Hi all

I've just been though a tough day or two. I'll start off by saying that my medical history is short--I am young, with no major afflictions, and have been healthy most of my life. Until last night, my roughest ride was appendicitis. I have never had an allergic reaction to any medication. Basically, normal average young guy.

As many of you know, with young children come many sicknesses. Colds, ear infections, sinus infections, the dreaded stomach flu. Most of us have been there. My general reaction to my children's maladies have been to get a sinus infection--usually caused by lack of sleep and exposure to one of their bugs brought home from pre-school. So, a trip to the doctor, and another antibiotic.

I sit down last night, take the first dose of an antibiotic that I had just taken for another sinus infection at the beginning of March. I had just eaten (following the "take with food" instructions on the label) and drank a glass of water--again following the label instructions. I resume my work of housecleaning and random home tasks.

In less than a half an hour, I notice that my throat was tightening when I coughed, and that my hands were starting to itch. I began searching for my prescription drug handbook, to no avail. The tightening got worse, and my tongue was swelling. I grabbed two 25mg benedryl caplets, took them, and sat down. My wife took one look at me and asked if she should dial 911. I agreed.

Long story short, by the time the EMTs arrived, I could barely breathe. They stabilized me and transported me to the ER for 4 hours of treament. Everything has worked out--though I feel like I've been hit by a truck.

So where is the advice in all this, you ask? Funny thing is, I dropped off my prescription at lunch yesterday, hoping to get it filled on site and start my dosage immediately. I COULD have had this reaction on the 20min drive back to work, or at work. I had nothing to worry about, right? I had taken this med before, and never had any allergies.

My lesson learned--take the first dose of a new prescription medication at a time and place where you can be quickly treated for an allergic reaction. Sounds paranoid, but I would have been in a tough spot had someone found me at work or on the road. I was unable to talk by the time the EMTs arrived.

Just some food for thought from someone who has been there.

One last humorous thought--I regularly give to the local volunteer fire dept. that responded to my 911 call last night. Today, I received their latest fundraising brochure in the mail. I would say that their timing is Perfect

I hope all is well with the rest of you. I am exhausted, but alive and recovering.

- Bam-Bam

As some of you have noticed, I now and again post from work, given that I have been predominantly "chairborne not airborne" for the past few years. I have been yearning of late for a change of pace.

I just got one.

I need someone to take over my variant characters, since I will probably not be on them for the next six months.

Anyone interested in taking over SmOcchi The Bare, a Slacker, or Venomous_Valk, a throwing wench in the Elemental Throwers club? The teams may still need them once Hell Diff is reached, and I am one raid away from my last raid as of today.

I have some other accounts, but since they do not have team characters on them, they can die a slow death the way leevancleef did, which took the one HC SOJ I ever found with it. hehe, easy come, easy go!

Any takers?

---Occhi---

Hi,

what are the chances of getting a free tech from first scouting an artifact planet? I just started a game where my two initial scout explored artifact planets on the same turn, and I only got one free tech. Is this because you won't get a free tech every time you scout an artifact planet, because you cannot get more than one free tech per turn, or because you cannot get more than one free tech per game?

-Kylearan

With the flurry of recent activity on the Master of Orion front, and the lack of RB activity over at the GalCiv site (except for Jaxom, that is ;-) ), I think it is time to evaluate what the future holds for RB activities with GalCiv.

I am up to running a few more succession games (heavy variant types), or even another training day game at maso. I have little hope for a tournament, especially now that we have Imperia on the near horizon. Even if the major fixes needed to GalCiv were to come immediately, I doubt that the RB community has the collective time to make three tournaments viable. That would be stretch.

Alas, the fixes are not coming in the near term. I have played and submitted about a half a dozen games (played some more for testing) and have found that the AI is not improved. Stardock has not been very open to mucking with the GalCiv 1 AI, even for the expansion. They have repeatedly stated that major AI changes will not happen until GalCiv2.

That said, there is still some playability left in the game for selected succession games (especially with a map editor available), campaigns, and the like. Thus two questions remain--do folks here still have the interest in the game, and do folks have the time to invest in some selected activities?

I have reached a similar point in the game that Sirian reached a couple of months back. I do not have interest in playing the game solo any more. I do not have interest in the spam games masoverse that is the current trend over at stardock. Finding the best way to "beat" the game to get a max score in less than an hour is not my cup of tea. I still find the game enjoyable, but I find that I need a shared focus to make the game fun.

That said, what says the RB community? Do any of you have enough interest in the game for a few more goes? The game is not ready for an RB tournament, clearly, but there is some legs left for succession and some comparative gaming.

I am on the fence on whether to organize something over at Stardock--which I generally think would be a windmill tilt against the current "spam games" trend over there. I think there would be some fun and learning to be had if some comparative games were set up with our focus on telling a story. I have enough space to host game reports for those without the space--without cluttering up another thread over at CFC or relying on RB for hosting. There are more than a few issues to be dealt with on that front, but I sense that there would be some payoff in good stories, good games that would make such a journey worth the trip.

In any case, please throw out your thoughts.

Bam-Bam

Sunday, we caught BringOutYourDead (me) up. Past NM Diablo, and I think I only died once - being the pasty-faced craven that I am - when a seal boss abruptly spawned on top of me. We then took out Shenk, freed the barbarians - remember how in Classic Diablo, even the goats could figure out how to open a door? - and ended at the Arreat Plateau. Next stop Anya!

-- CH

I've posted instructions at My Webpage on getting the game to run with Windows 98, 95, ME. Instructions for XP will be forthcoming. Isit has already written them up, but I need to edit them and format them into html.

The game also has a version for Macintosh, which is confirmed to be compatible with the DOS version (thus Mac users could participate in our Imperial tournament! Doc are you listening?)

There will also be advice on getting sound to work, still under construction.

Finally, there is a copy protection mechanism in the software, which is an inconvenience to legitimate owners of the game. It's fairly well low key, and I've played this game so many times over the years I know the answers by heart (how sad is that! but others may find a reference sheet useful. For that, and for other useful downloads such as scenario editors, I've found Jon Sullivan's MOO Page to be an invaluable resource.

I plan to incorporate important reference material available there, as well as other bits I'm assembling myself, at my site. Before too long, if you need to look up something about the game, I should have you covered. No reason not to look around other sites, though, except perhaps when it comes to strategy. The Imperia will be the definitive place for that.


- Sirian

The RB tournament for Master of Orion will open on April 5. The first game will run for three weeks. Visit the Imperium One Thread at Realms Beyond Orion for more details about the inaugural game.

Interested players should review the tournament rules. Epics veterans from RBCiv will find a familiar structure with only a couple of particulars to note. Players new to RB strategy game tournament play will find the rules fairly straightforward and trim. There is not much you will have to remember.

I am setting up references at Sirian's Master of Orion Page to help new players obtain the game, install it, and learn how to play. I already have a tutorial written to walk through a game and show how things are done as well as touch on opening strategy. There are also several game reports available to help you learn more about the game.

However, I cannot anticipate all possibilities, so if you have any questions about getting MOO to run, about the tournament rules, or anything else that might cause you to hesitate or give you a problem, here is a good place to ask questions. Any question goes. I will do my best to answer. We are also open to suggestions or concerns, if you have any.

We would also appreciate statements from interested players declaring their intent to play. This is not required, there are no signups for our tournment events, with occasional exceptions for special scenarios. You are under no obligation to play or report if you do claim interest, and you may play, with or without a report, without speaking up. A healthy show of participation may help generate more interest, though.

Thanks for tuning in.


- Sirian

Hi,

Griselda started a thread about online Bridge in the old RBD forum. In it she gave the reference to some online Bridge software at Bridge Base Online.

As a result of that, some of us have been playing Bridge on Friday afternoon/evenings. We've gotten together, usually, about 8:30 PM Pacific Standard.

I thought I'd make the continuation of the thread here because the old one was on the second page, but mostly because I like this forum *much* better (and the calender is a nice touch.

Topics for discussion? Well, arranging games is pretty obvious. Bidding conventions and what groups to join (if any) are also very appropriate.

--Pete

I have not played MOO2 recently, and was warned off MOO3 in time not to invest in it, but is there room in this forum for discussions of the other MOO games? I wouldn't want to violate any protocol if those discussions are not welcome here.

As the inaugural post on this forum, I would like to acknowledge the incredible imagination and humor, not to mention slight insanity, that induces people to arrive in the mindset necessary to be a card carrying "Variant Scum."

Diablo acted as an incredible catalyst for a peculiar set of individuals who like RP as well as the KISS principle of Diablo, one of the finer PC games, even 6/7 years into its life.

For those interested, a short comment on "how I became a variant scum" might be a nice bit of posterity to savor.

Hi, I'm Occhi the Rogue, and I am Variant Scum. :blink:

I was a late comer to Diablo, indeed to PC games at all, and stumbled upon the Variant way via pointers from many at the DSF, may it rest in peace. It was from the Lurker Lounge that I drifted into the Variant way, inspired mostly by Charis' brilliance and good humor, Lemming's outright insanity, and the 3@30 and BNM Variants that had amused me in Diablo.

Without caffeine, life itself would not be possible for certain rogues.