
From: Geoff Skellams <geoff.skellams@*********.COM.AU>
Subject: Re: More magazine thoughts (was Re: Gurth has some ideas)
Date: Wed, 2 Sep 1998 14:08:41 +1000
On Net Enhancements for Roleplaying Shadowrun, Erik
Jameson[SMTP:WildSmashr@***.COM] wrote:
> My vote must be placed alongside that of Madame Jester and Herr
Wordman. Keep
> NERPS publishing net.books and not magazines.
>
I'm going to chuck in a ME TOO here as well.

> You've all read my opinions as to what needs to be done, and that's
simply to
> get our collective butts in gear.
> Maybe the fact that NERPS has been outplacing TK & Plot-D the last few
weeks
> is an indication that perhaps we are indeed showing some drive.

The problem is that all of the traffic has been about what we
are supposed to be doing or could do, rather than actually submitting
stuff for NERPS.
There are two books currently "active" (Guide to the Rest of the
World and Stuff). Neither of them seem to be getting any submissions. If
we are going to revitalise NERPS, then perhaps we need to put these on
hold and start something else. I'm not saying this because I suggested a
couple of possibilities that people seem to like. I am suggesting this
because it seems reasonably obvious that people AREN'T going to submit
stuff for the active books in a hurry, good intentions or no. Maybe a
new and smaller focused topic would give NERPS the shot in the arm that
it needs to recover some of its former glory.

G

--
Geoff Skellams R&D - TOWER Software
Email Address: geoff.skellams@*********.com.au
Homepage: http://www.towersoft.com.au/staff/geoff/
ICQ Number: 2815165

"That rates about a 9.5 on my weird-shit-o-meter"
- Will Smith in "Men in Black"
Message no. 10
From: Tomus Cone <brother_1@*******.COM>
Subject: Re: More magazine thoughts (was Re: Gurth has some ideas)
Date: Wed, 2 Sep 1998 02:43:39 PDT
>Maybe a
>new and smaller focused topic would give NERPS the shot in the arm that
>it needs to recover some of its former glory.

Intelligence gathering? Perhaps? The tech on this stuff had to have gone
up from here, but no one's really played with it much, to my knowledge.



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Message no. 11
From: Tomus Cone <brother_1@*******.COM>
Subject: Re: More magazine thoughts (was Re: Gurth has some ideas)
Date: Wed, 2 Sep 1998 02:09:14 PDT
>I guess I vote we stay with books only, if my vote counts for anything.
>
>Lady Jestyr

I vote for the books. My vote is also probably piddly. It's still
a vote.


Vote Tom Cone for President in 2012.


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Message no. 12
From: Gurth <gurth@******.NL>
Subject: Re: More magazine thoughts (was Re: Gurth has some ideas)
Date: Wed, 2 Sep 1998 10:36:42 +0200
Geoff Skellams said on 14:08/2 Sep 98,...

> > My vote must be placed alongside that of Madame Jester and Herr
> Wordman. Keep
> > NERPS publishing net.books and not magazines.
> >
> I'm going to chuck in a ME TOO here as well.

Okay, the general thought seems to be against my magazine idea, so I guess
I'll drop that and maybe try again later when everyone's forgotten this
attempt ;)

> There are two books currently "active" (Guide to the Rest of the
> World and Stuff). Neither of them seem to be getting any submissions.

In my experience, that's what always happens to NERPS. I have no idea how
Hayden managed to actually complete a book, because for some reason at
least half the articles I get promised don't show up (and yes Erik, I'm
guilty of that as well). Maybe a partial solution, for those who suffer
from this syndrome, is to write something up completely and only _then_
register it for the current project?

> If
> we are going to revitalise NERPS, then perhaps we need to put these on
> hold and start something else.

My idea too. (That's one of the main reasons why I suggested the magazine,
BTW.)

> I'm not saying this because I suggested a
> couple of possibilities that people seem to like. I am suggesting this
> because it seems reasonably obvious that people AREN'T going to submit
> stuff for the active books in a hurry, good intentions or no. Maybe a
> new and smaller focused topic would give NERPS the shot in the arm that
> it needs to recover some of its former glory.

What we need is a subject that:

* is broad enough so lots of stuff can be written about it
* has received relatively little coverage by FASA or other net.books
* has the potential for short articles, so it's easy to contribute to it
for everyone
* appeals to most people on this list

Suggestions are welcome.

A few examples of what _wouldn't_ work, IMO, are things like NERPS: Gangs,
NERPS: Small Corps, NERPS: Spirits, NERPS: W**dch*cks, and so on. These
are all too narrow in focus, if you ask me. OTOH things like NERPS:
Organizations (gangs, corps, government agencies, secret societies, etc.),
NERPS: People (all kinds of contacts), or NERPS: Military (anything to do
with the military in 2060) would work. But don't let those few limit your
imagination, there's a lot more that can be covered.

--
Gurth@******.nl - http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
It may look to the untrained eye I'm sitting on my arse all day.
-> NERPS Project Leader * ShadowRN GridSec * Unofficial Shadowrun Guru <-
-> The Plastic Warriors Page: http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/plastic.html <-
-> The New Character Mortuary: http://www.electricferret.com/mortuary/ <-

GC3.1: GAT/! d-(dpu) s:- !a>? C+(++)@ U P L E? W(++) N o? K- w+ O V? PS+
PE Y PGP- t(+) 5++ X++ R+++>$ tv+(++) b++@ DI? D+ G(++) e h! !r(---) y?
Incubated into the First Church of the Sqooshy Ball, 21-05-1998
Message no. 13
From: David Foster <fixer@*******.TLH.FL.US>
Subject: Re: More magazine thoughts (was Re: Gurth has some ideas)
Date: Wed, 2 Sep 1998 11:11:11 -0400
On Wed, 2 Sep 1998, Tomus Cone wrote:

->>Maybe a
->>new and smaller focused topic would give NERPS the shot in the arm that
->>it needs to recover some of its former glory.
->
->Intelligence gathering? Perhaps? The tech on this stuff had to have gone
->up from here, but no one's really played with it much, to my knowledge.

Don't normally post but I would agree that Intelligence Gathering
(in detail as well as roll a couple of dice and run with it) would be a
definite asset to anyone in the Shadowrunning business. Both knowing how
to use it and how not to have it used against oneself. Equipment, magic
and cyberware for just such purposes would cover the basic 'candy' for the
players and new 'ammo' for GMs.

Fixer --------------} The easy I do before breakfast,
the difficult I do all day long,
the impossible only during the week,
and miracles performed on an as-needed basis....

Now tell me, what was your problem?
Message no. 14
From: Gurth <gurth@******.NL>
Subject: Re: More magazine thoughts (was Re: Gurth has some ideas)
Date: Wed, 2 Sep 1998 21:33:57 +0200
Tomus Cone said on 2:09/2 Sep 98,...

> I vote for the books. My vote is also probably piddly. It's still
> a vote.

This is starting to irritate me.

This isn't aimed at Tomus specifically, rather at all new members who
think their voice, vote, or opinion counts for less than those of people
who've been on the list for a long time, and think there's a need to
remind the rest of us about it.

_I_ don't care how long you've been on the list, if you can give a good
reason for why you think the way you do, your opinion counts as much as
anybody's to me.

In short, whether you're a new or an old listmember, just give your
opinion and quit whining.

--
Gurth@******.nl - http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
It may look to the untrained eye I'm sitting on my arse all day.
-> NERPS Project Leader * ShadowRN GridSec * Unofficial Shadowrun Guru <-
-> The Plastic Warriors Page: http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/plastic.html <-
-> The New Character Mortuary: http://www.electricferret.com/mortuary/ <-

GC3.1: GAT/! d-(dpu) s:- !a>? C+(++)@ U P L E? W(++) N o? K- w+ O V? PS+
PE Y PGP- t(+) 5++ X++ R+++>$ tv+(++) b++@ DI? D+ G(++) e h! !r(---) y?
Incubated into the First Church of the Sqooshy Ball, 21-05-1998
Message no. 15
From: Patrick Goodman <remo@***.NET>
Subject: Re: More magazine thoughts (was Re: Gurth has some ideas)
Date: Wed, 2 Sep 1998 20:57:03 -0500
>_I_ don't care how long you've been on the list, if you can give a good
>reason for why you think the way you do, your opinion counts as much as
>anybody's to me.

I'm not particularly concerned with it myself. My only thing at the moment
is that I'm not quite sure what's going on as to projects, or if any
projects are in fact going on. I just kinda need to know what the current
focus is to see if I have anything to offer at the moment, or if I just need
to coast until something I'm good at floats by.

---
(>) Texas 2-Step
El Paso: Never surrender. Never forget. Never forgive.
Message no. 16
From: Bruce <gyro@********.CO.ZA>
Subject: Re: More magazine thoughts (was Re: Gurth has some ideas)
Date: Fri, 4 Sep 1998 10:05:07 +0200
Gurth Wrote

A few examples of what _wouldn't_ work, IMO, are things like NERPS: Gangs,
NERPS: Small Corps, NERPS: Spirits, NERPS: W**dch*cks, and so on. These
are all too narrow in focus, if you ask me. OTOH things like NERPS:
Organizations (gangs, corps, government agencies, secret societies, etc.),
NERPS: People (all kinds of contacts), or NERPS: Military (anything to do
with the military in 2060) would work. But don't let those few limit your
imagination, there's a lot more that can be covered.

I say

Perhaps we should narrow our focus and get into some juict detail work. The
finer points of Shadowrunning if you will. Just a thought.

BRUCE <gyro@********.co.za>

Yo soy un disco quebrado
Yo tengo chicle en cerebro

Get-It-Done Submission Circle
Message no. 17
From: Geoff Skellams <geoff.skellams@*********.COM.AU>
Subject: Re: More magazine thoughts (was Re: Gurth has some ideas)
Date: Fri, 4 Sep 1998 18:19:35 +1000
On Net Enhancements for Roleplaying Shadowrun,
Gurth[SMTP:gurth@******.NL] wrote:
> A few examples of what _wouldn't_ work, IMO, are things like NERPS:
Gangs,
> NERPS: Small Corps, NERPS: Spirits, NERPS: W**dch*cks, and so on.
These
> are all too narrow in focus, if you ask me. OTOH things like NERPS:
> Organizations (gangs, corps, government agencies, secret societies,
etc.),
> NERPS: People (all kinds of contacts), or NERPS: Military (anything to
do
> with the military in 2060) would work. But don't let those few limit
your
> imagination, there's a lot more that can be covered.

I'm interested in hearing why these things wouldn't work.

I don't think the focus for Gangs and Corps is to small. There is plenty
of room for everyone to do some stuff.

I think that one of the problems that NERPS has been suffering from (and
I may have said that before) is that the focus for the latest series of
books HAS been too wide. People suffer from the "oh shit, I don't know
where to start". There is also no sort of standard format for doing
things in, so again, people have no real guidelines for doing things.

I would like, if I may be so bold, to make a suggestion. Why don't we
pick a narrow focus topic just once? Give it a short time frame, say
less than six or eight weeks. Come up with some fairly standard
guidelines for the format of the submissions (for example, if we were
doing Gangs, we could use the format that is in the SR Companion and the
Underworld Sourcebook).

Then we can see which format WOULD work better.

If you look at the other NERPS books, they have all had (IIRC), a
reasonably narrow focus. Perhaps we have just gotten too ambituous?

G
--
Geoff Skellams R&D - TOWER Software
Email Address: geoff.skellams@*********.com.au
Homepage: http://www.towersoft.com.au/staff/geoff/
ICQ Number: 2815165

"That rates about a 9.5 on my weird-shit-o-meter"
- Will Smith in "Men in Black"

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