Massive Auditorium Atmospheric fog coils across the floor of the auditorium, sliding beneath the plush seats and around the base of the black stone pillars. Zombie waiters shamble about, proffering dark silver trays loaded with canapes and wineglasses full of some ancient vintage. A stage at the front of the room is the sole bright spot in the room, emblazoned with "2005 XYZZYS". You can see: READ THIS PLEASE, xyzzy drinking game, a chalkboard listing the XYZZY Award winners Visible Exits: west inky has teleported you to Massive Auditorium. lpsmith materializes. inky arrives from the west. Jota arrives from the west. Bishop arrives from the west. katre arrives from the west. Norah arrives from the west. klimas arrives from the west. Merk arrives from the west. maga arrives from the west. Emily arrives from the west. Jacqueline arrives from the west. JasonD arrives from the west. Jaybird arrives from the west. n00b arrives from the west. sdee arrives from the west. zarf arrives from the west. koblin arrives from the west. GaylaW arrives from the west. Merk says, "Man, I'd never have found this without following people. :)" Lee arrives from the west. Bishop says, "I love xyzzy-time. So many new users." Guest3 arrives from the west. inky concentrates, and disappears. inky walks out from under the archway south of here, although you didn't notice him approaching it from the other side. Kali walks out from under the archway south of here, although you didn't notice her approaching it from the other side. Rob arrives from the west. Jaybird drops Note for the Xyzzy awards. ErWenn arrives from the west. inky hollers, "'xyzzy' to come to the auditorium" Rob says, "boo, normally I'm first in" [peanut-gallery] * koblin has joined the channel. DrewMochak arrives from the west. Recchi walks out from under the archway south of here, although you didn't notice him approaching it from the other side. Guest2 arrives from the west. ChainGangGuy walks out from under the archway south of here, although you didn't notice it approaching it from the other side. K-Y materializes. zarf concentrates, and disappears. zarf walks out from under the archway south of here, although you didn't notice him approaching it from the other side. Emily says (to Rob), "you can still have the very front seat" Merk says, "I hate telnet. I'm gonna try connecting with java client. I assume somebody is logging." [peanut-gallery] * ErWenn has joined the channel. [peanut-gallery] * n00b has joined the channel. Jaybird asks (of inky), "Maybe you should put a timed lock on that exit?" Guest1 arrives from the west. Merk leaves the auditorium to the west. robgrassi arrives from the west. Recchi exclaims (at chainga), "Hi there!" olethros walks out from under the archway south of here, although you didn't notice him approaching it from the other side. Recchi says (to CGG), "Whoops" [peanut-gallery] * JasonD has joined the channel. Jaybird says, "Ok it's now officially 4:00" ChainGangGuy asks, "I'm excited to be here?" DrewMochak points and laughs at Robb. Merk walks out from under the archway south of here, although you didn't notice him approaching it from the other side. inky says (to ChainGangGuy), "I hope so!" Jota pulls up a LA-Z-BOY recliner in the third (and, when reclined, second and fourth) row(s). Rob has arrived. Thrax arrives from the west. HairBrain arrives from the west. Rob takes an aisle seat. HairBrain asks, "Ooh! Ooh! What'd I miss?" jmac walks out from under the archway south of here, although you didn't notice him approaching it from the other side. (From Thrax) Rob drops an aisle seat. zarf says, "hi" Rob says (to HB), "you missed it again!" jmac howdies ParserGirl arrives from the west. olethros says, "haha" HairBrain says, "dang" Jacqueline takes a seat. DrewMochak says, "The awards are over, man." olethros makes fake crowd noises. HairBrain tries to remember where he put his crowd noise recordings. Thrax says, "the awardees listed on the chalkboard are suspiciously familiar" Guest1 says, "welcome to 2005" inky says, "nuts, I forgot to erase the chalkboard" Eric arrives from the west. DrewMochak gets out his MP3 player so that he can broadcast the sound of crickets chirping whenever Larry the cable guy makes a joke. olethros resets his watch. Bishop exclaims (at klimas), "Congrats! Again!" maga accosts a zombie waiter and acquires a fruity girl drink wojohz walks out from under the archway south of here, although you didn't notice him approaching it from the other side. Thrax says, "2005 XYZZYs? we'll be here for a while" Jon arrives from the west. [peanut-gallery] * wojohz has joined the channel. DrewMochak says, "Hey, you cna't win the same award for hte same game twice. Nice try." [peanut-gallery] Allen asks, "how do people know to join the peanut-gallery?" Rob practices clapping with one hand Thrax says, "he would've gotten away with it if it weren't for you pesky kids" [peanut-gallery] inky says, "there's a sign here" Jearl walks out from under the archway south of here, although you didn't notice her approaching it from the other side. [peanut-gallery] wojohz says, "and from transcripts" Jaybird asks (of inky), "Hey is that chalkboard just any old object or does it have secret verbs authorized people can use to add or change winners?" inky says, "it's just a regular chalkboard" [peanut-gallery] * jmac has joined the channel. [peanut-gallery] olethros asks, "is that what the channel was for in the first place?" Thrax scrapes his nails on the chalkboard [peanut-gallery] Allen says, "yeah" [peanut-gallery] jess says, "hunh" olethros throws a chalk at Thrax. Thrax claps the erasers Lee covers his ears olethros pinches the bottom of the girl in front. olethros says, "Just like being in high school" Jacqueline says, "eep" Jacqueline says (to olethros), "Stop that." [peanut-gallery] Allen says, "at least, I think so." olethros says, "oh, hi jacq. I didn't know it was you" Jacqueline says, "Sure sure." maga says (to olethros), "seriously, dude, she could kick your ass eight ways to Wednesday" jess walks out from under the archway south of here, although you didn't notice her approaching it from the other side. Jacqueline laughs at maga. olethros says (to maga), "my point exactly" [peanut-gallery] Allen says, "it was the only channel I was on for about a year after channels were created. I didn't know why the lounge was getting quieter and quieter" Rob says, "she how she taunts him with laughter" Guest1 asks, "when does it start?" [peanut-gallery] inky says, "ha ha" olethros asks, "should the lights be dimmed or not?" Rob says, "momentarily" Thrax says, "this seems like light turnout" inky says (to Guest1), "just as soon as the anticipation builds sufficiently!" DrewMochak says, "It started four hours ago, this is just hte after-awards boozeup." The lights dim! olethros looks at teh anticipation dial. maga says, "when inky finds his dress pants" (From Norah) >cls Guest2 asks, "Will Ray Charles be performing?" Merk says (to Norah), "Hola" olethros says (to guest), "I hate to break it to you but.." DrewMochak says, "I am Ray Charles." maga says (to Guest2), "quite possibly, although not here" klimas laughs. olethros says, "Ray Charles has been reincarnated" wojohz exclaims (at Norah), "you're gonna win!" Norah says (to wojohz), "Calm down man" wojohz exclaims, "awards you're not up for!" wojohz calms down. olethros asks, "so, how does one get to win one of them awards?" ErWenn goes home. Rob says, "first, write a game" Norah says (to olethros), "It is random" DrewMochak says, "Making a game is usually a good start." Rob says, "then, make it good" HairBrain says, "step 3, profit" ErWenn arrives from the west. olethros asks, "how about using intrusive advertising for a game that does not exist?" maga says, "then, bribe the five people who actually vote in the first round" olethros says (to maga), "point" inky has arrived. DrewMochak says, "First you make the game. Then you win the XYZZYs. Then you get the women." wojohz says, "and the rest follows" Bill Conti starts up the orchestra. [peanut-gallery] ParserGirl asks, "Is this channel off the transcripts?" wojohz says, "i'm not sure what 'the rest' is, but it must be sweet" [peanut-gallery] klimas says, "nay" [peanut-gallery] Rob asks, "off? what fun would that be??" [peanut-gallery] Norah says, "I've seen it in two versions" [peanut-gallery] zarf says, "when I grab transcripts, I incldue this channel" DrewMochak gets up on stage and starts playing drums to amuse the crowd before the show begins. [peanut-gallery] Rob says, "it's sometimes separated into its own column" [peanut-gallery] zarf says, "I'm not doing it this year, though" [peanut-gallery] klimas asks, "hm, I guess sarge isn't with us?" [peanut-gallery] Norah asks, "You're not grabbing this at all eh?" [peanut-gallery] inky says, "yeah, he's out of town" Rob claps [peanut-gallery] inky says, "I'll be sending a transcript to him" [peanut-gallery] olethros says, "I am logging everything, fwiw" DrewMochak exclaims, "Did it all for yoooooooou!" [peanut-gallery] Bishop asks, "ANy open betting pools this year?" DrewMochak air-guitars. Lee morphs into Andy Kaufman and joins DrewMochak on stage lpsmith steps up to the front of the auditorium, and a spotlight illuminates him. [peanut-gallery] Norah says, "Glad someone is, since I'm in a Java window" [peanut-gallery] olethros asks, "doesn't alex have a log?" zarf says, "yay" lpsmith exclaims, "Welcome, everyone, to the XYZZY awards for the Best Games of 2005!" Jacqueline claps! maga says, "woo" Rob claps. Guest1 says, "clap" sdee applauds olethros says, "ELA" maga claps Merk says, "wooo" Norah clapping jmac says, "ibid" olethros stamps his foot. DrewMochak does a 30-second version of Ticks and Leeches then steps down. Lee claps and gets down from the stage Guest2 exclaims, "Ray Charles! Ray Charles!" Lee exclaims, "Whooo hoo!" JasonD exclaims, "yay!" Jota asks, "We're all just here to play #tomb, right?" lpsmith says, "Eileen, our traditional host, will be with us in spirit for the majority of the awards, but with any luck, she'll be here in time to award the Best Game." olethros throws a peanut at Jota. wojohz concentrates, and disappears. wojohz walks out from under the archway south of here, although you didn't notice him approaching it from the other side. DrewMochak says, "...And now i get ot figure out how to inject cocaine while blindfolded." [peanut-gallery] Allen says, "unless he's told to log it's not permament" [peanut-gallery] wojohz says, "i guess i could've just hit names" [peanut-gallery] Jota says, "PerrySimm is the traditional logger." jess taunts Happy Fun Ball. [peanut-gallery] maga says, "it's getting to where Eileen turning up late and scattered is the *real* tradition" zarf says, "zz snrkl" [peanut-gallery] Norah asks, "PerrySimm is a bot?" [peanut-gallery] Jota says, "Seventeen mighty British Colombian forests have fallen before his long reach." zarf asks, "what?" [peanut-gallery] * DrewMochak has joined the channel. [peanut-gallery] wojohz says, "this is my first time attending the awards, but i've read transcripts" [peanut-gallery] olethros says, "who is PerrySimm and who is Eileen, I wondr" lpsmith exclaims, "So, without further ado: here's zarf, to announce the finalists and the winner of the Best Use of Medium!" Guest4 arrives from the west. [peanut-gallery] Jota says (to Norah), "More or less." zarf says, "Oh great" Rob claps for zarf. zarf runs towards stage inky says, "zarf!" jmac hrays zarf says, "(in slow motion)" maga claps olethros says, "Go for it zarf" [peanut-gallery] wojohz says, "and now that i've read the drinking game rules i know why people cheer so much" Lee claps for zarf Bishop exclaims, "zarf! zarf! zarf!" Rob cl aa a a p s zarf says, "Hi everybody!" Merk says, "hola" zarf says, "I've been asleep." robgrassi says, "whoooooo" zarf says, "Actually, I *am* asleep." [peanut-gallery] Jota says (to olethros), "Eileen is Eileen Mullin, editor of XYZZYnews and foudn of the awards." olethros snickers. jmac nods in silent agreement. [peanut-gallery] Allen says, "I'm completely out of the loop about xyzzy traditions. I haven't been to any since 1999" zarf says, "You are all the ghoooosts of memooooory" [peanut-gallery] Rob asks, "there's a xyzzy awards drinking game?" [peanut-gallery] Jota says, "Founder, even." Lee giggles zarf says, "inky, for example, represents my third-grade teacher." [peanut-gallery] Bishop says (to Rob), "Yeah, you drink whenever someone claps." Rob chuckles olethros narrows his eyes and looks critically at inky. [peanut-gallery] Rob says, "good gravy" [peanut-gallery] DrewMochak says, "And PRism's just this guy, you know." [peanut-gallery] Allen asks, "Eileen was like the first or second player on the mud wasn't she?" zarf says, "The parrot in the far corner represents -- um, a parrot. I think." [peanut-gallery] Bishop says, "And if you haven't killed yourself before the first award, you're doing it wrong." [peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says, "ha" AWwwwk. lpsmith says, "Apparrotly." olethros says, "hee" [peanut-gallery] wojohz says, ">x xyzzy drinking game" zarf says, "And this trophy in my hand represnets the Best Use of Medium 2005! Woot it, folks" Rob says, "woot" olethros says, "hooray" Jacqueline says, "Hooray!" ParserGirl says, "So wooted." maga says, "duly wooted" jmac says, "arugula" Jaybird exclaims, "Woot!" inky says, "hooray!" wojohz says, "w00t" Allen walks out from under the archway south of here, although you didn't notice him approaching it from the other side. sdee woots Kali exclaims, "woot!" zarf considers making a 'best use of medium' / 'eileen is here in spirit' joke zarf says, "But no." wojohz says, "/root" jmac says, "Too late." Jacqueline snickers. [peanut-gallery] Allen says, "crap why was I in the lounge? I came here twice" [peanut-gallery] Rob says, "oh yeah" [peanut-gallery] Rob says, "oops, that's a huge book object" maga says, "ouch" zarf points at jmac. "SILENCE KNAVE" DrewMochak exclaims, "ofmg! w00+! +||1s 1s t3h b3s+ +1m3 0f my 133+ 11f3111!1!111!" [peanut-gallery] Bishop says, "Ow my eyes." jmac falls over silently, where he will remain unmoving for the rest of the afternoon. Let this be a lesson to you all. zarf says, "He represents my desire to work fifteen hours a day on bizarre software projects." [peanut-gallery] Jota says (to Allen), "You keep getting disconnected. And have an autocmd to relounge you when you log on." zarf says, "I don't know how he got in here." zarf says, "But anyway." [peanut-gallery] Allen says, "I thought I typed it after I reconnected" zarf says, "Nominees!" zarf says, "(note how I skip the part where I explain what this award is for.)" zarf says, "The finalists are:" Guest1 asks, "what is this award for?" wojohz says, "the winner" Bishop says, "'What is this award for, zarf?'" zarf says, "A New Life, by Alexandre Owen Muniz" Rob claps for mystery and enigma Rob applauds lpsmith claps. sdee claps inky says, "woo" klimas says, "yay" Bishop applauds. [peanut-gallery] Norah says, "Best Use of Spacing" Jacqueline applauds. Lee claps Rob ** wojohz says, "huzzah" Kali applause Norah says, "yay" zarf says, "Book and Volume, by Nick Montfort!" JasonD exclaims, "Way to go Alexandre!" Jacqueline applauds. wojohz exclaims, "nm!" Rob claps sdee claps JasonD says, "And Nick" ParserGirl claps. Rob says, "en em en em" Lee claps inky says, "throw the book at him" zarf says, "Distress, by Mike Snyder!" olethros says, "yeah" Jacqueline applauds. Rob CLONK maga says, "yay" Merk says, "yay me." sdee claps some more olethros claps Norah claps Rob claps inky says, "yay" Guest1 says, "yay distress" wojohz says, "yah hugo" ParserGirl hurrahs. zarf says, "Mystery House Possessed, by Emily Short!" Lee claps Allen huzzahs. Merk exclaims, "Wooo!" maga exclaims, "yay!" DrewMochak bangs a coup Guest1 says, "yay mystery" ParserGirl cheers. inky says, "hooray for MHTO" Jacqueline says, "Woo!" Rob applauds klimas claps. sdee claps Norah claps zarf says, "Whom The Telling Changed, by Aaron A. Reed!" DrewMochak bangs a couple cocanuts together. Rob claps more sdee applauds Jacqueline applauds. wojohz yay aar ChainGangGuy says, "This is more exciting than I thought it'd be." Merk exclaims, "Good luck to all!" Lee claps robgrassi says, "a great game" olethros claps zarf asks, "So, do I have an envelope?" Norah claps zarf says, "Hm. No." zarf says, "Fortunately, I am asleep." zarf dreams he has an envelope. DrewMochak says, "Due to budget constraints, the envelope has been downsized to an infinit stasis tube." maga asks, "more importantly, do you have pants?" ParserGirl says, "Dream yourself some pants while you're at it." koblin smiles. olethros says, "haha" zarf says, "Also, you are all butterflies. In case anyone asks." Rob flutters [peanut-gallery] Bishop says, "I thought _he_ was a butterfly." zarf says, "The winner of Best Use of Medium..." Allen says (to Rob), "oh no a hurricane in China!" Lee flaps his wings ParserGirl butters [peanut-gallery] Rob says, "ha ha" wojohz says, "zyxwvutsrqpoNMlkjihgfedcba" zarf says, "Mystery House Possessed, by Emily Short!" [peanut-gallery] Rob says, "!!!" [peanut-gallery] olethros says, "we are _all_ butterflies in this new state of being. Sans pants." [peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says (to Allen), "Yay!" Guest1 says, "clap" klimas says, "woot!" jmac yays maga exclaims, "yay!" JasonD exclaims, "Woot!" Rob applauds! sdee says, "woo" DrewMochak is the fly to ParserGIrls' butter. HairBrain says, "Hooray!" Lee claps Thrax exclaims, "yay!" koblin claps Jota applauds. lpsmith cheers! ParserGirl cheers! olethros says, "hah" [peanut-gallery] maga says, "fuck you all, I'm Chuang Tzu" wojohz says, "yay Emily Short" Bishop exclaims, "Woo!" Emily says, "oh, hey" Norah Yay! Jacqueline claps and claps. Merk exclaims, "Wooo!" [peanut-gallery] Rob says, "sneaky win by I7" Eric applauds olethros says, "YEeee" Jacqueline says, "Hooray!" inky says, "woot" Lee exclaims, "whooo hoo!" zarf says, "Hm, what's the give command" olethros exclaims, "hooray, emily!" Jacqueline says, "Go Em!" robgrassi says, "good" inky says, "give trophy = emily" maga says, "go Emily" zarf gives Best Puzzles 2005 XYZZY to Emily. ParserGirl says (to Emily), "Wake up and claim your eternal glory." inky says, "hee hee" zarf says, "And there we have it." Rob asks, "is she here?" GaylaW says, "wtg" Jearl claps zarf sits down and wakes up HairBrain says, "Puzzles! Excellent!" Rob claps Kali clap! zarf asks, "zz. What?" Emily says, "I don't have anything prepared to say because mostly I've been writing my dissertation instead" wojohz says, "speech" olethros says, "This is the first time that both the awarder and the awardee have been asleep" inky says, "when you wake up, give her the other trophy instead" lpsmith exclaims, "That'll do!" Jacqueline says (to Emily), "Good girl." [peanut-gallery] Thrax says, "I hear Jacek is insisting that everyone on r*if share the award" Rob says, "the-sis! the-sis!" maga exclaims (at Emily), "let's hear an extract!" klimas says, "ha!" Jacqueline says (to maga), "Sh!" zarf says, "heh. Wrong trophy. Oh well" Jacqueline says, "I mean, great idea." Emily says, "but thanks! and I should also thank Dan Shiovitz and Nick Montfort who worked with me on this project, and Graham" Allen says, "Footnote #17!" olethros says, "yay, extract" Emily says, "and as a special treat I will spare you any bits from the thesis" zarf gives Best Use of Medium 2005 XYZZY to Emily. Rob claps Emily sits ParserGirl claps. Lee exclaims, "congrats to emily!" Guest1 says, "cheer" Rob says, "hermetically sealed trophy" Thrax exclaims, "yay ancient Greek!" inky says (to Rob), "hee hee" lpsmith claps and approaches the front again. [peanut-gallery] DrewMochak exclaims, "Who's Jassec? I've *never seen him*!" [peanut-gallery] Norah says, "I think his name is Vektor" lpsmith says, "The next award is for Best Individual PC. And here to present, our very own ghost in the machine, inky." Merk exclaims, "Congrats!!" Rob claps. DrewMochak asks, "So does Em get to keep the first one as a bonus for jsut being cool?" Emily gives Best Puzzles 2005 XYZZY to zarf. sdee claps inky stands up and walks to the podium. maga exclaims, "inky! inky!" Norah says, "whew" klimas says, "yay inky" Emily says, "no, that was me trying to remember how to give it back :)" jmac exclaims, "Go zarf!" jmac says, "Oh, wait" maga says (to Emily), "suuuure" ParserGirl says, "He's blinking blue! Let's get . . . too late." inky says, "actually, I'm not going to be presenting this" klimas says, "awww" Rob asks, "???" (From olethros) inky says, "This is a hold up" Jacqueline says, "inKY inKY inKY" Jota exclaims, "Oh well. Next award!" Bishop says, "Boooo." Rob says, "eileen!" DrewMochak exclaims, "Yay Zarf! The game you didn't make this year had the best puzzles i've ever seen!" Jacqueline says, "Eileen!" Norah exclaims, "quick hide!" inky says, "due to new changes in the law, for ethics reasons the Best Individual PC award needs to be presented by an NPC" Allen says (to Norah), "and act like a grue!" lpsmith hollers, "Come on, Eileen!" klimas laughs. wojohz says, "yay ethics" olethros chuckles Lee giggles Guest1 laughs. eileen walks out from under the archway south of here, although you didn't notice her approaching it from the other side. inky says, "so we've hired the firm of Flathead, Flathead, and Flathead, accountants" Rob says, "yay eileen" zarf claps koblin claps inky says, "originally an architecture firm, Flathead, Flathead, and Flathead designed both the Royal Maze and the Bank of Zork" Thrax says (to inky), "I hear their audit reports are millions of pages long" inky says, "which showed they were eminently qualified to move into tax law" Jacqueline applauds, even though they sound like attorneys. DrewMochak heckles the speaker. Jaybird cheers for Eileen! [peanut-gallery] Rob says, "actually not" olethros says, "snrk" inky says, "so please give a big round of applause for Bernie Flathead, CPA" BernieFlathead has arrived. eileen blows kisses to everyone Rob claps lamely olethros claps reluctantly. Lee claps Jacqueline claps. BernieFlathead polishes his glasses, accidentally bumps into the podium, then drops his paperwork. ErWenn applauds. [peanut-gallery] Norah says, "FOS Bernie" DrewMochak claps in slow motion. [peanut-gallery] olethros asks, "FOS?" BernieFlathead looks out at the large audience and blinks. maga says, "hooray for bureaucratic oppression" [peanut-gallery] Thrax exclaims, "amortize for us!" [peanut-gallery] Norah says, "suspicious finger" DrewMochak laughs, loudly. BernieFlathead says, "er, I'm afraid Mr Flathead and Mr Flathead were unable to come today" BernieFlathead says, "so they sent me, er" BernieFlathead examines his nametag. ChainGangGuy says, "hooray oppression" BernieFlathead exclaims, "oh, yes, Mr Flathead!" Jacqueline looks at Mr. Flathead suspiciously. BernieFlathead says, "anyway, as I'm sure you know, there have been a number of recent changes in the tax code which necessitate new strategies in the year to come" BernieFlathead says, "elvish weaponry can no longer be considered an antique" Merk says, "Yikes, if it takes 30 mins per award, I'll have to leave half-way though. :,-(" Lee laughs BernieFlathead says, "spell research and expenses related to buying new scrolls is still deductible, but costs relating to regaining strength to cast spells is not" ParserGirl rustles through her purse for her notebook. olethros yawns. [peanut-gallery] zarf says, "sorry. I did drag it out some. But we also started late" DrewMochak would take notes, but he never takes notes. SO instead he'll jsut forget it all. BernieFlathead says, "and, as usual, profits made from investments made with knowledge gained by save/restore must be declared separately for each play sessions" [peanut-gallery] zarf says, "speakign of dragging out out..." BernieFlathead pauses. BernieFlathead rechecks his notes. BernieFlathead asks, "oh, dear, this isn't "Make Your Zorkmids Work For You", is it?" olethros says, "I think you have thev wrongnotes" Thrax asks (of BernieFlathead), "what about spellbook depreciation?" Rob shoots a spitball zarf shouts 'EXEX FLATHEAD'! [peanut-gallery] Jota asks, "Yeah, isn't dragging it out a stardard part of presenting the awards?" BernieFlathead says, "oh dear" inky sighs and walks up on stage. [peanut-gallery] Bishop says (to zarf), "Heh." inky says, "ok, clearly we'll have to delegate this better next year" Guest1 says, "get on wiv it" inky says, "still, I think Bernie did very well for an NPC" [peanut-gallery] wojohz asks, "can i write down my dwarves as dependents?" ParserGirl claps. BernieFlathead says, "I don't know much about that" Jota exclaims, "Hold it, I want to know more about magical deductions!" Jacqueline says, "Good try, Bernie." [peanut-gallery] * Merk has joined the channel. inky says, "anyway, for Best Individual PC, the nominees are ..." [peanut-gallery] Bishop says (to wojohz), "No, but you can write off the throwing axes as business expenses." inky says, "Inspector Maltelli from Beyond (by Mondi Confinanti)" [peanut-gallery] Rob says, "1040GUE form" olethros improbably kicksV Jota in the shin (From Thrax) inky says, "Dell's new laptop" [peanut-gallery] Norah says, "I said some dumb stuff I think" [peanut-gallery] Fang asks, "Oh the awards are on today?" Rob claps sdee claps Guest1 exclaims, "maltelli rocks!" Norah claps Lee claps inky says, "Conan, Conan Kill Everything (by Ian Haberkorn)" Jacqueline claps. Rob claps Norah claps afresh sdee claps Guest1 says, "co-nan.co-nan.co-nan" Jaybird cheers! Fang arrives from the west. Allen says, "yay kill everything" Jacqueline applauds. inky says, "Jacques in Flat Feet (by Joel Ray Holveck)" Ian arrives from the west. [peanut-gallery] zarf asks, "CKE was 2005?" Bishop kills everything. olethros claps DrewMochak asks, "Conan... it's not exactly the most original thing, is it?" Jacqueline applauds. sdee applauds Rob stomps his feet klimas says, "yay" [peanut-gallery] Norah says, "Oh yes." maga says, "yay games I haven't played" inky says, "Wendy Little in Tough Beans (by Sara Dee)" olethros claps Jacqueline claps. Norah claps Rob applauds maga claps HairBrain says, "Yay, beans!" klimas says, "yay" inky says, "and The abbot in Vespers (by Jason Devlin)" wojohz applaudclaps Merk exclaims, "Wooooo! Good luck nominees!" [peanut-gallery] Bishop says (to maga), "Me either, actually." olethros claps Rob claps. Jacqueline claps, remembering the period at the end and everything. sdee claps [peanut-gallery] Fang asks, "What awards have we had already?" Norah says, "Hurrah" JasonD says, "Good luck all" Kali clap!! HairBrain yells, "VESPERS!" inky asks (of Bernie), "and the winner is ...?" wojohz clapapplauds [peanut-gallery] Norah says, "Just BUOM won by Emily" BernieFlathead asks, "er, not deductible?" BernieFlathead says, "oh, wait" klimas chortles. BernieFlathead hands the envelope to inky. inky looks inside. [peanut-gallery] Fang asks, "Best Use of Medium?" inky says, "Wendy Little In Tough Beans (by Sara Dee)!" GaylaW claps. maga exclaims, "woo!" Rob says, "yay!" klimas says, "woo!" zarf says, "woo!" olethros says, "Hooray" [peanut-gallery] Jota says, "Right." [peanut-gallery] Norah says, "yep" sdee says, "wowza" Jacqueline says, "Yay - congrats!" Eric applauds Jota cheers. JasonD exclaims, "Congrats Sara!" Ian exclaims, "Allright!" Norah claps Merk exclaims, "Wooo!" olethros claps. wojohz says, "moo" Rob says, "first time winner!" BernieFlathead gives Best Individual PC 2005 XYZZY to sdee. Lee exclaims, "horraay!" [peanut-gallery] Fang asks, "What's the current? Best PC?" robgrassi says, "wooo" jmac cheers Lee claps Merk asks, "Is the winner here?" koblin cheers. sdee exclaims, "oh goodness! thanks!" maga exclaims, "speech!" ChainGangGuy exclaims, "Go Beans!" Rob claps Merk exclaims (at sdee), "Congrats!" [peanut-gallery] Norah says, "yep" Allen says, "Cool beans!" ParserGirl cheers! DrewMochak applauds. Kali speech! Jacqueline says, "Cool be - darn" olethros exclaims, "yeah, speech!" Rob sets off firecrackers in a dumpster [peanut-gallery] Fang says, "Oh cool." ErWenn claps politely. sdee says, "heh heh" Lee exclaims, "congrats sdee!" HairBrain says, "Beans! Beans!" wojohz exclaims, "Sara Dee!" inky hands over the microphone. [peanut-gallery] Fang says, "Man, I barely played any IF this year" Norah exclaims, "Do it! Do it!" wojohz exclaims, "nobody doesn't like Sara Dee!" sdee says, "thanks chris, olaf, and dayle for testing it and for being encouraging" [peanut-gallery] DrewMochak says, "Me either." sdee says, "and thanks to people for playing it" Norah claps Lee claps inky says, "yay" Rob claps [peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says (to wohohz), "Oh dear." lpsmith cheers. sdee sits Jacqueline says, "Yay you." maga says, "awwww" [peanut-gallery] Rob says, "heh heh" zarf claps Eric claps again (From wojohz) people says, "you're welcome" DrewMochak yahoos. sdee blushes [peanut-gallery] zarf says, "I've about three years behind" lpsmith grins. lpsmith returns to the stage. [peanut-gallery] Bishop says, "I played Tough Beans and panned it. But, hey, still happy for Sara Dee. My opinion is not law, clearly." [peanut-gallery] Thrax says, "yeah, I wish I'd played most of these games" [peanut-gallery] olethros asks, "was it in ifcomp?" [peanut-gallery] wojohz asks, "is it like this for others: a textdump about every thirty seconds?" lpsmith says, "The next award is for the Best Individual NPC. Bernie was not nominated this year." [peanut-gallery] Rob says, "I appreciated it for being something more positive in spirit among a lot of negative vibe comp games" [peanut-gallery] Bishop says, "Yeah." [peanut-gallery] Norah asks, "It placed 5th yeah?" [peanut-gallery] Allen says, "you need to soak your beans overnight before putting them in the pan" [peanut-gallery] Bishop says (to olethros), "Those were, I think, the only games I played this year." Jaybird cheers! [peanut-gallery] Fang says, "I might play some of the winners here. I'm definitely planning to play Vespers..." [peanut-gallery] DrewMochak says, "I forgot these were coming up, else i woulda played the nominees." lpsmith exclaims, "But here to present the award, we have Audrey from Necrotic Drift!" Jacqueline says, "Yay!" Rob claps maga exclaims, "woohoo!" Audrey has arrived. Jacqueline says, "Oh, Goddes, it's Audrey!" Lee claps wojohz says, "yay Aud" inky says, "he's still waiting for the right breakout accounting role to appear" Jacqueline says, "Goddess, even." sdee claps Eric claps with moderate enthusiasm. Audrey exclaims, "Hello, everyone! Thank you all so much for the opportunity to present the XYZZY Award for Best Individual Non-Player Character!" maga hides his dice Lee exclaims, "whoo hoo!" [peanut-gallery] Norah says, "I'm not plagued by text dumps here currently" Dave arrives from the west. wojohz says, "best-Case scenario" DrewMochak waves his phone number. Audrey says, "The characters on the list are all very deserving. So deserving that we'd like to use this big bag of dice to help us announce the nominees." [peanut-gallery] Thrax says (to Jacqueline), "the Goddes tell you to Go to the Shoppe" [peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says, "I just remember her saying that all the time in the game. Made me giggle." HairBrain says, "Cookies!" ChainGangGuy exclaims, "Dicey!" Audrey says, "The first nominee for Best NPC is..." [peanut-gallery] olethros says, "oh, OK, my review says that I had indeed liked the PC" Dave concentrates, and disappears. Dave walks out from under the archway south of here, although you didn't notice him approaching it from the other side. Audrey rolls a twelve-sided die Audrey consults a Dungeon Master's screen Audrey exclaims, "Our first nominee is Cecilia, from the game Vespers, by Jason Devlin!" Rob claps maga exclaims, "critical hit!" sdee cheers koblin claps. [peanut-gallery] wojohz says, "you were right, Norah, it's random" Eric applauds DrewMochak exclaims, "Yay!" Jacqueline says, "Hubba hubba." Guest1 exclaims, "cecilia!" Norah clapping Lee cheers Merk exclaims, "Woooo Jasond!" Lee claps olethros says, "go, delicecilia.." skeleton walks out from under the archway south of here, although you didn't notice it approaching it from the other side. [peanut-gallery] Norah says, "heh" Audrey says, "Our second nominee is..." DrewMochak says, "Aw bloody hell, an infestation." skeleton exclaims, "All Hope Abandon!" skeleton exclaims, "All Hope Abandon!" [peanut-gallery] Rob says, "er" [peanut-gallery] Thrax says, "okay, we're abandoning" Audrey exclaims, "That's a great point, skelly. We'd better not leave that one to the roll of a die. The second nominee is Agrath, from All Hope Abandon by Eric Eve!" Allen says, "Lasciate ogni speranza" [peanut-gallery] Rob says, "it's eric eve's bones" [peanut-gallery] olethros says, "hee" sdee claps Jacqueline applauds. wojohz exclaims, "yay game i played yesterday!" JasonD exclaims, "Go Eric!" Lee claps olethros claps. Rob claps [peanut-gallery] Norah says, "There was a skeleton in Necrotic Drift pretty sure" Audrey asks, "Could a member of the audience be so kind to punch the skeleton for me?" Rob punches the skeleton HairBrain asks, "Will they win a prize?" wojohz ditto olethros exclaims, "prize-fight!" [peanut-gallery] Rob says, "I hope that isn't a euphemism" Jacqueline does an elbow takedown on the skeleton. DrewMochak totally flips out on teh skeleton. skeleton breaks up into a thousand little pieces inky says, "full damage from bludgeoning attacks" skeleton goes home. Bishop kicks the skull. Rob says, "take THAT" Jacqueline says, "YAY" wojohz throws computer monitor at skeleton [peanut-gallery] Norah asks, "shit you can die here?" olethros asks, "is that a fortune-skeleton?" [peanut-gallery] inky fixes chalkboard. Audrey says, "Thanks! As for our third nominee --" Rob levels up. [peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says (to Norah), "Better watch out." [peanut-gallery] klimas says, "It's like the Matrix." [peanut-gallery] ParserGirl says, "No, that was just an emote." DrewMochak turns into Chuck Noris and kicks him to pieces with a roundhouse kick. jmac exclaims, "Wait... it's full of delicious candy!!" [peanut-gallery] ParserGirl succumbs to plague! [peanut-gallery] Bishop hits Norah with a longsword, for 23 HP of damage. Norah has 3 HP left. BRAAAAaaAaAIiinnnnss walks out from under the archway south of here, although you didn't notice it approaching it from the other side. Rob says, "ahhh" [peanut-gallery] Norah exclaims, "You almost cruficied me!" Audrey says, "Oh, Goddess, here we go." [peanut-gallery] Bishop exclaims (at Norah), "Yay!" [peanut-gallery] klimas says, "oh man, this is too much" [peanut-gallery] Fang says (to Norah), "Haha" HairBrain asks, "Zombie pinjata! Where's me poking-stick?" BRAAAAaaAaAIiinnnnss says, "..Audrey ..." ParserGirl says, "Shoot it in the head!" [peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says, "Yay saying oh Goddess." [peanut-gallery] Fang asks, "Why didn't Jesus win best PC?" Audrey exclaims, "That's right! Our third nominee has no name. It's the storyteller from Whom the Telling Changed by Aaron A. Reed!" maga asks (of zombie), "shouldn't you be serving drinks?" [peanut-gallery] Merk says, "How do you re-talk on the last channel you talked? I know there is a quick way..." [peanut-gallery] Norah says, "He's the best on so many levels" inky says, "uh-oh, one of the waiters can gone feral" Rob claps [peanut-gallery] Norah says, "semicolon" inky says, "woo storyteller" Jacqueline applauds. Merk exclaims, "Good luck, storyteller!" Merk asks, "Is AAR here?" Norah claps Lee claps Eric applauds Audrey rolls a twenty-sided die towards the zombie [peanut-gallery] Jota says (to Norah), "I hate eels." olethros puts his hands together. BRAAAAaaAaAIiinnnnss steps on the twenty-sided die and slips, knocking himself out. DrewMochak exclaims, "Empty half a clip of 5.65 assault rifle amunition into its gut to make it as gorey as possible before you think to shoot in in the head!" (From olethros) It explodes. [peanut-gallery] wojohz says, "yeah: semicolon hey everybody" Audrey exclaims, "Okay! This brings us to our fourth nominee!" JasonD says, "I don't think so, Mike" [peanut-gallery] wojohz says, ";" [peanut-gallery] (from Rob) Merk says, "semicolon is this right?" revenant walks out from under the archway south of here, although you didn't notice it approaching it from the other side. revenant asks, "ARE ANY OF YOU... MY KILLER?" maga says (to Audrey), "you're totally going to level up before you reach the award" Audrey says, "..revenant "As I understand it, Ralph from Flat Feet (a game by Joel Ray Holveck!) was your killer." lpsmith says, "Not me." ParserGirl claps. Rob points at someone else Audrey applauds [peanut-gallery] Merk says, "Says I don't have a default channel. I guess I can check the FAQ. :)" klimas says, "yay" DrewMochak points at George W. Bush. Lee claps HairBrain says, "XP! XP!" Eric claps. sdee claps Merk exclaims, "Good luck Ralph!" [peanut-gallery] Norah says, "I think if you do a #p-g sthg, you should be able to ;sthg thence" Audrey says, "RIGHT. I'M OFF THEN, TO FIND THIS 'RALPH.' HIS ENTRAILS, HIS FLESH AND HIS BONES WILL BE AS FLAT AS THESE FEET YOU MENTION" [peanut-gallery] inky says, "; should work if you have just typed on a channel and haven't mistyped a channel name afterwards" [peanut-gallery] Bishop says (to Merk), "If you talked on this channel last, it should be your default channel. Unless that's an option or something." [peanut-gallery] Rob says, "ha ha ha" [peanut-gallery] Emily says, "ha ha ha" Audrey says, "heh" maga says (to Audrey), "aie possession" [peanut-gallery] klimas says, "er oops" [peanut-gallery] Merk says, "I really liked Gilded. Didn't know until recently that A. Hazard was John Evans." DrewMochak exclaims, "You! You're not hte real Audrey!" Audrey exclaims, "Beware of possession on this one!" jmac snorts [peanut-gallery] Merk says, "testing" DrewMochak exclaims, "You're one of the kung-fu creatures on teh rampage! Three!" [peanut-gallery] Merk says (to bishop), "It's working now. Thanks." inky says, "we should have cast protection from evil on Audrey first" revenant exclaims, "EXIT!" [peanut-gallery] Norah says, "No way eh? I didn't know either." Rob wonders who the nominee is revenant exclaims, "/Q!!" [peanut-gallery] Merk says (to norah), "Yup. Says so on the XYZZY nominees page." Kali says, "WELL, THIS IS EMBARRASSING" DrewMochak says, "Hit ctl-alt-del, revvie." Kali goes home. [peanut-gallery] inky laughs and laughs wojohz says, "cast protectFromEvil = Audrey" [peanut-gallery] olethros asks (of merk), "you didn't?" Ian says, "finger Audrey" Rob claps for whatever is about to happen [peanut-gallery] olethros exclaims, "It was obvious. > CREATE !" Audrey says, "And now, our final nominee." DrewMochak says, "Eeeww." Kali walks out from under the archway south of here, although you didn't notice her approaching it from the other side. olethros asks, "hey, is this the same award?" Rob says, "it's a long one" [peanut-gallery] Norah says, "hmm... Good point..." [peanut-gallery] Merk says (to olethros), "I mentioned in my review that it reminded me of "Order" but I didn't know. I don't think he "revealed" his identity with the IFComp results. I could be wrong." Kali raises her hand Audrey asks, "Yes, we have a question for the overdone, leather-draped Incisor Skank?" [peanut-gallery] olethros says, "for some reason I always knew it was him" Kali asks, "Confidently, you will not intend to forget about Val in the game "that plate with gold, ' by John Yevans as danger?" [peanut-gallery] olethros says, "I don't remember hte pseudonym at all" [peanut-gallery] Merk says, ""I thought it might have been the author of "Magocracy" which had a similar feel." Audrey exclaims, "If by that you mean that the fourth nominee is Val from Gilded, by John Evans, as A Hazard... then yes, I agree!" [peanut-gallery] zarf says, "I'm lost" Kali smiles Rob claps sdee claps Kali turns into a bat Lee claps Kali goes home. Allen asks, "when does the strangling begin?" wojohz w00ts Audrey says, "The winner of the XYZZY Award for Best Non-Player Character is..." [peanut-gallery] Bishop says, "Nah, Magocracy was straight fighting-stuff." [peanut-gallery] Merk says, ""argh phone again" BRAAAAaaAaAIiinnnnss gets up off the floor and shambles over to the stage! Bishop drums his fingers impatiently. BRAAAAaaAaAIiinnnnss says (to everyone), "...!!"" inky says, "uh-oh, zombie with regeneration" Jacqueline says, "Oh NOES!" Lee slaps his head Audrey exclaims, "Yes, in English, the winner for Best NPC is the narrator, from Whom the Telling Changed, by Aaron A. Reed!!" Bishop exclaims, "Woo!" klimas says, "yay!" inky says, "woot" [peanut-gallery] Rob gets out his Zom-B-Gone spray Jota claps. zarf says, "wazoon!" Rob claps! olethros exclaims, "WOO!!" Norah claps ! GaylaW applauds. sdee exclaims, "yay!" Jacqueline applauds. Merk exclaims, "Yay for the storyteller!" Audrey crams a very pointy four-sided die into the zombie's head. koblin tries to remember the rules for turning undead. ErWenn applauds. Lee exclaims, "whoo hoo!" lpsmith cheers! JasonD says, "Good job Aaron, if you're here" ParserGirl applauds. jmac says, "zombie bondo" Ian cheers Lee claps BRAAAAaaAaAIiinnnnss goes home. Eric applauds loudly. Fang stabs the zombie with a revive syringe, and claps. DrewMochak jumps up and down. wojohz says, "hurray for telling, hurray for changing" Ian goes home. Audrey asks, "Is Aaron here today?" Rob says, "first slamdance, now this" olethros says (to fang), "nasty" Merk asks (of Rob), "And didn't it win Spring Thing '05 too? Or was highly ranked?" Rob says, "I believe it did" Rob says, "but I believe all sorts of wacky things" lpsmith returns to the stage to accept the award on behalf of Aaron. [peanut-gallery] Norah asks, "Is the award auctioned off if he's not here?" eileen applauds and applauds Rob claps Fang applauds. [peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says, "heh" Norah claps lpsmith says, "I'll be sure to get this back to him. And to apologize for the necrotic drift that's gotten on it, but hey." [peanut-gallery] zarf says, "heh heh" DrewMochak plays a rimshot. Lee applauds klimas snrks. [peanut-gallery] Merk says, ""My creature would have appreciated a Best NPC nomination. Heheh." [peanut-gallery] Norah says, "I liked him." [peanut-gallery] DrewMochak says, "Hah." lpsmith stashes the award in a drawer under the podium. lpsmith exclaims, "Next!" Guest2 says, "Damn. I've been sitting here for almost an hour now, and still no sign of Brother Ray." DrewMochak says, "I *am* Ray Charles, punk." lpsmith says, "The presentation for the award for Best Individual Puzzle is next, with Rob." wojohz says, "yay Rob" Jacqueline says, "Yay Rob." sdee claps Recchi has arrived. Rob somehow emerges from a featureless white cube on stage. maga exclaims, "yay Rob!" wojohz asks, "wait, what did Rob write?" HairBrain says, "Rob *is* the puzzle!" Rob says, "While the award for Best Puzzles tends to go to the latest in the noble lineage of puzzle-fest IF games" Lee laughs maga says (to HB), "and danishes are the answer" wojohz turns Rob ninety degrees counterclockwise Rob says, "the prizes for Best Individual Puzzle, on the other hand, have often gone to more story-oriented games, singling out the instances where the crossword and the novel synchronize, where solving the puzzle is the same as advancing the story." Allen says, "Mohemmedan pastries" inky says (to wojohz), "Rob is subbing for half sick of shadows, who is buried under his own thesis work at the moment" Rob says, "These special puzzles require both involvement and ingenuity to surpass." [peanut-gallery] zarf says, "'thog, hit intricate mechanism with rock'" Rob says, "Continuing this tradition of giving IF players that special 'aHA!' moment where the real magic happens, the nominees for Best Individual Puzzle for 2005 are:" [peanut-gallery] (from Thrax) Rob says, "or TXD. Whatever." Rob says, "Moving the stone (after escaping the labyrinth), in All Hope Abandon. Writing and programming by Eric Eve." sdee cheers Norah claps klimas says, "yay" koblin claps. Jacqueline applauds. wojohz says, "yippee" Lee cheers Merk exclaims, "Woohoo!" Recchi applauds Rob says, "Following the murderer, in Beyond. Concept and main story by Roberto Grassi, programming by Paolo Lucchesi. (Graphics by Alessandro Peretti)." [peanut-gallery] Emily asks (of zarf), "Gary Larson has turned to writing IF?" olethros claps. Eric cheers. Guest1 exclaims, "following murderders rocks!!!" Jacqueline applauds. sdee claps Norah claps Lee claps wojohz says, "yay Glulx" Merk says, "Woohoo! My fav. game (that I actually played) from last year." [peanut-gallery] ParserGirl says, "yay" [peanut-gallery] Allen says, "why aren't there any AMATNG jokes?!" [peanut-gallery] zarf says, "it'd be cool though" Guest1 says, "beyond is awesome" wojohz says, "yay pseudonym" [peanut-gallery] Bishop hasn't taken this award seriously ever since a nonexistent puzzle got nominated last year. Rob says, "Finding something to eat, in Chancellor. Writing and programming by Kevin Venzke." inky says, "it's the murderiest!" Norah says, "No hissing" inky says, "yeeeeeah pizza" sdee applauds [peanut-gallery] Merk asks (of Bishop), "what puzzle?" Jacqueline applauds again. Eric claps enthusiastically. wojohz says, "yay weird vending machine" Lee claps Merk exclaims, "Wooo! Another great game!" Rob says, "Beating the creature, in Distress. Writing and programming by Mike Snyder." HairBrain says, "yay nutrrrrients" [peanut-gallery] Bishop says (to Merk), "The toilet in Blue Chairs. Yeah, I don't get it either." [peanut-gallery] DrewMochak says, "Getting into the bathroom in Blue Chairs. Apparently." JasonD exclaims, "Wooo Chancellor!" Jacqueline applauds for a great puzzle. Norah claps wojohz says, "woo Merk" sdee claps loudly olethros applauds. inky says, "yay Distress" maga exclaims, "yay!" Guest1 says, "yay" JasonD exclaims, "Woo Distress!" Allen asks, "who doesn't like beating the creature?" DrewMochak exclaims, "Yayaya!" olethros says, "that was one long puzzle that was" maga says, "also, yay the hints" Rob says, "Identifying the killer, in Mystery House Possessed. Writing and programming by Emily Short." [peanut-gallery] Merk says, ""It's been theorized that a bunch of random puzzles nominated from the same game maybe get condensed into one easy-to-describe nomination. But who knows." Merk exclaims, "Woo me!" Jacqueline applauds. olethros exclaims, "hooray!" maga claps sdee exclaims, "yay!" Thrax says, "YLT 'beat the creature' AMATNG" Eric claps. Norah claps wojohz accuses Emily... of winning klimas claps! Lee applauds inky says, "it was the butler!" [peanut-gallery] Bishop says (to Thrax), "SOmeone had to say it, I suppose." Rob says, "And the Xyzzy goes to...." Jacqueline leans forward. Rob opens the envelope. Jacqueline leans forward more. Rob says, "!!" wojohz uses xray vision to read the sheet Rob says, "Beyond, by the Mondi Confinanti team of Roberto Grassi, Paolo Lucchesi, Alessandro Peretti!" Fang asks (of Rob), "A puzzle in itself?" Storme walks out from under the archway south of here, although you didn't notice her approaching it from the other side. inky says, "woo!" Fang applauds. [peanut-gallery] Thrax asks (of Bishop), "what was the nonexistent puzzle?" Norah claps aloud! Merk exclaims, "Yah Beyond!! Great game!" klimas says, "yay!" zarf says, "yay!" sdee claps Guest1 exclaims, "YES!!!!!! congrats italian dudes!" HairBrain cheers! lpsmith cheers Jacqueline says, "Congratulations all of you!" olethros exclaims, "hooray!" Rob asks, "is robgrassi here?" inky says, "go team Mondi Confinanti!" Lee exclaims, "whoo hoo!" JasonD exclaims, "Good job!" jmac nods. wojohz says, "hurray Mondi Confinanti" Bishop exclaims, "Grats italian-type peoples!" Lee claps sdee exclaims, "nice!" eileen claps and claps Eric applauds egregiously/ Recchi applauds! GaylaW exclaims, "Bravo!" Guest1 says, "mondi confinanti = new dario argento" Rob gives Best Individual Puzzle 2005 XYZZY to robgrassi. olethros exclaims, "Speech! Speech!" Rob claps for the idling winner Thrax says, "perhaps he's fallen asleep" Guest1 says, "sara perche ti amo" Roberto Benigni leaps up onto the back of his seat! Norah pokes the man Thrax says, "it's almost midnight there" olethros says, "hehe" Roberto Benigni says, "I MAKE LOVE TO YOU ALL!!!!" Jota applauds. olethros says (to thrax), "dinner time" wojohz says, "discorso discorso" jmac falls over in the other direction. maga asks (of Roberto), "do we have to form an orderly queue, or what?" lpsmith asks, "Wasn't Narcolepsy last year?" olethros says (to maga), "hahaha" [peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says (to lpsmith), "yay" olethros sneks lpsmith returns to the stage. Trumgottist walks out from under the archway south of here, although you didn't notice him approaching it from the other side. lpsmith says, "Well, if robgrassi unidles at some point, he can make a speech." [peanut-gallery] (from Rob) robgrassi zzzzz lpsmith says, "But next! The show must go on, with inky presenting the nominees and winner for Best NPCs." ChainGangGuy claps! Fang goes home. inky climbs up on stage again. inky says, "ok, this one I am going to present" Allen says, "you never climbed off the stage" Rob claps. [peanut-gallery] katre asks, "no one is updating the chalkboard?" maga exclaims, "yay inky!" jmac says, "inkay" olethros exclaims, "Go, inky!" [peanut-gallery] olethros says, "it is being updated" DrewMochak stomps. inky says (to Allen), "I snuck off while you were all cheering for Sara" [peanut-gallery] katre says, "there we go" [peanut-gallery] katre says, "thanks" inky says, "anyway, the Best NPCs award is a very important one in IF" Lee exclaims, "go inky!" ant arrives from the west. inky says, "a good NPC is like a microcosm of what makes a good game -- it requires bringing writing, puzzle, and plot together to make a whole greater than the sum of its parts" [peanut-gallery] Norah says, "I think he's lying" [peanut-gallery] zarf says, "'thog hit everybody with rock'" [peanut-gallery] Rob says, "giggle" inky says, "the games nominated for Best NPC have to do this not once but multiple times -- sometimes they're nominated mostly for having a single major NPC, but even then the supporting cast must be there to back that NPC up" [peanut-gallery] maga asks, "why did I read that as 'greater than the sum of its body parts'?" inky says, "the nominees for Best NPC are:" inky says, "Agrath, from All Hope Abandon (by Eric Eve)" [peanut-gallery] maga says, "no more AIF for you, maga" [peanut-gallery] Rob says, "too much AIF" sdee claps inky says, "er, whoops" Lee claps inky says, "right game, wrong listing" inky says, "All Hope Abandon, by Eric Eve" Jacqueline applauds. inky says, "there we go" Rob claps Norah claps sdee claps again Lee claps again ChainGangGuy claps lpsmith chuckles, claps. inky says (to Bernie), "I guess I'm not the only one with mixed-up paperwork" Recchi claps! Merk says, "Wooo AHA" inky says, "Bolivia By Night, by Aidan Doyle" Merk says, "Wooo BBN" klimas says, "yay" HairBrain says, "BOLIVIA!" Eric claps. Emily claps sdee applauds Norah claps Guest1 exclaims, "yay bolivia!!!" inky says, "Flat Feet, by Joel Ray Holveck" Recchi applauds Rob claps Lee claps wojohz says, "yay Doyle" Rob stomps Eric claps. [peanut-gallery] HairBrain says, "(IJLS 'Bolivia')" sdee claps Jacqueline applauds. olethros claps. inky says, "Gilded, by John Evans (as A Hazard)" wojohz exclaims, "yay Sam and Max!" Norah claps Rob gilds Lee cheers Jacqueline applauds. sdee claps olethros says, "hooray again" [peanut-gallery] Merk says, ""Wooo Gilded! Way underrated. Buggy, yes, but way underrated." wojohz says, "woo" Eric claps inky says, "(possibly the only game besides Plundered Hearts which allows you to dance with all the NPCs)" [peanut-gallery] olethros says, "yeah, but bugs -> unplayable" inky says, "and Vespers, by Jason Devlin" lpsmith says, "Yay" [peanut-gallery] maga says, "'buggy' is a massive understatement" Jacqueline applauds. sdee cheers olethros says, "hooray" maga says, "yay" Lee applauds Norah claps ant claps Bishop exclaims, "Yay monks!" Eric claps loudly. inky says, "and the winner is ...." Guest1 exclaims, "VESPERS!!!" Rob vesps [peanut-gallery] Merk says (to olethros), "I played it just fine. And the writing was great." inky says, "Vespers, by Jason Devlin!" maga exclaims, "Yay Vespers!" sdee exclaims, "yay!" Rob claps GaylaW applauds. Bishop applauds wildly! Norah says, "Yay" [peanut-gallery] klimas says, "yay precognition!" jmac cheers! olethros says, "Hooray!@" Thrax exclaims, "yay, a game I've actually played!" Jacqueline claps wildly. Emily says, "woo" inky gives Best NPCs 2005 XYZZY to JasonD. ant applauds enthusiastically zarf claps Eric applauds enthusiastically. wojohz says, "yay Guest1's lucky guess" Rob applauds for creepy diseased NPCs klimas says, "woo!" ErWenn applauds. olethros exclaims, "Excellent!" inky sneaks off the stage again. ant applauds for creepy demonic NPCs olethros asks (of rob), "you mean grittily realistic NPCs?" Merk exclaims (at Jasond), "Congrats!!!" koblin applauds. wojohz says, "speech" Guest1 says, "guest1 is all-knowing..." lpsmith cheers. Norah keeps clapping JasonD says, "Wow! Who knew assigning different names to was essentially the same NPC four times would pay off :)" DrewMochak ph34rs Guest1. olethros says, "haha" Jacqueline laughs. Guest1 laughs. revenant goes home. Norah says, "Oh yeah, good point lol" JasonD exclaims, "Thanks guys!" koblin laughs. Lee chuckles jmac says, "well done" wojohz says, "hee" robgrassi says, "ohhh" inky says, "the Vespers NPCs are all crazy in their own way" eileen applauds madly robgrassi says, "my son is sleeping" robgrassi says, "at last" sdee exclaims, "nice job, jason!" Norah says, "SPEECH" robgrassi asks, "where we are?" [peanut-gallery] Thrax says, "in that light, Frenetic Five 2 was robbed" olethros says, "everyone knows monks are essentially indistiguishable because of the strange bald patch" [peanut-gallery] Thrax says, "it had infinite NPCs" inky asks (of robgrassi), "would you like to make a belated speech about winning best individual puzzle?" Guest1 says, "tell robgrassi you missed your award" maga says (to olethros), "and the buboes" ChainGangGuy claps for monks [peanut-gallery] inky says, "ha ha" [peanut-gallery] Merk says, ""There is a fat, bald monk in my D&D group. Which incidentally, I'm almost late for. :)" wojohz says, "lpsmith won" olethros says (to maga), "ew" JasonD says, "Go for it Rob! You earned it" Miseri arrives from the west. robgrassi says, "my gid" Merk says, "My little girl is asleep too, for the moment." wojohz says, "for 15 minutes" robgrassi asks, "i've won a prize?" Rob says (to robgrassi), "you won best puzzle!" Rob says, "check your inventory!" lpsmith says (to rob), "Yes! Congrats." robgrassi says, "great! :D" zarf says, "Good speech, that." Lee cheers robgrassi DrewMochak says, ""Welcome back! By the way, you won an award!"" robgrassi says, "eer...." koblin cheers. robgrassi says, "so, i'm not good at speeches" ChainGangGuy says, "Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy..." robgrassi says, "the puzzle has been inspired by John Dicson Carr books" Merk exclaims (at robgrassi), "Excellent game, by the way!!" robgrassi says, "i wanted to make a closed chamber puzzle" Guest1 says, "loved the giallo stuff" robgrassi says, "and then we let the player 'play' the murder again" robgrassi says, "in different ways, from different points of view" olethros says, "sounds like an excellent idea" ChainGangGuy says, "yay ideas" robgrassi says, "and that's all" Norah claps sdee claps olethros claps. zarf applauds lpsmith cheers, and returns to the stage. inky says, "hooray" wojohz applauds discorso Jota claps. Rob claps robgrassi says, "I can't scream otherwise my son get awaken" inky says, "ha ha" [peanut-gallery] Norah asks, "One more speech still?" eileen claps happily olethros says, "hee" jmac laffs robgrassi says, "and i could miss the best story prize" robgrassi says, "... ;)" lpsmith says, "So, after seeing the winners of the NPC awards, some of you may be wondering if you can get NPCs this good for your own games. Well, the stable of good NPC actors, actresses and other beings is small but solid. Here tonight, we present you with behind-the-scenes looks at the folks that brought you some of the XYZZY's greatest roles." olethros looks up in wonder. inky pushes a button on his remote, and a screen drops down to reveal a picture of Boldo, from Lock & Key [peanut-gallery] Bishop says, "Oh no, not the jumbotron." inky says, "After his stint on Lock & Key, Boldo had a spot in a short-lived made-for-CYOA remake of Enchanter, as the Adventurer, and then his career took something of a downturn after an unwise role in Adoo's Stinky Story." Guest3 goes home. inky says, "Still, he landed a plum role in Sting of the Wasp as the tennis instructor, and I believe he's in negotiations with Paul Allen Panks for a spot in Ninja III, so we can look forward to seeing a lot more of Boldo in the future!" klimas says, "ha" Norah claps maga says, "hee hee hee" olethros says, "Haha" Emily says, "ha" Jacqueline says, "YAY" [peanut-gallery] zarf says, "yay" Bishop exclaims, "Ha!" Guest1 laughs. DrewMochak laughs. Recchi laughs wojohz says, "mo boldo" jmac gah maga says, "inky wins" lpsmith says, "After many years of appearing in small roles, from Trillian in 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' to the Clapper in 'The Frenetic Five', she finally achieved stardom in 1999 as Miss Sierra in 'Varicella'. That proved to be the push she needed to make the crossover into graphical adventures, and she's appeared as several Bond Girls in Electronic Arts' 007 games, and most recently signed up with Tim Schafer to be Secret Agent Milla Vodello in 'Psychonauts'." olethros asks, "several bond girls at the same time?" wojohz says, "heh" Merk says, "Wooo Psychonauts." Emily says (to olethros), "that's real diversity for you" [peanut-gallery] Thrax exclaims (at inky), "you forgot her early breakthrough role in Plundered Hearts!" inky says (to olethros), "that's the advantage of it being done on the computer" lpsmith says, "The wonders of modern technology." [peanut-gallery] inky says, "ha" [peanut-gallery] inky says, "excellent" olethros says, "Mne lpsmith | Base of the Bell Tower lpsmith | Nestled in the northeast corner of the cloister, the bell tower rises high: higher than the steeples of the church. Footsteps cut a line in the snow from the cloister to the southwest to the tower itself in the northeast. lpsmith | Someone jars into the bell and a slothful ring begins as the bell sways back and forth. One. Two. The momentum slows. Three. Four. Five. It sounds like it will stop. lpsmith | No. lpsmith | Six. lpsmith | Vespers. Bishop is far too lightheaded to applaud. eileen stops and listens for a sec. Was that a baby crying? olethros exclaims, "hooray!" koblin applauds. (From wojohz) Audrey says (to God), " that parts over" Rob applauds? Norah says, "yay" Bishop exclaims, "Yay!" Jacqueline says, "Hooray for Jason - very deserving." klimas says, "yay!" sdee exclaims, "hurray!" maga says, "good work, sir" jmac woohoos ErWenn applauds. GaylaW cheers Lee applauds olethros exclaims, "Excellent!" JasonD exclaims, "YAY!" Multum_Viri exclaims, "hurray!" Guest1 exclaims, "pray to cecilia baby!!!" klimas says, "now you have to come up with some sort of coherent speech!" Recchi exclaims, "congrats!" zarf says, "congrats" inky says, "woot" wojohz says, "yay Jason Devlin" Rob cheers eileen applauds for Jason Eric exclaims, "Well done, Jason! Richly deserved!" robgrassi says, "congrats" Lee says, "congrats" wojohz says, "you win again" Multum_Viri goes home. Norah says, "congrats" ErWenn exclaims, "Mazel tov, Jason!" Eric applauds thunderously. JasonD says, "Thanks everyone! This has been amazing" [peanut-gallery] wojohz says, "that was exciting" eileen gives Best Game 2005 XYZZY to JasonD. [peanut-gallery] wojohz says, "wow two hours" jmac says, "Good job, mr. jason" [peanut-gallery] Bishop says, "4 awards? Nice sweep." Guest1 asks, "whats next for jasond?" Jota claps. [peanut-gallery] Rob asks, "was it that many?" Multum walks out from under the archway south of here, although you didn't notice it approaching it from the other side. [peanut-gallery] Jota says, "Only two hours? Quick ceremony." wojohz says (to Guest1), "he's building a shelf" [peanut-gallery] olethros says, "yah" [peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says, "And here I rushed my presentation a bit because I thought the natives were restless, when I could have milked my bear jokes more." Rob claps for everybody [peanut-gallery] maga says, "I think it went slowly early on and then everyone panicked and sped things up" Jaybird cheers! [peanut-gallery] olethros says, "so now I have to replay Beyond, and try Telling and Mystery House" sdee applauds JasonD says, "I'm working on a somewhat IF-related project which is fairly top secret at the moment" [peanut-gallery] maga says, "eww, bear milk" [peanut-gallery] zarf says, "yeah" wojohz applauds winners and also-winners [peanut-gallery] olethros asks (of maga), "you have tried it?" [peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says (to maga), "heehee" Bishop asks (of JasonD), "Man, you're on the I7 dev-team too?" wojohz and all nominees inky says (to Bishop), "this is how rumors get started!" [peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says, "I am sad no one even looked at the bear." ErWenn congratulates all who were nominated (especially his mom). JasonD says, ":)" olethros says, "hehe" Thrax belatedly cheers Vespers. [peanut-gallery] Rob says, "we were too scared" wojohz applauds, heck, even the first round nominees [peanut-gallery] inky says, "I thought we weren't supposed to make eye contact" olethros asks, "something like DRAMA?" HairBrain asks, "Oh no! Rumors at an awards ceremony?" lpsmith exclaims, "Thank you all for coming!" inky says, "congratulations to everyone who was nominated!" Multum disappears through an invisible gap in the MUD. You think you may have heard the sounds of chatting before the gap closed again. Merk exclaims, "Yes, congrats to winners and all the nominees!!" Bishop says, "Yay everyone who wrote _anything_ this year." Jacqueline says, "Congratulations to everyone!" zarf says, "indeed" [peanut-gallery] olethros says, "aha" JasonD exclaims, "Congrats to everyone!" DrewMochak says, "I uh... wrote something..." Merk asks, "Other than the first award, were any of them non-ifcomp games?" inky says, "thanks to David Welbourn for putting together the winner list, and lpsmith for MCing!" DrewMochak says, "DIdn't release a game, but y'know..." koblin congratulates everyone. lpsmith says, "And thank you, authors, for providing us with another year's worth of IF." Dave says, "even if you didn't finish yet" Guest1 says, "shame bolivia didnt win anything, but nice spread of awards otherwise..." inky says (to Merk), "Whom the Telling Changed was in the springcomp, not the ifcomp" robgrassi exclaims, "bye all guys, greetings fro mItaly, and good night!" [peanut-gallery] wojohz exclaims, "I x'ed bear!" Lee applauds everyone Bishop says (to DrewMochak), "So did I, but not soemthing I'd mention in polite company." Merk says (to inky), "That's right." [peanut-gallery] Bishop grins sheepishly. Merk says, "Thanks." Dave disappears through an invisible gap in the MUD. You think you may have heard the sounds of chatting before the gap closed again. klimas says (to robgrassi), "night!" [peanut-gallery] Bishop says, "ILAA." wojohz asks, "where's the Carousel Bar and Grill?" HairBrain says, "Does anyone remember Animate Dead offhand? I could use a drink." [peanut-gallery] Merk says, "I think IFComp gives a leg up." robgrassi goes home. Trumgottist wakes up, and asks "Is the bear gone?" inky says, "yeah, traditionally we go to the Carousel Room for a bit -- west, north, up" lpsmith says, "The traditional post-award ceremony banquet is held in the Carousel Bar and Grill." [peanut-gallery] Norah says, "Probably." [peanut-gallery] Merk exclaims, "Now it's time for D&D.... gotta go!" Recchi leaves the auditorium to the west. zarf says, "Must run" zarf walks off through the wall; vivid gold light flares briefly around him. maga leaves the auditorium to the west. lpsmith says, "Which, yeah, that." Norah leaves the auditorium to the west. [peanut-gallery] Bishop says, "Well,e veryone plays the IFcomp games, and I suppsoe some people who don't play all the games vote for one of the ones they _have_ played." Guest1 leaves the auditorium to the west. jmac ciaos. Thrax leaves the auditorium to the west. jmac goes home. Guest4 goes home. GaylaW leaves the auditorium to the west. Jaybird leaves the auditorium to the west. inky says, "oh, and of course thanks to eileen for doing the website and the votes and everything else!" Lee leaves the auditorium to the west. ParserGirl is whisked away by a violet beam of violent energy! Bishop leaves the auditorium to the west. Merk exclaims, "Thanks again to everybody who voted me a Best Puzzles award! Congrats to the winners and all the nominees! Congrats to JasonD for a whopping... 4 awards? Take care all!!!!" Jacqueline says, "Hm. Time to hit the bar." [peanut-gallery] Norah says, "That's what I did." klimas leaves the auditorium to the west. inky says, "have fun killing the orcs" Jacqueline asks (of Bear), "You coming?" wojohz says, "yay eileen" TheBear says, "Sure, why not. If it won't put people in a panic..." sdee goes home. Merk says (to inky), "It's desert bandits right now, I think. :)" eileen says, "My little guy really is stirring so I have to run... thank you all for another amazing year of IF and community" lpsmith says, "Hee" Merk goes home. Trumgottist faints again when seeing bear. HairBrain says, "eileen! eileen!" wojohz concentrates, and disappears. wojohz walks out from under the archway south of here, although you didn't notice him approaching it from the other side. Jacqueline disappears through an invisible gap in the MUD. You think you may have heard the sounds of chatting before the gap closed again. TheBear disappears through an invisible gap in the MUD. You think you may have heard the sounds of chatting before the gap closed again. eileen exclaims, "big thanks to inky for everything too!" lpsmith exclaims (at eileen), "Thank you again!" wojohz says, "woo inky" eileen exclaims (at lpsmith), "Right back at you... thanks!!" GregB leaves the auditorium to the west. JasonD exclaims, "Alright, time to go! Bye everyone and thanks for putting on a great show!" eileen goes home. cendare goes home. mcp leaves the auditorium to the west. Eric heads off home to bed. inky leaves the auditorium to the west. Eric goes home. lpsmith leaves the auditorium to the west. ErWenn goes home. a chalkboard listing the XYZZY Award winners disappears. olethros disappears through an invisible gap in the MUD. You think you may have heard the sounds of chatting before the gap closed again. Lee arrives from the west. HairBrain leaves the auditorium to the west. ParserGirl walks out from under the archway south of here, although you didn't notice her approaching it from the other side. koblin starts casting an AIMFIZ spell while muttering something about some obscure OS or other. Jota leaves the auditorium to the west. ParserGirl leaves the auditorium to the west. wojohz leaves the auditorium to the west. Emily is whisked away by a violet beam of violent energy! koblin watches his spell fizzle. koblin leaves the auditorium to the west. Allen asks, "where'd the chalkboard go?" Allen disappears through an invisible gap in the MUD. You think you may have heard the sounds of chatting before the gap closed again. Jearl leaves the auditorium to the west. Guest2 leaves the auditorium to the west. Lee leaves the auditorium to the west. Rob leaves the auditorium to the west. You exclaim, "I guess that's all!"