Elf Clan

Elf Clan Charter

 
ELF CLAN ROLES
In general, roles in Elf Clan are that of form more than of action. We are considered a "theme" group rather than heavy "role playing".

The Dwagons are very role-oriented by nature, as are the pixies, orcs and dragons. Other roles are more open and non-precise. Elf Clan is often referred to as being more easy-going and laid-back than other groups. Rather than focusing on story-drama and sexuality (which often forms the center of other fantasy groups), Elf Clan members tend to simply enjoy one another's company.

Our roles tend to be skin-deep, our nature open and friendly, and our members in general tend to be shape shifters more than in other groups. Rather than defining roles for our members, we allow our members to define themselves. No one is barred from Elf Clan or these lands because of their preferred form or activity (so long as such respects our charter... which specifies accepted conduct in our home).  So these are just general outlines of our primary roles-- roles that we see people adopting on a regular basis. To get a flavor for what Elf Clan is and what role you may wish to adopt, visit ElvenSong Castle in Inworldz (or ElvenMyst castle in Second Life), grab a tour document, and visit all the places shown. It is likely something within will tweak your interest-- and you will discover the role that you yourself will develop.

ELVES, ORKS and DWAGONS
"What is an Elf?" is the question most commonly asked in Elf Clan. It's a valid question, for the concept of "elf" is not clearly defined in the roles of fantasy literature. Most commonly recognized are Tolkien Elves from Lord of the Rings, but those are obviously not the Elven of English literature, much less "Keebler Elves".

These are by no means the only roles available, nor are they "set" definitions. There are just generalized concepts of typical roles that have formed in our group over the years. They can be altered or added to at personal whim.

ELF CLAN ELVEN
Elf Clan Elves take primarily three classifications:

HIGH ELVEN. Not named because of rank, but because of choice of environment. The High Elven tend to carve their abodes out of the solid rock of mountains... high places.  In the past Elf Clan has always resided in "mountainous" type landscapes with large hills, mountains and waterfalls throughout. This environment was more apparent on the old sims of ElvenHearth and ElvenHope... and on our current Inworldz sims of ElvenGlen, ElvenHope and several other mountainous regions.

High Elven are often typified by their style of dress, which is flowing, luxurious and highly ornamented. Rich colors and embroidery decorate their clothing, and highly decorated armor in battle. Unlike Tolkien Elven, Elf Clan Elves consider dwarves close friends and often trade with them to obtain the finest metalworks.

Physically our High Elven closely parallel Tolkien's elves. Both males and females tend to be tall and slender. Three times stronger than mankind, lightning reflexes, unerring accuracy and balance. Our Charter has HONOR as its first point, which is the core principle of all our society.

The High Elven spend more time in intellectual pursuits so can be powerful wielders of earth magic... almost the equal of dragons and unicorns (but not quite).

 
FOREST ELVES. The Forest Elves are the same "race", but prefer to live in wooded areas. This has become more common on our Inworldz lands where we have vast forest areas in numerous regions. The Forest Elves prefer to wear less ornate, simpler clothing, preferring comfort to beauty. They enjoy rich neutral colors such as brown, tan, yellow, orange, green or red for highlights, and tend toward sturdy cloth and leather as their daily wear as their lifestyle is more physically demanding than the high elves. Their forest magic is powerful, though perhaps not quite as developed as the high elven. Physically they are somewhat stronger than the High Elven and tend to be more practiced in arts of weaponry.

DROW. The Drow in Elf Clan tend to be highly individualistic. They are a different race of Elves, more like very distant cousins of the other Elves. Some claim the Drow are a mixture of Elves and Dark Fae, but that is unverified. Others state the Drow are "fallen" Elven (a Tolkien concept, but equally unverified in Elf Clan). In Elf Clan we tend to consider the Drow as a race of Elven that turned to dark arts and evil under the reign of Sauron, then changed their ways when they discovered Elf Clan lands.  Their skin can range in color from gray to blue to violet. Their ears tend to be much longer and more pointed than other Elves. Eyes are usually white, steel, violet or red. Hair can be white, blue, violet or black. The Drow tend to focus more on physical pursuits than magical or intellectual. They prefer to live in caverns either in mountainous  areas or deep underground.

NIGHT ELVEN. Very rare, the Night Elven are a form of Drow which are solid black from head to toe and look more like walking shadows than Elves. They wander the  forests at night and are extremely powerful in magic, perhaps even moreso than the High Elven. Night Elven are very rare in these lands, hardly ever seen (which is as they prefer it). They are by no means evil, but neither do they tend to be social (with some exceptions).  It is almost impossible to capture and hold a night elven... suicidal in fact. Of our Elven races, the Night Elven, while living in peace with all, are the most dark, both in appearance and nature.

The Night Elven and their characteristics are a pure Elf Clan-created character. Without lore precedence, these were created in the early days of Second Life as a protective role in Elf Clan. Their claws carried enough punch power to knock a griefer across three sims. Their totally black appearance-- in those days-- was a very intimidating avatar. Between the Elven Elite Guard and the Night Elven-- Elf Clan was well protected and developed a reputation for no-nonsense and zero tolerance when it came to griefing.

That's the Elven. Now for the other races.

CLICK HERE FOR PT 2

CLICK HERE FOR PT 3

CLICK HERE FOR PT 4

Elf Clan Charter

EXPANDED GENRES
For quite some time it has been a primary rule of landholding that all ground-level lands in Elf Clan must be of a fantasy theme.

With our more relaxed situation on Inworldz, we are able to expand our themes considerably for islands totally separated from other lands.

In the real world there is a tremendous crossover between the areas of Fantasy and Science Fiction. Elf Clan can now recognize that cross-genre concept.

On Inworldz regions in the Elf Clan Fantasy Islands... any privately-owned island(s) totally separate from other Elf Clan lands (not touching on any side or corner) may contain ground-level themes
other than strict fantasy in the following areas:

1) Science Fiction
2) Steampunk
3) Post-Apocalyptic

If someone has an alternate idea, we will consider additional genres as well so long as they exist within the general concepts of the "unreal" (for example, Alice in Wonderland, Willy Wonka, etc).

CHARTER STILL APPLIES
All aspects of the Elf Clan Charter still apply.

Ground-level lands must be family-friendly G-rated.

Genres such as vampirism, horror, occult, witchcraft etc are still forbidden.

All lands must be open to visitors and visitor-friendly.

Contemporary builds are still excluded. Genres such as Steampunk should exhibit quite a bit more fantasy/sci-fi creativity than simple re-creation of Victorian times and homes. Science fiction themes should show unique and creative structure rather than blockish, ugly buildings. Above all we wish to remember that Elf Clan lands are beautiful and unique. Even in our adoption of other genres, we wish to retain the creativity and skill for which Elf Clan is known. While we know that not all members have equal building and scripting skills... we still encourage everyone to "think outside the box" and build with style and flair beyond the norm. : )

ELF CLAN ADAPTS
Elf Clan has always tried to grow and adapt with the needs of our members. From the beginning we have allowed more than just "Elven" culture in our group, even welcoming the Orcs, Drow, Fae, Dragons and others when they asked to join our lands. From our early days we have allowed Star Trek groups to conduct guided tours in their shuttlecraft. We've always tried to be a bit more "laid back" than typical Elven groups.

With the change of our venue from Second Life to the Inworldz platform, we are able to expand and alter our efforts according to member needs and preferences. Since we can now offer our members their own private islands, we see the potential to expand our genres to include areas that are usually of interest to fans of fantasy and science fiction alike. We hope you enjoy this new opportunity and join us in welcoming these additional genres to our group.

--o--

Elf Clan Charter

This page redirected HERE.

See:  ELF CLAN CHARTER

Living on Elf Clan Lands
Elf Clan has several regions that offer rental lands.  You can find a list of currently available lands in a sign at ElvenSong region.

Prices may vary depending on the region and amount of land available.   The lands are moderated, family friendly and scrupulously maintained by the sim owner. You won't be next to bad neighbors or garbage builds on an Elf Clan region!

If you enjoy building, enjoy being part of a community, and love the idea of family-friendly lands,  Elf Clan is a great place to rent. You have full use of megaprims, more than double the number of prims you get on Second Life, and no link distance limits. The building tools are powerful, and the lands peaceful.  Elf Clan is beautiful.

HOW TO RENT LAND
Go to ElvenSong region in Inworldz and in the main Castle TP point, pick up a copy of the latest list of rental regions.  Find the location you want and contact the region owner. 

BUILD REQUIREMENTS
All builds must be theme in nature (according to the region theme). Ground areas must be family-friendly. You may have a skybox if the region owner allows. Ground builds must conform to guidelines set forth in the Elf Clan Charter.  "What you do in your home is your business. What you do in the streets is ours." 

ADVANTAGES OF ELF CLAN LANDS ON INWORLDZ
* High [rim allowance
* Considerable link distance
* Fully malleable megaprims
* Land Rental: Dirt cheap
* Elf Clan rocks!

--o--

    One of claims I hear from time to time... both from users and server companies... is that prims cause "lag".   The more prims you have, the more lag they create.  There is also the concept of prims taking more server memory.

    While prims do take up a bit of RAM*, the claim that prim count causes lag is a myth.    We know this because we tested this claim years ago, on Second Life and put an end to that myth forever-- or so we had hoped.  Some monsters just won't die, even when you cut off their heads.

CORRELATION is not CAUSATION

    Now to be fair, there is a correlation between prim count and lag.   It would appear that sims with low prim count have little lag, whereas sims with high prim count have a lot of lag. 

    But as statisticians and math majors know, correlation does not equal causation.   Quite often correlation is just a symptom, whereas the disease is something else entirely.  This is the case with prim count.

THE ULTIMATE TEST

    About a decade ago when the "Lag Monster" hit SL seemingly out of nowhere, we techs started running lag tests.  What was the source of the lag?   Was it "user content" as Linden Lab claimed?  Was it "too many prims"?   Was it "too many textures"?  Too many scripts?  If it was any of those things, then why had sims with identical setup worked just fine a week before and now they weren't?     Users wanted answers.  (The answer was that LL had made some major server changes without informing their customers... but that's another story entirely.)

    A friend had just bought a new region and before building anything on it, invited me to spend a day running whatever lag tests I wanted to run.   I accepted his invitation.

    The tests were simple:  we would rez prims in various quantities and configurations and run metered "lag tests" checked both by scripts and avatar experience (mainly, turning in place, walking around and flying and seeing if we noticed any difference at all).   We had half a dozen people present serving as observers to verify experience.  

    First we walked and flew around an empty region.   We checked the sim stats, recorded sim stats, got a baseline to check against.

    Second, we rezzed 1,000 cubes and placed them all around us.   Ran the same tests.   No change in baselines.

    So we duplicated that 1,000 cubes until they numbered 5,000.   Ran the tests again.   No change in baselines.

    Linden Lab allows 15k prims on a sim so we couldn't go past that.  To be totally fair and not push the server to max, we rezzed 12,000 cubes and spread them around.   Ran the tests again.   All observers reported the same thing:   Absolutely no change in baseline stats or avatar experience. 

    Twelve thousand prims-- zero server or client impact.

    Okay, there was the "prims cause lag" myth blown out the window.

    But to be fair, let's start from scratch and do it differently.   So we rezzed cubes, spheres, cones and cylinders to see if prim shape made any difference.   Ran the tests.   No change in baselines.

    Several years later an Opensim team decided to test prim lag on their system.  This was a good test to run since they were trying to stabilize their platform by eliminating as many causes of server lag as possible.   They rezzed 140,000 prims at ground level.   Result:   Zero discernible lag.   This validated all the tests we'd run years earlier, but on a factor almost 12x greater than what we'd run.

SCRIPTS.  IT MUST BE SCRIPTS

    Okay so if it's not prims, what would cause lag?  Scripts, right?  Linden Lab told us:   the more scripts, the greater the lag.   That made sense.   But there are two kinds of scripts:  active and inactive.   Active scripts are constantly changing things, doing something.   Inactive scripts just sit, waiting to do something (sit / touch scripts) or have already done something (texture animation scripts).   Some inactive scripts can be run once and then removed-- with their effect still on the prim.   For example, you can animate a texture and then remove the script.  The texture will continue to animate.  A non-animated sit-scripted prim, once the script is run and removed, will still continue to seat avatars properly.

    But Linden Lab claimed that all scripts cause lag, because the sim server had to check every script every cycle to see what was going on.   Okay, let's test that out.   We removed 5,000 of the prims and created a prim that contained a touch-based sit script (inactive).   Then we replicated that prim to a count of 5,000.    Now we had 5,000 prims with trigger-happy touch-scripts in them, just waiting for someone to click them... an amount the company claimed was "far too many scripts on a sim".

    You have probably already guessed the outcome:   zero change in sim baselines.  The entire region still ran as if it were totally empty.   How about that.  Inactive scripts have zero perceptible server or viewer impact.  No lag.

OKAY, SO WHAT WAS CAUSING THE LAG?

    If prim count, prim type and simple script count wasn't causing lag, what was?    It turned out the primary lag issue was due to internal SL server issues-- which we discovered by a very extensive Elf Clan experiment that revealed LL was stacking full regions on single cores "by accident".    We asked a dozen people to check all 800 regions on SL (the sim count at the time) and found out that "accident" happened a LOT... and was the primary source of region lag at the time.  It has been so ever since.

    However in case of modern day lag issues, with companies that do not pull such shenanigans (at least, not without properly informing the customer, such as with Inworldz legit 2x2 regions)... lag is caused by several identifiable issues, depending on the grid involved.

    Active scripts can indeed cause lag to an extreme amount.  In fact on SL it was possible for one badly-designed script to completely crash a sim.   Inworldz took care of this by allowing scripts only so much "server room".  While script response might lag if the scripts are poorly written-- they would be unlikely to  impact the region server itself.  That was a smart move for Inworldz.

    On all grids a major problem is texture handling.   The more textures there are, the more textures the client has to load when entering a region.   Add to that poor texture processing where many grids load the same textures over and over again.   This is the result of a badly-designed cache system (the software that stores textures on your hard drive and in RAM for instant access) and buggy loaded-texture tracking.   That is a major issue, because this is in part server but mostly viewer based-- and grids tend to use the same viewers.  (I am not sure at this time how the official Inworldz viewer handles textures; I haven't tested it.  I have tested Firestorm and the problem is still present in that viewer.)

    Avatars cause incredible lag.  Take every factor in the book (textures, prims, active scripts in AO devices) and put them all on a moving, multi-jointed avatar, and you are going to have server and client impact.   The more avatars there are, the more lag.  Pretty much everyone is aware of this. No huge surprise there.

    Arguably (depending on the surroundings), Avatars are the single most laggy factor on any grid.  You can take a nice, peaceful, content-rich, fast-performing region and drag it down significantly by adding 20 avatars.  Add 50 to 60 avatars and the region can go to borderline crash-status.  Yup, avatars lag.  We all know this.

    Server issues.    From time to time there are server-related issues that cause lag; the best thing to do about that is to reset your region daily, or at least once a week.  Server software can get confused, start dragging its heels and needs refreshed from time to time.   This is simply nature of the beast.

    But some server issues could be fixed-- teleporting for example.   On OpenSim grids, an avatar teleporting into a region can bring the entire region to a standstill until the avatar has finished porting.  You can imagine the impact this has on a busy nexus.

    Flexys cause considerable lag.   A classic test was when we examined three types of avatars:

    1. A huge armored avatar consisting of a solid 1,500 prims.

    2. A standard female avatar with flexi hair and dress.

    3. A dwagon, 401 prims.

    Checks were done to see the impact each of these avatars had on a standard sim.  Surprisingly the dwagon caused least impact, with an avatar "lag factor" of 1.0 (by our scale, starting on a scale of 0, a plain avatar with no attachments).   Second place was the armored avatar, which caused a lag factor of 2.5.   (No surprise there... direct prims-on-a-moving-avatar correlation).    But the big surprise was the standard human avatar with flexi hair and dress.  Nothing special, just standard attire.   A whopping lag factor of 6.5.  That one avatar took double the system resources of the two other avatars combined. 

    Try telling a paying customer they can't have flexi hair or clothing and see how far you get.   ; )

    In another test we went to a region that had several "content tests" already set up (very interesting region, that).   One of the most interesting tests was their "flexi ring".   They had twelve flexi "blankets" all hung out in a ring.  When any blanket was clicked they all either turned not-flexi (standard prims) or flexi (standard prims with flex), blowing in the wind.  The result was astounding.  When the flexi on those twelve items was turned off, the region ran fine.  When the flexi was turned on the region lagged significantly.  Walking became difficult.  Turning in spot became more difficult.  Turn off the flexi blankets, stability restored, no lag.

    So if you have a region that seems to lag and there are lots of flexi tree branches and flora and flags and other items... turn off the flexis.  They are seldom worth the incredible impact they have on a region.

LIMITATION OF PRIMS ON A REGION

    If you ever set up an Opensim server you will discover something interesting:   in the instructions they recommend setting maximum prim count to 200,000 per region.  What?  Are they insane?  

    Well no.  As we've seen simple prim count has little if any impact on the server or client.   You can set up 45,000 prims on a region (as on Inworldz) and still have plenty of server RAM left for sim performance.  You can set the prim count to 200,000 and so long as you keep scripting and textures to a minimum, no problem.

    Bottom line:  the number of prims allowed on a server is pretty much irrelevant.  What is relevant is what you do with them.

    The reason smart grids like Inworldz limit prim count is because they know there is a correlation between prim count and server performance.   Why?  Because the more prims people use, the more active scripts they use, they more textures they use, the more flexis they use.   So limiting prim count is a sensible way to keep things within server stress limits.   45K seems a "happy medium"... allowing far more prims than the sim owner is likely to need while at the same time keeping away from the edge of the cliff.

BUILD SMART, BUILD WISE

    If you visit ElvenSong region on Inworldz, you will find a prim-rich environment.   You will also notice (once the sim loads), there is very little "lag".   This is especially the case if you go into high sky and visit Replicant City.   This prim-heavy, script-heavy, texture-heavy area manifests hardly any  lag at all, if any (once you give it time to load).  Why is this?   How is it such a creation can have almost no lag?

    1.  Smart scripting.   The scripts are written to be inactive where possible.   The fewer active scripts you have, the lower the sim impact.   Replicant City is highly interactive and almost everything is scripted, but the majority of scripts have to be triggered either by touch or contact.   Sensor scripts are very limited.   Active scripts are very limited.  There are no scripted bots.  (Scripted bots can be a major source of lag if not used sensibly.)

    2. Smart texturing.   There are thousands of textures at Replicant City... but they're all hidden from simultaneous view.   They're down corridors and around corners and inside closed buildings.  To "see" them you have to enter the area where the textures are.   So for the most part you're never loading or seeing more than about 200 textures at any one time.   This greatly limits texture impact on visitor experience.

    3. Almost no flexis.  Flexis were limited to an absolute minimum.  Almost no flexis = almost no flexi lag.  Simple fix.

    That's the skinny on lag and prim count.   Prim count does not cause region lag.  Zero prims or 140,000 prims...  they're not a source of "lag".

     Watch your scripting (use active scripts as little as possible-- especially scripted bots), how you display textures, and above all watch how many flexis you use.   Keep these down and you'll significantly reduce or even eliminate lag on your region.

--o--

* SERVER RAM.  While prim count does require server memory, most server systems are set up so that they have more than enough RAM to run a server, regardless of prim count.   A 2-gig server (standard size) can handle an entire region full of prims and still have lots of room left over.   In fact it can handle multiple regions-- to greater or less effect depending on the number of regions.    So a costly grid like Second Life claiming that they can only offer 15-20k prims because of server limitations-- is (arguably) lying to their customers.  We've run the tests.  The data doesn't lie.

WAYFINDER QUOTES

Original sayings from the founder of Elf Clan... for what it's worth

True  freedom  is  not without limits, for that which is ungoverned inevitably  infringes  on  the  freedom  of others.

When winning becomes the all-important goal, the game ceases being a game.

If we did not appreciate absurdity, we could not bear to look in a mirror.

Live today as if it is your last day, with tomorrow wisely in mind in case it isn’t.

There is only one truth-- but countless interpretations.

The best way to achieve you dreams is to stop waiting for them to happen.

Instead of going with the lowest bidder, go with the best reputation. The lowest bidder is usually the lowest quality.

Artificial intelligence has always been applied to computers and robotics. Perhaps that term should rather be applied to today’s generation of human beings.

Never let emotions interfere with common sense or legal defense.

Forgiveness cannot change the past... but it can change your future.

Walls cannot stop eagles or gophers.   The only way for the human species to progress socially is to stop building unnecessary walls.

Prejudice is not the sole property of any ethnic group.  It shall remain universal until we realize that the color of ones skin is no more important than the color of ones eyes.

No matter what nation you do laundry for, it always comes out dirty.

Questioning the claims of others, no matter who they are, should be a built-in self-defense mechanism for our minds. Think about what you believe. Question your deepest convictions.  Examine what you read and hear.  Doing so regularly will serve as a protection against both naivety and gullibility.

Wayfinder's First Law of Research:  For every PHD there is an equal and opposite PHD.

Related:

For any belief or argument one might hold, there are numerous "authoritative" links, blogs and papers written to support it... however errant that belief may be.  For every link there is an equally authoritative opposing link.

Also related:

Science regularly believes it has discovered "facts", which are in reality temporary, extremely limited observations waiting to be updated or debunked.  Swallowing the claims of human beings without question, however educated those people may be, is to forget that they are merely human beings... and that scientific "facts" are regularly being updated.

One doesn't require a degree to know the sky is blue.  Knowing why the sky is blue is interesting, but doesn't change the reality of the sky.

The primary problem of mankind is not one of ignorance, but of stupidity brought about by arrogance. For along with basic ignorance— with which we are all born and can only hope to partially alleviate— there would seem a pandemic of believing we know far more than we actually do, being insistent on such, and an eagerness to condemn those who disagree. It is this particular self-inflicted disease which has brought about the destruction of advanced society throughout history. It is unfortunate that such attitude seems to have a strong penchant for survival, or perhaps there would be some hope that those of common sense would survive longer and eventually balance the scales. As things stand, the stupid and arrogant tend to destroy before anything has opportunity to mature, and the meek never have a chance to inherit the earth.

The Internet is at the same time the greatest informational tool ever created… and the greatest weapon.

If you focus on beauty that is all you shall see... and miss all else that is good.

I think in the ultimate scheme of things almost everything is a "waste of time".  The difference is in how well it is wasted.

The haughty one denies what is real because he cannot measure it.  He twists creation to his personal desires and invents his own truth.

What one chooses to believe or disbelieve will change neither reality or consequence.

No stone is larger than the pebble in your shoe.

Have you noticed nature does not require dusting, vacuuming, nor the lawn mowed?

Never play a flute near a grizzly bear.  It's not that the bear hates flute music; it's that you're near a grizzly bear.

Personal belief does not alter reality.  People defy gravity regularly, but eventually that plane is coming down.

If necessity is the mother of invention, cash-strapped is the father of ingenuity.

Policy should be directed by common sense. If you leave a cookie on the table when a dwagon is nearby, it ceases being your cookie.

This is the way it is, the way it's always been and the way it has to be, are great deterrents to progress. 

Conformists build solid foundations; they are seldom architects of the future.

Hatred never begets tolerance. Labeling someone a homophobe is just another form of bigotry.

Abhorring censorship does not excuse abandoning all common sense.  Moderation is what separates society from anarchy.

When recorded music replaced family musicians, we lost a significant portion of our humanity.

 
Never put visionaries in charge of a company. Let them come up with the ideas. Never put techs in charge of a company. Let them accomplish the ideas. Put a businessman in charge of business... and put the  customer in charge of the  businessman.

 
Once you remove greed and ego as factors, what remains is progress.

 
No attitude is immortal, nor immune to consequence.

 
It's the little things that count. The difference between functional and non-functional code is one character.

Most people don't like hearing truth. It causes stress and often results in the requirement to do something.

 
There are always consequences for actions. Sometimes they are slow in coming... but they do eventually come.  The lessons of consequence are not so kind as self-moderation.

 
Many people believe that a profitable business is a successful business. I say it's how you earn the profit that makes you successful. Criminals may be profitable; only the vile would consider them successful.

Some people claim that Jesus Christ and Mahatma Gandhi died as financially poor, misguided fools.  But people die, both rich and poor. I seriously doubt today's richest men will be remembered 2,000 years from now, or that millions of people will still follow their every word.

 
No matter how fancy the decor in your restaurant... it's the food that will keep people coming back.

There is a vast difference between pursuing technology for solar and wind energy... and creating highly radioactive nuclear furnaces. Just because we can do something doesn't mean we should.

 
Humankind is the only creature on earth that is endangering the planet itself. Intelligence would seem the seed of stupidity.

THANKSGIVING:  A holiday where people celebrate our forefathers coming to a new world... where they slaughtered the inhabitants, stole their land, destroyed the buffalo herds and became the continent's greatest predator. Of course that was over 200 years ago. We'd never do that today. Today we prefer to bomb oil-rich countries, punch large holes in the ozone layer, raid the Social Security fund into near bankruptcy, dump mercury into the oceans and ravage the Amazon rain forests. Thus we can be grateful and give thanks that we haven't yet wiped ourselves off the planet.

Naivety is a wonderful and peaceful thing... until some fool removes it from us.

Naught but change is everlasting, chaos the eternal constant. 

Those who read books are in truth voyeurs, content to spend a significant part of their lives examining the thoughts of others, learning without the benefit of personal experience.  However at times such is justified by the presence of chocolate, a fireplace and good brandy.

If the legal system were based on justice and common-sense, people wouldn't need attorneys to use it.

Rare is the leader who dies peacefully and without significant regret.

GUIDE TO LIFE

Listen to your head, not your heart. Ask for advice from trusted, experienced friends. Then make a decision without obvious regrets, and stick with it. Common sense is better than I.Q. If you can’t solve it, the two choices are adjust to it or choose something different entirely. When there is no other choice, endure with dignity.

That solves most problems. Not all, but most. That just leaves the unsolvable problems, in which case ignoring them or giving them less importance in your mind often makes them far less burdensome. Because sometimes problems just solve themselves.

If in danger, exit. If others are in danger, help. Don’t try to do it all yourself. Don’t do something obviously stupid. Follow your heart only when it’s right. Learn to recognize when your heart is misleading you, because it’s emotional and often doesn’t think. Do what is right, even when you don’t want to. Consider the welfare of others above your own. Keep your word. Fulfill your obligations. Spend less time in mindless activities (television) and more time creating, working, cleaning, making something. Spend less on frivolities, save every dime you can. Keep secrets to yourself, where they’ll remain safe. Readily admit mistakes and apologize. Always check ego at the door. Do not be the center of your world.  Avoid being the center of attention.  Focus on others.

Help those who cannot help themselves. Be patient, choose your battles very wisely. Respond in wisdom and tolerance. Always be kind, always— especially to those who are unkind. Replace negativity with acceptance and resolution. Leave the past in the past and move forward; learn from the past, but don’t let it rule over you. Be good to yourself and better to others.

Regarding the concept of High Elven

If we are superior, it is by natural existence and longevity. If we seem arrogant, it is due to knowledge and wisdom, not pride. If we are aloof it is not by our desire, but due to the objectionable habits of those from whom we remain apart. The High Elven are an ancient race. If others are viewed as children in comparison... this is understandable.

Wayfinder's Notes on Virtual Reality

Virtual worlds seem to have virtual success.

The way people act in virtual reality where no one knows who they really are, is likely who they really are.

I do not support real life pimps or pedophiles; I will not tolerate virtual ones.

The last time I checked, World of Warcraft had 11.5 million customers... each paying $15 a month to play the game. Quick math: 11.5 million x $15 = $172.5 million per month. Linden Lab: appx $5 million per month.  $5 million isn't chump change, but it's not WoW.

I've done business with companies that would fall all over themselves to retain a $50 a year subscriber.  Linden Lab cares nothing for those who spend thousands.
 

Regarding Technology and Society:

 
Favorite miscellaneous quotes from other folks:

"Some people are so open-minded their brains fall out."
-- Rick Warren

"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent."
-- Thomas Jefferson.
 

"I'm surprised that battered fish is even legal."

--anonymous

"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results."
-- author debated

"The way things are going in fashion, there will soon be nothing left for prostitutes to wear."
-- Bill Maher

"The ignorant man simply doesn't know. There is no shame in that; we are all ignorant in areas. The stupid man knows, but ignores. There is no excuse for that."
-- my father

"I can afford to buy the biggest steak I can eat. How much more does a man need?"
-- Richard (an old friend)

"You want to be profitable in the restaurant business? Charge customers a reasonable amount, and give them more food than they can eat."
-- Robert (another friend)

"Don't worry about the money. Put your customers first, make them happy, and the money will follow."

-- anonymous

"There is nothing more irritating than a person who doesn't know what he's talking about-- except of course a person who does."

-- anonymous

"When you choose revenge, dig two graves."

-- ancient proverb

"When I hear somebody sigh, 'Life is hard', I am always tempted to ask: Compared to what?"
-- Sydney Harris

"Never lie, and you won't need to remember which lies you've told."
-- my father

"Life is too important to be taken seriously."
-- Oscar Wilde

"A word to the wise ain't necessary - it's the stupid ones that need the advice."
-- Bill Cosby, oddly enough

"I like cats. I just can't eat a whole one by myself."
-- Author wisely unknown

"Despite the cost of living, have you noticed how popular it remains?"
-- Anonymous

"We should always respect our elders.  I don't have to respect anyone."

--accredited to George Burns

"Death makes life simpler on so many levels."
-- Eli, a friend of mine making a satirical comment on the human condition

"Bad behavior gets noticed far more than good behavior, because it triggers parts of the brain responsible for threat assessment."

--Zauber Paracelsus

"For math students easily confused by the holidays, remember that Oct 31 = Dec 25."

-- anonymous

(Explanation for non-math folks:  octal 31 is the same number as decimal 25.)

"Money makes the world go round, but the Earth turns regardless of cash flow."

-Zauber Paracelsus

"Whatever a man is sowing, this he shall also reap."

-- Jesus

ORK WAR III 

by Wayfinder Wishbringer, Founder, Elf Clan

Originally posted Nov 21,2011  20:23:01

[Note:  You can view photos of the Ork War starting here:   http://goo.gl/gDgNa  (be sure to read the captions. ;D)


ORK WAR III -- Orks vs Eberbody!!!

The day started out peaceful, the weather beautiful.  It was pretty much like any normal day on ElvenMyst... except that almost all the regular builds were gone and had been replaced by Ork and Elven battle fortresses.  

The Ork Fortress contained numerous heavy walls, pointy stakes and skeletons, as would be expected.  The Elven Fortress contained tall towers, beautifully designed architecture, and of course signs taunting the Orks.  (There were no dwagon pawprints found on the signs, but we have our suspicions.)


WHY AN ORK WAR?
Orks.  Empty sim. Final day of Elf Clan on Second Life.  That's all the reason needed.


IT BEGINS
The war started out simply enough: Orks on one side, Elven, dwagons, pixies and tinies on the other.  An Ork shot an arrow.  A tiny shot a nuclear guided missile.  What can ya say?

From that moment forward anyone entering the sim experienced three hours of total mayhem.  Ignore the fact this was intended to be a fantasy-based war.   At the very entrance of the Elf Clan Floating Castle someone (not saying who) put two boxes full of free weapons for the taking.  Those boxes included everything anyone would need or want... ranging from swords to pies to toilet paper to... well, the aforementioned nuclear guided missile launcher.  No one came into this expecting a fair fight.  


THE ORKS FIGHT FAIR
Well, no one except the Orks, that is.   The Orks had been working for weeks on their battle fortress and it showed.  Let's give creds:  their setup rocked.   From their authentic and ancient spiked-wood and stone battle walls, to their physics-enabled stone-blocked gate (boy, was that turkey hard to take down), to their ambush weapons set up just inside the gate... they were ready.  Those weapons included:

* A log dead-fall
* An auto-firing lance launcher
* Chuina up by the gate with an enchanted entrapment archery system ... and their surprise weapon, a huge Ork Battle Dragon (supplied by Flea Bussy), which was just amazingly awesome.  The Ork avatars were largely the work of Flea as well (with a couple of exceptions).  We loves ya Flea!  Grendels rocks!

In short, the Ork encampment was just incredibly awesome.  It was properly orkish, it was fantasy based (well, except for the Space Ork weaponry they brought in later when things went nutz) and it was extremely well done.  They get the prize for sheer building and preparation genius.  


THE OTHER SIDE
While the Orks had spent weeks planning, building and authenticating, the other side consisting of a small handful of Elven and the rest being dwagons, pixies and tinies... well, the situation was a bit different.

They showed up the day of the war, spent about 30 minutes rezzing numerous Elven buildings and fortifications we'd gathered over the past seven years, and threw up some signs we'd made just that morning.   The Orks did not find that humorous at all, bemoaning all their hard work that was almost instantly counteracted by dwagons and pixies who realized that hey, it's all gonna be pretty much torched over the next hour anyway, so why bother?

Nevertheless, despite its last-minute nature the Elven encampment did look fine, consisting of an Elven twin-tower mansion, a Steampunk building, and an ancient Inn build from a member on the Ork side (Mean Golem) that he'd forgotten he'd even given us in the first place... and left him with the unenviable task of having to torch his own building (snicker snicker).  There was also the original 600 foot tall Elf Clan Castle, all 20 stories of it in splendid hugeness, sporting slogans that were somewhat uh... Ork-bigoted.  (What, Orks don't really take knitting classes?  My bad!)


THE WAR BEGINS
No one is quite exactly sure what happened next, because well, it pretty much went from 0 to 120 in 1.2 seconds.  From my viewpoint, Ork Chuina shot a pixie with a magical arrow that caged her in a crystal globe.  Someone standing by her responded with a nuke against the Ork stone blockade (which didn't budge an inch).   From that point on, it was hard to tell what was happening in all the smoke, fire,  screaming, mayhem, bombs, arrows, magic spells, particles and war taunts flying between the two encampments.


THE FIRST SURPRISE ASSAULT
The first thing no one expected was a certain dwagon showing up in steroid form (namely, about 50 ft tall... almost as tall as the huge wall the Orks had built).  Imagine a gigantic dwagon stomping across the countryside and up to the main gate.  

Snoots tried to take that blockade down.  Despite the huge size (which was considerable)... the blockade held.  The Orks had made it physical so it could be knocked over with enough power... but those were big, heavy stones and they had built it right.   It budged... I think 1/2 a micron, but not much more.  No matter how hard the mega-dwagon pushed the wall didn't move.


THE SECOND SURPRISE ASSAULT
The Orks had built their wall well, but they'd failed to take into account two things:

1. A river ran through the East side of their encampment... and tiny critters can swim pretty well

2. Despite their huge, giant, spike-tipped walls... uh... pixies and dwagons can fly (which ability the Orks kindly referred to as "lame cheating").

But fair is fair, and it was established via sim announcement at the beginning of the game that participants could only fly if their avatar allowed flight.  That meant Orks were ground-bound and pixies and dwagons... not so much.  (That was until later, when the Orks brought out their hidden Space Ork equipment such as jetpacks and airplanes, but that's later on in the story).

It didn't take very long for the pixies to storm the castle as they zoomed over the walls without effort... nor for the tinies to swim in via the conveniently located river.  Soon the Orks were fighting inside their walls while the outside area was still being stormed by the Elven, who didn't want to go swimming and could not fly.  (Tines of course, didn't mind wet fur at all.)

Having given up on trying to knock down that [expletive withheld] stonewall gate, the mega-dwgon flew up to the top of the wall where Chuina was taking archery potshots at everyone.   He was sporting a terrific enchanted bow... but it doesn't do much good to try to encase a 50 ft dwagon inside a 5 ft crystal ball.  It just doesn't work.

One thing we can say for the Orks:  they role play very well.  Chuina, seeing Snoots stomp toward him and into him, in a very manly Ork voice shouted "Ouchie!" and dove off the wall for safer ground, after which Snoots spent the next couple of minutes proudly walking back and forth along the top of the wall to emphasize the point that a 50-ft, 30 ton dwagon was more than a match for a 7-ft Ork.  No one was surprised on that point.  (Score 2 for the Orks:  role playing).

Meanwhile, down inside the fortress the Orks were holding their own against an onslaught of tinies and pixies.  Their main defenses having proved totally useless, they fell back to standard melee weapons.   Huge arrows and lances were launched, boulders were thrown, and sword and axes smashed (that lance launcher was pretty awesome).  Chuina was extremely effective with his archery system... more than anyone expected.  He regularly incapacitated his opponents for 60 seconds (which is how long it took the crystal cages to self-destruct), leaving them frustratedly trying to move but failing.  (It was not honorable to exit the cages illegally.  Fair is fair.  The players admirably submitted.)

Mean Golem, Zekeen and Ratien were running around with great gusto, trying to kick and pound creatures far smaller than themselves.  However, said creatures are also well known for being very fast and elusive ankle-biters.  The battle was evenly matched.


THE STONE BLOCKADE GIVES WAY
About that time someone on the Elven side discovered a device known as a "Happy Cat Gun".  Anyone who has ever used a Happy Cat Gun knows one thing about it:  when it comes to physics, it rules the day.  The gun was aimed at the stone blockade in the main doorway, the trigger was pulled, and the stones vanished in a rain of grinning cat cubes.   They could have been made of butter for all that gun cared as it took out huge cubes of solid granite as if they were tissue.   The Ork blockade was down, their entire fortress now open to full Elven invasion.  

And invade they did.   The Elven side rushed through the now wide open gate and swarmed over the Orks.  At a ratio of about 7 to 20... the Orks were in trouble.  They're valiant fighters, but seriously, it was as if  someone had opened the insanity valve at Arkham Assylum as the remainder of tinies and Elven came pouring through the now-wide-open gates.


THE ORKS PULL THEIR SECRET WEAPON
But the Orks were not without their backup plan.   Ork Bussy called a special enchantment and suddenly a gigantic battle lizard appeared in the main gate, all but blocking easy access. Standing there ready to gobble down anyone who tried to pass beneath its immense legs, it instantly changed the flow of battle.  Suddenly the Elven side had to battle not only the Orks, but defeat a humongous battle lizard as well!!!

(Actually, the battle lizard just kinda stood there, but the dictates of role playing insisted we attack it... as well as the dictates of tinies battle which read something like "Da bigger it is... da funner it falls".  So although the "battle lizard" was mainly a prop-- it was properly attacked with full intent as if it were an active character.  Score +1 for Elf-side role playing).  

The lizard was attacked with fire spells, nukes, enchanted bombs, you name it.  While they were doing that, a dwagon started flying over the Ork encampment and breathing fire over any building in sight.   The sight of a  hundred tiny fires all over the Ork camp was very satisfying.

In the meantime however, with everyone thus distracted, the Orks took the opportunity to slip through the Elven ranks and head toward their main goal: the Elven Castles.  All three of them.  Before you could say, "Hey, where did the Orks go?"... the castles were in flames.  Not tiny flames, humongous flames.  

See, in  eagerness to set the Ork camp on fire, the Elves had forgotten one primary stratagem:  when it comes to fire, Orks rule.  And when it comes to Orks and fire, Mean Golem rules.

Again, we have to give creds.  They didn't use wimpy fire spells and particles and such.  They used one of the oldest, simplest, most-effective builds on the entire grid:  fuero fire.  Three prims.  These are easy-to-rez, impressive to see, and what with the new Linden Lab 64m prim allowance... they could be stretched to huge size (thankyewverymuch LL).   Before we knew it, the entire Elven encampment was on fire.  Smokey the Bear had a coronary.


CALLS FOR THE FIRE BRIGADE
Dwagons have both fire and WATER breath, so Snoots flew to the castles and started putting out fires.  But fair is fair:  at least 15 seconds had to be spent on each fire before it could be put out (by returning it to the owner)... and there were dozens of fires (Mean Golem... you pyromaniac!).  So we called to all dwagons to come help put out fires.

That's when we learned there was the only dragon on the entire sim, and no one else had water spells.  

Snoots managed to put out two castle fires and was patting himself nicely on his little scaley back... when it was suddenly realized that while he was putting out fires... Orks were just re-setting them again.  It was obviously a losing battle.  This left the Elves with only one choice:  forget the fires and take out the Orks.


ORKS IS TOUGH!!!
That however, is easier said than done, because if there is one thing that's true about Orks:  they are durn near impossible to defeat.  They're big, they're strong, they have almost limitless energy (in fact, their energy increases magically the more they fight), and they actually enjoy stomping tiny creatures with big watery eyes.

For the next hour it was pretty much hand-to-hand combat (well, hand to hand, nuke-to-hand, major weapons, bullets, huge boulders, you name it).  The war turned into pure carnage as 7 Orks fought off more than 20 opponents.  The sides were pretty evenly matched because, well, unlike the first Ork-Elf war we had in Elf Clan, in this war we had tinies, and those tinies had guns.  If there's one thing tinies know how to do, it's use extensive weaponry of mass-destruction.  And toilet paper throwers.

That doesn't even bring into account the cages, the push-weapons and of course, the dreaded PIE weapons.   Banana cream littered the countryside as Ork after Ork was pied repeatedly.   It didn't really stop them, but it did play havok with Chuina trying to aim his bow through floating cream particles.


THE NEXT SECRET WEAPON
Just as it looked as if the battle had been fought to a stalemate, the Elven side pulled out its last secret weapon: more tinies.

See, the tinies had their own event that didn't end until 2 hours into the Ork War.  After that event was over, they could not resist joining in the Ork war.  So while the Orks had been already fighting for 2 hours... suddenly the Elven had a whole slew of tinies appear out of nowhere.   Those tinies took one look at what was going on, and almost of one mind a single thought went through their little collective brains:  "BIG BADDA BOOMS!!!"   

One could almost feel sorry for the Orks as tinies poured down the hillsides, all of them armed with weapons only tinies can conceive.  A scene of mere carnage suddenly turned into a  landscape of awesome destructiveness.  The Orks were in trouble.


THE LAST SECRET WEAPON
However, the Orks had held back their last secret weapon for just such an occasion. Realizing the tinies had started the war off with nukes... the Orks pulled out their secret stash of Space Ork weapons (which they'd procured from the year 40,000... long story that) and suddenly they had jetpacks and strafer planes at the ready. 

One of the elven (Cleome Jewell) went down and stayed down, her poor, beaten body the first casualty of the war (someone actually took time to bury her... as the grave marker clearly pronounced).  RaptonX rained down death from the skies as he zoomed around in his jetpack.  

Then out of nowhere came the Ork Boss himself, Schlitzie Martini, in an Ork Killa Kan... a huge dreadnought of significant damage, stomping tinies right and left, bombing them and reaping destruction down upon them.   One tiny driving around his Camaro (don't ask me.  Tinies defy the laws of space-time)... suddenly found his car underneath the huge Killa Kan and being stomped to oblivion.  Everyone could hear his tiny voice yelling at the top of his little lungs:  "You jerk!  I just had this waxed and detailed!!!"  


THE WAR COMES TO AN END
While the tinies and Schlitzie were fresh, the rest of the Orks, well, they'd been fighting a while against overwhelming odds.  Koni, the gorgeous female Ork, had stopped fighting tinies and had become a voluntary moving target while she ran around snapping photos for the archives.  Chuina, Zek, Ratien and Mean were still going, but Mean Golem IMed me and said, "Dude, can we bring this to a close?  We're getting tired."  Mwahahhaaha. 

Orks may be powerful, but tinies will overcome with sheer energy every time.

So it was requested a decision be made as to who had won the war.  We looked at both encampments, the amount of damage done, who had best stuck to their roles, who had fought with the most authentic weapons, and who had best achieved their goals.  It was agreed the Orks won on all counts... but it was the last one that was the real kicker.  Because this war, totally lacking a goal of any kind, the goal became to wreck as much destruction as possible.  When it comes to that... well, Orks had it hands down. 

With just 7 Orks against more than 20 opponents, they had managed to set all the Elven buildings on fire, had held their own against their opponents, and even at the end with fresh Elven troops on the scene (in the form of tinies), the Orks still pulled one more trick out of their hats (their futuristic armada, which was totally legal considering the pixies had been blasting them with nuclear bazookas since the first round).

So yes, fair is fair and DA ORKS WINNED!  Of course, we'd been expecting that from the start.  Orks always win.


THE TINIES CALL FOR A REMATCH
Now mind you, just because it was judged the Orks won doesn't mean that was the final say.  Some Elven had changed avatars and were now dressed as Orks, Koni and Zekeen were still running around, and Schlitzie (who got to the war fairly late) was still fresh.  

The tinies, having come newly to the war, hadn't had anywhere near their fill of mayhem.   So strongly disagreeing with the concept the Orks had won against the Tinies, they proceeded to prove the opposite as a hoarde of them swarmed us with brand new weapons and pretty much stomped the remaining Orks into the ground, just to make a point.  The Orks came to agree that when it comes to a handful of Orks against a herd of tinies.... Orks pretty much became living, walking targets.   

So the tinies proceeded to beat us soundly about the head and arms for the next 30 minutes or so as we martyred ourselves for the glory of tiny fun.  I have to say, they were ready too.   Between Steampunk Missiles and a sword that impressed the dickens out of me (sent me flying more than a few times), tinies blasting us from all sides-- and not to mention those who enjoyed simply ankle-biting us (ie, pushing us off a hill or platform), the Orks were pretty much wasted from that point on.  We held our own, but it was a hopeless fight.   To be honest, against a sufficient number of tinies with a sufficient number of insane weapons, there is no hope of success.


THE END OF ELVENMYST, SL
Still, since the main war lasted two hours and the victory declared, anything thereafter was for the sheer fun of it.  

When it came down to the end of hour three, everyone had thoroughly enjoyed themselves.   The war was followed by a fine last-minute fireworks show by Chuina Asturia, the tinies joining us in mourning the loss of ElvenMyst after 7 years of Elf Clan being on the Second Life grid.

There was river dancing aplenty as the event came to a close.   The comments we received then (and in IMs thereafter) indicated everyone had a great time.  The tinies, who rarely have a chance to attend such total mayhem, thoroughly enjoyed themselves. 

One university instructor who attended as a guest-- and who had never seen such a thing before-- was thoroughly delighted and fully enjoyed herself.  We received IMs from people telling us how much they enjoyed the way we decided to shut down ElvenMyst (namely, in a major no-holds-barred free-for-all that pretty much destroyed the entire sim).  The Orks commented how much they enjoyed it, how much they appreciated finally being able to set everything in ElvenMyst on fire (which of course they'd been wanting to do for years).  A fun time was had by all.


--o--

Addendum:  Of course, Elf Clan now exists on OSgrid, where we house 100 regions on our own servers (http://Osgrid.org.  Download the FirestormOS Viewer, register, log in and visit ElvenSong).  We invite everyone to join us there in our expanded mega-islands kingdom.  Thanks to all  of you who helped make our last day on Second Life so enjoyable... and thanks to the Tinies of Raglan Shire for enthusiastically joining us in our final SL event.  : )
 

I also wish to personally thank the WAAAGH!... our ancient-friends Ork group, who worked so hard to make the war so incredible.  The years just would not have been the same without their unique take on Ork lore.  You all were great.

--O--

TINY SOCCER: ELF CLAN vs RAGLAN SHIRE

Saturday June 16 at 1pm, the smallest an baddest of the two groups Elf Clan and Raglan Shire got together to battles it out on the field of Tiny Soccer. And boy wot a game it was!

PREGAME
Elf Clan pulled the first surprise move by all taking on the form of tinies. Raglan clearly thought they were going to be taking on biggies... which gives them a decided advantage since tinies are closer to the ball. But Elf Clan came not as Elves and Orcs... but as dwagons, ferrets wabbits and other assorted critters, ready to looks Raglan players right in da snoot.

We started da event off right by stealing Raglan swag right offa bat. Dat right, in da best tradition of the Rabid Elves... we hit their swag boxes an stole tooty horns an flags an all da loot we could, replacing their flags with ours and sniping their gestures. Hooo.... Pink Piracy at its best!

Not that we came empty handed. We had our own hand-made soccer uniforms, flags, pom poms and full cheerleader outfits. Elf Clan came to this game ready to rumble. But as player Koni said later, we "thought we was gonna get our tails stomped."

I mean after all, let's be realistic. We was taking on Raglan Shire, da baddest of da bad when it comes to soccer. These folks beat Caledon hands down last year, with both sides not cheating even once. Totally honorable game. Caledon crawled away from that with bite and claw marks all over their ankles. No, we didn't underestimate Raglan Shire one bit. We was there to win, but expecting to get wiped all over da field.

Howeber, dat not wot happened. Wot happened was what is undeniably da very best game I have ever seen on Second Life, ever, this side of the Orc Elf war!
 

THE RABID ELVES... THE ELF CLAN TEAM. A FINER BUNCH OF TEAM MATES YOU'LL NEVER SEE.

SUPPORT FOLKS
First let's thank da two main supports people. Steve was da ref, and did a respectable good job considering he was da ONLY ref (we really needed about 4). No, we not mean da Great Tree Steve, we mean Steve da tiny. The entire game was live-action monitored by DJ Escape Unplugged, in what has got to be the most biased, prejudiced, illegal-offside sports broadcast ever, highy supportive of Raglan Shire and moaning/weeping ever time Elf Clan scored a point. It was great, cos we said dat wot would happen! From da pre-game interview to da final score, the announcer was heavily pro-Raglan an properly non-home-team demoralizin. We would expects nuthin less, cos we know he scared. Mwaaahahahah...


DA FIRST HALF
Game got off to shaky start when the Tiny Terrors started out da kick even though the Rabid Elves won da coin toss. But Elf Clan took it all in good humor. We unnerstands bites to da backside if ya get a chance. mwahahahaha... After all, it a tiny game, we all was excited, da start-up was dragging on and finally a tiny just KICKED IT! Da moment dat happen we all jumped in and hooo it was on.

Raglan made first score. Dat pretty demoralizin, cos it first blood. But Elf Clan turn right around an before Raglan even knowed wot hitted 'em, we made a score and we was tied, 1-1. Our moralizin was back an we was ready to rumble. After dat, Raglan payin' attenshun!
 

TINY TERRORS-- THE RAGLAN SHIRE TEAM. SCURVY-LOOKIN LOT. THEM FERRETS WAS LOW TO THE GROUND AND LIKE BULLDOZERS... THEY'D GO RIGHT UNDER YA AND THROW YA TO THE BLEACHERS.

Our first goalie was Osprey Therian, who filled in last minute wifout practice cos... as usually... ELF CLAN WAS LATE! (Silly Elves. Tsk). Osprey did great job; if not for her, Raglan woulda scored lots more than they did. Zephyre was also last-minute fill-in player, and he did great job-- especially considering he'd had no practice. Maxwell, Koni, Kylinn and I was on da front line and it was score for score tussles I can tells ya! By the end of the first half, the score was 2-3 with Raglan ahead.


HALF TIME
After a very brief half-time during which Raglan DID NOT SERVE COOKIES... we got back to the game. By this time our practiced late-arriving team was online, and we traded out spots. Osprey and Zephyre both moved to cheerleading and Shade and Unique came in. We put Kylinn on goalie and this time, decided to run a defensive line. At first I assigned Shade to defense, but he not heard me an was right up there on offense. I decided to drop back and play defense myself an boy was I glad I did. Koni, Maxwell an Shade proved to be a 3-person sledgehammer on da Raglan offensive line. Hooooo you shoulda seen 'em. I mostly hung back unless I saw the ball go behind the Raglan goal, in which case I came forward and waited for it to come out again to try a sneak-attack goal. Unique played excellent defense and always hung back on our side of the line... which was great cos she saved our hides more than once when the ball zoomed past me toward our end. Translated: I was a defensive forward and sometimes got too far forward cos hooooo it soccer! So I glad Unique was back there to protect da home fort. :D Kylinn did a great job as goalie. I think I saw her twice grab a ankle an bite.
 

Da lag was just awful. Dat to be expected, mainly cos it's Second Life and coded like a donkey's intestine... but also cos we maxxed out da sim with 59 people!!! (Which is probably one of the reasons more Elf Clanner's weren't there. They waited until the last minute to port in... and SIM FULL!)

During the game one of Raglan side crashed, so we called a TIME OUT while he relogged. Was only da right thing to do.

We pretty much traded goals with Raglan back and forth... but finally got the upper hand and had our score 6-5 (Elf Clan) coming down to the end of the second half, with 2 minutes on the clock. Boy, dat was tense, cos Raglan knowed we ahead one point and dey stepped up da pace. It was all we could do to defend. That whole 2 minutes seemed like the ball was always on our end. Raglan tried wif all their might-- but we held da wall. Finally, the buzzer sounded and the game ended: score ELF CLAN 6, RAGLAN SHIRE 5. Hooooooo!

There was dancing and applausing and Raglan Shire was very good sports and everbody having fun. But den I heared a comment off to da side and I asked da ref about it:

"Someone says one of the goals we made was when other player was crashed, without anyone knowing he had crashed. Is that true?" Sadly, ref answered "Yes, it true. But we didn't see it in time."

We is Elf Clan. Our first code in da charter is HONOR... an we can't "win" when other side was down one man and dere any question about score being fair. So I quick IMed other players an we talked. Dere was discussion, but in da end we agreed it was only fair to declare a draw. So we announced decision to ref: the final score should be a TIE... with no rematch or tiebreaker required. It was da fair thing to do. Raglans very happy and complimented us on sportsmanship. So both sides winned! We fine with that. Best soccer game ever!

BOTH TEAMS AND CHEERLEADERS LINE UP FOR AN AFTER-GAME PHOTO


After da game we taked team photos on both sides and then both teams together. We danced and congratulated but STILL NO COOKIES.

Player Maxwell had just bought new sim and he a DJ... so he invited us all over for after-game dance. It was great. He played wunnerful music (including Puff da Magic Dragon)... and den he handed out TINY MOTORCYCLES he made to eberone dere! (They great motorcycles too.) Hooo was great party!

All in all, it was bestest soccer game I eber seen. Everyone had a great time and the two teams were perfectly matched. We was neck-and-neck da entire game. Anyone who was watching World Cup during our game was at WRONG GAME! Tiny soccer beats World Cup hands down! :D

HERE A GREAT VIDEO!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPfCzoFxldg



----
PLAYERS:

ELF CLAN TEAM:
Shade Claymore -- Offensive Forward
Koni Lanzius -- Offensive Forward
Kylinn Leimes -- Goalie 2nd Half
Eren Padar -- Defensive Forward
Unique Serrao -- Defensive Back
Zephyre Sheridan -- Offensive / Defensive
Osprey Therin -- Goalie 1st Half
Maxwell Wildcat -- Offensive Forward

RAGLAN TEAM: (positions unknown... mainly total chaotics...)
Manannan Amat -- Chief ankle-biter
Awor Blabbermouth -- Tail Puller
Catten Carter -- Fancy Chanter
Seth Direwytch -- One of dem ragamuffins
Bree Himmel -- Polite but a toe nipper
Dagmar Klaar -- Defensive ankle-biter
Cyzicus Mesmeriser -- All over da place
Daveypup Nirpaw -- Offensive Defense
Fox Obviate -- Tacks-in-the-grass placer
Chester Reichmann -- Defensive ball-sitter
Balto Rosca -- Chief nya-nya maker
Iwanta Salamander -- Just total nutz
Shakespear Shamrock -- I dunno but eber time I turn around, HE DERE!

Bribed Ref: Steve Gracemount
Biased Announcer: Escape Unplugged
Great Video: Pyewacket Bellmann

Date: June 20, 2010
Event: Elf Clan vs Raglan Shire Soccer Game

-----
 

Is true story.

A dragon walks into a local pet shop.

"Greetings!" he says to the owner. "Do you have any rabbits?"

"Oh no," the shop owner says. "I know you dragons. You just plan on eating that rabbit. I would not dream of putting the poor creatures through such a final experience!"

The dragon stops and thinks. "I'd really like a pet. How about a guinea pig?"

"You're not fooling me," the shop owner replies. "You're a dragon. You'll just eat that guinea pig! I could not possibly allow an innocent creature to go through such a terrible ordeal!"

"Uh... chinchilla?" the dragon asks.

"Never!" the shop owner retorts. "Such would be cruel torture for such a beautiful animal!"

"Hamster?"

"Absolutely not!" the owner replies.

"Gerbil?"

"I shall not!" cries out the shop owner. "Not if you paid me ten times their worth!"

The dragon pauses, thinking.  "Cat?"

"All you want, half price."

--o--

HOW TO MAKE A DOOR-- the Dwagon Way

in virtual worlds

How do you make a door in virtual worlds?  It's not as easy as some may think.  So following is step-by-step guide of how to add a door to your virtual home.

 
You will need several things:
* Doorknob
* Virtual door (any style)
* A building to link it to
* A scientific calculator
 

Here are the steps involved:
* Rez the house

* Place the virtual door in the proper position.

* Rez the doorknob and put into place

* Add a door script to your door... you know, the one your friend gave you that looks like it was written by a drunk math student.

* Link the door to the house.

* Link the doorknob to the door.

* Realize the door became unlinked when you linked the doorknob.

* Select doorknob, door and house and link all three.

* Suddenly realize everything in your build became unlinked all at once.

* Zoom back, drag-select your entire build and re-link it

* Discover that in selecting the home you also selected all the trees, bushes, rocks, sidewalks, automobiles and sundry items surrounding it, including your neighbor's house as well.

* De-select everything, carefully select the door and all the parts of the house, one by one, and link them back together.

* Realize on testing that you accidentally linked the door last and now when you touch the door the entire house rotates.

* UNLINK the door, re-select it, select the house last, re-link everything.

* Test door. It opens. Unfortunately instead of opening 90 degrees it rotates 180 degrees and gets lost in the wall.

* Do some tricky camera work to locate the now-invisible door, pull it out of the wall, place it back in proper position.

* Use scientific calculator to determine eular-to-radian-to-quaternion-to whatever conversions to get proper rotation.

* Mod the script to the best of your ability so the door opens only 90 degrees.

* Save the script and test the door.

* Notice it now rotates upwards instead of sideways.

* Manually position door back in place, go over the script again, realize you accidentally changed the Y axis instead of the Z axis, try to remember the prior settings, re-set the parameters, save script.

* Touch door. To your delight find it works perfectly. However, doorknob stays right where it is, floating in the middle of the doorway.

* Discard separate doorknob idea and use Gimp to add a doorknob representation to the door texture.

* Test door. It works. Congratulate yourself.

Total time to make simple door that opens and closes: 2.5 hours.

Satisfaction in a job well-done: Considerable... until time to add the back door.

Note: prepare to grit our teeth every time a friend points out that you did your doors the hard way.

ALTERNATIVE PROCESS:

* Unlink the door and turn it phantom.

=====