|| -------- -- -----  A E R I E   O B L I V I A N A . singular book of text wandertainment by Frank Edward Nora ------------------- ----------- OSOAWEEK--ISSUE 161--8/25/97 <-------  ||  OsoaWeek  ||  Issues  ||  Book 13  ||  -------> (Cup OWis161, Created v1 (4/27/99), Copyright 1999) = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = OsoaWeek Book Thirteen 5 "OsoaWeek161" by Frank Edward Nora, Lord of Obliviana, Tarb 6751 (8/25/97), copyright 1997 OBLIVIANA REGISTRY NEW REVOLVERS None NEW CUPLINES None NEW CUPS None *OW* LORD OF OBLIVIANA Sun 8/17/97 * 9:22 PM The Eight Racetracks. This is what I gotta work on now. [1] Number LWOR is divided into an upper and a lower section. The four Ractracks of the upper section are numbered 1-4, and the lower four are numbered 5-8. In the center of LWOR is the Central Racetrack. The upper Racetrack that intersectos the Central Racetrack is Racetrack number one, or RT01. RT01 intersects two other RTs in the upper area. of these two, one RT intersects the fourth RT in the upper area. The RT that intersects RT01 but DOES NOT intersect another Racetrack is RT02. The RT that intersects RT01 and also another RT is RT03. The RT that intersects only RT03 is RT04. In the lower area, the RT that intersects the Central Racetrack is RT05. The RT that intersects RT05 but no other Racetracks is RT06. The RT that intersects RT05 and another RT is RT07. And the RT that intersects only RT07 is RT08. In addition to the Eight main RTs and the Central RT, there are two mysterious, disconnected RTs. The one in the upper area is RT09, and the one in the lower area is RT10. The Central Racetrack is RT11. I will now list the RTs with some prelimiary information. The names of the Racetracks in quotes are from a previous set of RTs, and are used as temporary code names only, for now. RACETRACK 01 "America" Severe Repair RACETRACK 02 "Astronomy" Superior RACETRACK 03 "Arctic" RACETRACK 04 "Aftermath" RACETRACK 05 "Ancient" Zope RACETRACK 06 "Apparition" Halfevil Graphics RACETRACK 07 "Archery" RACETRACK 08 "Aqua" RACETRACK 09 "Mystery Racetrack 1" RACETRACK 10 "Mystery Racetrack 2" RACETRACK 11 "Central Racetrack" Obliviana Central Mon 8/18/97 * 12:29 AM Okay. I'm struggling a little with this stuff. Obliviana has so many levels... it's very complex... and I'm trying to make it simple... Right now I'm working on the four "outer" creative endeavors. I think I have them: Welcome to the Weasel Village Mall, Super Object, Primitive, and "Contemporary Real" (a working title). Tue 8/19/97 * 12:23 AM I printed out, on one sheet of paper, 12 images of LWOR. One is the whole thing ib black. And then there are the 11 Racetrakcs which are grayed out except for the Racetrack that is being numbered, which is in black. This printout triggered something in me. I felt very weird looking at it. Likt my throat was constricted. And I started feeling sick. Evil magic symbols? No. It's the whole 209 thing, deeply buried and forgotten, now back in the world. Maybe it's just too much meaning, too much information, to take in at once. I reacted in a similar, though not exactly the same, fashion to a word I came up with, "Dashic". This was meant to be a word like "magic", except referring to Stormjaunting and 209 and stuff. So in light of this new observation, I don't know what to make of previous judgment of the word "Dashic". I think that my last determination about "Dashic" was that it represented a USE of 209, perhaps for purposes other than would be appropriate in the here and now. Specifically, physical travel to other worlds. Maybe those fabled "gray aliens" are Dashicians, travelling from their own little Zone. I don't want to be the cause of the world as we know it to change so drastically. That is, if we as a society began to explore the other realms of Obliviana, it would somewhat "disenchant" what we have going here. That is, our insensate adherence to the cult of science has made us into a very, very interesting culture. I should clarify this. I am coming from the perspective that what is generally known as mythology and religion are TRUE, whereas the world as explained by science is FALSE. If this si the case, our communal delusions about the world as science descibes it has made up into a very interesting group of beings, as opposed to those who adhere 100% to what I would consider the truth. Clinging to fantasies... there's both a positive and negative connotation to that notion... bittersweet... So, what is the significance of 209 in the here and now? What is its context in this science-cult culture of ours? Perhaps... through 209... and with our unique perspective... we can achieve something that no other culture out there in the Obliviana Zones can do... By "Obliviana Zones" I refer to the other "worlds" which coexist with us, not as alternate "dimensions", but simply as parts of the Earth we are unable to perceive or travel to in any way. There is an idea that resonates through many religions, I believe, which is that we are in "Heaven" or "Paradise" or "Wonder" (my term) right now, only our senses are so dulled that we aren't aware of it. That is, the problem is in our senses and our minds, and not where we are at all. You can imagine that different groups of beings could be "blinded" in different "frequencies", and thus a set of alternate world would exist, though all the beings coexisted in the same contiguous physical space. This is an idea that is sure to be extremely frightening to the science-cult culture of today, which consigns all evidence of "something else" out there as figments of the imagination. So, the idea that there are other beings and creatures wandering around is quite anathema to the science-cult. But in my experiences with 209, the entire bent has been on the interaction between the self and nature, otherwise known as Reality or the "World Around Us". Maybe this is the distinction between Stormjaunting and "Dashic". "Dashic" may be a means of getting on other frequencies, and getting to other Zones, whereas Stormjaunting explores, perhaps, the space between here and Wonder. That is, Between here and the "real world" is some distance, perhaps an uninhabited place... an unknown place... a forgotten place... Obliviana. Remember... I have said many times that "Obliviana is a place." Okay. Let me get my bearings here. Stormajunting as opposed to Dashic. Stormjaunting seeks to explore "Obliviana", a place between here and Wonder, whereas Stormjaunting seeks out other "Zones". Hmm... Could it be that our science-cult culture makes us "closer" to Obliviana than other cultures in other Zones? I think there IS some connection between our science-cult culture and Obliviana. 12:58 AM Let me "step back" a little here. All this stuff I've been talking about is part of the "unknown". This stuff is not apparent. Explanations about the "unknown" are many. And a lot fo these explanations are contradictory. For example, science says that life started without a motivating supernatural force, ie, without God, via evolution. Almost all religions say that we were created by a supernatural motivating personality, or God. These are contradictory. Remember, if you believe that God created evolution, then you believe in creation. Anyway, I realize that I am talking about the unknown, and I am presenting yet another explanation, which, when put alongside all the other explanations out there, becomes pretty much equally meaningless. So I want to avoid positing on the unknown. Obliviana is not a cult. Cults explain the unknown in specific ways, and get people to believe their explanation. Sure, I have my own personal beliefs and ideas, but I don't see the benefit in getting other people to believe my ideas. Actually, I do see the benefit--money. If people believe your ideas, you can often get them to give you lots of their money, which means, basicallym, that you get them to work for you without getting anything in return. Or at least, not getting anywhere near equal value for their work in return. It's stealing. It's wrong. I beleive that this decision is vital--that I will present Obliviana as a mystery--as a thing you can observe--but which is still very much unknown. In other words, I know from my own experiences with Stormjaunting that Obliviana is a real thing. That is, something special happens when you Stormjaunt--you do experience a state of conscious and situation which are unlike the ordinary world. Like I said, I have my own ideas about what Obliviana is. But I think it's the proper way to go about presenting Obliviana to the world to simply say "Here is Obliviana. Experience it." Of course, once a person experiences Obliviana and sees that there's something to it, they will inevitably ask "What is Obliviana?" Since I'm the one who has discovered (or "rediscovered") Obliviana, th question will be asked of me. At that point I can say "The answer is (whatever)." or I can say, honestly, "I have some idea about what it is, but ultimately I DON'T KNOW, and NEITHER DO YOU." What is the experience of driving down a highway? What is the experience of walking in the rain? What is the experience of falling in love? Do these questions sound somewhat irrelevant? If so then the question of "What is Obliviana?" is also irrelevant. Like I said, I DO have ideas about what Obliviana is. But I don't know for sure. What I do know is that Obliviana is real, and it is GOOD. If you want to believe that Obliviana is a place between here and Wonder, fine. If you want to believe that Obliviana is a means of activating part of the "90% of the brain that we don't use", that's also fine. But DWELLING ON THE EXPLANATION is not fine. So I will not dwell thus. This new philosophical refinement of mine is very important. Stormjaunting is a doorway into a wonderful playground. So go out and play instead of spending all your time examining the door. I don't want to do anything earth-shattering with Obliviana. If Obliviana can bring something good into people's lives, then even if it's a very small thing, it's worthwhile. In 1984, I was 17 and obsessed with gaining time and dimension travel powers. Now, in 1997, 13 years later, I am 29, and I no longer desire such powers. Such grandiose powers would wreck the essence of HUMANITY. We have SO MUCH in the here and now, in our current incarnations as human beings. It would be a total shame to ignore this. It would be like Mozart or The Beatles or Leroy Shield (composer of the "Little Rascals" music) to have forgone music to pursue boxing or something like that. I know this is a weak, poorly thought-out analogy, but you get the idea, I hope. We all dream of becoming rich and famous and powerful. But these goals are elusive and few of us will ever attain them. But they are weak goals compared to what is fully open to us, all around us. Or at least, fully open with the help of Stormjaunting... My final point of the evening before I go to bed, hopefully to get up on time tomorrow and now be three hours late to work like I was today, is the following: I have stated this before, but I think it bears repeating. All these "self-help" programs and cults and whatever promise all these cures for all that ails you. And then they ask you to PAY for the "secret". But is these people REALLY had such a method, wouldn't it make sense to give it away freely, so that all people might better themselves, and make the world a better place for EVERYONE? So when I said above that "the door is fully open... with the help of Stormjaunting..." it kind of sounded like that phrase might continue with "... only $129.95, major credit cards accepted." I DO want to make money, but at the same time, I want to tell people how to Stormjaunt without them having to spend a dime. I believe that I can make money without holding the "secret" of Stormjaunting hostage. So I will declare this right now... the information on how to Stormjaunt will be available without any fee on my website. I'm not saying I'm gonna put anything into the public domain, just that I will not charge for the information. Still gotta protect your copyrights and trademarks, after all. Goof night. Tue 8/19/97 * 9:50 PM Well, that was supposed to say "Good night." up there, but figure I'll let it stay, in case it has any meaning... I got an E-mail from a guy who trashed the Obliviana website in a very unfair way. I don't want to get into it right now, though. The writing I did last night refines some of the philosophies I have in Obliviana. So I want to go over my overall plan for Obliviana right now. The Little World of Racetracks (LWOR) is the focal point for Obliviana. It is an imaginary world of interconnected Racetracks--eight Major Racetracks and three Minor Racetracks. From LWOR, you can explore Obliviana in several directions. The main direction is "Stormjaunting", which is a structured system for having your own amazing little adventures in the real world. Each time you go on a Stormjaunt, you can fill a "Stormjaunt Cup", which goes into your "Fonosta". Your Fonosta is represented as a building in LWOR. It is the "place" where you put all your Obliviana-related information. From the real world, you put Stormjaunt Cups into your Fonosta Library. These Cups form the basic currency that you can use to "buy" a number of different Objects in the LWOR game world. Stormjaunt Cups are arranged into sets of eight called "Octagons", and these Octagons are then used to buy Objects in the game world. With these Objects, you can play the game that is part of LWOR. Beyond Stormjaunting and the LWOR game, there are the Amusements, which include the following: [1] Severe Repair, the Hypercup sci-fi novel [2] Zope, awesome comic strip [3[ Superior, passages of text, better than poetry [4] Halfevil Graphics, many different kinds of digital art [5] Welcome to the Weasel Village Mall, a digital "radio station" [6] Primitive, a video game based on the FOW grid and text [7] Super Objects, fantastic little curios, physically-real [8] "Super Games" (working title), physically-real games, including the boardgame Obliviana Classic, the paper game Vamershee, and the wax game Deluge of Primacy These Amusements are in Obliviana for several reasons: [1] I have been creating these Amusements for a long time, ad I feel, at a gut level, that they should be part of Obliviana. [2] The Amusements form the basis of he culture of Obliviana. [3] The Amusements allow people to get involved with Obliviana without having to do anything involved, as in Stormjaunting. 11:01 PM I was just talking to my fiance Denice and I made the analogy that what I'm doing with Obliviana right now is tidying up all the loose ends and making it presentable, like cleaning up your house when you have guests coming over. So then, what do I have? [1] LWOR, the imaginary world. [2] Stormjaunting, the real-world activity. [3] The LWOR game, which provides motivation and focus to Stormjaunting. [4] The Amusements, which are simply meant to be entertainment. What else? One very important philosophy in LWOR is that there will NOT be a focus on interactivity. As I discussed in an earlier issue of OsoaWeek, I feel that Obliviana should be focused on being a more solitary kind of experience. This is not to say that there won't be ANY interaction, just that interaction will not be the focus. Adjunct to this idea is my philsophy regarding user-created content. I believe that certain people are good at creating enjoyable content, but that most pople aren't. So, in Obliviana itself, there will not be user content, except in very formatted, limited ways. This being the World Wide Web, though, I will list links to the website of any player of Obliviana. This will allow interested players to create content in any way they like without it being "in" LWOR. I have several other founding philosophies: [1] NO VIDEO. While digital video is tempting to me, I decided awhile back that Obliviana will not incorporate any video, as a basic philosophy. My reasoning on this issue is presented in a previous issue of OsoaWeek. One of the major reasons for this decision is my desire to create a focused, attention-span maintaining atmosphere without unnecessary stimulation, which can lead very quickly to blown attention-spans. [2] LIMITED USE OF COLOR. Obliviana is very colorful, with Pelters and Opmarquees. But I want to limit the use of color in my presentation of content. This is why I developed Yargo, which is defined as a grayscale JPEG file that is 264 pixels wide and 456 pixels high. (The dimensions were previously 278 x 480, but I changed it to accomodate squares of a whole number of pixels--24). Yargo, by the way, is the word "gray" backwards with an "O" at the end to make it sound good. I have decided to present a limited number of color Yargos, but these are very limited in terms of the allowable content. [3] NO 3-D. First of all, absolutely no interactive 3-D worlds or games of any sort. And no 3-D animation either. Still 3-D images in grayscale is the only use of 3-D I forsee allowing into Obliviana. [4] LIMITED GRAPHIC SIZES. In an effort to keep Obliviana focused and orderly, I have established a limited set of graphical formats to be used in Obliviana. Yargo, in both its main grayscale format, and its limited color format, as well as half-size Yargos are the main graphical format. Opmarquee is a color format that I use excusively as headers and links for content. There are a few other formats, but once the set is firmly established, I will not deviate from it in Obliviana. [5] PLAIN-VANILLA ASCII TEXT. I have been working with "plain vanilla" ASCII text for a long time, and I intend to stick with it. For one thing, it is a totally universal format. As well, it will allow for there to be a SINGLE version of all texts, not an HTML version as opposed to the ASCII version. I should note here that last year I was toying with the idea of converting ALL text to Yargo format, but I have since abandoned that notion as being impractical and extreme. Another idea I've had for awhile is "Obliviana People", which will probably be a part of OsoaWeek, and which will focus on people who are involved in Obliviana. Wed 8/20/97 * 12:03 AM Money. Here's an issue that I just LOVE dealing with. How is Obliviana gonna make money. Cuz if it's not, then it will remain a "hobby". First off, I don't wanna charge "admission" to the Obliviana website. But I am not adverse to advertising. Regarding advertising, I have a gut feeling that it won't fit into Obliviana vey well. Perhaps I could incorporate advertising into the Objects in LWOR, such as "the new Cheese Hammer, sponsored by Kraft Macaroni & Cheese!" Yeah. Selling physically-real artifacts is always a good way to make money. This could include Stormjaunting paraphernalia, ink-on-paper publications, Super Objects, and "Super Games".As well, various associated products like T-shirts, mugs, and hats are always a possibility. The Fonosta Device aspect in LWOR is quite interesting in this regard. The Fonosta Device is a graphical sign that identifies each Fonosta. So I could produce custom-made physcial artifacts, such as T-shirts, using these unique graphics, for individual players. Then we come to the issue of playing fees. I have been developing Obliviana so that players take charge of most of their activities in the game. That is, it would be possible for a player to manage their own game status. But at some point, it would make sense to offer a game status management service, for a fee. The main thing is, I want to make it possible for someone to gt into Obliviana WITHOUT paying a fee. This is an important philosophical foundation. But with this philosophy is the implication that players will have to do some work on their own to manage their game status. I see the minimum necessary interaction between player and Obliviana being a regular E-mail to establish a record of game decisions in the Oblivian archive, so that a player's past decisions cannot be suspect. Receiving and archiving E-mail can certainly be done automatically, though I don't have the capacity to do that right now. Time for bed. Good night. (As opposed to "Goof" Night.) Wed 8/20/97 * 10:28 PM I think I have the right foundation for Obliviana now. The next step is to further define the eight Racetracks. 11:45 PM I've been working on the various Major Aspects of Obliviana. These Major Aspects define the Racetracks, and in doing that, also pretty much define Obliviana. Right now, I have decided on all the Revolvers. I'm still working on the colors, but I'm close. With the colors, I've decided to have two colors for each Racetrack, in a checkerboard pattern. The Major Aspect that I have the most work to do on, besides the Friction Enhacer Tyes, is Theme. See, I envision creating eight Major and three Minor Themes. In earlier work, I adopted standard themes, such as space, horror, fantasy, etc. But I've decided to go beyond that and craft my own unique Themes. The subject of themes could easily fill a book. Sounds like a good book. Is there one out there? Anyway, themes are basically distilled cultures. Take a culture, and derive from it, in a somewhat "cartoony" way, the major elements that define it. Architecture, clothing, music, manner of speech, foods, social structure, weapons, vehicles--these are all cultural aspects that are distilled from cultures. And these cultures can be real or imagined. Some major examples of theming are the Disney Theme Parks, Theme Restaurants, and Themed Games. One thing is for sure--themes are very popular. In Obliviana, I seek to establish a set of unique themes. The thing is, themes are usually based on either real cultures from the past or present, or cultures from fiction. So, what do I do, make up cultures? No... I don't exactly have to make up cultures... because as I mentioned, I also have to develop the Eight basic Friction Enhancer types. And THESE are very much also along cultural lines. So, the development of colors, themes, and Friction Enhancer types is something I should do in tandem. This brings me to the subject of "Contemporary Terrain", a term I came up with several years ago, which refers to the world we live in. That is, our "natural world" includes roads and cars and power lines and Taco Bells and office buildings and all that. So, development of the Major Aspects should be related at some level to Contemporary Terrain. The word "Obliviana" can be taken to mean "that which is forgotten". So, relating this to Contemporary Terrain, it could refer to that which is forgotten and/or ignored about the world around us. But I do not want to focus solely on a mundane direction--I want my Themes to be fantastic and unfamiliar. The biggest themes out there--such as the Medieval/Fantasy/Dungeons & Dragons behemoth, are in very stark contrast to the ordinary world. I also have to consider the extent of these Themes. For example, will there be clothing and manners of speech involved, for example? This is a difficult question. I would hope, however, that such elements as these would flow from the basic theme. In fact, even the extremely heavy-hitting elements, such as architecture and music, must flow from a basic theme. But are there "basic themes"? Maybe a basic theme is a natural environment. Put people there, and see what happens. Forest living tend to produce different cultures than desert living. So, the natural environment is very much at the heart of themes. Hot, cold, wet, dry, flat, mountainous--these are all basic attributes of environments. But I'm getting way deep here. So does this mean that I should come up with basic environments? I mean, how impossible a task have I set for myself here? Let me look at implementation. I have limited resources. I have to create these Themes in a short amount of time. And as time goes on, I have to implement these Themes. One thing I could do is pick and choose elements from existing themes and use them to construct my Themes. This would take some of the pressure to create off of me. For example, in the subject of music, if I somehow create eight new genres of music, would I then have to produce music in these new genres? No. I think that the idea of "mixing" or "stitching"my themes out of elements of existing themes is a decent idea. So let me think... musical mixtures... how about surf instrumentals and Japanese Noh music... or Bach and bluegrass... I don't know... One thing is for sure--this particular idea of mixing elements could easily go sour, WAY sour, and wind up being total shit. On another level, I have to conceive of the Themes as they will be implemented in LWOR. Vehicles, houses, tools, characters... these are some of the main elements in LWOR. And on yet another level, people need to be able to indentify with an embrace these themes. The themes need to "fit into" wanting parts of the spirit. Rainy, Windy, Icy, Dark, Quiet... these are good basic theme parts... Let's take a look at one set of themes I developed for LWOR last year: "America"--patriotic "Astronomy"--space "Arctic"--cold "Aftermath"--post-nuclear "Ancient"--temples, secrets "Apparition"--horror "Archery"--forest fantasy "Aqua"--boats, pirates, ports These are all pretty standard themes. I want to avoid such themes. But I don't necessarily want to avoid ELEMENTS of these themes. Another aspect to this issue is that themes develop because people are INTERESTED in them. Look at the Disney parks--themes like Wild West, Space, Pirates, Ghosts, Fantasy--these are all very well-established and compelling themes. People want to experience stuff related to these themes. Being a pirate, being a cowboy, being a spaceman, being a Prince Charming... Being. Yes, that's a big part of it. People are PROJECTING themselves into roles in these themes. Anyway, I think I should develop the Friction Enhancer Types and then see what sorts of Themes develop. A Stormjaunt takes place in a limited span of time, certainly less than 24 hours. In this time, Jaunters (first use of this term) do stuff. And the stuff they do is what I'm concerned with here. I guess I can start to list kinds of Friction Enhancers, and then see if they naturally fall into eight categories. [1] Travel Motivation. Go somewhere for a 209 reason. "Neverbeen" involves simply going somewhere you've never been before. [2] Artifact Creation. Make something. "Mallball" is the classic example. [3] Moving Objects. Move stuff around. "Pebbleswitch", "Cup 14", and "Transporting French Fries" are prime examples. [4] Location Atmosphere. This is where a common location is viewed from a fresh perspective, as in "Lapmall" and "Presh Park". [5] Mixing. Combining things which would normally not be combines, as in "Reality Tonic" and "Four of Things". [6] Addressing. Look at an element of your surrounding and "address" it, as in paying attention to it or "greeting" it. For example, seeking out and Addressing inside corners in strip malls. It's weird. These FE elements can be seen as being distinct, but also as being parts in a single continuum. Perhaps it will be in a set of specific FEs that I can begin to see categories. So my new challenge is to come up with as many FEs as I can! Sat 8/23/97 * 12:19 PM The following list is from the just previous writing session: RACETRACK 01 Revolver: Severe Repair Colors: Red and Yellow RACETRACK 02 Revolver: Superior Colors: RACETRACK 03 Revolver: Super Object Colors: RACETRACK 04 Revolver: Confounder ("Super Game") Colors: RACETRACK 05 Revolver: Zope Colors: Purple and Orange RACETRACK 06 Revolver: Halfevil Graphics Colors: RACETRACK 07 Revolver: Welcome to the Weasel Village Mall Colors: RACETRACK 08 Revolver: Primitive Colors: RACETRACK 09 Revolver: Mystery Racetrack 1: Sawdust Winter Color: Light Gray RACETRACK 10 Revolver: Mystery Racetrack 2: Vulpine Gathering Color: Dark Gray RACETRACK 11 Revolver: Obliviana Central Color: White I included this list because of a little development that occurred on the bus home yesterday... THE BIRTH OF VULPINE, THE COLLECTIBLE ORIGAMI GAME Okay. First of all, you can see that I had named the "Mystery Racetracks" with names from Codingseeds from the time when my "company" was known as "Obliviana Codingseed". The ones I chose were "Vulpine Gathering" and "Sawdust Winter". My goal was to use Obliviana names which don't represent anything. "Vulpine Gathering" came about when I was playing around with heptagons. I got the three shapes which looked like foxes, so I called the logo "Vulpine Gathering", the word "vulpine" meaning "foxline", as in wolf/lupine, dog/canine, cow/bovine, cat/feline, etc. Anyway, on to another part of this story. Back in high school I developed a little game made out of paper, where you'd roll up strips of paper into "springs" and shoot around little wads of paper, essentially dry spitballs. Since then, I've worked on this game from time to time. I first called it Zarball, then Czarball, then Vamershee. In fact, up till yesterday it was called Vamershee. The word "Vamershee" is interesting. It came about as a result of me trying to invent my own language, a thing I must have attempted at least a half-dozen times over the years. I recall that VA and MER were two basic words that meant WOOD and FLAT. I'm not sure where the SHEE came from, though. Over the course of the development of this game, I invented a number of new components. The game has always stayed with the basic configuration of shooting a "ball" into a "goal" with the "stick". The little dry spitballs eventually became a "crystal", which is a six-sided little thing in a crystal sort of shape, which works very well. I think it was in the last year that I developed the "tower", and just a few weeks ago I created the new goal. Up till the new goal, the idea of Vamershee was that it was a fun game you could make out of a single sheet of 8.5 x 11 paper, requiring nothing more than a flat surface to work on, and, oh yes, a background in origami. With the new goal, the game requires two sheets of paper. Anyway, as you know, I've been trying to promote the Obliviana website, especially now that it's at least somewhat presentable. So I decided last night at work, with about five minutes left before I had to leave, that I would make a little Vamershee "crystal" promotional item with "www.obliviana.com" and my Obliviana "Wings" logo on it. Another piece of the story is that recently I've gotten a little intested in collectible card games, espacially "Magic: The Gathering". The guys at work were talking about it, and I have a book with photos of hundreds of cards. Then last week I played my second game, "On the Edge". When I say my second game, I don't mean my second KIND of game, I mean my second ACTUAL game. Before that, I had played ONE game of Magic: The Gathering. Now, when I made the "Crystal" with the Obliviana stuff on it, something clicked: I could print up sheets with various patterns--and in fact--make it into a "collectible origami game"! I had thought about making patterns for the past few weeks, especially to help people make the components. But now, I have the idea of the game pieces being "collectible" like a Magic: The Gathering. So, on the bus, I was thinking of what to name the game. I was little unhappy with Vamershee... and then I thought of Vulpine Gathering. Aha! That was it! Perfect! The "cyrstals" can be FOXES, an awesome abstract game, with these little "foxes" flying around, propelled by "Springs". Vulpine Gathering. I wrote it down. And then it hit me--Vulpine GATHERING, Magic: The GATHERING. I never thought of that before! I was a little dejected, but then I thought--just get rid of GATHERING, which left--VULPINE. And thus a major new idea was born. Vulpine, the collectible origami game. Cheap and easy to produce, and who knows--it just might catch on! Now I just have to come up with the collectible aspect of the game itself! That is, what I had was just shooting the Crystals from the Tower into the Goal. Now I have... Springing the Foxes from the Trees into the... Huts? Have to works on the terminology... AND--being that there will be different kinds of Foxes and Trees and Huts and Springs and all that, there has to be a more complex game... So this is yet another ingredient in the overall scheme of Obliviana. Under my current system, Vulpine would be part of the Counfounder Revolver, and the "Vulpine Gathering" Mystery Racetrack would be renamed. So now I want to go back to the main issue at hand, and that is the issue of the eight basic Friction Enhancer types/Themes. I think that there must be an idea BEHIND each Theme/FEtype. That is, a basic ATTITUDE that defines the Theme. In the list of Flowers in OsoaWeek001 , I attempted to define a set of such attitudes. So let me list these attitudes... FLOWER 1: Foxglove Plug computer-oriented FLOWER 2: Snapdragon Bite collecting short segments of stuff...? FLOWER 3: Daffodil Scribble "Disorder, destruction, and confusion." FLOWER 4: Pussy Willow Harvest "gathering items, object historian, baubles..." FLOWER 5: Dandelion Lost "Strange, night, clocks, chess, and mirrors." FLOWER 6: Forget-me-not Stream "Peaceful, rocks, wood, nature..." FLOWER 7: Crocus Basis "Philosophy, philosophical combat..." FLOWER 8: Lupin Lazy "...a minimum amount of attention and involvement." FLOWER 9: Honeysuckle Rover Exploring places, delving into different sorts of locations... FLOWER 10: Lily-of-the-Valley Whim "Little games, decks of cards, and diversions..." FLOWER 11: Black-eyed Susan Crest Sign and symbols, visual identity, and devices... Another aspect of all this is the idea of "team spirit", wherein folks are part of a particular Racetrack and have pride and enthusiasm and friendly competition with the other Racetracks. Modern vs. Ancient Rough vs. Refined Dark vs. Bright Mental vs. Physicial These describe some basic attitudes and themes. The question is, though, what is the extent of the range I want to have in Obliviana, to then split up into eight parts? That is, if I make the range too broad, then Obliviana itself does not have an identity. But if I make it too limited, it will appeal to far fewer people. I think that the nature of Obliviana is pretty well established. And to some extent, the demographic is also established. I see Obliviana appealing to men and women from, say, 18 to 35. In the past, I saw Obliviana as being more male-oriented, with its science fiction and comics and all, but I think that Stormjaunting will appeal to both sexes. Still, the classic video game aspect is slanted toward a male audience. So maybe I'll estimate 60% male and 40% female, for now. Another big question about the themes is whether or not I can derive them from a basic model. For example, you could look at the four elements--Earth, Air, Fire, and Water--and the "para-elements" of Mud, Dust, Ice, and Steam. This connection is supported by the elemental basis of theTarot, which is definitely somewhat inpirational for Obliviana. Hot, Cold, Wet, Dry... Dust = Air-Earth. Mud = Water-Earth. Ice=Earth-Water. Air-Fire = Smoke. Fire-Earth = Lava. Fire-Water= Steam. Air-Water = ?. North, Northeast, East, Southeast, South, Southwest, West, Northwest. In Obliviana, the special significance of eight is the difference between 11 and 19, which when multiplied together make 209. Sun 8/24/97 * 3:05 PM What are my motivations with Obliviana? This question came up as a result of my search for information on the WWW on Transcendental Meditation (TM). When I was in high school, I believe, I got a book on TM out of the library and started meditating. I recall the experience of meditating to be positive, but I guess I stopped once I got to college. Recently, I recalled the experience, and set out to find information about TM. On the web, at trancenet.org, I found a lot of negative information on TM. I also found a page which revealed how to meditate, which you can read in about five minutes. Apparently, TM is a cult which charges lots of money to teach you how to meditate, a technique which would seem to be so simple it can be taught in five minutes. So my first observation is that this TM cult manages to get people to shell out hundreds, maybe thousands of dollars to learn something that could easily be learned for free in a page or two of text. This is interesting. Also on the Trancenet site, they present numerous observations that TM, and mantra-based meditation in general, can cause various mental disorders. It's clear to me that TM is a supernatural thing that causes changes in a person. This then got me to thinking about how Obliviana is also a supernatural thing that causes changes in people. Does Obliviana change people? From my experience, Obliviana does not so much change a person from a mental standpoint, but rather, it changes the nature of events around them. Also from my experience, it seems that these changes are temporary. That is, when you go on a Stormjaunt, its effects last for perhaps a few days afterward. Does this constitute a "change in a person"? I don't know. I have looked at Obliviana from the cult perspective in past OsoaWeek essays. Stormjaunting can be seen to be analagous to TM in that it is a very simple technique, which can be taught in a short amount of time. I have observed that Obliviana, especially in its Stormjaunting aspect, is the kind of thing which could be made into a cult very easily. That is, I could make all sorts of claims about it which would steer people to go to "classes" and "workshops" to learn it the "right way". 3:23 now. Denice (my fiance) just called and said that she was driving on the Parkway with me yesterday for a long time, trying to get my attention, and I was totally oblivious. I recall that I was thinking very intensely about the whole "set of eight" challenge detailed above. I was headed to Video Game Connections for a collector's meeting, and her to her family's beach house. Anyway, back to the essay... So, like I was saying, I could make all sorts of claims and charge people all sorts of money to learn how to Stromjaunt. But I am totally against this idea, and I am committed to presenting the information on how to Stormjaunt for free on the Web. But, Stormjaunting requires MOTIVATION, because it is a thing that is normally "against" the flow of reality. So, the Little World fo Racetracks and all that is a system I am developing to provide people with this motivation, and at some level, I am planning on charging money for this service. So, this has the appearance of being cultlike, because I am telling people that they have to come to me to do Stormjaunting "right". But I believe there is a way out of this conundrum. The motivational factor in Stormjaunting can be managed by an individual by him or herself. And if I present the information on how to manage the motivational factor by yourself, then LWOR becomes an OPTION. This is all very complicated. But I am sure it relates to the "set of eight" question. I know I'm being a little vague here, but I'm trying to get through a lot of ideas on my way to establishing the "set of eight". Driving home last night (betweem 3:30 AM and 4:30 AM), I had the idea that the set of eight should represent, in one aspect, the sorts of things that Stormjaunting can do for you. That is, viewing Stormjaunting as a tool, there are a number of different things you can do with it, a number of different goals, a number of different answers to the question "Why Stormjaunt?" 4:22 PM Why Stormjaunt? This is the big question. Stormjaunting can be viewed from several perspectives. First of all, is it a system which invovles going out into the world and experiences new things, doing stuff you've never done before. This sort of system is clearly effective, if your goal is to have new sorts of experiences. That is, if you want your life to be more exciting, if you want to broaden your horizons, just go out and do it! The problem with "just go out and do it" is that for some reason, people have a resistance to doing new things. The classic exchange "What do you want to do tonight? I don't know, what do you want to do?" is all to common in our lives. Stormjaunting in this first aspect is a structured system which focuses on having little adventures in the world around you. So why can't people just do this for themselves? Why do they need Obliviana to encourage them to lead more exciting lives? Well, first of all, most people fall into ruts and wind up doing the same things over and over again. In this case, a helping hand from the outside can indeed lead to change that would be very difficult from WITHIN the rut. Secondly, Obliviana offers a set of SPECIFIC activities, in the Friction Enhancers. I'm not saying, "come on people, do something different", I'm saying, "here are specific new things to do". And in this aspect, Obliviana is very much a form of entertainment, a way to use your leisure time. LWOR provides a means of recording and organizing your Stormjaunts. If you were to Stormjaunt and not record it or reflect on it, you'd be losing something valuable. It's like eating something and then DIGESTING it. You have the experience, and then you PROCESS it. This act of processing involves recording data and the Octagon Transformation, wherin your Stormjaunts are translated into "currency" in the LWOR game. So, why Stormjaunt? [1] Make your life more exciting. Go to new places. Experience new situations. [2] Use your leisure time more effectively. [3] Keep more of a record of your life, for yourself and others, now and in the future. [4] Learn more about the world around you. Get more familiar with your surroundings. [5] Break out of your ruts. [6] Help define your identity. (This one needs to be examined!) [7] Meet new people via the context of Stormjaunting. [8] Open your senses and drink in more of the world than you have before. 5:46 PM Now, when you add the 209 factor to Stormjaunting, you get a system which involves a lot more. [9] Seek out "Blivs", unlikely events that happen TO you, that you did not cause. [10] Begin to perceive previously unknown aspects of reality--you are a pioneer on an unexplored frontier! [11] Seek to understand what different effects different Storms have, as well as the effects of different Friction Enhancers. [12] Build a collection of artifacts you create while Stormjaunting. [13] Move things around to have an impact on reality. (Needs to be clarified). [14] "Bless" locations and objects with a new "Obliviana status" (needs to be clarified). Also, naming objects and locations. [15] Through "addressing", get into greater touch with the world around you. [16] Mix things together to create new things. I think it is clear, from this list, that Stormjaunting is a tool that can potentially be used to do a number of different things. So here, then, is what I hope to be the answer to my "set of eight" question--eight basic directions to take with Stormjaunting. To develop this "set of eight", I want to think in terms of polarities. That is, four upper and four lower, and these sets of four further divided into polarities, two to the third power. The First Polarity is between the conventional and 209. That is, Stormjaunting as a convention sort of thing as opposed to a supernatural sort of thing. Looking at LWOR, it seems that the upper should be the 209 side, and the lower the conventional side. By this divison, I do not mean to imply that there will be Stormjaunting without 209--choosing a number between 1 and 209 is not an inherently supernatural operation, after all. So, the main goal of the 209 side is to explore the unknown, to be a pioneer on a new frontier. The main goal of the conventional side is to make your life more exciting and fulfilling. 7:20 PM SET OF EIGHT Rough Draft [1] 209--Pioneer (explore the unknown) [2] 209--Blivver (seek out Blivs) [3] 209--Stormer (investiage all 209 Storms) [4] 209--Visionary (seek out visions) [5] Conventional--Adventurer (have fun) [6] Conventional--Artificer (make things) [7] Conventional--Recorder/Namer (Keep records, "bless") [8] Conventional--Mixer (combining stuff) This is a very rough set. But it is a real foundation! he set of eight is near manifestation... Now I gotta go out and play videogames and get coffee. 10:15 PM Left a free game on the Medieval Madness pin at Fun 'n' Games at Willowbrook. It's good luck to do that, I think. Awhile back in OsoaWeek I presented a file from 1990 which listed a bunch of Friction Enhancer ideas, based on a "set of eight". It's very similar to what I'm doing now, only vastly less refined. That is, the system then was like a fantastically blurry version of what I have now. Anyway, I was thinking on my way back from the arcade that three dualities will do the trick. That is, three "bits", which can form eight "bytes". So far, I have the one bit which is supernatural vs. conventional. Two more bits and I have the foundational "set of eight". I think that one of the dualities should be "order vs. chaos". I think that some people will want to go about Stormjaunting in a deliberate, detailed way, keeping comprehensive records, whereas others would rather just go out and go wild and get the show on the road. [1] Supernatural--Order--Right [2] Supernatural--Chaos--Right [3] Supernatural--Order--Left [4] Supernatural--Chaos--Left [5] Conventional--Chaos--Right [6] Conventional--Order--Right [7] Conventional--Chaos--Left [8] Conventional--Order--Left I came up with the Order/Chaos setup by looking at the Revolvers. Left/Right will be the last duality. 10:59 PM So what is the last duality? Oh, Order/Chaos can be called Flip/Dire, maybe. One possibility for the last duality is solitary/social. The main question here is whether I want to promote the social aspect at all, in light of my essay a few issues back on the importance of the solitary experience in videogames and in entertainment systems in general. I do see folks Stormjaunting both alone and in groups, however. But do I want half of the SJtypes to involve social interaction, as in Stormjaunting with others, communicating with others, etc.? I do think, however, that this duality is very natural; some people will want to go solo, while others will want to be in groups, or just pairs. Motivation is a factor here--groups can help motivate the initiation of a Stormjaunt, but might be a bit of a hindrance in the progress of the Stormjaunt. In any case, if my goal with the "set of eight" is to set forth the basic types of Stormjaunting, then this is a very basic distinction--do you Stormjaunt alone, or with others? Let's see... [1] Supernatural--Organized--Solo [2] Supernatural--Wild--Solo [3] Supernatural--Organized--Group [4] Supernatural--Wild--Group [5] Conventional--Wild--Solo [6] Conventional--Organized--Solo [7] Conventional--Wild--Group [8] Conventional--Organized--Group I changed the second duality to "Wild/Organized" for now. I don't know if this is the right setup, but I'll try and work it out and see if it has potential to be the basis. One thing I can establish is that the duality categories can have some slack. That is, it does not have to be rigid. [1] Supernatural--Organized--Solo Revolver: Severe Repair Stormjaunt: Pioneer (explore the unknown, focus on the 209 Storms, keep records) [2] Supernatural--Wild--Solo Revolver: Superior Stormjaunt: Blivver/Atmoshperist (poetic, seek coincidences, feeling of places, Addressing, etc.) [3] Supernatural--Organized--Group Revolver: Super Object Stormjaunt: Artificer (make things) [4] Supernatural--Wild--Group Revolver: Confounder Stormjaunt: Gamer (play games) [5] Conventional--Wild--Solo Revolver: Zope Stormjaunt: Wandering Adventurer [6] Conventional--Organized--Solo Revolver: Halfevil Graphics Stormjaunt: Recorder/Namer (Keep records, "bless") [7] Conventional--Wild--Group Revolver: Welcome to the Weasel Village Mall Stormjaunt: Mixer (combine and move stuff, seek out stuff with themes) [8] Conventional--Organized--Group Revolver: Primitive Stormjaunt: Communicator (messages, arrangement of objects, secrets, etc.) Mon 8/25/97 * 1:03 AM Well, I just might have it. I might have the "set of eight" done! Get all Obliviana. *OW* -------> ------------------- ----------- -------- -- -----