Pan Piper ~ Pan Historia Updates

I take it that neither of you have joined the Pan Piper and haven’t been getting Pan Historia updates, so I’ll post them here since our community has been quiet.

Current Status Report
Posted by: "Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp" wyatt@panhistoria.com wyattearpreally
Sun Jan 6, 2008 12:22 pm (PST)

Nothing is as simple as it first appears. Due to the severity of the storms in California, particularly in the Sierra Nevadas where the server is co-located at a small hosting company, there are several problems that will delay the return of Pan Historia for longer than previously anticipated. The backups did not perform as anticipated and so the rebuilding of the site is more complicated than previously anticipated. We don't expect any more serious setbacks however the conditions necessitate the tech guy be onsite to perform the needed repairs and technical functions. However storm conditions still prevail and so it might be a day or two before it's safe for him to travel. Once in situ his first priority will be to create a full backup of the site before messing with anything. Then it may take 1-3 days further, depending on the damage to the original server, before we're operating.

In other words - please be patient. I cannot authorize our Mysterious and Serious Programming Dude to risk life and limb for Pan Historia on hazardous mountain roads during blizzard conditions. I will continue to keep you informed as events unfold. Remember -we're the little minnow swimming in the big ocean of the internet.

Kaif post: Growing Suspicions

“Welcome back, Kaif,” said the Sultan, giving his nephew an encouraging pat on the shoulder. Kaif forced a smile in return, but found he had nothing to say.

“I will allow you a day’s rest. You seem very tired. After that, however, I expect you to return to your normal duties—that is, aiding the command of troops and so forth.”

“Thankyou, my lord,” returned Kaif, a little relieved that his uncle did not wish him to resume his duties as a spy. “And I will.”

“Now go rest. We will speak more once you are less weary.”

“But it is broad daylight, my lord. Surely there are more important things for me to do?”

“I suppose your superiors are expecting you to resume spying on me,” said the Sultan, looking at Kaif with a piercing stare, which was aimed more at his Hashshashin enemies than his innocent nephew. “So it might be advisable to keep yourself visible.”

“I have been meaning to tell you, my lord,” begun Kaif carefully. “I think they suspect my disloyalty. I am certain a spy has been placed to catch me out.”

The Sultan’s face grew a fraction grimmer. “Then you must be all the more vigilant,” he said simply. “Make sure you do and say nothing to compromise your position. And trust no-one.” He paused, eyeing Kaif warily. “Discover who it is as soon as you can, and find a way to eliminate him.”

Kaif did not say that he suspected very strongly that his spy was actually a woman, and that it was the Sultan’s own hand which had brought her there. He pressed his forehead into his hand, growing ever more uncertain about how to proceed.

The Sultan easily sensed his discomfort. “Do not worry so much, Kaif. There are more pleasant things to concern yourself with. Should I have the girl sent to your tent?”

“I…yes, my lord.”

“Good. Change into your own clothes, and I will expect you to report to my pavilion at the siege by the afternoon.”

Since Pan looks like it might be a while...

Why don't we use this community to keep up with posts? Joanna and I discussed rolling ahead with Laila and Kaif's storyline instead of waiting around being bored. So I think if there's any posts we can do while we're waiting, then at least it won't be a massive waste of time by the time Pan is working again.

Making use of gems in TLT...

I've been thinking of a while that we haven't really used the gems feature as effectively as we could, so when Ary sent me a message about it a couple of days back, I realised it was about time we did something about it. So here is my proposal.

To encourage frequent posting (especially with our new members) I think we should start a competition for a month or so where writing a certain number of posts since the beginning of the competition earns you a different level of gem. For example, a member who has written 5 posts might get a Ruby, 10 posts might get a Sapphire, etc.

Now, here's what we need to discuss.

1) How long? We should give people ample time to get their gems...right now I'm thinking we won't have a cut-off date? So have the competition a permanent part of TLT? If anyone reaches the "diamond" stage, perhaps we make them a special plaque commemorating all their gems? Any other ideas on what they should get?

2) At what intervals does a writer receive gems? I was thinking we should start at 5 (or maybe less) to encourage people to go the mile. Should we do them at intervals of 5, or make them get harder as they go along? If we did make them harder as they went along, I think we should start easier than five....but I really don't know at this stage.

3) What order should the gems be given out? We might need to do some research on how the ones we have rank in order of value.

TLT Headcount ~ December 2007

Since we’re planning to do the headcount in December, I decided to update what I posted while I have the free time. Once this is approved, I’ll send a novel wide message immediately, all-righty?

The time has come again for another headcount. All those interested in continuing being an active, contributing member of The Last Trojan, you have one month – the end of December – to reply to this Headcount Thread. Any member that doesn’t reply on the linked thread will be removed. Those interested in rejoining after being removed will be on a temporary probation for one month to see how active and committed they will be. If there is any reason as to why any member could not reply to the headcount in time, he or she shall be considered individually. For example, if a member has limited computer access during the headcount, he or she will have to explain to the MoBs the exact reason(s) and the probation shall be shorted to two weeks instead.

TLT Headcount ~ December 2007

I’m finally sick of having so many members in TLT that do nothing while we work our butts off posting, organizing, and keeping storylines going even while we’re busy with our own lives too. So, since I had the time, I was inspired to work on that headcount we’ve been planning for months. I wanted to post it here in case I need to edit or add anything before sending the novel wide message.

The time has come again for another headcount. All those interested in continuing being an active, contributing member of The Last Trojan, you have one month – the end of December – to reply to this Headcount Thread. Any member that doesn’t reply on the linked thread will be removed. Those interested in rejoining after being removed will be on a temporary probation to see how active and committed they will be.

Questions:

1) How long should the probation be?
2) Are there any other conditions that needed to be mentioned?

L’Affaire Dailies Advertisement

We need to organize L’Affaire’s dailies advertisement! How else are we going to get more active members? We need to decide what is going to be on the advertisement, who will be designing it, and such. It won’t be hard figuring this information out since we can use Deia’s brilliant DJ as a guide for the advertisement layout; we just need to do it instead of putting it off like we have been doing. I agree with Deia’s idea about featuring one Affaire at a time, perhaps weekly or monthly? Which Affaire should we feature first?

Originally when L’Affaire was first created, I had started to create what text was going to be on the advertisement, which I still have so I’ll post it here. We could still use one of the little poems I wrote for L'Affaire since only one has been used on the novel DJ. What do you think of this quote being on advertisement: "When women oppose themselves to the projects and ambition of men, they excite their lively resentment; if in their youth they meddle with political intrigues, their modesty must suffer." ~ Madame de Stael (Baronne Anne Louise Germaine de Stael-Holstein

If you have any other wonderful ideas, I’d love to hear them!