MERCEDES-LACKEY Digest 2230 Topics covered in this issue include: 1) Re: fav characters... by Amy Trujillo 2) Re: Bad Judgment call/annoying things the characters did by Rochelle White 3) Re: Role Playing Games... by J80Kath-+AT+-aol.com 4) ML: Yearbook by gryphona-+AT+-webtv.net (Liz Martinez) 5) ML: Yearbook by Julia Gray 6) Re: fav characters... by Amy Trujillo 7) Re: Role Playing Games... by Kenneth Allen Hyde 8) "Darian"? by Erin Lewy 9) Re: ML: Yearbook by Erin Lewy 10) Filtering in Pine by Erin Lewy 11) ADMIN: Yahoo mail seems to be having problems right now by Melanie Dymond Harper 12) RE: "Darian"? by Lisa Whitman 13) RE: MIST: Re: Role Playing Games... by "Jenny" 14) RE: "Darian"? by "Jenny" 15) Re: Filtering in Pine by ShadowDreamer 16) RE: "Darian"? by Erin Lewy 17) Re: MIST: Re: Role Playing Games... by "Margaret I. Carr" 18) RE: "Darian"? by "Jenny" 19) I must leave ..... by SachiAiko-+AT+-aol.com 20) Re: "Darian"? by "Watchful Eyez" 21) RE: "Darian"? by Erin Lewy 22) Re: the copyright issue by troll-+AT+-netcomuk.co.uk 23) RE: "Darian"? by "David H. Tiffany" 24) Re: Role Playing Games... by J80Kath-+AT+-aol.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 01 Mar 2000 22:35:01 -0600 From: Amy Trujillo To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: fav characters... Message-ID: <38BDEF75.8BA48633-+AT+-southwind.net> Ok my take on fav characters Fav Male: Vanyel no contest, introduced me to Misty have to love him Fav Female: Tarma and Kero in a tie Fav Male non human: Skandranon Fav Female non human: Hydona and Zhaneel Fav Supporting Male: Alberich Fav Supporting Female: Silver Veil...I STILL want to know more about her Least Fav Male: young Darien, once he grew up he was much better Least Fav Female: Talia, just too quiet Fav Villain: Ma'ar in all his incarnations Least Fave Villian: Hulda she made my skin crawl Most Angst Ridden: An'desha before he got his confidence Best Fighter: Again Tarma and Kero tie Best Magic User: Urtho Most Intelligent: Gesten or Savil Most Beautiful: Vanyel Fav Creature: Griffons of course all of them too hard to pick just one Least Fav Creature: Makaar Class Clown: Aubri or Skiff ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 1 Mar 2000 20:20:35 -0800 (PST) From: Rochelle White To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: Bad Judgment call/annoying things the characters did Message-ID: <20000302042035.16716.qmail-+AT+-web904.mail.yahoo.com> Heyla Listsibs, I totally agree Talia made a bad judgement call by not telling Kris that her gift was out of control, that was plain stupidity on her part. ===== wind to thy wings, Trainee-Herald Elle. Lady of stress headaches, any thing romantic and poet extrodinaire __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 2 Mar 2000 02:02:57 EST From: J80Kath-+AT+-aol.com To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: Role Playing Games... Message-ID: I've been reading a lot about Misty not allowing role plaing in her world, but I haven't heard any reasons why, other that "she doesn't want any misinterpretations." What does that mean, exactly. Does anyone know a more solid reason why she does not like it. I know it is her creation and she has a right to keep it the way she wants it, but ... I don't know .. she has just created such a COOL world and it seems a shame not to be able to play in it. If anyone knows the reason please let me know. E-mail me privately if you feel it is not really list related. Thanks Jennie ( delurking out of curiousity...what is it they say about a cat ....) ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 2 Mar 2000 08:11:22 -0600 (CST) From: gryphona-+AT+-webtv.net (Liz Martinez) To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: ML: Yearbook Message-ID: <15439-38BE768A-4279-+AT+-storefull-251.iap.bryant.webtv.net> * Fluff * Wanders into the room and waves a cheery hello to everyone! * end fluff * Ok, just thought i'd toss my two cents into the discussion ! Fav Female chara: Tarma Fav Male Chara: Dirk Fav Creature: Altra ( sp? ) Best Magic user: Darian Class clown: Vree Most angst ridden chara: Vanyel , with a close runner up being Dirk before he got his head on straight about Talia Least liked chara: Lord Orthallen, Ancar & Hulda ( traitor & sadists! ) Fav book: Arrows Fall cherry cheesecake flavored sheep to all :) Zha 'hai 'allav 'a Liz "A neat and ordinary living space is the sign of a dangerously sick mind." - Mercedes Lackey ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 02 Mar 2000 09:14:13 -0600 From: Julia Gray To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: ML: Yearbook Message-ID: <38BE8545.D253D3AE-+AT+-oakton.edu> Okay, if this is really a yearbook type thing, and not the misties: Most likely to invent a new hairdo: Hulda Cutest couple: stephen and vanyel most likely to finish school: um, Karal's girlfriend Person you'd most want on your side in a dark alley: either Skif or Diane Tregard or Kero Favorite Peacekeeper/Most likely to be in the Peace Corps: Talia I'm trying to think of other silly categories I've seen in yearbooks... betha'lis ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 02 Mar 2000 10:27:37 -0600 From: Amy Trujillo To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: fav characters... Message-ID: <38BE9679.1810FEAC-+AT+-southwind.net> Heyla listsibs, First off sorry if this goes through twice I think my server has an attack of stupidity last night. Oh and I was looking at firebirdarts.com at the auctions and they now show what the cover for Brighlty Burning is going to be like, it looks pretty good. > Ok my take on fav characters > > Fav Male: Vanyel no contest, introduced me to Misty have to love him > Fav Female: Tarma and Kero in a tie > Fav Male non human: Skandranon > Fav Female non human: Hydona and Zhaneel > Fav Supporting Male: Alberich > Fav Supporting Female: Silver Veil...I STILL want to know more about her > Least Fav Male: young Darien, once he grew up he was much better > Least Fav Female: Talia, just too quiet > Fav Villain: Ma'ar in all his incarnations > Least Fave Villian: Hulda she made my skin crawl > Most Angst Ridden: An'desha before he got his confidence > Best Fighter: Again Tarma and Kero tie > Best Magic User: Urtho > Most Intelligent: Gesten or Savil > Most Beautiful: Vanyel > Fav Creature: Griffons of course all of them too hard to pick just one > Least Fav Creature: Makaar > Class Clown: Aubri or Skiff Amy Ferret Friend Lady of All Things Missing, Especially Socks ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 2 Mar 2000 11:47:03 -0500 (EST) From: Kenneth Allen Hyde To: Misty Lackey List Subject: Re: Role Playing Games... Message-ID: On Thu, 2 Mar 2000 J80Kath-+AT+-aol.com wrote: > I've been reading a lot about Misty not allowing role plaing in her world, > but I haven't heard any reasons why, other that "she doesn't want any > misinterpretations." What does that mean, exactly. Does anyone know a more > solid reason why she does not like it. There are several excellent reasons: 1) The Velgarth world is her personal creation (which she is fortunately willing to share with us), and she may be naturally unwilling to have other people changing and "ruining" her creation. 2) Allowing RPG's to be developed by others reduces her potential market, should she ever decide to do so. 3) Allowing RPG's to be developed without her direct licence compromises her ability to continue developing Velgarth because it can open her up to lawsuits by disgruntled fans who want to accuse her of "stealing" their ideas. (Don't laugh! This actually happened to MZB, one of Misty's mentors.) 4) Developing RPG's based on Velgarth is illegal according to the US Civil Code, and the laws of all the countries which are signatory to the Bern(sp?) Convention. And the way the courts work, if she gives tacit permission to use her copyrighted work to create derivative works, she weakens her ability to defend her copyrights. Of course, in the final analysis, the most important reason is simply that she has said she doesn't want people doing it. And if we have any respect for her, or common courtesy, we will abide by her wishes. =) May the seas be your solace and the forests a refuge for your spirit, Cennydd Councilor of Mist Kenneth Allen Hyde | No matter how subtle the wizard, a knife Univ. of Delaware | between the shoulder blades will seriously Dept. of Linguistics | cramp his style -- Old Jhereg proverb kenny-+AT+-Udel.Edu | A mind is a terrible toy to waste! -- Me //www.ling.udel.edu/hyde/prof/ken.html ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 2 Mar 2000 12:00:45 -0500 (EST) From: Erin Lewy To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: "Darian"? Message-ID: > Best Magic user: Darian Alrighty--I always WONDERED if these "Darian" books were actually part of Valdemar (or whatever the new name is...what exactly is the new name for--a new way of discussing the entire world INCLUDING Valdemar? (i.e. Karse and Hardorn)? I'm sorry for my stupidity but you're talking to a Vanyel=addict who can't get out of the LHM trilogy to save her life. (oh and WOO Talia. I love her. So okay, not only LHM.) So...what is the deal with this Darian trilogy I seem to have encountered? It didn't really ring true as a V. book to me for some reason. I think because when I saw it in a bookstore it was beside Sword of Ice... and only ONE book.. does he have a trilogy? And it was something like, "Darian runs away from REALLY BAD PARENTS" and I was like... "ah, teen angst," and decided not to go for it. (No offense. When you're a teen, and a used-to-be poet, you start noticing a lot of angst and knowing when to deal with it and when to laugh at it.) Then I think I noticed it again on Amazon... but it didn't strike me--again. I think I am really pissed at ML for dropping her good characters (god dammit, Talia is not DEAD YET.) in favor of new little teenagers... . o ( Well, Erin, maybe that's why her books are predominately read at a young age... ) Okay, true. I dunno, can someone enlighten me on this? Erin ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 2 Mar 2000 12:08:27 -0500 (EST) From: Erin Lewy To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: ML: Yearbook Message-ID: > I'm trying to think of other silly categories I've seen in yearbooks... Most likely to succeed: Um. I suppose this sorta can't work because they usually die ;) but... I'd say Stefan or Talia. They were determined, dammit. Least likely to succeed: (ouch) Hrm... hard one. I don't see any of what Kethry does as success. So, she can go here. (No offense). Weirdest: Firesong. I just didn't get him. At all. Runner up: Karal. Biggest Geek: Any and every one of those stupid academy people or whatever they are... That was the primary reason I couldn't slog through the Mage Storms... I just don't CARE about your happy little school, okay? ;) Most Popular: Vanyel? ;) Erin ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 2 Mar 2000 13:23:36 -0500 (EST) From: Erin Lewy To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Filtering in Pine Message-ID: Just wanted to let you guys know I figured out how to do it! Woohoo. :) Well, I know how to put all my ML-mail en-mass into a specific folder after I've gotten it, without hassle (as opposed to it automatically being downloaded into a different folder from my Inbox): You use Select ( ; ) amd whem it asks what criteria (even though it doesn't have an option for "reply-to" or "x-comment") you press A for all. This will search the entire message for whatever you put in next, so I just put in mercedes-lackey. :) It then proceeds to select all msgs which match that criteria, and then you do APPLY, then SAVE, then type the name of your Mercedes-Lackey-mail folder (mine is ML). So it works... Pine could still be better about this but hey... :) Erin (who hasn't heard from her sis about the books yet... *grumble* were I her I'd be on book 3 by now... ;) ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 2 Mar 2000 18:27:52 GMT From: Melanie Dymond Harper To: mercedes-lackey Subject: ADMIN: Yahoo mail seems to be having problems right now Message-ID: <200003021827.SAA11680-+AT+-vanyel.herald.co.uk> Hi folks, I currently see over 700 mail messages waiting in my mail queue for people with accounts at yahoo.com, dating back to before midnight (GMT) last night. Something seems to be wrong at their end, the connection to their mail servers is just timing out. Anyone who's wondering where their list mail is, well, there you are... Mel ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 2 Mar 2000 11:07:19 -0800 From: Lisa Whitman To: "'mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk'" Subject: RE: "Darian"? Message-ID: The Owl books are very much a part of Valdemar. They are not, however, based on the Heralds, like most of the others are. These books focus mostly on a boy from a small town with mage talent who has "very bad things(tm)" happen to him. It does a lot with the Tayledras. Anyway...the "teen angst" doesn't last very long and the snippy little teenager turns into a very cool adult. Just to take issue slightly with the "ditching her cool characters" - Talia and others do show up to make cameo-type appearances in other books in the series. However, the main characters of ML's books have to go through some kind of major tragedy (pattern here?) and if ML kept focusing on the same characters the argument of "why do bad things(tm) keep happening to _____." Talia, for instance is not dead...but her life is generally happy with a husband, a child, and no life-and-death missions. Lisa >Alrighty--I always WONDERED if these "Darian" books were actually part of >Valdemar (or whatever the new name is...what exactly is the new name >for--a new way of discussing the entire world INCLUDING >Valdemar? (i.e. Karse and Hardorn)? I'm sorry for my stupidity but you're >talking to a Vanyel=addict who can't get out of the LHM trilogy to save >her life. -snip- Erin ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 2 Mar 2000 13:22:05 -0600 From: "Jenny" To: Subject: RE: MIST: Re: Role Playing Games... Message-ID: <000401bf847c$987cf380$6543c280-+AT+-resnet.tamu.edu> Mercedes Lackey has said in her "Ask Misty" column (http://firebirdarts.com/1mlask02.htm) and I quote: -------------------------------------- Here are the official guidelines on GAMING! We cannot permit ANY use of our characters or settings in online gaming; it doesn't matter if it's non-profit. The point here is that electronic rights (that includes online use) are very new; we don't know what we need to protect and what we don't in order to keep the market-value of those rights. And yes, I know, Robert Jordan and others allow it---my agent personally believes that is very foolish, and he will not allow any electronic use without licensing. No MUCKS, MUDS, MUSHES, or online RPGs. Paper-games. IF you are just running a game among your friends, enjoy yourself! If, however, you are planning to PUBLISH anything, be it an RPG, a game module, an article for a gaming magazine, or self-publishing a set of rules to sell---you're in trouble. That's copyright infringement, and it's not allowed. So have fun at home, with our blessing, but don't take it out the door! Misty 4/14/99 ------------------------------------------- I'm sorry, but I just dont see how ML can keep people from playing online. You cant set up a listserv like this one, or a chat group, but if all you're doing is sending personal e-mail to the group of people you're playing with (and it's better if the group's not too big anyway) then it's pretty hard to do anything about. I dont think that sending e-mail is publishing, that implies getting paid money for what you've written, and (although I'm not sure, some correct me if I'm wrong) I believe it's against the law to read other people's e-mail unless you're a system administrater. Why am I writing this? I love Mercedes Lackey's novels, and she has very good reasons for the regulations on the writing and publishing of her world; _no one_ should make money off of her creation without her permission. However, I do not think it's right for people to try and play Network Nazi to others, and in the confusion about internet laws and intellectual rights I think our country's basic principles get trod upon. Like the right to privacy and free will. I dont role play of any kind, but I believe this to be a rather important issue and so to should anyone else who values freedom. What can be done? Elect politicians that will Do something about internet laws and intellectual rights, instead of skirting the issue. End of Soap Box. :) Sorry about the long post :) Jenny ----------------------------- Ele, Councilor of Mist wrote: > Hi, all > > this is your friendly Councilor on duty, hating to have to say this, > but....RPing in Misty's world is a definite nono. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 2 Mar 2000 13:26:03 -0600 From: "Jenny" To: Subject: RE: "Darian"? Message-ID: <000501bf847d$262c9e60$6543c280-+AT+-resnet.tamu.edu> Erin Wrote: > Alrighty--I always WONDERED if these "Darian" books were actually part of > Valdemar (or whatever the new name is...what exactly is the new name > for--a new way of discussing the entire world INCLUDING > Valdemar? (i.e. Karse and Hardorn)? I'm sorry for my stupidity but you're > talking to a Vanyel=addict who can't get out of the LHM trilogy to save > her life. Velgarth is the name of ML's world. > (oh and WOO Talia. I love her. So okay, not only LHM.) > > So...what is the deal with this Darian trilogy I seem to have > encountered? It didn't really ring true as a V. book to me for some > reason. I think because when I saw it in a bookstore it was beside Sword > of Ice... and only ONE book.. does he have a trilogy? And it was something > like, "Darian runs away from REALLY BAD PARENTS" and I was like... "ah, > teen angst," and decided not to go for it. (No offense. When you're a > teen, and a used-to-be poet, you start noticing a lot of angst and knowing > when to deal with it and when to laugh at it.) Mercedes Lackey said in her "Ask Misty" column that she and her husband wrote those books for YA readers. I wish I'd had your insight, and saved myself some reading. No offense to anyone, but I thought they were really Bad. I wrote an e-mail to the Ask Misty column wondering if her newest book would be for YA also. Does anyone know if "Brightly Burning" is YA or not? If it is I'm skipping it entirely........ > I think I am really pissed at ML for dropping her good characters >(dammit, Talia is not DEAD YET.) in favor of new little teenagers... I think she's trying to move more toward YA books. (lord knows why) Blame it on Larry Dixon, I've never really liked the books he co-authored, except Black Gryphon. > . o ( Well, Erin, maybe that's why her books are predominately read at a > young age... ) Okay, true. > > I dunno, can someone enlighten me on this? > > Erin Does this help? I hope so. Jenny ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 02 Mar 2000 03:45:08 -0700 From: ShadowDreamer To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: Filtering in Pine Message-ID: <3.0.3.32.20000302034508.00784138-+AT+-mail> Good! I'll still let you know if my husband makes the filter program and gets it to work right. At 07:36 PM 3/2/00 GMT, you wrote: >Just wanted to let you guys know I figured out how to do it! Woohoo. :) > >Well, I know how to put all my ML-mail en-mass into a specific folder >after I've gotten it, without hassle (as opposed to it automatically being >downloaded into a different folder from my Inbox): > >You use Select ( ; ) amd whem it asks what criteria (even though it >doesn't have an option for "reply-to" or "x-comment") you press A for >all. This will search the entire message for whatever you put in next, so >I just put in mercedes-lackey. :) It then proceeds to select all msgs >which match that criteria, and then you do APPLY, then SAVE, then type the >name of your Mercedes-Lackey-mail folder (mine is ML). > >So it works... Pine could still be better about this but hey... :) > >Erin (who hasn't heard from her sis about the books yet... *grumble* were >I her I'd be on book 3 by now... ;) > > ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 2 Mar 2000 15:05:48 -0500 (EST) From: Erin Lewy To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: RE: "Darian"? Message-ID: > Velgarth is the name of ML's world. Right...but Valdemar is still the name of...Valdemar...right? So is Velgarth the entirety of the world? I.E. "Earth"== "Velgarth"? Or did she RENAME Valdemar? This is what confuses me. And if she did rename it, what is the deal? > Mercedes Lackey said in her "Ask Misty" column that she and her husband > wrote those books for YA readers. I wish I'd had your insight, and saved Gods, that is a shame. Thank you for the warning, as I will stay away from them. :) > I think she's trying to move more toward YA books. (lord knows why) Blame > it on Larry Dixon, I've never really liked the books he co-authored, except > Black Gryphon. She (and he) probably noticed that her books were often read by young people and decided to make them more accessible. *sigh* I've noticed similar comments about others of her newer books (The companion to Fiddler's Fair comes to mind).... I may have to just stick with the books I've already been reading--maybe it's OKAY I'm stuck on them. Thanks a lot for the clarification, BTW. :) Erin ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 2 Mar 2000 12:43:23 -0800 From: "Margaret I. Carr" To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: MIST: Re: Role Playing Games... Message-ID: <20000302.124327.-363349.20.micarr1-+AT+-juno.com> Copyright _does_ apply to email. You, the writer, own the copyright to anything you write, whether it be electronic or on paper, unless you sell, transfer or explicitly waive it. This is a big improvement from the tangled mess we used to have where failure to observe any of a multitude of restrictions could result in losing your rights! Free is irrelevant. It is the act of disseminating, distributing that matters. I have some good links to sites that explain copyright. I'll try to dig them out and send them. I think one even lists countries that do not honor copyrights other than there own and discusses the implications. Prevention of plagarism isn't really possible. Anything that would be effective would be under 'prior restraint' and most countries frown on that. However, that does not prevent the victim of plagarism from legal recourse once the plagarism takes place. Practically speaking, it is rarely worth the effort to prosecute small 'offenders' unless the damage they do is obvious and far-reaching. But even that isn't the real catch. What do you want your favorite author doing? Writing more stories that you can enjoy or spending time trying to defend her rights, trying perhaps to persuade a publisher that she still owns the rights? ________________________________________________________________ YOU'RE PAYING TOO MUCH FOR THE INTERNET! Juno now offers FREE Internet Access! Try it today - there's no risk! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 2 Mar 2000 15:16:33 -0600 From: "Jenny" To: "Mercedes Lackey Mailing List" Subject: RE: "Darian"? Message-ID: <000001bf848c$95ab90c0$6543c280-+AT+-resnet.tamu.edu> Erin Lewey wrote: > > Velgarth is the name of ML's world. > > Right...but Valdemar is still the name of...Valdemar...right? So is > Velgarth the entirety of the world? I.E. "Earth"== "Velgarth"? Or did she > RENAME Valdemar? This is what confuses me. And if she did rename it, what > is the deal? I'm sorry! I wasnt very clear on that. Yes, Earth=Velgarth and Valdemar is just a country on Velgarth, like the US is a country on the Earth. All the books say "Heralds of Valdemar" on them because that's what made her famous, and it causes some confusion. None of her characters ever say "Velgarth" in referring to their world, but it's mentioned in the prologue of Arrows Flight. I think that maybe Misty deigned not to use it in the stories because each culture has a different name for their planet, and so it would be incorrect to have everyone saying "Velgarth." You could write the Ask Misty column about it, she responds to fan e-mail about once or twice a month I think. > She (and he)[Misty and Larry} probably noticed that her books were often read by young > people and decided to make them more accessible. *sigh* I've noticed > similar comments about others of her newer books (The companion to > Fiddler's Fair comes to mind).... I may have to just stick with the books > I've already been reading--maybe it's OKAY I'm stuck on them. You're probably right about them noticing the readership, I just wish she wouldnt write YA because she's not good at it. One thing I'd suggest is that you try the Winds Series. I know it's been receiving a lot of flak on the list, but Winds and Arrows are my favorite book series. (I'm sorry if you've already read these! You didn't mention that you had before so I thought it'd be ok to talk about them) Winds wasn't predictable or monotonous, I thought the characters were believable and well developed (sometimes too well developed - Firesong _bugs_ me, I just want to slap him!) and the plotline was very interesting. Not to mention all the history of ML world you find out in it! Need tells the story of her beginning, you find out what the Shi'a'n goddess did to save her people after the Cataclysm, and Vanyel and Stefan reappear. ML really ties up some loose ends. > Thanks a lot for the clarification, BTW. :) > > Erin No Problem! Jenny :) ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 2 Mar 2000 16:18:16 EST From: SachiAiko-+AT+-aol.com To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: I must leave ..... Message-ID: <90.15f5c94.25f03498-+AT+-aol.com> I have been on this list for quite a while now. But i just don have the time to read everything. So. I have decided to leave the list. I may be back at a later date. (Most of you prolly din even know i have been on da list hehe..) Anyhow. If some one could please e-mail how to get offa the list. I would apreciate it alot. Thank you again. Be well All. ::huggles for all!!:: Snow ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 2 Mar 2000 17:03:35 -0500 From: "Watchful Eyez" To: Subject: Re: "Darian"? Message-ID: <012101bf8493$3b8516a0$1bcbf7a5-+AT+-acer> *delurks for just a second* i thought the darian books were okay, they werent horrid by any means, and i think they moved more away from the YA in the last two. they are by no means her best books. but they do have their merits....the only thing i really wanted to comment on was this: > like, "Darian runs away from REALLY BAD PARENTS" and I was like... "ah, > teen angst," and decided not to go for it. (No offense. When you're a > teen, and a used-to-be poet, you start noticing a lot of angst and knowing > when to deal with it and when to laugh at it.) um...i havent read the blurb in a while (and dont feel like getting my book out of the masse of others) but actually it was nothing like that, as far as his parents go...and wasnt pro'ly as angsty as you would deem it to be. now not that i'm telling you to read the books *grins* cause y'know its not my place :) just thought i'd give my 2 cents. *ducks* ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 2 Mar 2000 17:13:55 -0500 (EST) From: Erin Lewy To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: RE: "Darian"? Message-ID: > referring to their world, but it's mentioned in the prologue of Arrows > Flight. I think that maybe Misty deigned not to use it in the stories I honestly didn't remember there was a prologue. Possibly mine didn't have one...? heh. > because each culture has a different name for their planet, and so it would > be incorrect to have everyone saying "Velgarth." You could write the Ask > Misty column about it, she responds to fan e-mail about once or twice a > month I think. Ooh cool... I must start READING that. Where is it? > You're probably right about them noticing the readership, I just wish she > wouldnt write YA because she's not good at it. One thing I'd suggest is > that you try the Winds Series. I know it's been receiving a lot of flak on ... > find out what the Shi'a'n goddess did to save her people after the > Cataclysm, and Vanyel and Stefan reappear. ML really ties up some loose > ends. If you mean the Winds series when Elspeth encounters the Hawkbrothers and falls in love with Darkwind, then I did read that... I don't talk a lot about it because Elspeth (the younger) really bugs me. Incessantly. But the Dawnfire/Darkwind issues really intrigued me and I think I also encountered Van (I have no idea what he did in Winds anymore tho...) because then I had this HUGE warmfuzzy when I realized, "THERE IS A VANYEL TRILOGY," and the rest is history. ;) Erin ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 2 Mar 2000 22:23:42 GMT From: troll-+AT+-netcomuk.co.uk To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: the copyright issue Message-ID: <200032222420541-+AT+-netcomuk.co.uk> I was going to respond to Jenny's whole argument, but Cennyd beat me to most of it this time ;) However, to reiterate one point that Cennyd touched upon, in response to Jenny's mention of politicians: the Internet is not a solely American concern(even if Americans did originate it), it's an international web. Servers and ISPs in individual countries are subject to local law, but there's no law that prevails across the entire 'net(and most likely never will be), just a series of different agreements to which different countries are signatory. This mailing list and the Almighty Listmistress Mel aren't based in the USA, and nor am I :) To get any real change in the matter of 'net-based copyright, you'd need the support of a lot of politicians in a lot of countries in order to avoid problems. As a writer, MUD imp and RPG GM myself, I can see both sides of the argument pretty well. As a Misty fan, I'd love to be able to run RPGs "legitimately" on Velgarth, play on a Velgarth-based MUD or other computer game, etc, yet I can see where she's coming from with her reasons for withholding such permission. I'd be inclined to withhold it too for MUDs based on my own world if/when it ever gets published - though unlike Misty I'd actually be aiming to set up such a MUD myself, and wouldn't want the competition! - indeed the areas I'm building on my current MUD are from my own world. Ditto with regular computer games and RPG - I'd only agree to them if I retained final editorial control over them, and I'd want to do a lot of the work on them myself - main things I couldn't do myself would be graphical work (not being a programmer, yet anyway, might learn one day)and marketing (not having the contacts and infrastructure that an established company like ICE, TSR/WOTC, etc would have). Note that one of the things Misty has said is that she might one day want to authorise "official" Velgarth games, and consequently doesn't want any "unofficial" ones in the meantime. We can hope... My two sheep(rather heavier than pennies)... Muranog Shadowbane Troll Battle-Mage Adept of Earth and Fire Knight of Fluff OIB Member of the Mistic Circle(if it ever recovers) Member of the Circle of Stone(which is doing fine) and his bondmate Sable, the giant black war sheep(also OIB) ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 2 Mar 2000 14:23:42 -0800 (PST) From: "David H. Tiffany" To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: RE: "Darian"? Message-ID: On Thu, 2 Mar 2000, Lisa Whitman wrote: > Talia, for instance is not dead...but her life is generally happy with a > husband, a child, and no life-and-death missions. Other than the one to beg aid in BTS and the (off-camera) one to open relations with Solaris? David H Tiffany ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 2 Mar 2000 23:19:10 EST From: J80Kath-+AT+-aol.com To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: Role Playing Games... Message-ID: <7a.23a65ed.25f0973e-+AT+-aol.com> Thank for responding to my question, those are very good reasons. I hadn't realized a fan would sue an author because they thought ideas were stolen. As I said I was just curious, I have the utmost respect for Misty and her writings. I hope she continues to write much, much more, especially in the Velgarth world, that is my favorite. Hee hee, Anyway thank you again for answering my question. Jennie. In a message dated 3/2/00 8:49:49 AM Pacific Standard Time, kenny-+AT+-UDel.Edu writes: << > I've been reading a lot about Misty not allowing role plaing in her world, > but I haven't heard any reasons why, other that "she doesn't want any > misinterpretations." What does that mean, exactly. Does anyone know a more > solid reason why she does not like it. There are several excellent reasons: 1) The Velgarth world is her personal creation (which she is fortunately willing to share with us), and she may be naturally unwilling to have other people changing and "ruining" her creation. 2) Allowing RPG's to be developed by others reduces her potential market, should she ever decide to do so. 3) Allowing RPG's to be developed without her direct licence compromises her ability to continue developing Velgarth because it can open her up to lawsuits by disgruntled fans who want to accuse her of "stealing" their ideas. (Don't laugh! This actually happened to MZB, one of Misty's mentors.) 4) Developing RPG's based on Velgarth is illegal according to the US Civil Code, and the laws of all the countries which are signatory to the Bern(sp?) Convention. And the way the courts work, if she gives tacit permission to use her copyrighted work to create derivative works, she weakens her ability to defend her copyrights. Of course, in the final analysis, the most important reason is simply that she has said she doesn't want people doing it. And if we have any respect for her, or common courtesy, we will abide by her wishes. =) May the seas be your solace and the forests a refuge for your spirit, Cennydd Councilor of Mist >> ------------------------------ End of MERCEDES-LACKEY Digest 2230 **********************************