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SmartMonsters' Occasional Newsletter Vol 14 No 1  XML
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Mark Phillips


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Joined: 1969.12.31 00:00:00
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Location: Watsonville, CA
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This is SmartMonsters' Occasional Newsletter
Volume 14 Number 1
November 28, 2013
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Way lotso news, here are the highlights. Please see the SmartMonsters web site for all kindsa more.

=========================== Milestones =====================

The TriadCity client applet has been digitally and expensively signed, eliminating the most alarmist of those annoying bogus security warnings. With our thanks to the Oracle Corporation for costing us the dough. Somebody wants another jet fighter... There are still bogus security warnings, but, they're not as bad, and with a single click on a checkbox you can ignore them forever. We do.

But wait, there's light at the end of that tunnel. A super-crisp HTML5 client is online for testing, replacing the now-vintage applet. Wave of the future, all that. Ironically, far less secure than the applet, but let's not quibble with waves of the future and all that. This is still super early, so it doesn't play nice on tablets or other small-screen devices. Soon! MOTD: http://www.smartmonsters.com/TriadCity/MOTD/motd.2013-10-01.jsp.

TriadCity's Facebook page is pretty lively. We post easter eggs, contests, snips from work in progress and other goodies there. Give us a Like and jump in! https://www.facebook.com/pages/TriadCity/295456477228706.

New games are coming. Watch this space!


===================== News of the Universe ====================

TriadCity characters now have customizable hair colors and styles, obtainable from finer or not so finer salons throughout the City. Soon you'll be able to contribute new ones to the game world, and be spiffed for your contributions. http://www.smartmonsters.com/TriadCity/MOTD/motd.2013-10-28.jsp.

Hundreds of automated Treasure Hunts provide new sources of game bucks and experience. This is the TriadCity version of a quest system, and it replaces the fun but for us highly labor-intensive "challenges" we used to post on the site. http://www.smartmonsters.com/TriadCity/MOTD/motd.2013-11-09.jsp.

Reward Points can be exchanged in-game for premium Items, including safes for your valuables, grow lights for your herbs, unique classes of clothing, game bucks, Practices, and emergency torches to cure temporary night blindness. Reward Points are free: you earn them as a thank-you for referring your friends or other laudable actions; and we give them away in contests via Facebook and Twitter. They can also be purchased from the web site. As this is our sole source of operating income we thank you kindly for devoting your income tax returns, inheritances, and children's cookie jar change to this noble purpose. http://www.smartmonsters.com/TriadCity/rewardPoints.jsp.

There's a good deal of work in progress enabling major new game features. These include changes to character consciousness which are more in-your-face than the usually pretty subtle subjectivities we impose today. Think Schizophrenia, halucinogenic drugs, shamanic intoxication, and good old-fashioned falling flat on your face in the street loaded, just like mother used to bake. Watch this space.


====================== News of the World =====================

First time players now begin their TriadCity experience with an online tutorial, introducing them to the basic command vocabulary and mechanics. Morphing characters from The Wizard of Oz, Snow Crash, and Aristophanes, it's very, very TriadCity. We like it! http://www.smartmonsters.com/TriadCity/MOTD/motd.2012-09-29.

A large new neighborhood called Merchant City is online. Based way super loosely on real life downtown Glasgow, our Merchant City teems with buskers, artists, supercool tattoo parlors and hair salons, movie theaters and other student-y kindsa stuff related to the University next door. This s a neighborhood with a history, undergoing gradual transformation by the current residents. In many ways, Merchant City points to the future of TriadCity as a whole as we flesh out the City. More infol: http://www.smartmonsters.com/TriadCity/MOTD/motd.2013-11-23.jsp.

Long-term auctions are online, allowing you to put interesting or rare items up for sale and collect your proceeds later. http://www.smartmonsters.com/TriadCity/MOTD/motd.2012-09-10.jsp.

Movement is free on main roads, a pretty significant change to characters' energy use. http://www.smartmonsters.com/TriadCity/MOTD/motd.2012-09-01.jsp.

All light sources are now auctionable, regardless of how inexpensive. http://www.smartmonsters.com/TriadCity/MOTD/motd.2012-08-26.jsp.

Major new neighborhoods will be online shortly. The Vampire Theme Park introduces TriadCity's unique spin on vampirism; a super-creepy Asylum can make you Mayor of Crazytown; The Arena allows player-versus-player combat; a large area based on Walter Benjamin's Arcades Project is in the works. More soon!

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TriadCity on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TriadCity.

TriadCity on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/TriadCity/295456477228706.

TriadCity Authors' Blog: http://triadcity.blogspot.com/.
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Experience is 25% higher all day Saturday PST. Health and energy regeneration is also faster. Come join us then and rack up those levels. Experience is also higher for repeat play. Check it out: http://www.smartmonsters.com/TriadCity/MOTD/archives/motd.2010-01-07.jsp.
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We'll spiff you if you refer a friend. Every time your friend(s) gain a level, you'll receive Reward Points equal to the level they've achieved. Refer lotso friends and this can seriously pile up the perks. Use your Reward Points in-game for energy or health refreshes; to buy Dinars or Practices; to buy new classes of unique Items; even to buy an emergency Torch. Details: http://www.smartmonsters.com/TriadCity/referPromo.jsp.
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We're extremely pleased that TriadCity has achieved parity between women and men players. Of around 10,000 registered players, slightly more than half are women, and, women lead in total playing time. Four of the top five players are women. We're very proud of this achievement.
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We're committed to accessibility by the visually impaired. Please see: http://www.smartmonsters.com/TriadCity/MOTD/motd.2013-01-02.jsp.
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If you're a college student with a major in Computer Science, Marketing or Design, talk to us about internships with SmartMonsters. We're happy to work with your university's internship office so that you can receive course credit in return. Please, drop a note to mark@smartmonsters.com. We're a fun bunch to work with!
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Questions? Please write to info@smartmonsters.com. Need help? Please write to support@smartmonsters.com. Complaints? Please write to bill@microsoft.com.
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We take your privacy seriously. This message was sent to you because you've indicated that you'd like to receive occasional news and other updates from SmartMonsters. If you've changed your mind about that, here's how to remove yourself from our mailing list:

1. Go to the SmartMonsters web site at http://www.smartmonsters.com. Login to your account via the login box near the upper right of the page.

2. Click the "Account" link at the right side of the main menu.

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4. Enter your password, click the "No! Go away!" radio button, and finally click the "Change" button at the bottom. You can re-subscribe anytime you like by following the same procedure.
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Thanks! See you in The City!

Gary and Mark.

This message was edited 6 times. Last update was at 2019.09.28 18:58:06


Bartle quotiet: E80, A67, S47, K7. TriadCity characters: Mark, Poobah, Occam, Abelard.
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