WELCOME TO ATITD
If YOU play, then Sign up at: http://www.frappr.com/atitd
Simple ATITD: don't complain about space; Egypt is big enough...If you request a signature, have the decency of reading the others players petitions...
When you want dates; carry Saltpeter with you and fertilize the palms for the next player...
Make ALL Apiaries Public, don't be stingy, sooner or latter you too will benefit... Make some mines PUBLIC; you can not possibly mine them all, and the ore extracted from them contributes to the aggreagate wealth of All Egypt....
Secure all your property; DPA is Legal, player introduced and Ruthlessly enforced; (dully warned)...
Make your chests STASHABLE; to encourage random acts of kindness...If a sheep pen is public; contribute and don't be greedy by killing all the sheep or stealing the onions...If you collect SAP; injure the cactus...
Public green houses help every one and if you want grass from them; make stashable chests for us to put grass in it for you... When you leave camp,make it a habit always to return full of gathered resources.
Attempt to TUNE every brick machine you come in contact with. thank you! ____________________________________________________________________________
Check out this letter to Teppy...(which he has not responded) (re-sent today 10/29/08, lets give him time..) Update...as of today Nov 13 no answer from Teppy)
New York, October 10, 2008
To: Andrew Tepper (Pharaoh) E-Genesis Creator
From: Juan Esguerra (xerlux) E-Genesis customer
Re: Suggestions for T4
Dear Teppy; greetings from the Big Apple and congratulations on the launch of A Tale in the Desert version number 4. The following are suggestions that you may or may not consider to implement in your business. These are not necessarily all my unique suggestions, some may actually have been already proposed, or the may be echoes of former expressions of players that have at one time or another voiced their “grain of salt”. Having been a player from the beginning of the game has given me an opportunity to observe and to experience many different aspects of the reality that ATITD has to offer. It is no doubt a brilliant concept in many ways, not only as a business venture, but also as a pioneer in the realm of gaming where “violence” is not the elemental core of the game. You have openly revealed the nature of the social experiment which is a unique perspective with which to approach the virtual world given the rampant element of depravity that is being offered today to young and old. For that vision of “Killer Application” you and your team of E-Genesis deserve all the acolytes of pioneers, visionaries, and bold entrepreneurs; you ventured to voyage where no person had gone before… My hat and admiration are off to you all. There are questions that however linger on my mind which obviously only you have the answer and perhaps whether or not you choose to answer is yet to be determined. I invite you to consider them not as an attack to you personally or to the E-Genesis team, but as an opportunity to bring into the light some concerns that are genuine and intended for the betterment of the ATITD experience. Ever since T1 when I settled in Egypt and Jodpar was my mentor, I requested to you the introduction of the Spanish client with a Spanish Atitd wiki to support it, but my cry fell on deaf ears because you failed to respond, or looked the other way, or had a plausible technical excuse to dismiss my request. Now look at the lost opportunity that this continues to mean to your pocket… I’m sure you know that Spanish are the largest minority in the United States and statistics show an exponential increase of significant proportions for the foreseeable future; to ignore this market in any business venture in this country is nothing short of economic suicide. Why have the over nine million Spanish American been denied the opportunity to be your customers only because their language is not English? Meanwhile French and German markets are wide open. Are not Spanish dollars worth as much as any other dollar? You need to appoint an inquiry into the benefits afforded by the launching of the Spanish ATITD; get a team of players who have the culture and not just the language, who are knowledgeable of the idiosyncrasies of the Spanish market, who take the time to scour over Spanish blogs, magazines, TELEMUNDO and any other method of communication used by this market target audience. Brainstorm the best ways to invest in a little advertise that will yield a solid customer base, become familiar with the brand loyalty Hispanics are known to honor and for which you, making a minimal effort could end up benefiting hundred fold. The time has come to welcome the neglected Spanish community who also deserve the best this game has to offer. One side observation ever since the merging of the clients took place; and that is the occasional disregard for non English clients to ‘honoring clearly defined camp areas’. This is perhaps a player to player issue, but the root of it comes from the notion that since I pay, I can build where ever I ___ feel like it… This was not the overall experience prior to the merger. These may be isolated events which nevertheless detract from the harmony of the game. There are some aspects that continue to be very attractive in the game like the Speed of the Serpent and Clear Cutting which clearly represent the nature of human choices and the consequences associated with them they are clever features of ATITD. One feature which has run its course is the DP test which I would gladly see it go; what have we learned from this test? You may chuckle at my current petition… Eliminate the Demi-Pharaoh Test The Time has come to Eliminate the stagnant DP test Time for Teppy to get creative and introduce a real test.... Enough of the social experiment assumption of let's mess with them and see how they react.... By now, we the citizens of Egypt, having endured T1, T2, and T3 have learned all we need to know about DP and the supposed Leadership associated with it. DP has become an exchange of lenghty in-game resume, and I'm better than thou, but let me kiss every one's feet just in case, and remember what I did for so and so... DP has no real power other than banning a player...big deal ( That's what we have GM's for Duh! ) If you behave in a manner worth getting kicked out... welcome the end-result...see'ya... DP's can not bypass the Law making process, can not change the game for the better, Their contributions to the game are no different than any other player, and some of the players who have shown real leadership abilities are not even interested in running... So let's get cracking and sign, copy and distribute this to force Teppy to earn his dough and come up with a real test of leadership. Thank you Remember that a land is defined by its leaders, and leadership is dynamic But in all seriousness has Egypt been properly served by DP’s? I think not. If I missed the point, please do illustrate it for me. Solo players had of course no chance of passing this one. Here I propose the creation of a tab that would be like a system tab, but would only report players who have been found to be grieving other players. The tab would announce the infraction, the player name and the steps needed to redeem him/her self. And upon completion of the redemption task, the tab would announce the re-instatement of the player. It may read like this… After a fact finding investigation it has been found that such and such player is guilty of braking such and such law. This player is hereby given such and such time to redeem this action. Then it would declare the player free from any burden and welcome back to Egypt as a redeemed citizen. Analyzing the different types of players in ATITD, we can come up with the different styles of approach to playing the game; on the one hand I see the extroverted social team player who salivates at the notion of doing something in group; for whom we have to reinvent the client to allow for the million tabs that invade the playing area. They are the Egyptians at heart on whose shoulders most of the every day gaming experience is carried out. Then I see the soloist who is engaged in doing his/her own thing and who ventures occasionally to interact with the rest of society in order to brake the monotony or to be able to trade or complete a task or a test; they certainly provide the back drop of the intricate tapestry that is Egypt. And lastly I see the perennial Atitd player who has been loyal from the get go… who is addicted to the virtual world of Egypt and captivated with the development of the social experiment and who is able to appreciate all the aspects of the game and has a certain yearning for the nostalgic way that things used to be, back in T1. Precisely because of the diversity of the audience this game is able to attract; provisions should be made to allow for the differences to benefit at each individual level. Here I would like to introduce the following idea: Imagine that it would be possible to have say, 3 different servers to handle 3 different levels of ATITD. The server distribution would correspond to the different abilities and levels of difficulty. LvL one would be like T1, buildings would be in the open land, and all the beauty of Atitd could be built from the ground up. This would allow for players who start the game at a basic level and who have the capability and potential to reach if so desired a predetermined level. Potentially this level is able to cater to individuals who do not particularly care for mayor competition and who are happy to spend their 15 dollars a month by being able to log in any time they want and make a million bricks if they feel like it is a therapeutic activity. Tests and levels would be there for them to sign up and complete, but there would not be any pressure to have to finish them, if by the same token, they feel that one day they get up and have a revelation and they become interested in advancing, then the path way is already there for them and by engaging in the development and passing of the prescribed test, they could “graduate to the next level”. Here you may find that people may want to build huge obelisks or pyramids or beautiful detailed sculptures for display. They would be happy just being there and enjoying the game at their level. Once a player has reached a certain level from server one, they become eligible to proceed to level 2 or server 2. Here we could introduce building compounds and the flavor of Atitd would be like T2 and T3 combined. Here the leveling system and the test system would challenge the customers to be social and to interact to complete projects and the rewards for accomplishment would be comparative to the efforts invested in completing them. Level 2 would be the middle of the road difficulty for Atitd, hard enough to keep you engaged and easy enough to maintain the captivating allure that the game offers. Players who become oracles or masters or a predetermined level are then eligible to proceed to level 3. Server 3 would be the most difficult Atitd experience, the best of the best would combine here to offer the customer the most unforgettable experience. Buildings, tests, leveling and any activity would be presented as being the epitome of Egyptian culture and civilization, the login experience would be comparative to other online games that currently flood the market. The dedication and the engagement of player of this caliber are a result of having achieved the domination of level 1 and level 2 combined. Recognition to the players and the virtual experience would reflect the most dynamic Atitd to date. Players would be truly the architects of the elite civilization, player input and story development would allow for Egypt to be a true showcase of human ingenuity and marvel. Massive collective projects, ability to modify the landscape and the ability to bring cities together in celebrations, in-game events, and mind-blowing developments. Server 3 would be Atitd in steroids… Each and every player would have a clear understanding of their potential and the path they could engage in taking. They would be happy, and if they decide to log in the other servers, they could enjoy the virtual experience at the appropriate level. If today I feel tired of level 3; I could log in at level 2 and kick back a bit, and if I am bored with level 1, I could go to level 3. Leveling system in this way could minimize the feeling that some players have that they are engaged in a game where they feel powerless or at least unable to participate in what they consider elitist behavior, who are frustrated by what they perceive to be a collective effort to separate the have from the have none…those who harbor the conspiracy theory that this game has become nothing more than a ranting among the players outside the “Circle” who are not Teppy’s Pet or GM’s and the average Joe plumber who sees himself as never being able to reach the level of expertise or development enjoyed by the elite few. The class distinction has created a dissatisfied customer who is jailed in a game unable to brake free of the hyperbolae surrounding the daily saga. Server levels would free Joe to play at any level. The level system would by design, demand a change in the way Atitd is handled as a business. The immediate result would call for the purchase of new equipment to be able to handle the magnitude of the project. A grid of multiple computers would be recommended to share computing power and to have raid, redundancy and back up architecture. Physical servers could be placed in NY, Pittsburgh, and LA. Or other cities as determined in the study. This would also demand a true commitment to the development of the game. Not a band aid approach, but a systematic recruitment of talent, a visionary, a challenging and bold team of programmers who contribute to the game in many levels. Here I like to introduce the next idea. Imagine if Atitd would have a web page or a drop down arrow in the client, which would allow programmers to log in to the “Programming ATITD” tool. Potential programmers would be given directions to log in to a controlled web page. The idea here is for programmers to come up with small finished products which would be submitted to Teppy and the ATITD programming team for approval. Lets say for the sake of argument that we lack the proper display of an object in the game, lets say “a perfect palm frond” currently all we can display is a bag… well there are people out there who have the time, the resources, the talent and initiative to come up with a beautiful rendition of what a “perfect palm frond” would look alike in the Atitd virtual world. The web page would list the names of the objects that do not have proper rendition at this time. And the current programmers who are engaged in bringing the object(s) to completion. The entry would look something like this: Object Working programmer Expected completion Status Palm Frond xerlux 01-13-2009 Finished, pending approval This would call for the creation of a SECURED place where the programmers would interact with the programming environment and tools to produce the selected objects. The result of their work would be able to be downloaded to a designated ATITD server which would be stripped of any other application and which would be secured and could present no risk to the actual game. Once the people complete and submit the finished work, evaluation of the work would ensure that the object meets the requirements of Teppy and the team. Proper recognition to the programmer would be given, including the understanding that the people relinquish any and all rights to the object. The benefits of this avenue of open programming would resemble the current linux model. The burden of programming would be shared to an extent, and this would free Teppy to be creative in other areas and still be in control of what ultimately becomes part of the vision of the game. Along the lines of this idea comes my next idea. Suppose you are an avid Atitd player who likes to play the game, but have to commute say in the subway, and you are not amused by the use of your phone to play Tetris, but at the same time you would like to be home playing the game, but since you have no internet in the subway and no laptop, this would be impossible… Now imagine that you have a portable small Nintendo game. If you could buy a cartridge that has a portable ATITD version of the game, you would be able to happily enjoy your commute and at the same time play Atitd. I know this may sound at first glance as a tough undertaking, but consider this with an open mind. The Nintendo version of Atitd could be programmed in such a way as to allow for the player to download certain things to his/her computer and to be able to use those items in the game. The interaction of the player; lets say the “making of bricks” in the hand held game would be data stored on an EPROM inside the cartridge; this data would be kept alive by the internal battery, the action of downloading the data to the computer would DELETE the data allocation hence once the avatar gets credit for the “bricks” the data storage would be ready for new data. The customer would go to the computer where the ATITD client is installed and an application (Which could be downloaded from www.atitd.com) would facilitate the transfer of the data in the cartridge to a designated file or folder. (Using a USB cable) I imagine that a modified version of Babel script would have to be programmed into the game chips to allow for the interaction with the client. After the downloading application finishes transferring the data, the game client can be opened and the transfer of the NINTENDO generated data would upload to the game server. The player’s avatar would probably have a special chest like the one used for the beetles, which would be the designated Nintendo data objects. The player could then open the chest and find the “bricks” he made during his commute trip in the subway. (Which could help him pass an architect test). How is that for an offline chores?… The E-Genesis/Nintendo partnership could turn out to be a very profitable one because the market for these games would expose more people to try the online game and expand the customer base considerable. This next idea came from my daughter Jocelyn Diva, who gave me this idea: why not have avatars in Atitd, be able to reproduce after marriage? This means that the baby would be a small avatar that would have to go through the different stages of life like infancy, toddler and so on, specific activities would be required by the parents to be done in order to achieve the next level things like cleaning the baby diaper and feeding the child. The avatar, like a giggle or a movement would acknowledge a response a smile or a cry. Other objects would have to be made in the game like a cradle for sleeping, the diapers would be made using wool or canvas, a baby carryon could be made using twine or other appropriate materials. The option to start the game as an adult, a teenager or a baby would make it very interesting since the experience of the game would be unique and the abilities and level of progression would be very engaging. How about having bonfires again? From day one… and also what if we could burn other things in the bonfire/fire pits like: Thorns, or dung or clinker or straw… This would alleviate some of the contents of many chests full of resources that seldom get the chance to be used. Sell us corner stones for $5.00 each… 3 corner stones per avatar is murder. Compounds are in high demand and even at that price I would get some… A side question. How come I can only make the walls of ONLY one compound come down, can we make several walls come down? Case and point; Zomboe has a marvelous complex by Karnak CS, but when I lower one, the other one remains and its impossible to see the land unless both would be down. Come and see what I mean and tell me if having more than one compound down would solve this dilemma. Can we have camels? Let's invent an Egyptian version of the abacus game to play in Atitd, or a modified chess game. How about a version of “Rock, paper, scissors” only using “flint, papyrus, slate” the players would “wager” some resource and the winner would get to keep the resource. Say I wager 20 straw and you wager 30 dirt, we roll and who ever is the winner acquires the items in his/her inventory. We currently have sheep in sculptures; can we have beetles in sculptures? Ok here is another idea involving sculptures: Currently sculptures are a fixed area and a determined number of items (24) scheme. I propose that sculpture experience is ready for a total revamping of the technology. Imagine that the artist has at his/her disposal the ability to determine the SIZE of the sculpture base before the creation of the artwork… an also imagine that those of us who are not particulate inclined for the art admit that the artwork is not worth littering the landscape… well here is a great solution: I would set up a timer on the sculpture at the time of creation to allow for the sculpture to be part of the automatic sweeper, and disappear. The timer could be tied to a certain amount of votes on the piece (21 or as many needed to pass) , or a certain RL days. This would help maintain the number of sculptures that reasonable artist produce. Now lets say that in the voting there is an option to “keep this sculpture as a true representation of a master piece”, the voting would cancel out the suicide order placed by the artist because in the eyes of the people of Egypt this particular sculpture deserves to be preserved. Now for the size, I propose that the size be allowed to be extended in an exponential way and also the amount of objects to be placed on them to be increased. A reasonable expense in materials could be made to justify the additional objects and size. This would help in keeping track of real votes on sculptures since many of them have several bases and the average Joe only clicks on one and not always gets to be recorded on the original base. Also since the base would be wider, as a penalty or a benefit, the area around the base could be made off limits to have other buildings around it like the universities, this would ensure that at a certain radius, no one could build anything and hence the art work could be enjoyed in its glory. Also it would allow for less objects to crowd up a location, reducing the crowd factor. The bases would look like this: (imagine the face of the Rubik’s cube) And the do not build around this building radius could increase as the bases increase. The number of objects to be allowed in each base would increase as the base increases. We could also toy with the idea of making a dedicated server just for sculptures or place them in a place similar to the conflict arenas, or welcoming islands only we could call them artistic islands and we could entice people to visit them by tying the vote to some small reward. New idea, allow the players to radically modify the landscape by permitting the creation of projects to make roads and to plant trees that would grow, stay and produce fruits. This could be tied in to factors like the introduction of climate change, temperature change associated with landscape. Take for instance a dry desert land, and let’s say a dedicated player wants to start growing palms to make an oasis in the middle of nowhere. The player would have to go to the nearest water source and carry hundreds of water jugs and place them in a construction site where the oasis has been designated to be able to be built, (dowsing could reveal the location of designated oasis ready areas) and after the water, and many other materials are placed in the site, the site would slowly be transformed to a luscious place and the temperature in and around the oasis would be more comfortable. This would perhaps introduce avatar modifications like the idea of being hungry or thirsty and perhaps aging which up to now we have not had yet. Can we have latex plants in Atitd, please? We could have the scientist research them and be able to produce latex as a product and then we could allow for the creation of the rubber technology in Egypt to flourish, we could make a lot of objects using latex and maybe even evolve to the vulcanization of latex using sulfur from sulfur water and some of the motorized buildings could use bands made of rubber which could snap after some use. Rubber and linen could produce tarp material for making tents, and we could make slings to get birds, or many other ideas could expand this new technology. Sandbags could be made using canvas and sand and then sandbags could be part of the creation of certain buildings or as a foundation for the creation of roads. Sandbag strength could be linked to the materials used in the making of them. For instance if a sandbag were made using straw, it would be week. But a sandbag made using silk may be stronger, and canvas even stronger, and a rubberized canvas or linen would be top of the line. Cotton plants, which would produce many cotton fibers and hence the whole textile industry to introduce the creation of tapestry using colors paints, or pigments to dye the fibers, a whole interface in the game would allow for the weaving of the rugs. Can we produce cheese from the milk of animals and how about some cows? We could have a sort of aging process tied in with a flavoring scheme to help in the cooking and to complement the wine tasting skills. Having T-shirts and CD’s of ATITD is great, now can we please be allowed to have Mouse pads and key chains from Atitd? How about a whole line of merchandize (made in USA) or an online catalog that would allow us to download any print-screen and you guys would produce the shirt using a heat transfer sticker with great colors for a reasonable price to show off our pride in ATITD and to evoke the envy of passer byes… the caption visit www.atitd.com would let people know where to get them and perhaps introduce them to the game. Speaking of Print-Screen, how about the introduction of a folder in the Atitd folder to save all the print-screens made during the game, this would be very convenient and would eliminate the occasional “Fatal Errors” produced sometimes when the client is minimized, because we want to open ms paint to paste the image before saving it. Introduce a simple time burning feature of stone skipping in the Nile… with a simple emote associated with it and the obvious splashes in the water. Give us something like the waited voting meter to determine the strength of the throw and allow the stone to skip several times… We need Teppy to research, find and hire a good Egyptologist to research many aspects of the game and to generate marvelous ideas and to enhance the flavor of ATITD. He/she could give ideas as to the rendition of certain buildings, the introduction of projects related to RL Egypt and make the game a bit more mysterious and have that eternal allure that surround Egypt in general. New idea, introduce in T4 the concept of time capsules. By having the players in T3 produce the monuments using materials, allow for the development of a story within a story… use something like the catastrophic flood or the overflowing of a river and the natural burring of the materials, then allow for the players to collectively dig at certain sites, to look for these materials, and if found the materials could be dug up and used, but to spice things up a bit introduce some negative variable in the finding of the dig, like a temporary paralysis or a lung disease to attenuate the greed to get the goods maybe using a random event counter to make it unpredictable to maintain the element of risk. Question…why is it that we can not Claim or tear certain buildings? This is actually illegal… since there is no law on the books that actually protects them like obelisk and other buildings. If we can not claim then, we should not even have the ability to inquire of the server to check for DPA status. No one has forward any law permitting this and its false advertisement to give the players the false sense of hope when the DPA interface appears following a DPA check. DPA is good it should be allowed even in trial accounts because it is a positive experience, it allows for the cannibalization of resources and the effortless acquisition of materials to enhance one’s inventory. It is also good for the server since the server does not have to render an object that has practically been abandoned by its creator, further more it is a wonderful expression of a green Egypt since allows for the recycling of materials. And it ensures that the aggregate wealth of Egypt is maintained by active players who really deserve these goodies by virtue of the fact that they are faithfully playing day in and day out, as opposed to coming in, building and leaving unattended buildings all over the place. DPA could be modified to include an option of making the building public without destroying or obtaining ownership, this way all of Egypt could benefit from it. Or we could have a self destroy timer, but this way no one will benefit from the materials and the fact that some human had to spend time and effort to collect these materials before us, it would be a waste. We need to have all the menus in the entire game to follow a simple mathematical order, let’s say the alphabet… why is it that when ever I open any menu I have to look like 3 times to find stuff? We need to follow a,b,c,d,e,f,… this way all menus can become predictable, organized, easy to follow and not a pain to use, forcing us to have to memorize locations of items in a menu, we need to be freed from this burden and to know that a standard will be followed which we all can agree on, to enhance our playing experience. For T4 we need to have EVERY single object in the game, to be able to be displayed properly… not this band aid solution of making things look like bags. Let’s make this an obtainable goal. Here is perhaps a very radical new idea. I want you to consider this idea as you would consider sitting down to talk to Buddha or some other transcendental philosopher. The idea is this. Suppose you are a player who is very interested in becoming an oracle or a true leader of Egypt, and suppose also that you have a very generous heart and appreciate all the goods that the game has to offer, and in addition suppose that we lower life forms look up to you for leadership like people looked up to Gandhi, then finally suppose that we introduce this reality in ATITD. The higher the levels achieved by the players, the less worldly possessions they are allowed to have. Let’s say you are a nooby, just started the game, then you basically have no restrictions as to what you can possess, but lets say you get to a higher level, in order to maintain that level you would have to be subject to a reduction of possessions. The idea here is that for a leader to lead; there has to be a certain element of unselfishness that can only be relevant by the reflection of a detachment of worldly possessions. This would constitute a true test of leadership because the leader would engage in the participation of making possible that those under him/her strive to achieve a higher level and his possessions being limited would ensure that those leaders do not become drunk with the temptation to acquire numerous amounts of materials in what looks like massive compounds that only serve to showcase the great divide of the leaders and the rest of the people. Now this being such a delicate issue needs to be thought out really well, because we need to be conscious of the fact that certain items are obviously very hard to come by and to simply relinquish them would be hard, but we can come to an understanding of what constitutes a reasonable amount and what items are allowed to be retained at what levels. Let’s say just for the arguments sake that a leader is collecting marble and has in the inventory a total of 250… if the player attempts to acquire more, the interface would remind the player that in order to continue to be faithful to the role or leadership, a sacrifice must be made in the form of relinquishing worldly possessions and would not allow for the item to be obtained, now let’s say we create a margin of buffer where the leader could obtain a certain number of things, but would put himself at risk of loosing his/her leadership status, this is to allow for the occasional need to carry or help transport or build or whatever. If the player relinquishes the leadership for the possession of goods, then some kind of provision must be made to account for this. Also if the person has a change of heart a menu could verify the new choice and then the inventory be cut down to adequate levels following the choice to continue to participate in the leadership role. The use of color in the chat tabs is a great idea, I propose that in the system tab, we use seven distinct colors each color to represent each of the disciplines… so that when a group of players are being recognized for some achievement, the colors of the letters lets us know what disciplines are being recognized, also this would free the black color to be used for technical or Teppy related messages from the GM’s. Or if you like make a tab only for recognition and leave the system tab only for technical messages. Speaking of color; can we have a feature in the building of aqueducts which allow the aqueduct to acquire a specific color at the time of the creation of the building in relation to the specific attribute which is designated to enhance. This way one could tell at a glance what attribute the tower will enhance. We could use a lot more navigation point… was it seven we had in T1? Any how we need more for sure, Egypt is too vast to be trekking it on foot. Also in the list of we need, is a longer friend’s list. We had like 250 entries in T1 but now we are limited to only 50, how do you expect us to socialize with such a tinny list? This is like giving my teenage daughter a phone that can only call 3 people. The fact that it is alphabetized is a plus, but we need it long to allow for greater interaction, also if it gets longer than the interface, install a scrolling bar, and while you are at it, make it so that we could write a small note regarding the friend, this way we can remember details which are important associated with the person. Let’s say xerlux trades glass rods, but his info does not reflect it, I would have the ability to write a small note when I click on my friend xerlux which would remind me of this important fact “trades glass rods” this way when I open up a chat I am prepared to engage in the productive conversation that would yield a beneficial trade right up the bat. New idea coming up: Introduce the messaging system to be used in every voting booth, this way I can send a note and any object trough the message system and the receiving avatar would get the goodies when he/she approaches a voting booth to claim it. Ok Teppy I’m not out of ideas, I simply want to give you a chance to evaluate these for now. Please let me know if this message got to you, I would appreciate it. Thank you for your time, and lots of success in T4. I am available and open to continue any discussion or expansion of ideas at your convenience. Juan D. Esguerra (Xerlux) Xerlux@yahoo.com