(no subject)
Jul. 6th, 2004 02:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cleolindaA few things I've been doing online:
It's open nomination time at Diarist.net (second quarter 2004), and I'm trying to decide who I'd like to nominate. (This is not a "subtle" hint for y'all to nominate me, because I don't write romantic entries, I'm not a new journal, and I don't even think of the Fifteen Minutes series as being journal entries--they're more like comedy that hijacked what was coincidentally a journal.) When I was looking through last quarter's nominations, I noticed several people being nominated multiple times, and some very well-known names, which is fine, but since the awards are given four times a year, that suggests to me that Diarist.net is trying to spread the love around. So I think that I--and you, and we--should dig up really good entries from people who don't have so many readers, but deserve them. (Again: this means "not me.")
However, if you do want to vote for me in some way, you can click here and vote for me at Diarist.net's Clix. The link will register your vote and take you to the top 10 ranking, and I've really enjoyed the journals I've started reading from the list, so go check some of those out. There you go: everybody wins.
Fanstory.com has turned out to be a lot more helpful than I thought it would be. (Despite the implication of the name, it's for original fiction and poetry.) There is a problem with rating inflation--think of school, where a lot of people consider B to be a failing grade; almost everyone's got four and five stars, even though the work is (IMO) kind of crappy at times. You can read and review for free, but you have to put down about $5 a month to have a writer's account (which I did, on a trial basis--I'm taking one for the team here so I can investigate it for![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
writer_girls). Usually, "Give us money" sets off alarms with me, but... it seems to be on the up and up as far as I can tell.
You can only put up two pieces a day, and there's a complex system of points and "member dollars" and incentives you can put on your pieces to get more people to read them and blah blah blah, but the bottom line is, your piece will stay on the front page until it gets three reviews. That's what all the incentive crap is for--to guarantee that everyone gets reviewed. That's a hell of a lot more than you can say for a site like Fiction Press. Of course, I expected the reviews to be total fluff, but I keep getting pretty tough reviews, actually--the last one I just got on Black Ribbon chapter 1 basically said, "Your first paragraph has a cliché and the bit about the ormolu console is too wordy. Other than that, it doesn't so much suck." And that's the thing--if you can get strangers to review you, it's often helpful because they're willing to say things that your friends won't. (I'm surprised that people had problems with the shortness of "Famine," actually--that's not a complaint I've ever heard before, and now I'm getting it in spades. Of course, as with all criticism, you're always free to take what is useful to you and discard the rest. The Black Ribbon criticism mentioned above? Is on the money.)
If you writers out there are interested in checking it out, I'm over here. Poke around and read some of the feedback other writers have gotten before you commit to anything.
I got on a kick of playing puzzle/adventure games online while I was on my de-stressing regimen:
Samorost: I adore this one. I only wish it were longer, or that there were a sequel.
The Quest for the Rest: An easy bite-sized game from the Samorost makers to promote some folk band.
The Dead Case: Pretty involved and interesting, although the graphics aren't as great as some of the others I've played.
Vector Park: Gorgeous, but it really isn't a game in the sense that there's an objective (well, there is with the Levers game), and I never really know if I'm done. Basically, I wish there was an actual puzzle to solve.
Found Lost: Intriguing, and great atmosphere/graphics, but... sort of a lame ending. Also presumes you're dumb enough to walk into a dark scary house on Halloween night with nothing but a flashlight.
The Crimson Room and The Viridian Room: Seriously, just go through and click everything. And then go click it again. And then go click under it. And there's at least one thing in each game that you still won't be able to find. If you get stuck, there are walkthroughs online that will help you, but I'm not linking to them. Too big a temptation--you need 'em that bad, you know where Google is. (P.S. I've heard that The Blue Chamber is not that great--very short, and not really worth ponying up about $4 for. Wait for the next full release.)
The Mystery of Time and Space: I got stuck on this one, but the guy who recommended it thinks it's the best game he's ever played, EVER, so that's got to count for something.
Grow: I love this one, but I'm not sure it's possible to beat it--or rather, what's the most you can accomplish? I don't know. Like, a fusion between this and Vector Park would be awesome. There are other games on this site, but I haven't explored them all yet. ETA: Whee! Solved!
Die Anstalt (Psychiatry for Mishandled Plushies): I cured both the stuffed animals. I was so proud. Bonus: their druggy trip-outs are hilarious. Ooo! Dolly is new!
Orisinal: Several games--I haven't played many of them yet, so there's more to explore here.
So... you can tell what kind of games I like. If you know of anything similar, let me know.
It's open nomination time at Diarist.net (second quarter 2004), and I'm trying to decide who I'd like to nominate. (This is not a "subtle" hint for y'all to nominate me, because I don't write romantic entries, I'm not a new journal, and I don't even think of the Fifteen Minutes series as being journal entries--they're more like comedy that hijacked what was coincidentally a journal.) When I was looking through last quarter's nominations, I noticed several people being nominated multiple times, and some very well-known names, which is fine, but since the awards are given four times a year, that suggests to me that Diarist.net is trying to spread the love around. So I think that I--and you, and we--should dig up really good entries from people who don't have so many readers, but deserve them. (Again: this means "not me.")
However, if you do want to vote for me in some way, you can click here and vote for me at Diarist.net's Clix. The link will register your vote and take you to the top 10 ranking, and I've really enjoyed the journals I've started reading from the list, so go check some of those out. There you go: everybody wins.
Fanstory.com has turned out to be a lot more helpful than I thought it would be. (Despite the implication of the name, it's for original fiction and poetry.) There is a problem with rating inflation--think of school, where a lot of people consider B to be a failing grade; almost everyone's got four and five stars, even though the work is (IMO) kind of crappy at times. You can read and review for free, but you have to put down about $5 a month to have a writer's account (which I did, on a trial basis--I'm taking one for the team here so I can investigate it for
writer_girls). Usually, "Give us money" sets off alarms with me, but... it seems to be on the up and up as far as I can tell. You can only put up two pieces a day, and there's a complex system of points and "member dollars" and incentives you can put on your pieces to get more people to read them and blah blah blah, but the bottom line is, your piece will stay on the front page until it gets three reviews. That's what all the incentive crap is for--to guarantee that everyone gets reviewed. That's a hell of a lot more than you can say for a site like Fiction Press. Of course, I expected the reviews to be total fluff, but I keep getting pretty tough reviews, actually--the last one I just got on Black Ribbon chapter 1 basically said, "Your first paragraph has a cliché and the bit about the ormolu console is too wordy. Other than that, it doesn't so much suck." And that's the thing--if you can get strangers to review you, it's often helpful because they're willing to say things that your friends won't. (I'm surprised that people had problems with the shortness of "Famine," actually--that's not a complaint I've ever heard before, and now I'm getting it in spades. Of course, as with all criticism, you're always free to take what is useful to you and discard the rest. The Black Ribbon criticism mentioned above? Is on the money.)
If you writers out there are interested in checking it out, I'm over here. Poke around and read some of the feedback other writers have gotten before you commit to anything.
I got on a kick of playing puzzle/adventure games online while I was on my de-stressing regimen:
Samorost: I adore this one. I only wish it were longer, or that there were a sequel.
The Quest for the Rest: An easy bite-sized game from the Samorost makers to promote some folk band.
The Dead Case: Pretty involved and interesting, although the graphics aren't as great as some of the others I've played.
Vector Park: Gorgeous, but it really isn't a game in the sense that there's an objective (well, there is with the Levers game), and I never really know if I'm done. Basically, I wish there was an actual puzzle to solve.
Found Lost: Intriguing, and great atmosphere/graphics, but... sort of a lame ending. Also presumes you're dumb enough to walk into a dark scary house on Halloween night with nothing but a flashlight.
The Crimson Room and The Viridian Room: Seriously, just go through and click everything. And then go click it again. And then go click under it. And there's at least one thing in each game that you still won't be able to find. If you get stuck, there are walkthroughs online that will help you, but I'm not linking to them. Too big a temptation--you need 'em that bad, you know where Google is. (P.S. I've heard that The Blue Chamber is not that great--very short, and not really worth ponying up about $4 for. Wait for the next full release.)
The Mystery of Time and Space: I got stuck on this one, but the guy who recommended it thinks it's the best game he's ever played, EVER, so that's got to count for something.
Grow: I love this one, but I'm not sure it's possible to beat it--or rather, what's the most you can accomplish? I don't know. Like, a fusion between this and Vector Park would be awesome. There are other games on this site, but I haven't explored them all yet. ETA: Whee! Solved!
Die Anstalt (Psychiatry for Mishandled Plushies): I cured both the stuffed animals. I was so proud. Bonus: their druggy trip-outs are hilarious. Ooo! Dolly is new!
Orisinal: Several games--I haven't played many of them yet, so there's more to explore here.
So... you can tell what kind of games I like. If you know of anything similar, let me know.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2004-07-06 01:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-06 01:14 pm (UTC)spend all my time playing neoquestdont play online games.ooh, ive done the crimson room thing tho. it was an anticlimax.
if you're really bored you can try hamlet the text adventure (http://www.robinjohnson.f9.co.uk/adventure/hamlet.html). just dont look for literary accuracy :p
no subject
Date: 2004-07-06 01:30 pm (UTC)I want the purple one!! So cute.
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Date: 2004-07-06 01:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-06 01:43 pm (UTC)Where is the place to "vote" or nominate journals? I'm retarded and can't seem to find it.
no subject
Date: 2004-07-06 01:50 pm (UTC)Also? It's all about the banners, I assure you.
no subject
Date: 2004-07-06 01:54 pm (UTC)I love Neoquest so much. Both of them.Yeah, both the Room games are a little anticlimactic. Well, the Viridian Room was really spooky, until you got to the last screen with the floating and the... yeah.
no subject
Date: 2004-07-06 01:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-06 02:05 pm (UTC)*willfully ignores all game recs*
I don't let myself play online games because I got addicted to tetris and boggle on the net and know that if I ever got into the 'real' games, I'd never leave the house. =)
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Date: 2004-07-06 02:07 pm (UTC)glad you're feeling better, miss. :)
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Date: 2004-07-06 02:11 pm (UTC)...this is why I don't play puzzle games >_<;; I get stuck and frustrated! *le sigh*
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Date: 2004-07-06 02:44 pm (UTC)I tried the Found Lost game.... got slightly irritated and quit. I'll try again later (I'll need something to occupy my time when I'm up at 3 AM)
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Date: 2004-07-06 02:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-06 02:52 pm (UTC)::laugh:: But wouldn't you? Go traipsing around a dark scary house, on Halloween with only a flashlight to accompany you?
no subject
Date: 2004-07-06 02:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-06 03:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-06 03:09 pm (UTC)even though I should be studying. Heh...have you ever played Snood?cool
Date: 2004-07-06 03:23 pm (UTC)haha one of the only internet games I have had the patience for
I have tried many of those on the list already and got tired of clicking!
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Date: 2004-07-06 04:02 pm (UTC)OMG
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Date: 2004-07-06 04:05 pm (UTC)sun, robot, ladder, hill, egg, pipe, windmill, cog, whirlwind, dish, booster, screen. and it also get's 20000 points.
i don't see any differences in the final result though.
no subject
Date: 2004-07-06 04:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-06 06:35 pm (UTC)Love the links ... the Psychiatry one is hysterical. :)
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Date: 2004-07-06 06:58 pm (UTC)Hmmm, Diarist.net nominations. Will have to think about it.
no subject
Date: 2004-07-06 07:03 pm (UTC)and now, I can't read it anymore....I have to read it!!!
pleaseeeee.....=))))
byeeeee...*Lù**KoRn**Evans
no subject
Date: 2004-07-06 08:18 pm (UTC)I'm lost in a world of Live Journal
Date: 2004-07-06 10:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-06 11:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-07 12:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-07 03:35 am (UTC)Re: I'm lost in a world of Live Journal
Date: 2004-07-07 05:31 am (UTC)The option to customize the colors and add a background is at the "Edit Customizations" button, and down at the bottom you have the links to put in your link list. Let me know if that helps, or if you run into any problems. :)
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Date: 2004-07-07 07:16 am (UTC)A question: would you mind if I archived your m15m on my site? You'd get full credit - as you WROTE it, lol.
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Date: 2004-07-07 10:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-07 10:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-07 10:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-07 10:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-07 10:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-07 11:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-07 12:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-07 12:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-07 12:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-07 12:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-07 12:32 pm (UTC)