Knowledge. From the oldest, most grizzled veteran of the Wastes to the most new and desperate skag, everyone who tries to make their way in this world has a keen sense of its power. In our struggle to survive, it’s easy to forget that knowledge is more than just the relatively simple secrets of how to craft new gear with the Salvage Masheens. It’s more than the mysteries of our long-forgotten past. It’s also the details of our more recent past, stories those veterans have lived through that are still unknown to the new. And it’s the details of the past and present of that wide expanse of hell beyond our ‘civilized’ borders. What do we know? What don’t we know? What do we only think we know? Hell if I know! But here’s this week’s edition of the Pulp. It’s not much at all in the scheme of things, but hey – as the legendary ancient warrior Chi Ai Djoh always said, “Knowing is half the battle.”
UPCOMING EVENTS: The last Saturday of the month approaches once again – and so does War Zone! Bring your friends! Bring your weapons! Bring your weapons down on your friends’ skulls! And try to help your team control the flag as long as possible. The team-on-team bloodshed begins at 3pm SLT at the Arena in Hambone Slash – and stampedes all over the sim thereafter. Be sure to arrive early to submit your name to the roster – or to get a good seat on the spectator’s platform!
At 5pm, DJ Aposiopesis Fullstop will once again subject all comers to a multi-hour set of music and randomness with Apo’s Audio Atrocities. This week, she’ll be playing somewhere in the hills of North Yard.
The Curse of the Crimson Throne campaign will return on Sunday at 10am. Technical difficulties have kept the players from using SL Voice for a few weeks, forcing them to use Skype instead. But hope springs eternal – those who hope to watch the adventurers take arms against crime and corruption, or who just want to see if they’ll get lost and killed in the fiendish dungeon of moving rooms, can show up at the temporary playfield near the Arena in Hambone Slash to try to follow along.
The devilish Doktor Giuseppe Spicoli was out last week on vacation, but he is set to return on Monday the 28th for another night of audio-visual awesomeness. Head to the Boat House at 6pm SLT for a set of live DJing from vinyl, mp3, and both at the same time! You heard right – it is now in Giu’s power to scratch mp3s. How does he do it? Come find out! Then, kick back on the roof of Burnt Oak Drive-In and watch an as-yet-unannounced film.
EVENTS HIGHLIGHTS:
Movie Night just wouldn’t be Movie Night without the vintage ads and previews. But the past few weeks have seen an additional bit of pre-show entertainment: episodes of the anime Detroit Metal City. As the last episode was shown two weeks ago, last week’s movie was a repeat showing of the live-action film! Viewers once again laughed and winced at the double life of Soichi Negishi – kindhearted aspiring pop balladeer by day, hulking death metal frontman and “terrorist straight out of hell” by night as his alter ego Krauser II.
The new anime tradition continued, however, as Giu showed Episode 1 of Cromartie High School. Takashi Kamiyama is just another high schooler, trying to do well, fit in, and avoid trouble. This is no easy feat in Cromartie High, where every student is a juvenile delinquent. And one of them has a prehensile purple mohawk. And one is apparently a mute Freddie Mercury. And one is a robot. And then there’s a gorilla.
Saturday’s Fight Night was full of close calls, fast falls, and malicious maps. It was a classic tournament match this week, and at the end of it all, Ccindy Pfeffer came in third and received $L250, Cigi Sahara took second place and L$500, and Dassina Andel came in first, winning L$1000 and another Fight Night Champion trophy.
ESTATE NEWS: The trade and selling of recipes is one of the most contentious issues of Wastelands gameplay. Some would say that a recipe should never be shared. Others will trade for another recipe, or for rare scrap. Still others will sell a recipe for Lindens to a well-meaning person with no means of trade – while others would sell the whole list of known recipes to anyone, for the right price. Some would even spread such a list around for free. What are the ethics of giving, sharing, trading, and selling? Is mass-selling of recipe lists just a bad business decision? A community taboo? Should it be explicitly against the rules? Is there any universally clear line that could divide the reasonable exchanges from the exploitative? And, if there were a hard and fast rule against certain types of selling, how could they best be enforced? To help figure these things out, Neo has posted a poll on recipe selling. All players are welcome to cast their vote, and to post their own ideas and share in the conversation.
The first wave of Wastelands Prefabs have been released, and can be found on many Estate-owned plots of land! These builds are made by some of the Wastelands’ finest builders, and are included with purchase of the land. Current residents can also pick them up at The Heapkeeper’s Shack, near the Wastelands Public Works Department assets. All the buildings are Mod/Copy, so feel free to mix, match, edit and add. New submissions are still welcome! Read this forum thread to learn how to submit your building for consideration.
While these buildings will help keep the land itself in theme, what’s a new avatar to do to make themselves look sufficiently scuzzy? The Wiki is here to help, with its new Thematic Content page. You’ll find lists of shops, profiles of the creators, items provided, and SLurls straight to the source. Wastelands creators are encouraged to add their shops to the list! Email Neo with the information at the bottom of the page, and he’ll set things up.
At long last, the Food Trader has returned! If excess scrap is weighing you down, he’ll gladly take some off your hands – and give you a not-quite-equal value of food in exchange. He’s got to make a profit, after all. You get three minutes to make your trade, and only one trade per day. However, rumor says that the trader is as addled as he is ugly – sometimes refusing to trade with people for days on end, or not returning items after a refused trade. Neo will, no doubt, find creative ways to change the trader’s mind about misbehaving. If the Trader cuts you a raw deal, let Neo know what happened, including chat logs or other information that might help him troubleshoot the problem. Once the Food Trader’s whipped back into shape, some of his friends might make their way here, as well….
RP NAME-DROPS: Along the old border between Malady Bog and Bloodmoss Swamp – now impassible, due to the sickening plumes of swamp gas and spores — an odd discovery has been made. Perhaps it just got dropped there a few days back. Perhaps the violent winds of the Wastes have only now blown it back onto safer turf. Or perhaps the swamp muck swallowed it for a time and only recently decide to release it. But however it turned up, and however old it may be, a weathered old journal has been found in the mud of Malady Bog – not far from one of the bog mummies. There is a name to mention for this fallen wanderer, who could have been one of us. His name was Rolf. His looks at first like the tragic tale of a traveler and refugee, like so many of us. However, a few subtle references have raised the curiosity – and the suspicion – of many veterans of the Wastes. Wasters who have the book-smarts to read this paper themselves, you might want to go have a look. Illiterate Wastelanders having this read to you, you can contact Apo to have it read aloud at no charge. A special edition opinion article with a more thorough analysis will be released in the coming days.
That vicious and all-devouring sandworm has still been wreaking havoc – and unexpected boons – on unsuspecting Wastelanders. All manner of scrap seems to be corroding away in its bilious guts, spewed forth when the creature is knocked out. Though smaller in size than many sandworms seen in the Wastes before, it’s no less tough for being a juvenile – those who’d seek to slay the creature are advised to do so on a full stomach, with medkits on hand, or to form a hunting party with allies.