The Malton Observer/083108
Malton Observer: August 31st, 2008
The Malton Observer would like to thank it's sponsors:
- THE GAME - You just lost it.
| News at a Glance |
| Interview with John Cannonfodder |
| Notes From Darby Campus |
| The "Malton Uprising" |
| Whatever That Means! (Q&A) |
| Fun Corner |
News at a Glance
- Urban Dead Dying? - The game is down 10 000 players since Janurary.
- Home-made Alcohol and You - Is it worth the explosion dangers? Experts say yes.
- 50+ AP Ruins - "WTF?" says one Brainstock user.
- Breakfast Preference Poll Results - Pancakes 29%, Waffles 14%, French Toast 57%
- Saskatchewan is still flat - New study confirms.
- Is the DEM right for me? - Experts say you should consider joining the DEM is you enjoy syrup, world domination, or if your name is Saromu.
- Clash of the Titans - Unconfirmed reports state The Imperium has allied with the Malton Uprising.
Advertisement
-Dr. Wolf
Interview with John Cannonfodder
Malton Observer: Please state your name and position in the DEM.
John Cannonfodder: John Cannonfodder, Fire Chief of the Malton Fire Department.
MO: How long have you been a member of the DEM for?
JCF: 2 years and 3 months.
MO: Who is your favourite council member?
JCF: Karija used to be my mentor and Confidant, so she gets a special notice. I like just about every councillor quite a bit, though, so it's difficult to actually choose one. Bri and Rennis often drop me a line to say hi or help out, even if I haven't asked for it, so they are prolly my favourites... Plus they're women. ;) I’ve known and been through a lot with my AFC, Labine, as well as Orfui, 21Charlie and others from the good ol' Southwest. Then of course there are the wisened old codgers like Winnan, For d, FatherThompson. I've seen most of these folks around here since I started playing the game, so we're kinda like a deranged family of sorts.
MO: What is your favourite colour?
JCF: Burgundy Red.
MO: What is your favourite moment in your DEM career?
JCF: The first Big Bash was an absolute highlight: I was just out of the academy, a lieutenant stationed in North Blythville. The speed with which that horde steamrolled through the division was incredible: every time you moved out of the way, your new safehouse was under attack within hours... there was no way to cade up against that. Eventually, I hooked up with the Academy, who were holding out in Tapton. Our struggle to stay alive together and rebuild was epic.
Other great events have been the DEM New year's Eve party 2007-2008, the Block parties and the joint NW-SW effort to reclaim the NW when it was in shambles... Oh, and [Northwest Battalion Chief] McCruchy’s pub-crawl. *grins*
MO: Do you have any words of wisdom for survivors?
JCF: Join a fun group that suits you. Try out a few other paths with an alt, like a zed or Pker... You can't understand how to fight a zed if you've never actually *played* one. Don't use up too much time and energy with officer duties / admin duties / whatever, or it will burn you out. Have an open mind and stay civil towards your fellow players. Keep in mind that you're playing a game, and that it's supposed to be fun. And wear sunscreen.
MO: Do you think Kevan likes the zombies more than the survivors? His latest updates seem to favour them over us.
JCF: Nope, I think he just tries to keep the game challenging... plus it must be fun to experiment with how far you can go. We have managed to overcome so many challenges... I wonder if folks here still even remember the time when we had no encumbrance issues, buildings couldn't be even ransacked, let alone ruined or darkened... In retrospect I wonder why we weren't bored to tears, then! In addition, Kevan also beefed up our search rates when he saw the effect of the ability for zeds to block cading efforts (Giddings siege in January). Oh, that's a favourite moment too, BTW. Anyway, he does his best to keep things balanced IMO.
MO: What do you think we, the members of various DEM groups, can do to increase our numbers? A few of the groups have noticed a shortage of manpower as of late.
JCF: Difficult question. Many folks would agree that this game has gone on for quite a while now and that it has passed its prime, but I also know that people have been claiming that the game is dying since, well, for over a year now? Guess what: we're still here. Anyway, don't let yourself be confined within Brainstock, DEMON and our internal sitreps. 1-2 AP per day to talk in-game is not enough: make it 5-6 AP or more, if the situation presents itself. Even a pleasant conversation with no speeches whatsoever can make people curious about who you are... they'll find your group affiliation in your character profile.
MO: Thank you for your time, did you have anything to add in closing?
JCF: I like the idea for a newspaper like this... Kudos to you guys for putting in the effort to make it happen!
-Nero
Note from the Editor- This is the last time for a while that Nero will be writing for The Observer. Best of luck to you in real life!
Notes From Darby
First of all, I'd like to congratulate Allison Wolf on her promotion to Academy Commandant!
With Wolf's promotion comes changes to Darby's instructor crew (which is ironic, as this change occurs just after I wrote about how long the crew hadbeen together). I am now Lead Instructor, while Gordon "Gordy" Armstrong has taken my place as an Assistant Instructor. Goofy McCoy and Bank1 retain the current roles as Assistant Instructor and Field Instructor, respectively.
Not much has changed in the area since my last report. Zed activity is nearly the same as before, and little has been needed as far as reviving or healing because of the lack of activity.
However, the Academies have started a friendly competition called Operation Helping Hand, the main focus of which is to stress to the cadets the importance of recruiting, healing, and reviving low level survivors to demonstrate the "helping hand" that the DEM strives to provide. I hope that we can use this Operation to help boost cadets' effectiveness in the Academy, as well as providing needed skills for their future roles out in the field. I'll have a longer report in the future on this once this has (hopefully) taken off.
Until next time.
-Choppers McGee
The Malton Uprising
A lot of you have probably heard of the Malton Uprising by now, though Secruss' "advertising", seeing drama on Brainstock, or randomly searching "Malton Uprising" for whatever reason. Indeed, I've gotten a few messages either warning me about the Uprising or DEM members voicing concerns over it. A have a few simple words for everybody reading this right now- Don't worry so much. The average DEM member gets PKed quite often as it is, and frankly, this can't be any worse.
There may not be many people who have been around long enough to remember PK Day, June 6th 2006. I don't think I died, let alone get PKed. Certainly, there are less targets now, but DEM members always have to remember that we have allies and a dedicated reviving group. Unless these PKers feel like killing upwards of 1 000 people, it won't be that hard to get a revive and back on your feet in a day.
That said, I wish PKers luck on 09/09/08. (You couldn't have picked a significant number like 8/24 or 8/8/8?) I used to always hear about some massive PKing coalition utterly pwning a suburb, mall, et al every month or two, yet the last one in memory was the "Imperium Must Die". We need more of those things to keep the game interesting.
-Labine50
Whatever That Means!
Whatever That Means! is in need of more questions from the public! Please, don't make the Chardons scrape the bottom of the barrel.
You wouldn't like the bottom of the barrel.
Fun Corner
Based on a humorous suggestion.
-Tonay163
Due to Jayefex's vacation there will be no crossword in the Fun Corner this issue.
