(hypothetical) What would you ask Dave Nilsen?

[Dreadnought]

No offense intended, as I could never dream of it.

Maryland is my beloved home state as well, the only state whose flag is based on a pre-existing coat of arms (Lord Baltimore's Calvert with his mother's Crossland), and of course IS Mary's Land, named by instruction of Charles I for Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles I and Queen of England, and known initially as Terra Mariae. Mary's status as a Roman Catholic underscores Maryland's founding as a colony based on religious tolerance for Catholics. So Mary's Land strikes me as a perfectly nice alternative monicker for what we also now refer to as "The Free State."

I don't know how people manage to live anywhere else.

The only way I've survived in Kentucky for as long as I have is due to how much the countryside reminds me of my beloved Maryland hills.

The despot's heel is on my shore (but that's a whole 'nother chapter in Maryland history),

Dave

 

[TheDS]

I have survived elsewhere than Maryland simply by having driven on Maryland's highways a few times!

When I lived in Norfolk and would go to Indiana on leave, I went through MD and encountered drivers who were surpassed in idiocy only by stories I've been hearing recently of Detroit drivers. Having been through lots of traffic in Chicago and at least driven around LA, San Diego, and NYC, I would say I've had a lot of things to compare to.

Though I really love it in MS, where if you miss your exit, instead of going to the next one, or simply doing a U-ey, people will back-up up the entrance ramp (as if keeping their car pointed in a legal direction makes their direction of travel also legal). Or they will get in the right-turn lane and then make a left turn. Then again, in many places I've been, particularly in Italy, traffic signals are apparently not law, they are merely polite suggestions. My favorite would be Atlanta, where if you travel at the posted 50 MPH, you will likely impede the flow of traffic (depending on the time of day) and may get a ticket for it.

Erm, anyway, Merry Christmas!

 

[aramis]

Detroit isn't so bad, except that, in many places, to turn left, you have to
1) get to the center lane
2) do a u-turn into the center lane
3) get to the right lane
4) turn right

Oh, and reading minds helps... lots of non-signallers there. (My Dad's from the 'burbs of Detroit (Wyandotte, to be specific).

No, Detroit isn't so bad... compare to Florida, where I've seens six cars wheel in line abreast formation onto a 3 lane highway.... and seena little old lady so short she was looking forward UNDER the top of the wheel doing 120 while being chased by a slew of police cars... when caught, she was running cocaine!

Happy Christmuramayuhannukwanzica...

 

[daryen]

Dave,

Hey! I won an eBay auction for Aliens of the Rim for only $5 (plus shipping). So I will be able to read it after all.

 

[kafka47]

Dave,

All that you have written about "Into the Belly of the Beast" has me very intrigued. Have others done more archaeological / science fiction crossovers. We had a really great one written up for Halloween.

Would you want a really big paycheck if you would revisit your notes and do it for 1248? As I think that would make one hell of an adventure. Hunter, MJD? would you be willing to publish a deadtree version?

 

[daryen]

From what I have seen, "Into the Belly of the Beast" should work as well in 1248 as it would have in 1200.

I preordered Gateway. I preordered 1248. I would preorder BotB, too.

 

[Uxi]

Ah, yes, a couple more questions.

Dave,


First, who/what was Strephon's agent Pentecost? Why was contact lost with it after the Assassination?

Second,were there any ideas for future Virus strains? Those that hadn't yet been seen or catalogued in Imperial Space (or outside the Black Curtain). I have a couple I was doing myself (mostly in Hiver and Aslan space), but am curious on any ideas you might have had.

--Gary

 

[daryen]

Hiver, eh?

A "Manipulator" strain? It is kinda like a God strain, but doesn't want to rule. Just wants to screw with people to see what it can do.

Then, have multiple manipulators in one world/location competing with each other.

Ooo! Ooo!

How about a truly evil manipulator strain especially for Hivers? This one would screw with Hivers to see what type of sensory or intellectual deprivation is required for Hivers to loose their grasp on sentience.

 

[Vargas]

Originally posted by David Freakin' Nilsen:

Maryland is my beloved home state as well, the only state whose flag is based on a pre-existing coat of arms (Lord Baltimore's Calvert with his mother's Crossland)

Dave

I've always thought the state flag paint job on the Lord Baltimore-class yacht counter in Brilliant Lances was inspired (and suspected who might have had it put it there?)

I have to concur with Dave regarding Maryland (much to my wife's annoyance), I can't readily imagine living anywhere else.

 

[Hyphen]

Originally posted by Uxi:
Second,were there any ideas for future Virus strains? Those that hadn't yet been seen or catalogued in Imperial Space (or outside the Black Curtain). I have a couple I was doing myself (mostly in Hiver and Aslan space), but am curious on any ideas you might have had.

--Gary

Dunno about Viruses, but here's some Aslan anti-Virus software ideas from my tagline page:

Comments on possible uses for Aslan pseudo-personality (AI) software:
Matt Bond: "Probably uses the male personality for the anti-virus software..."
Dean Jones: "I'd say a combo of both...the female finds the virus, the male beats it up."

 

[daryen]

I finally got Aliens of the Rim!

While it will take a couple of days to go through it, I have to say I am really enjoying it so far.

Two quick observations:
- I like The Blissful Warrior.
- San*klaass is hell on bartenders.

 

[LKW]

Originally posted by Vargas:
I've always thought the state flag paint job on the Lord Baltimore-class yacht counter in Brilliant Lances was inspired (and suspected who might have had it put it there?)

I have to concur with Dave regarding Maryland (much to my wife's annoyance), I can't readily imagine living anywhere else.

I did one of the RAFM yachts with a "coat-of-arms" type paint job, just to see if I could do it. I always wondered if that inspired him.

 

[TheDS]

Originally posted by daryen:

Two quick observations:
- I like The Blissful Warrior.
- San*klaass is hell on bartenders.

This always made me a bit disconcerted to have Ithklur interacting with my character. Though entirely logical and non-violent from the point of view of the Blissful Warrior, I wouldn't want some one poking my eyes out for ANY reason, nevermind a non-enlightened statement! Had I had to meet them, I would have been sure to ALWAYS wear a helmet, though I probably would have gotten a little more paranoid and insisted on wearing at least some body protection, and keeping my distance.

No telling what other forms of playful violence they might engage in. Tearful memories of a certain dance-recital - cum - football game are still present. (Tearful both for the humor and for the paranoia that it might happen to ME.)

 

[daryen]

I have finally got the chance to delve a little more into Aliens of the Rim. A couple more observations.

- Did you intend that Ithklur would try to kill RPG players? You don't specifically state this, but it is the logical result of their attitudes on lies and acting.

- I really wish you would have done more on Federation humans. There was a small taste of it in GT:AR3, but I really would like to see what you had intended for those humans who live in Federation space and have been manipulated by the Hivers.

- The more I look at it, the more I really like the idea that the Hivers "shouldn't" be sentient. For example, the whole idea that Hivers don't do "down-time" is presented as they just don't like to and don't want to. However, it would seem that they flat out can't afford to. I just can't figure out if the danger is only on a "racial" level, or if individual Hivers could lose their sentience by prolonged inactivity.

What would happen to a Hiver forced into an isolation chamber? For a day, week, month, or year?

 

[Antony]

Or for that matter what would happen to a Hiver forced to watch episodes of Gilligans Planet over and over again.

 

[mike wightman]

Does this "Hivers must be stimulated to be sentient" not remind anyone of another GDW Alien race (one that I use IMTU, and in various fantasy based games as well...)

 

[daibaka]

That depends on whether Hivers need to be "stimulated" by shooting them with low-power gauss weapons! I'm fairly sure that wasn't the case last time I looked, but you never know - maybe the Ithklur influence is starting to rub off on them after all!

 

[aramis]

Daryen: that sounds kinda like Classic Trek's "Gamesters of Triskellion" with Virii instead of disembodied brains...

 

[Rick Baumhauer]

So, uhm, I don't want to jinx anything, but has anybody heard anything from Dave since 12/24 (the last time he posted)? It was nice having him around, and based on some things he mentioned while he was here, I guess I'm concerned that he decided he really couldn't go back to the "gaming world" and keep Real Life together as well as he would like to.

I know, he could just be really busy, but it seemed like he was popping in whenever he had a spare 5 minutes, so a 4-week absence seems significant.

Sorry in advance if I missed this topic being covered somewhere already......

Rick

 

[LKW]

Originally posted by Rick Baumhauer:
So, uhm, I don't want to jinx anything, but has anybody heard anything from Dave since 12/24 (the last time he posted)?

{deletions}
I know, he could just be really busy,
Rick

He is really busy, and has asked me to drop in and let everyone know he'll be back as soon as he finishes his current project.

He said he'd have done this himself, but he is afraid he'll be unable to resist posting whenever he get's a few minutes free.

In the meantime, continue to post questions if you have any.