|| -------- -- -----  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 212--8/18/98 <-------  ||  OsoaWeek  ||  Issues  ||  Book 17  ||  -------> (Cup OWis212, Created v1 (4/27/99), Copyright 1999) = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = ------------------- PRE-SPECIAL NOTICE ----------- YOW! You still haven't gotten on ListBot! I gotta tellya, Xappenshard Craze begins today, and until you get on the Obliviana Mailing List, you won't be a part of it! So please, please, please, please, please join the mailing list! Just follow the instructions below. There are only seven of you left, and I want to get all of you joined up! If you're having problems trying to sign up for ListBot, please don't hesitate to E-mail me at "obliviana@aol.com". You know, I check ListBot just about every day, and it makes me very happy to see that another person has joined my Mailing List. I could just say the hell with all of ya, but I am the Lord of Obliviana and I love all Fonostas! ------------------- SPECIAL NOTICE ----------- This is the second issue of OsoaWeek to be E-mailed via the Obliviana Mailing List via ListBot. If you have received this special notice, it means that you are NOT yet on the Obliviana Mailing List. (I am mailing OsoaWeek with this special notice separately.) Do not fear, however, for I have a very simple way for you to get onto the mailing list. Just head on over to: http://www.obliviana.com/new/eyf5.html On this page (which is the final page of the Fonosta Establishment pages), you will find a button that says "Join Our Mailing List". Click on this button. The button will take you to the ListBot signup area. Most likely, it will say something like "Account Locked". This is because ListBot has already tried to verify your signup, but for whatever reason, you never responded to the verification message. All you have to do is click the "Send Verification Message" link that you will see on the page, and ListBot will send you a brand new verification message. All you have to do is respond to this message--it doesn't matter what message you send. You can just type "okay", or anything else. (The message will have the subject line "You have been asked to join Obliviana Mailing List". Make sure not to throw it out with a bunch of junk E-mail!) This whole annoying process is something you only have to do once. ListBot is a service that is totally legitimate--and totally free. Since I have to do everything in Obliviana myself, a service like ListBot makes my life a whole lot easier. So go ahead and sign up! It'll take you five minutes! Maybe less! And it will make me very very happy! I won't have to send out this "special (and very annoying) edition" of OsoaWeek ever again when everybody is on ListBot! Thanks. Now, enjoy the very latest issue of OsoaWeek!!!!! ------------------- OSOAWEEK Ezine of Obliviana Issue 212, 8/18/98 by Frank Edward Nora ----------- ------------------- LORD OF OBLIVIANA ----------- Are you quickly losing interest in Obliviana, because it's so vague and dull? Has your attention span run out? Are you just about through with yours truly, the confusion-mongering Lord of Obliviana? Well now just WAIT RIGHT THERE! HOLD ON! Obliviana is about to get a high-octane kick in the ass from a brand new game called... XAPPENSHARD CRAZE! Starting today, and every day from now on, some lucky player will be a Xappenshard Craze Daily Winner! Wanna know if you're eligible? Just check out your home town (which is Shack Bluff for everyone so far)--if your Fonosta listing is there, you're in the pool for the daily drawing! What do you win as the big Daily Winner? You win Obliviana Trading Cards, Xappenshards, and Xappenclues. And the coolest part is, you'll be getting stuff that perhaps NO ONE ELSE is the game has! This is where the fun part comes. You can use your newly-won treasures to trade with other players on the Xappenshard Craze Message Board to get stuff that YOU need! Xappenshard Craze is starting TODAY. There's a link to Xappenshard Craze right on the Obliviana homepage. And you don't have to wait to be a winner to get into the game--not at all! See, the big goal in the game is to be the first player to answer each Xappen puzzle. The player with the right answer then gets to open up a store in the Xappenshard Craze Mall--and inside each store a great PRIZE awaits! And don't forget the very cool Lucky Storm, which is drawn each week. Don't wanna give up that Trading Card that no one else has but you? Put it up in ante and make a wager with another player! If your Fonosta Number is lower than the other player, an odd-numbered Lucky Storm makes you the winner. If your Fonosta Number is higher, it's an even-numbered Lucky Storm that you'll be rooting for. The winner gets the ante from the loser. IT'S THAT SIMPLE! Frustrated by those complex, obscure Xappenshard clues? Never fear! Xappenclues are here! A good Xappenclue can be the difference between winning and losing--so go ahead and make a trade! Xappenshard Craze is a wild and untamed game. You deal with other players using the Message Board and E-Mail. You can even make trades in person! One thing's for sure--if you've got a Xappenshard, Trading Card, or Xappenclue that someone else wants, you'll be able to make a great deal! So go right ahead and check out Xappenshard Craze RIGHT NOW! And remember--every week, you'll get a full set of Xappenshards for an even-numbered Xappen--solve it first and you win! Xappenshards for odd-numbered Xappens are harder to get--but with a little luck and some great trades, you'll be able to get them too! ------------------- GAME NEWS ----------- As you know if you just read that wacky copy above, Xappenshard Craze is here. So I want to let you know what's happening with the original elements of the game of Obliviana. As I mentioned last issue, the game as I originally conceived of it is going to take quite some time to build. So, essentially, the rest of the game is "on hold" as Xappenshard Craze becomes the focus. DONEXT is now suspended. This is really no big deal, since thus far, Donext has had only limited functionality. Here are the elements that were a part of Donext, and where they now stand: XAPPEN GUESS: Xappen solving is now done on the Xappenshard Message Board. TARB: Right now, Tarb is dormant. But don't worry--you're still accumulating Tarbs--you just can't do anything with them right now! And as I mentioned last issue, there are no extra Tarbs for special days (as I originally intended). So for now, don't worry about Tarbs at all. CIRCUIT: Wow. This is a tough one. This is pretty much the only part of Donext that can't be done any other way. I could make it a part of Xappenshard Craze, but it really doesn't fit in. So, much as it pains me, I have to announce that Circuit is suspended along with Donext. But don't worry! In time, Circuit will return! ------------------- NEW THIS WEEK ----------- [1] First of all, OsoaWeek is changing slightly. As you may know, the last three issues of the OsoaWeek contained "exclusive features" which were not going to be archived on the Obliviana Website. Well, starting this issue, ALL of OsoaWeek is exclusive! In fact, since the last three issues have not been archived, those too will not be archived. So, if any players want to get back issues of OsoaWeek 209 and up, they'll have to trade for them in Xappenshard Craze. That's right! OsoaWeek back issues are one of the things you can use in trade in Xappenshard Craze! [2] XAPPENSHARD CRAZE--This brand new part of Obliviana is detailed above. [3] DUFFY THE SOAPSUD, Issue 4: More awesome Obliviana content! Check out Severe Repair, Zope, Superior, and, of course, the mad rambling and antics of Duffy himself! ------------------- LUCKY STORM ----------- Lucky Storm 212: 140 (Flip 8, Dire 7, Storm Pelter "PsychicWave", Pilcansas Segment 24) Previously: 209: 27 210: 126 211: 20 Note: The Lucky Storm is drawn randomly, using a deck of 30 cards (called a "Storm Codex"), one for each Flip and Dire. ------------------- SONGS OF THE WEEK ----------- Bachman-Turner Overdrive, "Freeways" (Album: "BTO's Greatest") Robert Drasnin, "You" (Album: "Voodoo!") ------------------- CARNE'S MOISTURE DETECTION FRIEND Episode Three ----------- CARNE: I was at a beautiful place. My Moisture Detection Friend had been there a week earlier. It's kind of hard to describe. It was a glass lodge on top of this hill, with a killer view. Everyone just sits in there and smokes these great cigars and drinks this awesome iced coffee. PACER: Yeah? That sounds pretty cool. So when the fuck is this ride gonna start up again? I'm tired of sitting here in the "Amethyst Cave of the Ancient Way". This ride sucks, man. CARNE: I don't know. I think all these rides have great character. Maybe from the viewpoint of whatever modern aesthetic you adhere to you might think of this ride as "corny", but giving it such a simplictic label would be doing it a disservice. PACER: Did you see that Erica I was talking to before? I told her I was gonna meet her at the "Major Frolicking Waters" stage show thing, y'know? But I'm sitting here in this friggin' dark ride. No, it's not a dark ride, it's a DORK ride. CARNE: What I am often fascinated by is the application of the term "artifical reality" when referring to rides such as this one, or places like that lodge I was telling you about. Is not all human architecture and design meant to evoke something beyond the natural world? PACER: You know man, I don't wanna get into this with ya, and I'm just about to jump off the ride and head for that exit sign over there, though I know I'll get jumped by secrurity before I make it ten feet. But your argument is wack. It's not a matter of strict black-and-white definitions, it's a matter of extent! And what the hell does a crystal, fairy, jerk-around cave have to do with my life? CARNE: Yeah. So what was up with that Erica girl? Do you know her from somewhere? PACER: Nah, she was wearing a T-shirt of this band I like, "The Associated General Contractors". So I just started talking to her. I'm starting to believe in this philosophy a lot of guys have, to like ask out every girl you meet. Maybe one of out twenty will say yes. It makes me feel like an asshole, but when am I gonna see these people again, anyway? But Erica really seemed to like me. And I tellya, I'd rather be staring at her face right now that looking at these goddamn fruity purple elves! ------------------- XAPPENSHARD ----------- Here are the 'Shards for this week! Look for the other half on the Xappenshard Craze Message Board! =XASH 4.1.2! "Vir--ia"= =XASH 4.2.2! "5/7 of that, plus 3/5 of South"= =XASH 4.3.2! "Glass -- (White Album)"= =XASH 4.4.2! "I'm a -- and I don't even know it."= =XASH 4.5!.2! "popular first letter for a State"= ------------------- INFORMATION ----------- Obliviana is at "www.obliviana.com" Send all E-mail to "obliviana@aol.com" OsoaWeek is copyright 1998 Frank Edward Nora, Lord of Obliviana. It may be copied for personal use only. No part of OsoaWeek may be published, either digitally or physically, without permission. The Obliviana Mailing List currently has 15 members. 7 other folks have established their Fonostas, but haven't managed to get on ListBot yet. They'll each get this issue, along with a plea to get on the mailing list! ------------------- END ----------- -------> ------------------- ----------- -------- -- -----